Olympic and World Champion Lilly King was SwimSwam’s 2020 U.S. Swimmer of the Year because the global pandemic did not slow her down. King crushed her competition over ISL’s second season representing the Cali Condors.
At USA Swimming’s most recent Pro Swim Series in San Antonio King swept the 100 and 200 breaststroke, but she was edged by Emily Escobedo at the Richmond Pro Swim. I have a feeling King would’ve swum faster had she been racing head-to-head with Escobedo.
- Emily Escobedo – 100 breast – 1:07.11
- Lilly King – 100 breast – 1:07.14
- Emily Escobedo – 200 breast – 2:23.46
- Lilly King – 100 breast – 2:25.83
WAY TOO EARLY 2021 SWIMMING PREDICTIONS
I can’t pretend to doubt King—not even a tiny bit. King dominates the field in the 100 breast at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials, inching close to her personal best at 1:04.3. She also wins the 200 breast, going out fast and holding on for 2:21.5
But who cares what I think? I wanna know what you think. Give me your best expert swimming analysis.
See Lilly King’s personal best times:
- 100 breast – 1:04.13
- 200 breast – 2:21.39
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This is a Gold Medal Media production presented by SwimOutlet.com. Host Gold Medal Mel Stewart is a 3-time Olympic medalist and the co-founder of SwimSwam.com, a Swimming News website.
1:04.7 and 2:21.7 at Trial. Winning the 100 and grabbing the second spot in the 200 behind Lazor who goes 2:21.1. Lazor also grabs the second spot in the 100. She goes 1:05.4. IU wins the women’s breaststroke races
if she focuses on the 200, she can probably qualify with a silver at the trials. But at the Olympics, she can’t focus on both the 100 and 200, and she will likely be beaten by 2-3 people in the 200. What a giant Soni was!
yes figuratively
100: King 1:05.0, drops to 1:04.3 at the Olympics
200: Escobedo 2:21.3, Lazor 2:21.5, King 2:21.9
….interesting….
Sun yang is my favorite women’s 200 breastroker
My prediction is Escobedo and Lazor represent the US in the 200 breast.
1:05.11
2:23.45
Personally, I don’t even care to see King swim the 200. She can win up to 3 gold medals with the 100. In 2016, she was 12th in the 200 breast, then split 1:05.7 in the medley relay (after 1:04.9 flat start). Unless she’s going 2:20, I’d rather see a specialist get that spot.
If she’s one of the top 2 200 breaststrokers, then why wouldn’t she swim it? Maybe the “specialists” should do what they do and knock off King, otherwise do they really deserve the spot?
I don’t think tea rex is saying a specialists would **deserve** it over King if King is in the top two. I think they make a valid point that King’s medley relay performance is more important to Team USA than which 2:21. woman swims the 200. Thinking like a coach, if King hasn’t shown she can still hit the 100 in the relay after swimming the 200, then I’d rather put the other 2:21. swimmer in the 200 and save King for the relay.
I know this isn’t how the Olympics works—you earn the spot and you’re in. But purely from the prospective of maximizing Team USA potential, it makes sense to limit King unless she has a significant… Read more »
100 and 200 breast are very, very different specialties. Being competitive in both is impressive. I do think training for the 200 breast takes away from your 100 performance…
Arno Kamminga on line 1…
Kosuke Kitajima is unretiring as we speak
Wins the 100 in 1.04.4, then misses the team in the 200 (Lazor & Escobedo make it).