By Tomas Rodriguez on SwimSwam

As the coronavirus outbreak rapidly spreads, volunteer training plans for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Games have been postponed. On a lighter note, the official motto for Tokyo 2020 has been revealed. Here’s the latest on these topics and much more in an all-new Olympic Update:

VOLUNTEER TRAINING FOR TOKYO 2020 POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19 OUTBREAK

Per The Japan Times, Tokyo 2020 Olympic organizers on Saturday postponed training for their army of volunteers due to the coronavirus outbreak but reiterated that there was “no consideration” of canceling the Games.

Organizers also indicated that volunteers would be informed individually of the rescheduled dates and insisted the postponement would have no impact on the preparations for the Olympics, scheduled to start come Jul. 24.

JAPAN’S AINU DANCE DROPPED FROM OPENING CEREMONY

According to Reuters, Olympic organizers have dropped a dance by Japan’s indigenous Ainu people from the opening ceremony of this year’s Games in Tokyo.

The reason for the removal was the lack of room to fit the dance into the schedule for the opening ceremony to take place Jul. 24.

2020 GAMES’ MOTTO UNVEILED

“United by Emotion” has been revealed as the motto for this summer’s Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, per Japan’s news service Kyodo.

A committee comprised of former athletes and others picked the motto in the hope it will inspire people of various backgrounds to acknowledge each other and connect through the emotions evoked at the Summer Games.

The committee members included four-time Olympic medalist in swimming Takeshi Matsuda.

Organizers said the motto in English will be displayed at competition venues, on city street decorations and licensed goods as well as digital media.

The mottos for the recent summer and winter games were “A New World” in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and “Passion. Connected.” at Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018.

2020 ORGANIZERS UNVEIL PLANS FOR 2URBAN FESTIVAL” EVENT

Kyodo reported that an “urban festival” where the public can get a different kind of look at various Olympic sports will be a ticketed event at this year’s Tokyo Olympics.

Though the event is planned to be held in the Ariake Urban Sports Park, home to skateboarding and cycling BMX venues, and the Ariake Gymnastics Center, organizers are also considering locations where ticket-holders can get hands-on experience of some sports.

TOKYO 2020 VOWS FOR NEW RESTROOM REVOLUTION

Per Reuters, on southwestern Japan’s Miyajima island, a short walk from one of the country’s most famous ancient temple sites, there’s a brand new attraction for tourists – a state-of-the-art public toilet block nearly as big as a tennis court.

The 183 square meter facility – created jointly by the local municipality and Toto, Japan’s biggest toilet maker – is just one of the hundreds that have been spruced up across the country ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, removing old-school squat toilets to welcome foreign tourists.

With a government survey showing roughly 40% of Japan’s public restrooms hosted squat stalls in 2016, the government started a campaign to help municipalities fund conversion to sit-down toilets, anticipating Olympics tourists will explore Japan beyond Tokyo.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Olympic Update: Tokyo 2020 Volunteer Training Postponed, Games Motto Unveiled

By Reid Carlson on SwimSwam

2020 ACC MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• When: Wednesday, February 26th to Saturday, February 29th Prelims 10:00 am | Finals 6:00 pm (1650 prelims Saturday at 4:00 pm)
• Where: Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, North Carolina (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: North Carolina State University (NC State) (29x, 5th-straight) (results)
• Streaming: ACC Network
  • Day 2 Finals
  • Day 3 Finals
  • Day 4 Finals
• Championship Central: Here
• Detailed Timeline: Here
• Psych Sheets: Here
• Live Results

NC State senior Coleman Stewart swam a 1:37.71 in the finals of the 200 backstroke Saturday at the 2020 ACC Championships. Stewart’s performance rings in at 1.1 seconds faster than his previous lifetime best of 1:38.81 from the 2019 NCAA Championships, where he placed 4th, and is also eight-tenths of a second faster than the previous ACC Record Conference Record, formerly held by NC State alumnus Hennesey Stuart, who at the 2016 NCAA Championships put up a 1:38.56 to place 3rd.

Stewart is now the 7th-fastest all-time in the 200 yard backstroke. He is also one of only three men to have ever broken the 44-second barrier in the 100 yard backstroke, and among the top-8 performers all-time in the 100 yard butterfly.

Read more about Stewart’s 200 backstroke here.

Reported by Robert Gibbs.

200 BACK – FINALS

• ACC record: 1:38.56 – Hennesey Stuart (NC State), 2016
• ACC meet record: 1:39.05 – Grigory Tarasevich (Louisville), 2017
• 2019 champion: Coleman Stewart (NC State), 1:39.10

1. Coleman Stewart (NC State) – 1:37.71
2. Mitchell Whyte (Louisville) – 1:39.46
3. Samuel Tornqvist (Virginia Tech) – 1:40.10

NC State senior Coleman Stewart went out in style, taking down the ACC meet and conference records in the last individual ACC swim of his career. Stewart knocked nearly a second off of the overall conference record, a 1:38.56 held by NC State alum Hennesey Stuart. That’s the third-straight conference title in this event for Stewart, who has swept the backstrokes here over the last three years. Stewart’s time ranks his #3 in the nation this season.

Louisville’s Mitchell Whyte took 2nd to pair with his 2nd place finish in the 100 back. His time of 1:39.46 moves him to #4 in the nation this season. Whyte also took 2nd last season.

Virginia Tech’s Samuel Tornqvist took 3rd in 1:40.10, a new personal best by roughly half a second. Last year he was 5th with a 1:41.39. UVA’s Justin Grender (1:41.05) and Virginia Tech’s Lane Stone (1:41.88) took 4th and 5th. Notre Dame’s Jack Montesi (1:42.05) and UNC’s Christopher Thames (1:42.26) were also under 1:43. NC State freshman Ross Dant took 8th in 1:48.61, roughly ten minutes after taking 3rd in the 1650.

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS

1. NC State – 1250
2. Virginia – 1089
3. Louisville – 1066.5
4. Virginia Tech – 898
5. Florida State – 812.5
6. Notre Dame – 803.5
7. North Carolina – 630.5
8. Pitt – 520
9. Georgia Tech – 506
10. Duke – 421
11. Miami – 197
12. Boston College – 134

Reported by Braden Keith.

ALL-TIME TOP 10 PERFORMERS, MEN’S 200 YARD BACKSTROKE:

1. 1:35.73 – Ryan Murphy, Cal, 2016 NCAA Championships
2. 1:36.42 – John Shebat, Texas, 2019 NCAA Championships
3. 1:36.45 – Austin Katz, Texas, 2019 NCAA Championships
4. 1:36.81 – Ryan Lochte, Gator Swim Club – 2007 Winter Nationals
5. 1:37.20 – Shaine Casas, Texas A&M – 2020 SEC Championships
6. 1:37.71 – Coleman Stewart, NC State – 2020 ACC Championships
7. 1:37.58 – Tyler Clary, Michigan – 2009 NCAA Championships
8. 1:37.80 – Patrick Mulcare, USC – 2017 NCAA Championships
9. 1:37.87 – Arkady Vyatchanin, Russia – 2013 Winter Nationals
10. 1:38.21 – Eugene Godsoe, Stanford post-grad – 2012 OK Elite Meet

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Coleman Stewart Struggled Mentally With the 200 Backstroke For 3 Years (Video)

By Retta Race on SwimSwam

BERLIN SWIM OPEN

• Friday, February 28th – Sunday, March 1st
• European Sports Park, Berlin, Germany
• Meet Site
• Start Lists
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap
• Results
• Live Stream

The 2020 Berlin Swim Open closed tonight at European Sports Park, but not before a sprinkling of different nations’ swimmers appeared atop the podium.

Finnish Olympian Jenna Laukkanen was among the victors, taking the women’s 200m breaststroke in one of only two sub-2:30 outings. Laukkanen touched in a time of 2:29.19, while Kim Herkle of Germany posted a runner-up mark of 2:29.83.

