On day 2 of the 2011 Duel in the Pool, the Europeans had at least a respectable performance as compared to their first day. On this day, they were only outscored 83-52, for a total final score of 181.5-80.5. In the least, this wasn’t the worst defeat in the history of the series (and the Europeans ended up a few points better than they did last season).
There were a ton of American Records that went down today. Some were only “official” records, because USA Swimming doesn’t recognize the fastest swims by Americans in many races (Grevers’ 100 back), while others were the fastest swims by Americans in history (Hersey’s 200 fly, Tarwater’s 200 fly, Women’s 400 Free Relay).
Maybe the biggest news coming out of a meet that’s only slightly important in the big-picture is a potential injury to Tyler Clary’s rotator cuff. He pulled out of day 2 of the meet after saying he wasn’t able to lift his arm above his head on Friday.
Women’s 800 Free
Though the television audience missed it, Lotte Friis put up a masterful swim in the women’s 800 free and was chasing the World Record line the whole way through. She was tearing her way through the final 50, and had the big orange line not been running in front of her, it would have been hard to believe that she wasn’t going to get the record. At the finish, she was just shy of the World Record (though even she seemed shocked to have been so close) in 8:04.77.
That will, however, go down as the 3rd-fastest swim in history and a new textile best. This defends her World (long course) Championship from Shanghai.
The 2nd–place finisher, Chloe Sutton, was 10-seconds back in 8:14.29. Not a terrible swim, but her 400 on Friday was definitely stronger – though her background is as a distance, open-water swimmer, she might avoid some huge competition at Trials by continuing to focus on her 400 speed.
Men’s 800 Free
If we’re talking in terms of Olympic representation, the 800 freestyles went to a sweep by swimmers from Denmark, with the Faroe Islands’ Pal Joensen winning the men’s race in 7:36.24. This was a tight race throughout, with American Michael Klueh and another Denmark swimmer Mads Glaesner battling him the whole way.
This is probably the best race of all three swimmers, but given that it’s a non-Olympic event, in London they will all be forced either up or down. Out of the three, Joensen is the best 1500 swimmer, and that endurance showed in this race as he made a huge move in the 5th-hundred of the race that his competition coudln’t match. Once he got free of his competitors, he just continued to put distance in for the victory.
Klueh finished 2nd in 7:39.90 (he had a typically-strong finish), and Glaesner was 3rd in 7:42.27.
Women’s 200 Free
The Netherlands’ Ranomi Kromowidjojo took this 200 free out hard and served as a good “rabbit” (she’s a sprinter, so that’s not surprising), but it was Missy Franklin’s race to win. She swam a very even final 150 meters en route to a 1:53.19 win. This was the front-half of back-to-back races for her. Dana Vollmer took 2nd in 1:53.92, and Katie Hoff finished a points-sweep in 1:54.24.
After the Europeans looked like they might put up a good fight in the distance events, this sweep gave the momentum fully back to the Americans. At this point, it was just a matter of time before the Americans would put away the victory.
Men’s 200 Free
Ricky Berens is making a statement that he’s ready to make an impact for the American team in more than just relays. He took an early lead on the first 50, and by the time the swimmers turned at the halfway mark, he had put a huge gap between himself and the field. He won’t be able to knock off Phelps and Lochte for London, but by 2013 Worlds in Barcelona, it will be his turn to get in on some individual swims.
Swiss swimmer Dominik Meichtry looked very good for 150 meters, and ran 2nd in throughout almost all of this race. On the last 25, however, he faded hard all the way back to last place. We saw something similar happen in the 400 yesterday, where he fell apart at the end of the race (though he wasn’t as far up in that one).
That left the opportunity open for another 1-2-3 finish, with Matt McLean rising asfast as Meichtry faded. He took 2nd in 1:44.26, with Conor Dwyer taking 3rd in 1:44.45.
Women’s 100 Back
After winning the 200 back on Friday in a new European Record, Elizabeth Simmonds suddenly became a contender in this 100 back. Natalie Coughlin took an early lead, but Simmonds (swimming in an outside lane) came off of the final wall and picked her off on her way to a 56.82 win. With that swim as a display of her speed, it seems as though Simmonds has no excuse if she doesn’t medal in the 200 at the Olympics, in front of a home crowd.
