Video produced by Coleman Hodges.
Reported by Jared Anderson.
200 BREASTSTROKE – FINALS
- NCAA – 1:48.66 – Kevin Cordes, Arizona – 2014
- Championship – 1:48.66 – Kevin Cordes, Arizona – 2014
- American – 1:48.66 – Kevin Cordes, Arizona – 2014
- US Open – 1:48.66 – Kevin Cordes, Arizona – 2014
- 2014 Champion – Kevin Cordes, Arizona – 1:48.66
Arizona’s Kevin Cordes opened up a solid lead over the first 50 yards of the 200 breast, and it looked like things might already be over, with Cordes likely the best closer in short course breastroking history.
But Texas’s Will Licon started moving into contention around the 100, and the dynamic of the race completely changed. Cordes, typically long, powerful and controlled through an entire 200, seemed like a different swimmer late in the race. In a phrase probably never written on SwimSwam before, Kevin Cordes appeared to shorten up.
Cordes typically opens his race with 4 strokes a length, and accelerates his tempo to 5 strokes or so over the final 75. But Cordes jumped to 5 strokes one length earlier than that, and was up to 6 strokes per length for the last 50. Licon, meanwhile, surged forward and timed his finish better than Cordes, nipping him for the NCAA title 1:49.48 to 1:49.53. Those two stand up as the 4th- and 5th-fastest times ever swum in the event.
Cal’s Chuck Katis was in the hunt until the end, and moves into the top 10 in history with a 1:50.54 that earned him bronze. Meanwhile Georgia’s Nic Fink dropped under 1:51 for the first time in his illustrious career, going 1:50.80. Incredibly, before this meet, Cordes was the only man ever under 1:51 – in just one race, we had three more men break that barrier.
I See Mel coming into the room with the camera! Sweet.
i wish they would have asked katis why he didn’t wear is team identified sweats on the podium
shirtless? really – this isn’t an audition for magic man 2 …everyone had team identified gear or warm ups and he comes out with no shirt ….i would hope the coach or someone in the cal admin would say something
Really?????
I hope you are kidding. A swimmer with no shirt on gets you upset?
Probably a compression fabric. Runners sometimes wear compression socks to aid recovery after a workout or race (I do). The theory is that it promotes bloodflow and helps muscles eliminate waste products such as lactates more quickly. From what I’ve read, the research is divided as to whether it actually works, but I figure it can’t hurt.
I think the key thing is if the athletes THINKS it works… then it works 🙂
It should work in theory, but yeah, the placebo effect is likely equally strong or stronger here. Hey Hulk, check out last night’s big thread. I joined your defense of poking fun at diving in response to the person criticizing us for it. I did it after a couple beers and I think you might enjoy the result, check it out. 😉
Interesting…what is this secret Arena recovery material he is wearing? How does that work?