Laukkannen owns her nation’s standard with the 2:25.14 notched for a 14th place finish at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, while Herkle’s personal best rests at the 2:27.66 she put up for bronze at the Luxembourg Euro Meet just this past January.

Poland nabbed a gold tonight, courtesy of Michal Chudy in the men’s 100m fly. Chudy touched in 53.26 to beat Germany’s Ramon Klenz by just a fingernail, as Klenz settled for silver in 53.27. The pair were the only swimmers under 54 seconds tonight.

Winning the women’s 200m fly by over 3 seconds this evening was Claudia Hufnagl of Austria. Hufnagl split 1:03.65/1:07.93 to nab a winning effort of 2:11.58. She owns a PB of 2:09.76, a time that represents the Austrian national record from December of 2019.

Her teammate Marlene Kahler, the woman who cracked a new 800m free national record last night, added another gold to her Berlin Open haul. Kahler hit the wall in 2:00.54 to take the women’s 20m free ahead of Aleksandra Knop, who was also just over the two-minute mark in 2:00.84.

Germany’s Maya Tobehn, the 2019 European Junior Championships bronze medalist in this event, rounded out the top 3 in 2:00.85. Last year in Kazan she clocked a time of 1:59.72, so tonight’s effort was just over a second off of that result.

Another medalist from those European Junior Championships, Sven Schwarz of Germany, was golden again tonight, adding the men’s 800m free prize to his 1500m free and 400m free victories here.

Touching in 7:59.26, Schwarz beat the field by well over 11 seconds and produced the 2nd fastest time of his career. Tonight’s performance marks just the 2nd time the 17-year-old has been under the 8:00 threshold, with his 7:59.26 from tonight sitting behind his PB of 7:53.74 from Kazan last year. That logging gave him the bronze at the aforementioned Euro Juniors.

Additional Notes:

• The men’s 50m back saw Ole Braunschweig of Germany get it done for gold in 25.11, while multi-Austrian record holder Bernhard Reitshammer clocked 25.56 for silver.
• Reitshammer was back in the pool to take the men’s 50m free in 22.83 and he also snared silver in the 50m breast in 27.94.
• Taking the men’s 50m breast, however, was Valentin Bayer, Reitshammer’s countryman who logged a lifetime best of 27.90 to take gold tonight.
• Another Austrian, Patrick Staber, got the 200m IM top prize in 2:02.41.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Sven Schwarz Captures 800 Free Title To Close Out Berlin Swim Open

By Nick Pecoraro on SwimSwam

2020 IHSA Boys Swimming & Diving State Finals

• February 28-29, 2020
• Evanston, IL
• State Series Info
• Final Results

It was a big week in the Midwest as high school championship season is in our midst. At Evanston High School, the St. Charles North boys repeated as team champions after earning their first-ever title in 2019. During the battle on Saturday, four Evanston pool records and one IHSA state record was broken.

Top Six Teams

• 1. St. Charles North- 137
• 2. Loyola- 135
• 3. Glenbrook South- 128
• 4. Oak Park-River Forest (OPRF)- 98
• 5. Waubonsie Valley- 85
• 6. Lyons Township- 82

State Finals Highlights

200 Medley Relay Tie

In the 200 medley relay, Hinsdale Central was holding a comfy one-second lead until Glenbrook South senior Mike Hadjiivanov dove in for the free anchor. Hadjiivanov quickly gained on Hinsdale Central’s Erkan Ozgen, with the two nearly simultaneous under the flags.

In a surprise twist, Hinsdale Central and Glenbrook tied for the IHSA title, both clocking in 1:31.31. Also in contention was OPRF, who took third at 1:31.55. Finishing in fourth was St. Charles North, clocking in another 1:31 time (1:31.81).

Comparative Splits- 2020 IHSA Boys 200 Medley Relay

Max Iida Goes 2-For-2

Glenbrook South’s Max Iida, after splitting 24.53 breast in the winning 200 medley relay, went on to win both of his individual events. The UVA commit first dominated the 200 IM with a new Evanston pool record of 1:47.40, powered by his 30.55 breast and 26.20 free splits.

Iida then made a splash in the 100 breast final, clocking in a 54.62. Metamora’s Justin Alderson was right on Iida’s tail, touching in at 54.93. Marmion’s Ty Spillane was also in the tight three-man finish, touching in at 54.99.

Luke Maurer Breaks Reed Malone’s State Record

Loyola senior Luke Maurer had an epic battle against St. Charles East’s Calvin Windle during the 200 free final. At the finish, Maurer was able to clinch an IHSA title, winning at 1:36.35. Windle settled for second at 1:36.95.

During prelims on Friday afternoon, Maurer blasted out to a 1:34.49, breaking Reed Malone‘s 2013 IHSA state record of 1:35.60.

Comparative Splits- 2020 Maurer V. 2013 Malone, 200 FR IHSA Record

(*both were set in prelims)

St. Charles North V. Loyola

The 50/100 free and 100 fly were huge events for St. Charles North (SCN) and Loyola, who became the top duo after these events. In the 50 free, Neuqua Valley champion Connor Boyle flirted with the 20-second barrier, winning the title at 20.04. Finishing in second was SCN’s Aleksej Filipovic, touching in at 20.48. Third place went to Lyons Township (LT) senior Jack Thorell (20.61).

During the diving break, Homewood-Flossmoor senior Jack Williams went on to take down the 2019 pool record (537.65) with 544.20 points. The remaining top 3 divers, RB’s Harrison Nolan (522.95) and St. Charles East’s Joey Scimeca (506.90), also scored over 500 points.

Back into the swim events, Filipovic came back in the 100 fly final to zip past Brother Rice’s Seth Miller (48.87) to win his first IHSA title at 48.25. Yet right after, 50 free champ Boyle and 200 free champ Maurer met up in the 100 free final.

Neuqua Valley’s Boyle was out like a rocket, going 20.89 off the first 50 while Loyola’s Maurer took the race out in 21.45. Maurer’s 200 free talent then allowed him to bring the race home in 22.46, slowly inching in on Boyle. However, Boyle was able to hold off Maurer (43.91), sweeping the sprint events with his title-winning time of 43.82.

After Maurer’s 29-point pick-up, Loyola teammates Everet Andrew (4:24.50) and Rex Maurer (4:26.35) went on to go a 1-2 finish in the 500 free final, swiping up another 29 points.

Into the 200 free relay final, Loyola was in the slight lead heading into the anchor leg, with LT and SCN right on their tails. LT senior Thorell blasted a 20.25 to easily take up the lead off the turn, churning up open water.

At the finish, LT took the title at 1:22.70, just three-tenths off their Friday pool record of 1:22.40. The state record remains at 1:22.15, set by Glenbrook South in 2009. Loyola held on for second at 1:23.59, touching ahead of Glenbrook South (1:23.93) and SCN (1:24.17).

In the 100 back final, Jones senior Jaden Olson (49.29) out-touched Barrington sophomore Griffin O’Leary (49.43) to win the IHSA title.

Ending the session was the 400 free relay, which handly was won by Loyola (3:02.80) thanks to L. Maurer’s 43.23 anchor split. However, it was not enough for Loyola to win the title. St. Charles North (SCN), despite taking 5th (3:07.18), was able to win the IHSA team title by 2 points over Loyola to defend their 2019 state title.

By Lauren Neidigh on SwimSwam

UNC LAST CHANCE

• March 1, 2020
• Hosted by UNC
• Short Course Yards
• Results

Following the men’s ACC Championships last week, UNC hosted their 2020 Qualifier for swimmers on the bubble to try to qualify for the NCAA Championships. James Madison University had a pair of women move into qualifying range. Julianna Jones dropped 7 seconds in the mile. Her 16:11.44 is ranked 27th. Teammate Bonnie Zhang clipped her best time with a 48.37 in 100 free prelims to move up to 33rd. Last season, Zhang became the program’s 3rd swimmer in history to qualify for the NCAA meet. Jones’ qualifying time marks the 4th.