Coughlin took 2nd in 56.92, which is a full second slower than her American Record that led off Friday’s World-Record setting medley.
Missy Franklin, just 18-minutes after her prior event, was 3rd in 57.49. That was about seven-tenths slower than she was at the Berlin World Cup meet, which would be tough to explain other than fatigue. This was a good test-run for London, where the 200 free semifinal comes right before the 100 back final. I think that this swim might swing her back towards not trying to do both events at Trials.
Liz Pelton was just behind Franklin in 57.64.
Men’s 100 Back
Matt Grevers came into this race with two wins in two events, and he wasn’t going to let the victory in his marquee event, the 100 back, slip away. He posted a 49.85 which is officially the American Record, breaking the 50.02 that Nick Thoman swam on Friday to leave off the medley. (Though, Thoman is still left with the World Record of a 48.94 that USA Swimming doesn’t recognize).
Thoman took 2nd in 50.13, and Ryan Lochte was 3rd in 50.65. He held off a furious charge from Poland’s Radoslaw Kawecki, who came up just short for 4th in 50.87.
Yet another 1-2-3 finish left the Americans just a single point shy of sealing the victory, as they had amassed 130.5 at this point of the race.
Women’s 100 Breast
With only two Europeans entered, anything shy of a triple-DQ in this race would have clinched the meet for the Americans.
Rebecca Soni was the favorite, based on how dominant she is in long course, but with her Trojan teammate Jessica Hardy swimming well (and very good in short course, it was far from a sure thing.
Hardy got out to a phenomenal lead (Soni’s starts and pullouts really kill her), which wasn’t a surprise. The fact that, even after the turn, Hardy put another half-a-second between her and the field was really impressive. She would ultimately touch in 1:03.33 – which is a new textile best, .03 off of Hardy’s lifetime best, and an American Record (similar to Grevers’, it’s simply the best USA Swimming recognized time by an American).
Rikke Moeller-Pedersen broke up the American sweep with a 1:05.50 for 3rd. Amanda Beard was 4th in 1:05.75.
That win by Hardy officially pushed the Americans past 131.5 points for the meet victory, and the rest of the races were just icing on the cake.
Men’s 100 Breast
In yesterday’s 200, Brendan Hansen hung back and zoomed to a win in the closing strokes. In today’s 100, he took just the opposite tact and went out hard. He held off a closing charge by Daniel Gyurta (who had another terrible finish) to grab the win in 57.47. Gyurta was 2nd in 57.62.
This is another huge step in the progression for Hansen. He’s back in good enough shape and form (and reportedly 15 pounds lighter as a result of getting involved in the Austin cycling scene) that he’s able to actually put huge strategy into his race based on his competition, rather than just diving in and swimming as fast as he can.
Mike Alexandrov, who’s great in short course, was 3rd in 57.81.
Women’s 200 Fly
Swimming at home as an Atlanta native, Kathleen Hersey swam a huge 200 fly time of 2:03.49 to put a huge dent into the American Record by eight-tenths, over a 2010, textile swim done by Elaine Breeden in 2010. It’s great to see that mark finally get lowered, and for Hersey to break it by that much shows how relatively weak the Americans have been in this event for the past few years – it’s been one of the biggest holes in the American lineup. Breaking onto this medal stand will be an incredibly tough task in London, but Hersey should surely ensure a finals appearance at the least.
Breeden was 2nd here in 2:04.98, followed by Sweden’s Martina Granstroem in 3rd in 2:06.08.
Men’s 200 Fly
Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh got a big monkey off of his back in the 200 fly when he took the win in 1:51.18. American comebacker Davis Tarwater (he never retired, but took a break to study at Oxford) had a lead in this race, but coming off of the last few walls, Cseh stayed down an extra 3-4 kicks, and those kicks were faster and smoother than Tarwaters’. That’s about 3-tenths slower than Cseh was at Short Course Euro’s, but still looked like a very good swim.
As for Tarwater, he looked the best he has since his return to serious training in this particular event, which was once his signature race. It looked initially as though he might focus on the 100 fly and 100 frees, but the easiest and most direct route to the Olympics will be back with his old friend the 200 fly (especially with the Clary injury). He finished 1st in 1:51.90, which is a new American Record (like Hersey’s, it’s a full-blown record).
