Bergen Swim Festival 2010

Bergen Swim Festival 2010

07.05.2010 - 09.05.2010

This top class short course meter event gets going next Friday.

Start/Psych sheet here

Results here

COMPETITION START TIMES (Norwegian Time)

Friday - 1500 hours
Saturday - 0900 and 1700 hours
Sunday - 0900 and 1500 hours

Irish Nationals

Irish Nationals (29 April - 2 May) will have an interesting feel to them this year. The Irish swimmers will have the company of the National Club Swimming Association (NCSA) All-Star Team from the US. This team consists of some of US Swimming's top 15-18 year olds and was selected based on results from the NCSA Junior National Championships (held March 16-27 this year). The US Juniors feature consistently in the top 5 of most events and should offer some excellent competition for the home swimmers whilst gaining valuable international experience themselves. With 2 years to go before London 2012 we may get a preview of some future Team USA members swimming here in Ireland.

Ireland's own European Junior Champion and rising star Grainne Murphy is down to swim 100m Fly and 200m Back. Barry Murphy, who swims in the US for Tennessee, will be competing in the 50m Breast, 100m Breast and 50m Free.

Some top names from British Swimming will also be attending. Hannah Miley, Andy Hunter, Lucy Ellis, Georgia Davis and Jak Scott are all down to compete.

Psych Sheet can be found here.

Live Results can be found here.

41st National Arena Swimming League Cup Final

British Swimming's closest event to the NCAA Championships (in terms of atmosphere) took place this weekend. The competition draws together the top teams in the country who battle it out in order to crown the best overall team in England and Wales. Ages range from 9-11 years to Senior.

For the third year in a row Plymouth Leander cemented their position as the strongest club in the country. Their strength in depth was highlighted by winning 11 of 16 relays.

Top Club
1 Plymouth Lea 422
2 Stockport Mo 336
3 Millfield 328
4 Camden Swiss 288
5 Guildford Ct 271
6 Hatfield 270
7 Co Liverpool 267
8 Bournem'th D 219
9 Co Peterboro 177
10 Boldmere 174

The 41st National Arena Swimming League Cup Final - Results

Featuring James Goddard, Fran Halsall, Achieng Ajulu-Bushell, Antony James, Michael Rock and David Carry amongst others.


The 10th National Arena Swimming League B Final - Results

Featuring Liam Tancock, Ross Davenport, Craig Gibbons and Tom Haffield amongst others.

Spanish Championships

Spanish Nationals is taking place from April 22nd - 25th. Results can be found here.

Finals start at 6pm Spanish time each day.

Japan Swim 2010 Recap

The Japanese nationals have produced some outstanding swims and not all of them from the swimmers you would expect.

My star of the meet

Ryo Tateishi



A clean sweep of the Breaststroke events was expected at this competition, but Kosuke Kitajima was the man tipped for the feat. Instead Ryo Tateishi took the honours in the 50m, 100m and 20m Breast. In doing so he vaulted himself to the top of the world rankings in the 100m and 200m and into the consciousness of world swimming.

Tateishi's times were as follows - 50m - 27.62 (third in the world this year), 100m - 59.84 (first in the world), 200m - 2:09.21 (first in the world).

With the exception of the 200m, where the double-double Olympic champion had a poor second half of the race, Tateishi beat an in-form Kitajima.

Kitajima has long flown the flag alone for male Japanese breaststrokers, but he now has some serious company. It should drive both men onto great things in the next few years.

Federica Pellegrini 4:04.30

Federica Pellegrini reclaimed the fastest time in the world this year in the 400m Free tonight.

