Cullen Jones, 4-time Olympic medalist, may impact swimming more than any athlete in the United Stated when we look back on the sport twenty years from now. As the first African American swimmer to win Olympic gold in swimming (Beijing 2008), Jones has been a tireless ambassador for diversity and an advocate for water safety. Partnering with the USA Swimming Foundation’s national initiative Make a Splash has given Jones a large platform to spread the message that learning to swim saves lives.
In sum, Jones works hard in and out of the water.
As a sprint specialist, Jones has continued to develop his speed under iconic swim coach David Marsh (SwimMAC). Jones surprised many last summer when he took second in the 100m free and won the 50m free at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials. At the London Olympic Games, Jones netted gold on the 4×100 medley relay, silver on the 4×100 freestyle relay, and a silver in the 50m freestyle, his first individual medal on the Olympic stage.
Jones returned to swimming faster this year, this post Olympic year, than he did in 2009 after the Beijing Games. His in-season 22.16 at the 2013 Charlotte Ultraswim was a very positive sign that Jones means business aiming for 50m free gold at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
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This is a Gold Medal Media production presented by SwimOutlet.com. Host, Gold Medal Mel Stewart, is a 3-time Olympic medalist and co-founder of swimswam.com.
Go Cullen, I was wondering where you were.
Anthony Nesty won gold in the 100 fly in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
He’s Afro American or is he Afro South American?
Billy – he’s not United States of American. He was born in Trinidad & Tobago, and represented Suriname (South American) where his family moved at 9 months old.
He may have gotten citizenship now, but not sure he had it when he won his gold medal.
This is meant as no disrespect to Cullen, but I’ve always thought that he would be better served with a “bigger” stroke. He is on the short end of the wide range of male sprint freestyle techniques, and seems to really take a lot of strokes in his 50.
Check out the 50 free final from London –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2Tf9NUnesQ
It appears that Manaudou just seemed to pull away from Jones in the final 15…could Jones’s technique have had something to do with it?
I counted Manaudou finishing with 14 strokes from the 15 to the wall, Jones with 15 strokes. Both had a .95-1.05 tempo, while Manaudou is an inch… Read more »
Jones swims with a much more ‘total immersion’ style stroke than most of the other 50m guys and whilst it may look short he’s probably getting a stronger and more efficient catch than Manadou is with his straight arm entry (though with [probably] less leverage). I guess it’s all about finding the balance between displacing water in a directionally appropriate way whilst maintaining as deep a catch as possible so that not all leverage is sacrificed. (I’ve found that straight arm guys gain absolutely massive leverage but are unable to displace water in a directionally efficient way whilst bent arm athletes can displace water in a very directionally specific way but with less Nm due to not having such ‘long’… Read more »
I would agree here, although it seems with Manaudou that he gets his hand into a pretty early vertical forearm while ALSO getting as much length as possible with his stroke…he does both so well.
DutchWoman,
with those preconditions, all the other things being equal, I believe you and your physics are correct.
Great to hear about his future motivations . Very promising .
Good luck with that.It will be tought, very tought.Be prepared to break 21 barrier.
Agreed…it’ll take sub 21 by ’16 to win….
It will take an unprecedented athlete to do what the suit did with Cielo. In the meantime, I don’t see Cielo’s WR going down by 2016. His 100 record however, is more vulnerable.
I think if is not broken, his record will be ready to be broken in 2016.You have to put in account Cielo record was made running along 100.A specific training athlete for 50 free can do some damage and come out of nowhere and blast that record.I am just seeing 50 free age group records falling everywhere(Australia,Brazil,Russia and US).A new generation is coming out, and they will be tough, very tough to beat.
Right now, i think Manaudou have a shot at 21.1 or lower(if Cielo knees wasn t poor i will put him too-his 21.57 from April show that).
Great interview, but Mel, you’re looking a bit pasty.
Ha….I know. I’m back in the pool, swimming outside for summer.