After breaking the 15-16 National Age Group Record in the 100 yard breaststroke for the third time in a week on Friday, Michael Andrew of Indie Swimming has gotten another record at this weekend’s AESC Pro-Am in Oklahoma City: that of the 50 yard free.
Courtesy: Josh Davis
Andrew swam a 19.24 on Saturday evening, which bettered the mark done last year by Ryan Hoffer of 19.38. Hoffer made headlines of his own in Austin last weekend when he obliterated the 17-18 National Age Group Record in the 100 yard free.
Once this record is ratified by USA Swimming, it will become Andrew’s 14th current record in short course yards to go with 10 in long course meters among the recognized age groups. He holds more short course NAG Records, and more combined NAG Records, than anybody else (only Missy Franklin has more in long course).
Andrew’s new 15-16 record ranks as the 3rd-fastest swim ever by any USA Swimming junior (18 & under) swimmer.
Current fastest USA Swimming 15-16’s of all time
- Michael Andrew, 2015, 19.24
- Ryan Hoffer, 2014, 19.38
- Caeleb Dressel, 2012, 19.82
- Dylan Carter*, 2012, 19.94
- Vlad Morozov*, 19.96
- James Jones, 2014, 19.99
* – International
Andrew is faster at the same age than either Hoffer or Caeleb Dressel, who are currently the two fastest 17-18’s of all-time.
Andrew’s previous best time was a 19.76, done in March of 2014 at the NASA Junior National Cup in Florida.
Jack – Did MA really go to Saudi ArabiA in Oct / Nov ? .
Bobo, something to remember with Ryan hoffer is that he was 49.5 LCM this past summer. While that is not earth shattering in and of itself is say that is still solid for a teen. I can’t remember if he was 17 at the time or hasn’t aged up yet so I still think there is hope for him to do something unexpected and great in 2016. Let’s keep in mind that the 8th place time at the 2008 Olympic trials was 48.8…in a full body suit…he’s really not too far off of that as it is.
I heard he’s cycling like me for training 😉
I completely agree. I doubt he’d be getting all this press and records if he were only 5’8 instead of 6’5. It’s no coincidence that Reece a Whitely is 6’8 and breaking records too.
MA is obviously really talented, but to say that USRPT is the reason why he’s fast is ridiculous. It’s also ridiculous to think that race pace training is new. What’s new is the entire program set up. A lot of swimmers train at race pace a lot, and have been doing it for years. But why haven’t more programs gone all in with this method of training? If it’s so good, why aren’t the top college programs doing it, or any college programs doing it?… Read more »
Art,
I think it’s totally unfair to compare with 5-8 tall kids.Even for women that height is not tall.Etiene Medeiros is five-six, and a huge chunk of her times came from her top start.
I think most coaches will look at a talented 5-8 kid and tell him to choose another sport…
Gil Stovall 5’8
David Berkoff 5’8
Erik Vendt 5’10
…Kitajima 5’9
“Show me a bunch of 16 year old 5’8 kids that are breaking all these records because of USRPT”
That’s kind of an irrelevant point. No one is saying USRPT is going to overcome natural disadvantages. Let’s turn it around. Show me a program where 5’8″ kids are breaking records because of other methods.
I completely agree that there aren’t many 5’8 kids breaking records. But that wasn’t my point.
Many are stating that USRPT is great by using MA as their only sample. I don’t think the sample size of one is enough to say it works or doesn’t work. He’s a big, tall, lean, talented kid. If he weren’t all these things, I highly doubt USRPT would be getting all the attention it has been getting. Show me a bigger sample size, show me shorter less talented kids having greats success, then we’ll talk about how great USRPT is.
It just bothers me that many people believe that just because this one kid is really fast and trains this way, that USRPT… Read more »
JP nailed it! We have 2 kids on our high school team who have embraced usrpt. They are tall for their age. They like it because both their work ethics are poor and they don’t like yardage. If this works for MA, it proves nothing except he is abnormally large for his age and a freak talent.
Breaking age group records, while being built like a 20 year old the entire time. You can’t coach size and mass. His true test is the World stage. Until that this is all fluff.
So you’d say the same about Reece Whitley, then?
People have been saying the same things about him for four years. Yet he continues to get taller and continues to drop time. I think the time is nearing when even the most hardened of naysayers are going to have to yield.
He’s not built like a 20 year old, though. He’s tall and skinny. Yes, he’s got some muscle, but look at any other guy who swims a 19.2 in the 50 free or a 51.7 in the 100 breast and MA is scrawny. He will fill out more as he matures.
MA isn’t the first kid to be tall and strong. I’ve coached plenty of kids who were just strong, and I’m sure we’ve all seen them: they can probably crank out a 21 with a good taper, maybe a 48 or 47 in the 100 free, and they can MAYBE fake a decent 100 fly (usually with a 4-5 second difference between their first and second 50s). Some… Read more »
Might be the training but the kid is supremely talented too. I don’t think you can draw conclusions about usrpt using him as an example. I have a feeling that he would be successful no matter what program he’s in.
As far as his decision on going pro, probably a good one, same as Phelps it’s about earning potential… No college coach is going to turn their training program inside out for one swimmer and his training works for him.
I hope he sustains it we need a new star to carry the banner after Rio. Trials is going to be interesting to watch because he still has s long way to go to make the team.
Question from a non specialist.
That’s the 3rd week in a row Michael Andrew competes after a meet in Canada and the SCY junior “not nationals”.
And he’s better from meet to meet.
Not the first time I’ve remarked that about him. Looks like he has a good training block and then a 3-week competition block with the 3rd meet as the best.
Is it planned like that and the result of his famous training method?
Actually – no.
There’s no specific training block in mind. He’s probably just glad to be home and sleeping in his own bed.
This is the thing a lot of people forget. This family is always traveling. Remember – he went to Singapore in August – but went to Saudi Arabia in October/November – but after that – they have clinics they do all over the place – and maybe they get a chance to come home for a couple of weeks.
The pressure this kid is under is NOTHING compared to the pressure Michael Phelps had in 2000. No one paid attention to swimming back then – but when Phelps DID come onto the seen – look at all… Read more »
Essentially, what Dr. Rushall remarks on in the literature is how it takes only a small amount of work to maintain race fitness compared to the amount it takes to build it. He basically says you can cut your volume in half (or even less) once you’ve reached the level you want, and you’ll be able to maintain.
So my thought on what’s happening is that he’s doing enough to maintain his fitness, but his body hasn’t been taking the same beating (yes, even USRPT wears the body down to some extent), so it’s been recovering more and more over the past three weeks. Also, the races from last week and before are still fresh in his mind so it… Read more »