Thoughts from the World Short Course Championships - Day Two

Two further world records were crushed tonight. This is getting ridiculous, its making a mockery of our sport. Jammers and Kneesuits should be banned immediately...

- Ryan Lochte became the first individual swimmer to break a World Record post-techsuit. Rather than shave a tenth or two from Laszlo Cseh's record, he obliterated it.  Lochte took control of the race on the Breaststroke once again, flying past Tyler Clary, who had a decent lead (0.74 secs) over Lochte at the 200m mark.

Unlike some of the other swimming sites on the net, I'm holding off on my end of year Top Male/Top Female/Top Performance lists until the only global competition of the year has taken place. Last week Lochte had some competition for Top Male of 2010 from a French Backstroker, Japanese Breaststroker and two Chinese and South Korean Freestylers. It looks like the contest is well and truly over now.

- The second world record of the evening went in the most exciting race of Day Two. Russia and USA were locked in a head to head battle in the 4 x 200m Freestyle relay. Consistency won in the end with only 0.37 seconds splitting all four of Russia's relay legs. The US fell behind after Peter Vanderkaay's 1:43.83 before Ryan Lochte got them right back into the race with an incredible 1:40.48. Despite superior turns and underwaters, the US weren't able to overhaul the Russian team.

The fact that the US came so close to a full strength Russian team, and crushed the previous world record themselves... all without Michael Phelps should provide some comfort for any nervous US swim fans out there...

... Alternatively you could take the view that we have seen 3 of the 6 relays in Dubai. USA have finished 4th, 4th and 2nd, have little chance in the Women's 4 x 100m Free and only look to be strong favourites in the Women's 4 x 100m Medley relay.

- Sticking with the US. Natalie Coughlin showed that no one is better when it comes to short course Backstroke. Coughlin (56.08) held off a strong Chinese challenge from Zhao Jing (56.18) and Gao Chang (56.21).

After watching the semi final I was beginning to doubt Coughlin's superiority on turns and underwaters. In the final tonight she showed that she is still the best in the world. Just incredible off the walls.

- Stanislav Donets might just be the new undisputed king of backstroke underwaters on the men's side. Donets just missed out on Nick Thoman's world record of 48.94 on the touch, settling for a stunning time of 49.07. Donets is having an incredible few weeks of short course swimming. Peter Marshall's world record on the 50m Backstroke is definitely on this week. Donets might also be the difference maker in the 4 x 100m Medley relay.

- Talking of the world's best, Cesar Cielo is the best sprinter in the world. His 20.61 semi final tonight was one of the most dominant SC 50m Free's you're likely to see. Fred Bousquet in the lane over was blown away by Cielo, in fact the entire field going into tomorrow's final are half a second behind.

Same old Cesar Cielo, getting it done on the big stage.

I'm not sure what happened to Nathan Adrian tonight, it looked like he didn't get his breakout right after his turn. His heat time would have got him safely through to the final. Not the meet many expected so far for Adrian.
- Rebecca Soni won the 50m Breast in 29.83 going away from the field. Watch out on the 100m and 200m.
- Femke Heemskerk and Ranomi Kromowidjojo go into the 100m Free final tomorrow ranked 1-2. I fully expect them to come out of the final with the top two spots, although I think Ranomi KRobotKromowidjojo will come out on top.

- Finally, what a meet Spain are having... Mireia Belmonte was the star of the show last night with two individual golds and almost got herself a third in the 800m Free. Only her team mate Erika Villaecija stood in her way tonight as they recorded a Spanish 1-2, something you do not say often on the world stage of swimming.

Hasta Mañana

World Short Course Championships Dubai - Watch Live Day Two

Coverage over for another day. Check back in tomorrow.


Day Two Finals Coverage.

If the video stops and goes to an advert, click back or reload this page and it will continue playing.

Thoughts from the World Short Course Championships - Day One

Swimming fans around the world, rejoice... our sport is saved.

It feels like the end of Star Wars. Luke Skywalker is burning Paul Biedermann's bodysuit, the ewoks are going nuts, C3:PO's doing the robot like he just don't care... all celebrating the end of the techsuit era. The sport's darkest hour has passed... a World Record has been broken again.

