US Nationals has for a long time been one of my favourite competitions of the year. The level of domestic competition is in a different league to every other swimming nation on the planet. Coming from Britain my chances in the prediction contest may be written off before the competition gets under way. I hope they are. Whilst I wouldn't dream of damaging the 'special relationship' between Britain and America... it would be awesome to win this thing.
The one advantage I am counting on is my objectivity. I am not clouded by favouritism for swimmers, clubs, universities, states or former glories (try and spot Jason Lezak in my 100m Free picks). Most importantly, I don't have a nickname riding on the result...
Women
50m Free
1. Kara Lynn Joyce 2. Amanda Weir 3. Jessica Hardy
100m Free
1. Dana Vollmer 2. Natalie Coughlin 3. Amanda Weir 4. Kara Lynn Joyce 5. Jessica Hardy 6. Missy Franklin
200m Free
1. Allison Schmitt 2. Dana Vollmer 3. Katie Hoff 4. Dagny Knutson 5. Missy Franklin 6. Ariana Kukors
400m Free
1. Chloe Sutton 2. Allison Schmitt 3. Katie Hoff
800m Free
1. Chloe Sutton 2. Kate Ziegler 3. Emily Brunemann
100m Back
1. Elizabeth Pelton 2. Natalie Coughlin 3. Missy Franklin
200m Back
1. Elizabeth Pelton 2. Elizabeth Beisel 3. Margaret Hoelzer
100m Breast
1. Rebecca Soni 2. Jessica Hardy 3. Ann Chandler
200m Breast
1. Rebecca Soni 2. Keri Hehn 3. Megan Jendrick
100m Fly
1. Dana Vollmer 2. Natalie Coughlin 3. Christine Magnuson
200m Fly
1. Mary Mohler 2. Elaine Breeden 3. Kim Vandenberg
200m IM
1. Ariana Kukors 2. Julia Smit 3. Katie Hoff
400m IM
1. Katie Hoff 2. Julia Smit 3. Elizabeth Beisel
Men
50m Free
1. Nathan Adrian 2. Josh Schneider 3. Garrett Weber Gale
100m Free
1. Nathan Adrian 2. David Walters 3. Garrett Weber Gale 4. Jimmy Feigen 5. Matt Grevers 6. Ricky Berens
200m Free
1. Michael Phelps 2. Peter Vanderkaay 3. Ryan Lochte 4. Ricky Berens 5. Conor Dwyer 6. David Walters
400m Free
1. Peter Vanderkaay 2. Michael Klueh 3. Chad La Tourette
1500m Free
1. Peter Vanderkaay 2. Chad La Tourette 3. Michael Klueh
100m Back
1. Aaron Peirsol 2. Matt Grevers 3. Nick Thoman
200m Back
1. Ryan Lochte 2. Michael Phelps 3. Aaron Peirsol
100m Breast
1. Eric Shanteau 2. Mark Gangloff 3. Mike Alexandrov
200m Breast
1. Eric Shanteau 2. Mike Alexandrov 3. Scott Spann
100m Fly
1. Michael Phelps 2. Tyler McGill 3. Thomas Shields
200m Fly
1. Michael Phelps 2. Tyler Clary 3. Robert Bollier
As I've mentioned before, the European Juniors is a great way to see future senior International medal winners before they become big stars. This year provided a good mix of swimmers who were already edging towards stardom and those that were less well-known outside of their own countries.
World class already, expected to dominate, did not disappoint...
Yannick Agnel, 1992 - France - 400m Free - 3:46.26 - , 100m Free - 48.80 (insane 47.80 relay split), 200m Free - 1:46.58. Dominant.
Silke Lippok, 1994 - Germany - 100m Free - 55.31, 200m Free - 2:00.11, 100m Back - 1:01.87 (from the relay). Been faster this year, but showed her class in Helsinki.
Anton Lobanov, 1992 - Russia - Eventful meet for Lobanov after missing out on the 200m Breast semi and final. He was the third fastest Russian and nearly missed out on the 50m Breast for the same reason. Ended up winning the 50m Breast in 28.37 and the 100m Breast in 1:01.06. Also provided the key relay split for the victorious Russian 4 x 100m Relay with 1:00.69. Step forward for Russia's next breaststroke star.
