By Giusy Cisale on SwimSwam

Il campione olimpionico e mondiale Adam Peaty è stato uno dei primi nuotatori a scagliarsi contro la FINA nella vicenda “Energy For Swim 2018″.

Il 15 Novembre, quando ha appreso la notizia della cancellazione dell’evento ha dichiarato apertamente dal proprio profilo Instagram:

“Sono incredibilmente deluso che l’evento di nuoto in Torino del prossimo mese è stato annullato a causa della politica”. “Come nuotatori che rappresentano il proprio Paese e sono appassionati di questo sport, dobbiamo chiedere perché. Credo fermamente che gli atleti dovrebbero essere al centro di qualsiasi decisione presa dal nostro organo di governo e questo è proprio quello di cui il nostro sport e gli atleti hanno bisogno. Penso che questa sia una decisione sbagliata e galvanizzerà i nuotatori “.

Questa mattina, ha rilasciato un’intervista al giornalista Nick Hope della BBC ed è tornato sula questione.

L’INTERVISTA

“Ci si sente come se fossimo ancora nel 1970”

Peaty ha dichiarato:“c’è bisogno di ascoltare gli atleti e sentire quello che vogliono, invece di dire: ‘si fa così’. Lo sport ha bisogno di cambiare e questo è qualcosa in cui credo molto”.

Sulla vicenda Energy For Swim vi riporto i link degli articoli dedicati, per completezza espositiva:

• ISL intraprenderà azioni legali contro FINA
• Lettera della FIN fanno luce sulla cancellazione di Energy For Swim
• L’illegittimità giuridica della posizione della FINa contro Energy For Swim
• FINA contro Energy For Swim. Il punto della situazione
• Una interpretazione della FINA potrebbe inficiare Energy For Swim

Adam Peaty ha poi continuato nell’intervista: “Il formato attuale non funziona perché nessuno li guarda ed il 90% dei migliori atleti del mondo non ci si presenta, perché non c’è prestigio”. “Se costruisci il prestigio intorno a un evento, con la costruzione di rivalità e per promuovere gli atleti, poi la gente vuole gareggiare per l’oro, non solo per i soldi”

Ed ancora:

“[ISL] è dove lo sport ha bisogno di andare e credo Fina dovrebbe assecondarlo”

Peaty poi sottolinea che lui è molto fortunato, perché può contare su ottimi sponsor, ma sottolinea che sono pochi i nuotatori che possono dire lo stesso.

Su questo punto, proprio ieri vi ho riportato come anche la campionessa australiana Cate Campbell ha evidenziato la necessità di supportare tutti gli atleti, in social modo chi non può castamente contare su sponsor e lauti guadagni.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Adam Peaty: Il Nuoto E’ Fermo Al 1970. ISL E’ Il Futuro

By Karl Ortegon on SwimSwam

Whether or not we mean it, the swimming community (and sports community at-large) is good at making comparisons; especially when it comes to family. Will Lebron’s son rise to the same echelon as his father in basketball history? There were headlines everywhere after the 14-year-old Lebron James, Jr., threw down his first in-game dunk on Monday night. Google ‘Venus Serena,’ and the first thing to come up is a Wikipedia page for ‘Williams Sisters.’ The second hit is a Wikipedia page for ‘Williams sisters rivalry.’

So, yes, as sports fans, we are intrigued by athletic families. How many times have you seen a joke about Boomer Phelps being an Olympic Champion in by 2032 or 2036? We see someone achieve greatness, and then we turn to their next of kin to see if they are on the same path, or if they are excelling in whatever they’re doing. Comparison is a widely-used metric for gauging athletic performance, and family simply heightens that comparison.

Right now, there are two particular college sophomores in the NCAA who live in the world of comparisons based on their famous last names. Both have fathers who were Olympic Champions, former world record holders, and trailblazers in the sport– they’ve even gone head-to-head. Indeed, in 1992 at the Barcelona Olympic Games, Gustavo Borges of Brazil beat American Matt Biondi in Biondi’s primary event, the 100 free. Borges earned the silver behind Alexander Popov, while Biondi settled for fifth. Biondi still held onto the World Record, which Popov couldn’t touch (at least not until 1994).

Both Borges and Biondi were titans of the sprint freestyle in their time. Borges competed at four-straight Olympics, from Barcelona to Athens, and collected four Olympic medals, two long course Worlds medals, and ten short course Worlds medals, including four short course World titles. Borges also held several short course World records. Biondi broke Rowdy Gaines‘ 100 free long course WR in 1985 with a 49.24, then broke it three more times in the ’80s, until it settled at 48.42 in 1992 and stood for two years. With no swimmer breaking 48.0 until the 21st century, Biondi was well ahead of his time, and was known for a whopping five gold medal performance at the ’88 Games as he chased Mark Spitz’s record of seven golds.

While not on quite as grand a stage as their fathers, Luiz Gustavo Borges and Nate Biondi are continuing swimming legacies at Michigan and Cal (which is where Gustavo and Matt went, respectively). Borges has emerged as one of Michigan’s top sprinters, successfully transitioning from meters to the NCAA yards system, while Biondi continues to improve at Cal and hit a notable milestone at the UGA invite, a meet at which both boys competed.

Borges took off as a freshman, getting down to 19.26 and 43.03 in his first-ever yards season and swimming for Michigan at the 2018 NCAA Championships. He’s elevated that already this season as a sophomore, throwing down lifetime bests of 19.11 and 42.53 and adding 18.89/42.00 relay splits at the UGA Invite last weekend. He’s now the Wolverines’ top sprinter in both the 50 and 100 free, and has rotated in as their trust medley anchor as just a sophomore.

Biondi, meanwhile, did not come to Cal with ludicrous sprint times. When he announced his verbal commitment in November of 2016, he was 21.26 in the 50 free, which is not the kind of time many people are used to seeing going to swim at Cal. Biondi chopped that all the way down to a 20.27, though, at the 2017 CIF D3 Champs. Growing up playing basketball, soccer, and water polo in Hawaii, Biondi didn’t focus on swimming year-round until high school, so some late progressions were expected. After not making the 2018 Cal NCAA team and not improving upon his high school 50 free best, Biondi rocked a milestone 19.91 at the UGA Invite last weekend, his first time under 20 seconds, as Cal’s B relay lead-off. He also broke 44.0 for the first time in the 100, clocking a 43.77 to win the B final.

It’s a reach to expect these boys to do exactly as their fathers did– what do we really gain from those kinds of expectations? That isn’t to say they won’t go on to win NCAA titles and eventually Olympic medals. But, it’s compelling to appreciate their strides in college thus far, and put their swimming in familial and historical contexts. And, next year, a new legacy will form at NC State, as Katharine Berkoff, daughter of American swimming great David Berkoff (who medaled at those same ’92 Olympics where Borges beat Biondi), will start her freshman year in Raleigh, nearly 3,000 miles away from her father’s alma mater, Stanford.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Sons of Olympic Greats Creating Their Own Legacies in the NCAA

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

2018 FINA SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, December 11th – Sunday, December 16th
• Tennis Centre, Hangzhou Olympic & International Expo Center, Hangzhou, China
• SCM
• Provisional Entry List

Both the men’s 400 and 1500 free events are relatively wide open heading into the upcoming Short Course World Championships, which get underway on December 11th from Hangzhou, China.

Two years ago in Windsor, South Korean Park Tae Hwan was untouchable winning the 200, 400 and 1500, but he won’t be there this year. There are a ton of men capable of taking the distance events, led by a slew of Europeans, an American, and one of the greatest distance freestylers of all-time.