It won't sit well with many sceptics that China was the first nation to acheive the feat, but I happen to believe in innocent until proven guilty. Is it such a surprise that a nation that became more professional, worked harder, and brought in the best coaches from around the world for their home Olympics are reaping the rewards two years later?

What a statement. What symbolism that China, as a nation, were the first to break a world record in 2010. "The times, they are a-changin'" (and getting faster again).

A look at the splits tells the story. China won it because of their incredible strength in depth. Every swimmer was either on 1:53 or 1:54. They didn't have the fastest splits of the race, Australia's Kylie Palmer took that accolade with an incredible 1:52.42, Camille Muffat, France, led off in an equally impressive 1:53.17 with Katie Hoff just behind in 1:53.37. They just flat out had the strongest team, an area the US has dominated in for years.

The excitement didn't end there on a superb Day One of competition...

- The French have finally figured out how to win a 4 x 100m Freestyle relay. You pick your best 4 swimmers and don't let Alain Bernard swim last.

It worked tonight as they beat my pre-race favourite, Russia. Russia had the lead at the 300m mark, 0.11 seconds clear of France. Danila Isotov went for Russia, Yannick Agnel for France. Isotov led comfortably for most of the race, before being stunningly overhauled by the young French rising star. (You may remember a certain swimming blog predicting that Agnel was the last piece of the puzzle for the French team).

A closer look shows that Isotov was taking advice from Bernard in the call room. His split of 46.48 on the final leg is a long way short of what was expected of him. His team mates were in the 45.7, 45.8 range and he is supposed to be the Russian No.1 in this event. I think its fair to say that Isotov lost this relay rather than Yannick Agnel won it.

- With regards to the individual Men's 100m Free, Cesar Cielo put down a marker with his split of 45.08, the fastest split by some margin. Nathan Adrian was some way off that with his lead off effort of 47.35. Alain Bernard, 46.78 , and Steffen Nystrand, 46.70 both had solid lead legs but will need to make up ground on the Brazilian World and Olympic champion.

Classic Cielo... just dominating major meets.

- Outside of the relays, the undoubted star of the evening was Spain's Mireia Belmonte Garcia, who won an incredibly tough double this evening.

First up was the 200m Fly final (8:05pm) that saw Liu Zige and Felicity Galvez take the race out ahead of world record pace at 100m.They paid the price though. As both women started to drop back, Belmonte Garcia and Britain's Jemma Lowe turned on the jets to take the top two spots in 2:03.59 and 2:03.94. At the 100m mark they were placed 7th and 8th respectively. That's how you pace a race. Belmonte Garcia's final 50m (31.58) was faster than her third 50m (31.72), the only woman achieving to this feat in the final.

The fly victory was impressive, but the 400m IM was a performance to leave you stunned. Swimming the final at 8:49pm, just 44 minutes after the 200m Fly, Belmonte (4:24.21) won a battle against China's Ye Shiwen (4:24.55). The key to this race was the Breaststroke leg as the Spaniard came from nowhere to take the lead. Her split of 1:13.51 was over 3 seconds faster than the next fastest breaststroke split. Going into the freestyle leg against Ye Shiwen, who won a World Cup leg in the 100m Free, now was the time the tiredness would surely kick in... but it never came. Belmonte came back sub-60 seconds to round off an incredible evening's work.

Credit also to Ye Shiwen, just 14 years of age, she showed real fight and pushed Belmonte incredibly hard. Her last leg of 59.03 was extremely impressive. The future looks bright for this swimmer. She should be hailed alongside swimmers such as Yannick Agnel and Silke Lippok as one of swimming's brightest talents.

- Ryan Lochte got the evening off to a strong start with his 1:41.08. An excellent first race out of the way for the American. Hopefully he'll get even faster as the meet continues and maybe even break a world record or two.

Paul Biedermann didn't have a race to remember, finishing down in 5th. Cue the claims that Biedermann is just a suit swimmer blah blah blah. I'm tired of hearing it. The German is a great athlete swimming in arguably the most loaded event on the men's side.
- A race to watch out for tomorrow is definitely the Men's 100m Breaststroke. Mike Alexandrov (57.18), Felipe Silva and Cameron Van Der Burgh (both 57.19) are split by just 0.01 seconds going into the final. Fabio Scozzoli on 57.34 is also looking in fine form after a sub-58 heat swim too. For fans of the 200m Breast, Daniel Gyurta and Naoya Tomita both made it through and look in good form.

