Men’s 200 breaststroke at 2013 World Championship Trials as reported by swimswam editor-in-chief, Braden Keith:
Even after some incredible yards swims in the college season, there were still a lot of questions surrounding Kevin Cordes’ potential on the international level. Could he do it in long course? What is the perspective on yards swim, in which most of the world’s best don’t swim (moreso in breaststroke than any other discpline)?
He did not give a definitive answer to all of those questions, but he certainly gave an emphatic answer to all of those questions with a 2:08.34 in the men’s 200 breaststroke to win the National Championship. That’s the best time in the world so far in 2013, though there’s still a current and a former World Record holder (Akahiro Yamaguchi from Japan and Daniel Gyurta from Hungary) lurking.
Coming in 2nd was Stanford post-grad BJ Johnson, who is working on his Ph.D in engineering, but still found the time to train his way to an eight-tenths of a second lifetime best.
And so there will be two fresh swimmers in this race as compared to last year’s Olympic Games: the only time through the meet’s first two days that we can say that. Clark Burckle, who was one of those two Olympians, went out hard with his teammate Cordes, but was unable to hold on to that pace over the last 75 meters and slid to 4th in 2:11.70.
Georgia’s Nic Fink maybe missed an opportunity as he was unable to match his prelims seed. He was a 2:10.97 for third in finals, though his prelims swim would’ve put him to the touch with Johnson for that second spot. Still, Fink turned a serious corner on his long course career on Wednesday, and becomes a serious contender for Worlds in 2015 and Rio in 2016.
Cal’s Josh Prenot took 5th in 2:12.23, with a very consistent prelims-finals spread, and Cody Millerfrom Indiana took 6th in 2:12.91.
Mike Alexandrov had a solid 2:13.12 for 7th, which is a good forebear for the sprint breaststrokes, his best races, later in the meet.
Scott Weltz had a better B-Final swim, winning that heat in 2:12.55 to runaway with that race. He’s battled a lot of injuries this year, so all-things-considered, that’s a solid time for him.
Video edited by Coleman Hodges.
I’m sure Kevin Cordes will be a great LCM swimmer. No doubts about that.
But can I ask a question of a non-American? And please don’t kill me! Correct me if I’m wrong but in a season like this 2012/2013 season the college swimmers train in SCY from September to March. It means around 7 months of SCY training. If they trained at least half of this period in long course, do you not believe they would be much faster at these world trials? Do you believe Caeleb Dressel would have swum so fast with a so great time drop in the 100 free if he had trained during a so long period in yards? And if he goes… Read more »
I think you’re taking The Law of Specificity a bit too seriously.
Not everything in life translates so simply.
It’s not a question of “if you train 5 months LCM, you’ll be better than if only 2 months LCM”
Nor is it always “Miss Romano should stop training backstroke and only focus on freestyle”
Everything is not black and white, simple to categorize. You’re trying to predict the future in absolute terms, an endeavor doomed to fail.
And of course Caeleb Dressel will run into bumps on his progression curve, whether he trains SCY or LCM. He’s 16.
Since you asked so nicely, I will not kill you.
Now, please, stop obsessing over 15 year-old USA female swimmers.
Bob Mon Cheri.
I am not obsessed with you and your posts do entertain me. Don’t you see I start every reply to you with “Mon Cheri.” Come on. You did break my heart when you said that my post about Allie Szekely was one of the stupidest every posted on swimswam. I had hard time sleeping last night. Why, Bobo, why?
Now about swimming yards affecting LC swims…Nobody forces swimmers to go to college. But since only 2 will go to OG or WC, your chances of having great fun at college and having great fun by being part of a team are much grater than going to OG or WC. USA has plenty of great swimmers who can… Read more »
>He has a great pull
That was supposed to be “great kick”
Dear psychodad, you don’t read me very well. When I said that one of your comments was one of the most stupid I had seen, it was the comment about Kevin Cordes. He will probably break the American record this year or next year and you continue to say his technique doesn’t work. Very curious.
Let me try again, as the previous post was deleted. I understand Bobo Gigi is “a very active and very valued part of the community” with emphasis on ‘very active’, but posts like that annoy the crap out of me. It truly undermines what level of discussion this site could have.
