Fantasy Camp: Team Speedo Fights Back on Day 2 at the Sponsor 'Ship

Preview |  Day 1 |  Day 2  |  Day 3
Not surprisingly, the Arena Elite team jumped out to a bit of a lead after one day at the Speedo-Arena Sponsor ‘Ship. While the men’s squads were about even, as expected, the Arena women have thus far overwhelmed the Speedo women. Event wins were split evenly down the middle, with both teams taking exactly 7 victories.

But Michael Phelps will swim his first (and second) individual events on day 2 of the competition, which should be inspirational for Team Speedo. With only 1 race under 200 yards on day 2, Team Arena, who has heavy weight in the sprint events, could get a little nervous today. The best showdown of the day will be the 800 free that will feature Rebecca Adlington, Kate Ziegler, and Lotte Friis, who are 3 of the best in the world.

While day 1 was Brett Hawke’s day, day 2 is loaded with events that Team Speedo coach Bob Bowman loves coaching: The 200 free, the 400 IM, the 200 fly, anything with Michael Phelps in it…start to finish this will be his day.

15. Men’s 200 freestyle
1. Tae-Hwan Park (Speedo)
2. Paul Biedermann (Arena)
3. Michael Phelps (Speedo)
4. Peter Vanderkaay (Speedo)
5.  Pawel Korzeniowski (Arena)
6.  Alain Bernard (Arena)
Braden- Team Speedo was loaded in this 200 free race, and could’ve easily slipped in for a 1-2-3 sweep. In a bang-bang finish, however, Biedermann was able to sneak ahead of Phelps for 2nd. Speedo looks outstanding headed towards the day-ending 800 free relay.
Team Scores after Event 15: Arena 169, Speedo 163

16. Women’s 200 freestyle
1. Dana Vollmer (Speedo)
2. Silke Lippok (Arena Fed)
3. Katie Hoff (Speedo)
4. Sarah Sjostrom (Arena)
5. Ellen Fullerton (Speedo)
6. Fran Halsall (Arena)
Braden- Vollmer had her first good 200 free swim of 2011 to win this race. The 17-year old Lippok introduced herself to much of the world with this 2nd-place finish, though the veteran Hoff almost nipped her at the wall. Sjostrom stretched a little longer than she usually prefers in this race, but was good enough for 4th place. A 5th from Speedo’s Ellen Fullerton was just enough to put Speedo the closest that it’s been since the score was 0-0.
Team Scores after Event 16:  Arena 177, Speedo 177

17. Men’s 100 breaststroke
1. Kosuke Kitajima (Speedo Fed)
2. Alexander Dale Oen (Arena)
3. Cameron van der Burgh (Arena)
4. Eric Shanteau (Arena)
5. Fabio Scozzoli (Speedo)
6. Eric Friedland (Speedo College)
Braden- This was a great race at the top, and Kitajima and Dale Oen were stroke-for-stroke the whole race. At the touch, a great finish just barely gave Kitajima the edge. Van der Burgh never quite challenged the top two, but was pushed by hard by his Arena teammate Eric Shanteau, who has clearly benefited from his time spent in Southern California with Dave Salo.
Team Scores after Event 17: Arena 189, Speedo 187

18. Women’s 100 breaststroke
1. Rebecca Soni (Arena)
2. Leisel Jones (Speedo)
3. Sarah Katsoulis (Speedo Fed)
4. Jessica Hardy (Speedo)
5. Suzaan van Biljon (Arena)
6. Micah Lawrence (Arena College)
Braden- As she has done frequently over the past couple of years, Rebecca Soni dominated this race. Leisel Jones was still the 2nd-best in this race, though her teammate Sarah Katsoulis is coming on strong (and by London, could have overtaken that throne). Hardy doesn’t focus too hard on these breaststrokes in her training anymore, but still held off Suzaan van Biljon, who recently returned from a 2-year hiatus.
Team Scores after Event 18: Arena 199, Speedo 199

19. Men’s 400IM
1. Ryan Lochte (Speedo)
2. Tyler Clary (Speedo)
3. Laslo Cseh (Arena)
4. Thiago Pereira (Speedo Fed)
5. Ous Mellouli (Arena)
6. Mads Glaesner (Arena)
Reezy- Its interesting to see the dynamic between Lochte and Clary. Its very reminiscent of the battles that Ryan and Phelps have had over the past 5 years. Ryan Lochte is finally top-dog in this event, but the question remains- can he get close to the world record. We hope so, but its going to be a tough one. That record could stand for a long time. Its has been great to watch Clary storm into the international scene in the last 16 months; just beating out Cseh who has been fighting for second and third places for years. I think everyone was hoping for a better showing by Ous, though 5th against a field like this is not bad. It will be interesting to see if he keeps this event on his schedule moving forward. The 1-2 finish gave Speedo its first lead of the meet.
Team Scores after Event 19: Arena 205, Speedo 215

20. Women’s 400IM
1.Hannah Miley (Arena)
2.Elizabeth Beisel (Speedo College)
3.Katinka Hosszu (Arena Fed)
4.Stephanie Rice (Speedo)
5.Katie Hoff (Speedo)
6.Julia Smitt (Arena)
Reezy- Arena’s Hannah Miley took a half body-length lead with her first leg of the IM. We thought this was going to be closer once Beisel turned and powered ahead on the backstrocke but Miley’s strokes just got stronger and stronger and when they turned for home she was almost a full body length ahead. Hosszu was not far behind Beisel and almost caught her in the end, in a reversal of their NCAA finish. She continues to surge up the ranks of swimming elite. Rice and Hoff round out one of the most talented group of swimmers in this meet. These five ladies all beat out the current SC WR holder, Julia Smit.
Team Scores after Event 20: Arena 217, Speedo 225

