Depth In 100 Freestyle Gives America Relay Chance Against Aussies

The Australians and Americans have long been the powerhouse nations in swimming, producing plenty of talent and arguably boasting the most depth worldwide.

Of the 25 times the men’s 100m freestyle has been contested at the Olympics, an American has won 13 times, an Australian has won three times.

While it’s easy to see the success of a champion, to look at the depth of a country’s talent pool means digging a little deeper than just the highest pinnacle of sport.

The best way to compare depth in 2016 is to compare the two countries’ Olympic Trials results starting at prelims, and heading towards the finals.

PRELIMS COMPARISON

USA AUSTRALIA
Nathan Adrian (48.43) Kyle Chalmers (48.61)
Ryan Held (48.46) Cameron McEvoy (48.75)
Caeleb Dressel (48.69) James Magnussen (48.77)
Anthony Ervin (48.76) Kenneth To (49.12)
Jimmy Feigen (49.03) Tommaso D’Orsogna (49.24)
Ryan Lochte (49.13) William Stockwell (49.32)
Maxime Rooney (49.14) Daniel Smith (49.47)
William Copeland (49.16) James Roberts (49.51)
David Williams (49.28) Brayden McCarthy (49.63)
David Nolan (49.31) Jack Gerrard (49.63)
Seth Stubblefield (49.35) Blake Jones (49.68)
Blake Pieroni (49.39) Alexander Graham (49.71)
Josh Schnieder (49.45) Matthew Abood (49.93)
John Murray (49.46) Vincent Dai (50.02)
Conor Dwyer (49.51) Matthew Davis (50.06)
Matt Grevers (49.55) Mitchell Jack (50.08)

Although prelims times don’t mean a whole lot, the significance is the number of swimmers who were under 49-seconds and under 50-seconds in prelims.In prelims, Americans were without a doubt faster than their Australian counterparts. In the United States, Nathan Adrian took the top seed for the men at 48.43, in Australia Kyle Chalmers took the top seed with a 48.61.

At the U.S Olympic Trials, there were four swimmers under 49-seconds as opposed to the three at Australian trials. All 16 qualifiers in the States were under 50-seconds with the slowest being 49.55. In Australia only 13 qualifiers were under 50-seconds.

The 16th place qualifier in the States would have been 13th in Australia. The fact of the matter is, 29 swimmers in the United States were under 50-seconds at trials. The 31st place swimmer in prelims at the U.S trials would have made the semifinals in Australia.

Based on the above comparison it’s easy to conclude that there is more overall depth in the United States than in Australia in the men’s 100m freestyle.

SEMIFINALS COMPARISON

USA AUSTRALIA
Nathan Adrian (47.91) Cameron McEvoy (48.09)
Ryan Held (48.48) Matthew Abood (48.89)
Caeleb Dressel (48.53) James Roberts (49.04)
Jimmy Feigen (48.55) Kyle Chalmers (49.06)
Anthony Ervin (48.71) Kenneth To (49.19)
William Copeland (48.75 James Magnussen (49.21)
Blake Pieroni (49.07) William Stockwell (49.29)
Conor Dwyer (49.18) Jack Gerrard (49.33)

It took a 49.18 to make it to the finals in the United States and a 49.33 in the United States. Conor Dwyer, who finished eighth in the semifinals would have been fifth in the semifinals in Australia.

The 11th place swimmer in the semifinals in the States would have qualified for the final in Australia. Once again this trend points to showing more depth in this event for the Americans.

FINALS COMPARISON

USA AUSTRALIA
Nathan Adrian (47.72) Cameron McEvoy (47.04)
Caeleb Dressel (48.23) Kyle Chalmers (48.03)
Ryan Held (48.26) James Roberts (48.32)
Anthony Ervin (48.54) James Magnussen (48.68)
Jimmy Feigen (48.57) Matthew Abood (48.89)
Blake Pieroni (48.78) William Stockwell (48.96)
William Copeland (49.12) Jack Gerrard (49.28)
Conor Dwyer (49.13) Kenneth To (49.35)

The final comparison of depth is a comparison of the finals at both the U.S trials and Australian trials. Cameron McEvoy and Nathan Adrian were the fastest overall for their respective countries. McEvoy was significantly faster than Adrian posting a 47.04 to Adrian’s 47.72.

