Michael Andrew Swims 8.56 in 25 Yard Free, Breaks Arizona State ‘Touchpad 25 Record’

As the top American swimmers around the country are winding their way toward the U.S. National Championships and World Championship Trials in Indianapolis from June 3-7, there are little clues everywhere about who might be performing well in the run-up.

One of the most significant clues may have come from a non-official competition, though, where Michael Andrew swam an 8.56 second, touch-pad timed 25 yard freestyle, breaking the Arizona State 25 free touchpad record (a key differentiator given some coaches’ notoriously-fast stop watches).

While the 25 free is sure to elicit eyerolls from some corners of swimming, this is not insignificant at a sprint program in Arizona State that places more training and marketing emphasis on 25 yard times than just about anyone, including hosting an annual 25 yard “World Championship” meet.

That means we have lots of real data points to provide context here, notably Andrew going 9.03 in the November championship after just a few months of training at Arizona State. Jack Dolan won that bracket in an 8.71, and Andrew was .15 seconds faster than that on Friday.

Other comparisons include Gui Caribe splitting 8.65 on the first 25 of his 50 yard free at the NCAA Championships, placing 3rd. It’s not a perfect data point, because Caribe’s time was clocked to the feet on a turn and Andrew’s was to a touch, but it’s still something. Caeleb Dressel split 8.48 en route to his legendary 17.63.

Andrew for the first time this season is training primarily with a coach that isn’t his father Peter Andrew and primarily outside of the bounds of USRPT swimming. Arizona State, which leans heavy into race-speed training, was a logical fit for that transition.

Though Andrew’s training has changed, fans’ expectations have not necessarily kept up. With higher training volumes have come more inconsistent in-season swims. He didn’t break 22 seconds in the 50 free in either Westmont (22.82) or Sacramento (22.04), though a 21.97 in the 50 free in Ft. Lauderdale was a big breakthrough for him.

But now we can expect a more traditional taper drop for Andrew, and about 10 days out of Trials, it looks like that rest is starting to kick in a little bit.

What, exactly, Andrew will swim at US Trials with his new training under his belt we don’t yet know, but this 25 yard free time is, generally, a positive sign, and, more specifically, a positive sign for his 50.