Top 51 Swimmers of 2011 - 51 to 42

As another year of great swimming comes to a close, here is a rundown of the Top 50 Swimmers of 2011. There is no set criteria, but clearly the World Championships in Shanghai carried a big weight in the decision making process. That being said, outstanding achievements away from Shanghai were still acknowledged (looking at you number 44).


Thanks for reading Speed Endurance this year. Next year should be something a bit special!

Today we start with numbers 51 through to 42.

51. Miriea Belmonte Garcia – 2011 Highlight – Getting the better of Lotte Friis over 800m Free in December, where her time of 8:22.78 moved her to 3rd in the world rankings.

The breakthrough in the 800 puts her at the head of the chase for Friis and Rebecca Adlington. Belmonte also continued her dominance of the short course pool with European titles in the 400m Free, 200m Fly, 200m IM and 400m IM. Had an outstanding year, marred only by her failure to medal in Shanghai.

50. Brent Hayden – 2011 Highlight – Winning silver behind James Magnussen in the 100m Free in Shanghai (47.95). 

It is hard to know what to make of Hayden’s year, having pre-qualified for Worlds he showed his true hand only once during 2011. He is the only man to have been sub-48 seconds in both 2010 and 2011, and that consistency makes him a dangerous player in an unpredictable race like the 100m Free.

49. Yannick Agnel – 2011 Highlight – His 3:43.85 in the 400m Free at French Nationals.

The swim back in March showed what might have been in Shanghai had he not fallen ill during a vital part of his training cycle. Despite the illness the young Frenchman was still able to break the 1:45 barrier in the 200m Free in Shanghai, which sets up a fascinating 2012 for Agnel.

This Weekend's Racing

Another good weekend of racing coming up as many swimmers compete in their final competition before their national championships.

British University Championships - Feb 11-13 - (LC) - Psych Sheet - Results

British Swimming are sending the big guns to compete alongside the students.

UPDATE - Rebecca Adlington just swam 8:23.85. Moves to the top of the world rankings and just 2.6 seconds down on last year's best effort. Splits of 2:04.48 / 4:12.63 /  6:18.66 / 8:23.85 (negative split). In a mixed race Adlington beat 6 men and just finished shy of Stirling's Josh Walsh (8:23.36). Shows what a racer she is.

(Feat. Rebecca Adlington, Fran Halsall, Joanne Jackson, Elizabeth Simmonds, Gemma Spofforth, Amelia Maughan, Steph Proud, Stacey Tadd, Liam Tancock, Ross Davenport, Robert Bale, Laurent Carnol, Antony James, Joe Roebuck, Michael Jamieson, Kris Gilchrist, Chris Walker-Hebborn, Roberto Pavoni)

New South Wales State Championships - Feb 11-13 - (LC) - Result 

Britain's Ellen Gandy was hugely impressive beating both Steph Rice and Therese Alshammar comfortably in the 100m Fly. Gandy's time of 58.23 vaults her to the top of the early world rankings.

(Feat. Stephanie Rice, Leisel Jones, Therese Alshammar, Marieke Guehrer, Ellen Gandy, Belinda Hocking, Megan Nay, Katie Goldman, Ryan Cochrane, Andrew Lauterstein, Ryan Napoleon, Kyle Richardson, Matt Targett, Kenneth To, James Magnussen, Thomas Fraser-Holmes, Ashley Delaney, Hayden Stoeckel)

Swedish Grand Prix - Feb 12-13 - (LC) - Start List - Results

Marleen Veldhuis (25.13) held off Ranomi Kromowidjojo (25.30) in the 50m Free. Sarah Sjöström won the 100m Fly in an impressive time of 58.47 (just shy of Gandy's time from the other side of the world).

(Feat. Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Sarah Sjöström, Marleen Veldhuis, Sharon van Rouwendaal, Jennie Johansson, Petra Granlund, Gabriella Fagundez, Stefan Nystrand, Simon Sjödin, Petter Stymne)

Meeting National Nice (LC) - Feb 11-13 - Results (Thanks to Dublincat for the tip)

(Feat. Yannick Agnel, Alain Bernard, Danila Izotov, Stanislav Donets, Boris Steimitz, Camille Muffat, Coralie Balmy, Ophelie-Cyrille Etienne, Alexandra Putra)

Incredible times from Camille Muffat (1:56.63 200m Free, 8:2655 800m Free) and Yannick Agnel (1:46.55 200m Free), strengthening their claims as serious contenders for Shanghai later this year. Also featuring a 1:04.91 100m Breast from none other than Alain Bernard... how about a switch to IM? He can swim 200m Free and 100m Breast... Just saying.

