At this year’s edition of the FINA World Championships, the United States is currently battling to keep ahead of its worst championships result in recent history, the 2001 edition where the team earned a total of nine gold, nine silver and eight bronze.
But, that is not to say that there aren’t indeed good things happening in Kazan for the Americans, which should give fans, coaches and athletes a spark of positivity to carry them through the remainder of the competition and beyond.
6 Reasons for Optimism in Kazan
Katie Ledecky’s Ferocious 200m Freestyle
Legendary Ledecky smoked the field in her signature freestyle events of the 400m and 1500m in Kazan, but the world wasn’t sure what exactly to expect when the 18-year old would be pitted against the globe’s best in the shorter 200m distance. Snagging the 6th seed in 200m free semi’s with a very respectable 1:56.76 after having already blasted a new world record in the 1500m earlier in the same session, Ledecky established herself as a solid contender come the final. Ledecky wound up with gold in 1:55.16, her best time and 4th in the world for 2015.
Ryan Murphy’s Sub-53 4×100 Mixed Medley Lead-off
In prelims of day 4, Ryan Murphy led off the Americans’ 4x100m mixed medley relay with a most impressive back split of 52.18. Prior to this race, Murphy’s lifetime LCM best in the 100m back was the 53.64 he put up in mid-July, but he blew that to pieces with the fifth fastest performance ever. Murphy emitted just a glimpse of his overall potential, seeing how he is still just 20 years old.
Katie McLaughlin’s 200m Butterfly NAG Record
En route to finishing in sixth place in today’s final of the women’s 200m butterfly in Kazan, 18-year old Katie McLaughlin took down the event’s 17-18 U.S. National Age Group (NAG) Record. McLaughlin’s time of 2:06.95 surpassed the previous record held by Kathleen Hersey by the slimmest of margins – just .01 of a second, as the old mark was 2:06.96 from Hersey’s swim in 2008. McLaughlin’s new NAG Record of 2:06.95 ranks as the ninth-fastest performance of all-time in the 200m butterfly event by an American female.
Cammile Adams Sneaks in a Silver
Not only did Cammile Adams power her way onto the podium with a silver medal in the 200m butterfly today, she did so in career-best fashion. Adams’ time of 2:06.40 knocked two tenths off of her previous personal best of 2:06.40 from last year’s Pan Pacs. McLaughlin’s rising star paired with Adams’ veteran experience gives the U.S. a solid 1-2 punch come Rio.
Kevin Cordes Has Arrived….Safely
Having gotten flak for his past relay disqualifications, it is refreshing to see Kevin Cordes do his thing and simply swim breaststroke the best way he knows how – very fast. Cordes earned a rather surprising bronze medal in the 50m breaststroke, an off-event for him, and is also situated in the mix for the men’s 200m breaststroke final. Cordes release some viewers’ pressure by having clean exchanges on the prelims and finals versions of the mixed 4×100 medley relay, clocking swift 58.33 and 58.63 splits, respectively.
Women’s 800 Free Relay Gold Magic
The foursome of Missy Franklin, Leah Smith, Katie McLaughlin and Katie Ledecky proved to be a lethal combination, as they nabbed gold in the 800 free relay on day 5. With a final time of 7:45.37, the women split as follows:
- Franklin – 1:55.95
- Smith – 1:56.86
- McLaughlin – 1:56.92
- Ledecky – 1:55.64
The win by the American women clinched a third consecutive World Championships gold in the event. Prior to 2009’s win by the Chinese, the Americans also earned gold at the 2003, 2005 and 2007 edition of these championships. Considering the 2012 Olympic gold medal-winning foursome’s splits of Franklin (1:55.96), Dana Vollmer (1:56.02), Shannon Vreeland (1:56.85) and Allison Schmitt (1:54.09), it is reassuring for the Americans to know they have a solid contingent of sub-1:57 200 freestylers at their disposal entering 2016.
Feel like too many of these have a “…but on the other hand!” you can attach to them.
Ledecky wins the 200 free – BUT – Sjostrom swims faster than she did leading off the 800 free relay. (And I knoooow, she didn’t have to swim the rounds, I get it. But she still had two 100 frees earlier that day.) Same thing w/ the 800 free relay – Sweden just needs to find them another leg and our hold on that event could get iffy.