Predicted to do well, came through with the goods... Christian vom Lehn, 1992 - Germany - 200m Breast - 2:12.93. Not too far from being world class in the 200m Breast.
Tjasa Oder, 1994 - Serbia - 1500m Free - 16:37.98, 800m Free - 8:40.06. Couldn't retain her 1500m crown, took the 800m Free instead.
Judit Ignacio Sorribes, 1994 - Spain - 200m Fly - 2:12.30, 100m Fly - 1:00.60. Also swam a rapid relay leg before Spain were DQ'd. Unfortunately didnt get the split, but looked to be sub-1:00. One of the top performers on a strong Spanish team.
Yakov-Yan Toumarkin, 1992 - Israel 100m Back - 55.20. Missed Laszlo Cseh's Meet record of 55.06. Future of Israeli backstroking?
Marina Garcia Urzainqui, 1994 - Spain - 200m Breast - 2:27.12, 100m Breast - 1:09.40. Shaping up to be one of Europe's premier 200m Breast swimmers, has been 2:26.89 already this year.
Peter Bernek, 1992 - Hungary - 200m Back - 1:59.24. Winner of the 200m Back, is ranked 15th in the world in this event this year with his 1:58.62 from the Hungarian Juniors.
Daryna Zevina, 1994 - Ukraine - 100m Back - 1:02.05. Winner last year of the 100m and 200m Backstroke was only able to retain the 100m Back this year. Wasn't able to get down to last year's 1:01.49 and 2:10.08 but 1:02.05 is still very respectable for a 16 year old.
Andriy Govorov, 1992 - Ukraine - 50m Fly - 23.57, 50m Free - 22.54. Govorov moves to 5th in the world on the 50m Fly and 37th on the 50m Free.
Sophie Smith, 1994 - Great Britain - 400m IM 4:44.46, 200m IM - 2:14.48, 1:59.96 Relay split in the 200m Free. Winning the 200/400m IM double is a great sign for British swimming. Smith joins Hannah Miley and Aimee Willmott in an elite group of British female IMers.
Swimmers eligible to compete in 2011. See you next year...
Bence Biczo, 1993 - Hungary - 200m Fly - 1:55.82 200m Fly, 100m Fly - 54.22. A star was made in Helsinki during the final of the 200m Fly. Biczo's 1:55.82 is good enough for 6th in the world this year. When Michael Phelps was 17 his best time was 1:54.86. Good company to be in.
Ediz Yildirimer, 1993 - Turkey - 800m Free - 8:03.17. Whilst Yannick Agnel was busy tearing up the sprint and middle distance Freestyle, Yildirimer put in a very solid effort of 8:03 in the 800m Free. Turkey is not a nation with a rich heritage in swimming so it's very encouraging to see some new talent coming through. Check on Yildirimer in a year's time.
Maxym Shemberyev, 1993 - Ukraine - 400m IM - 4:20.46. Shemberyev moves to 39th in the world this year. Not bad for a 17-year-old.
Nadiya Koba, 1995 - Ukraine - 50m Free - 25.46, 50m Fly - 27.13. If Bence Biczo was a revelation on the men's side, Koba took the honours for the women. Ukraine might just have another star on their hands here.
Where did that come from?...
Karley Mann, 1994 - Great Britain - 200m Back - 2:11.48, 100m Back - 1:02.99. This is what is great about the European Juniors, it throws up some real surprises. I like to think I keep relatively well up to date on British swimming but Karley Mann had barely registered on my radar. At British Nationals she swam 1:04.93 on the 100m Back and 2:15.15 on the 200m Back. Both good times, but they didn't prepare me for the 2:11.48 (!) and 1:02.99 from Helsinki. Mann now sits at 26th in the world in the 200m Back, the British women ahead of her... Elizabeth Simmonds, Gemma Spofforth and Stephanie Proud.
Claudia Dasca Romeu, 1994 - Spain - 1500m Free 16:27.97, 800m Free - 8:43.31. Beat hot favourite Tjasa Oder in the 1500m Free and moves into 12th place on the world rankings.