Pellegrini took victory at the Italian nationals in a time of 4:04.30. Swimming on her own (second place was back in 4:13.62), Pellegrini had the following splits:-

Federica Pellegrini- 4:04.30 - 28.16 - 57.86 (29.70) - 1:28.39 (30.53) - 1:59.48 (30.09) - 2:30.84 (31.36) - 3:02.52 (31.68) - 3:33.69 (31.17) - 4:04.30 (30.61)

The previous best time had stood to Bronte Barratt and Rebecca Adlington

Rebecca Adlington--- 4:05.50 - 28.62 - 59.26 (30.64) - 1:30.29 (31.03) - 2:01.41 (31.12) - 2:32.42 (31.01) - 3:03.90 (31.48) - 3:34.96 (31.06) - 4:05.50 (30.54)

Bronte Barratt------ 4:05.50 - 28.70 - 59.42 (30.72) - 1:30.34 (30.92) - 2:01.81 (31.47) - 2:32.75 (30.94) - 3:03.69 (30.94) - 3:34.76 (31.07) - 4:05.50 (30.74)

You can clearly see how Pellegrini uses her early speed to set up her race; at 200m she split in sub-2 minutes whereas Barratt and Adlington turned in 2:01s.

Italian Championships

Results can be found here.

Japan Swim 2010 - Day 3

Ryo Tateishi caused one of the biggest upsets of 2010 this year by winning the 200m Breast in a blazing time of 2:09.21. Yuuta Suenaga pushed Tateishi all the way before ending up second in 2:09.57. Tateishi moves to the top of the world rankings this year, downing Brenton Rickard's 2:09.31 set at last month's Aussie Trials. Suenaga moves into third on the list. Naoya Tomita took third in 2:11.37.

The one name that is missing is that of Double-double Olympic Champion, Kosuke Kitajima. Kitajima led the race at 50m and 100m before falling off in a big way. Kitajima's endurance has been questioned throughout 2010 but this race shows that he's clearly lacking fitness for the 200m. The greatest breaststroker of all time could only manage a 36.23 split on his final 50m.

Tateishi, who had a breakthrough year in 2009, is showing that he's not too far off his techsuit best times. His best last year was 2:08.25, good enough for 6th in the world in 2009.

Splits of the race:-

TATEISHI - 29.39 - 1:02.67 (33.28) - 1:35.92 (33.25) - 2:09.21 (33.29)
SUENAGA - 29.46 - 1:02.44 (32.98) - 1:35.89 (33.45) - 2:09.57 (33.68)
TOMITA - 29.49 - 1:02.75 (33.26) - 1:36.90 (34.15) - 2:11.37 (34.47)
KITAJIMA - 29.25 - 1:02.41 (33.16) - 1:36.30 (33.89) - 2:12.53 (36.23)


Other impressive performances:-

World champion Junya Koga held off the challenge of Ryosuke Irie to win the 100m Back in a time of 53.49. Irie took second in 53.61. (In the semi-finals Irie qualified fastest for the final in a time of 53.35 which would have been good enough for the win tonight.) Irie remains fourth in the world rankings, Koga fifth.

Aya Terakawa won the women's 100m Back in a time of 59.72, the only woman in the final to dip below 60 seconds. Terakawa becomes only the fourth woman in 2010 to break the minute barrier and now sits behind Emily Seebohm (59.21), Lizzie Simmonds (59.43) and Gemma Spofforth (59.46) in the world rankings.

Suzuki Satomi (2:24.27) and Rie Kanetou (2:24.57) produced the third and fourth fastest times in the world this year in the women's 200m Breast.

Takurou Fujii now lies second in the world this year on the 100m Fly after winning here in a time of 51.99. Andrew Lauterstein heads the world rankings with a time of 51.79.


(Missed off in yesterday's report) - Masayuki Kishida broke the Japanese record in the final of the 50m Free in a time of 22.11. Kishida's time puts him equal fifth in the world this year with Amaury Leveaux's fourth place finish at French Nationals last night.

Championnats de France - Day 2

Fred Bousquet produced a special 50m Free tonight to win the toughest of all nationals championships in this event...French Nationals. (Apologies to Garrett Weber-Gale, Nathan Adrian, Cullen Jones, Nick Brunelli, Jimmy Feigen etc. you're not far behind).

Bousquet swam away from the chasing pack to finish in 21.71. This is the third fastest textile time ever behind Alex Popov's historic 21.64 from 2000 and Roland Schoeman's 21.69 from 2005. Popov's time is starting to look attainable this year and Bousquet has to be favourite now to do it. Even if he doesn't improve upon this time, 21.71 is a time that should keep Bousquet ranked in the top three in the world at the year's end.

