SwimSwm Podcast: Peter Vanderkaay on How to Perfectly Split a 200 Free

On the SwimSwam Podcast dive deeper into the sport you love with insider conversations about swimming. Hosted by Coleman Hodges and Gold Medal Mel Stewart, SwimSwam welcomes both the biggest names in swimming that you already know, and rising stars that you need to get to know, as we break down the past, present, and future of aquatic sports.

We sat down with American mid-distance legend Peter Vanderkaay to talk about commercial real-estate… but mostly swimming. Vanderkaay talked about his time at Michigan and revealed a swim that stood out the most to him in his career, which ended up being a 200 free at the 2007 nationals, where he swam a textbook race and broke 1:46 for the first time.

Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com

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Opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the interviewed guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of the hosts, SwimSwam Partners, LLC and/or SwimSwam advertising partners.

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SAMUEL HUNTINGTON
3 years ago

1:45.45 back in 2007. That time could win at Trials next year! Somebody please go 1:44 at trials.

Thezwimmer
Reply to  SAMUEL HUNTINGTON
3 years ago

No 1:44s. Instead, they’ll touch ahead of world record pace at the 50, hit 50.xx at the 100, and then shoot up to 27-mids.

SAMUEL HUNTINGTON
Reply to  Thezwimmer
3 years ago

Ughh

Togger
Reply to  Thezwimmer
3 years ago

To be fair, I think to go 1.44 most of the Americans would need to be out in 50.xx.

Ian Thorpe reckoned he could get away with 51 low to mid because of the type of swimmer he was, but the current US 200 guys are mainly 100/200 swimmers, none of them are going to come back like a guy with 3.40/7.39 in the locker.

Of the other guys who’ve been 1.44 in textile, only Phelps, Lochte and Sun took it out in 51 and they had 400 IM/1500 type endurance.

Thezwimmer
Reply to  Togger
3 years ago

That was part of the point I was making, though I realize I didn’t articulate well enough.

If guys are out in 50 at the halfway point, they should be going 1:44, not 1:45s and 1:46s

nuotofan
3 years ago

Some memories from a swimming fan that watched those Nats07 in streaming in the midst of Italian nights. With the Worlds already held at Melbourne 4 months earlier, we were in the penultimate day of those Nats 2007 at Indy. About that 200 free, I remind that Bowman had told Phelps that if he had swum under 1.45 he could skip the last day of Nats (where he had an entry in the 200 IM) and Peter Vanderkaay, with his huge swim, really perfectly paced (24.82 – 26.85 – 26.89 – 26.89, for an impressive PB of 1.45.45), was an incentive for Phelps to finish in 1.44.99. And then, in the same session, Phelps won the 100 back in an… Read more »

Last edited 3 years ago by nuotofan
nuotofan
Reply to  nuotofan
3 years ago

Small correction (I’m getting old..): Phelps’ winning time was 1.44.98

eagleswim
Reply to  nuotofan
3 years ago

while I tend to agree re: backstroke, it’s not always a great comparison to compare swims at different meets in different events. Phelps in particular tended to have different strokes “firing” at different times, and his freestyle (and breast) tended to be especially improved at those big time taper meets. It could be true that for whatever reason he had just hit his sweet spot in back for that meet, and he wouldn’t have been much better at worlds

leisurely1:29
Reply to  eagleswim
3 years ago

Given the kind of worlds Phelps had in 07, he would’ve absolutely broken that 100bk WR. He wouldn’t have been “much better” than he was at Nats, but definitely better enough for the WR.

swimfast
Reply to  leisurely1:29
3 years ago

i agree with this statement

swimfast
Reply to  leisurely1:29
3 years ago

however, that’s not to say that peirsol wouldn’t have gone faster because of the desire to beat phelps

nuotofan
Reply to  eagleswim
3 years ago

Valid point, but I think there are some good reasons to think that Phelps in the “Melbourne shape” could have achieve the 100 back WR and perhaps also the 200 back WR (which was Lochte’s 1.54.32 when he won the Worlds’ final in that major upset on Peirsol, who was second in 1.54.80; while Phelps swam 1.54.65 at Nats): 1) Considering Bowman’s way of training, Phelps has always had a good taper gain in the main events, especially after 2004. When Phelps was 18 and in a full swimming explosion, he swam exceptional Nats 2003 after the Worlds03, but those Nats were less than two weeks after the Worlds, so he still was in the peak of form sought for… Read more »

Last edited 3 years ago by nuotofan
Ghost
3 years ago

Congrats PVK on your recent wedding!

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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