UNC’s Ellie Vannote dropped nearly 2 seconds from her season best and clipped her lifetime best with a 1:55.99 in prelims of the 200 fly. Vannote’s time moved her up to 34th in the nation.

On the men’s side, UNC’s Chris Thames posted a 1:41.41 in the 200 back. He’s now ranked 25th. Teammate Dimitrios Dimitriou dropped to a 4:16.62 in the 500 free. That lands him at 26th in the NCAA rankings. East Carolina’s Marek Osina put up a 1:41.92 in that event to move up to #39. Teammate Lyubomir Epitropov made his way into the top 30 with a 1:54.32 in the 200 breast. That puts him on the bubble at 29th with Pac-12s coming up this week.

ADDITIONAL IMPACT SWIMS

• The Virginia men got under the 200 free relay B cut. The team, led off by Ryan Baker in 19.68, combined for a 1:17.76. August Lamb had their fastest split with a 19.14 on the 2nd leg. Konnar Klinksiek swam a 19.41 on the 3rd leg, and Joe Clark closed in 19.53.
• They missed the B cut in the 200 medley relay by just a hundredth at the ACC Championships and missed it by 3 hundredths today. Clark (back- 21.95), Keefer Barnum (breast- 23.61), Max Edwards (fly- 20.66), and Lamb (18.78) joined for a 1:25.00.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: JMU Women Get 2 NCAA Qualifiers at UNC Last Chance; UVA Men Hit 200 FR-R B Cut

By Retta Race on SwimSwam

The Niigata Open, a 2-day meet originally slate for Nagaoka City, Japan on March 7th and 8th, has been cancelled in response to the growing threat of the coronavirus, as has the Kanazawa Open Swimming Competition in Kanazawa City.

The action was undertaken due to the Japanese government’s request for the cancellation of large-scale sports and cultural events as the COVID-19 virus spreads worldwide.

As of publishing, there are 88,371 confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, with 256 of those stemming from Japan. To note, Japan’s population hovers around 126 million people, but the influx of travelers to the nation will be growing rapidly in the next several months as the globe gears up for the 2020 Olympic Games hosted in Tokyo.

The news of the swimming meet cancellations comes just days after the Japanese Swimming Federation said it is considering conducting April’s Japan Swim without spectators. Set for April 1st – April 8th, the Japan Swim represents the sole Olympic-qualifying meet for Japanese swimmers.

2016 Olympic medalist and two-time World Champion last year in Gwangju, Daiya Seto, was set to compete this weekend at the Niigata Open, with the meet merely an in-training racing opportunity before the all-important Japan Swim.

“My intention was to use this meet as a training meet, so there’s really no impact for me on the Japan Swim or the Olympics,” said Seto of the cancellation. (NHK)

Seto has already qualified for the Olympic Games in the 200m IM and 400m IM by way of his winning gold in Gwangju.

However, the 25-year-old stated, “I want to improve my physical condition and take anti-virus measures. I hope that the Japan Championship will be held with spectators.”

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Two Pre-OLY Trials Japanese Swimming Competitions Cancelled Due To Coronavirus

By Reid Carlson on SwimSwam

2020 ACC MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• When: Wednesday, February 26th to Saturday, February 29th Prelims 10:00 am | Finals 6:00 pm (1650 prelims Saturday at 4:00 pm)
• Where: Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, North Carolina (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: North Carolina State University (NC State) (29x, 5th-straight) (results)
• Streaming: ACC Network
  • Day 2 Finals
  • Day 3 Finals
  • Day 4 Finals
• Championship Central: Here
• Detailed Timeline: Here
• Psych Sheets: Here
• Live Results

Before you ask, “which areas was NC State ever ‘not strong’ in this season,” let’s take a look back at SwimSwam’s College Swimming Preview of NC State and compare it to the actual outcome of the 2020 Men’s ACC Swimming & Diving Championships–and don’t forget the diving.

Ever a powerhouse in the sprints, NC State began the season with a formidable group of 50/100/200 specialists, and it was indeed through these events that they accrued most of their points. Coleman Stewart, Nyls Korstanje, Noah Hensley, and Luke Sobolewski all made between 1 and 3 ‘A’ final appearances in sprint events, with Stewart being the only one of the bunch to swim in the ‘A’ final of a 200 (because the others were not entered in any of the 200s).

The distance crew looked promising, though the classically middle-distance events such as the 200s of stroke and the 400 IM were major question marks for the Wolfpack after graduating Andreas Vazaios in 2019. While these races did indeed challenge NC State, they had a presence in the ‘A’ final of every 200, with the exception of the 200 breaststroke, where their highest finish came from sophomore Rafal Kusto who finished 18th. NC State did not have a swimmer in the ‘A’ final of the 100 breaststroke, either, though Kusto put points on the board with a 12th-place finish there.

Men’s swimming MVP Coleman Stewart won the 200 backstroke by a huge margin, and Erge Gezmis finished top-8 in three different 200s: butterfly, freestyle, and IM. Eric Knowles, meanwhile, got NC State on the board in the 400 IM via a 6th-place finish. Knowles was also a top-5 finisher in the 500 and 1650 freestyles.

Diving gave the Wolfpack a boost of 123 points the week before men’s swimming began in Greensboro. 3-meter champion James Brady, a junior, was honored as the ACC Championship Most Valuable Diver.

The following recap and scores were reported by Robert Gibbs.

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS

1. NC State – 1250
2. Virginia – 1089
3. Louisville – 1066.5
4. Virginia Tech – 898
5. Florida State – 812.5
6. Notre Dame – 803.5
7. North Carolina – 630.5
8. Pitt – 520
9. Georgia Tech – 506
10. Duke – 421
11. Miami – 197
12. Boston College – 134

2020 ACC VICTORIES:

• 200 Medley Relay, 1:24.13
• 3m diving, James Brody, 392.65
• 50 free, Nyls Korstanje, 19.25
• 100 back, Coleman Stewart, 44.04
• 100 free, Nyls Korstanje, 42.13
• 200 back, Coleman Stewart, 1:37.71
• 400 free relay, 2:48.03

From the beginning of the season, it looked like senior Coleman Stewart and sophomore Nyls Korstanje would be the Wolfpack’s two dynamos, and sure enough, the duo accounted for all four of NC State’s individual victories this week. Stewart was named Swimmer of the Meet in recognition of his individual victories and relay contributions. But it was definitely a team effort, as almost every single NC State swimmer scored.

INDIVIDUAL POINTS

• Noah Bowers – 31
• James Brady– 56
• Zach Brown – 57
• Ross Dant – 75
• Daniel Erlenmeyer – 47
• Erge Gezmis– 72
• Kimani Gregory – 0
• Noah Henderson – 53
• Jacob Johnston – 23
• Gil Kiesler – 16
• Eric Knowles– 75
• Nyls Korstanje – 91
• Rafal Kusto– 22
• Mark McGlaughlin – 44
• Luke Sobolewski– 40
• Coleman Stewart – 92
• Hunter Tapp – 24
• Curtis Wiltsey – 30

Five different NC State swimmers scored 70 or more points, and the one swimmer who missed out on points, freshman Kimani Gregory, finished 25th or 26th in all three of his events, putting him in a good position to contribute next year.