The world isn’t black and white, Bobo. 12 months LCM doesn’t necessarily produce better results than 2 months LCM. Training for many things doesn’t necessarily produce worse results than specializing in one event. And of course Caeleb Dressel will experience bumps on his progression curve sooner or later, whether he trains LCM or SCY, he’s 16. But Megan Romano and Liz Pelton do indeed read this site and will… Read more »
“It truly undermines what level of discussion this site could have.”
That statement makes no sense. In fact, that’s what makes the level of discussion this site has!
“Authorities” like you are the ones who make this sport boring, who are why the sport is floundering to draw an audience, and why people sit on their hands at big meets. God forbid you say anyone have a poor swim. God forbid you say anyone should do something differently.
Look, you may have been around swimming too long to not understand what it means to be a “fan” of sports, but this is what “fans” of sports do. They discuss, they second guess, they question, they cheer, they jeer. That is… Read more »
SwimmingAboreity what do you mean by swimmers and coaches are killing swimming?
Fortunately, I had said :”Please, don’t kill me!” Excuse me if I’m not a big swimming specialist like you.
Psychodad,
“He will panic, pick up stroke count and fall apart” …wow a very negative prediction from someone who has nothing personal against the guy. He has shown consistent improvement with every big swim, and at 19 has all the time in the world to prove you wrong. I for one wish him luck in Barcelona and absolutely “see it happening”, if not there, then soon after. When it does you’ll probably start speculating that he can’t repeat it, just how you are.
Bobo,
Something you may not have considered is that a majority of pools in the United States that age group swimmers have access to were built in short course yards. It is implausible to reconstruct all of them, so we keep the short course yard season and keep it in college. The NCAA actually switched to SCM during Olympic years for at least 2 seasons (2000, 2004) but then abandoned that idea in 2008.
It is also my understanding that even some professional swimmers who aren’t worrying with college, do not train exclusively in a long course pool. I have heard that NBAC trains in mostly SCM even when they have the ability to swim long course everyday.
Bobo:
Many of the top college programs train in 50 meter pools. Many of these programs train Long Course only during the early phases of training……then switch between long course and short course from AM to PM workouts during another phase of the season. Some are creative with bulkheads and set them at “odd” distances to create “muscle/neuro” confusion that is beneficial for both SCY and LCM racing. It is true that as SCY championship season approaches then most switch to SCY training only. My point is that it not generally true that the college swimmer trains SCY exclusively during the 6 months of SCY season.
The great David Durden once said (via a Tom Shields SwimSwam interview): “a great swimmer is a great swimmer”
Short course, long course, doesn’t matter, they will find a way to get their hand on the wall first (Cielo, Adrian, Lochte, Franklin, Schmitty, etc.)
Dear Kevin,
You are a freestyler.
Sincerely,
Pyschodad
do u have more jokes of this kind in store ???
John, you are more obsessed with me than Bobo is with 15 year old USA female swimmers.
Here is a fact for your good night.
Kevin Cordes – 50 yard free 20.67 2013 MENS PAC12 SWIMMING
Dear psychodad, it looks like you are obsessed with me. With always stupid comments on me. You are really pathetic. If you have a problem with France, it’s not my fault. And if you have a problem with Kevin Cordes, it’s not my fault either.
You pointing out a 20.6 in the 50 free as proof that he is a freestyler is making this obsession grow even deeper. That would have been proof of something in the mid-80s. You do realize that Kevin is in college and not an age grouper?
Love it John. So good.
I would say he’s a rapidly improving LCM swimmer. He’ll learn to swim that race a bit better and will get stronger as well. I think he’ll get that 2:07 and maybe a 2:06 in the next year or two.
He was on world record pace for the entire race, then fell off in the final 50. At worlds, he can be out with the leaders, but can he keep it up?
-Cordes 28.91, 1:01.22, 1:34.25, then came back in 34.09.
-Yamaguchi 29.16, 1:01.72, 1:34.78
Actually he really died only in the last 15 m or so.
He needs to be more careful with his second kick after the start, the officials in Barcelona may not be as forgiving.