400 Freestyle

• World Record: 3:32.25, Yannick Agnel (FRA), 2012
• World Championship Record: 3:34.32, Peter Bernek (HUN), 2014
• 2016 World Champion: Park Tae Hwan (KOR), 3:34.59

The mile looks like there are three, maybe four men capable of winning, but the 400 feels like it could go any which way. A total of seven men have been sub-3:40 this season, but only four of them will be competing here.

Aleksandr Krasnykh, the 2016 silver medalist behind Park, won Russian Nationals in 3:36.84 which ranks 1st in the world for 2018, and then his countryman Martin Malyutin was 2nd in 3:37.84. Krasnykh owns four of the top-22 swims of all-time in the event, is the reigning European SC champion from last December, and his 3:35.30 from Windsor ranks him 2nd to only Peter Bernek in terms of best times in the field.

Bernek won the 2014 gold in what still stands as the CR in 3:34.32, and also took the 2015 European title. Krasnykh has gotten the better of him recently, finishing one spot ahead of the Hungarian at both the 2016 Worlds and 2017 Euros, but Bernek did show some intriguing form in early November with a swim of 3:39.72 at the Hungarian SC Championships.

The other man in action whose been under 3:40 this year is Italian Gabriele Detti, who sat out of both the 2017 SC and 2018 LC European Championships due to a nagging shoulder injury. He looks to be back on form after going 3:39.08 in November, and is certainly a medal threat having been as fast as 3:37.22 at the 2015 Euros. He’ll be looking for a bit of redemption after missing the final in each of the last three World Championships.

Also firmly in the race for gold is American Zane Grothe, who exploded a year ago with a pair of American Records in the 500 and 1650 in yards, and followed up with an impressive long course season that saw him win gold, silver and bronze at the Pan Pacs in the 800, 1500 and 400 respectively. He was 7th in 2016, going a best of 3:38.7 in the heats, and his 500 yards time of 4:07.25 converts down to a 3:36.3.

And then there’s China’s Sun Yang, the winner of the last three LC World titles in this event and the 2012 Olympic champion. He hasn’t done a short course race since 2014, when he went 3:37.10, but is coming off a strong performance at the Asian Games in this event (3:42.92 LC) and will be looking to wow the home crowd here.

Others in the mix here are Ukrainian Mykhailo Romanchuk, who was the 4th fastest swimmer in the world this year in long course and has been 3:39 before (2016), Poland’s Wojciech Wojdak who was 4th in Windsor and has been 3:37 twice (but only 3:43.5 this season), and Norwegian Henrik Christiansen who has also been 3:37 before but only 3:41.7 this year.

There’s also relative unknowns Matteo Ciampi (ITA), Ji Xinjie (CHN) and Fernando Scheffer (BRA) who have all been 3:40 this year. Velimir Stjepanovic (SRB) and Breno Correia (BRA) are also right there with 3:41s.

TOP-8 Predictions

1500 Freestyle

• World Record: 14:08.06, Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA), 2015
• World Championship Record: 14:15.51, Park Tae Hwan (KOR), 2016
• 2016 World Champion: Park Tae Hwan (KOR), 14:15.51

The 1500 shapes up to be another great battle between Gregorio Paltrinieri and Romanchuk, who swam side-by-side for the majority of the 2017 World Championship final (LC) before the Italian ultimately pulled out the win. Combined, the two of them own four of the fastest six swims in the history of the short course 1500, with Paltrinieri being the only man ever to break 14:10 in 14:08.06.

Paltrinieri has medalled at three consecutive SC World Championships in this event, including winning the title in 2014, and posted a time of 14:25.08 at the beginning of December to rank him 2nd in the world behind the Czech Republic’s Jan Micka. Romanchuk is 3rd fastest at 14:27.93.

However, Romanchuk has had the edge over the 2016 Olympic gold medalist recently, beating him by eight seconds to win the 2017 Euro SC title last December, and then the Ukrainian won silver over Paltrinieri’s bronze at the LC Euros in August. Romanchuk is in rarefied air with three swims sub-14:20, with only the great Grant Hackett matching that feat.

Those two are the big favorites, and then the only other swimmers who look like they have a realistic shot at gold are Grothe, perhaps Micka, and of course Sun.

Grothe has been on fire over the past year, swimming the fastest 1650 in history by over four seconds last December at the U.S. Winter Nationals, and then resetting his long course best four times during the year which culminated in a silver medal at the Pan Pacs in 14:48.40. He has no SCM 1500s under his belt, but his record yards swim converts down to 14:23.3, and seeing this comparison between his training times this year and last year, he looks like he’s coming in on the best form of his career.

For Micka, his swim in mid-November was a bit out of nowhere. He had been 14:35.11 at the 2015 Euros where he finished 4th, dipped below that best time in October in 14:34.65, and then blew up with the 14:24.88 which put him 1st in the world. He’s certainly on the rise, still just 23 years of age, but after such a big drop it’s difficult to predict if he’ll be able to go any faster less than a month later. However, he’s coming in with the hot hand, which puts him in the conversation.

Sun is a major wild card in this event. His 200 and 400 have been in top form over the last several years, but he hasn’t broken 14:50 in long course since 2014. At the recent Asian Games, he did just enough to win in a time of 14:58.53, ranking him just 15th in the world after previously being untouchable in the race from 2011 to 2014. He has the capabilities to win, but missing the final or even scratching out wouldn’t be huge surprises either.

Also in the hunt will be Christiansen, who was 5th in 2016 but dropped a big best time last year at one of the World Cup stops in 14:21.53. He’s been a respectable 14:30.72 this season, ranking him 5th in the world (and 4th among those competing in Hangzhou), and should be expected to push for a medal.

Other factors include Russians Malyutin and Yaroslav Potapov, who were both 14:32s at their National Championships, along with China’s Ji and Ukraine’s Sergii Frolov, who were 14:35 and 14:38 respectively on the World Cup circuit. Another name to watch for is Poland’s Wojdak, whose season-best is only a 14:54 from October but was 3rd in 2016 where he went a lifetime best of 14:25.37. It’s worth pointing out he was also a 14:54 in October of 2016 before going that 14:25.

Gabriele Detti, who as we mentioned earlier is coming off a shoulder injury, would certainly have been in title contention given he’s been 14:18 twice in his career, but he hasn’t swum a 1500 this year and the second Italian spot looks to be going to Domenico Acerenza.

TOP-8 PREDICTIONS

Read the full story on SwimSwam:

By Loretta Race on SwimSwam

Echoing fellow international swimmer Cate Campbell’s opinion on the FINA/International Swim League (ISL) conflict, World Record holder Adam Peaty of Great Britain gave his candid thoughts on the subject.

Regarding swimming’s current state under FINA rule, 23-year-old Peaty told BBC Sport this week, “It feels like we’re still in 1970. [FINA] need to listen to the athletes and hear what they want instead of saying: ‘You need it this way.’ The whole sport needs to change and that’s something I’m very passionate about.”

Peaty has criticized the FINA-sanctioned World Cup Series in the past, most recently in August when the organization used his image to promote the Series when he hadn’t even entered the event. At the time, the Loughborough athlete responded, “Maybe they need to put them at a time of year when people want to race as well 50/50 SC and LC.”

Flash forward to this week and Peaty communicated that, “The current [World Cup Series] format isn’t working because no-one is watching and 90% of the world’s best athletes don’t turn up because there’s no prestige.