The other French sprint stars didn't disappoint. Fabian Gilot became the second man under 22 seconds this year finishing in 21.97, Alain Bernard was third in 22.08 (also third in the world this year) and Amaury Leveaux was fourth in 22.11. Not to labour the point... but 22.11 took fourth in a national championship final.

We won't need to wait long to see all four men in action again as the 100m Free starts tomorrow with the heats and semis. The final is on Friday.


Camille Lacourt had an excellent swim in the 100m Back final winning in a time of 53.29. The time puts him third in the world this year behind Liam Tancock (52.85) and Matt Grevers (53.05).

'Chapeau' to Dublincat for the clip

Japan Swim 2010 - Day 2

Kosuke Kitajima (2:12.05) qualified in a surprise fourth place for tomorrow's 200m Breast final. Ryo Tateishi (2:11.09), Naoya Tomita (2:11.60) and Yuuta Suenaga (2:11.81) were all quicker than Japan's greatest ever breaststroker.

Kitajima was fastest after 50m (29.35), 100m (1:02.70) and 150m (1:36.28) before coming home in 35.77. He has already shown he has great speed after his 27.30 yesterday in the 50m Breast, however he has also shown a weakness on the final 50m of his 200m race when he lost out to Eric Shanteau at the Missouri Grand Prix after leading for 150m.

Was Kitajima easing down on the final 50m tonight or is he a little short of endurance in 2010?... My feeling is that he will deliver the first sub 2:09 swim of 2010 tomorrow night.

Did someone say prediction time?

Championnats de France

First night of finals from French Nationals. Results can be found here.

Coralie Balmy won the 400m Free in a quick time of 4:06.87. Rebecca Adlington and Bronte Barratt lead the world this year on 4:05.50. Camille Muffat took second in 4:08.26.

Camille Lacourt couldn't replicate his blazing 53.35 from this morning heats but still qualifies fastest for the final in a time of 53.83. Lacourt just missed out on Jeremy Stravius' french record of 53.16 which he will surely be gunning for tomorrow night.

Fred Bousquet continued his impressive 2010 with the fastest time in the 50m Fly semis. Bousquet's time of 23.58 is just of Geoff Huegill's world's leading time of 2010, 23/46.

Sebastien Rouault took victory in the 400m Free in a hotly contested final. Rouault won in a time of 3:48.57, just pipping Tunisia's Ahmed Mathlouthi (4:48.68) with Yannick Agnel third in 3:49.83. Rouault and Mathlouthi move into third and fourth in the world this year respectively. Agnel was arguably favourite for this event given his early season form and will look to rebound in the 200m Free.

Japan Swim 2010

Fast times have been posted on the first day of the Japanese Nationals. Results (in English) can be found here.

Kosuke Kitajima set a new national record in the heats of the 50m Breast with a time of 27.30. The time moves Kitajima to the top of the world rankings, taking out Brenton Rickard's 27.40 set at last month's Aussie Champs. Kitajima's effort was just 0.12 seconds shy of Oleg Lisogor's textile best time and beat his previous best of 27.65 set in June 2008. Surprisingly, Kitajima could only manage second in the final with a time of 27.71. Ryo Tateishi won in a time of 27.66.

Rickard still holds the fastest times in the world in both the 100m and 200m Breast with 1:00.19 and 2:09.31. With the kind of speed shown in the 50m, Kitajima must be in with a good chance of being the first man under 60 seconds this year.


Other notable swims:-

Masayuki Kishida posted a swift 22.39 in the semis of the 50m Free. Fred Bousquet remains the only man to have broken 22 seconds this year.

Takeshi Matsuda took victory in the 400m Free in a time of 3:46.59. Tae Hwan Park still leads the world this year with 3:45.03.

British Gas Swimming Championships 2010 - Day 5 Finals

Mens Open 100m Butterfly Final

Michael Rock took his second fly victory of the meet with a win in the 100m. Rock recorded a time of 52.66 which was 0.3 seconds slower than his semi final effort of 52.36. Antony James took second in 53.18 with Ian Hulme third in 53.53.