Medal Table
A strong showing from the major European nations. Ukraine have a great youth programme and look to have found some future stars if this year's results are anything to go on. Germany and France were aided greatly by Yannick Agnel and Silke Lippok but have a number of strong swimmers coming through also. Very pleasing from a British perspective was the strength of the relays showing a level of depth we haven't always enjoyed. Spain impressed with their 4 Golds and 4 Silvers. They would have had another gold in the girls 4 x 100m Medley Relay had they not been DQ'd.
Italy, Russia and Poland were a little disappointing. In 2009 Italy won 10 Gold, 11 Silver and 9 Bronze medals.
I can't figure this one out. For the life of me I thought Agnel did enough in the semi of French Nationals to get selected for the Euros. The French selection policy was already ridiculous but leaving Agnel out of the 200 where he would have challenged for Gold makes zero sense. You have one of the most talented swimmers we've ever seen making his first appearance at a major senior international competition, perfect time to be gathering experience ahead of Worlds in 2011 and London 2012... and you are sitting him in his best event. Way to go Fédération Française de Natation.
(Agnel will swim the 400m Free, 4 x 100m and 4 x 200m Free relays.)
Today saw a potential star make a major breakthrough in world swimming. Bence Biczo, born 1993, took victory in the boys 200m Butterfly in a time of 1:55.82. That puts Biczo 6th in the world this year, just 0.12 shy of Michael Phelps' best effort in 2010. To put Biczo's swim into some perspective, at 17 Phelps' best time was a then world record of 1:54.58 set at the 2001 World Championships as a 16 year old. His best time in 2002 as a 17 year old was 1:54.86. Considering Phelps was a phenomenon at that young age and 200m Butterfly was his pet event, to be just over a second away from his times is an incredible achievement for Biczo. Marcin Cieslak took silver in a time of 1:56.76 to move to 12th in the world this year.
Yannick Agnel once again proved to be swimming at a different level to the competition with victory in the 100m Freestyle (48.80) and anchoring home the French 4 x 200m Freestyle relay (1:46.48).
End of impartiality
Britain had another strong day with Emma Saunders winning the girls 50m Backstroke in a new Championship Record of 29.01. Saunders has already finished 4th in the 100m Freestyle final (56.62) and was the lead out leg on the silver medal winning 4 x 100m Free relay. The British boys took an impressive silver in the 4 x 200m Freestyle relay with Ieuan Lloyd impressing on the anchor leg with a split of 1:49.92. Lloyd had earlier taken silver in the 200m IM with a time of 2:02.72. One of the most satisfying points to come from this meet so far from a British perspective is the strength of the relay teams. As a swimming nation we are showing our strength in depth which can only bode well for uncovering future stars in the next few years.
Yakov-Yan Toumarkin (ISR) shone during the final of the 100m Back with a winning time of 55.20. Toumarkin's time just missed Laszlo Cseh's championship record of 55.02. Toumarkin now ranks 21st in Europe this year.
Bence Biczo (HUN) qualified fastest for tomorrow's 200m Butterfly final with an impressive 1:57.13. Biczo swam a superbly paced race splitting 26.54 - 56.70 - 1:26.16 - 1:57.13. 100 splits of 56 high/60 low are very strong especially given the fact that Biczo was born in 1993, the younger year at European Juniors and the only swimmer in the final to not be born in 1992. Biczo will be eligible to swim next year, however his focus now will be on the final where Marcin Cieslak (POL) looks like the strongest competition.
Medal Table after Day 2
Britain are proving to be one of the strongest teams in terms of depth in each event. Not only have they won more medals than any nation so far, they have an almost constant presence in semis and finals.
Great Britain made a great start to Day One of European Juniors with a medal haul of 1 Gold (Sophie Smith - Girls 400m IM - 4:44.46), 1 Silver (Boys 4 x 100m Freestyle - 3:23.97) and 2 Bronze(Alfie Howes - Boys 400m Freestyle - 3:56.11, Sara Lougher - Girls 50m Breaststroke - 32.48). The British team also has the top seed going into tomorrow's Girls 200m Backstroke (Karley Mann) and the second fastest qualifier in the Girl's 200m Butterfly final (Rachael Kelly).
The British girls are excelling, just like their senior counterparts. Whilst the silver medal in the relay and bronze in the 400m Free is a fantastic result for the boys team.