21. Men’s 200 Back
1.Ryan Lochte (Speedo)
2.Tyler Clary (Speedo)
3.Aaron Piersol (Arena)
4.Stanislav Donets (Arena Fed)
5.Marco Loughran (Speedo College)
6.Daniel Bell (Arena Fed)
Reezy- The Men’s 200m back featured both seasoned veterans and up-and-comers. The field was dominated by Speedo’s Ryan Lochte and Tyler Clary who claim the top two spots. Arena’s Piersol and Donets were almost 2 seconds behind the top finishers. This event goes back and forth between Speedo and Arena with the top dogs being Lochte and Piersol. Team Speedo takes this event with Loughran rounding out the top five.
Team Scores after Event 21: Arena 224, Speedo 240

22. Women’s 200 Back
1.Kristy Coventry (Arena)
2.Elizabeth Beisel (Speedo College)
3.Emily Seebohm (Arena)
4.Teresa Crippen (Speedo College)
5.Ellen Fullerton (Speedo)
6.Julia Smit (Arena)
Reezy- This could be the race of the meet; young vs old- the seasoned champion Kristy Coventry and ever persistent Elizabeth Beisel. The first leg was all Coventry but Beisel built her fifty’s and as they came home we weren’t sure who was going to win. With 25 meters to go Coventry’s experience showed, and she really put her kick into it and with a final lunge she over took the title. Arena’s Seebohm continued her momentum from the 2010 Pan Pacs into third place with Speedo’s Crippen and Fullerton finishing up in the top five: six seconds behind the top spot.
Team Scores after Event 22: Arena 236, Speedo 250

23. Men’s 200 Fly
1.Michael Phelps (Speedo)
2.Pawel Korzeniowski (Arena)
3.Tyler Clary (Speedo)
4.Laslo Cseh (Arena)
5.Thiago Pereira (Speedo)
6.Milorad Cavic (Arena)
Reezy- Long live the King!!! Michael Phelps, the world’s best for so many years, takes another title home for Team Speedo with almost a second win over Arena’s Korzeniowski. Pawel nearly beats Clary, who is arguably the third best swimmer in the world right now, and Cseh once again cruises into fourth place. Pereira closes out the top five for this field to score points for the 2nd time on the day. Cavic is a great sprinter, but rarely competes in this 200 fly.
Team Scores after Event 23: Arena 244, Speedo 264

24. Women’s 200fly
1.Jiao Liuyang (Speedo Fed)
2.Katinka Hosszu (Arena College)
3.Teresa Crippen (Speedo College)
4.Jemma Lowe (Speedo Fed)
5.Hannah Miley (Arena)
6.Inge Dekker (Arena)
Reezy- When given a chance to see Jiao Liuyang swim, she rarely disappoints. We were surprised when China sent Jiao to this meet since they typically only go to a few big meets each year, but she dominated this event. Housszu continues to show that she is not only fast, but versitile with this second place finish. Teresa Crippen has surged onto the scene the past year, telling the world that she is gunning for gold come London. We were sure what to ecpect from Jemma Lowe during this meet, her time was good and she excelled in her start and turns but lost steam in the end. Hannah Miley and Dekker who is a fly and free sprint specialist rounded out the bottom two.
Team Scores after Event 24: Arena 251, Speedo 279

25. Men’s 800 free relay
1. Speedo A (Ryan Lochte, Michael Phelps, Peter Vanderkaay, Tae-Hwan Park)
2. Arena A (Paul Biedermann, Alain Bernard, Pawel Korzeniowski, Ous Mellouli)
3. Speedo B (Filippo Magnini, Brent Hayden, Eamon Sullivan, Ryan Cochrane)
4. Arena B (Laszlo Cseh, Mads Glaesner, Adam Brown, Mads Glaesner)
Braden- The Speedo A relay was absolutely dominant in this race. They put together 4 swimmers who are probably in the top 11 or 12 in HISTORY, and are 4 out of the 6 or so best in the world right now. They won this race by nearly half a pool length, and then showed their depth when the B almost knocked off Arena’s A. A great leadoff by Biedermann gave the Three-Diamonds just enough to hold them off for 2nd. The Arena B wasn’t a bad relay, but they were just overmatched by the quality of Speedo. Hawke gave his Auburn swimmer Adam Brown his first action of the meet in this race.
Team Scores after Event 25: Arena 258, Speedo 295

26. Women’s 800 free relay
1. Speedo A (Katie Hoff, Rebecca Adlington, Stephanie Rice, Dana Vollmer)
2. Arena A (Silke Lippok, Sarah Sjostrom, Katinka Hosszu, Emily Seebohm)
3. Arena B (Fran Halsall, Hannah Miley, Lotte Friis, Inge Dekker)
4. Speedo B (Natalie Coughlin, Kate Ziegler, Ellen Fullerton, Jessica Hardy)
Braden- This race was closer than the men’s, but the Speedo A was still the clear winners. Lippok kept it tight, but when you can put an on-fire Rebecca Adlington on your 2nd leg, your relay is going to be hard to beat. The B-relays were extremely tight, but the tough Arena relay (including an underrated 200 freestyler in Lotte Friis) just barely got the edge.
Team Scores after Event 26: Arena 268, Speedo 308