Next month, the Wolfpack heads to Indianapolis, IN, for the NCAA Division I Championships. NC State has finished 4th there each of the last four years.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Braden Holloway: “We Were Able to Capitalize Where We Weren’t Strong” (Video)

By Braden Keith on SwimSwam

2020 COLLEGE STATION SECTIONALS

• February 27th-March 1st, 2020
• Texas A&M University Rec Center, College Station, Texas
• SCY Prelims/LCM Finals
• Results on Meet Mobile: “2020 Speedo Sectionals Championship Series” (or search “College Station”)
• Day 1 recap
• Day 2 recap
• Day 3 recap

Former Texas Longhorn Sam Stewart punctuated a successful weekend at the College Station Sectional Championships on Saturday with a 1:57.76 to win the men’s 200 IM. That knocks more than a second-and-a-half off his previous lifetime best of 1:59.45, done at Summer Nationals in 2018, and jumps him into 8th place in the world rankings this season.

That swim also makes Stewart the 2nd-ranked American in the 200 IM this season. A repeat of that time for Stewart at this summer’s U.S. Olympic Trials will likely earn him a spot in finals, at a minimum. Last season, it would have tied him with Ryan Lochte as the 4th-fastest American in the event, which would put him within striking distance of making the Olympic Team.

Previously in the meet, Stewart swam lifetime bests in the 200 back (1:58.97), 200 free (1:49.15), and 100 breast (52.89). That included wins in both the 200 back and 200 free.

13-year old Hannah Marinovich from the Clovis Swim Club, who on Friday became the youngest qualifier for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials with a 2:29 in the 200 breaststroke, picked up her first win of the meet on Saturday. There she swam a 1:11.51 in the 100 breaststroke. That leaves her about half-a-second short of a second Olympic Trials cut, but makes her the 7th-fastest American 13-year old in the history of the event (she’s the fastest ever over 200 meters).

Marinovich swam a 1:03.13 in prelims of the 100 breaststroke, in yards, which was also a lifetime best for her.

In the men’s version of that race, Texas post-grad Will Licon won in 1:01.79, beating out SMU swimmers Colin Feehery (1:02.62) and Michael Rudd (1:03.21). That puts both SMU swimmers into the U.S. Olympic Trials this summer.

For Licon, that is his first 100 breaststroke swim of 2020. The time is a little slower than what he’s been in early March each of the last few years: in 2019, he swam 1:01.11, and in 2018 he swam 1:00.89. Both of those races were done at Pro Swim Series events.

Making a surprise appearance this weekend is former Texas A&M swimmer Canadian Kyle Troskot. On Sunday, he won his best event, the 50 free, in 23.14. Currently working as a volunteer assistant at TCU, swimming Canada doesn’t have any registered meters swims for Troskot since last July, though he did swim a modest yards meet in February (20.52 in the 50 free, 1:55.69 in the 200 free).

His 23.14 on Sunday was short of his best time of 22.77, but does already almost match his time from last April’s Canadian World Championship Trials. He’s the 9th-ranked Canadian in the men’s 50 free this year.

Other Day 4 Winners

• Texas A&M swimmers defended home pool in the women’s 100 backstroke, with two-time team captain Raena Eldridge winning in 1:02.66, followed by her teammate Emma Carlton in 2nd in 1:02.92, and Kara Eisenmann in 4th in 1:03.57. The lone interloper in the Aggie finish was US National Teamer Lillie Nordmann, who finished 3rd in 1:02.95.
• Brett Pinfold topped the men’s 100 back final in 56.54, which is his fastest time in the event since 2016. The top junior swimmer was Tyler Hulet from The Woodlands Swim Team, who took second in 56.74 – cutting 9-tenths off his previous lifetime best in the event. Hulet is now just .15 seconds short of the Olympic Trials standard.
• KitKat Zenick, a commit to the recent Big Ten Champions Ohio State, swam a lifetime best of 26.00 to win the women’s 50 free. She just out-touched 16-year old Cory Shanks, who was 2nd in 26.02, and 16-year old Katie Crom, who was 3rd in 26.13, in the final. Those swims were best times for all 3 swimmers. Zenick’s time left her .01 seconds short of the Olympic Trials qualifying standard. She’s already qualified for that meet in the 100 fly (1:00.53) from Winter Juniors – West.
• Canadian Olympian Sydney Pickrem, who took a bronze medal at the World Championships in the 200 IM last year, won that event on Sunday in 2:11.82. She’s been 2:09.2 this year, at the FINA Champions Series meet in Beijing in January. Katie Crom was 2nd in 2:17.88 on a back-to-back event.
• 15-year old Hayden Miller from the Cy-Fair Swim Club in Houston won the women’s 800 free in 8:50.87, followed by another 15-year old Kylee Grafmiller, and 16-year old Milla Ruthven from Loveland Swim Club in Colorado. Miller is already an Olympic Trials qualifier in that 800 free thanks to an 8:44 at the Knoxville Pro Swim in January. Clare Vetkoetter, who won the 1500 to open the meet, was 4th in the 800 in 9:01.04.
• The Mission Viejo Nadadores elite group went 1-2 in the men’s 1500 free, as they did in the 800 free earlier in the meet. Michael Brinegar won in 15:19.21, while David Heron took 2nd in 15:36.31. 18-year old David Johnston, who swam best times in the 200 back, 400 free, 200 breast, and 400 IM earlier in the meet, was the top junior finisher in 3rd place in 15:40.36. That swim was his first individual final without a best time this week.

Final Team Scores

Top 5 Men’s Teams:

1. Mission Viejo Nadadores – 268
2. Longhorn Aquatics – 238
3. Metroplex Aquatics – 200
4. KATY Aquatic Team for Youth – 197
5. Clovis Swim Club – 181

Top 5 Women’s Teams:

1. Mission Viejo Nadadores – 233
2. Clovis Swim Club – 208
3. Lakeside Aquatic Club – 179
4. Magnolia Aquatic Club – 155
5. DART Swimming – 142.5

Top 5 Combined Teams:

1. Mission Viejo Nadadores – 501
2. Clovis Swim Club – 389
3. Lakeside Aquatic Club – 353
4. Longhorn Aquatics – 263
5. Metroplex Aquatics – 244

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Sam Stewart Moves into 8th in World Rankings with 1:57 IM in College Station

By Reid Carlson on SwimSwam

2020 ACC MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• When: Wednesday, February 26th to Saturday, February 29th Prelims 10:00 am | Finals 6:00 pm (1650 prelims Saturday at 4:00 pm)
• Where: Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, North Carolina (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: North Carolina State University (NC State) (29x, 5th-straight) (results)
• Streaming: ACC Network
  • Day 2 Finals
  • Day 3 Finals
  • Day 4 Finals
• Championship Central: Here
• Detailed Timeline: Here
• Psych Sheets: Here
• Live Results

The University of Virginia women took back the ACC Championship title last week, but the Cavalier men could not overcome NC State, giving each program a title and a runners-up finish in 2020. University of Virginia Head Coach Todd DeSorbo took a few minutes to speak with SwimSwam during the men’s meet about how the teams at UVA train and give us his take on the value fo the combined women’s and men’s program (meaning the women and the men train together and are coached by the same staff).

Data reported by Andrew Mering.

UVA

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS

1. NC State – 1250
2. Virginia – 1089
3. Louisville – 1066.5
4. Virginia Tech – 898
5. Florida State – 812.5
6. Notre Dame – 803.5
7. North Carolina – 630.5
8. Pitt – 520
9. Georgia Tech – 506
10. Duke – 421
11. Miami – 197
12. Boston College – 134

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Todd DeSorbo On Value of Combined Program, Training Groups at Virginia (Video)

By Lauren Neidigh on SwimSwam

2020 BULLDOG INVITATIONAL

• February 29-March 1, 2020
• Athens, GA
• Short Course Yards
• Estimated NCAA Invite Times
• NCAA ‘A’ Cuts
• Results

Following the SEC Championships, Georgia hosted their 2020 Bulldog Invitational as a last chance meet to qualify for the NCAA Championships. In time trials and day 2 finals of the invite, 3 more swimmers posted potential NCAA qualifying times.

