HS 500 yd free record observation

Every now and then a swimming publication will write about the hardest workers of all time in practice and often Kostoff ends up #1. I remember Swimming World once reporting a few of his remarkable sets. My memory is foggy but one was doing either 3 or 4 x 5000 yard swims on 50 minutes with the last one descended into the 46+ minute range. I think he *only* did three of them but maybe it was four. Another set was 10x400 IM on 4:20 (scy). While at Stanford his coach had him do 3x1650 on the NCAA cut. I think that was before "A" and "B" cuts so whatever the cut was that year in school, that was his interval. I also heard he did cross country (running) at Stanford and was amazingly fast in a 10k, so obviously he had the cardio thing going for him. I think Phelps went around 4:18 when he was a junior in high school but turned Pro before his senior year so never was eligible to go for the record. I'm sure Skip Thompson has far more details on some of Jeff's sets. Jeff lives near me and was active in Masters swimming for a while. Here is a link to an interview with him by our LMSC newsletter editor many years ago: artemis.crosslink.net/.../jeffintr.htm Jeff: Those were the sets that were published and I remember hearing he did 4 X 1650 Free on 16 minutes descending each 1650 faster than the previous. The goal was to keep each swim at 15 minutes or under. Jeff Kostoff was probably the best distance swimmer in America from 1982 to about 1984 in short course yards. The time of 4:16.39 broke the American Record of Brian Goodell of 4:16.40 set in 1978 and shattered the National HS mark of Goodell of 4:20.81 set in 1978. About the closest anyone got to the record that I know of was Troy Dalbey in 1986 and he did a 4:17.30 but he did not swim that in a HS meet but won the 500 Free at 1986 Nationals with that time as a Sr in HS. The only swimmer that I thought back then that could get the record was Dan Jorgenson because in his Jr. year he went 4:19.47 compared to 4:21.34 that Kostoff did during his Jr. year. But Jorgenson went slower than 4:20 in his senior year. Kostoff time today ranks 5th all time in the 500 Free in USA Swimming 15-17 rankings. Phelps did a 4:18.85 in his Sr. year of HS but was not rested or tapered and did not swim in HS and stayed in age group swimming. In 2004, as an 18 year old he went 4:12.33, so something tells me that he would have probably got that HS record if he would have tapered for it and swam it in a HS meet. Phelps went a 3:46.73 to set the AR in the 400 meter free in the summer of 2003, which would have been his SR year in HS and converted that beats a 4:16.39. A more impressive swim was the 1650 Free by Kostoff set the same year at 14:46.11 and the next year he lowed that to 14:38.22 and that is still to this day the 15-17 USA Swimming National Record and the closest anyone has gotten to that record is 8 seconds and that was by Fran Crippen and that was back in 2003. At the 1984 NCAA Championships Kostoff swam to a 14:38.11 American Record and in 1986 went 14:37.87 and that AR stood for 10 years until Chad Carvin broke it at the 1994 NCAA meet. Kostoff never won a 500 Free at the NCAA meet but won the 1650 Free in 1984, 1986, and 1987, but lost in 1985 to George Di Carlo and Mike O'Brien, who were the two swimmers who beat Kostoff for the two spots on the 1984 Olympic team. Kostoff was never as good in LCM in the distance free as he was in SCY. He set one AR in LCM in the 800 Free and that only lasted one year from 1983 to 1984. He did however make the 1984 Olympic team by getting 1st in the 400 IM at the Olympic Trials and upsetting Jesse Vassalo, who was the AR holder at the time. He ended up getting 6th in the 400 IM and made the team in the 400 IM in 1988 but did not final at the Olympics. If the Olympics would have been in 1983, there was a good chance he would make the team in 3 events (400 Free, 1500 Free, and 400 IM) but he did not swim as well in LCM in 1984 and especially in the distance events, which was surprising because he was so good at the NCAA Championships. I believe his best 1500 Free time was a 15:16.25 and at that time DiCarlo was going 15:01.51 and O'Brien was going 15:04.49 and some of the super swimmers from the 1970's like Goodell, Bobby Hackett, and Casey Converse all went faster. But that year in 1983, was probably one of the best HS swims ever. Swimming World had it there #1 HS swim of all time in November 2005 in there greatest HS swims. I rank it right up there with John Kinsella's 400 Free HS swim back in 1970, where the record did not last as long but the swim was more dominate as an American Record against all competition.

