Ultra Swim Swimmer of the Month is a recurring SwimSwam feature shedding light on a U.S.-based swimmer who has proven themselves over the past month. As with any item of recognition, Swimmer of the Month is a subjective exercise meant to highlight one athlete whose work holds noteworthy context – perhaps a swimmer who was visibly outperforming other swimmers over the month, or one whose accomplishments slipped through the cracks among other high-profile swims. If your favorite athlete wasn’t selected, feel free to respectfully recognize them in our comment section.
Michael Andrew is carrying a freight-train’s-worth of momentum into next month’s U.S. Olympic Trials after a stellar May.
The headline performance was his U.S. Open record 58.67 in the 100 breaststroke at this month’s Pro Swim Series stop in Indianapolis. The time for Andrew is just .03 seconds off the fastest swim by an American in history. It stacks up as the fastest 100 breast swim ever on American soil, and it makes him the top American this year by nearly a full second.
Not only does that swim make him a frontrunner for the U.S. Olympic team, it makes him a legitimate medal contender if he can repeat the swim on the Olympic stage. Andrew is currently 4th in the world for this season:
2020-2021 LCM Men 100 Breast
Peaty
57.37
| 2 | Arno Kamminga | NED | 57.80 | 07/24 |
| 3 | Michael Andrew | USA | 58.14 | 06/13 |
| 4 | Nicolo Martinenghi | ITA | 58.28 | 07/25 |
| 5 | Ilya Shymanovich | BLR | 58.46 | 05/17 |
But Andrew actually had the fastest time of any American man in the month of May in three different events. His 50.80 in the 100 fly at the Indy Pro Swim Series was faster than any other U.S. swimmer this month. And that includes world record-holder Caeleb Dressel, who went 51.15 on the exact same day as Andrew. Dressel was at the Atlanta Classic. Andrew and Dressel are the #1 and #2 Americans for this entire season in the event, with no other Americans under 51.5.
Andrew also went 1:56.84 in the 200 IM in Indy, besting Atlanta Classic winner Chase Kalisz (1:57.52) for the top time this month. Once again, those two top the U.S. ranks for the season as a whole, with no other swimmer under 1:58.0.
Both the 100 fly and 100 breast were career-best swims for Andrew. The IM is just .01 off his best time, hit in March of 2020, just before the coronavirus pandemic shut down competition for much of the summer.
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I have written so often: MA is one of the most underappreciated swimmers in the USA. This article? GREAT! However, I would contend that the swimming world should have been giving him a lot more attention rather than simply questioning his “unorthodox” training methods that are just about to take him to the Olympics.
…you don’t think that MIchael Andrew has gotten enough attention?
Maybe not enough appreciation, sure. But attention? I would bet he’s had more articles written about him than any 21-year old since Phelps.
Crushin’ it in the big pool now
Nincsen!
Kristof Milak disagrees.
Michael Andrew had a great perfomance during May, but probably he needs to improve the above mentioned times to be in the Olympic team. The time in the 100 mts breastroke could be enough.
He’ll make the 100 breast and 50 free imo. Shields just went 51.5 unshaven, so beating him could be tough in the 100 fly. I don’t see him making the 200 IM anymore, he’s done the 24.0 29.5 33.0 30+, and that free leg just isn’t enough to bring it home when there’s Kalisz, Seliskar, and Lochte.
Not like shaving your legs give you 0.7s, and does the free leg really matter when he is still swimming way faster than those guys.