Two of those swimmers were from Alabama. Morgan Liberto swam to #34 in the 200 back, lowering her time to a 1:53.48. In the 100 breast time trial, teammate Kaila Wong swam a 59.65 to move up to #27. Florida State’s Nina Kucheran lowered her 100 breast time again with a 59.89. She’s now ranked 36th.

In the 200 breast, Auburn’s Carly Cummings dropped nearly 2 seconds from her best time in 2:08.22. That was her first best time in the event since 2018. She’s ranked 18th and should be safely in for NCAAs.

Florida’s Miguel Cancel posted a 3:42.74 in the 400 IM, likely qualifying for NCAAs as he’s now ranked 16th. Cancel dropped another 1.5 seconds from his lifetime best set at SECs. Teammate Kevin Vargas is now 20th as he swam a 3:43.35. Vargas, a freshman, dropped almost a second from his best from SECs.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2020 UGA Last Chance: Florida, Alabama Land 2 Potential NCAA Qualifiers

By Lauren Neidigh on SwimSwam

2020 PAC-12 LAST CHANCE

• March 1, 2020
• Federal Way, WA
• Short Course Yards
• Estimated NCAA Invite Times
• NCAA ‘A’ Cuts
• Results

Following the 2020 Pac-12 Championships this week, the Pac-12 Last Chance Meet took place on Sunday for swimmers on the bubble to try to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Arizona State freshman Jade Foelske dropped a lifetime best 1:55.36 in the 200 fly. That should safely qualify her for NCAAs as she’s now ranked 23rd.

Foelske’s swim set a new school record, breaking the mark held by fellow ASU freshman Lindsay Looney (1:55.39). Looney had set the mark a couple of weeks ago in their dual meet against Arizona. She’s ranked just behind Foelske and should also qualify for NCAAs. Between Saturday and Sunday, Foelske swam the 200 fly 4 times. She tied for 8th in prelims at Pac-12s, won the swimoff, and then competed in the final. Today, she was over a second faster than her 1:56.53 from last night’s final, where she placed 6th.

Cal’s Ali Harrison matched her best in prelims with a 59.85 in the 100 breast. She’s ranked 34th in the nation with no major conferences remaining, so she’s a likely NCAA qualifier.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Pac-12 Last Chance: Foelske Sets 200 FL ASU School Record to Qualify for NCAAs

By Reid Carlson on SwimSwam

2020 ACC MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• When: Wednesday, February 26th to Saturday, February 29th Prelims 10:00 am | Finals 6:00 pm (1650 prelims Saturday at 4:00 pm)
• Where: Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, North Carolina (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: North Carolina State University (NC State) (29x, 5th-straight) (results)
• Streaming: ACC Network
  • Day 2 Finals
  • Day 3 Finals
  • Day 4 Finals
• Championship Central: Here
• Detailed Timeline: Here
• Psych Sheets: Here
• Live Results

In case you missed it, Louisville junior Nick Albiero had a pretty solid weekend of racing at the 2020 Men’s ACC Swimming & Diving Championships. Albiero, alongside a solid Louisville squad including the likes of heavy-hitters Evgeny Somov and Mitchell Whyte, buoyed Louisville to a third-place team finish.

Though the 2020 ACC Championships proved an exciting meet thanks to a multitude of fast swims, none was so impressive as Albiero’s 200 butterfly. Already the favorite to win the title, Albiero’s chances of breaking the 1-minute, 40-second barrier–in other words, swimming 200 yards of butterfly faster than 2-yards-per-second–were quite good. What Albiero actually did, however, was outstanding.

After kicking out to right about the second red buoy following his 7th and final turn of the race, Albiero pounded the last 10 meters to the wall, securing himself a smidgen of history as the 4th-fastest performer ever in the 200 yard butterfly with a time of 1:38.65.

Despite his multitude of accomplishments, Albiero is still just a college kid who is not above helping “change the pool,” in other words, move lane lines.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Nick Albiero Talks Father-Son Coaching Dynamic and Moving Lane Lines (Video)

By Reid Carlson on SwimSwam

2020 ACC MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• When: Wednesday, February 26th to Saturday, February 29th Prelims 10:00 am | Finals 6:00 pm (1650 prelims Saturday at 4:00 pm)
• Where: Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, North Carolina (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: North Carolina State University (NC State) (29x, 5th-straight) (results)
• Streaming: ACC Network
  • Day 2 Finals
  • Day 3 Finals
  • Day 4 Finals
• Championship Central: Here
• Detailed Timeline: Here
• Psych Sheets: Here
• Live Results

As a high schooler, Mitchell Whyte was once committed to swimming collegiately for Eastern Michigan University. Then, in 2018, EMU suddenly de-funded its Men’s Swimming & Diving program, despite it being the winningest team in university history.

Facing an uncertain future, Saint Paul, Minnesota native Whyte, with the assistance of his then-club coach, was able to schedule meetings with various coaches from Division I programs. Whyte ultimately settled on Louisville and has made an enormous impression since his arrival.

Reported by Robert Gibbs.

Friday

100 BACK – FINALS

• ACC record: 43.98 – Coleman Stewart (NC State), 2019
• ACC meet record: 44.36 – Coleman Stewart (NC State), 2019
• 2019 champion: Coleman Stewart (NC State), 44.44

1. Coleman Stewart (NC State) – 44.04
2. Mitchell Whyte (Louisville) – 44.64
3. Nick Albiero (Louisville) – 44.75

Coleman Stewart won this event for the 3rd-straight year, breaking a conference record and nearly breaking 44.0 with a 44.04. That’s the fastest time in the country so far this season, just ahead of Zane Waddell’s 44.10 from SECs last week.

Louisville teammates Mitchell Whyte and Nick Albiero both hit new personal bests, touching in 44.64 and 44.75, as fans were treated to the rare sight of three men going under 45 at a conference championship.

Georgia Tech’s Kyle Barone was out in 21.56, 2nd only behind Stewart, but faded over the back half, splitting 24.21 (against the sub-23 splits from the top three men), but still hung on to finish 4th in 45.77.

UVA’s Joe Clark touched 5th in 46.44 after finishing 3rd last year in 45.22. Clark’s best time this season is a 46.01 from the Tennessee Invite, and he may be in danger of not qualifying for NCAAs after scoring points there the last two years. It took a 46.06 to qualify last season.

NC State’s Noah Hensley took 6th in 46.57; like the top three men, he swam the 100 fly earlier this session. Florida State’s Griffin Alaniz (46.78) and Louisville’s Nikolaos Sofianidis rounded out the top 8.

One item of note further down the results: Boston College had its first individual scorer of the meet, Samuel Roche, take 21st in the C-final with a 47.60.

Saturday

200 BACK – FINALS

• ACC record: 1:38.56 – Hennesey Stuart (NC State), 2016
• ACC meet record: 1:39.05 – Grigory Tarasevich (Louisville), 2017
• 2019 champion: Coleman Stewart (NC State), 1:39.10

1. Coleman Stewart (NC State) – 1:37.71
2. Mitchell Whyte (Louisville) – 1:39.46
3. Samuel Tornqvist (Virginia Tech) – 1:40.10

NC State senior Coleman Stewart went out in style, taking down the ACC meet and conference records in the last individual ACC swim of his career. Stewart knocked nearly a second off of the overall conference record, a 1:38.56 held by NC State alum Hennesey Stuart. That’s the third-straight conference title in this event for Stewart, who has swept the backstrokes here over the last three years. Stewart’s time ranks his #3 in the nation this season.

Louisville’s Mitchell Whyte took 2nd to pair with his 2nd place finish in the 100 back. His time of 1:39.46 moves him to #4 in the nation this season. Whyte also took 2nd last season.

