There was no big surprise in the fact that Natalie Coughlin decided to scratch the 200 Free this morning. She has the finals of the 100 Back tonight, in what will be a great race with Hayley McGregory, and she was the top seed in the 200 IM later on in prelims today. Katie Hoff cruised home to take the top spot with a 1:57. In a minor surprise, one half of the of the relay members from the 2004 Gold Medal winning 800 Free Relay Team (Kaitlin Sandeno and Carly Piper) did not make it to the semi-finals. Tonight's semi-final heats will be very important because the top six finishers in tomorrow night's final will most likely be added to the Olympic Team. However you can not be considered for the team if you do not reach the final heat. Keep an eye on Heat 1 Lane 7 as Katie Riefenstahl from Germantown Academy will be racing for a spot in that coveted final heat.
Men's 200 Fly
Lending credence to the thought that training with the best will force you to elevate your effort in practice every day (and, in turn, make you a better swimmer) six of the 16 swimmers in tonight's semi-final of the Men's 200 Fly train at the University of Michigan and either represent the University or Club Wolverine. The world record in this event is held by Michael Phelps. Also, the top two seeds in heat one tonight, Gill Stoval and Mark Dylla, train together at the University of Georgia. Those two finished first and second, respectively, in the 200 yard Fly at NCAA's this past March.
Women's 200 IM
Well we didn't quite get the show I was hoping for in the last three heats as it seemed all three women mentioned in the previous post just did enough to make it to the semi-final heat. Natalie Coughlin was under World and American Record pace at the 50, 100, and 150 splits (and was actually behind Ariana Kukors at the 150) and she was obviously cruising the backstroke and freestyle legs. Coughlin has the 100 backstroke final tonight and is surely focused on that race. She will probably again do enough to make the final heat in the 200 IM when she swim it this evening.
This event is stocked with some of the greatest female swimmers of this decade: Coughlin, Hoff, Sandeno, Amanda Beard, and Whitney Myers. Any of these women plus several others who also will compete in the semi-final heats tonight would be legitimate 200 IM medal contenders in Beijing. But only two will get the chance to represent the USA in August.
TONIGHT:
- Katie Riefenstahl has a tough double right out of the gate as she will swim the semi-final of the 200 Free and then have to recover quickly for the Final of the 100 Back about 15 minutes later.
- A second Phelps-Lochte duel will not occur in the 200 Free Final as Ryan has scratched the event to concentrate on the 100 back final. Lochte was surely swimming the event to put up a fast time and get himself eligible for the 800 Free Relay in Beijing. Look for Phelps to challenge his own World Record in the event but possibly shut it down on the last 50 to save up for the 200 Fly semi-final later on.
- The Women's 100 Back Final is sure to be a treat with McGregory and Coughlin dueling for the win and the World Record. We could possibly see two Women under 58 seconds. Coughlin's current World Record is 59.03.
- The Men's 100 Back Final is going to be an all out battle for 53 seconds. Defending Olympic Champion and World Record Holder Aaron Peirsol will face some tough competition from the entire field which features top seed Randall Bal (Lane 4), a rested Ryan Lochte (Lane 6), multiple NCAA Champion Matt Grevers (Lane 3), 2008 NCAA 100 yard Back Champion Ben Hessen (Lane 1...watch him underwater off of the start), and 2008 NCAA 200 yard Back Champion Pat Schirk from Penn State (Lane 8). This race happens so quickly and the field is so closely bunched one slip off of the start or bad turn could cost someone a trip to China.
- New Jersey's own Rebecca Soni goes for the victory and a spot on the Olympic Team in the Women's 100 Breaststroke. She grew up swimming for Scarlet Aquatic Club in New Brunswick, NJ.
One last thought....
Last night I exited the Qwest Center to a huge crowd surrounding Ryan Lochte who was signing autographs and posing for pictures. Lochte stayed for at least 20 minutes before heading off to dinner with his coach, Florida's Greg Troy. This is a guy who swam two events at Finals last night and is entered in more races this week than any other swimmer. Yet he took the time (and his coach allowed him to take the time) to sign autographs and pose for pictures with the fans. I would not fault Lochte, or any swimmer for that matter, if they ducked out the back door to avoid the crowd, get to dinner, and rest up for the next day. This is the biggest meet of their lives and many of these swimmers have a lot of endorsement money riding on their performance this week. But Lochte stayed for every picture and greeted all of the fans with a big smile and a lot of enthusiasm. This says an awful lot about the character and appreciation for this sport Lochte and Coach Troy have.
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