As the comeback of 2000 Olympic Champion Anthony Ervin continued two weeks ago at the Chesepeake Pro-Am, with a 19.41 in the 50 free and a blistering 42.65 in the 100, he seems to have been reinvigorated thanks to those strong performances. Ervin spent the Christmas holiday training with the SwimMAC post-grad group (plus Charlotte Native Ricky Berens), which can only mean that he’s back in action full-force.
The question that everyone always has with an Ervin comeback attempt is what the desire is of a man who retired well before his sprinting prime, and seems to have more metaphysical, intellectual callings than swimming. Travelling across the country to work with a great sprint coach like David Marsh, and training with consummate pros like Berens and Nick Brunelli, however, indicates a certain level of dedication to peak performance.
Ervin’s breakout times in Oklahoma City are partially a result of what he says is a shoulder that is getting “stronger, faster, better”. If 42.65 is Ervin with shoulder issues, then a full-blown Ervin truly becomes an Olympic contender.
The next step is a long course race, which he has not done (in official competition) since his comeback began.
He isn’t changing teams or training locales. He was in Charlotte to visit his folks who now live in Charlotte. He is still training at CAL.
when can he get back to official competition? Hopefully in time for a few of the grand prix meets.
swimfreak – he’s already back. The Chesepeake meet was a USA Sanctioned meet, so that means that he’s been back in the testing pool long enough to swim at the Grand Prixs, if he so chooses. I would be surprised if we didn’t see him in Austin…his kinda town.
Interesting. You would think he would have stayed at Cal with Adrian.