Virginia Tech’s Samuel Tornqvist took 3rd in 1:40.10, a new personal best by roughly half a second. Last year he was 5th with a 1:41.39. UVA’s Justin Grender (1:41.05) and Virginia Tech’s Lane Stone (1:41.88) took 4th and 5th. Notre Dame’s Jack Montesi (1:42.05) and UNC’s Christopher Thames (1:42.26) were also under 1:43. NC State freshman Ross Dant took 8th in 1:48.61, roughly ten minutes after taking 3rd in the 1650.

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS

1. NC State – 1250
2. Virginia – 1089
3. Louisville – 1066.5
4. Virginia Tech – 898
5. Florida State – 812.5
6. Notre Dame – 803.5
7. North Carolina – 630.5
8. Pitt – 520
9. Georgia Tech – 506
10. Duke – 421
11. Miami – 197
12. Boston College – 134

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Louisville’s Mitchell Whyte Surprised by How Far He’s Come In Two Years (Video)

By SwimSwam on SwimSwam

Courtesy: Black Swimming Association

The Black Swimming Association (BSA) set up to highlight the importance of swimming as an essential life skill, showcase the benefits and opportunities in aquatics and prevent drowning in black and minority ethnic communities, officially launches in partnership with Swim England, the Swimming Teachers’ Association and in collaborative engagements with the Royal Life Saving Society UK, Nike Swim and London Marathon Events.

Recent figures released by Sport England shows that 95% of black adults and 80% of black children in England do not swim. Additional research also suggests that the risk of drowning is higher among ethnic minority communities.

The under-representation of the BME community in swimming, coupled with the high number of water-related accidents, is believed to be partially attributed to affordability, accessibility, aquaphobia, representation and social stereotypes related to the sport.

In an attempt to highlight and tackle these issues, the BSA – a first of its kind not-for-profit charity – is working with the aquatic community, national governing bodies and swimming charities to design projects and programmes suited to the unique aquatic needs of BME communities. These will be hosted in regions with the highest Afro-Caribbean populations in the UK and will involve London, Birmingham, Manchester and West Yorkshire.

Seren Jones, one of the co-founders of the charity and Head of Social Media and Public Relations said, “I was a competitive swimmer for 13 years in Cardiff and later in the US Collegiate system. From a young age, I not only noticed the absence of the black community in the sport, but also the fact that many black people in this country have little to no swimming ability at all. I strongly believe that the Afro-Caribbean and BME communities can become empowered by their own abilities and gain the confidence to take on swimming as an essential life skill.”

BSA’s fellow co-founder, Executive Brand Ambassador and Team GB swimmer, Alice Dearing, added, “As the second black swimmer to represent my country at an international level, it’s become clear to me that there’s a larger issue that needs addressing.”

In 2019 73,000 competitive swimmers were registered with Swim England, but only 668 of them identify as black or mixed race.

“While I’m not a high profile swimmer yet, I hope the little bits of coverage I get through the media help encourage other people of colour who wouldn’t normally take part in swimming to join a club or even just splash around with friends.”

Co-founder and Head of Corporate Strategy and Development, Danielle Obe said, “We all agree regardless of gender, age or ethnicity that swimming is an important and essential life skill that everyone should have. One of the key objectives of the BSA is to tackle aquaphobia and get adults especially to take that first step into the water as part of our swim clinics.” Danielle is also the inventor of a revolutionary new aquatic headgear, The Nemes, a recreational aquatic aid exclusively designed to protect hair from chlorine and water damage – breaking a significant barrier to swimming that exists within the Afro-Caribbean community.

Fellow co-founder and Head of Corporate Partnerships, Ed Accura, is an example of someone who overcame aquaphobia and learned how to swim. Ed’s motivation stemmed from the fact that he has a young daughter – the thought of him not being able to help her if she happened to be in a life or death situation involving water was something he couldn’t deal with. Ed starred in and produced A Film Called Blacks Can’t Swim showing the story of his own personal journey but also looking at the societal reasons why black people are less likely to learn how to swim.

Damian Stevenson is the Insight & Partnerships Director at Swim England. He said: “ We hope this partnership can help Swim England to increase visibility, representation and participation of BME groups within all of our sports. The Black Swimming Association can offer unique insight to help us promote inclusion and diversity in aquatics.”

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Ed Accura Launches Black Swimming Association

By SwimSwam Partner Content on SwimSwam

Charlie Houchin, CEO of Swimmingly, won his first Olympic Gold Medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games. While continuing his professional swimming career was important, Charlie knew that it wouldn’t be something that would last forever. Very excited to start the “next chapter,” Charlie was able to take his earnings from his Gold Medal and invest it back into the sport, creating Swimmingly – an app that makes swim meets simple and fun for everyone on the pool deck!

The Problem

Did you know that 70% of swimmers decide to leave the sport of swimming before they turn 13 years old?

Have you ever been to a swim meet that seems long and a bit chaotic at times? Maybe you have witnessed the last-minute scrambling for volunteers to help out at a swim meet. Not only that, but the piles of paper and additional volunteers off in the distance compiling results and trying to make sense of handwritten times and DQ sheets. This leaves the amazing, supportive parents around the pool deck asking these common questions:

1. When is my child swimming?
2. How’d my child do?
3. What’s the score of the meet?
4. When can we leave the meet?

Each piece of paper on the pool deck adds time and stress to your volunteers. Your swim team will have a very hard time improving the experience for parents, swimmers, and coaches until you solve the fundamental problem of running a manual swim meet! Swim meets can be long and boring, we understand. This is exactly why we are here to help!

“I will never go back to the old paper system. Swimmingly continues to save us hours each week of the season!”

Christian Trotter, Downtown Dolphins, GA

The Solution

If you aren’t using touchpads to run your swim meets, Swimmingly is for YOU! 

The Swimmingly App has everything you need to run each swim meet and the Swimmingly Clubhouse online runs your season. There is no need or hassle of integrating other hardware or software! Not only can you run your entire season with Swimmingly, but you can easily integrate with other software programs as well.

HOW IT WORKS:

• Starter: “Take your Mark…BEEP” (or cap gun or whistle)
  • All TIMERS get AUTOMATIC, SYNCHRONIZED START
• Timer: Never miss a start again & NO timer cards!
  • Tap screen to stop the watch, will show the swimmer name for validation, and results will send automatically to the scorekeeper!
  • No more “WAIT, WAIT, I’M NOT READY!”
• Stroke & Turn Judge: No more wet DQ Slips!
  • Tap to make a DQ, select the lane and infraction, tap save and will automatically send to scorekeeper or referee
  • USA Swimming infraction list
• Scorekeeper: NO MORE MANUAL DATA ENTRY
  • Sit back and validate the results as the automatically get sent to your device. You can watch the meet now!
• Parents: Know what’s happening on the pool deck!
  • Push notifications three events before you child swims
  • REAL-TIME “Unofficial” Results
  • LIVE “Unofficial” Scores
  • LIVE Event Tracker
  • No additional work required!

“Swimmingly greatly improved our overall meet management system. Our swim meets ran faster, required less volunteers, and our swimmers could track their times. We highly recommend other teams switch to Swimmingly next summer!”​

Joe Watts, Harmony Swim Team, NC

If your swim team is:

• Summer League
• High School
• Year-Round Development Program
  • Swim meets that introduce a fun swim meet experience to families

Swimmingly is perfect for you. If you simply don’t have access to touchpads or don’t want to deal with the headache of renting equipment, you can easily run your meets and make them a little more fun for everyone involved!

If your team is ready to take on the new, fun era of running swim meets, visit us at Swimmingly.app and call us today!

Email: Team@swimmingly.app

Phone: 866.377.7946

Proudly helping leagues and teams across 36 states and 6 countries!

