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| Today - Pre-Race |
Reports coming out of China today reveal that Sun Yang has just missed out on Zhang Lin's 2009 Asian record of 3:41.35. Sun Yang's time of 3:41.48 moves him up to 5th on the all-time list, just ahead of Park Tae-Hwan's time from last year's Asian Games (3:41.53). Only Ian Thorpe (3:40.08) has been faster in a textile suit.
I'm calling it now. Sun Yang and Park Tae-Hwan will both be under Paul Biedermann's WR of 3:40.07 in Shanghai this summer.
Prediction - An all-Asian/African podium. No room for America or Australia. Yannick Agnel looks like the only man that could challenge these three currently.
1) Sun Yang, 2) Park Tae-Hwan, 3) Oussame Mellouli
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| Today Mid-Race |
The big question now is how close Sun Yang can get to Grant Hackett's iconic World Record in the 1500 Free? Last year he missed the record by just 0.93 seconds. Today his 400 Free was 0.99 seconds faster than last year. There is a very real possibility that the 1500 WR will go this week.
Pretty close, I suspect!
ReplyDeleteHe always seems to almost beat the record, but never quite deliver!
We shall see!
Sam
Sun has said to chinese newspaper that he will be focusing on the shorter distances at this meet. From that, I think he'll drop significantly more time off his times this week at the longer distances than the shorter ones at Shanghai. I think he'll swim a mid/high 14 40, similar to what he did last year.
ReplyDeleteObviously, he might have just been playing down his chances to the media. We will see though.
Personally, I don't see the Thorpe mark going down this year, next year most likely. Also, I don't see Melloulli as a huge player in this final. He usually drops about a second and a half from june to championships, but we'll see. I think since Agnel was able to negative split his swim, there are further improvements to expect. IMO he is the solid bronze candidate.
As Sun Yang is focusing on the shorter distances his week, watch for a fast time in the 200free as well. If he can get by Agnel's WL time, expect him to also be a medal threat in this event.
Great times by Sun!
ReplyDeleteBut where is Zhang Lin??
What's he up to these days?