2011 World Swimming Championships Shanghai Jul 24

So the theory here seems to be that, since the US doesn't have 50s in USA-S meets or use them for qualifying for national teams, they are not having much success in sprints. I don't know that this is well supported by the data. Here are the list of Olympic medal winners for men and women. We've had the 50 free for quite some time internationally and we've done well on the men's side and okay on the women's side (not dominant but arguably no other country has done better; possibly China). Has this success in the 50 translated into success in the 100 free? It doesn't look like it to me: the US looks to have done worse in the 100 on the men's side, and roughly the same on the women's side. Has the US done worse in the 100 strokes compared to the 100 free? No, I don't think so, and in most cases the performance has been better. (Note: these are quick guesstimates based on eyeballing the data.) At this year's Worlds, the US did not do well in the 100 free (men or women) but not too badly in the other 100s. On the women's side: gold in the 100 fly and ***, bronze in the 100 back (only 0.1 sec from gold). On the men's side: I wouldn't bet against Phelps in the fly and McGill is a solid bet to medal. No medal in the 100 back but still a pretty strong showing to get 4th and 5th, both within 0.3 sec of the winning time. The poorest showing is in the men's 100 *** (8th), though I think that reflects a general weakness in men's breaststroke rather than lack of sprinting: Gangloff placed better in the 50 than the 100, after all. It may well be true that the lack of opportunities in the 50s may discourage "sprint specialists" in the vein of GHG, Jager and Dara. But honestly I think college swimming is much more focused on sprinting than distance swimming. For decades I've been hearing about how poorly the US does in distance free, rather than sprints. (And at least a few of these "sprint specialists" from other countries train in the US.) On a personal note as a spectator: I find the 50s not much fun to watch; I vastly prefer watching 100s, 200s and 400s. (Even the breaststroke!) YMMV, of course.

So the theory here seems to be that, since the US doesn't have 50s in USA-S meets or use them for qualifying for national teams, they are not having much success in sprints. I don't know that this is well supported by the data. Here are the list of Olympic medal winners for men and women. We've had the 50 free for quite some time internationally and we've done well on the men's side and okay on the women's side (not dominant but arguably no other country has done better; possibly China). Has this success in the 50 translated into success in the 100 free? It doesn't look like it to me: the US looks to have done worse in the 100 on the men's side, and roughly the same on the women's side. Has the US done worse in the 100 strokes compared to the 100 free? No, I don't think so, and in most cases the performance has been better. (Note: these are quick guesstimates based on eyeballing the data.) At this year's Worlds, the US did not do well in the 100 free (men or women) but not too badly in the other 100s. On the women's side: gold in the 100 fly and ***, bronze in the 100 back (only 0.1 sec from gold). On the men's side: I wouldn't bet against Phelps in the fly and McGill is a solid bet to medal. No medal in the 100 back but still a pretty strong showing to get 4th and 5th, both within 0.3 sec of the winning time. The poorest showing is in the men's 100 *** (8th), though I think that reflects a general weakness in men's breaststroke rather than lack of sprinting: Gangloff placed better in the 50 than the 100, after all. It may well be true that the lack of opportunities in the 50s may discourage "sprint specialists" in the vein of GHG, Jager and Dara. But honestly I think college swimming is much more focused on sprinting than distance swimming. For decades I've been hearing about how poorly the US does in distance free, rather than sprints. (And at least a few of these "sprint specialists" from other countries train in the US.) On a personal note as a spectator: I find the 50s not much fun to watch; I vastly prefer watching 100s, 200s and 400s. (Even the breaststroke!) YMMV, of course.