Thanks to Florida Swim Network for the video of Andrew breaking the record.
This weekend in Clearwater, Florida at the aptly-named NASA Showcase Classic, Michael Andrew is wrapping up his run as an 11-12 year old that has resulted in over a dozen National Age Group Record-breaking swims. Before he said goodbye (and presumably takes a hiatus from his dominating performances, at least while he catches up to the 13-14’s) he’s taken the opportunity for at least one more mark.
Andrew twice broke his 11-12 mark in the 100 IM, first with a 54.14 in prelims and then a 53.86 in the finals. His old record stood at 54.66.
There’s still one more day of competition, where he could take a run at his 100 breaststroke record and become the first 11-12 to break the minute barrier. But if this race is the end, it becomes a fitting end. He’s shown versatility in breaking records in every discipline; he’s broken them in every distance from 50 to 200, but is still slightly better at the sprints; and most importantly he’s set some Morton-esque marks that could stand for decades into the future.
Take this 100 IM. The second-fastest swim in history belongs to Tanner Kurz. That mark, which stood for a relatively long time (nearly 6 years), is a 55.56. That’s 1.8 seconds slower than where Andrew left the mark. Further down the list are names like Gray Umbach, now the #1 senior recruit in the nation, who is heralded as one of the best age group swimmers ever, in 3rd. Sean O’Connell is 7th; he’s a 13-year old who people are only now beginning to hear about but is on pace to become an incredible high school swimmer in the next few years. Maverick Smalley, the legend of the age-groups, is 10th.
These guys were amazing swimmers for their age, and none of them would have been able to even stay at Andrews’ feet in this swim.
The big question now, as it has been for the last year or so, is what is going to happen as Andrew starts to race in age groups where his peers are much closer to his size. I don’t know the answer to that, but I think there’s a lot of people who are going to be intrigued to find out.
Swim Ma, nobody knocked Michael Andrew about being a flash in the pan on this thread. Except for the Chuck Norris-esque quote from Junker23 and Jimswim’s objective statement (tri or not, I’m not one to research it), personally, I haven’t seen a thread this positive and conversational about him, ever. Sorry your age grouper went through such an experience with the people who were put in charge of her swimming. It’s a shame.
It is true some 11 and 12 year olds tower over their competitors.Age Groupers growth spurts occur at different times.Some start moving ahead of the competition when they go through a growth spurt.It really bothers me when anyone tries to imply that a swimmer is doing well because of their size.Yes it does give an advantage, more so in Yards swimming than LCM,but it is most discouraging to dismiss a swimmers accomplishments based on growth spurts or size.My swimmer was successful as an age grouper and was often told by Coaches and other parents that she would be a flash in the pan, then that her size was going to keep her out of college swimming in the future.She is… Read more »
Tanner Kurz……….this guy never got any faster…….his best times were when he was 12
I’ve had a chance to speak with Michael’s coach/father. He seems to be a pretty solid guy and knows that there is a difference between playing coach and playing dad. I’ve seen Michael pretty upset after some swims that he would consider “off” and his dad played the uplifting father role as opposed to the critical coach role. Obviously Michael is tall, but his parents (mom rumored to be a former American Gladiator) both have decent height as well. I stand 6’2″ and had to look up slightly to talk to both of them.
Also to note, Michael has a younger sister. Though not a national player (yet), she is still pretty solid and looks very young. It will be… Read more »
Good point and something for age group kids, and their parents to remember. Kids best strokes change, even when they enter college. (I can recall more than one breaststroke recruit transformed into a 50/100 sprinter and more than one 50/100 sprint turned into a breast sprint fill-in for relays).
Also believe that part of what you see in the top 100 age group performances is the impact of strength training and underwater kicking by age group swimmers. I don’t think its “bad” (or good) just more prevalent.
Yea I agree, the emphasis on underwaters has made a huge impact in backstroke, I think even more than in fly.
Congrats to Andrews and congrats to Umbach for being able to compete and be part of team at at a great school.That should be considered success in anyone’s book.
Now if I may digress,the talk about different distances, different events and Sue Chens comments(Congers training) got me thinking; it is always interesting to look at the top 100 lists for age group swimmers and see who was a fireball when they were young and who was a late bloomer(I don’t even see PVK’s name in the top 50 or McGill,Dwyer,Mcclean) but what is more interesting is seeing people who were ranked pretty well in a stroke but now have a different primary event, like Berens who was ranked in… Read more »
Give Gray a break. He is still in the sport, which a lot of people doubted a few years ago, and his swimming is opening the door to a Stanford degree.
He didn’t ask to be put in the spot light, he didn’t jet around the country trying to break records, his parents weren’t doing interviews about his swimming, and while the majority of coaches would not agree to having your 12 & unders swim 11 times a week, he did what his coaches asked him to do.
I would still say kremer, pebley, kalish, koski and prenot are way more impressive. Most of all, who spend there whole season this year focusing on lcm swimming for preparation on trials. I bet anyone of those swimmers would put up times faster then that in scy with a rested meet. They all excel in multiple events, As we will see next year in college. I mean look at LCM times, Umbach cant hold a light to them.
Also congrats to Michael Andrew
NCAA swimming isn’t lcm, and it’s hard to go against a lifetime of training. I think the guys you mentioned will probably have better college swimming careers than Umbach, particularly Pebley (I think he has the most potential, and Cal’s as good a school as any to develop that), but currently Umbach would make the largest impact at a college team based on his scy times, hence his #1 ranking.