This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we recap the first week of mid-season invites, preview the *stacked* US Open this weekend, and discuss how the 2024 World Championships in Doha are shaping up.
- 0:00 SwimSwam Breakdown Introduction
- 1:33 Mid-Season Week 1 Recap
- 11:44 Minnesota Invite
- 17:50 US Open
- 26:21 2024 Doha World Champs
SINK or SWIM
- 34:30 Will not going to the Doha World Champs affect Katie Ledecky‘s legacy?
- 37:15 Will we see anyone reclaim a world record in 2024?
- 42:50 Will Sarah Sjostrom win gold at her 5th Olympic Games in Paris?
- 45:45 Should the 1000 Free be eliminated from college dual meets?
- 51:34 Will there be a Russia/USA dual meet in February 2024?
Has anyone found a link to the results for the 800 free at the US Open last night?
They haven’t happened yet. They start on the 29th, which is today.
So, no?
It’s not till tonight. Distance heat sheets are up
https://www.usaswimming.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/wednesday-heat-sheet.pdf
Apparently no Hafnaoui in the 800.
Dude’s from the future
Katie Ledecky will continue her streak of being undefeated in 800 and 1500 which is what will be most remembered!
“Distance swimmers are people too” hahaha
Sink or Swims
1. Sink – zero damage to Ledecky’s legacy on skipping Doha.
2. Tricky call but Swim as McIntosh & Titmus may well trade W400fr WR next year.
3. Easy Swim. Barring unforeseen factors, hard to see Sarah being beaten in W50fr.
4. Have no horse in this race but to this outsider, I did think some of Coleman’s propositions did seem worthy of consideration.
5. Current political realities and the clear unlikelihood of circumstances changing over the timeframe in question make this a nonstarter and an obvious Sink.
I hope Sarah focus on 50 free in Paris to ensure Olympics freestyle gold which is absent from her collection.
She focused on 50 free/fly in Fukuoka and we saw the results!
Think the 100free may be seriously considered given she will at least be doing sufficient such work to ensure SWE’s 4×100 will be as competitive as possible. 100fly ….. less convinced
Hoping Sarah can win gold as well.
Emma McKeon did “explode” once since Tokyo. Not in long course. But she did explode at 2022 Short Course Worlds at Melbourne.
She swam an amazing 49.96 relay split in 4×100 Free, 0.42 faster than anyone else in history. And the fastest ever splits in 50 Free & 100 Fly …. plus a red hot 23.04 in the 50 Free individual.
You are right that she hasn’t “exploded” in long course since Tokyo but from what she said she prioritised Short Course Worlds in Melbourne because she wanted to swim in front of her grandparents who live there. Her coach Michael Bohl seemed to have decided not to try to bring her to another peak just 6 months after SCW… Read more »
Emma is such a wild card. She carried a number of races in Tokyo and I thought she would easily be our star for years. But it’s strange our most successful meet ever just two years later didn’t really feature her at all (yes the 100 free WR is a little weaker without her, but it’s still a WR).
I really hope she surprises us in Paris and is back at her Tokyo best. But even if she isn’t, I hope she at least has a good final games to cap off her career. At least one individual medal would be nice.
Yes I agree. Emma finishing her career on a good note is something I want to see at Paris.
Hopefully a 6th Olympic gold medal, in the 4×100 Free on night 1, will get the ball rolling.
Yanyan Li, loved your argument on going to the 2024 Worlds. Agree 100%. M&M (medals and money). Go get it. Swimmers can’t complain about money and publicity when you don’t show up and perform at big meets
I disagree with this. Not everyone can be like Sjostrom and Phelps and attend 5 Olympics. The vast majority of swimmers will only qualify to swim individually at one Olympic Games (if they even get that lucky). For most swimmers, Paris will be the pinnacle of their career – they don’t want any what if’s when they retire. If they skip Doha, there is another world champs around the corner a year later. Many won’t get a second shot in LA so they’re going all in on Paris and making sure their prep is the best it can be
The only case I could make to go to worlds is if you’re someone like Lani Pallister and you know… Read more »
Looking at some of the time rankings for the Women, ones I was surprised by the Jillian Cox & Alex Shackell declines. Both are not in college (with Cox deferring) and were big breakthroughs this year, and both in wildly competitive events, with the 800 having 3-5 legit 2nd place contenders next year and the 200 looking quite tough as well. I think Shackell could have ended up in the 200 free (? maybe as the next fastest on the team) as well if she went (plus maybe a relay) and Cox would have a legit medal chance.
TBH if you look, those are really the only non pro / non ncaa swimmers who declined.
My only comment is: no, skipping Doha won’t affect Ledecky’s legacy. I’ll be happy for the people that win in Doha but IMO I really don’t think it counts as a proper world champs. If Ledecky (or anyone else skipping Doha) wins in Paris then I would consider their ‘streak’ of winning events to continue.