Sun Yang‘s big swims at the Arena Pro Swim Series at Santa Clara earlier this month brought out some interesting fan discussion about the Chinese distance star’s technical and physical progression since the last Olympics.
Note: Check out the comment sections here and here for a closer look at that discussion.
We at SwimSwam did some digging and pulled up a series of race videos from Sun at his biggest meets since the 2012 London Olympics – and we’ve compiled them all here.
These videos focus in on the 200 free, the only event we saw Sun swim in both prelims and finals in Santa Clara. Sun – the world record-holder in the 1500 free – has begun to transition more more into shorter distances as he extends his already-great freestyling range.
His 200 is a unique contrast to his more well-known 1500 stroke. The shorter distance sees more of a gallop in Sun’s stroke, compared to his ultra-smooth 1500-style stroke. You can see video from his world record 1500 from the 2012 Olympics at the bottom of this page, for comparison.
In terms of 200 free stroke, though, there isn’t a ton of notable difference in Sun’s races since 2012. The “gallop” is still visible in the London final, though it’s gotten a little more pronounced since then.
Sun continues to swim his 200 much like a classic distance swimmer – he looks smooth over the front half and closes extremely hard, appears to take the occasional double breath into turns and doesn’t elect to spend much time underwater off of each turn.
On the other hand, though, Sun looks more aggressive in his Santa Clara 200 compared to his early races, especially the 2012 swim that saw him open the race very deep in the field.
Some commenters also noted a change in Sun’s physique – that’s a bit harder to pick out based on the wide shots in most race videos. Sun certainly showed up in Santa Clara looking fit and strong, but he’s never really appeared small or frail at any point since 2012. Below, we’ve got two screenshots of the Santa Clara video along with two photos from our archive – one from the 2015 World Championships and the other from the 2013 World Championships.
Sun does appear to have bulked up at least a little since 2013. But its also worth noting that in that time frame, Sun has aged from 21 to 24 – an age range where strength gains of some degree are pretty typical for male athletes.
Sun Yang at the 2016 Arena Pro Swim Series – Santa Clara. (Screenshot of video courtesy of USA Swimming on YouTube.)
Sun Yang at the 2016 Arena Pro Swim Series – Santa Clara. (Screenshot of video courtesy of USA Swimming on YouTube.)
Sun Yang at 2015 Worlds. Photo Credit: Peter Sukenik/www.petersukenik.com
Sun Yang, 2013 Worlds, 1500 Free (Credit: Victor Puig, victorpuig.com)
Check out the video progression below and weigh in in the comments section:
2016 Arena Pro Swim Series – Santa Clara
Sun is in lane 5, in the pink suit.
2015 World Championships
Sun is in lane 2, second from the top in a white cap.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHrTUFeSUzc
2014 Asian Games
Sun is in lane 4 – the uppermost of the two lanes with yellow lane lines.
2012 London Olympics
Sun is in lane 4 – the uppermost of the two lanes with yellow lane lines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD7-tKW7Qpo
2012 London Olympics – 1500 Free
Sun is in lane 4 – the uppermost of the two lanes with yellow lane lines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5FlDy3YmDQ
My dream race to watch is Sun Yang vs Michael Phelps in the 200m Freestyle. Phelps, please let this happen; do the 200 at trials.
Seems like Sun is going for a sweep of the 200, 400, and 1500m. That would awesome if he could win all three.
He did.
As much as I find Sun Yang an impressive swimmer the fact he has been caught doping and trains in a country where their doping control is often questionable makes me question whether he’s clean or not. I really hope he is 1:44 at Santa Clara is amazing and I love watching him race.
He is training in USA…. so…
Oh really good to know
He trains in AU.
It’s like his first four strokes off the wall he does his usual distance free stroke, and then just remembers he’s swimming a 200 and transitions into that gallop stroke. The difference in stroke rate and speed between them is night and day.
I noticed while watching the recent Santa Clara meet that Sun’s stroke was indeed different as well – the “gallop” & also the lack of utter smoothness when compared to his 1500 stroke. We shall see…
What’s that hand gesture that sun yang and Dwyer do at the end of the 2016 race?
” occasional double breath into turns ” ?
He was double breathing going into every turn and triple breathing off the walls