Women’s 50 Free
Though the meet was long out of contention, the Europeans got a big boost when they took a 1-2-3-4 finish in the 50 free. Marleen Veldhuis, who earlier scratched the 200, had her first good swim of the meet to win (in a bit of an upset) in 23.43. Her Dutch teammate Ranomi Kromowidjojo was 2nd in 23.61, with Brit Fran Halsall 3rd in 23.73 to sweep the points. Belarus’ Aleskandra Herasimenia was 4th in 24.13, to just outtouch Jessica Hardy, the top American finisher.
Fortunately for the Americans, this race will come well after the top American 50 freestylers are done with their other potential events. Hardy won’t have a breaststroke conflict like she did at World’s, it’s unlikely that any of the American 50 freestylers will be on the medley (maybe a prelims swim that morning for Hardy), and none of them will be in the 100 free either. As compared to the others in this final (with the exception of Herasimenia), the Europeans will be busy up until the final day of the Olympics.
Men’s 50 Free
Most of the coaches on the American staff have a strong college coaching background, and so these dual-style meets are right in their wheelhouse. Thus it’s no surprise that they made a great decision with the late addition of Nick Brunelli to the roster, and he roared from an outside lane to a victory in 21.28. USC sophomore Vlad Morozov, who represents Russia, appeared as though he might win as he was in a middle lane, until Brunelli charged up from the outside. Morozov would take 2nd in 21.29.
Matt Grevers’ perfect run ended when he finished 3rd in 21.38. Garrett Weber-Gale was 4th in 21.42. Weber-Gale’s teammate Jimmy Feigen again looked tired (this time, before he even entered the water), and he finished 7th in 21.73. Again, though, he has to try and help Texas win a National Championship in March before fighting a tough battle for an Olympic spot in June, unlike the other sprinters in this meet, and so he’s probably nowhere near rested.
Women’s 200 IM
Cal’s Caitlin Leverenz was another late addition to this roster that has paid off big. She and USC’s Katinka Hosszu were locked in another battle in this race, but this time incoming Cal freshman Liz Pelton thrust herself into the discussion.
But Leverenz was not to be denied in the 200 IM. She tore through the breaststroke leg (in a 34.50 split) to put so much distance between herself and the field that nobody else was going to catch her. She even made Katie Hoff and Katinka Hosszu, who are usually pretty good breaststrokers, look like molasses. Leverenz flew to a win in 2:04.91.
That broke a “recognized” American Record by over a second, and put her 3rd on the all-time list in this distance in short course.
Pelton took 2nd in 2:07.27, and Hosszu was 3rd in 2:07.64. Hoff was just behind Hosszu in 4th in 2:07.77.
It was surprising that Leverenz bettered Hosszu by this much, especially after what Hosszu did in the 400 IM on Friday. This also is a demonstration that Leverenz can hang with Hosszu in short course, which sets up for a monster battle at NCAA’s in these IM’s.
That 3rd-place finish by Hosszu staved off the Europeans being dealt the worst defeat in Duel history.
Men’s 200 IM
With no Tyler Clary in this 200 IM, Ryan Lochte had nobody to use as a pace-setter like he did in the 400 IM. As a result, he was forced to lead most of this race (though it was his last event, so there was not much to save energy for). He was basically outswum by Laszlo Cseh on the back-half of the race, but on the fly and backstroke, Lochte was absolutely dominant. That was a bit surprising, given that Cseh has a pretty decent backstroke background (though not as good as Lochte’s) and was the best butterflier in the field.
Still, Lochte gave himself enough of a lead to hang on for a win in 1:52.98. Cseh took 2nd in 1:53.31.
Markus Rogan swam well on the front-half of this race, but faded back to 3rd in 1:53.93.
Women’s 400 Free Relay
This European roster was the best collection of 100 freestylers ever assembled into a single relay. They had the top 4 swimmers at this summer’s World Championships all combined into one relay, and un-surprisingly those four swimmers went under the old World Record with a 3:27.53. Because of FINA rules, however, this won’t count as a World Record. Jeanette Ottesen, Fran Halsall, Aleksandra Herasimenia, and Ranomi Kromowidjojo combined for the international relay.
USA Swimming, however, will recognize it as a U.S. Open Record, which is the only record it will break, despite being the fastest time in history.
