This past week, many of the world’s best swimmers were in various locations around the western Pacific making final preparations for the upcoming World Championships in Shanghai. Others were in Athens, Georgia, testing their skills in the water with the likes of French World Champion Laure Manaudou.
The West Coast destination over the weekend, however, was the Los Angeles Invite hosted at the USC pool. The meet included what was left of Trojan Aquatics huge senior group, a large contingent down from Stanford, a large portion of the Tucson Ford squad, and an Australian “B-squad” comprised of swimmers who were not competing in the World Championships or the Universiade, though in a country as deep as Australia, this meant they still brought a ton of big names with them.
Among the stars on the men’s side of the meet was France’s Clement Lefert, who trains with the home-team Trojan Aquatics. He blasted a 49.37 100 free that smokes his career-best time by almost a full second for him. That gave him a sizable win in a race that included stars like William Copeland, Matt Grevers, and Ned McKendry: a promising teenager from Australia. A later effort of 1:48.9 in the 200 free (the second such time this season) puts him in great position for the French 800 free relay.
While the French sprint group is incredibly crowded at the moment, Lefert showed with that swim that he’s certainly capable of earning a spot on the Olympic Team next year (if he forgoes competing at NCAA;s since it’s the same weekend as French Trials).
Grevers, who was 4th in the 100 free, would have his biggest exclamation-mark of the meet in the men’s 100 backstroke, where he set a new meet record in 54.15. This time just skimmed the mark by former Stanford standout Peter Marshall in 2009. That time was eight-tenths off of Grevers’ mark from the Paris Open, which currently ranks him 3rd in the world.
A bright young star for the Australian women’s distance group is 14-year old Remy Fairweather. She took the women’s 800 in 8:37.07. To put that swim in perspective, the fastest 13-14 girl in the United States in the 800 free is Becca Mann, who swam an 8:41 last week at the Florida Summer Age Group State Championship meet.
In the men’s 1500, Auburn sophomore Zane Grothe continued a torrential improvement by winning in a career-best time of 15:34.98. He bested Indiana junior Ryan Hinshaw, who touched in 15:39.24. Grother came on like gangbusters at the 2011 NCAA Championship meet where he finished 7th in the 500 and 6th in the mile. He was a great high school swimmer, but has improved at a huge rate since making the jump to college training.
A standout in the men’s 200 fly was embattled swimmer Nick D’Arcy, who would’ve been a World Championship medal contender were it not for illness during this year’s Australian Trials, was in Los Angeles. This was probably the best place for him to be to avoid the assured media circus that would surround the announcement that he owed $180,000 to Simon Cowley in the civil side of the assault case that kept D’Arcy out of the 2008 Olympics.
D’Arcy swam solidly despite, and posted a win in the 200 fly in 1:56.88. That’s a second-and-a-half off of his season best in the event, which has him ranked 6th in the World. It’s not clear what he will use as his summer championship meet, given that there are no major Australian meets on the long course schedule, or if he will simply train straight through until the Aussie Olympic Trials, which come fairly early in the annual schedule (in March, compared to June for the United States).
In the shorter, 100 fly, former Japanese Record Holder Masayuka Kishida, who trains with Tucson Ford Aquatics, smoked a 53.24 to take the victory (that’s off of his season-best time). Cal’s Tom Shields, who was the 2010 NCAA Champion in this event and the runner-up last year, took 2nd in 53.38. For Shields, that stands as the second-best time of his career, behind only his finals swim from Nationals last year that earned him a spot on the National Team.
Perhaps the most impressive performance of the meet was from Mission Aurora Colorado Swimming’s Bonnie Brandon. Brandon, who will be part of the 2012 recruiting class that will go down as the best backstroking class in the history of NCAA swimming, swam a 2:11.83 meet record. That bested a mark that had stood since New Zealand’s Melissa Ingram swam a 2:12.00 all the way back in 2007.
That time ranks Brandon 4th in the country in the 200 back this year, with the three swimmers in front of her (Elizabeth Beisel, Missy Franklin, and Liz Pelton) all swimming at this summer’s World Championships. Ponder those names for a second. That means the four fastest American 200 backstrokers in 2011 are all 18 or younger. If you stretch that out further, the 5th (Kathleen Hersey-21) and 6th (Madison White-16) ranked swimmers in this race are also relatively young. This has got to be unprecedented youth in the American backstroke ranks.
Australia’s answer to Brandon is 16-year old Mikkayla Sheridan, who took 2nd in 2:12.15. In April, Sheridan broke the Australian Age Record in the 200 backstroke with a 2:09.82, the fastest ever by an Aussie 16-year old.
Overall, the meet was a great tuneup for both Junior and Senior Nationals, and especially had a lot of second-swims for under-18 competitors.
By the measure of world rankings & ‘scalps ” Ellen Fullerton beats Bonnie with a 16th ranked 400 im beating Julia Smit – currently top ranked American.
Bonnie’s swim puts her at 41st.