“If you build the prestige around an event, by building up rivalries and promoting the athletes, then people will want to race for gold, not just the money.

“It [the ISL] is where the sport needs to go and I think FINA should be behind it,” added Peaty. “Until then it’s going to be a constant battle between FINA and athletes.”

Peaty was among the long list of elite athletes scheduled to race at the Energy for Swim before it was cancelled due to tense negotiations between the Italian Swimming Federation and FINA.

“At the moment we have one major swim per year, but we need more,” said Peaty. “Look at other sports like triathlon, a few years ago they launched their professional World Series where athletes are paid handsomely.

“I’m lucky that I have good sponsors, but not all of the top swimmers get paid what they deserve given the effort they’re putting in.

“We need to have professional teams, salaries, pensions and by doing that and offering money, more kids will come into it thinking ‘I can make a career out of this’ which will only make the sport grow.”

“Obviously there are a lot of politics, but from an athletes’ perspective whether it takes four years or 10 years I think it’s going to happen,” Peaty told BBC Sport.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Olympic Champion Peaty: “The ISL Is Where The Sport Needs To Go”

By Andrew Mering on SwimSwam

Mid-season invite season has come to a close, so it’s time to take a look at how teams are doing compared to last year.

Some background information:

• How much we can tell from these types of time changes
• How teams performed in October compared to last October

To get an idea of team’s performance over the last month or so I compared swimmer’s best times from December or the last three weeks of November this season to their best times during the same period last season. I limited comparisons to events that swimmers had a time in at their conference meet last year or at nationals. This was meant to limit comparisons to swimmer’s primary events.

An example data point. Lilly King of Indiana was a 2:03.6 in her 200 breast at the IU Invite this year. Last year at the Purdue Invite she was 2:10.99. This is a nationals event for her. In seconds the time comparison is (123.6-130.99)/130.99=-5.6%. King was 5.6% faster in her 200 breast this year at her invite.

The goal is to compare mid season rest meet times to mid season rest times. For the most part, that’s what it does, but in some edge cases there can be weird results. For example, TCU went to the Texas Invite last winter. This winter they only had a dual with Texas A&M on their schedule the last few weeks. As a result, their women added an average of 5.8% to their times and the men added an average of 4.3%. If it weren’t for the schedule change, those would be alarming time adds, but given the circumstances, it’s likely no big deal (on the other hand, feel free to question the decision to forgo a mid-season rest meet all you like).

Some teams that are noticeably faster or slower than last year may have taken more or less rest for their mid season meet. It’s also possible that teams are just better or worse than they were last year. A big time difference invites the question, “what was different this season?” There are 191 D1 women’s teams and 125 men’s teams in the data below, so I don’t have time to analyse them all individually, but keep context in mind when you’re looking at the data for your favorite team/rivals.

Analysis

With all that said, what does the data look like? On average the men dropped .3% from their times on 3956 data points (median .3% faster, standard deviation, 1.9%). On average the women dropped .1% on 6433 data points (median .1% faster, standard deviation 2.0%).

Probably the best performing team overall, men and women was GW. Their men dropped an average of 2.5% (26 times) and their women dropped an average of 3.3% (43 times). Both teams saw over 90% of their swims faster than last year. GW attended the Magnus Cup Invite last November and the Queens Fall Frenzy this year. Either something changed in how they rested or they had an outstanding meet this year top to bottom.

Of the top 10 teams, the top performing team was the Indiana women who dropped an average of 1.1% (37 swims). Their mid-season meet went from Purdue to their home pool this year. Perhaps the home field advantage helped.

Of the big three men’s teams, Cal (.6% faster, 47 swims) and Indiana (.5% faster 30 swims) dropped decent time, and Texas (0.0% faster, 47 swims) were very similar to where they were last year.

The women’s favorite Stanford were an average of .3% slower than at this point last year. Perhaps having their mid-season meet in the eastern time zone at Ohio State instead of the central time zone at Texas A&M where they competed last year had some effect.

A good team average doesn’t rule out the possibility that swimmers on that team had a bad meet. Or that swimmers on an overall poor performing team swam great. For example, the Cal women dropped an average of .3%, a good result, but Ali Harrison added 4.6% to her 200 breast (2:10.92->2:16.93). Stanford added an average of .3%, but Brooke Stenstrom dropped 3.7% from her 50 free time from last winter (24.49->23.59)

Top 10 Team’s Performance

Negative is faster, positive is slower

All teams in the large table below

All Teams

negative is faster, positive is slower

By Anne Lepesant on SwimSwam

Mya Drost-Parra from Boulder, Colorado has committed to Tulane University for 2019-20. Ashley Carollo, Drew Petereit, Hailey Roberti and Lilly Byrne have also announced their plans to swim for the Green Wave in the class of 2023.

“I am so excited to announce my commitment to Tulane University. I am thrilled to join a new family. One of the reasons I chose Tulane was the unique people and amazing academics. As I walked around the campus, looking at the magnificent trees, I knew that this melting pot of culture would be the home for me. I know these next four years I will be happy to say, ‘That’s right, I go to Tulane, one of the best schools in the country!’”

Drost-Parra is a senior at Boulder’s Fairview High School. She is a fly, back and IM specialist and contributed to Fairview’s second-place finish at the 2018 CHSAA Girls 5A State Championships last February by placing 9th in the 200 IM (2:08.50) and 11th in the 100 back (58.26) and by swimming a leg (52.66) on the 3rd-place 400 free relay. In club swimming, where she represents Flatiron Athletic Club, she is a Winter Juniors qualifier in the 200 fly and 200 back. At 2017 Speedo Winter Junior Championships – West she competed in the 100/200 fly and 200 IM individually, and led off FAC’s 200 and 400 medley relays. She earned PBs in the 50 back and 200 IM at the meet.

This summer, at Colorado Swimming’s Senior Long Course Championships, Drost-Parra finished 2nd in the 200 back with a PB of 2:19.93. At Mount Hood Sectionals, she updated her lifetime bests in the 400 IM (5:04.02) and 200 IM (2:24.84).

Top SCY times:

• 200 fly – 2:03.05
• 200 back – 2:01.37
• 400 IM – 4:28.34
• 200 IM – 2:07.15
• 100 back – 57.80
• 100 fly – 56.99

If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best and a quote to Recruits@swimswam.com.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Versatile Mya Drost-Parra Commits to Tulane

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

2018 SPEEDO WINTER JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS – WEST

• December 5th-8th, 2018
• Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center, Austin, Texas
• SCY (25y) pool
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results

Not long after the Mason Manta Rays set a new 15-18 NAG in the 800 free relay at the Winter Junior Championships – East in Greensboro, the DART Swimming boys took down the 15-16 mark at the West Championships in Austin.

16-year-olds Gianluca Urlando and Connor Daniels combined with 15-year-olds Tate Cutler and Christopher Ranlett for a final time of 6:38.07, getting them under the previous National Age Group Record of 6:38.14 set by Tennessee Aquatics in 2014. That Tennessee team was made up of Walker Higgins, Will Arthur, Bryar Long, and Hayden Burns.

Urlando, who’s coming off a breakout summer that saw him win four gold and five total medals at the Junior Pan Pacs, led off the team in 1:34.38, which improved his previous 200 free best time by over three seconds (1:37.50). Check out a full split comparison between the two teams below.