The American group of Natalie Coughlin, Jessica Hardy, Dana Vollmer, and Missy Franklin did break an American Record with their swim of 3:28.46. That also left them only four-tenths short of the official World Record.
The post-race interview had one of the most comedic moments of the whole meet. The Europeans, despite being handled meet-wide, had good spirits after this win, and after nearly undressing herself on live, National TV, Jeanette Ottesen dropped an explicitive on live TV. If you like raw, unfiltered emotion and reactions, watching European swimmers giving post-race interviews in a non-native language is about as good as it gets. The Europeans’ post-race interviews throughout the meet where highly entertaining.
Men’s 400 Free Relay
Inspired by the women, the European men looked like they might pull the upset in the 400 free relay. That was until Ricky Berens hit the water and did what he’s done throughout this meet – dominated. By the time he came up off of his dive on the anchor-leg, he had already made up the half-second gap. Europe’s Krisztian Takacz, however, didn’t give up. He had a very good stroke above-the-water (which was a big improvement off of his 50, where he was dead last) and tried his best to hang on. In the last 40-meters or so, Berens’ longer underwaters paid off with a finishing burst.
The Americans won in 3:07.22, ahead of the Europeans in 3:07.98.
since 2008, hoff has had 4 coaches……Paul, Bob, Sean, Jon. that is a lot in 4 years….at least i think so.
yeah what is hutchinson doing these days?
She doesn’t” keep switching coaches” Joeb. Hoff has been at Fullerton for three years. Her initial switch to Bowman was a mistake and she made a great decision when she went to FAST. Eemeber ,Hutchison left that group, not the other way around. Urb is a great coach and Katie will do just fine with him, he sees the big picture.
You know, their were huge expectations with Hoff 4 years ago.She was deemed the “female Phelps”much like Missy is today. Their are huge expectations placed on young talanted athletes and i think it is particularily hard on young women who’s progress does not always keep pace with expectatoins.Many young women have a couple years where everything clicks, their bodies… Read more »
mostly just bobo gigo is in love with Hoff. i agree…the relay might be her only ticket to London. and if she tries the 200 im and free the same day, she might miss out on both.
she keeps switching coaches…maybe she is the one that doesn’t want to do the work and is looking for an easy way back…not going to happen.
Jack,
Thanks for the insight on Adlington-Friis-Kapas.
Can’t wait for another battle with Adlington-Friis.
I got a sense that Friis will upset Adlington though.
Friis is an absolute machine. Ugly technique but so metronomic, she just never slows down. Really tough woman. Her and Adlington (Along with Kapas, B-Garcia and Sutton) will have a monster battle over 800m free in London, i think Adlington will take it ahead of Friis and Kapas. The problem i believe Friis has is that she leads it out hard, and Adlington is impossible to drop 99% of the time over the 800m free. Adlington told reporters in Shanghai that her plan was to sit behind Friis until the end and then sprint and Friis has no reply when it came. Friis on the other hand said they went fairly easy to 400m and then she tried to break… Read more »
I can’t believe everyone here expects Katie Hoff to be fast at Trials in the IMs. She has gone from winning almost every IM race she entered to losing every one. And her times are 212-214 when her times were once 209-211. And that is not counting the 400 where she is not even close to her times, and not close to her competitors either.
I think her best shot to make the Olympic team is in the 200 Free. Probably the 400 Free too. The 800 is open also, it’s too bad she won’t swim that in all likelihood. I hope she does a good Trials in all of the events just like you all but I have not… Read more »
re: trials/games tapering,
USA has done very very well in the past when they staged the trials close to the olympics.
And in fact, I can’t remember which year (maybe Atlanta?), when they staged the trials far before the olympics, they did worse.
Each country has different style so what works in others may not work for another. Right now, the US trials/games schedules has worked wonderfully.
Emilyr, I too have been thinking about the trial/games tapering! What worries me most is how competitive trials have become. Almost everyone will have to almost full taper just to make top two!!! It’s going to be a very fast meet indeed.
Missy can handle any event schedule she chooses, she’s a freight train thats on the loose.
Katie Hoff is my dark horse for trials too, the way her IMs have been this season says to me she is going to be very very fast. Best of luck to everyone!!
Just cause were talking about the IMs, while kukors record ever be broken?!? How insane would it be if it was!!!