2020 TOKYO SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES
- When: Pool swimming: Saturday, July 24 – Sunday, August 1, 2021
- Open Water swimming: Wednesday, August 4 – Thursday, August 5, 2021
- Where: Olympic Aquatics Centre / Tokyo, Japan
- Heats: 7 PM / Semifinals & Finals: 10:30 AM (Local time)
- Full aquatics schedule
- SwimSwam Event Previews
- Entry Lists
- Live Results
Day 6 Finals Recap
In the first men’s 200 IM Olympic final without 4-time champion Michael Phelps since Sydney 2000, it was China’s Wang Shun who took the Tokyo 2020 Olympic title with an Asian record swim of 1:55.00. Here’s a quick refresher on the top 8 final finish below:
Top 8 Results:
- GOLD: Wang Shun (CHN), 1:55.00
- SILVER: Duncan Scott (GBR), 1:55.28
- BRONZE: Jeremy Desplanches (SUI), 1:56.17
- Daiya Seto (JPN), 1:56.22
- Michael Andrew (USA), 1:57.31
- Kosuke Hagino (JPN), 1:57.40
- Laszlo Cseh (HUN), 1:57.68
- Lewis Clareburt (NZL), 1:57.70
Here’s a closer look at the entire men’s 200 IM field’s splits from the Olympic final:
Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Men’s 200 IM Final Splits
During the Tokyo Olympic final, Michael Andrew had the fastest fly (24.21) and breast (32.11) splits of the entire field. Meanwhile, champion Wang Shun had the fastest back (29.00) split out of the field, where he touched first at the 100-mark, as well as the fastest free split. Wang (27.37), Scott (27.46), Desplanches (28.45), and Seto (28.58) bested Andrew (30.69) on the freestyle leg, all over-taking him by more than a second at the finish. Notably, Andrew had the slowest splits on both the back (30.30) and free (30.69) portions. The next-slowest free split came from 6th-place finisher Kosuke Hagino, who was able to put together a 29.13 finishing freestyle effort.
Since the prelims of the U.S. Olympic Trials, Michael Andrew adopted the bold strategy of taking out the first 150 as fast as he could and push the last 50 as best as he could. It worked relatively well in Omaha, as he lead all three rounds of the IM event before punching his Olympic ticket. Yet Andrew was unable to repeat his 1:55.26 in Tokyo, besting 1:56.40 out of prelims before swimming 1:57.31 in the final.
Looking at the split comparison chart, Andrew’s fly/back/free splits had slightly declined between the 2020 U.S. Trials semifinals, Tokyo prelims, and the Olympic final. In the final, Andrew’s free split of 30.69 was three-tenths slower than his 30.30 back split. At the back-to-breast turn, Wang momentarily had the slight advantage on the entire field thanks to his 29.00 back split, exactly 1.69s faster than Andrew’s closing 50 split. Andrew then re-gained the race advantage by out-splitting Wang on the breast leg by 1.74s, 32.11 to 33.85.
Notably, Wang split 27.37 on the final 50 free to upgrade his Olympic bronze from Rio 2016 to Olympic gold at 1:55.00. Andrew’s closing 50 effort was 30.69, exactly 3.32s from Wang’s split.
| Wang – Tokyo Final | MA – 2020 U.S. Trials Semi | MA – Tokyo Prelims |
MA – Tokyo Final
|
|
| 1st 50 | 24.78 | 23.90 | 24.09 | 24.21 |
| 2nd 50 | 29.00 | 29.19 | 29.62 | 30.30 |
| 3rd 50 | 33.85 | 32.21 | 32.66 | 32.11 |
| 4th 50 | 27.37 | 29.96 | 30.03 | 30.69 |
| Final Time | 1:55.00 | 1:55.26 | 1:56.40 | 1:57.31 |
he was swimming over a second slower in the first 100 in finals in Tokyo vs Omaha. All of his swims in Omaha were under 54 for the first 100( 53.65 prelim, 53.09 semi, 53.06 final). But his final yesterday was 54.51 (53.71 prelim, 53.65 semi) which seems to be way too slow by his standard. Not sure that was the result of trying new strategy or if that was Olympic stress or tiredness that got to him.
His last 50s were:
Tokyo: 30.03 (prelim), 30.68 (semi) and 30.69 (final).