“I was recently a scorekeeper for a high school dual meet yesterday run the “old fashioned” way- no touch pads, manual entry of stopwatch times into Hy-Tek. I had forgotten how time consuming and inaccurate it is to do that since we’ve run summer league with Swimmingly for so long. Would have loved to have been running the meet with Swimmingly!”

Laura Carrico, Williamson County Swim League, TN

^{Swimming news courtesy of Swimmingly, a SwimSwam partner.}

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Olympic Goal Medal to Swim Meet App

By SwimSwam Partner Content on SwimSwam

Taper is always a nervous time for coaches and swimmers, and it’s not just isolated to what’s being done in the water.

If there’s a little mystery around how to taper swimmers in the water, there’s what feels like complete unknown when it comes to tapering swimmers for dryland.

In general, a good approach to take on how to taper on land is the same you’d use in the pool. But here are some specific mistakes to avoid and will hopefully clear up some of the mystery around dryland, especially during a critical time of the season.

1. Introducing New Exercises or Programming

You wouldn’t suddenly make wholesale stroke changes two or three weeks out of a taper meet for a swimmer. So, you shouldn’t do the same thing on land by introducing completely different exercises or programming leading up to a swimmer’s big meet either.

“I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with coaches that feel like they need to all of a sudden change their approach to dryland when it comes to taper. When in fact if that’s the case you probably didn’t have a very good dryland program to begin with.” says Chris Ritter of RITTER Sports Performance.

Dryland isn’t made “more effective” during taper because you introduce some new or unique exercises. Dryland is effective as part of the whole program because it’s hopefully been allowing the swimmers to become more athletic, strong and mobile throughout the whole season.

2. Dramatically Changing Intensity

Coaches who make this mistake actually end up going one way or the other. If they try and drop the intensity they can sometimes drop it too much which doesn’t continue the training effective for the swimmers leading up to the meet.

Even worse is a coach that is excited to finally introduce “plyometrics” or other “explosive” movements leading up to the meet. This actually greatly increases the intensity and is just as bad as if they coach made the mistake of doing too little. It’s the exact opposite of what should be happening in a taper period.

As part of a recent interview with Chris Ritter for The Hive, Coley Stickels of the University of Alabama discussed his approach to dryland training and talked about how he made sure there was ample power work on land the entire season and not just during taper time.

3. Stopping Dryland Too Early

Even coaches that have a quality dryland program can fall prey to this mistake. Stopping too early before a meet is still well ingrained in the swimming world.

When in fact this is the opposite of what basic exercise science would tell a coach to do instead. The key is not when you stop dryland before a meet, but rather how well you find the “sweet spot” of intensity and volume and then maintain that trajectory until the taper meet.

Instead of lifting at 95% for example, a gradual decrease to 70-80 or even 85% for a few weeks leading up to the meet will ensure the athlete maintains all the training characteristics they have worked hard to develop, but it’s not a high enough intensity that prohibits regeneration and a season best performance to occur.

“I’m always hopeful that coaches are brave enough to keep dryland going closer and closer to their taper meet and that includes actual lifting.” said Chris Ritter. “I remember some of the Olympians I worked with had in-season lifetime bests 10 minutes after we had a lifting session. It’s all about a coach learning their athletes and then finding the ‘sweet spot’ that will elicit the best performance.”

Todd DeSorbo of the University of Virginia, whose Women’s Team just won ACC’s said in one of his recent presentations on their training program that he lifts a little closer to the meet each year because he’s seeing the results. (Watch DeSorbo’s full talk in The Hive)

The University of Tennessee Women’s team posted on Instagram that they were doing explosive and other weighted movements at the hotel during SECs. The tide may be changing on this last point but not enough coaches avoid this mistake yet.

3 Actions as a coach you can take now if you want to improve your dryland program and knowledge on the topic

1. FREE – Download the SURGE Strength ebook
   Get a foundational understanding of dryland training for swimmers, including all the workouts that Chris Ritter created for swimmers leading up to their taper for the Olympics and Olympic Trials.
2. FREE – Subscribe to SURGE Strength Podcast – Dryland Training for Swimmers
   Listen to Chris Ritter talk about dryland and strength training for swimmers on a regular basis to help your team.
   |     Apple Podcasts  |    Spotify Podcasts   |    Google Podcasts  |
3. Register for SURGE Strength Dryland Clinic (deadline to register is soon)
   If you want a completely immersive experience to learn about how you can have a better dryland program you won’t want to miss this event. Registration is limited to ensure each coach has the best learning experience so don’t wait.

About RITTER Sports Performance:
RITTER Sports Performance helps swimmers go faster and coaches get better, worldwide. Through our online resources on strength training, stroke technique, swim-training, race analysis or nutritional coaching–RITTER is ready to help take your swimming to the next level. Are you?

CONNECT WITH RITTER SPORTS PERFORMANCE:

WEBSITE

INSTAGRAM

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

APPLE PODCAST

GOOGLE PLAY

SPOTIFY

SOUNDCLOUD

RITTER Sports Performance is a SwimSwam partner.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: 3 Mistakes to Avoid in Dryland During Taper

By SwimSwam Partner Content on SwimSwam

Courtesy of Gary Hall Sr., 10-time World Record Holder, 3-time Olympian, 1976 Olympic Games US Flagbearer and The Race Club co-founder.

With the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo, coaches and swimmers are very concerned about the Coronavirus spread in Asia, and rightfully so. An upper respiratory infection caused by this virus can not only take a swimmer out of competition, but it can also be life-threatening.

While the total numbers of Coronavirus infection cases in China have been reported at 15,000, no one knows the true numbers. As of February 2nd, there have been 8 confirmed cases of Coronavirus infection diagnosed in the United States, according to the Center for Disease Control. The virus does spread from human to human contact. We won’t know the outcome of this virus for some time, but the World Health Organization has already declared it as a Global Emergency.

As a physician, here are five recommendations I offer as preventive measures for Coronavirus or other viral illnesses. Do not travel to China in the near future (or other parts of Asia). Avoid contact as much as possible with other humans with upper respiratory infections Stay warm, well-hydrated, well-nourished and avoid sleep deprivation. Take Platinum Immune Support (two capsules) daily as a preventive measure Platinum Immune Support contains Bovine Colostrum. Colostrum is the early-formed breast milk than contains a very high percentage of protein and antibodies, which have strong antiviral and antibacterial properties. Bovine means it comes from cows (not humans) but has been shown to contain similar quantities of antibodies as human Colostrum. Colostrum has not been listed as a banned substance by WADA. Anecdotally, we have a very positive experience using Platinum Immune Support. We sent 17 Race Club swimmers to Beijing for the Olympic Games in 2008. All were taking Platinum Immune Support daily and none of our Race Club swimmers got sick.

Whenever I feel a viral illness coming on, I immediately take two capsules of Platinum Immune Support. Typically, by the next morning, the viral infection is completely eradicated. It seems to be much more effective than taking Vitamin C, Echinacea or any other products known for cold or flu prevention.

For all of our Race Club members, to help avoid getting ill near major competition, we recommend taking two capsules of the Platinum Immune Support daily from 6 weeks out of the championship meet. Then continue taking the supplement through the competition. After the competition, we recommend going off of the supplement until 6 weeks before the next big meet. It can be taken at any age. However, it seems to work better if the swimmer does not continue taking it all of the time.

As we get through the winter flu season, try taking Platinum Immune Support, stay healthy and swim fast!

Yours in Swimming,

Gary Sr.

Gary Hall, Sr., Technical Director and Head Coach of The Race Club (courtesy of TRC)

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THE RACE CLUB

Because Life is Worth Swimming, our mission is to promote swimming through sport, lifelong enjoyment, and good health benefits. Our objective is for each member of and each participant in The Race Club to improve his or her swimming performances, health, and self-esteem through our educational programs, services and creativity. We strive to help each member of The Race Club overcome challenges and reach his or her individual life goals.

