Lets get straight to the bullets to finish off the US Nationals round-up...
- Is Ryan Lochte currently the best male swimmer on the planet? Yes.
Some facts:- Mark Spitz was the greatest swimmer of all-time. Michael Phelps is the greatest swimmer of all time. Kosuke Kitajima is the greatest Breaststroker of all-time. Aaron Peirsol is the greatest Backstroker of all-time. In 2010, Ryan Lochte is the best swimmer in the world.
On Friday night I witnessed one of the greatest 200m IM swims of all-time. It had everything. A great race, personal significance for both Lochte and Phelps and a potential dawning of a new era. It also happened to be the fastest swim ever in a textile suit. (Lochte's 1:54.84 eclipses Michael Phelps' 1:54.98 from the World Championships in 2007).
One other thing the race had was Phelps getting blown away on a turn. Lochte's Fly-Back turn was unbelievable. If there was any debate on who is the best underwater swimmer in the world, I think it was answered during US Nationals this year.
Is it a surprise that Lochte has shone in 2010? One of the biggest benefits the suits offered was on the underwater section after starts and turns, now that we're back to a level playing field those who excel on underwaters will rise to the top once again.
(If you're interested in the statement 'one of the greatest 200m IM swims of all-time', the greatest 200m IM performance for me was Phelps winning the World Championships in 2003)
- Did Speed Endurance get a subtle shout-out from Mel Stewart on Swimnetwork's coverage of the 800m Free?
At 3"24 on the video above... "A lot of people were saying this after her 400m Free, you know what she had the fastest 400 Freestyle of any swimmer in the pool...swimming. But her turns, not there."
I'm not so sure about 'a lot of people', but I certainly said it and I stick by the statement.
Swimming is a sport of evolution and no-one can accurately predict what will happen in 2 months let alone 2 years but as it stands right now, Federica Pellegrini is the best 400m Free swimmer in the world. She has 100m speed that the other women can't match and enough stamina to last a 400m. She might even have enough for the 800m which we will find out over the next year or two.
The list of those capable of beating Pellegrini over 400m is pretty small. Britain's Rebecca Adlington and Jo Jackson look like the front-runners. France's Coralie Balmy and Camille Muffat could have a chance if they continue to improve, one of the Australian women might make the step-up. Katie Hoff is certainly well on her way back to top form and could get back on terms. I think Sutton needs to be on the list of potential 400m Free world beaters. She certainly has the swimming speed to compete already and it now becomes a question of technical improvement. An admirable quality Sutton possesses is how she reacts to this. Quoting Mel Stewart once again,
"I talked to Sutton about this and she said 'I know my turns aren't there but you know it gives me something to work on. I can feel positive about that."
Feeling positive when somebody points out something you're not doing as well as you could is the stuff of champions.
- Very pleased for Jessica Hardy making the Pan Pac team on the 100m Freestyle. Competing at her first Nationals for 2 years the meet had not been going well for her. Despite leading both the 50m Free and 100m Breast she fell off the pace in both races and her participation at Pan Pacs (and Worlds in 2011) was looking a little shaky. Against such a mentally tough backdrop, the second place finish in the 100m Freestyle becomes all the more impressive.
- The future looks bright for the US men's 1500m. Chad LaTourette should have plenty of years left but potentially even more exciting are the emergences of Sean Ryan, 17, and Arthur Frayler, 16. Ryan (15:04.84) and Frayler's (15:07.37) world top 10 times are extremely impressive for an event that tends to be dominated by more senior swimmers.
(Sceptical? Last year's World Champs finalists and birth years -
David Davies 1985, Zhang Lin 1987, Ryan Cochrane 1988, Sun Yang 1991, Oussama Mellouli 1984, Marco Rivera 1983, Federico Colbertaldo 1988, Samuel Pizzetti 1986)
- The women's 200m Breaststroke WR looks like its on borrowed time. It survived US Nationals, not sure it will make it through Pan Pacs.
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