- Talking of showdowns, the Men's 100m Back should be another tasty final. Stanislav Donets is the in-form swimmer after his times at European SC and he qualified fastest tonight in 49.62. Camille Lacourt, the star of LC Backstroke this year was second fastest in 50.53 with World Record holder Nick Thoman third in 50.69. Tough final to call.

- Check back in tomorrow for more live video and analysis.

World Short Course Championships Dubai - Watch Live

Watch Here.

UPDATE - With English Commentary HERE

Enjoy!

World Record Prediction - Women's 4 x 100m Free Relay

Thomas Jefferson - "I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past."

In a bold move that Jefferson would be proud of, I am sticking my head above the parapet and predicting a World Record in the Women's 4 x 100m Freestyle relay.

There are plenty of records under threat in Dubai...Darian Townsend's 200m IM mark looks to be on borrowed time with Ryan Lochte and his metal teeth lurking. Rebecca Soni has been threatening LC records all year, no reason not to think she can't challenge the SC marks either. The men's 50m Back mark came under heavy fire from Stanislav Donets at the European SC Champs and he will be joined by Camille Lacourt, the same man who narrowly missed the LC mark. These are all records that have a solid chance of being broken.


The current Women's 4 x 100m Free relay world record, however, makes those other marks look like they are on safe ground by comparison. The time of 3:28.22 was set back in December 2008, notably, before the tech-suits became even faster. The record went to Holland with their quartet of Hinkelein Schreuder (52.88), Inge Dekker (52.24), Ranomi Kromowidjojo (52.12) and Marleen Veldhuis (50.98!).

The same team, with a slightly tweaked line-up, will challenge the record again, and the worrying aspect for whoever signs the World Record bonus cheques... they are even better than they were two years ago.

Here is the Dutch team this year with their season best SC times:-

Ranomi Kromowidjojo (51.44)
Femke Heemskerk (51.96)
Inge Dekker (52.85)
Hinkelein Schreuder (53.63)

Total Time = 3:29.88

Now comes the exciting part. Take off 0.5 seconds for each of the three relay takeovers (a conservative estimate) and the time is now 3:28.38 (just missing the WR of 3:28.22). Finally, lets not forget that we are at the World Championships, a competition you would expect some improvement from some, if not all of the team and suddenly it no longer looks like an issue of CAN the Dutch break the World Record, but more like by HOW MUCH.


Hup Holland Hup!

World Short Course Swimming Championships - Dubai - Prediction Time

As another major competition rolls around, it can mean only one thing.... Prediction time.

The World Short Course Champs get underway in Dubai on Wednesday (Dec 15th). Full start lists can now be found HERE.

Men’s 200 Free
1. Ryan Lochte
2. Paul Biedermann
3. Yannick Agnel

Should be a fantastic race. Lochte’s underwaters will prevail though.

Women’s 50 Breast
1. Yulia Efimova
2. Rebecca Soni
3. Leiston Pickett


Men’s 100 Back
1. Camille Lacourt
2. Stanislav Donets
3. Nick Thoman

Hard to bet against Donets after European SC, but Lacourt is having a special year.

Women’s 200 Fly
1. Liu Zige
2. Katinka Hosszu
3. Mireia Belmonte Garcia

Men’s 100 Breast
1. Cameron van der Burgh
2. Felipe Silva
3. Fabio Scozzoli

Women’s 100 Back
1. Zhao Jing
2. Natalie Coughlin
3. Gao Chang

Another superb contest on the horizon. Zhao Jing is in top form, but then again, Coughlin is the queen of short course swimming.


Men’s 100 Fly
1. Steffen Deibler
2. Evgeny Korotyshkin
3. Joeri Verlinden

Sorry Geoff, prove me wrong.

Women’s 400 IM
1. Ye Shiwen
2. Hannah Miley
3. Li Xuanxu

Men’s 400 Free Relay
1. Russia
2. USA
3. France

It will be billed as USA v France. I think Russia wins.

Women’s 800 Free Relay
1. Australia
2. USA
3. China

Very close relay. Hungary and Netherlands also have good shots.

