There were several story lines we picked up on from prelims of day 2 of the 2015 Arena Pro Swim Series meet in Charlotte, but the biggest story of the morning is the butterfly talent coming from the state of Kentucky. Claire Donohue, Kelsi Worrell, and Tina Bechtel make up three of the top four 100 butterfliers from prelims this morning. What is more impressive is that all three swimmers were under one minute this morning, in addition to all finishing in the top four.
Donohue is a product of Western Kentucky University, Kelsi Worrell just finished an incredible junior season at the University of Louisville, and Tina Bechtel just finished her senior season at the University of Kentucky. Kentucky is proving to be a breeding ground for butterfly talent, and to see this much talent budding from multiple programs is exciting. Not only will we see great races at major competitions like the Pro Swim Series, but they also have the benefit of great competition at local club meets.
(2) We are seeing an unusually high number of scratches and lack luster swims from the Florida swimmers. Elizabeth Beisel, Dan Wallace, Jess Thielmann, and Theresa Michalak all scratched, which is not what we usually expect from Gregg Troy’s swimmers. Of the swimmers that didn’t scratch, there were several swimmers that were way off their seeds time. Caeleb Dressel was more than three seconds off his seed in the 100 fly with a 56.69, and was almost nine seconds over his seed time in the 200 freestyle with a 1:57.45. Mitch D’Arrigo was another that didn’t perform very well, posting a 1:55.72 in the 200 freestyle.
(3) Michael Phelps finished 14th in the 200 freestyle, with a time of 1:51.44. He went out in 53.76, which isn’t bad, but he died coming home. He fell from a 27.70 split on the second fifty to a 28.79 on the third fifty, and finally a 29.18 coming home. His focus will be on the 100 butterfly tonight, however. During his prelim swim of the 100 butterfly, he posted the fourth fastest time of the morning with a 53.51. He will have a great race, with Jack Conger in the lane directly to his left and Ryan Lochte in the lane directly to his right. When you consider that Tom Shields and Andrew Seliskar are also in the final, it appears to be shaping up to be an incredible race. It should take a 51 to win tonight, and most of the field is capable of posting that time.
(4) Reece Whitley swam a best time in the men’s 100 breaststroke with a 1:02.74, positioning him just outside of the A final. At 15 years old, Whitley is setting himself up to be the Jack Conger/Ryan Murphy figure of the 2016 Olympic Trials. Both Conger and Murphy held their own at the 2012 Olympic trials, qualifying for several A finals, despite being only 16 years old at the time. He is one of the great up-and-coming junior swimmers that could start to make an impact internationally over the next few years for the United States.
Heat sheets are out. Phelps sticking with 200 free and 100 fly. Lochte scratched the 400 IM. Seliskar scratched C-final of 100 breast.
That’s good news, IMO. That’s what the Phelps of pre-2008 would have done. He’s taking on the challenge of doing a better time in the 200 AND winning the 100 fly. So what if he fails, the important thing is just to practice racing right now! Thanks for sharing that news!
How about all the fast times we’re seeing in Charlotte? For an in-seaon meet, to have a #2 and #3 ranked swim in the women’s 1500, a #4 ranked women’s 100 breast, a #3 ranked women’s 400 IM and a time trial #8 ranked women’s 100 back for this season IN THE WORLD after only a small distance session, one prelim and a time trial is pretty darn good!
OMG as you said in USA! 😯
Danjohnrob, not only the case in swimming today!
As a big track and field fan too, I’ve just watched a few events from the Golden League in Doha and that was crazy!
9.74 for Gatlin. No comment.
18m06 for Pichardo and 18m04 for Taylor in triple jump! First time in history that 2 guys jump over 18m wind legal in the same meet! Unfortunately the Frenchman Tamgho has a ruptured achilles tendon.
12.35 for Jasmin Stowers in the 100m hurdles! Amazing talent! The day she improves her start, she easily breaks the old and probably not very clean world record.
And last but not least, my favorite… Read more »
I wouldn’t say I don’t care about it; I enjoy watching championship races in general. I don’t like a lot of the personalities that track athletes project. I don’t like showboating or boastful behavior. I prefer the (relative) humility of swimmers! I will say that Allyson Felix does seem to be an exception in that regard.
Also, when I watch swimming I can pick out little things that one athlete is doing differently/better than another, which makes the event interesting for me. I don’t understand what makes one runner faster than another, other than talent. As always, I appreciate the info you share and above all your friendly replies! 🙂
I understand. I also hate what you call “showboating”. New English world learned by the way. 🙂 That’s why I’m not a Bolt fan at all. But that’s especially and essentially the case in the men’s sprint.
Not the case of my favorite track athletes like Allyson Felix, Tirunesh Dibaba, Ashton Eaton, Kenenisa Bekele or the new retiree Haile Gebrselassie who are all amazingly talented with a great technique but are also very humble at the same time.
LOL! I should try to avoid idiomatic expressions and slang in my comments because there are so many people for whom English is a second, third, etc language here! Your mastery of English is quite impressive! 🙂
I’ve said Golden League but now it’s called Diamond League.
I’m with you, Bobo! I’m also a big track and field fan. There’s such an amazing diversity of events, from hammer throw to pole vault, from 100m to marathon. I wish it got more respect in the U.S. Next to swimming it’s my favorite during the Olympics. I can even enjoy the racewalking. Thanks for the info on Allison Felix. Classy athlete. I’d love to see her on the podium in Rio.
With all due respect – but how is MP NOT making the A-Final in the 200free and his 100fly race a bigger story than Ryan Lochte swimming a triple consisting of 200free, 100fly, AND 400IM? And not just that, no, he made the A FINALS in all of those! I get that MP is the GOAT, but let’s be real – what Lochte achieved this morning was amazing.
Preach! Lochte has always been a beast and even SwimSwam has pointed out that this meet could be his return from a lackluster injury-ridden year, time to highlight the fact that he’s killing it!
Because when MP doesn’t qualify for an A-Final, it’s considered as an earth-shaking news! What happened? Is he done? He should retire now? Does he go to Arizona only to play golf every day?
And I love your comment because that’s the usual Phelps vs Lochte debate from the swimming fans on swimswam. 😆 Swimming community divided.into 2 groups. Like France was divided in the 1960s in cycling with Anquetil vs Poulidor. Or the tennis community divided between Navratilova and Evert in the 1980s. Or Magic vs Bird. Or Prost vs Senna. Or today Ronaldo vs Messi.
I add that Lochte fans are often jealous of the media treatment’s difference between both Americans.
No debate from my part.… Read more »
All that needs to be said is that when you are the #1 in the history of the sport, you get the press. Tiger Woods did practically nothing at the Player Championship last week, yet all thursday and friday were about him. I don’t think it’s meant as a slight to Lochte whatsoever. Phelps has been busy moving around, and likely in the heart of some really hard training. So he didn’t final. Lochte managed to triple final which yes, that’s newsworthy, but no, it is unlikely he’ll win any one of them (unless possibly the very 1st race, the 200). We know Phelps can drop to a low 51, so the poster boy for our sport is also going… Read more »