Michael Andrew Adjusting to ASU Training: “I’m not used to racing tired”

2025 Pro Swim Series — Sacramento

The Sacramento Pro Swim saw Michael Andrew tie for 1st in the 50 free and place 2nd in the 50 breast, 100 breast, and 50 fly. The new member of the ASU pro group is still adjusting to training in Tempe, noting that he’s not used to “racing tired” but excited about what that could mean for his top-end speed at the end of the season.

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Lpman
36 minutes ago

I think the issue at hand is his past antics. Whether it was vaccine related, or complaining about not making 2023 worlds, or refusing to train with team at Olympic camp. The guy is a great swimmer but has left a bad taste in the mouths of many.

BoyerM
2 hours ago

I just don’t get why people are still bashing the guy at this point. The old criticism was that he needed new coaching and now that he’s found it and (predictably) having different midseason results, he still can’t catch a break.

Are people going to attack Grousset for his training? Last I checked they tied in the 50 in Sacramento.

One Who Watches
Reply to  BoyerM
1 minute ago

Valid! And I was the one who said on these fine message boards (mostly tongue in cheek) that the 30 for 30 on MA was going to be something to watch after the OT performances. Now he’s doing what everyone wanted to see and it’s still not good enough.

xman
2 hours ago

I don’t think he gets that the racers who can perform tired are the ones who can do three races (prelims/semi/finals) and win.

If he doesn’t change, he will not swim the 200IM this summer or at a high-level meet again and will not perform to his 2021 levels.

bigNowhere
Reply to  xman
30 minutes ago

I don’t think we can read his mind to that extent, so that we know what he “gets” and “doesn’t get”.

When he says he isn’t used to racing tired, I think he’s just talking about how he feels physically today.

I am sure he knew before today (as he’s been doing the ASU workouts every day for months) that it was going to feel a lot different than under his old training methods.

Swimmer.thingz
2 hours ago

Complete unrelated, but do we know when Marchand will make a comeback to racing?

doe
Reply to  Swimmer.thingz
1 hour ago

Probably Pro Series at the end of April

Jeeves
3 hours ago

Why this much coverage for Michael Andrew? Does he deserve it?

LBSWIM
Reply to  Jeeves
3 hours ago

yes he does.

Observor
Reply to  Jeeves
3 hours ago

He has an excellent publicist at swimswam

Hank
Reply to  Jeeves
2 hours ago

When you’re an American record holder and Olympic gold medalist it is deserved yes. However, there is also real pressure for MA to get results this quad.

whenkeepinitreal
Reply to  Hank
2 hours ago

god medalist in a relay, no medals at all as an individual, this guy was never the next american up

Aquatic Ursine
Reply to  Jeeves
1 hour ago

Honest question, how new are you to following this sport?

The dude was THE age group superstar, Luka Mijatovic has got nothing on the hype there was for MA, he was the next Phelps.

Even with the shocking year he had last year, that potential is still there, and late is better then never. It was very frustrating to see it grow more and more obvious each and every year that his dad wasn’t entirely sure what he was doing with USRPT (maybe take a grain of salt about “science” from a family that denies evolution) and moreover that he didn’t know what he was doing coaching technique even when he was going 1:55 his freestyle on the… Read more »

HelloAus
Reply to  Aquatic Ursine
39 minutes ago

A bit sad to think of all the years of wasted peak potential…..

CheddaShredda
3 hours ago

Can everyone just chill out until he has a single taper/season under his belt lol.

In general I agree it probably would have been better if he developed more of a base as a kid and narrowed down to more race pace as he got older but MA has been a pioneer in a sport that is embarassingly resistant to any sort of change.

If you look at our sport now compared to 10-15 years ago, he’s undeniably changed how athletes train and how they use social media and is not afraid to take risks even though the swimswam experts trash him at every step. If he never came we’d still be doing 100x100s for no reason and at… Read more »

Meeeee
4 hours ago

Who’s to say what would have happened with different training? Many high caliber HS swimmers select a college and never improve, never sniff NCAA’s. Was the training incorrect? Or was it something, or many things, else?
MA, I think, got the most out of what he trained for. Records, medals, etc. But was his ‘plateau’ because of his training or something else (burnout, injury, aging, etc.). I give him credit because he stuck to his plan and was successful beyond 99.99999% of all swimmers. And I think we learned from his training. I think there are some things he did that were cutting edge that more traditional coaches implemented in their programs.

Here’s hoping his new environment and training… Read more »

OldCoach
4 hours ago

Dude went a 58.1 100 breast and a 1:55 200 IM. The training clearly worked at that point…. But I can also agree he did need a change of stimulus. At the end of the day, he needs to re learn how to step up when it counts and hopefully ASU is the place he re learns that

About Coleman Hodges

Coleman Hodges

Coleman started his journey in the water at age 1, and although he actually has no memory of that, something must have stuck. A Missouri native, he joined the Columbia Swim Club at age 9, where he is still remembered for his stylish dragon swim trunks. After giving up on …

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