Murphy has a fantastic medley lead-off – BUT – returns to his previous performance level in finals. (Mostly b/c he hit the lane line right at the end of the race, but he still… Read more »
I’d include Maya Dirado in this list.
Cordes DQ’d the medley relay at 2013 Worlds, and one of the MR’s at 2014 NCAA’s. Are there any other big relay DQ’s he’s caused that I’m not aware of? If not, that’s a grand total of two, and I get annoyed when people keep hanging this label on him of being a serial false starter, unreliable, lack of composure, etc. Do we really need to act all surprised when he does a clean relay start? Cordes is a young but very talented cornerstone of Team USA, and it would be great if fans could support him and root for him to reach his potential, rather than continually focusing on a few mistakes he’s made in the past.
He DQ’ed himself at Pan Pacs for removing his goggles, giving him 3 high profile DQ’s including 2 false starts.
He also has had a penchant for swimming poorly in finals. For instance in 2013 he swam 59.78 in the semis if the 100 breast, but was over 1:00 in the final. In the 200 he didn’t even make the final. In 2014 he swam 2:07 in the prelims at Nationals, then 2:09 in finals. He also swam much slower in the final than prelims in the 100 breast, contributing to why he didn’t make the team for Worlds this year in that event. He went 2:10 an Pan Pacs but scratched the final to focus on the medley… Read more »
This comment x1,000.
Odds are he wasn’t going to keep having such lapses, but given these all came in his first few international meets it just seems like it’s all that he does.
Makes him a bit more likely than another random National Teamer to DQ again, but I’d take the under on him ever having another single DQ.
HULK NOT BUYING THIS. HULK STILL ANGRY.
Seriously. What’s better for the US…
A) KelsI Worrell getting her medal at Pan Ams, and winning a weakened Nationals
Or
B) KelsI Worrell winning the World Trials meet and going to Kazan and racing Olssen and Sjolstrom, and grabbing a bronze or 4th/5th place finish?
In B) our best flyer would have tested herself against two stronger fields than she did this summer. She’d be ready to fight for a medal next summer. Realistically it’s fighting for silver, but she’d have already seen the big guns… now the first time she lays eyes on Olssen and Sjolstrom will be in Rio.
You could do this in lots of events.
I agree.
i am sure u meant to write ottesen from denmark.
i think if sjostrom maintains her form everyone is fighting for the silver and bronze, but maybe she will come back to earth next year, after all she did not medal in london even though she was one of the favorites behind vollmer. i agree that kelsi worrell and us swimming would have been MUCH better served with worrell in kazan not toronto and san antonio.
but which idiot puts the us nationals the exact same time as the worlds ?
The same people who schedule a selection meet one year before the actual competition.
Since the Fantastic 4 is coming out this weekend do you think “The Thing” could give “The Hulk” a good scrap? I’m not buying the outcome in World War Hulk. I think The Thing would have rung his bell.
Considering that the Thing, while an extremely strong mutant, is still a human, the Hulk most likely would win. Here’s why:
The Hulk gets stronger the madder he gets. The Thing stays at the same strength no matter how angry he is. Being angry COULD provide an adrenaline rush, but doesn’t actually make him physically stronger for an extended period of time. For the Hulk, it actually makes him even stronger. If you have the Thing pounding on the Hulk for an extended period of time, that would certainly make him mad.
Psh. Hulk would smash Thing into next month.
I’m not Thing Swim for a reason 😉
Yeah, you are probably right 🙂
Mmmm, I believe we call this damning with faint praise.
If you’re trying to make us look on the bright side, make sure all your facts are right! Murphy’s best time was most certainly not 53.64 from mid July. He went a 53.1 or 53.2 last year if I’m not mistaken.
While I agree it’s good to have the facts straight on the times, I don’t see how him swimming a 53.1 vs 53.64 would dampen anyone’s spirits? A 52.18 is awesome no matter what his previous best time was.
That relay will be even more dangerous with Schmitt on it… and if Missy can get back to form after training long course for a year.