Womens Open 50m Freestyle Final

Francesca Halsall dominated the 50m Free final winning in a time of24.77. Halsall was tied for second in the world with her previous best time this year of 24.94, but now takes sole possession of the second spot. Halsall remains 0.37 seconds behind Holland's Ranomi Kromowidjojo. Amy Smith took second in 25.46 with Kate Weaver third in 26.09.

Mens Open 50m Breaststroke Final

There was a big upset in the 50m Breast final with Robert Holderness pipping British record holder Darren Mew to the title. Holderness, 11 years younger than Mew, won in a time of 28.73 to Mew's second placed 28.74. Chris Tidey took third in 28.85. Mew had been 28.39 in yesterday's semi finals.

Womens Open 200m Backstroke Final

Lizzie Simmonds improved upon her previous world leading time in the 200m Back final. Simmonds was the clear victor in a time of 2:06.79 with Gemma Spofforth second in 2:09.18. Spofforth's Florida team mate Stephanie Proud took third in 2:09.99.

Simmonds' time was just 0.17 seconds slower than Kristina Egerszegi's world record of 2:06.62 prior to the arrival of the techsuits in Feb 2008.

Simmonds' splits

29.92 - 1:01.64 (31.72) - 1:34.36 (32.72) - 2:06.79 (32.43)

Mens Open 50m Freestyle Semi.F

Adam Brown showed little signs of jet lag after qualifying fastest for the 50m Free final tomorrow in 22.80. Simon Burnett was second fastest in 23.02 with Grant Turner (23.20) and Craig Gibbons (23.21) qualifying in third and fourth.

Womens Open 100m Breaststroke Final

Achieng Ajulu-Bushell used her speed to take her to victory in the 100m Breast final in a time of 1:08.51. Ajulu-Bushell turned in a speedy 31.49 before dropping off slightly on the second 50m. Kate Haywood who has been troubled by a hip injury which has stopped her being able to train breaststroke kick, turned in an impressive 1:09.56 for second. Winner of the 200m Stacey Tadd took third in 1:09.90.

Mens Open 100m Backstroke Final

Liam Tancock set a stunning new textile best time of 52.85 in the 100m Back final. Tancock's swim takes him past Aaron Piersol's world record that stood in February 2008 of 52.98. Tancock has been swimming fast all meet but has pulled out of semis and finals to focus on this event... it certainly paid off. Tancock's splits were 25.65 and 27.20. Chris Walker-Hebborn took second in 54.78 with Ryan Bennett third in 55.93.

Matt Grevers (USA) had held the fastest time in the world this year with a 53.05.

Womens Open 400m Freestyle Final

Rebecca Adlington took her third victory of the meet in the 400m Free, winning in a time of 4:05.50. The time equals Bronte Barratt's world leading time from the Australian trials this month. The splits from both races can be seen below.

Rebecca Adlington 4:05.50 - 28.62 - 59.26 (30.64) - 1:30.29 (31.03) - 2:01.41 (31.12) - 2:32.42 (31.01) - 3:03.90 (31.48) - 3:34.96 (31.06) - 4:05.50 (30.54)

Bronte Barratt 4:05.50 - 28.70 - 59.42 (30.72) - 1:30.34 (30.92) - 2:01.81 (31.47) - 2:32.75 (30.94) - 3:03.69 (30.94) - 3:34.76 (31.07) - 4:05.50 (30.74)

Jaz Carlin took second in 4:09.41 with Sasha Matthews third in 4:12.20.


Womens Open 50m Backstroke Final

Gergia Davies took victory in the 50 Back in a fast time of 28.54, sixth in the world this year. Katrina Alder was second in 29.36 with Emma Saunders third in 29.43.

Mens Open 200m IM Final

James Goddard capped an excellent night for British swimming with a world leading 1:57.76 in the 200m IM. Goddard moves well clear of the rest of the world. Leith Brodie had been held the fastest time of 2010 with his time of 1:59.60. Joe Roebuck took second in 1:59.71, the world's third fastest time this year. 400 IM winner Roberto Pavoni took third in 2:01.93.

Goddard's splits

25.70 - 54.78 (29.08) - 1:28.80 (34.02) - 1:57.76 (28.96).