Yannick Agnel was always expected to be a cut above the competition at this meet and so it proved tonight. Agnel swam a sensational 400m Free in 3:46.26. The time ranks him third in the world this year and sets up a fascinating duel with Paul Biedermann at European Seniors. The 400m Free figures to be a two-horse race at Europeans and hopefully Agnel and Biedermann can push themselves to times comparable or better than those being swum at Pan Pacs where the 400m final should be stacked with talent.
Not satisfied with the 3:46, Agnel swam the first leg of the 4 x 100m Free relay for France and smoked a 49.08. This was the foundation for a dominating French win in the relay. Agnel's addition as a reliable relay swimmer to the French 4 x 100m Free team should be enough to put an already strong team over the edge. You just can't see how a team that includes Bernard, Gilot, Agnel as well as Meynard, Bousquet, Mallet or even Leveaux can be beaten right now. I guess the same was said prior to Beijing and Rome, but Agnel offers a much needed 'steady hand' in the relay which should transform this team.
We are doing something right here in Britain when it comes to training girls to swim the 200m Backstroke. We have Elizabeth Simmonds, arguably the world's no. 1 swimmer in the event right now. Simmonds (2:06.79) is the second fastest all-time in a textile suit behind Kristina Egerszegi (2:06.62). After Simmonds we have two other women in the World's Top 15 this year, Gemma Spofforth (11th - 2:09.18) and Stephanie Proud (13th - 2:09.99).
We have history in this event also. Katy Sexton won Gold at the 2003 World Championships. Sarah Price was the SC World Record holder in 2001.
The future looks bright in this event too. At the heats at European Juniors, Britain finished first (Karley Mann - 2:12.23), second (Georgia Hohmann - 2:14.94), sixth (Natasha Hofton - 2:15.92) and eigth (Phoebe Lenderyou - 2:17.66). Only 2 from each country are allowed to progress to the final where Mann and Hohmann will face a tough battle with Henrietta Stenkvist of Sweden and Daryna Zevina of Ukraine.
UPDATE - Both British girls have qualified for tomorrow's final. Karley Mann qualified fastest in 2:12.69 whilst Georgia Hohmann qualified fourth in 2:15.86.
Live Video - Here (You may need to pay a small charge for high quality video of the meet)
List of notable previous winners at European Juniors 2000-2009
Some other names that are not on the list but who won silver or bronze at European Juniors in these years include Federica Pellegrini, Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Larissa Ilchenko, Keri-Anne Payne and Amaury Leveaux. The list could go back further and further. 1999 winners included Britta Steffen and Otylia Jedrzejczak, whilst in 1998 Yana Klochkova, Camelia Potec, Hannah Stockbauer and Dragos Coman were all winners.
.
.
European Junior Year
Swimmer
European Junior Champion
Future Acheivements
.
2009
Danila Isotov
100m Freestyle
2009 World Championship Bronze - 200m Freestyle
.
2009
Yannick Agnel
200m and 400m Freestyle
World Ranked no.2 this year – 200m Freestyle
.
2009
Silke Lippok
50m and 100m Freestyle
World Ranked no.6 this year - 200m Freestyle
.
2008
Christopher Walker-Hebborn
100m and 200m Backstroke
World Ranked no.3 this year – 200m Backstroke
.
2008
Marco Koch
200m Breaststroke
Ranked 8th All-time on the 200m Breaststroke
.
2007
Daniel Gyurta
100m and 200m Breaststroke
2009 World Champion – 200m Breaststroke
.
2007
Dinko Jukic
200m Buttefly and 200m IM
2009 World Championships – 200m Butterfly – 6th
.
2007
Elizabeth Simmonds
100m, 200m Backstroke and 200m IM
Second-fastest ever in a 100% textile suit – 200m Backstroke
.
2007
Yulia Efimova
50m and 200m Breaststroke
2009 World Champion – 50m Breaststroke & Former World Record Holder
.
2006
Francesca Halsall
50m and 100m Freestyle
2009 World Championship Silver – 100m Freestyle
.
2006
Federico Colbertaldo
400m Freestyle
2007 World Championship Bronze – 800m Freestyle
.
2006
Anastasia Zueva
100m Backstroke
Former World Record Holder – 100m Backstroke; 2009 World Championship Silver – 100m and 200m Backstroke
.
2006
Elizabeth Simmonds
200m Backstroke
Second-fastest ever in a 100% textile suit – 200m Backstroke
.
