Men’s 200 IM – 2013 World Championship Trials – as reported by swimswam:
If there’s one real takeaway from this meet that every swim fan in the world will be interested in, it’s that maybe Ryan Lochte wasn’t in as bad of shape as he led us all to believe. That, or he’s incredibly tough. Lochte lept to the top of the World Rankings and is three-tenths of a second faster than anybody else ahs been after a 1:55.44 to win the 200 IM title and grab at least a 7th event.
Lochte was out in 53.0 – four-tenths of a second faster than his own opening split at the 2011 World Championships where he broke the World Record that still stands.
He lost that pace on the second 100 meters, but that’s still a statement-making swim for Lochte in this race.
Close behind him was his former training partner Conor Dwyer in 1:57.74, and also out of the NBAC stable Chase Kalisz was 3rd in 1:58.52.
For Dwyer, that’s about a half-second time drop from last year’s Olympic Trials and a nice recovery from his DQ in the 400 free on Friday night.
Texas’ Austin Surhoff went another lifetime best of 1:58.80 for 4th place, followed by Cal’s Josh Prenotin 2:00.33.
Dynamo Swim Club’s Gunnar Bentz was 6th in 2:00.88, followed by Kyle Whitaker (2:01.31) and Georgia sophomore Ty Stewart (2:01.45).
David Nolan won the B-Final in a very good 2:00.35, which finally breaks him through for a new personal best: one he’s been waiting since the 2010 Jr. Pan Pac Championships. If anyone has benefited from the many developments in Stanford, including new head coaches for both men’s and women’s programs and a new-look professional training group, it’s Nolan.
supposedly phelps is back in the drug pool …any truth to that?
weirdo, read here: at the end of the 1st quarter of 2013, the last data put out publically, Phelps was not tested. USADA doesn’t release names of who is in the pool, I’ve asked time and time again. Unless someone saw Phelps fill out the paperwork or has a better leak at the USADA than I do, there’s not much too it. We’d find out for sure in a month or so when USADA puts out the latest testing numbers.
http://swimswam.com/phelps-again-denies-comeback-this-time-with-no-uncertainty/
Bobo did you watch the same race I did? He started off great and then fell off pace! He won’t be breaking the WR this summer, he went slower in Indy then be did in Omaha last summer and this meet had no Semis. Don’t get me wrong I think he can win it, but I don’t see a WR for him in Barcelona.
I agree.
Lochte is the favorite to win 200 IM in Barcelona, but he’s not going 1:53 and break WR.
I definitely think 2011 was Lochte’s peak just like 2007 was Phelps’ absolute peak (yes, Phelps was faster in 2008, but he was in LZR).
Lochte may prove me wrong, but unless he trims down his events, he is not gonna break 200 IM WR again, or any WR for that matter.
I’m sticking with my prediction that he’ll go a 1:55 in Indy and Hagino has a chance to beat him. He said it himself, the times are slow, the training isn’t there, and he basically went all out in each of his races and tried to hold on in the end. I appreciate the honesty in stating that the times at this meet are slow compared to the rest of the world and he was also upfront on how they aren’t good times for him even though it may look impressive given the competiton.
I do think he’ll put in the training next year and we’ll see him back to his top form at that time.
Scratch that…in Barcelona not Indy:)
The uncertainty factor is Hagino.
Now that he is a favorite in many events, let’s see how he reacts to the pressure.
It’s a little bit weird he assures everyone that he’s going to be more competitive in next 2-3 years. He is still as competitive as many swimmers are just dreaming of. Lochte’s tired legs? It means he is able to pull away only a half body lenght during underwaters.
Men’s 200 IM final
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uUw-x-WdlY
I like at the beginning of this race the announcer says “We have 4 people with a chance to win this race”. Really? No one was within 4 seconds of Lochte on the original entry times. Good races though for rest of the field as they dropped time. Having 4 swimmers at 1:58 or under is great.
Yes, I thought it was very funny.
Dunno why the announcer said that. So unnecessary.
Like ” If ” there was a guy who can stay with Lochte on the 200IM . He is still the fastest IMer on the planet ….!!!
The only individual race Mr Lochte is almost sure to win in Barcelona is the 200 IM. In the others it will be very hard. But I wouldn’t be shocked at all if he broke his world record in this race. A 1.53 is definitely possible.
The schedule this year is a lot more forgiving to him than last year.
no 400 IM in the beginning to tire him out. Only 4×100.
on second and third day only 200 free
on day 4, 200 IM prelims and semis
on day 5, 200 back prelims, and in the evening 200 IM final comes before 200 semis
(compared to last year where he had to swim 200 back and IM finals in the same night, costing him the 200 IM. He was not aggressive enough in the 200 back (probably thinking about 200 IM final later), and ended up beaten by Clary and Irie. Lochte swimming down so alone in the warm up pool… Read more »