2012 Olympics: Swimming

Trials reactions: The Good: US woman's team depth. Lots of up and coming young talent. Mix of vets and teens on both teams. IMO, the "right people" ended up making the team in every event. The backstories. Jessica Hardy, Anthony Ervin, Breeja Larson, Brendan Hansen, Katie Ledecky etc, etc. Many good stories on this team, many interesting people. The venue and atmosphere. IMO, this was a perfectly staged and executed event. The crowds were awesome the entire meet. Omaha has their act together. The fact that most of the truly elite swimmers only partially tapered for this meet. 2008 was, if anything, too fast. The Bad: The timing of this meet. It's time for common sense to prevail, either put the meet in the spring (and let the NCAAs deal with it) or change the selection process. The "only two go" selection process. It's archaic and should be modified to include anyone ranked in the top 10. US dominance a la 1976 doesn't exist anymore, lets change the rules. The men's 100 free. Ugh. "Groupthink" swimming. The Ugly: The rise of the professional swimmer. This seems like a bit of a mixed blessing. On one hand, it's great that it's possible for the elite of the elite to actually make a living out of swimming these days. On the other hand, it could potentially weaken the depth of the pool of talent as only the best of the best will be able to compete with people who have no worries other than training. Over time, you'll start to see the same names over and over again, not sure that's a good thing. The obession with Phelps/Lochte. I get it, but there were lots of other stories worth covering at this trials. Phelps and Lochte treated this meet like a warm up (which was smart), but that made their head-to-head swims arguably some of the least interesting of the meet. Swimmers of the Meet: Cullen Jones. People kind of forgot about him and forgot about his talent. It's great to see him back and crushing swims. He's back on track and looks great going into London. Conor Dwyer. Finally is healthy and starting to show his true potential. I think he has a lot more time to drop. Elizabeth Beisel. She showed up looking more fit than I've ever seen her and exceeded my expectations. Again, I see her being faster in London Becca Mann. 14 years old, finals in three events and almost finals in four. She's a tiny little thing. Once she gets strong, she's going to be very tough. She's the reincarnation of Sippy Woodhead. Breeja Larson. Taking down Soni and going a 1:05 was the swim of the meet for me (except for perhaps Grevers). This is her first LCM taper, she's only been swimming seriously for 2.5 years. Insane story. Matt Grevers. 52.0. Seriously. Then gets third in the 100 free. he showed up ready to race. Hard luck of the meet: Katie Hoff. It's terrible to see her sick and struggling. Such a great talent. Elizabeth Pelton. So close in so many events. Bad luck? Bad program selection? Hopefully she sticks around another four years. Overall: The US Trails may seem a little slow, but only in comparison to 2008 which was Lzred to death. It's worth noting that every other country had "slow" trials (China, Australia, GB, France etc). Also the superstars have started to realize that they don't need to fully taper for Trials. This was smart. Lots to come in London.

Trials reactions: The Good: US woman's team depth. Lots of up and coming young talent. Mix of vets and teens on both teams. IMO, the "right people" ended up making the team in every event. The backstories. Jessica Hardy, Anthony Ervin, Breeja Larson, Brendan Hansen, Katie Ledecky etc, etc. Many good stories on this team, many interesting people. The venue and atmosphere. IMO, this was a perfectly staged and executed event. The crowds were awesome the entire meet. Omaha has their act together. The fact that most of the truly elite swimmers only partially tapered for this meet. 2008 was, if anything, too fast. The Bad: The timing of this meet. It's time for common sense to prevail, either put the meet in the spring (and let the NCAAs deal with it) or change the selection process. The "only two go" selection process. It's archaic and should be modified to include anyone ranked in the top 10. US dominance a la 1976 doesn't exist anymore, lets change the rules. The men's 100 free. Ugh. "Groupthink" swimming. The Ugly: The rise of the professional swimmer. This seems like a bit of a mixed blessing. On one hand, it's great that it's possible for the elite of the elite to actually make a living out of swimming these days. On the other hand, it could potentially weaken the depth of the pool of talent as only the best of the best will be able to compete with people who have no worries other than training. Over time, you'll start to see the same names over and over again, not sure that's a good thing. The obession with Phelps/Lochte. I get it, but there were lots of other stories worth covering at this trials. Phelps and Lochte treated this meet like a warm up (which was smart), but that made their head-to-head swims arguably some of the least interesting of the meet. Swimmers of the Meet: Cullen Jones. People kind of forgot about him and forgot about his talent. It's great to see him back and crushing swims. He's back on track and looks great going into London. Conor Dwyer. Finally is healthy and starting to show his true potential. I think he has a lot more time to drop. Elizabeth Beisel. She showed up looking more fit than I've ever seen her and exceeded my expectations. Again, I see her being faster in London Becca Mann. 14 years old, finals in three events and almost finals in four. She's a tiny little thing. Once she gets strong, she's going to be very tough. She's the reincarnation of Sippy Woodhead. Breeja Larson. Taking down Soni and going a 1:05 was the swim of the meet for me (except for perhaps Grevers). This is her first LCM taper, she's only been swimming seriously for 2.5 years. Insane story. Matt Grevers. 52.0. Seriously. Then gets third in the 100 free. he showed up ready to race. Hard luck of the meet: Katie Hoff. It's terrible to see her sick and struggling. Such a great talent. Elizabeth Pelton. So close in so many events. Bad luck? Bad program selection? Hopefully she sticks around another four years. Overall: The US Trails may seem a little slow, but only in comparison to 2008 which was Lzred to death. It's worth noting that every other country had "slow" trials (China, Australia, GB, France etc). Also the superstars have started to realize that they don't need to fully taper for Trials. This was smart. Lots to come in London.