They finished 6th overall in the race, and were only 1.04 seconds outside of 2nd. The Sierra Marlins won in a time of 6:32.90.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: DART Boys Lower 15-16 NAG In 800 Free Relay At Winter Juniors – West

By Jared Anderson on SwimSwam

2018 SPEEDO WINTER JUNIOR CHAMPS

• December 5-8, 2018
• Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, NC (East)
• Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center, Austin, Texas (West)
• SCY (25 yards)
• Psych Sheets: East / West
• Live Results: East / West

With USA Swimming’s winter junior national meets split between two Junior Championships locations, we’ll be putting together nightly lists of the top 8 finishers in each event overall, combining results from the two meets.

Note: These lists include finals times only.

Girls 200 Medley Relay

1. Nashville Aquatic Club – 1:38.32
2. Chesea Piers Aquatic Club / TAC Titans – 1:39.53
3. —
4. Cardinal Aquatic – 1:39.74
5. Crow Canyon County – 1:39.81
6. Aquajets Swim Team – 1:40.26
7. Scottsdale Aquatic Club – 1:40.99
8. Palo Alto Stanford – 1:41.09

Boys 200 Medley Relay

1. Mason Manta Rays – 1:26.52
2. Sierra Marlins – 1:29.01
3. Enfinity Aquatic Club – 1:29.06
4. Michigan Lakeshore Aquatics – 1:29.88
5. Rose Bowl Aquatics – 1:30.27
6. SwimMAC Carolina – 1:30.62
7. Dynamo Swim Club – 1:30.90
8. Pittsburgh Elite – 1:30.93

Girls 800 Free Relay

1. Magnolia Aquatic Club – 7:09.87
2. Nashville Aquatic Club – 7:11.69
3. Brea Aquatics – 7:12.32
4. Bellevue Swim Club – 7:14.50
5. Irvine Novaquatics – 7:15.41
6. SwimMAC Carolina – 7:16.42
7. SwimMAC Carolina – 7:16.59
8. Dynamo Swim Club – 7:16.83

Boys 800 Free Relay

1. Mason Manta Rays – 6:23.97
2. Carmel Swim Club – 6:30.94
3. Sierra Marlins – 6:32.90
4. SwimMAC Carolina – 6:35.02
5. Dayton Raiders – 6:35.21
6. Santa Clara Swim Club – 6:37.03
7. Gator Swim Club – 6:37.19
8. Dynamo Swim Club – 6:37.35

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Top 8 Combined Finishers: Day 1 of 2018 Winter Juniors East/West

By Anne Lepesant on SwimSwam

2018 Speedo Winter Junior Championships – East

• December 5-8, 2018
• Greensboro, NC
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results

Below are videos of all the championship final races from Day One of the 2018 Speedo Winter Junior Championships – East. The B and finals, as well as all other videos, can be found on USA Swimming’s YouTube channel.

Women’s 4×50 Medley Relay

1. Nashville Aquatic Club, 1:38.32
2. Chelsea Piers Aquatic Club, 1:39.53 / TAC Titans, 1:39.53
3. —

Men’s 4×50 Medley Relay

1. Mason Manta Rays, 1:26.52
2. Enfinity Aquatic Club, 1:29.06
3. Michigan Lakeshore Aquatics, 1:29.88

Women’s 4×200 Free Relay

1. Nashville Aquatic Club, 7:11.69
2. SwimMAC Carolina ‘B’, 7:16.42
3. SwimMAC Carolina ‘A’, 7:16.59

Men’s 4×200 Free Relay

1. Mason Manta Rays, 6:23.97
2. Carmel Swim Club, 6:30.94
3. SwimMAC Carolina, 6:35.02

Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2018 Winter Juniors – East: Day 1 Race Videos

By Anne Lepesant on SwimSwam

2018 Speedo Winter Junior Championships – West

• December 5th-8th, 2018
• Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center, Austin, Texas
• SCY (25y) pool
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results

Below are videos of all the championship final races from Day One of the 2018 Speedo Winter Junior Championships – West. The B and finals, as well as all other videos, can be found on USA Swimming’s YouTube channel.

Women’s 4×50 Medley Relay

1. Crow Canyon Country Club Sharks, 1:39.81
2. Aquajets Swim Team, 1:40.26
3. Scottsdale Aquatic Club, 1:40.99

Men’s 4×50 Medley Relay

1. Sierra Marlins Swim Team, 1:29.01
2. Rose Bowl Aquatics, 1:30.27
3. Sooner Swim Club, 1:31.26

Women’s 4×200 Free Relay

1. Magnolia Aquatic Club, 7:09.87
2. Brea Aquatics, 7:12.32
3. Bellevue Club Swim Team, 7:14.50

Men’s 4×200 Free Relay

1. Sierra Marlins Swim Team, 6:32.90
2. Santa Clara Swim Club, 6:37.03
3. Scottsdale Aquatic Club, 6:37.65

Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2018 Winter Juniors – West: Day 1 Race Videos

By Giusy Cisale on SwimSwam

CAMPIONATO MONDIALE IN VASCA CORTA FINA 2018

• 11/16 Dicembre 2018
• Hangzhou (Cina)
• Swimswam Italia Guida
• Sito web dell’evento
• Programma Gare
• Start List provvisoria

Con la collaborazione di James Sutherland

Due anni fa a Windsor, gli uomini russi hanno portato a casa l’oro in tutte e cinque le staffette.

La squadra maschile americana è andata a medaglia in quattro gare su 5, venendo squalificata nella 4×100 mista.

Dopo due anni l’America e la Russia sono ancora le squadre più pericolose.

STAFFETTA 4×50 STILE LIBERO MASCHILE

• World Record: 1:22.60 Russia*, 2014
• Record dei Campionati: 1:22.60, Russia, 2014
• Campioni 2016: Russia, 1:24.32

^{* Il tempo più veloce mai registrato è stato un 1:20.77 della Francia nel 2008, ma non è stata ufficialmente riconosciuto come un record mondiale dalla FINA.}

Se Russia ed USA combattono per il titolo, minacce potrebbero arrivare dal Brasile, dall’Australia e dall’Italia.

Gli americani sono guidati da  Caeleb Dressel, che possiede un tempo in yard di 17.63 convertibile in metri in 19.56. Oltre Dressel, l’America schiera Michael Andrew, che ha nuotato i 50 stile libero in Coppa del Mondo in 20.9 e potrebbe inserire nuotatori del calibro di Michael Chadwick ,  Ryan Held e  Blake Pieroni .

Da sottolineare che nel programma gare le batterie di qualifica di questa staffetta si svolgono nella stessa sessione dei 50 metri farfalla maschili. Questo potrebbe portare Dressel e Andrew rinunciare a nuotare la staffetta per entrare poi, eventualmente, nella finale.

Pericolosa la Russia.

Vladimir Morozov guida la classifica mondiale con il tempo di 20.48. Dopo Morozov ci sono altri tre russi costantemente sotto i 22 secondi. Evgeny Sedov (21.02),  Ivan Kuzmenko (21.18) e  Kliment Kolesnikov (21.48) sono i probabili staffettisti.

L’Italia ha ben sei uomini sotto i 22 secondi tra cui  Lorenzo Zazzeri (21.33), Marco Orsi (21.41)  Andrea Vergani (21.53) e  Santo Condorelli (21.60).

PREVISIONI STAFFETTA 4X50 STILE LIBERO MASCHILE

STAFFETTA 4×100 STILE LIBERO MASCHILE

• World Record: 3:03.30, Stati Uniti 2009
• Record dei Campionati: 3:03,78, Francia 2014
• 2016 World Champions: Russia, 3:05.90

La staffetta 4×100 stile libero maschile non dovrebbe distaccarsi troppo rispetto alla 4×50.