FINA/ARENA Swimming World Cup - Singapore 16-17 October

 

The third leg of the FINA/ARENA Swimming World Cup takes place in Singapore (16-17 October) with arguably the best field so far this year.

All eyes will be on Natalie Coughlin (USA) who makes her return to short course metre competition. Coughlin has been in good form so far in 2010 and with her world class starts and turns, expect some fast swimming from the American ace. Also representing a strong USA squad will be Jessica Hardy, Randall Bal, Peter Marshall, Julia Smit, Elaine Breeden and Madison Kennedy.

A host of medal winners from the recent Commonwealth Games will also be on show. Australia's team includes medalists Leisel Jones, Marieke Guehrer, Hayden Stoeckel and James Richardson. South Africa are also sending a strong team led by Roland Schoeman, Cameron Van Der Burgh, Lyndon Ferns, Darian Townsend, Graemme Moore and Kathryn Meaklim. Canada's team includes Victoria Poon, Genevieve Saumur and Audrey Lacroix as well as seasoned IM swimmer Brian Johns.

Europe has a number of medal contenders competing with strong challenges likely to come from Therese Alshammer, Stefan Nystrand, Lars Frolander (SWE),Dominik Meichtry (CHE), Steffen Deibler, Dorothea Brandt, Jenny Mensing, Kerstin Vogel (GER), Hanna Maria Seppala (FIN), Hinkelein Schreuder (NED), Arkady Vyatchanin, Grigory Falko and Sergey Fesikov (RUS).

Results & Start Lists - Here
Official Site - Here
For anyone in Singapore - Tickets can be found here

Commonwealth Games Swimming Preview - Women's Breaststroke

50m Breaststroke
1. Leisel Jones - Leisel's back. 50m is a bit on the short side but still has the fastest time in the Commonwealth this year.
2. Leiston Pickett - Pickett got the better of Jones at Pan Pacs.
3. Kate Haywood - Has suffered huge injury troubles but was able to put them behind her to win silver at Europeans this year.

Wildcard
Achieng Ajulu-Bushell - So impressive at British Nationals in March. She was a long way off her best at Europeans. For a senior swimmer you wouldn't worry so much but it was Ajulu-Bushell's first competiton for Great Britain and may have been tough to get over. She has the added pressure of competing against Kenya, who she was recently competing for. A lot to deal with for a youngster.



100m Breaststroke
1. Leisel Jones - A huge shock if Jones didn't win the 100m Breast. She is in a different league to the competition here. The big question is can she get close to Rebecca Soni's 1:04.93?
2. Sarah Katsoulis - 4th at World's last year. 3rd at Pan Pacs this year. Silver a very real possibility.
3. Samantha Marshall - I'm picking Marshall to complete the Aussie 1-2-3 after her strong showing at Pan Pacs. Her 1:07.04 to win the B final wass impressive.


Wildcard
Annamay Pierse -  A definite 200m specialist, she was 5th at World's last year. Someway off the top three's times this year, with a good taper she could pick up a silver or bronze.

200m Breaststroke
1. Leisel Jones - This is going to be a tight race! The top Breaststroker of the last decade up against the new world record holder.At Pan Pacs they were split by just 0.42, in favour of Jones. That's why she gets the vote.
2. Annamay Pierse - From all accounts Pierse seems to be in good shape for Delhi. So little to split Jones and Pierce, these places could easily be reversed.
3. Sarah Katsoulis - 2:24.38 at Pan Pacs was impressive. Bronze is probably the best Katsoulis can hope for though.


Wildcard
Martha McCabe & Stacey Tadd - At World's last year Martha McCabe swam 2:23, 2:22 & 2:23. Needs to find that kind of form in Delhi. Tadd is dropping chunks of time on the 200m. At World's last year she swam 2:32, she's down to 2:27 this year.

Charlotte Ultraswim - Top Performers of the Meet

Top Performer - Rebecca Soni

Soni is the obvious choice for this award in my opinion. I rated her 100m and 200m Breast performances as the two best swims of the meet by any swimmer. Soni's time of 2:22.21 improved on her world leading time of 2:22.91 set at the Austin Grand Prix and increases her lead over Leisel Jones to an incredible 1.24 seconds. What makes this even more remarkable is the fact that Jones was tapered for her swim whilst Soni is producing these times untapered. Below is a look at Annamay Pierse's WR splits, Soni's previous WR splits and her performance in Charlotte.

