Michael Andrew Had to Commit to a No Breath 50 Fly to Secure PSS Win

2023 PRO SWIM SERIES – FORT LAUDERDALE

Michael Andrew had a solid week of racing in Ft Lauderdale after coming off of a meet at altitude in Mexico. His swims in Florida included a win in the 50 breast (setting the pro swim record in prelims) and a tie for the win in the 50 fly just minutes later. Coming off of his 50 breast, Andrew knew that if he wanted the win, he needed to put his head down the whole race and not take even a single breath. This proved to be a good strategy, as just .01 slower would have had him off of the top of the podium.

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swammer
1 year ago

regardless of who the person is, doing a no breath 50 fly isn’t news.

The alpha dog
1 year ago

I thought it was a no breath 50 breast haha

Stephanie
Reply to  The alpha dog
1 year ago

I want to watch no breath 100 free

Andrew
1 year ago

There’s just something glaringly wrong in MA’s technique in all 4 strokes + UWs that gets exposed in anything over a 50 (most of the time)

For free, it looks like he did a killer arm workout and is physically laboring to raise his arm up whenever he goes to breathe

It’s just a shame that someone with such talent at the age group level was too stubborn to find the right college program to train with.

Imagine the swimmer MA would be training with Texas’s mid D freers, NC State’s UW group, or hell, even send him to Bowman to swim more than 2000 yards per workout. Anything but his dad lol

ArtVanDeLegh10
Reply to  Andrew
1 year ago

It will never happen, and we’ll all wonder what if. He’s obviously very very good, but anyone that knows swimming can see that he has so much more room for improvement, probably more so than anyone else at his level.

I don’t think he’s stubborn. He went pro very early on so he was never going to swim in college. And you can’t promote the MA Swim Academy by swimming elsewhere. It seems like it was a business decision, and maybe it’s working out great for the family.

chazoozle
Reply to  Andrew
1 year ago

It seems like he did better than all the Texas Mid D, NC State UW group and Bowman swimmers in the last olympics.

ArtVanDeLegh10
Reply to  chazoozle
1 year ago

That’s a great point. He also broke every record on the sun growing up. Maybe he’s just really talented.

Andrew
Reply to  chazoozle
1 year ago

that’s all talent, not a testament to good training

and if by doing better you mean underperforming in all individual events (compared to OT semis lol) and getting swamped by Peaty in the MR, then MA did do better than the aforementioned groups

John
Reply to  Andrew
1 year ago

“swamped” by the best breaststroker in the world? Maybe he could have made better training decisions, maybe not, but dude was top 2 in the US in his events just by qualifying for the Olympics.

For sure, everyone’s dream is to medal in the Olympics, but we need to stop acting like someone not making the podium is a failure. If you get a chance, take a look at Phelp’s documentary “The Weight of Gold”

Andrew
Reply to  John
1 year ago

it’s not so much that he underperformed, but rather, so clearly peaked in OT semis to the point that as a viewer, it is frustrating

anonymous
Reply to  Andrew
1 year ago

MA has worked with James Gibson as well. He does some of the same sets that Chad le Clos and Ben Proud do. Just one set is 3000 meters long and he does more than one set in a workout. In fact James Gibson was interviewed and talked about MA and said he was very impressive in workouts. Despite you seeing all kinds of flaws, he is currently number one in the world in 2 events.

ArtVanDeLegh10
Reply to  anonymous
1 year ago

You just don’t see many top level swimmers have T rex arms in free, have major breathing issues in free, go 15m UW on the first wall and barely make it past the flags on the 2nd wall, have major issues with splitting races, have major issues finishing races, and finish like an age grouper. I’m sure there’s more but these quickly came to mind.

For someone that already so fast you’d think with some focus on these areas, he’d go to another level but none of these seem to be focal points.

Anonymous
Reply to  ArtVanDeLegh10
1 year ago

Your focal points you make are irrelevant to him.

Chris Swanson's Ghost
1 year ago

HE IS SO BRAVE FOR THIS!!!!

Hank
1 year ago

What will MA swim at Worlds? I think he qualifies in 5 events but doesn’t go for the 2IM this cycle or the backstrokes.
50br
100br
50fly
50fr
100fly

Admin
Reply to  Hank
1 year ago

This list would be my guess too.

Goated Mcintosh
Reply to  Braden Keith
1 year ago

, according to Alex Pussieldi, Caeleb Dressel has been training secretly for a while at the University of Florida.

This week, he was seen training with the Florida group in the warm up pool. Check Alex’ article in portuguese:

https://bestswimming.swimchannel.net/2023/03/06/tem-noticia-boa-de-caeleb-dressel-e-das-boas/

Hank
Reply to  Braden Keith
1 year ago

If Dressel returns to form, and he and Casas swim 100fly, MA might be relegated to 3rd in that event. You see anyone else giving MA trouble in the 50fr or 50fly and bumping him down to 3rd in those events?

Admin
Reply to  Hank
1 year ago

David Curtiss in the 50 free.

There’s some possibilities, but I think he’s favored for top 2 in both races when he’s at his best, and he looked pretty good in FLL.

I’m not actually sure I’d have Casas favored over MA in the 100 fly.

Transative math of swimming: at a meet where he went 1:56.8 in the 200 IM, he went 50.8 in the 100 fly. Couple of months later, he went 1:55.2 in the 200 IM, which sounds like a 50.1 in the 100 fly if he had swum it at Trials.

That’s all hypothetical…but it’s hypothetically three-tenths better than Casas’ PB in the 100 fly, so I think it’s reasonable to call those two a dead… Read more »

Last edited 1 year ago by Braden Keith
Hank
Reply to  Braden Keith
1 year ago

With a hypothetical 50.1 100fly PB , doesn’t it seem easier for MA to forget about the 2IM altogether and specialize in the 100fly going forward then since the events usually conflict at major meets? Or does he still have stronger chances in the 2IM to make the team and potentially medal?

anonymous
Reply to  Braden Keith
1 year ago

He swam a 1:55.26 in the 200 IM.

chazoozle
Reply to  Hank
1 year ago

Shouldn’t he be getting some practice in for his 200 IM?

Hank
Reply to  chazoozle
1 year ago

Idk. He hasn’t shown any interest in training for the event. Maybe he read too many Swim Swam comments?!

Retired Swammer
1 year ago

I really love seeing Michael Andrew swim fast. My best recommendation would be for him to only focus on a couple events at a time. He would be throwing down some super fast times if it wasn’t for such a crammed schedule

cynthia curran
1 year ago

I’m like Michael closer in practice tried to do more speed work but sometimes you don’t own the 2nd 50. At a masters meet I did I was 7 seconds slower in the 2nd 50 than the first in the 100 yard breaststroke. Maybe some of the disadvantage wiith doing a lot of 25 and 50;s at race pace for Michael. He usually does great in the 50’s. .

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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