Yesterday’s training session for the University of Texas men was essentially one big test set, known as The Eddie Reese Invite. The collection of events range from sprints to mega-distance, as this year’s edition included the following:
600 IM
600 free
300 stroke
2000 free
300 IM
300 free
150 stroke
400 free
100 IM
100 free
50 stroke
Times being reported from the Longhorns’ Twitter account were certainly eye-popping across the board, beginning with junior Clark Smith‘s remarkably consistent 2000 freestyle. With a total time of 17:44.39, Smith reportedly split an even 8:52/8:52, with every 50 being clocked at either 26.5 or 26.6, save his first and final 50s. Of the swim, Coach Reese commented, “It gave me chills. And, I’m definitely too old for chills.”
Two freshmen backstrokers fired off noteworthy times in the 300 dsitance, as Ryan Harty and John Shebat registered marks of 2:40.78 and 2:49.20, respectively. Add in Joseph Schooling‘s 300 freestyle time of 2:29.61, Will Licon‘s 300 breaststroke outing of 2:57.89 along with Jack Conger‘s 300 butterfly mark of 2:39.88 and the “meet “already ranks among the most exciting of the season.
As the grand finale, Conger and Schooling went head-to-head in a 50y butterfly showdown, whose video is shown below. Final times? As two of the NCAA’s top butterflyers, it was a frenzied finish to the wall, as one would expect. Conger wound up on top with a time of 20.71, while Schooling touched in 20.86.
Here you go, 50 fly challenge Conger 20.71 Schooling 20.86 pic.twitter.com/x44pua0Vwt
— Texas Men’sSwimDive (@TexasMSD) October 30, 2015
We rarely get to see a side by side comparison of starts. Going frame by frame, their time to entry was identical, but their angle of entry was very different — Schooling had a much more steep angle of entry. They broke surface after the start at virtually the exact same time and distance. Wish they’d show their underwaters, particularly their depth and frequency. Could Schooling go faster with a less steep entry, or Conger faster with a steeper entry?
How great it is for those guys to be able to race head to head like that.
Conger destroyed him off the start and came up way further ahead
Take a look at the four second mark of the video. Identical entry timing (hands entering the water) and points of entry (distance from blocks). From the angle it’s tough to say how much Conger “destroyed him” on the start, but it had to be negligible since they were probably less than a tenth apart at the 25.
And pyscho dad has no clue
I had clark at 26.5 and 26.6 every 50. But what do I know. Im looking for my eleventh ring cuz I ran out of fingers
You all are so cute. And psychodad even cuter. The real question is why didnt Mcbroom race Clark in the 2000?? I know why
Good angle on that video. Interesting Conger has so Un-Eddie bent elbows on start, while Schooling rips the start board up and gets better response time, also because he does not pull backward. Schooling took a breath on the first stroke after the turn but Conger did not.
Conger didn’t take a breath. caught one at the turn, obviously, but never lifted his head. That’s some Eddie-Reese philosophy on Short-course butterfly taking effect.
I’ll agree that Conger looks more powerful, but that also might be because its a 50, not a 200. Wouldn’t be surprised to see his stroke change up for a 2Fly.
As for the bent-vs straight elbows, that just might be due to Conger’s size. He’d be so high up on the blocks if he didn’t bend his elbows, that he wouldn’t be at the right angle to create a lot of power, nor would he get to the water as fast. Just my two cents.
Could you write rests between swims
They’re swimming in salt water and that bulkhead is set to 23 yards for the pool length.
I will be needing some better conspiracy theories the closer we get to March.
All Hail Eddie Reese and the Boys from Texas!