This is without doubt the toughest vote we have had so far.
I've picked what I feel are the Top 10 Male Performances of 2010. 7 Long Course, 3 Short Course. You're job is to choose the most impressive swim of MMX. Remember: This is not a personality contest.
Just 6 days to vote on this one.
The Top 10
- Sun Yang, 1500 LCM Free- 14:35.43
2nd fastest 1500 of all-time. Missed Hackett's WR by 0.87 seconds.
- Ryan Lochte, 200 LCM IM- 1:54.43
3rd fastest 200m IM of all-time. Missed his own WR by 0.33 seconds.
- Camille Lacourt, 50 LCM Back- 24.07
2nd fastest 50m Back of all-time. Missed Tancock's WR by 0.03 seconds.
- Park Tae-Hwan, 400 LCM Free- 3:41.53
10th fastest 400m Free of all-time. Missed Biedermann's WR by 1.46 seconds.
- Fred Bousquet, 50 LCM Free- 21.36
22nd fastest 50m Free of all-time. Missed Cielo's WR by 0.45 seconds.
- Kosuke Kitajima, 100 LCM Breast- 59.04
12th fastest 100m Breast of all-time. Missed Rickard's WR by 0.46 seconds.
- Camille Lacourt 100 LCM Back, 52.11
2nd fastest 50m Back of all-time. Missed Peirsol's WR by 0.17 seconds.
- Cesar Cielo. 50 SCM Free- 20.51
3rd fastest 50m Free of all-time. Missed Schoeman's WR by 0.21 seconds.
- Stanislav Donets, 100 SCM Back- 48.95
2nd fastest 100m Back of all-time. Missed Thoman's WR by 0.01 seconds
- Ryan Lochte, 200 SCM IM- 1:50.08
Fastest 200m IM of all-time. Broke Darian Townsend's WR by 1.47 seconds.
(If you feel like a different swim deserves to be on this list, state your case in the comments below).
The Uncle Sam in my is gonna admit that the most impressive swim of the year was Sun Yang's 14:35. Ridiculous. So ridiculous, in fact, that I'm not convinced he can go faster haha. Clear winner in my mind (hard as it is to admit).
ReplyDeleteI feel like short course meters holds less weight, since the vast majority of swimmers focus mostly on long course. Donets is one example - odd swimmer, see below. That said, I feel like his 3:55 was more impressive than his 200 IM. Both were ridiculous, but I didn't even think he'd break that world record. Two seconds under? Converts to on par with Phelps' swim from Beijing? Nuts. And with a half taper! (Note: Lochte flew through Charlotte Airport yesterday - on his way to afternoon practice in Gainesville! - and I missed him (and the SwimMAC guys by three hours. Not fair.)
As for Donets: he's a 50/100 specialist short course and a 200 specialist long course. Maybe he changes focus because he's just good (at whatever distance he wants) short course, but he has to go the distance to be effective long course? Not really sure. Any other ideas?
I don't think its as clear cut as that. Sun Yang's swim was incredible, but re-watching Lacourt's two swims made me think again... Then watching Lochte's 2-IM at Pan Pacs... A case could be made for most of the swims above.
ReplyDeleteMy rationale for picking Lochte's 200 IM at World SC instead of the 400 IM was as follows: He won the shorter race by 2.8 seconds, whereas he won the 400 by 'just' 1.9 seconds... Plus my best 400 SCM Free time would have beaten his IM, whereas he has me beaten over 200 with his IM vs my Free!
Donets is a mystery to me. He's proven over the last 3 years that he is an out and out SC specialist, but I cannot figure out why he can excel at 200m LC and not the shorter distances. Usually its the other way round, GWG/Walters/Magnini etc. can swim great 200 SCM Free, but not such a great 200 LCM Free for example.
I was expecting you to point out Mellouli's 1650yd time and how it should have been on the list.
It may not be a personality contest but Camille Lacourt has a very good-looking personality. Luckily I would have picked his Euro LC win anyway...
ReplyDeleteGetting close to that 1650 record is not impressive. There is a long list of people that have done that. Mellouli missed the record by six tenths, but he is still behind Thompson, Jensen, Rouault, and Vendt. Beating this record - swim of the decade!
ReplyDeleteI think it is a testament to how awesome a race it was that the winning margin was so small. If I ranked the top five men's swims of the meet, it would go something like this: 1) Lochte 400 IM, 2) Lochte 200 IM, 3) Mellouli 400 IM, 4) Clary 400 IM, 5) Cielo 50 free. (Maybe throw Lochte's other swims and relay splits in there too.) I am nowhere close to either of those times in free (long course, never swam them short course meters, except the 400 in a trashy pool), so I stand my point.
Yes, going up a distance for short course/down for long course is most common. Darian Townsend, Jean Basson, Mike Alexandrov, and even Cielo maybe (we've yet to see a good 100 long course without suits, while we saw the beginnings of his 50 capabilities in Paris) are all good examples. I wouldn't say Walters is a great example - you rarely know what to expect from him. Weber-Gale I'm not sure. I've never seen a great 200 like we did on that relay - then again I've never seen him swim SCM. His best time long course is 1:49, so maybe.
I feel like Donets probably adjusts his training for each season. He's good enough in short course alone that he can win stuff other than the 200 back, so he focuses on the others. In long course, he doesn't have as much middle of the pool speed unless he goes the distance. All guesses.
Anyway, Nathan Adrian wasn't rested (and he had to make up all his exams early). My pick for the 100 free in Shanghai. I really won't shut up about how good (I think) this guy is.
Which one? 50 or 100?
ReplyDeleteWhat are you talking about? For men's free, Nathan Adrian all the way in the 100! (USA! USA! - watch the end of the men's medley relay and you'll see Thoman and Mr. Shades-Alexandrov doing the chant haha)
ReplyDeleteThe 50/100 question was directed at Kat re: Lacourt.
ReplyDeleteI meant Lacourt's 100 - winning by nearly a second and a half (admittedly Tancock wasn't tapered but still) is a great way to make your first major impact on the international stage, especially when everyone else at Budapest seemed to be struggling time-wise. The 50m afterwards seemed like a done deal.
ReplyDelete