Olympic champion Brooks Curry moved to Berkeley to train under Dave Durden and the Golden Bears last summer after finishing his degree at LSU. Curry trained with Durden at the 2021 Olympic training camp and since then knew he wanted to train under the coaching maestro.
Curry didn’t want to discuss his NCAA eligibility, but we did talk about his move to Berkeley and how it has impacted his leadup to the 2024 Olympic Trials. Alongside training partners like world champion Jack Alexy and Olympian Bjorn Seeliger, Curry is confident this is the greatest preparation he could have leading into an Olympic year.
See Also: Brooks Curry Is In the Transfer Portal, But Not Planning to Swim at Cal
Once you go Cali…
I bet he is swimming at cal this semester
I guarantee it. This is Dave Marsh we are talking about.
Would be crazy if the double runner up in 50/100 free from 2 years ago is now the 3rd best sprint freer on his own team
If you are referring to Brooks, he was not the double runner up 2 years ago (2022). He won both of those events.
Think he was referring to Bjorn Seeliger
Wow, giving Bjorn some props, so rare from you Andrew, but it’s nice to see you grow personally!
He’s the third best sprint freer on his own team and chokes away any opportunity. Still a fast guy and pencil him in for 2 top seeds and 2 chokes but I’d like to see him show up more (at all) in an individual final
I thought Cal didn’t take swimmers from outside……but I guess Hunter tore off that bandaid?
Good luck to Brooks!
Was it that cal didn’t take swimmers or were people just not asking to join the group?
I understood it as Cal didn’t take swimmers. Focus was always on the collegiate team and coaches would only split their attention for alumni. Unsure if it is/was an athletic department rule or personal.
It’s possible Hunter didn’t rip the bandaid off, but Dave Marsh certainly could have.
People have definitely asked and they were always turned down before Hunter. I’m sure Bowe asked about bringing Hunter as he was working through the hiring process. Closest previous example of an outside swimmer has been Coleman’s brother not swimming at Cal as an undergrad, but getting his PhD there and Durden allowing him to train with the bears.
A key piece of our 4 x 100 free relay. Decent shot at an individual swim.
A decent shot at the 800 free relay as well
Probably true re the 800, but if he makes it that’s a result of some of the young guys who have great SCY times not translating them into LCM, which would bode poorly for our chances at the Olympics.
Who do you have in mind for this comment? A 1:46.39 is legit and would have made the world’s team if he swam that time at the A final. 2023 is his first year swimming the 200 LCM free since 2019 (according to swimcloud), his previous best is a 1:51, so I think he still has room to improve, maybe to a 1:45, which should guarantee a top 6 finish at trials.
From a SCY perspective, Heilman and Williamson. I would also include McFadden as a young guy and Urlando as a ceiling guy for that relay. If we assume Hobson, Foster, and Smith are all on reasonable form going into the games, our chances at winning the relay will have a massive difference between finding a fourth leg who can split something akin to a 1:45.0 rather than a 1:45.high or 1:46.low.
Kibler should be the fourth leg, he is looking good now training with Bob. But GB should honestly be running away with this relay, with 3 guys that can split 1:43, and challenging the WR. So the US is the clear favourite for silver anyway.
Watch out for South Korea too!
As someone who had many many many dollars wagered on Australia winning the women’s 800 at the last Olympics, there shouldn’t be a high level of certainty applied to that race.
Yeah, it’s really weird how the best 200 fliers/backstrokers/breaststrokers are consistently doing really fast times – Milak/Phelps have been sub 1:53 many times, Irie/Lochte/Rylov/Piersol have been sub 1:54 many times and ZSC has been sub 2:07 quite a few times, yet a sub 1:44 is incredibly rare in the 200 free. That inconsistency extends even into the 1:44-1:45s: guys with 1:44 low PBs going a second slower as relay leadoffs almost as a rule, or splitting slower times than their flat start PBs.
My theory is because freestyle is the most effective stroke, doing a 200 is not as different from doing a 100 phyisiologically than, say, doing short-axis strokes, which really aren’t energy efficient, so a 100 and… Read more »
Solid analysis! Andy Hardt-level quality.
Wow thanks.
How fast are you expecting those guys to be? If he cuts half a second from his B final at worlds trials last summer and makes the relay with a 1:45.7 I wouldn’t be worried about the younger 200 guys at all
I don’t think a 1:45-mid to high is out of the question for Williamson at all at the rate he’s shedding time.