Olivier Poirier-Leroy is a former National level swimmer from the beautiful west coast of BC. In feeding his passion for swimming, he has developed YourSwimBook.com: a comprehensive tool that designed for swimmers to track and analyze their results.
The 100m freestyle is the second individual women’s event in Indy. Powerhouse names like Franklin, Vollmer, Schmitt, Hardy and Coughlin, hungry up and comers Romano and Weir, will others like American record holder Weir look to get back to “super-suit” era speed, will mix it up in Indy to decide who takes the six coveted tickets to Barcelona.
Will Missy Franklin build on blistering 50m times this year to improve on her somewhat disappointing London individual event result? Will ageless veteran Coughlin add to her dump truck full of international medals with a relay spot? Can Romero improve further on her win in Santa Clara to get an individual spot on the Worlds team?
The Favorite
No big surprise here. Colorado Stars’ Missy Franklin comes in as the top seed at 53.52, which was swum as the lead off for the 4x100m in London, where she placed 5th in the individual event. Her 50m has improved markedly this year, dropping nearly half a second from the time she posted in London, which should make for some scary front end speed once she is full rested and tapered.
The Challengers
Megan Romano, of the Athens Bulldogs, is looking to ride the momentum of a strong NCAA season and a win in Santa Clara. Getting time in with some guy named Bob Bowman and NBAC in preparation for Trials can only help her. She upset the field in Santa Clara, beating both Franklin and Coughlin in a time of 54.16. She had a good year with Georgia this year, helping them win the NCAA title, including a NCAA record in the 4×100 free relay.
Trojan Jessica Hardy posted a 53.86 in London, making her the second fastest American in the event in the past two years. At Santa Clara she admitted that she is more focused on breaststroke events this year, particularly the 50, in which she holds the world record.
NBAC’s Allison Schmitt is more known for her 200 and 400 free, but in London she cranked out a 53.5 as the anchor of the 4×100 free relay. Schmitt will be looking to set the tone for the rest of her events with the 100, and also to get one of the coveted top-6 relay spots.
Cal’s 30 year old Coughlin will be trying to make the team on the relay as well. She swam a very solid 54.33 in Santa Clara. With a focus on the sprint events, and a curious eye towards Rio, Coughlin will be looking to add to her extensive collection of international medals with a relay spot. The time she put up in Santa Clara was the fastest she has been in 5 years. Cal teammate Dana Vollmer hasn’t been able to get back into the 53’s since 2009-2010. She’s changed up her training this season, backing off and going to singles for the first time in her career. It will be interesting to see how this affects her racing once she is rested and tapered.
Amanda Weir of SwimAtlanta is the owner of the American Record of 53.02, but hasn’t been under 54 seconds since then. The fastest 100 she put up this year was a couple mid-56’s in Charlotte and Austin. Stanford prospect 18-year-old Lia Neal, of Ashpalt Green Unified Aquatics, will also try to add to her Olympic experience in 2013 with another relay spot. Her best time of 54.15 puts her right in the hunt.
The opportunity for a big breakthrough comes via 16-year-old Simone Manuel of First Colony. She will be looking to improve on the 54.60 she swum at Pan Pac Jrs last summer, which was almost a full second faster than what she swam at Olympic Trials earlier in the summer.
The Picks
| Olivier’s Picks | Braden’s Picks | Kelsey’s Picks | |
| 1. | Missy Franklin, Colorado Stars, 53.52 | Missy Franklin, Colorado Stars, 53.52 | Jessica Hardy, USC, 53.86 |
| 2. | Megan Romano, Georgia/NBAC, 53.92 | Allison Schmitt, Georgia/NBAC, 53.94 | Missy Franklin, Colorado Stars, 53.52 |
| 3. | Jessica Hardy, USC, 53.86 | Jessica Hardy, USC, 53.86 | Allison Schmitt, Georgia/NBAC, 53.94 |
| 4. | Allison Schmitt, Georgia/NBAC, 53.94 | Megan Romano, Georgia/NBAC, 53.92 | Megan Romano, Georgia/NBAC, 53.92 |
| 5. | Dana Vollmer, Cal, 53.94 | Lia Neal, Asphalt Green, 54.15 | Lia Neal, Asphalt Green, 54.15 |
| 6. | Natalie Coughlin, Cal, 53.67 | Natalie Coughlin, Cal, 53.67 | Dana Vollmer, Cal, 53.94 |
| 7. | Amanda Weir, SwimAtlanta, 54.14 | Simone Manuel, First Colony, 54.60 | Amanda Weir, SwimAtlanta, 54.14 |
| 8. | Lia Neal, Asphalt Green, 54.15 | Dana Vollmer, Cal, 53.94 | Madison Kennedy, SwimMAC, 54.45 |
| Darkhorse | Darkhorse | Darkhorse | |
| Sarh Denninghoff, Texas, 55.63 | Natalie Hinds, Florida, 55.50 | Margo Geer, Arizona, 54.62 |
Why is training with Bowman thought to help Romano? If she had been swimming with Marsh, Salo, or McKeever I’d think the coaching was more important. Has Bowman improved the 100 speed of swimmer that comes to him?
Dan. – Allison Schmitt. She was drastically faster after training with Bowman going toward 2012. And is a good comparison for Romano as they come from the same Georgia program.
Watch out for Madison Kennedy, now training with David Marsh. Big time talent.
Missy Franklin had a, “…somewhat disappointing London individual event result.”? There were only 3 other people who won 2 individual events in London! If she had been 1/100th of a second faster in the 200 Free she would have tied Michael Phelps for most total medals of any athlete in the 2012 Olympics! I don’t think most knowledgeable swimming fans EXPECTED her to medal in more than 2 individual events; sure, we HOPED, but the world of swimming is so international and competitive now, it’s not like the 70’s when the U.S. was so dominant! I hate it when people set unattainable expectations and put extreme pressure on swimmers (i.e.: Katie Hoff). Let our athletes go out there and do… Read more »
He means only in 100 free. She was incredible on back and really good on relays, I think everyone agrees London was a huge success for her. 100 free was probably her worst race, he only means that one 100 free in the individual final was disappointing.
Without semi finals the morning swim is gonna be so important in relay events
I couldn’t think of a more appropriate title for this race. Bravo on that, Braden. Tuesday morning will be very interesting.
Weir is up and comer????
Certainly not!!!
She’s the American record holder ! and she’s been around for years!
I think that there will be enough multi-event qualifiers (Lochte, Franklin, Ledecky, Dwyer) to select Top 6 for both 100 and 200 free.
Don’t forget they will also select the winners of 50 strokes before they pick the 5th and 6th placers.
How does Kelsey not have Natalie in her top 8? Even if she just goes what she went at Santa Clara she should be in there. I also don’t expect much of out Dana Vollmer this summer, she just hasn’t looked sharp.