Women’s 100 Free
1. Ranomi Kromowidjojo
2. Femke Heemskerk
3. Dana Vollmer

Kromowidjojo is in a different league to the rest of the field right now.

Men’s 400 IM
1. Ryan Lochte
2. Tyler Clary
3. Laszlo Cseh

Women’s 50 Fly
1. Therese Alshammar
2. Inge Dekker
3. Marieke Guehrer

Men’s 50 Free
1. Fred Bousquet
2. Cesar Cielo
3. Nathan Adrian

Potential classic here. Bousquet wins it for me, but Cielo, Adrian, Schoeman, Josh Schneider and Steffen Deibler will all challenge.

Women’s 100 IM
1. Hinkelien Schreuder
2. Evelyn Verraszto
3. Missy Franklin

Schreuder has dominated this event for a few years now.

Men’s 800 Free Relay
1. Russia
2. USA
3. Germany

If I’m picking Russia to win the 4 x 100 Free, no reason why they shouldn’t win the 4 x 200 Free as well.

Women’s 800 Free
1. Federica Pellegrini
2. Kate Ziegler
3. Katie Goldman

Very tough race to call. Pellegrini hasn’t yet proven herself over 800m, but her 8:15 from Europeans suggests there is a good swim in her in Dubai.

Men’s 50 Back
1. Camille Lacourt
2. Stanislav Donets
3. Aschwin Wildeboer

Very hard to bet against a guy who just came close to the SC WR (Donets)… but I will.

Women’s 200 Back
1. Alexianne Castel
2. Missy Franklin
3. Femke Heemskerk

Heemskerk could win this by 5m or not make the final at all.

Men’s 50 Fly
1. Roland Schoeman
2. Steffen Deibler
3. Fred Bousquet

Schoeman was beating Deibler throughout the World Cup series.

Women’s 100 Breast
1. Rebecca Soni
2. Leisel Jones
3. Yulia Efimova

Top two breaststrokers in the world go head to head once again.

Men’s 400 Free
1. Paul Biedermann
2. Yannick Agnel
3. Peter Vanderkaay

Revenge for Biedermann after his defeat to Agnel at Europeans.

Men’s 200 IM
1. Ryan Lochte
2. Markus Rogan
3. Markus Deibler

Women’s 400 Free
1. Federica Pellegrini
2. Katie Hoff
3. Chloe Sutton

My heart tells me that Chloe Sutton might get amongst it in the 400m Free, I just worry about the turns… for that reason I’m taking Hoff ahead of Sutton.

Men’s 200 Breast
1. Naoya Tomita
2. Daniel Gyurta
3. Eric Shanteau

Women’s 400 Medley Relay
1. United States
2. Netherlands
3. Australia

As is the norm in international relays, it will come down to the Breaststroke. Soni > everyone else.

Women’s 50 Back
1. Gao Chang
2. Zhao Jing
3. Alexandra Herasimenia

Men’s 100 Free
1. Cesar Cielo
2. Nathan Adrian
3.Danila Izotov

Cielo… big competition performer.

Women’s 100 Fly
1. Therese Alshammer
2. Dana Vollmer
3. Inge Dekker

Alshammer v Vollmer should be one of the races of the competition.

Men’s 100 IM
1. Ryan Lochte
2. Markus Deibler
3. Kenneth To

Women’s 50 Free
1. Ranomi Kromowidjojo
2. Jessica Hardy
3. Hinkelien Schreuder

Women’s 200 IM
1. Ye Shiwen
2. Katinka Hosszu
3. Ariana Kukors

I’m going for the young Ye Shiwen over the established stars.

Men’s 50 Breast
1. Cameron van der Burgh
2. Felipe Silva
3. Roland Schoeman

Schoeman’s ranked fastest in the world this year, but Cameron VDB and Felipe Silva should up their game.

Women’s 400 Free Relay
1. Netherlands
2. United States
3. Australia

The Dutch team should be unstoppable. I’m predicting a World Record. You heard it here first.

Men’s 200 Back
1. Ryan Lochte
2. Arkady Vyatchanin
3. Ryosuke Irie

High class field. Camille Lacourt could be strong, even though the distance might be too long. Hard to overlook Tyler Clary too.