Gli Stati Uniti vantano la presenza del detentore del Record Americano in vasca corta, Blake Pieroni con 46.25, Michael Chadwick (46,9 quest’anno),  Jack Conger, e la possibilità di inserimento in finale di Ryan Murphy, che però ha le batterie dei 100 metri dorso nello stesso giorno delle eliminatorie delle staffette.

Sul versante Russo c’è sempre Vlad Morozov con il suo spaventoso 44.95. Altri sotto i 47 secondi sono Vladislav Grinev (46.39), Kliment Kolesnikov (46.43) e  Sergej Fesikov (46.88).

L’Italia può contare su tre atleti che hanno nuotato i 100 stile libero sotto i 48 secondi.

Lorenzo Zazzeri ha realizzato il tempo di 46.98 al trofeo Mussi-Lombardo-Femiano ed ai Campionati Assoluti la settimana scorsa, ha vinto il titolo italiano con il tempo di 47.06. Sempre a Riccione, il detentore del Record italiano in vasca lunga,  nonché Campione europeo Alessandro Miressi ha nuotato 47.25, ed Ivano Vendrame 47.61. Sotto i 48 secondi anche Santo Condorelli, che ha realizzato di tempo di 47.91 il 30 Novembre, mentre durante la Coppa Caduti di Brema, il 02 Dicembre, ha nuotato i 100 stile libero in 47.29.

PREVISIONI 4X100 STILE LIBERO MASCHILE

STAFFETTA 4X200 STILE LIBERO MASCHILE

• World Record: 6:49.04, Russia, 2010
• Record dei Campionati: 6: 49.04, Russia 2010
• 2016 World Champions: Russia, 6:52.10

Anche qui dominio russo con ben 4 uomini con un tempo di 1:42 nel 2018.  Aleksandr Krasnykh (1: 42.26),  Mikhail Vekovishchev (1: 42.52),  Martin Malyutin (1: 42.65) e  Mikhail Dovgalyuk (1: 42.83). La somma dei tempi (6:50.26) sarebbe addirittura migliore rispetto al 2016.

Gli americani hanno Pieroni che conduce la classifica mondiale stagionale con 1:41.15, ma le altre opzioni come Zane Grothe, Jacob Pebley e lo stesso Dressel, hanno nuotato poco i 200 metri quest’anno.

Nella nazionale italiana Gabriele Detti ha nuotato soltanto pochi fa i 200 stile libero in 1:44.39 ed ha un personale di 1:43.65. Sotto l’1:46 ci sono poi Matteo Ciampi, Alessio Proietti Colonna e Filippo Megli.

STAFFETTA 4×50 MISTA MASCHILE

• World Record: 1:30.44, Russia, 2017
• Record dei Campionati: 1: 30.51, Brasile, 2016
• 2016 World Champions: Russia, 1:31.52

Nella 4×50 mista maschile la squadra Brasiliana si presenta molto competitiva, con atleti come  Guilherme Guido (22.68)  Felipe Lima (25.88)  Nicholas Santos (21,75) e Cesar Cielo (20.98).

L’unica squadra che può competere con loro numeri è la Russia, che può schierare Kliment Kolesnikov (22.82) e  Oleg Kostin (25.90) sul dorso, Kirill Prigoda sulla rana, Vlad Morozov nella farfalla e Sedov nello stile libero.

Gli Stati Uniti hanno dorsisti come Ryan Murphy o  Matt Grevers, Michael Andrew o  Andrew Wilson nella rana, Caeleb Dressel per la farfalla e l’imbarazzo della scelta per lo stile libero (Held, Chadwick, Pieroni).

L’Italia sia nella 4×50 che nella 4×100 può contare su dorsisti come Simone Sabbioni ed il versatile Thomas Ceccon. Per la rana Fabio Scozzoli e Nicolo Martinenghi, nella farfalla Piero Codia e Matteo Rivolta, e nello stile libero l’imbarazzo della scelta.

PREVISIONI STAFFETTA 4X50 MISTA MASCHILE

STAFFETTA 4 × 100 MISTI MASCHILE

• World Record: 3:19.16, Russia, 2009
• Record dei Campionati: 3: 20.99, Stati Uniti 2010
• 2016 World Champions: Russia, 3:21.17

Nella 4×100 non cambiano molto le possibili scelte. L’America ha anche qui il quartetto Murphy, Wilson, Dressel e Pieroni.

La Russia potrebbe essere più avvantaggiata per la presenza di Morozov e di Prigoda sulla rana.

Tra gli altri paesi, la Cina ha a disposizione il detentore del Record Mondiale dei 100 metri dorso  Xu Jiayu, che potrebbe fare davvero la differenza.

TOP-8 PREVISIONI

By Olivier Poirier-Leroy on SwimSwam

Is there anything more agonizing than doing all the hard work in practice, but then blowing it on race day? Here’s how this mental training workbook will help you stop from choking when it matters most.

Think back to the last time you got up on the blocks, dove into the water for a big race, and completely choked.

On a scale of one to ten, how much did you enjoy that experience?

Umm, about minus fifty, right?

Choking is a common and misunderstood aspect of competition (and even practice), whether you are an age grouper or Olympian.

It sends our performance crashing across the pool deck, particularly in moments where literally the only thing in the world we want is to swim really, really fast.

Often, when things go sideways on us and we tense up and blow our big chance we assume (mistakenly) that this is just the way it will always be for us. That getting freaked out, worrying too much about what others think, and choking is who we are as swimmers.

It becomes part of our identity. We are destined to forever be “choke artists.” (Sad face.)

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

At all.

There’s a better way to mentally approach your racing. A way where you can race to the full extent of your ability. Where you can race with confidence. Where you can race with a clear mind.

Here’s how.

Mental training (finally) made simple

Maybe you have tried some different mental training techniques before. But you gave up on it because you didn’t really see the benefit.

That’s where Conquer the Pool: The Swimmer’s Ultimate Guide to a High-Performance Mindset is different.

This book was developed for swimmers, by swimmers, to help you do the one thing that will not only help you master the dreaded choke, but separate you from the competition…

Master your mindset.

From beginning to end, it’s been designed to help you master your goals, your practices, and of course… your races.

In terms of helping you to conquer the dreaded choke, this mental training workbook will give you the tools and techniques necessary to master your anxiety levels so that you can race your best when you want it most.

Here’s just some of the chlorinated awesomeness that Conquer the Pool will help you with:

• Learn how to avoid choking by figuring out exactly what kind of emotional state propels you to those high-velocity performances—and perhaps just as importantly, which ones don’t.
• How to use visualization to master the “fear of negative evaluation”—that worry we have of disappointing others, including our teammates, friends, family and coach.
• Learn what emotions are good for us at race time, and which ones are not. (Some of them will surprise you.)
• That the way to get calm isn’t to follow our instincts and power through those stressful situations, but to actually slow things down.
• How this little journaling activity—done whenever you are experiencing excess anxiety—can help boost confidence and throw a bucket of cold water on anxiety.
• How to use self-talk to dial things down and keep you focused on the things that promote faster swimming.
• How to build a deadly pre-race routine, and much, much more.

The book comes with page after page of choke-busting techniques and tools that will get you swimming faster than a buttered-up tech suit on race day.

These are just some of the things you will learn in one section of Conquer the Pool.

