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).

Top 20 Swimmers of the 2000s - No.1 - Michael Phelps

Award season is upon us here at Speed Endurance HQ.

Over the coming weeks I will be running down my Top 20 Swimmers of 2000-2009. Unlike most lists I will do it in ascending order. Part of the excitement of these lists is discovering who is no.1 and since most people on the planet could guess who that will be I've decided to go the other way. I hope I don't upset too many 'list-purists' in the process.

Entry onto this list will depend on a number of factors. Weighted most heavily will be individual performance at the Olympics and World Championships (Relay medals won't count), followed by duration of time as WR holder and number of World Swimmer of the Year awards. The final factor will be the swimmer's impact and dominance in the sport of swimming.

So without further ado...

No. 1 - Michael Phelps

Performance 2000-2009

Olympics - 9 Golds, 1 Bronze
Worlds - 13 Gold, 3 Silver
WRs - 200 Free - 2007-2009, 100 Fly - 2003, 2009-2010, 200 Fly 2001-2010, 200 IM - 2003-2009, 400 IM - 2002-2010
World Swimmer of the Year - 6 times, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009

The greatest swimmer to have ever lived. He took up Ian Thorpe's mantle as the most famous swimmer in the world and ran with it. To say he raised the bar of swimming doesn't even begin to go far enough.

Phelps was made to swim - mentally and physically. With his enormous wingspan, short legs and hypermobile ankles he has a swimmers physique unmatched by many aswell as a mental steel and toughness that has allowed him to remain motivated despite his success. Whilst many swimming stars reach the top of the world for a couple of years and then are surpassed by younger talent or lose their motivation to stay at the top, Phelps seems to be just as motivated now as in Sydney as a 15 year old coming 5th in the 200m Fly final.

A great piece on Michael Phelps here by GB 200 fly swimmer Steve Parry.

What to do with the non-textile suit WRs

Great discussion (video below) on the fate of the non-textile WRs set in 2008-2009. This is without doubt the best discussion so far on this issue. Craig Lord and Garrett McCaffrey presented their points superbly. Both made valid arguments for an issue that has no easy answer. One thing is for sure, we need more of this sort of discussion in the swimming world.

Here's my take.... I believe we should have one set of official World Records and they should be as they stand now. These are the records to have on the top of timesheets, the WR line on TV, prize money at World Cups/Mare Nostrum etc.

The Polyurethane suits have already taken too much attention away from the swimmers, we cannot continue to keep having to mention in every race report about textile and non-textile suits. The sport needs to move on. We have the refreshing prospect of having race reports in 2010 that list just the times and places. The sport has seen a resurgence in the public domain, having the Duel in the Pool televised live on BBC here in the UK was a great sign of how the sport is thriving, and I do not believe that the casual viewer will put up with 2 sets of records with the difference between them having to be continually explained.

We should also not forget that these WRs were set legally under FINA rules. It would be unjust to have these swimmers achievements wiped from the record books, or tainted by listing a second set of times next to them. By doing this we would be in danger of insinuating the suits as a form of cheating which they were not.

Without trying to go back on myself, I still do believe there is a place for the pre-Non Textile suit WRs. They are useful to have for those who follow swimming closely as a gauge of how fast swimmers are in relation to semi-comparable times. I do not see a problem in declaring if a swim has broken the fastest non-textile time, or if a swimmer has just swum the 3rd fastest non-Tech suit time ever etc., in fact I would encourage it. As Craig Lord points out in the interview, we do not want to crush the aspirations of younger swimmers who may believe they will never break a WR. If they can gain a certain level of recognition for breaking a textile fastest time, hopefully they can use this and aim for the Tech suit time. If the goal is so far fetched, the example was Kukors' 2:06 in the Women's 200IM, then some swimmers may lose hope. If they have Yanyan Wu's 2:09.72 as the first hurdle, hopefully the journey to breaking the 2:06 mark may seem less daunting.

Whatever your view on the current state of the WRs. Its a discussion that needs to continue.