Omaha: 29.84 (prelim), 29.96 (semi) and 30.09 (final)
Seriously have a question about USPRT and its concept. Not being a competitive swimmer nor trained in any capacity, I am interested in understanding USRPT. This is not mean to be against Peter and Michael Andrew or USRPT.
Based on what I heard the Andrews explain USRPT or from SS, my understanding is that it is training at race pace for specific race. But I remember MA said one of the key is that by training at race pace, the body develop the needed neural connection (don’t remember the exact term) for the muscle to swim fast. Therefore, when one cannot keep the needed pace in a practice for a few repeats, it is better to stop so as not… Read more »
The 50 is a bit of an anomaly because he doesn’t have to breathe. The technique is probably different enough that it’s almost like another stroke. Especially for MA who struggles with his breathing on free. Not much “interference” there in my opinion.
For your second question, it would still be different from “traditional” training because everything would be done at the pace for whichever race they were working on. Traditional training can kind of look like anything (long swims, threshold, sprints, etc.), but USRPT means doing repeats at race pace until failure. For MA, he might do 25s at 100 pace until failure for their first set and then 50s at 200 pace until failure for their second… Read more »
thanks for elaborating the idea.
It was exciting to watch the final day of swimming (pool). That men’s medley relay is such a high point. With all the ups and downs, MA delivered in that race.
In fact, his 50 free was fine as well. He was swimming faster as he advanced through prelim to final.
The neural pattering, or learned skill, that results in a training effect through proper USRPT implementation involves three things:
1). Technique at the specific race-pace
2). Race strategy (psychology) at the race-pace.
3). Energy requirements (physiology) at the specific race-pace
This is how you can train for different races of the same stroke.
People to finish faster than Michael Andrew’s 30.69
He is coming undone as the games progress. It might be a mistake to use him in the IM relay. He does not seem to be much of a team player so using him in the relay could be risky.
Nic fink pls 🙏🏼
Some brutal headlines out there. “Michael Andrew, who invited the spotlight, wilts in final 50 meters of 200 individual medley.”
I predict MA will be scared off from the 200 IM for a while (and maybe ever, like Schooling and the 200 fly) and just do the 50 free and stroke 100’s, which he’s really good at. He’s gotta realize after 8 years as a pro, that he’s just never going to be able to bring home the last 50 of the 200 LCM IM unless he drastically changes training methods. And it’s tough to not only bounce back from a complete bust (2 seconds add after all the talk of the WR goal time in training), especially knowing that no matter what, you’ll always be worrying about one of the guys (or all of the guys) running you down… Read more »
Training methods & freestyle stroke mechanics too, let’s not forget the latter.
Did MA’s hand touch the wall on his back-to-breast turn? It didn’t look like it, and his split didn’t register on TV (he wasn’t shown among the leaders).
I thought MA’s backstroke looked slow (for him) in the final. I wonder what happened there? At the time I thought maybe he was experimenting with holding back in the first part of the race to see if he could close faster. If that is what he was doing, it obviously didn’t work.
At least for now, it seems like backing off on the first part of the race doesn’t benefit his final 50. It will be slow either way. If you are wired for “fly and die” that might be your only strategy. Might as well go for it.
Ok but then how did he go 1.55 low at trials one month ago ? That was with the same strategy. I think that he didn’t get used to morning finals, timezone or something else, but this ‘method’ clearly can produce some solid times.
I too wondered whether he was trying to save some energy on Back. I suspect several 200 Flyers have learned something similar: they might as well go out pretty fast, because they’re going to die at the end either way. Of course, the 200 IM ain’t the 200 Fly, and there oughta be a way to keep your Free from looking like an age-grouper’s.
Yeah, it isn’t just that he runs out of gas. His freestyle technique falls apart. He really needs to develop a mid-distance style of stroke, which allows him to breath without losing all his momentum.
And why does his Free entry look so short? Is his wingspan less than his height or something? Maybe it’s a lack of shoulder extension?
I think it’s a lack of rotation. A flatter stroke is common in a 50, but once you get into middle distance where you are breathing 2’s, and especially at the end of a race when the fatigue has set in, you need to be rotating more in order to create that DPS.
Then I don’t understand how he went 1.55 at trials with the same exact strategy. Something else other than this strategy made him lose. Could be morning finals, timezone….