A group of pros based out of the Team Elite training group in San Diego, the largest pro group in the US not connected to a college, suited up on Friday for some afternoon time trial racing.
After a morning lift and an afternoon hour of core and agility work, members of the team got on the blocks to test their early quarantine training at Plunge San Diego in Belmont Park, one of a few facilities where the team has found pool time to train since the facility reopened in early June.
Racing was done in yards in a 5-foot deep pool. As part of the test, athletes were told to hold their new strokes learned during quarantine. Each swimmer was given 2 or 3 attempts at their swims.
Among the highlight results of the time trial racing:
- Dylan Carter, a Trinidad & Tobago national and Commonwealth Games silver medalist who swam collegiately at USC, posted a 19.3 in the 50 yard free. His lifetime best in the event is 19.04.
- Alyssa Marsh, a recent Duke grad and David Marsh‘s daughter, swam 22.1 and 22.0 in her two 50 yard free attempts. Her lifetime best in the 50 free is 21.78.
- Mexican National Teamer Miguel Chavez swam 55.5 in the 100 yard breaststroke, racing against former LSU Tiger and future NC State Wolfpack’er Cam Karkoska, who posted 55.9.
- Abrahm Devine swam a 1:16.6 in a 150 yard backstroke from a push. That swim was done as 100 yards ‘controlled’ with a ‘let it rip’ last 50. That’s about a 51.0 pace per 100 yards.
- US National Teamer Jacob Pebley swam a 1:14.2 in a 150 yard backstroke from a push. Like Divine, it was 100 yards ‘controlled’ with a full-out final 50. Pebley split his swim 49.7 on the 100 yard ‘controlled’ followed by a 24.5 on the last 50.
- Devine, who is a member of the US National Team in the 200 IM, also swam a 56.2 in the 100 breaststroke. His best official time in that race is a 1:00.39 from 2014, when he was still in high school.
- Pebley also time-trialed 43.9 in the 100 yard free.
- Former UCLA Bruin Linnea Mack, one of the newer members of Team Elite, swam a 48.0 in the 100 yard free using a rebuilt freestyle stroke. Her lifetime best, from the 2017 Pac-12 Championships, is a 47.77.
19.3’s pretty fast in a 5-foot deep pool.
Agree. I also like the 150 back from Pebley.
I always forget he’s a pretty good freestyler, too.
A whole lot of ‘meh’
Great to see they are racing!!!
GAWDAMN IT Dylan’s so sexy!!
I don’t get why yards and why time trial when they just got back in their pool? No Kathleen or Deloof sisters?
Why not? I can appreciate that, never a bad time to bring some competition up.
If we’re gonna criticize swimmers for hopping in a pool and doing a time trial, what is our sport becoming??
Pools are staying SC 100% of the time so there are more lanes. Likely they didn’t have the whole pool to themselves either.
The object of the sport, especially for the elites, is the race, not the practices. You don’t learn to race just pounding out yardage. They need reference points (and confidence builders) to see where they are. The 150 back is an Eddie Reese Invite event.
It’s a great litmus test to see where they’re at? not to mention the type of pool probably available to them…
Oh Karen, it’s yards because it’s early in the season and it’s likely all that’s available to them during these troubled times. They are likely doing it when they get back in the pool to see where their baseline is
Um, because it’s not a 50 meter pool? Most pools aren’t.