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.

Thoughts from Commonwealth Games Swimming - Day Four

Excellent night of swimming in Delhi tonight. The 'Big Four'(Australia, England, Canada and South Africa) all came away with one gold each. Lets dig a little deeper...

. Brace yourselves, things are about to get controversial... Right now, Brent Hayden is the world's best sprinter.

- I know, I know. What about Nathan Adrian. Cesar Cielo. Fred Bousquet. Alex Popov. Matt Biondi. Johnny Weissmuller. Let me explain why...

David Rieder got the discussion up and running after his claim that Adrian deserved the recognition as the world's best sprinter. His argument was that although Adrian wasn't ranked first in either event in the world rankings, his high ranking in both was unmatched. Not a terrible argument at the time, but it didn't sit well with me. I believe to be classed as the world's best sprinter, you should be a) leading the world in one or both of the 50m and 100m Freestyle and (less importantly) b) have won an individual Gold in a major championship.

Hayden has now done both and should put this issue to bed (until someone goes even faster) after winning gold in the 100m Free final. His 47.98 tonight was superb becoming the first man under 48 seconds this year. He is also the first man to break 48 seconds in a jammer, a fact he is fully aware of after mentioning it in his interview with the BBC... (The fastest time in a textile suit remains Peter VDH's 47.84 set in legs at the 2000 Olympics). 

The 50m Free is still to come, and its fair to expect Hayden to improve upon his 21.89 set at Pan Pacs (Delhi Belly permitting). My prediction 21.59, Gold.

. Staying with the 100m Free, I wonder whether Delhi 2010 will go down as the meet that marked the return of Simon Burnett as a force in international swimming once again. Talent is certainly not a problem for Burnett, the fact that he remains the NCAA record holder for 200m Free (1:31.20), even after the suit era, attests to that.

2010 has been a good year so far for the Tuscon Ford swimmer with a strong showing at Europeans and now an excellent silver in Delhi (taking the notable scalp of Eamon Sullivan). However, there is still a way to go to fully catch up with the guys eating at the top table in the 50m and 100m Free (Hayden, Cielo, Adrian, Phelps, Bousquet).

Mark Foster gave his opinion on why Burnett has been slightly off form for the last few years. Foster believes that Burnett's problem lay in the fact that after leaving university and swimming full time, as an intelligent guy, he didn't have enough to occupy his mind. Interesting theory. (If you missed the charity Burnett mentioned during his BBC interview you can find out about it Here).

. The only choice for breakout (and star) performer of the meet so far is Alicia Coutts. She continued her incredible competition by picking up the 100m Fly in 57.53 to add to her victories in the 100m Free and 200m IM. The time moves Coutts up to 5th in the world this year, one spot behind Fran Halsall's 57.40, untapered, at Europeans.

Such a shame we didn't get to see a fit Halsall go up against Coutts.

. Nice swim from Rebecca Adlington. She got herself into a dominant position early on and kept the distance to the chasing pack at a comfortable(ish) margin. After the race she spoke about the importance of winning, with the time being less important. She also mentioned that she was conserving some energy for the 400m Free.

From a British perspective it is great to see Becky win her first major 800m Free victory since Beijing, which should lift a weight from her shoulders. The 800m Free remains her best event and on form she remains the world's best.

For Adlington, 2009 was a challenging year, 2010 has been a rebuilding year, 2011 looks like being a stronger, 2012 will  be a .......... year. (Fill in the gap)