On top of that, there are the goal setting and practice sections that will help you create ambitious goals (that are also realistic), and give you the tools necessary to crush it in practice, giving you everything you need to slap your personal best times around like they stole your lunch money.

Oh yeah…

Another thing…

Conquer the Pool was also developed with the feedback and input of 200+ top USA Swimming and NCAA division I head coaches, including a whole bunch of Olympians, former world record holders, and NCAA champions.

Interested in learning more?

For more details, click here to learn more about how Conquer the Pool: The Swimmer’s Ultimate Guide to a High Performance Mindset will rock your chlorinated socks off.

ABOUT OLIVIER POIRIER-LEROY

Olivier Poirier-Leroy is a former national level swimmer. He’s the publisher of YourSwimBook, a ten-month log book for competitive swimmers.

He’s also the author of the recently published mental training workbook for competitive swimmers, Conquer the Pool: The Swimmer’s Ultimate Guide to a High Performance Mindset.

It combines sport psychology research, worksheets, and anecdotes and examples of Olympians past and present to give swimmers everything they need to conquer the mental side of the sport.

Ready to take your mindset to the next level?

Click here to learn more about Conquer the Pool.

COACHES & CLUBS: Yuppers–we do team orders of “Conquer the Pool” which includes a team discount as well as complimentary branding (your club logo on the cover of the book) at no additional charge.

Want more details? Click here for a free estimate on a team order of CTP.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Tired of Choking on Race Day? This Book Can Help

By Loretta Race on SwimSwam

2018 FINA SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, December 11th – Sunday, December 16th
• Tennis Centre, Hangzhou Olympic & International Expo Center, Hangzhou, China
• SCM
• Provisional Entry List

Without fly queen Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden and Pan Pacs champion Rikako Ikee of Japan among the competitors headed to Hangzhou, the women’s 50m, 100m and 200m fly events may prove to be some of the most surprising races of the meet.

Although Dutch Olympian Ranomi Kromowidjojo holds one of only two sub-25 second 50m fly of the field set to compete, it’s a furious race to the wall in which anything can happen.

American Kelsi Dahlia collected multiple fly medals at this meet in Windsor in 2016 and has had a stellar 2018 already with an American Record in the 100m fly. But, Hungarian Katinka Hosszu comes in as the defending gold medalist and may seek to her dual fly titles in the 100 and 200 and add to her historic career medal count.

Women’s 50 Butterfly:

• World Record – 24.38, Therese Alshammar (SWE), 2009
• SC World Championships Record – 24.58, Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 2014 Doha
• 2016 Champion – 24.92, Jeanette Ottesen (DEN)

As in the 50m free and 100m free throughout this year’s World Cup Series, Kromowidjojo went back-and-forth with Sjostrom in this sprint fly race. Kromo’s personal best and world-leading effort of 24.51 from the Series added a textile World Record to the Dutch Olympian’s resume, with her time sitting only 2nd in history to the suited 24.38 thrown down by Therese Alshammar back in 2009.

At the 2016 edition of these Short Course World Championships, Kromo was entered to swim the 50m, but wound up not swimming it, so we’ll get to see her try to follow-up her 2017 Short Course European Championships title with her first World Championships gold in this SCM event in Hangzhou.

But she won’t be the only racer carrying a sub-25 second time into the competition, as USA’s Kelsi Dahlia busted out a near-personal best of 24.97 to land as the 4th ranked swimmer in the world this season.

The former Louisville Cardinal and NCAA champion holds a personal best and American Record of 24.94 from the heats in Windsor, but wound up touching in 25.27 in the final that year to claim silver behind Denmark’s Jeanette Ottesen. Dahlia’s heats effort has her listed as the 9th fastest performer of all-time and with another sub-25 under her belt from Budapest, the 24-year-old is on the right path for a medal.

China’s Zhang Yufei notched a personal best of 25.31 already this season, while Kromo’s teammate Maaike De Waard was just .01 behind with a season-best of 25.32. She’s been as fast as 25.24 just last year and wound up taking Short Course European Championships bronze in 25.46.

Russia’s Rozaliya Nasretdinova also collected a personal best of 25.37 this season, while Aussie stalwart Holly Barratt should be in the mix with her 11th ranked time in the world of 25.61.

Predictions for Women’s 50 Butterfly:

Women’s 100 Butterfly:

• World Record – 54.61, Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 2014
• SC World Championships Record – 54.61, Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 2014 Doha
• 2016 Champion – 55.12, Katinka Hosszu (HUN)

Dahlia is hungry for gold in this 100m fly event after finishing with the silver behind Hungarian Katinka Hosszu back in 2016. The American has already busted out a new personal best, World Cup and American Record of 54.84 to sit as the 2nd fastest swimmer ever in the event. Only World Record holder Sjostrom has been faster with her mark of 54.61.

Dahlia registered the only sub-55 second time of 2018 of those competing in Hangzhou, which means if she’s on form, it will be her race to lose. But, if Hosszu indeed races the event, we all know of what the Iron Lady is capable when it comes to collecting the top prize in any event she swims. She holds a personal best and National Record effort of 55.12 that gave her gold in Windsor, so the seasoned veteran has history on her side.

Fellow stars n’ stripes swimmer Kendyl Stewart also threw down a personal best in this 100m fly event this year, notching a mighty 56.47 to check-in among the top 25 performers in history. Ahead of her in terms of personal bests, however, are Svetlana Chimrova of Russia and Kimberly Buys of Belgium. Both National Record holders, Russian Chimrova owns a PB of 45.39, while Belgium’s Buys carries a career-fastest of 56.44.

Japan may see a finalist in the top 8 in Ikee’s absence in the form of Ai Soma. The 21-year-old has been making strides in this event, notching a lifetime best of 57.19 en route to qualifying for Hangzhou.

Predictions for Women’s 100 Butterfly:

Women’s 200 Butterfly:

• World Record –1:59.61, Mireia Belmonte (ESP), 2014
• SC World Championships Record – 1:59.61, Mireia Belmonte (ESP), 2014 Doha
• 2016 Champion – 2:02.15, Katinka Hosszu (HUN)

The 2016 Short Course World Champion Hosszu is also leading the world heading into Hangzhou with her 2:02.86 effort from the World Cup Series. Hosszu is in fact the only swimmer in the world with a sub-2:03 time, as China’s Zhang Yufei resides in the #2 spot with a mark of 2:03.09, a lifetime best. That’s a significant jump ahead of what Zhang produced in 2016, a 2:05.10 for bronze.

American Dahlia will certainly be in the mix for a medal, carrying a solid 2:03.31 into the event, but holding the American Record and PB of 2:02.89 from 2016. That mark gave her the silver behind Hosszu and she has potential to take at least the 100/200 fly double in Hangzhou.

Japan will have two strong competitors in Suzuka Hasegawa and Nao Kobayashi. The former has only been as fast as 2:04.36 this year, but holds a career-fastest of 2:02.96, the 3rd quickest among the field. Kobayashi collected a PB this year in 2:05.51 and may now be hitting her prime at a later 25 years of age.

Predictions for Women’s 200 Butterfly:

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Headed To Hangzhou: Dahlia Could Capture Triple Gold

By Loretta Race on SwimSwam

Recognizing young Simona Quadarella‘s rise through the international swimming ranks during 2018, Gazzetta Dello has awarded the 19-year-old with its Best Female Athlete of the Year.

Quadarella first established herself as a legitimate elite player by way of her bronze medal in the 1500m freestyle at the 2017 FINA World Championships.