Caeleb Dressel was second in the States, Kyle Chalmers was second for Australia. Chalmers 48.03 was faster than Dressel’s 48.23.

Where the comparison changes is that the next six American finishers are faster than their Australian counterparts. The slowest time in the final was relatively similar for both countries albeit slightly slower for the Australians.

Both nations had six swimmers under 48-seconds and one swimmer under 48-seconds. In the argument of speed, Australia takes the cake with McEvoy and Chalmers. In the argument of depth, the United States is slightly better within their top eight, but much better overall as a nation.

The argument of depth though really only applies to the top four considering they’ll be the ones competing on the freestyle relay at the Rio Olympic Games.

If you tally up the overall times from trials Australia would go a 3:12.07 and the United States would go a 3:12.75. The Australians have a faster total based on trials times, but they’re not unreachable from the American relay quartet.

 

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bobo gigi
Reply to  bobo gigi
8 years ago

Looks like he doesn’t smash guitars anymore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8SHMDwpWhM

bobo gigi
8 years ago
bobo gigi
8 years ago

I talked about Dressel’s 100 free abilities in long course right now.
As Van Den Hoogenband mentioned it above, I also think he has a big margin of progression ahead of him in the big pool.
He will be probably in sub 48 shape come Rio.

Attila the Hunt
Reply to  bobo gigi
8 years ago

I agree that Dressel will probably be in sub 48 shape come Rio, so will probably at least a dozen other guys.

robbos
Reply to  bobo gigi
8 years ago

I believe Chalmers will also be in sub 48 shape. Maggussen just swam 48.49 in Brisbane un tappered.

Shirley
8 years ago

I mean looks wise.

Shirley
8 years ago

I think ning zetao is absolutely hot and I,m a white chick.

Dave
8 years ago

Let’s ignore France once again !

bobo gigi
Reply to  Dave
8 years ago
bobo gigi
8 years ago

But it would be foolish to count the US relay out of the gold medal discussion. They are always dangerous in that relay.
Nathan is back to his best in the 100 free. He’s a man who knows how to peak every 4 years.
The revelation of Ryan Held is a blessing for USA. Imagine if he wasn’t there. The US relay would be in serious trouble. He has impressed me much more than Caeleb Dressel who has a monster start but is slower over the water in long course
Compare both guys PBs:
Ryan Held 41.69 SCY
Caeleb Dressel 40.46 SCY
Ryan Held 48.26 LCM
Caeleb Dressel 48.23 LCM
You can… Read more »

Attila the Hunt
Reply to  bobo gigi
8 years ago

It is extremely foolish to count out any US relays. Thank goodness no one is counting them out.

ct swim fan
Reply to  bobo gigi
8 years ago

I could be wrong, but I believe I read somewhere that Ryan Held spent very little time swimming long course before he went to college 2 years ago. His progress in long course has been outstanding in 2 years time.

MichaelTran
8 years ago

Back to men’s 4x100m free replay:
At this point, Aus Fra and Usa are the favorites. But I think France and Australia go ahead a little bit because Australia has a stunning McEvoy (can go 46mid spilit) and France has a team that 4 guys can under 48 in flat start.
About US team. I’m wondering that MP can help us team a lot like he did in London (47.14 spilit) because we have not seen his 100 or 200m free yet. In my opinion, the line up for us team
Prelims: Dressel/Held-Ervin-Feigen-Conger
Finals: Dressel – Conger – Held – Adrian
I love Conger. He’s a great replay guys. Last year he went 47.7. So… Read more »

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  MichaelTran
8 years ago

That feels like the best line-up in the final – 3 young guns + Adrian .

About Mitch Bowmile

Mitch Bowmile

Mitch worked for 5-years with SwimSwam news as a web producer focusing on both Canadian and international content. He coached for Toronto Swim Club for four seasons as a senior coach focusing on the development of young swimmers. Mitch is an NCCP level 2 certified coach in Canada and an ASCA Level …

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