Budapest 2022, Day 2 Africa Recap: The Curious Case Of Matt Sates

2022 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• June 18-25, 2022 (pool swimming)
• Budapest, Hungary
• Duna Arena
• LCM (50-meter format)
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• Full Aquatics Schedule
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When South African Olympic champion and world record-holder Tatjana Schoenmaker was revealed as absent on the heat sheets for World, it seemed as though Matt Sates might be the top-performing South African at this meet. Sates had much success in-season during 2021-2022. His feats included breaking a world junior record in the short course 200 freestyle (1:40.65), 400 freestyle (3:37.92), and 200 IM (1:51.45).

In 2022, Sates made the move to the University of Georgia, and just weeks after becoming a Bulldog he was an NCAA champion in the 500 freestyle. He also won medals in the 4×200 freestyle and 200 freestyle, placing second and third, respectively.

His performance thus far at the 2022 World Championships, however, lies in stark contrast with how the rest of his season went. After no-showing the 400 freestyle at the beginning of the meet, Matt Sates missed the final in both the 400 IM and 200 freestyle. He finished 11th in the medley with a 4:14.81 and in the 200 he tied Katsuhiro Matsumoto for 12th with a 1:46.63.

Those times trail in PBs in both events of 4:11.58 and 1:45.91, respectively, which he set earlier this year at the Mare Nostrum meet in Barcelona. So not only is Sates off his short course dominance from earlier this season, but he’s also trailing his long course times from just last month. That leaves us questioning the reason why Sates has underperformed thus far.

But there are multiple theories that might explain it.

The first potential reason that Sates hasn’t made any finals yet could simply be the fact that he was sick right before this meet began. We reported just days before the start of World Championships that Sates came down with an illness during training camp in Turkey and experienced a “bad cough.” Sates theorized that he got a chest infection.

Considering that we don’t know the full impact of whatever he came down with, it’s entirely possible that the result was a bout of fatigue that left him unable to swim to his full potential.

While illness is one possible answer, it’s also possible that Sates is currently in line with where he planned and expected to be at this meet. After all, when Sates discussed his pre-meet illness, he reminded fans that his summer taper has always been geared towards the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Sates is clearly more focussed on Comm Games, which begin in July, meaning that he likely didn’t fully taper for this meet.

When swimmers don’t fully taper for a meet and continue training hard up until a meet begins, they won’t usually deliver their best times.

The most likely answer here is that it’s a combination of illness and the focus on Commonwealth Games that has hampered Sates’ performance thus far. We know that Sates is able to swim fast while training considering his 3 world junior records and several more show-stopping swims at the World Cup in Fall 2021. He swam fast at 4 consecutive World Cup stops, winning a total of 18 medals.

So it seems that even if he hadn’t fully tapered for the 2022 World Championships if Sates hadn’t been affected by illness at the last minute, he would probably be swimming a bit faster. With a few weeks to go until racing begins at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, there’s likely not much to worry about in terms Sates’ potential this summer and long term.

While it seems like Sates’ first two days of this meet can be explained by illness and a focus on later in the summer, it’s also possible that he could be feeling the effects of a very long season featuring thousands of miles of travel and several changes in plan.

Matt Sates Travel / Racing Timeline 2021 – 2022

• September 2021: South African Short Course Championships
• October 2021: World Cup – Berlin
• October 2021: World Cup – Budapest
• October 2021: World Cup – Doha
• October 2021: World Cup – Kazan
• December: Was expected to race at 2021 Short Course Worlds but pulled out at the last minute
• January 2022: Travelled to Georgia to join Bulldogs
• February 2022: SEC Championships
• March 2022: NCAA Championships
• April 2022: Ends NCAA Career, turns pro, returns to South Africa
• April 2022: South African Championships
• May 2022: Mare Nostrum – Monte Carlo
• May 2022: Mare Nostrum – Barcelona
• May 2022: Mare Nostrum – Canet
• June 2022: Training camp in Turkey
• June 2022: World Championships – Budapest
• July – August 2022: Commonwealth Games – Birmingham

That’s a total of 12 high-level meets and 12 instances of flying to a new country between September 2021 and June 2022. Regardless of the athlete, that’s an incredibly intense schedule for one season and would undoubtedly have an impact.

Sates’ schedule this season was very jam-packed, but one might argue that it could serve as a model for what a true professional swimmer’s schedule should look like. He made full use of the opportunities to race at a high level out of the World Cup and Mare Nostrum meets, managed to get some NCAA racing in, raced at both the short course and long course national championship meets that were offered, and will close his season with two major international meets.

While Sates is in Budapest now (for the second time this season), he’s not finished yet. He will likely either back to South Africa after this meet or find a training spot in Europe for the month before Commonwealth Games. Then he will need to make the trip to England for Birmingham 2022 before bringing an end to his incredibly busy season.

So while Sates isn’t swimming at his top speed in Budapest, he’s still had one of the most successful seasons of any swimmer worldwide and could still reach his peak later in the summer.

NATIONAL RECORDS (AFRICA)

• Farida Osman broke the women’s 100 butterfly Egyptian record on day 1 of the meet with a 57.76 to takeout her former mark of 57.83 from 2016. On day 2, during the 100 butterfly final, Osman hit a 57.66 to take out the Egyptian and African records in the event.