She followed that performance up with another bronze at that year’s Short Course European Championships, taking 3rd place in the 800m freestyle. That fueled the young gun’s training under Christian Minotti throughout the remainder of 2017/2018 and set the teen up nicely confidence-wise to make her mark on this year’s Eureopan Champiosnihps.

And make her mark she did, as the Italian freestyle ace brought home an impressive 3 individual gold medals from Glasgow. Quadarella topped the podium in the 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle events, notching a new Italian National Record in the 800m free (8:16.45).

Not to rest on her laurels, Quadarella continued racing in preparation for this year’s Short Course World Championships. While competing at the Mario Battisteli Trophy just last month, Quadarella fired off a new national standard in the SCM 1500 freestyle, clocking a lifetime best of 15:44.76. That time checks-in as the fastest in the world this season, setting Quadarella up for another potential gold medal haul in Hangzhou.

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#Repost @gazzettadellosport with @get_repost ・・・ Premio rivelazione dell’anno! Velocissima, giovanissima @simonaaquadarella

By Andrew Mering on SwimSwam

With mid season invites in the bag, pretty much every team in the country has had a meet that they’ve taken seriously. This means that we can finally start to get some useful information by comparing team’s times so far. The easiest way to do this is with our Swimulator. The Swimulator takes everyone’s top times so far this season and scores out a national meet respecting individual event limits and reasonable event choices (swimmers can’t do two events in a row). No diving is included.

• Read about the men’s rankings here

For the women this gives Michigan a slim 325-314 lead over Texas. The top two teams in our latest Power Rankings Stanford and Cal are next. Cal rank 3rd with 287 and Stanford are 4th with 256.5.

Michigan and Texas are both a long way ahead of where they were at this point last season. Texas are 134 points ahead of their mid season projection from last season. 92 of the 134 points gained come in the relays. Texas currently have 4 top 3 relays and 2 #1 rankings in the 200 and 400 free relays. Michigan are keyed by solid relays (154 projected points) and 100 points from their seniors.

Both Michigan and Texas scored similar point totals at nationals to their mid season Swimulator projections. Michigan scored 260 swimming points at nationals vs 242.5 mid season Swimulator points. Texas scored 170.5 vs 180 at mid season. Texas benefited from 51 diving points last year, none of which graduated. Michigan return 7 diving points.

While Michigan and Texas hold the top two spots, perhaps the most notable part of this ranking is the teams that aren’t in those spots. The two Bay Area teams Cal and Stanford are 3rd and 4th. Stanford are considered huge title favorites. They’re the unanimous #1 team in our latest power ranking, return the most swimming points of any team, and have the top recruiting class. Stanford led these rankings at this point last year with 382.5 points, 126 more than they have this year, but at nationals they scored a ridiculous 578 swimming points. A similar jump would easily vault them past the other top teams in the division, but this year’s team is very different from last year’s team. There are a lot few Olympic medals between them this year. So, how likely is that to happen again? First, let’s take a look at how they gained so many points last year.

Last year, Stanford didn’t have a time in the 800 free relay at this point in the season, so they were projected to score 0 points in an event the eventually won. That’s 40 points vs the projection for free. They also picked up 41 points vs projection in the other relays. Their next big points jump came from Simone Manuel who didn’t swim any meets in the fall while she was rehabbing an injury. Manuel scored 56 points at NCAA’s. The relay gains and Manuel accounted for 137 of 195.5 points Stanford gained. The rest came from swimmers on the bottom half of their line up picking up a few points each. For example, Leah Stevens went from a mid season projection of 6 points to 14 at NCAAs, or Megan Byrnes went from 0 at mid season to 15. The had 9 swimmers gain between 1 and 15 points. With nobody drastically falling off their mid season ranking, those small improvements across a bunch of scoring swimmers added up to about 60 more points.

Stanford don’t have a swimmer of Simone Manuel‘s caliber waiting on the bench this year, but there are plenty of opportunities to pick up points. This year, while they at least have a time in all 5 relays, they’re only projected to score 87 relay points. Their 400 free relay is ranked 23rd behind team such as Akron and Yale. They only have 1 relay ranked in the top 4 (the 800 FR). Stanford may not win all 5 relays again this year, but there is a lot of room to gain relay points.

On the other hand, just as Manuel isn’t waiting around to juice their individual points totals, she isn’t available to punch up their relays this year. Stanford’s relays all moved up a lot last year from mid season, but they were able to add the Olympic champion in the 100 free in the second half. This year they’ll have to move up with the same swimmers that put up those low ranked times in the fall. With their talent, scoring more than 87 relay points seems almost certain. The question is: how many more will they get?

In the individual events, similarly to last year, plenty of Stanford’s swimmers are ranked with room to move up. Taylor Ruck, who dominated Pan Pacs this summer and beat Katie Ledecky in a 200 free final, currently projects to score 26.5 points. Katie Drabot is projected to score 14 (she projected to 42 at this point last year, scored 49 at nationals). Stanford were a bit slower than last year at their mid season meet, so a relatively large drop wouldn’t be a surprise.

Cal has some work to do if they want to defend their 2nd place position. They are 27 points behind Texas in the current Swimulator rankings before accounting for Texas 51 returning diving points. Cal didn’t score in diving last year.

Cal did not have the dramatic points jump that Stanford got last year. They picked up 9 points at nationals over their mid season projection. Cal have 168 projected relay points this year, so there’s not much room to move up there. Their main opportunity to catch Michigan and Texas comes from the individual events where there are some opportunities to pick up meaningful points vs their projection. Amy Bilquist, who scored 27 points last year, is currently projected to score 0 after missing most of the fall season. Top ranked recruit in the class of 2019, Isabel Ivey is going to join the team in January and could give them a boost.

Despite Stanford and Cal’s ample opportunities to grow their point totals, these rankings are good news for Michigan and Texas. The door to 2nd place is open, and Stanford clearly aren’t the powerhouse they were last year. A comfortable Stanford win is still the probable outcome. However, if Stanford aren’t on form, teams are lining up to challenge them.

Other notable teams

• Tennessee are 67.5 points ahead of last year in 5th. They dropped 18 points at nationals from their mid season projection, but their nationals total likely would have instead much higher if not for a couple of relay mishaps (a DQ and a swimmer doing the wrong stroke causing them to miss finals)
• Texas A&M are 230 points behind their Swimulator total from this point last season (last year 369->139 this year)
• Georgia are 108 points behind last year (205->97)
• The NC State women are way ahead of last year (78->213.5). Their additional points are split pretty evenly between relays (+76 over last year) and individuals (+59.5)
• Welcome back Florida. After a mid season projection of 8 points and scoring 3 swimming points at nationals last year, Florida project to 116 points this year.

If you are interested to see the full event by event projections check out the full Swimulator page here. The event projections are below the points. Just scroll down. Below the event projections are individual swimmer point totals sorted by team.

I’ll be doing write ups on the lower divisions and some of the conference rankings in the coming days, but if you want to see those rankings before those articles are written, feel free to run the simulation you are interested in yourself.

One final thought: this type of ranking isn’t intended as an exact prediction of what will happen at the end of the season. It’s intended as a starting point when thinking about what will happen at the end of the year. This is a baseline. If your expectation is that a team will do better or worse, look at their swimmer’s current rankings and think about which swimmers are likely to move up or down between now and the end of the season.

Swimulator Projected Points

Swimulator projections do not include diving

By Torrey Hart on SwimSwam

Paris Jacobs became the American Swim Coaches Association’s first chief operations officer earlier this year, and she’s tasked with bringing the organization into the future.

