cavic has shown his cards and speed
phelps hasn't in the 100 fl but has in the finals of other events
not sure if crocker has yet
maybe
well see tonight
ande
I agree with Ande and Phelps will wreak havok on Cavic and I will add a statement of my own that he will put a shocker on Crocker. With one days rest and the importance of this race, I think he is going to win.
I knew yesterday, that regardless of what Ryan Lochte did in the 200 Back, that he was not going to win the 200 IM. In fact I did not think Lochte would be Laszlo Cseh in the 200 IM because of the 29 minutes of recovery between those races. With the medal awards cermonies and warm down that is not a lot of time to get ready for a big race with the two best swimmers in the world. Phelps really pounded him in the 400 IM (4:03.84 vs 4:08.09) and so did Cseh (4:06.16 vs 4:08.09) and I just did not think in a FINAL swim that he could pull off this against rested swimmers of this caliber. Plus the enjoyment of winning a gold medal and going thru the awards put a strain on Ryan to get ready for that final.
Phelps had to go thru this also but he has been thru this before and this was just a semi final. With very little rest he almost matched Cavic and went faster than Crocker, who has had only one swim previous to this for the whole week. Crocker swam the prelims this AM and did a :50.8 split from a very conservative start and everyone knows why he did that so his swim is almost a flat start but is still slightly slower than what Phelps did after swimming the 200 IM.
This will be the biggest race for Phelps up to now because it sets up his 7th gold medal and his chances for swimming the medley relay. Also there is a million dollar bonus if he wins to night so the pressure will be the highest its been to now. This race is worth more that just the 1 million because if he wins and sets the record, this just sets up all the future possibilities for endorsements and sponsorships on a global level. For these reasons other than the swimming ones, I am picking Phelps to win his 7th gold and break the World Record. I am not sure if he will go under 50 seconds but I think he will break the :50.40 standard.
Hey...I know that kid...when did Cavic become a Serb...he swam here in Socal?
He chose to represent Serbia years ago.
He's trying to pull a Martin Zubero. No worries, Phelps will get him.
As much as I like Cavic he seems to have gotten a big mouth from hanging around Gary Hall Jr. too much. He needs to STFU and concentrate on swimming fast. Phelps only did a 400 warm down from the 200 IM and still put down a sub 51 performance in the fly. When Phelps is rested tomorrow he is quite simply looking to demolish the field.
I want Phelps to win, of course, and believe that he will, but I see zero wrong with what Cavic is doing. He wants to win, why not say so? Why else would he be there? In the same interview he also acknowledged that it would be foolish to ever discount Phelps. I don't think it's disrespectful or trash talk to say he wants to be the guy who wins this race and is willing to dash this whole 8-golds thing to do so.
It's different from Bernard, who allegedly said "we will win." Why is Cavic different from Lochte, who said before the Games something like, "I want him to do well, but if Michael doesn't get 8 golds that means I've done something right"Because Cavic probably jinxed himself, seriously.
Phelps (lane 5) is sandwiched inbetween Cavic (lane 4) and Crocker (lane 6). Both of these guys are going to be out ahead of phelps. Could this be an issue for phelps, swimming behind these two guys in unclean water?
Rest will make all the difference for Phelps. Having a couple of races in will help Crocker crank one out in finals. Cavic might drop to 3rd. Crocker looked pretty good in semis last night, I think he's getting warmed up and he and Phelps will both beat Cavic.
Regardless of outcome, it will be exciting to watch.
Crocker DID look good in semis last night. Man he swims a pretty fly. Sometimes I forget how good he is because we don't see him much. I think he'll swim well tonight.
I still think Phelps is just too strong - too much momemtum combined with a full day's rest. They all know that if Phelps is within 1/2 a body length at the 50 the race is over.
Crocker's 50.85 minus his .42 RT plus a typical flat start RT of .75 says his swim was about a 51.18 flat start.
That's good speed but not fast enough to beat a likely low 50 (or better) swim from Phelps.
Phelps (lane 5) is sandwiched inbetween Cavic (lane 4) and Crocker (lane 6). Both of these guys are going to be out ahead of phelps. Could this be an issue for phelps, swimming behind these two guys in unclean water?
Phelps is almost always behind the field at the turn and the water is never clean in a 100FL at this level. Sitting between the other main contenders is exactly where he needs to be. Phelps should win in standard come-from-behind fashion, but if he doesn't get it, it won't be because of lane placement.
