Swimming race video is courtesy of Indie Swimming.
Michael Andrew 200 IM 13-14 NAG Record, 1:47.44
Michael Andrew Schroeder YMCA A+ Meet report below by Troy Gennaro.
Michael Andrew is one of the headliners at the Schroeder YMCA A+ meet in Brown Deer, Wisconsin this weekend, and on Saturday night he’s already broken two National Age Group Records.
He had three swims tonight, and some how managed to break the NAG Records in all three events. First was his 100 freestyle NAG Record with a time of 44.16. Next was his NAG Record in the 100 breaststroke, touching the wall at 54.80.
If that wasn’t spectacular enough, he dove in for the 200 IM and added his name to the record board in another event. In 2009, Gray Umbach, who currently swims for Stanford, set the 13-14 NAG Record in the 200 IM at 1:48.08. Today, Michael Andrew bumps Umbach’s swim to number two on the all time list with a mind blowing 1:47.44!
Michael Andrew is on fire! His first two swims broke the records he already held, but the 200 IM is the fifth event with his name on it in the National Age Group Record book in yards for the 13-14 age group. He now owns the NAG records in the 100 of every stroke and the 200 IM.
To put his swim in perspective, his 200 IM time from tonight would leave him tied with the 54th fastest time this season if he was swimming NCAA Division 1. Although the comparison is interesting to note, he still is years younger than the youngest freshman competing and will never be allowed to compete as an NCAA athlete due to his professional status.
Please excuse my typos. cotash should be cash and pential should have been potential.
Too bad we can’t edit our posts…….
I’m wondering what is the motivation behind Michael Andrew’s turning pro at age 14. This entire episode makes me more than a little suspicious.
What is his family trying to accomplish?
Are they trying to sell a protein supplement to juhior high school age kids?
Are his parents trying to make their son as visible as possible so they can hopefully cotash in on pential future endorsement deals? It seems they have their own camera crew to film his latest record breaking swims.
I’ve read he does not attend a regular school with kids his own age and of course is on his own two swimmer team along with his sister.
What is the deal here?
Don’t get me wrong,… Read more »
Comparisons to Phelps are irrelevant: Was MP dropping time as consistently as MA at 14? Were they doing the same training? Is MA going to improve more or less between now and 2020 than MP did between 2002 and 2008? Do they swim the same events? Do they swim those shared events with the same strategies? Where MP was at 15 and where MA will be at 15 are not indicative of MA at 23. There are too many factors and too much time for any of these comparisons to be viable.
I understand that the argument is centered on the development of his technique, but just like his physical development is different from most 14 year olds, his technical… Read more »
Agreed!!
A possibly important note for those of you associating Michael’s successes and potential flaws with Rushall’s philosophies is that the Andrews (or at least Michael) have shown they aren’t afraid to deviate from his guidance if they find another technique more suitable.
Rushall advocates breathing as little as possible on butterfly, but when Michael swam his 47 in the 100, he breathed every stroke. When this was brought up at the Lawrence clinic in January, it seemed to be something that Michael decided on, as Peter’s answer was something along the lines of “he’s breathing every stroke for right now, but I’m not happy about it and I’m trying to get him to change that.” (Personally, I’m pro-every stroke… Read more »
“Steve Nolan likes this post.”
Hulk, too…
I don’t usually comment but a couple things that I’d like to mention that may have already been brought up.
1. this kid is a novelty that people enjoy following and it would be a bad business decision on swimswams part not to give him plenty of press. At the end of the day brings he brings ALOT of people to this site.
2. he had no choice but to go Pro and it said that he will miss the college experience as part of a top end program. The reason is that he will not train exclusively the way he has been training at any program in this country. in my opinion he is so deep into US… Read more »
I don’t think he had to go pro. I’m sure a school would have made plenty of training concessions if he kept swimming this fast.
Hulk, you’re forgetting the all too important fact that if the recovery is severe enough in any direction, it can cause the hips to sway, like in his freestyle. Instead almost impossible to see, but it looks like there is a bit of swing causing him to sway at the hips. Granted it’s at the end of the 200IM, but that important.
Also, I’d be curious to hear from the source what % of his training is committed to underwaters. The same goes for that bucket turn, is there thought going to the crossover turn? That bucket turn looks like it effects the length of the pull out on BR. Can’t recall that turn in any final heat at a… Read more »
coacherik…
“His recovery only matters insomuch as how it affects what he does umderwater.”
“But it doesn’t mean a thing unless they are impacting his work under the surface. Which for now, it’s not.”
Show me a 14 year old boy who looks great on the last 50 of a 200 IM and I’ll show you a 14 year old boy who swam said 200 IM too slow for the first 150.
Are you inferring that his body line counts as “underwater” by quoting yourself? I was taking that as the power phase of his stroke being underwater. If that’s the case, are you telling me that I am wrong in my estimation of what’s happening with his hips? Quoting yourself doesn’t do much more then tell me your not happy with my attempt at a critical analysis of your post and opinion on all things elite-14yr-old-pro.
Since we are quoting our own posts, you skipped past the part where I bring up the fact that it is at the end of a 200IM, which could explain what I saw. But that would mean conceding the fact that his hips were swaying… Read more »
There’s a bit of sway there, although I’d like to raise the possibility that, rather than his recovery being to blame, he was focusing a little bit too hard on burying his head/tucking the chin. It happens on his breathing stroke, which makes me think that he’s having to rotate even further to breathe, which throws off his hand positioning on the entry. Hard to tell exactly by the video, though, could be either one.
Regardless, I think it’s important to remember that he’s developing and getting faster at such a high rate in every stroke. So, due to the nature of their training, he’s constantly having to tweak his pacing. He might have just not had the necessary exposure… Read more »
Me agree with HULK. Maybe you should take own advice with chill pill “Coach” Eric. Swim not contest to be pretty – swim fast! MA 14yo boy – he swim fast – set 47 NAG’s – you hater. Maybe you “expert” analysis not needed by MA – maybe you coach 47 NAG swimmer then MA and family need you analysis.
HULK SMASH!!!
For those talking about his technique… All that matters is what he’s doing underwater… His recovery only matters insomuch as how it affects what he does umderwater.
And he’s pretty darned good underwater. He holds a tremendous amount of water and is quite efficient below the surface.
Do his recoveries look weird? Sure, I guess. But it doesn’t mean a thing unless they are impacting his work under the surface. Which for now, it’s not.
Different strokes for different folks.
I’m sure all the coaches criticizing would be happy to show us their teams full of robot clones who all swim with the exact same psychodad approved method.
Couldn’t agree more! THAT is what USRPT is all about. It doesn’t have to look pretty, it has to be efficient. Of course there are things for him to work on, if there weren’t he would have no room for improvement. He is so young and has a fantastic career ahead of him with plenty of time to make changes when necessary.
Maybe the thing if to be efficient.. but seeing a freestyle like Popov and Thorpe had is much more pleasant.. maybe Andrew technique is more like a Soni like technique? It is ugly to see.. but works..
Rafael… Until they install judges on the side of the deck with numbered cards to rate “technique pleasantness” that combine with the time to determine place, I think we are all better off finding ways to go faster.
And how can people say he looks like a boy? He may not be a mass of muscle like Bousquet Agnel and Greevers.. but he is not skinny at all… he seems to have the same muscle of someone as Seto Pereira Hagino…