After undergoing a business review last year, it was recommended that the organization create the role to provide support to Executive Director John Leonard. Jacobs, who owns and runs Virginia-based Machine Aquatics with her husband, was initially on the committee to pick the right candidate – but it became clear she herself should be the pick.

“Initially I was like, ‘No,’ but honestly, I give a lot of credit to my senior management within the five divisions of Machine, and the ASCA Board,” Jacobs told SwimSwam. “I said, ‘Can you give me four or five months to see how this would work – would my companies be okay, would my senior management be okay with this?’ So we kind of evolved through the summer thinking of what it could be, what it would look like.”

Jacobs ultimately took the reigns of organizing the 2018 World Clinic, and then come September, was totally sold on the job.

“So my role in the vision of where we’re heading is primarily – and it’s still evolving – is brand management and sponsorship and marketing,” she said. “But also looking to enhance services to anyone who is affiliated with the ASCA. So coaches, obviously swim schools, all of that that we want to bring resources to, and make them more readily available to our coaches… and start strategizing what that means and what that looks like going forward into 2020, into 2024.”

On the day-to-day level, Jacobs is focused on restructuring and “enhancing” services for the 2019 World Clinic. She works out of the Florida office eight to 10 days a month, looking for “outside-the-box” sponsorship and marketing opportunities for the ASCA that will, in turn, bring opportunities back to coaches.

“One example is the GoSwim partnership that we have. That’s a deal I did as a business consultant right before I came on as COO. But in the GoSwim partnership, it’s something that is unique, at a price point that is different if they just came in to GoSwim on their own – they’re getting unique information, they’re getting coaching tools, they’re getting help on a daily basis as a benefit when they go into that GoSwim plan as a member of the ASCA,” Jacobs explained, also highlighting her ongoing listening campaign. “Those are the kinds of things that we’re looking for. What that exactly looks like, I can’t tell you right now. There’s a lot of things on the table, but coaches want to give suggestions and I think that’s the biggest thing of what they’d like to see from their association. We want to know.”

In addition to the work that needs to be done for the clinic, Jacobs joined the ASCA at a clear juncture in terms of the sport’s governance. As the International Swim League tries to gain traction to change the structure of swimming as a professional and spectator sport, much to FINA’s opposition, the ASCA has emerged as a clear supporter of the ISL.

“I am very confident; we have been in talks with ISL. And obviously when we had the PSA [Pro Swim Association] last year – making this sport a truly professional opportunity for our athletes to make a sustainable living is incredibly important to us. ISL we believe is a good avenue for them to be able to do this,” said Jacobs. “We’re very confident that ISL and FINA will come to a mutual agreement to continue to move forward, and that form, our coaches are in supportive of – this is something that we believe that is beneficial to our athletes. And so from that standpoint, we firmly stand behind it, and want to see them succeed, because we believe that their success will ultimately benefit the athletes.”

See more about ASCA’s stance on the ISL here.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Catching Up with New ASCA COO Paris Jacobs

By Spencer Penland on SwimSwam

2018 SPEEDO WINTER JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS – EAST

• December 5-8, 2018
• Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, NC
• SCY (25 yards)
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Live Stream

SwimAtlanta 17- year-old and high school junior, Jake Magahey, blasted a 4:14.61 to win the boys 500 free at the Winter Juniors – East Championships. Magahey, SwimSwam’s #3 recruit for the Class of 2020, dropped a little over 2 seconds from his previous best to finish just ahead of SwimMAC’s John Walker (4:15.02). Magahey’s time lands him #10 in the all-time rakings for 17-18 boys, while Walker’s comes in 12th. Magahey only split above 25 seconds for a 50 4 times during the race, the slowest of which was a 26.15. He also came home under 50 seconds on the last 100, indicating he should close well in his other freestyle races this weekend.

Here’s our coverage from the Winter Juniors – East Live Recap, as reported by Anne Lepesant:

“SwimMAC Carolina’s Jack Walker, who came in to the final with the top time out of morning heats, got off to a quick start. He led the field by a body length at the 200 with 1:40.80. Behind him, SwimAtlanta’s Jake Magahey and Gator Swim Club’s Julian Hill were even, and a good couple seconds ahead of the rest of the finalists. Over the final 200 yards, Magahey made his move. He cut Walker’s lead to half a body length at the 400. The pair began their bell lap on nearly even footing, and it was Magahey who pulled out the win. He brought it home in 24.45 to eke out a 4:14.61-to-4:15.02 win over Walker, only missing Jack LeVant’s meet record by 21/100.”

Magahey made a name for himself over the Summer after he scared Caeleb Dressel’s LCM 200 free 15-16 boys National Age Group Record at Junior Pan Pacs, swimming a 1:48.65. We’ll see Magahey compete in the 200 free and 1650 free during the remainder of this weekend. He’s pretty equally strong in the 200 up through the mile, having a 200 best of 1:35.13, and a mile best of 14:52.85.

Magahey is currently uncommitted to a college for the Fall of 2020, along with our #2 rank in his class, Destin Lasco. The #1 ranking recruit, Carson Foster has given his verbal to Texas.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Uncommitted HS Junior Jake Magahey Posts 4:14 500 At Winter JRs – East

By Anne Lepesant on SwimSwam

2018 Speedo Winter Junior Championships – West

• December 5th-8th, 2018
• Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center, Austin, Texas
• SCY (25y) pool
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results

Below are videos of all the championship final races from Day Two of the 2018 Speedo Winter Junior Championships – West. The B and finals, as well as all other videos, can be found on USA Swimming’s YouTube channel.

Girls’ 500 Freestyle

1. Regan Smith, Riptide, 4:37.10
2. Kaitlynn Sims, Magnolia Aquatic Club, 4:39.52
3. Ashley Strouse, Scottsdale Aquatic Club, 4:41.41

Boys’ 500 Freestyle

1. Coby Carrozza, Longhorn Aquatics, 4:16.95
2. Peter Larson, Edina Swim Club, 4:20.31
3. Jude Williams, Riverside Aquatics, 4:21.89

Girls’ 200 Individual Medley

1. Zoie Hartman, Crow Canyon Country Club, 1:54.62
2. Katharine Berkoff, Missoula Aquatic Club, 1:57.04
3. Coleen Gillilan, Fort Collins Area, 1:57.44

Boys’ 200 Individual Medley

1. Luca Urlando, DART Swimming, 1:42.99
2. Shane Blinkman, St. Croix Swim Club, 1:46.05
3. Ethan Hu, Peak Swimming, 1:46.53

Girls’ 50 Freestyle

1. Alexandra Crisera, Beach Cities, 22.48
2. Emma Sticklen, Katy Aquatic Team, 22.63
3. McKenna Stone, Fox Valley, 22.64

Boys’ 50 Freestyle

1. Jack Armstrong, Houston Bridge Bats, 19.81
2. Jack Dolan, Rockwood Swim Club, 19.87
3. Matt King, Bellevue Club Swim Team, 19.95

Girls’ 400 Medley Relay

1. Crow Canyon Aquatic Club, 3:37.66
2. Aquajets, 3:40.20
3. Irvine Novaquatics, 3:40.36

Boys’ 400 Medley Relay

1. Rose Bowl Aquatics, 3:16.08
2. Sierra Marlins, 3:16.65
3. Nitro Swimming, 3:19.73

Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2018 Winter Juniors – West: Day 2 Race Videos