PIERSE .2009 WR - 32.03 - 1:07.28 (35.25) - 1:43.42 (36.14) - 2:20.12 (36.70)
SONI ....2008 WR - 32.17 - 1:07.46 (35.29) - 1:43.70 (36.24) - 2:20.22 (36.52)
SONI ...2010 Charl - 31.88 - 1:08.37 (36.49) - 1:44.58 (36.21) - 2:22.21 (37.63)

Amazingly Soni went out faster than WR pace on the first 50 in Charlotte, dropped off slightly on the second 50m, had a very strong third 50m before dropping off again on the final 50m. When Soni is fully tapered and rested Pierse's mark looks vulnerable. The 200m Breast WR is increasingly looking like the first one that will go in the post-suit era. Soni being the clear favourite to do it.

On the 100m Soni went out in 30.98 (3rd fastest 50m in the world this year) before finishing in 1:05.90 (good enough to win the men's C final). The time leaves her just 0.11 seconds shy of Jones' world leading time.

Rowdy Gaines on Universal Sport discussed who the best female Breaststroker in the world is currently and went with Soni. From everything we've seen so far in 2010 I completely agree with him.

(On a side note - I've heard many analysts claim that the tech suits had the greatest influence on Breaststroke. I completely disagree with these claims and Soni is helping my argument. In my opinion the techsuits aided Freestyle and Backstroke far more than Breaststroke and Butterfly. (Click here if you want to read more on the changes the suits brought on each stroke).)


Breakout Performer - Justine Mueller

Not quite such an easy decision with Hunor Mate (100m Breast winner) Emily Brunemann (1500m winner), Missy Franklin (200m Back winner) and Josh Schneider (50m Free winner) all entering the discussion. In the end I went with Justine Mueller for her win in the 200m IM. Before the 200 IM Mueller had spoken to Garrett McCaffrey in an interview with SwimmingWorld (see below) about the need to get a win under her belt against top opposition and she did exactly that. Mueller, 23, had a best time of 2:11.46 last year and 2:14.74 in 2008. To be down to 2:12.44 at this stage of the year is very encouraging. Add in the fact that she is training at SwimMAC with David Marsh. Mueller is definitely a swimmer to keep an eye on over the next few years.

Mueller happens to be in one of US Swimming's strongest events but she will enter nationals later this year knowing that she has won on the big stage and has beaten Dagny Knutson, Felicia Lee, Elizabeth Pelton and Elizabeth Beisel.

Australian Championships - Day 3 Finals

Men's 200 LC Meter Backstroke Final

Hayden Stoeckel won his second event of the meet taking the Men's 200m Back. Stoeckel (1:58.04) beat last year's winner Ashley Delaney (1:58.56)into second. Braiden Camm, 19, took third in 2:00.51. Stoeckel will try to complete the clean sweep of the Backstroke events with the 100 Back heats starting tomorrow.

The 200m Back and 200m Fly (minus Nick D'Arcy) were the only men's events Australia didn't have someone make the top 16 at last year's worlds at Rome. Stoeckel's time puts him 2nd in the world this year, behind Ryosuke Irie's stunning 1:55.11 in February.

Women's 100 LC Meter Freestyle Final

Revelation of the meet, Yolane Kukla, touched first in the 100m Free with a quick time of 54.50... only to be disqualified for a false start. The victory ended up going to Emily Seebohm with a time of 54.70 with Alicia Coutts second in 54.86. Alice Mills (55.32) and Angela Bainbridge (55.40) took the relay spots, however with Kukla already on the team she should be able to get on the relay. It remains to be seen if Cate Campbell can still make the team to Delhi to give her a chance to make the relay team.

Men's 100 LC Meter Freestyle Semi-Final

After a blazing 49.06 in the heats this morning, Eamon Sullivan followed it up with a 49.35 in tonight's semis. The time was good enough to put him fastest into the final tomorrow. James Magnussen, 18, who starred in Macquarie Uni's relay win earlier in the competition took second in 49.54. Matthew Abood qualified third fastest with 49.59.

Last year's semi finalist from Rome in this event, Matt Targett, missed out on the final. Targett finished 14th in 50.77.

