According to Sun Yang's part-time coach Dennis Cotterell, the Chinese star can swim 48 seconds low for the 100m Freestyle. If that is the case, and Cotterall doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would misstate these kind of facts, the fall-out is intriguing.
• Firstly, he would become the new Chinese (and Asian record holder) for the 100m Freestyle. The current Chinese national record stands at 48.73, held by Chen Zuo's 2009 effort. The Asian record of 48.49 is held by Japan's Takuro Fujii.
• He would make the Chinese 4 x 100 Freestyle team into potential finalists, although they are still a good few pieces away from challenging for the medals.
• This kind of 100m speed makes Sun Yang not just a contender for a 200m Free medal in London, it sets him up as one of the favourites for gold. Cotterell believes he can break 1:44 in the 200m Free, a feat acheived by only 3 men (Paul Biedermann, Michael Phelps & Danila Izotov) and by only Phelps in a textile suit (1:43.86 in 2007).
The closest anyone has come to breaking 1:44 since the ban of tech suits was Ryan Lochte's gold medal winning effort in Shanghai of 1:44.42. Cotterell backs up his claim by pointing out that Sun Yang's 25.95 homecoming split in the 1500 final at Worlds was faster than both Lochte and Phelps' final 50m in the 200m Free final. For Sun Yang it is simply a case of harnessing his speed and trusting himself to go out fast. The type of confidence breaking a 10 year-old world record gives you...
• The Olympic schedule is friendly for a 200-400-1500m Free treble next year. It would see Sun Yang swimming the following:
Day One - 400m Free heats and final
Day Two - 200m Free heats and semis on (with the possibility of a 4 x 100m Freestyle relay if China qualifies)
Day Three - 200m Free final
Day Four - 4 x 200m Free heats and final
Day Five - Rest
Day Six - Rest
Day Seven - 1500m Free heats
Day Eight - 1500m Free final
THe article in the Australian says that's what he's capable of. I highly doubt that its what he wouldve swum if he had jumped in at WC or even this weekend.
ReplyDeleteCotterell said if he needs to learn "how to recruit his speed well enough ". Anyways based on comparisons with other swimmers of his distance caliber, I would find it hard to believe that, currently, he'd go under 49.00. But I have no doubt he could produce a final 50 split under 25 seconds.
Simply amazing, if he's going for it, I'm rooting for him. I love distance swimming!
ReplyDeleteJohn26... A head to head between Sun Yang and Biedermann over 100m Free... Who's your money on? I like Biedermann, but I'm taking Sun Yang every time... (Biedermann's been 48.66 this year).
ReplyDeleteManuelRdgz... I think he will go for the treble. With the way the schedule plays out, why wouldn't he?
Dennis's 3 Australian swimmers at Shanghai had a 100% miserable failure rate. Ditto CWG .
ReplyDeleteSeems Sun benefits from leaving his program for 'rests ' back home.
Something to think about .
BTW repost n04 - I am making no underhand assumptions.
ReplyDeleteMy thinking is that his home based swimmers are swum into fatigue. Whether they will emerge at some point better for it is still open. But he has lost 3 young national team members recently.
Of course it could be personal & nothing to do with the squad. And they are all replaceable with Chinese team members .
Well, Biedermann anchored Germany's 4x100medley with a split of 47.52 off of a 0.23 rt. and a second 50split of 24.71 (I didn't know until I checked just now), which is scarily close to a 48flat on a flat start, which IMO is "at least" 48-low. I actually believe that if Biedermann drops the 400, he could become scarily good and even a medal contender in the 100 (better than park tae hwan's attempts).
ReplyDeleteAs for now, its very obvious how much Biedermann's turns have improved since last year (even over Park's much hyped up improved turns). At his age, this is probably where he'll improve the most from now. I think even if Sun is faster than Biedermann on top of the water over 100, Biedermann is going to win by almost a second just by his underwaters. I don't think I've ever see Sun dive into the water in a straight rigid line, his feet always seem to slap the surface which I'd imagine will take a lot of time off in a sprint.
Anyways, my guess is that in the next olympic cycle, Biedermann will decide to drop the 400m, and potential build as a force in the 100. It's certainly a possibility.
That said, no one will be cheering as loud as I will if we see Sun charge past Phelps, Lochte, Park, Biedermann and Agnel down the final 50 in London.
ReplyDeleteThat said, it's already looking like it could take Lochte's winning time this year to bag the bronze medal.
Indeed, Tom, according to reports in Chinese media, Sun Yang is planning to swim in 4 events in London: 200m free, 400m free, 1500m free, and 4 x 200m free relay.
ReplyDeleteSun is very pleased with his times in the national championship meet. Breakthroughs in shorter distance events (in Olympics and Worlds) are part of his dream goal to become an "all-round king" in freestyle swimming.
Still griping about his defeat in the 400m free final in Shanghai, he thinks if Park Tae-hwan had not been swimming in the outside lane such than he could be seen the results would have been different. He says his new Asian record will be noticed by everybody including Park. While he himself is more confident about his capability in the 400m free, his rivals will feel more pressure.
Sun thinks he can improve his 1500m time by the Olympics and is looking to break his own WR.
He told reporters he will be again training under Dennis Cotterell in Australia from December to February. To qualify for London, he'll need to swim in the national trials in April.
Sun has not decided how much time and effort are to be allocated in the shorter distance training. He said Cotterell will craft a training regimen for him when he is in Australia. Sun concedes 200m WR may be out of reach for him right now, but he'll nonetheless try to compete for a medal, possibly the gold.
I do believe that Park timed/paced his prelims swim so he could get an outer lane. But he won't get such luxury at the olympics.
ReplyDeleteI believe that if it was true that Sun can swim under the 48 barrier, then that means he would get at least a bronze in Shanghai, which is kinda sad that he didn't swim it in Shanghai, but remember in the relay, Sun was a good deal faster than Phelps (although swimming the anchor leg), so Sun could possibly get the 200 silver and if he keeps an eye on Lochte, maybe even gold, and true, if Park swims that slow in the heats of the 400 again, he'll probably drop out of the finals. I have high hopes for Sun being the Olympic Champion in the 400 and 1500, and in the 400 he can swim a 3:38 and under the 14:30 mark in the 1500
ReplyDeletehow to work out in long distance swim in speed reaches how....?????
ReplyDelete