The Race Club provides facilities, coaching, training, technical instruction, video, fitness and health programs for swimmers of all ages and abilities. Race Club swim camps are designed and tailored to satisfy each swimmer’s needs, whether one is trying to reach the Olympic Games or simply improve one’s fitness. Our programs are suitable for beginner swimmers, pleasure swimmers, fitness swimmers, USA swimming or YMCA swimmers, or triathletes; anyone who wants to improve swimming skills. All of our Race Club members share an enjoyment of being in the water and use swimming to stimulate a more active mind and body.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: The Race Club: Coronavirus Update Preventative Measures

By SwimSwam Contributors on SwimSwam

Courtesy: Elizabeth Wickham

Dear Swim Mom,

I have an 11-year-old girl who swims competitively. I am finding out that age group swimming is full of new stuff, good and bad.

I want to get your input on the following matter. The first thing that never crossed my mind was the different rates kids grow regardless of their ages. In my observation, the early bloomers seem to be faster than their teammates—even when these early bloomers are younger in age—about six months to a year younger. Is that a correct observation?

My daughter is a much later bloomer compared to these younger swimmers. If my observation is correct, what can she do in the meantime?

I heard that the true speed will show once everyone stops growing, which can be around 14 or 15 years old. Is that correct?

Thank you for any advice you can give me.

—Late Bloomer Mom

————-

Dear Late Bloomer Mom,

I do believe you are correct in your observations. Early bloomers have an advantage, but eventually things even out after differences in growth level out.

My kids were both late bloomers, too, so I understand your feelings. One thing my kids focused on when they were behind growth-wise was technique. Good technique will help out in the long run. Also, a strong work ethic and a desire to compete and swim are things that helped my daughter compete against earlier bloomers and those with more talent. Consistency in coming to practice is so important, too.

As a parent, try not to focus too much on times. It can make your daughter be more focused on times, too. At age 11, it’s important to have fun and love being in the water. Remember there is so much more to swimming than just the times.

I saw some kids struggle after they had rapid growth spurts, too. It’s like they weren’t used to their new bodies and they plateaued or got slower until they got used to their added inches and pounds. So, even when your child grows and catches up to her peers, she may struggle for a bit.

I hope you find this helpful and your daughter sticks with swimming for the long-term. With hard work and passion, anything can happen!

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Wickham

What advice do you have for Late Bloomer Mom? What should her daughter focus on rather than the clock as an 11-year-old swimmer?

If you have a question for Elizabeth Wickham, please email her at ewickham@me.com.

Elizabeth Wickham volunteered for 14 years on her kids’ club team as board member, fundraiser, newsletter editor and “Mrs. meet manager.” She’s a writer with a bachelor of arts degree in editorial journalism from the University of Washington with a long career in public relations, marketing and advertising. Her stories have appeared in newspapers and magazines including the Los Angeles Times, Orange County Parenting and Ladybug. You can read more parenting tips on her blog.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Ask Swim Mom: About Those Late Bloomers

By Dan Dingman on SwimSwam

Commit Swimming is swimming’s leading workout management software.

One of the key reasons Commit is so powerful for teams is that when you start onboarding your entire coaching staff onto Commit the returns are exponential.

So much of the benefit of using Commit comes from the ability to collaborate with your staff in one, central place.

It helps streamline the training planning process, it helps develop younger coaches faster, and so much more.

If you don’t already use Commit or you use it but don’t use it as the universal tool across your club, read on to see what other coaches are saying about how it benefits them and their entire staff.

• No credit card required
• Customize your own training terminology
• Plans for all swim team types (high school, club, college, elite, age-group, masters, etc.)

6 benefits you experience when you start using Commit Swimming

ONE – MORE ORGANIZED

“I am more organized and in control.”

TWO – SAVES TIME

“It is user-friendly:-) and saves me a lot of time”

THREE – MORE STAFF SYNERGY AND COLLABORATION

“Our staff is more organized and the seasons run more smoothly when they can not only see their season planned out but also track it daily.”

FOUR – BETTER TRAINING QUALITY

“Better quality control of team programming & athlete development”

FIVE – FASTER SWIMMING

“The program broke 17 school records this season”

SIX – INCREASED SWIMMER ENGAGEMENT

“Swimmers pay more attention to workouts”

Live Demo of Commit

Of course, there are a ton of features inside of Commit that make it more than just a smart workout editor. Try them out yourself by clicking the button below:

• No credit card required
• Customize your own training terminology
• Plans for all swim team types (high school, club, college, elite, age-group, masters, etc.)

Testimonials

“Commit Swimming definitely improves the quality of my workouts and helps me be more efficient with my time.”

 

Stephen Clendenin, Head Site Coach, Nation’s Capital Swim Club

Read the Nation’s Capital Swim Club Case Study

“Commit is great, especially when you have multiple coaches trying to track the workouts of different groups training at the same time. It makes it easy to keep track of the planning.”

 

Emma Svensson, Assistant Coach, Florida State University

Read the Florida State Case Study

• No credit card required
• Customize your own training terminology
• Plans for all swim team types (high school, club, college, elite, age-group, masters, etc.)

Simple. Powerful.

Swimming news for swim coaches and swim teams, courtesy of Commit Swimming.

Contact Commit anytime at founders@commitswimming.com.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: “With the whole staff on Commit, it helps us streamline our workouts”

By Giusy Cisale on SwimSwam

La FIN, Federazione Italiana Nuoto, riprende appieno ogni attività.

Lo comunica ufficialmente sul sito web, dove si legge:

Tutta l’attività federale, comprensiva di competizioni e manifestazioni sportive di ogni livello e dislocazione, si intende ripresa regolarmente in conformità alle disposizioni governative.

Il comunicato stampa prosegue poi con le indicazioni per le Regioni più colpite dall’emergenza coronavirus

Tra le prescrizioni vi sono:

• possibilità di allenamenti a porte chiuse per gli agonisti
• divieto di trasferta dalle regioni a rischio.

Vediamo nel dettaglio.

Emilia-Romagna, Lombardia, Veneto, province di Pesaro e Urbino e Savona

Per le Regioni Emilia Romagna, Lombardia, Veneto e nelle province di Pesaro Urbino e Savona, viene precisato:

[…] E’ previsto:

• la sospensione degli eventi e delle competizioni sino all’8 marzo 2020 a meno che non si svolgano “a porte chiuse“.
• Restano consentite le sessioni di allenamento degli atleti agonisti a porte chiuse.
• Si raccomanda di adottare misure per garantire agli atleti la possibilità di rispettare, negli spogliatoi, la distanza tra loro di almeno un metro
• Il divieto di trasferta organizzata dei tifosi residenti nelle zone di cui sopra

Disposizioni per i Comuni di Bertonico, Casalpusterlengo, Castelgerundo, Castiglione D’Adda, Codogno, Fombio, Maleo, San Fiorano, Somaglia, Terranova dei Passerini e Vo

Nei comuni di cui sopra è previsto:

• la sospensione degli eventi e delle competizioni sportive sino all’8 marzo 2020, almeno che non si svolgano “a porte chiuse”.
• Restano consentite le sessioni di allenamento degli atleti agonisti a porte chiuse
• Si raccomanda di adottare misure organizzative tali da garantire agli atleti la possibilità di rispettare, negli spogliatoi, la distanza tra loro di almeno un metro;
• Divieto di trasferta organizzata dei tifosi residenti nelle stesse regioni e nelle province di Pesaro e Urbino e di Savona, per assistere a eventi e competizioni sportive che si svolgano nelle restanti regioni e province.

E’ possibile leggere il comunicato stampa integrale cliccando qui

Per l’approfondimento sulla sospensione delle attività clicca qui

Read the full story on SwimSwam: FIN Riprende Tutte Le Attività: Le Indicazioni Per Alcune Regioni