Women's 100 LC Meter Butterfly Semi-Final

Stephanie Rice leads the field ahead of a final stacked with talent. Rice clocked 58.55, good enough for third in the world this year. Jessicah Schipper (58.85) and Felicity Galvez (59.06) rounded out the top three qualifiers. Also qualifying for the final was Yolane Kukla, 14, who had earlier won and then been disqualified from the 100m Free final. She did well to get over the physical and mental exertions to qualify for the final 6th in 1:00.31. Marieke Guehrer (1:00.68) will line-up next to Kukla in lane 8 for tomorrow's final.

Women's 200 LC Meter Breaststroke Final

Leisel Jones put in a usual dominating performance in the 200m Breast. Jones led from reaction time to the end of the race winning in a time of 2:23.45. Sarah Katsoulis was second in a strong 2:25.35 with Tessa Wallace, 16, third in 2:28.67.

Jones' time puts her second in the world this year behind Rebecca Soni's 2:22.91 from the Austin Grand Prix. Interestingly the splits show two very different approaches to the race, Jones went out nearly 2 seconds faster than Soni on the first 50m, Soni then took 0.5 seconds from Jones on the second 50m. Both women's splits were almost identical on the third 50m before Soni brought the race home 1.95 seconds quicker on the final 50m.

Soni r:+0.77 33.84 - 1:09.70 (35.86) - 1:46.70 (37.00) - 2:22.91 (36.21)
Jones r:+0.73 31.97 - 1:08.35 (36.38) - 1:45.29 (36.94) - 2:23.45 (38.16)

Soni vs Jones will be a tremendous race at Pan Pacs.

Men's 50 LC Meter Butterfly Final

Geoff Huegill completed one of swimming's most remarkable comebacks with victory in the 50m Fly. After retiring from swimming Huegill's weight rocketed up to 138kg. It was then that he announced his two aims. Get under 100kg and qualify for the Commonwealth Games. Weighing in at 93kg tonight he acheived his second aim. His winning time of 23.46 is the fastest in the world by a clear 0.25 seconds and is only 0.02 seconds slower than his world record from 2001. Given the speed Huegill has right now, he has to be favourite for the Commonwealth Games later this year. Huegill said after the race, "Without a doubt I reckon it's better than making my first ever team. The emotions I feel today are well and truly on par to when I stood up behind the blocks at the Sydney Olympics," added Huegill, who won bronze in Sydney in the 100 butterfly."

Andrew Lauterstein (23.82) and Mitch Patterson (23.89) took a distant second and third.

Women's 100 LC Meter Backstroke Final

Emily Seebohm continued an impressive night of swimming by breaking her own textile best standard in the 100 Back. Seebohm took first in 59.21, a 0.04 improvement on her mark from the NSW Championships in February.

Belinda Hocking took second in 1:00.11, a long way behing Seebohm, but still good enough for third in the world this year. Sophie Edington took third in 1:01.20.

Seebohm has been one of swimming's stars of 2010. At just 17 there is still a lot to come from her. She will have some intriguing duels this year taking on England's Gemma Spofforth and Elizabeth Simmonds at the Commonwealth Games and USA's Natalie Coughlin at the Pan Pacs.

Men's 100 LC Meter Breaststroke Final

Brenton Rickard became the first man in 2010 to get close to breaking the 1:00 barrier. Rickard took the title in 1:00.19 with Christian Sprenger second in 1:00.91. Both men moved into first and second on the world ranking list this year. Nicholas Schafer, 18, was third in 1:02.40.

Rickard looks like he's hit the ground running after a great World Championships last year. He will get his toughest test at Pan Pacs this year when he lines up against Kosuke Kitajima and Eric Shanteau amongst others.

Australian Championships - Day 2 Finals

Women's 50 LC Meter Butterfly Final

Yolane Kukla, 14, completed her emergence as a new star of the swimming world. Kukla clocked 25.92 beating World Champion Marieke Guehrer into second by 0.36 - a huge margin in a 50 race. Guehrer was not the only big name scalp that Kukla collected - the rest of the final read like a who's who of Australian Women's swimming - Emily Seebohm (26.47), Felicity Galvez (26.49), Alice Mills (26.65), Jessicah Schipper (27.09), Ellese Zalewski (27.68) and Amy Smith (27.69).

Kukla now lies second in the world rankings behind Therese Alshammer's 25.60 and would have been good enough for 14th in last year's suited world rankings.

