Poll Result - Who will win the Men's 200m IM at the 2012 London Olympics?

Speed Endurance readers, possibly the world's foremost collection of swimming experts, have spoken...

Ryan Lochte will win the 200m IM at London 2012. 

Note this down. With the collective knowledge and brain power on hand, this is as close to a guarantee as possible.

Lochte and Michael Phelps were locked in a close race for the duration of the vote. Phelps initially led, before a strong surge in support for Lochte took him away. Lochte's lead stretched out to 13 votes at one point before a late Phelps push closed the gap to 8 votes.

This has every chance of being the race of the 2012 Olympics (I'm not limiting that statement to just Swimming either). Lochte v Phelps. The two biggest stars of male swimming.

Here's how their best times match up:-

Lochte 2010- Fly - 24.86 - Back - 28.42 -Breast - 33.41 - Free- 27.70 - 1:54.43 (in Jammers)
Lochte 2009 - Fly - 24.72 - Back -28.48 - Breast -33.08 - Free -27.82 - 1:54.10
Phelps 2008 - Fly - 24.59 - Back -28.81 - Breast -33.50 - Free -27.33 - 1:54.23


If you break it down by stroke, Phelps has an advantage on Fly, Lochte has a stronger Back.
Breaststroke and Freestyle are harder to split. It would appear Lochte has the upper hand at the moment on Breaststroke, whilst on Freestyle, Phelps has stronger splits, but Lochte is currently the world's fastest over 200m Free. As is so often the case in Medley races, Breaststroke looks like it will be the pivotal stroke in 2012.

Results
Ryan Lochte - 82 votes (50.9%)
Michael Phelps - 74 votes (46.0%)
James Goddard - 3 votes (1.9%)
Tyler Clary - 1 vote (0.6%)
Laszlo Cseh - 1 vote (0.6%)

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