Every now and then a swimming publication will write about the hardest workers of all time in practice and often Kostoff ends up #1. I remember Swimming World once reporting a few of his remarkable sets. My memory is foggy but one was doing either 3 or 4 x 5000 yard swims on 50 minutes with the last one descended into the 46+ minute range. I think he *only* did three of them but maybe it was four. Another set was 10x400 IM on 4:20 (scy). While at Stanford his coach had him do 3x1650 on the NCAA cut. I think that was before "A" and "B" cuts so whatever the cut was that year in school, that was his interval. I also heard he did cross country (running) at Stanford and was amazingly fast in a 10k, so obviously he had the cardio thing going for him. I think Phelps went around 4:18 when he was a junior in high school but turned Pro before his senior year so never was eligible to go for the record. I'm sure Skip Thompson has far more details on some of Jeff's sets. Jeff lives near me and was active in Masters swimming for a while. Here is a link to an interview with him by our LMSC newsletter editor many years ago: artemis.crosslink.net/.../jeffintr.htm Jeff: Those were the sets that were published and I remember hearing he did 4 X 1650 Free on 16 minutes descending each 1650 faster than the previous. The goal was to keep each swim at 15 minutes or under. Jeff Kostoff was probably the best distance swimmer in America from 1982 to about 1984 in short course yards. The time of 4:16.39 broke the American Record of Brian Goodell of 4:16.40 set in 1978 and shattered the National HS mark of Goodell of 4:20.81 set in 1978. About the closest anyone got to the record that I know of was Troy Dalbey in 1986 and he did a 4:17.30 but he did not swim that in a HS meet but won the 500 Free at 1986 Nationals with that time as a Sr in HS. The only swimmer that I thought back then that could get the record was Dan Jorgenson because in his Jr. year he went 4:19.47 compared to 4:21.34 that Kostoff did during his Jr. year. But Jorgenson went slower than 4:20 in his senior year. Kostoff time today ranks 5th all time in the 500 Free in USA Swimming 15-17 rankings. Phelps did a 4:18.85 in his Sr. year of HS but was not rested or tapered and did not swim in HS and stayed in age group swimming. In 2004, as an 18 year old he went 4:12.33, so something tells me that he would have probably got that HS record if he would have tapered for it and swam it in a HS meet. Phelps went a 3:46.73 to set the AR in the 400 meter free in the summer of 2003, which would have been his SR year in HS and converted that beats a 4:16.39. A more impressive swim was the 1650 Free by Kostoff set the same year at 14:46.11 and the next year he lowed that to 14:38.22 and that is still to this day the 15-17 USA Swimming National Record and the closest anyone has gotten to that record is 8 seconds and that was by Fran Crippen and that was back in 2003. At the 1984 NCAA Championships Kostoff swam to a 14:38.11 American Record and in 1986 went 14:37.87 and that AR stood for 10 years until Chad Carvin broke it at the 1994 NCAA meet. Kostoff never won a 500 Free at the NCAA meet but won the 1650 Free in 1984, 1986, and 1987, but lost in 1985 to George Di Carlo and Mike O'Brien, who were the two swimmers who beat Kostoff for the two spots on the 1984 Olympic team. Kostoff was never as good in LCM in the distance free as he was in SCY. He set one AR in LCM in the 800 Free and that only lasted one year from 1983 to 1984. He did however make the 1984 Olympic team by getting 1st in the 400 IM at the Olympic Trials and upsetting Jesse Vassalo, who was the AR holder at the time. He ended up getting 6th in the 400 IM and made the team in the 400 IM in 1988 but did not final at the Olympics. If the Olympics would have been in 1983, there was a good chance he would make the team in 3 events (400 Free, 1500 Free, and 400 IM) but he did not swim as well in LCM in 1984 and especially in the distance events, which was surprising because he was so good at the NCAA Championships. I believe his best 1500 Free time was a 15:16.25 and at that time DiCarlo was going 15:01.51 and O'Brien was going 15:04.49 and some of the super swimmers from the 1970's like Goodell, Bobby Hackett, and Casey Converse all went faster. But that year in 1983, was probably one of the best HS swims ever. Swimming World had it there #1 HS swim of all time in November 2005 in there greatest HS swims. I rank it right up there with John Kinsella's 400 Free HS swim back in 1970, where the record did not last as long but the swim was more dominate as an American Record against all competition.