Men's 50 LC Meter Backstroke Final

Hayden Stoeckel won a tight 50 Back final in a quick time of 25.06. Daniel Arnamnart was just 0.02 seconds behind with Ben Treffers a further 0.01 seconds back. 0.03 seconds split the top three and just 0.10 seconds split the top 5.

All three men will have their work cut out for them at both Commonwealths and Pan Pacs with England's World Record Holder Liam Tancock and USA's World No.1 this year Matt Grevers lying in wait for them.

Women's 50 LC Meter Breaststroke Final

Leisel Jones continued her strong start to 2010 with victory in the 50m Breast. Jones took victory in 30.87 with Leiston Pickett second in 31.06 and Sarah Katsoulis third in 31.12.

Jones was already ranked no. 1 in the world this year with 30.99 and has now extended her advantage over the rest of the world. She remains the only woman to have broken 31 seconds this year.

Men's 200 LC Meter Freestyle Final

Nicholas Ffrost caused somewhat of an upset by taking the 200m Free title in a time of 1:47.50. Thomas Fraser-Holmes, 18, continues his rise up the ranks of world swimming with a strong second place time of 1:47.66. Kenrick Monk, 5th at the Worlds in Rome last year, had to settle for third in 1:47.83. Patrick Murphy, Australia's other representative in Rome, took the final relay spot with 1:48.30.

Men's 50 LC Meter Butterfly Semi-Final

Geoff Huegill's remarkable comeback has just one more step to go. Huegill qualified fastest for the 50m Fly final with a time of 23.60. He goes in 0.29 seconds ahead of Andrew Lauterstein with Matt Targett and Adam Pine also joining him in the final.

Men's 100 LC Meter Breaststroke Semi-Final

Brenton Rickard posted the world's fastest time this year to qualify first for tomorrow's final in a time of 1:00.80. The final looks to be a head to head with Christian Sprenger who qualified second in 1:01.18 (4th in the world this year).

Women's 100 LC Meter Freestyle Semi-Final

The 100m Free semi's were more notable for the big names missing out on the final than for the times swum. Cate Campbell and Felicity Galvez tied for 9th place on 55.47 and Marieke Guehrer was 11th with 55.48. That's not to say the final is lacking in talent with Alicia Coutts (54.95), Emily Seebohm (55.01) and star of the night Yolane Kukla (55.06) qualifying in the top three spots.

Women's 100 LC Meter Backstroke Semi-Final

Emily Seebohm will go into tomorrow's final ranked first and heavy favourite for the title. Seebohm, 17, swam 1:00.26 in tonight's semi. Belinda Hocking (1:00.79) and Sophie Edington (1:01.16) rounded out the top three qualifiers.

Seebohm is ranked first in the world this year with a stunning 59.25 from the NSW Championships in February. That was the first textile best time to be recorded in 2010. Seebohm's best time, recorded at Worlds last year, was 58.88.

Fast Times Downunder Part II - New non-tech suit fastest time for Seebohm!

The NSW State Open Championships continued to produce some excellent swims on day 2 of the 3 day meet.

Emily Seebohm impressed in both heats and finals dipping below the 1:00 mark both times. Her heat time was an impressive 59.89, but she backed this up with an incredible 59.25 in the final. In what I hope to be a Speed Endurance exclusive, I can reveal that Seebohm's 59.25 has broken Natalie Coughlin's previous WR of 59.44 set at the World Champs in 2007. The significance of Coughlin's mark is that this was the last WR in the Women's 100m back to be set in the non-techsuit era, making Seebohm the fastest women ever in the 100m Back wearing a 100% textile suit. Still just 17 years of age, Seebohm is one of swimming's brightest talents. A potentially epic duel awaits in the 100m Back at the Commonwealth Games later this year between Seebohm and current WR holder and World Champion Gemma Spofforth.

Notable performances came from Tae Hwan Park, winning his 3rd event at the meet with 1:46.98 in the 200m Free, Geoff Huegill going 2nd in the world rankings this year with 23.83 in the 50m Fly and an impressive 2:26.14 from Leisel Jones in the 200m Breast.

Other winners from day 2 were Therese Alshammar (50m Free - 24.98),Felicity Galvez (100m Fly - 58.73), Leith Brodie (200m IM), Brenton Rickard (100m Breast - 1:02.01), Bronte Barratt(400m Free - 4:09.28) and Daniel Arnamnart (200m Back - 2:01.75).