Race footage is courtesy of Universal Sports Network, a SwimSwam Partner.
Men’s 200 Freestyle – Finals – Reported by SwimSwam
Ryan Lochte and Darian Townsend took out the first 100 ahead of the field. Ryan Lochte took advantage of his under waters to finish the race with the win. Lochte finished with a time of 1:49.48, just ahead of Townsend at 1:49.94. Michael McBroom had great closing speed on the final 50, almost running down Townsend for second place. He finished in third with a 1:50.4.
lochte changed stroke, look some odds for 200m freestyle
Compare Lochte from last year at Mesa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g3PRKrVFI8
He’s 3rd from the bottom- he placed 6th 1:51.2
With the new training and the fact that he’s getting older, I think Lochte may still get faster in 100s, but I think his 200 especially 200 free will suffer. I will be very impressed if he can get to 1:45 low this summer.
Lochte has COMPLETELY changed his freestyle stroke. If you compare this swim to his 200 free in Shanghai or his legs of the last USA 4×200 relays, it’s like watching 2 different swimmers.
Which I was surprised to see over a 200. His old stroke seemed much better suited to the distance.
I agree. I can understand the straight arm stroke for the shorter races like the 50m free and the 100m free but how will it work for the 200m free in the future?
Michael Klim comes to mind … However perhaps he is only experimenting
Can´t see Lochte as medal contender on 200 free anymore.. much less on 100.. but he is safe for a relay spot on 200 on 100 he will need to get some speed to be on a relay..