2006
Rafael Munoz Perez
50m Butterfly
World Record Holder – 50m Butterfly
.
2005
Francesca Halsall
100m Freestyle
2009 World Championship Silver – 100m Freestyle
.
2005
Katinka Hosszu
200m Freestyle and 400m IM
2009 World Champion – 400m IM
.
2005
Mateusz Sawrymowicz
400m and 1500m Freestyle
2007 World Champion – 1500m Freestyle
.
2005
Rafael Munoz Perez
50m Butterfly
World Record Holder – 50m Butterfly
.
2004
Sara Isakovic
100m and 200m Freestyle
2008 Olympic Silver – 200m Freestyle
.
2004
Rebecca Adlington
800m Freestyle
2008 Olympic Champion – 400m and 800m Freestyle; World Record Holder – 800m Freestyle
.
2004
Paul Biedermann
200m, 400m and 1500m Freestyle
2009 World Champion and World Record holder – 200m and 400m Freestyle
.
2004
Aschwin Wildeboer Faber
50m and 100m Backstroke
Former World Record Holder – 100m Backstroke; 2009 World Championship Bronze – 100m Backstroke
.
2003
Gemma Spofforth
50m Backstroke
World Record Holder – 100m Backstroke; 2009 World Championship Gold – 100m Backstroke
.
2003
David Davies
1500m Freestyle
2004 Olympic Bronze – 1500m Freestyle, 2008 Olympic Silver - 10km Open Water
.
2003
Liam Tancock
50m Backstroke
World Record Holder 50m Backstroke
.
2003
Laszlo Cseh
100m, 200m Backstroke and 400m IM
2005 World Champion – 400m IM; 2008 Olympic Silver – 200m Fly, 200m and 400m IM
.
2002
Laure Manaudou
100m Backstroke
2004 Olympic Gold – 400m Freestyle; Former World Record Holder – 200m and 400m Freestyle
.
2002
Mirna Jukic
100m and 200m Breaststroke
2008 Olympic Bronze – 200m Breaststroke
.
2002
Milorad Cavic
50m Freestyle
Former World Record Holder – 100m Butterfly; 2009 World Champion – 50m Butterfly
.
2002
Fabian Gilot
100m Freestyle
World ranked no.2 this year – 100m Freestyle
.
2002
Yuri Prilukov
200m, 400m and 1500m Freestyle
2007 World Championship Silver – 400m and 1500m Freestyle; 2005 World Championship Silver – 400m Freestyle
A week after Yannick Agnel made all the headlines in the men's 200m Free at the Paris Open, Paul Biedermann responded in his own way at German Nationals today.
Biedermann took over from Agnel at the top of the world rankings with a superb time of 1:45.84. Biedermann took the race out hard turning in 24.96 at 50m and 51.26 at the 100m turn. (During his 1:42.00 swim Biedermann split 24.23 and 50.12).
To be recognised in the same company as 200m Free greats Ian Thorpe and Michael Phelps, Biedermann will need to get down to their textile best times. Thorpe's best is 1:44.06 from the 2001 World Champs, Phelp's best (and the best time ever in a 100% textile suit) is 1:43.86 from the 2007 World Champs. Whether this is a 100% fair comparison is open to debate considering that Thorpe wore his trademark black all body suit and Phelps was wearing a suit covering his chest and legs.
Biedermann was actually faster than Thorpe's 2001 split at 100m (51.26 to 51.45). At 150m Thorpe edged slightly ahead on 1:18.26 to Biedermann's 1:18.49. Before Thorpe 'dropped the hammer' on the last 50m.
Even more interesting is the comparison between Biedermann's effort today and 2001's 2nd placed finisher Pieter van den Hoogenband. Biedermann swam 24.96, 26.30, 27.23, 27.35 to finish in 1:45.84. VDH swam 24.67, 26.76, 27.03, 27.35 to finish in 1:45.81. Just 0.03 split the two swims and they had an identical final 50m. The big difference between the swims was the fact that VDH was swimming in 2001's most hyped race, Biedermann was at his national championships without any competition. At European's vs. Agnel and/or next year's World Champs vs. Phelps we will surely see even more from Biedermann.
Add your thoughts on Biedermann below. Let's work this out together.