Women’s 200 Breast
1. Rebecca Soni
2. Leisel Jones
3. Annamay Pierse

Pierse was struck down with Delhi Belly at the Commonwealths, should be back on form… still won’t be good enough to down Soni & Jones though.

Men’s 200 Fly
1. Kaio Almeida
2. Pawel Korzeniowski
3. Laszlo Cseh

Women’s 200 Free
1. Federica Pellegrini
2. Dana Vollmer
3. Femke Heemskerk

Men’s 400 Medley Relay
1. Brazil
2. Russia
3. France

Brazil have a dynamite team. Guido, Silva, Almeida and oh yeah... Cesar Cielo. Russia & France are also stacked. Is it possible that USA don’t medal in the 4 x 100m Medley relay?

Men’s 1,500 Free
1. Sebastien Rouault
2. Pal Joensen
3. Federico Colbertaldo

Tough race to call. Ous Mellouli and Peter VDK lurk prominently but haven’t shown great form in the 1500 this year.

Comeback Vote Update

Just 8 days left to get your votes in for 'Who Would You Most Like to See Make a Comeback for 2012?'

At 275 votes so far, this has been by far the most popular vote on this blog.

Thorpedo currently leads the way with an impressive 114 votes, however a recent Dutch surge has vaulted Pieter VDH and Inge De Bruijn clearly ahead of the chasing pack.

The early enthusiasm for a Brendan Hansen or Ian Crocker return is dwindling, whilst any Ukrainians and Australians who haven't voted might want to show some much needed appreciation for Yana Klochkova and Susie O'Neill.

Gun to my head, with just one vote, I would vote for Thorpe.... run close by VDH, Inge De Bruijn, Hansen, Crocker, Klochkova & Alex Popov.

Get voting.

Thoughts from the European Short Course Championships - Ranomi Kromowidjojo Special

When it comes to Ranomi Kromowidjojo this year the overriding question has to be...What might have been in 2010?

She started the year in white hot fashion with blazing times of 24.40 (LC 50m Free) and 53.44 (LC 100m Free) back in March. Even after all the major LC competitions this summer, she remains top ranked in the world over 100m Free and second in the 50m Free. Fully tapered at Europeans, Britta Steffen's textile best time of 53.30 surely would have gone... and by some margin. Unfortunately for Kromowidjojo and Holland, she was hit with a bout of Meningitis in July, before she could perform at Europeans...

... as a result its all the sweeter that she should have returned at the European Short Course Champs, on home soil, in such top form.

Here's a run down of her phenomenal performances from last week's competition.

1.) Women's 100m Freestyle Final - 51.44 (Last year in Istanbul - 51.44)



The 4th best performance of all time, equalling her time exactly from last year's corresponding competition. Missed the WR by just 0.43 seconds.

2.) Womens's 50m Freestyle Final - 23.58 (Last year in Istanbul - 23.58!)



The 10th best performance of all time, equalling her time exactly from last year's corresponding competition. Missed the WR by just 0.33 seconds.

3.) Women's 4 x 50m Medley Relay - Freestyle split - 22.70. (Last year in Istanbul - 22.70!!) 



Equals her own fastest relay split of all-time, EQUALLING HER TIME FROM LAST YEAR'S CORRESPONDING COMPETITION!

4.) Women's 4x50m Freestyle Relay - Split 23.09.  (Last year in Istanbul - 23.03. So close!)



The Dutch team get pretty close to their own World Record, just 1.09 seconds away.

Had Marleen Veldhuis' 23.38 from the relay heats replaced Femke Heemskerk's 23.79 from the final, and Kromowidjojo swam the 22.70 that came later in the competition, a difference of 0.8 seconds, they would have missed the WR by just 0.29.

For the 100m Free in Shanghai 2011 and London 2012, I'm making Kromowidjojo favourite with Fran Halsall her closest competition.

PS. Has anyone in major competition history, ever swum four races, equalled their time from the year before in three of those races, and been just 0.06 seconds off in the fourth race? Only logical explanation is that Ranomi Kromowidjojo is a robot, unaffected by suit law changes.

PPS. Thanks to Youtube user zwemsitenl (http://www.zwemsite.nl) for the videos, hope you don't mind me stealing them offering them to a wider audience).