Day 4 -

What an interesting night of swimming.

• M100 Free Semi the cream started to rise to the top. As with Grevers, the extra year did Adrian no favors- he's still got one, not great, chance in the 50 left, but the end of an era (much to my wife's chagrin)
• W200 Free Final Madden is having quite a meet. Good for Forde to sneak in to 6th there, and another teen on the team in Sims
• M200 Fly Final Gosh these cats are going to get smoked in Tokyo. Mel Stewart would almost have made the team with a time from 30 years ago
  
• W200 Fly Semi - nice to see some fast times last night. Flickinger continuing her streak of US Dominance, with the teenage contingent charging from behind.
• M200 Br Semi - Who the hell is Matt Fallon? 🤣 Will be curious to see if his back-half dash will hold up against the experience Fink/Lincon/Cordes/Wilson in the final.
• W200 IM Final. Madison Cox cost herself a spot on the Olympic team with 2 AWFUL breaths under the flags to the wall. Seriously, go watch the last 10 meters. 4 Breaths, 2 under the flags. That's practice habits bleeding through at the worst time. Mel Margalis was so awesome though to her, even though she had to be devistated herself. We need to see that semifinal speed from Walsh again in Tokyo, just got a bit tight in the final.
• W1500 Damn. What else is there to say about Katie's dominance? That was just a pedestrian swim from her, and yet no one else was in the frame. Nice best time for Sullivan to make the team in 2nd.

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I wrote this, you should read it:
https://www.slowtwitch.com/...n_Swimming_6700.html

Looking at the results from the 200 Br semis, I realized Cody Miller is way off form. I had to go back and see where he ended up in the 100 too. Bit surprised by that, maybe the dad-life has caught up to him.

being a pro swimmer is hard and my hat is off to Miller for inventing a career for himself. He created a new avenue for swimmers like him - elite swimmers who cannot quite snag a 100K annual sponsor deal because so few exist - to make money.

His VLOG was honest, open and somewhat entertaining. And because he was honest and open, he is now being viscously criticized by swim fans because Cody had the audacity to announce that there was no way he was finishing 8th in the trials.

The Cody hate needs to stop. Kicking a man down is bad. And all that is accomplished is making it harder for the next cycle of swimmers to earn a living this way. All Cody did was say exactly what EVERY Bronze medalist believed going into the Olympic trials. Do people think you get to the top of the mountain by a lacking of confidence? I want honest content. Cody, as it turns out, was wrong. But I love the guy for putting it out there and I hope he stays with the sport.

Looks like the US Open (golf) pushed the prelims broadcast back to 3:30 on NBC’s streaming service. Any other options to watch live?

I always watch prelims live on nbcolympics.com - maybe they have a replay? Or Peacock?

Finals got bumped to NBCSN tonight too from NBC for golf.

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I wrote this, you should read it:
https://www.slowtwitch.com/...n_Swimming_6700.html

I can’t find the livestream on nbcolympics.com? Just the “upcoming” broadcast at 3pm pacific.

Is there a page I’m missing?

Damn the Golfers.

https://www.nbcolympics.com/replays/sport/swimming


Scroll down to Day 5 Prelims (live). That should be the whole prelims with the arena announcers.

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I wrote this, you should read it:
https://www.slowtwitch.com/...n_Swimming_6700.html

Thanks! I feel like an idiot for having to ask, but it’s worth it to have the broadcast.

No one going to mention the great swims by Andrew and Lochte? I had a good feeling that Michael would be our best hope here, even a gold medal contender. But Ryan, what a nice swim from an old guy that everyone had washed up. I believe that this is the one event that he just loves, is the best in his quiver, and could be his last hurrah. Hope he can pull it together in the finals and get that spot, be a nice bookend to the end of his career..

Yah - I've been so busy with work and kids getting full prelims commentary up has slipped a bit. Solid swim for RL, as we saw in the 100br Andrew has no build into the finals of an event, where most other swimmers look to chip away each round. So - it'll be interesting to see what happens when the field starts coming back to him in semis and finals whether he can hold it together.

Side note - in honor of it being 200IM day - here's me on the left, Lochte in the middle and Alex Vanderkaay on the right in the semi's in 2008


I forgot i bootlegged semi's to youtube too - I'm in the bodysuit and red-striped cap just above Ryan:



Maybe if y'all are good I'll post finals tomorrow too ;)

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I wrote this, you should read it:
https://www.slowtwitch.com/...n_Swimming_6700.html

Agreed here, I definitely wasn't hating on Cody. I have watched a few of his vlogs and in my head had always seen him making the team based on his racing in the lead-up to trials.

I only commented on this when I noticed his name at the bottom of the 200 breast semis and was surprised. I hadn't realized that he has been getting so much hate online, I don't really follow him or his channel all that often.

Cody takes extra dolphin kicks off the wall that is why he is hated. Its the equivalent to being a doper in my book. Molly Hannis same treatment in swimswam comments for the same reason her kick is borderline illegal

thanks, that makes sense - I couldn't understand the plan behind swimming all the different events..

"Fading hard in your first event's finals "
clearly needs less speed and more endurance work ;-)

ha thank you - I saw a TT swim going on in the background of some NBC commenting, wondered who and what.. good for him !

That was a great time for Andrew, but looked like a dumb swim. You don't win an Olympics berth in the prelims. Blasting a PB 1:56.LOW when a 1:59.MID would have easily got you one of the inside 4 lanes for the semis, was entirely unnecessary. Maybe even immature. Given how tight he looked in the 100 breast final after back-to-back PB's in the prelims and semis, and the fact that he probably has 3 rounds of 100 fly an 50 free to go through yet in this meet, I would have thought he would have approached this with a little more restraint.

Now if he goes 1:55.9 in the semis and mid 1:55's in the finals, I'll retract the "dumb" comment. But Andrew's track record in multi-round 200's doesn't inspire confidence that he won't back-slide from here..

Chase Kalisz demonstrated exactly how a confident veteran approaches a prelims swim. He burned a lot fewer matches in that first round.

I don't know if Lochte can improve from here, but he needed that kind of performance.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

Holy hell, he uncorked one in the semis. I hope he holds it together enough in the finals to get a spot.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

I have my doubts. 100 fly starts tomorrow, so he has prelims of that in the morning. He only has full go in him, and as we saw in the 100 breast it almost bit him in the ass. That swim was fast tonight, but coming home in 30. ?? OUCH. Gonna take a lot to flush the legs of that swim.

May he prove me wrong.

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I wrote this, you should read it:
https://www.slowtwitch.com/...n_Swimming_6700.html

He's always dreadful on the free leg, though.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

Holy hell, he uncorked one in the semis. I hope he holds it together enough in the finals to get a spot.
//

Well you still have one more heat of this to be right, hope you are not though. Dude was 1.2 seconds ahead of Lochte's stratospheric record going into the last 50. I suppose for all we know, he did shut it down with a lackluster last 50. I always thought that record would stand for a very long time, but all he has to do is just bring it home reasonably with that kind of front 3x50 speed. But no surprise, dude is probably top 4 or so in the world in the 50 of each and every stroke. And now his is showing that he is final material in all of the 100's too, while thus far surprising us with his AR breastroke swim.


Still hoping Lochte can pull it out in the final though, gonna take a 1;56+ I bet...

Forgot to add that our 4x100 relay is looking a lot better now. We have the guy in 6th with a PR of 47.39, so coaches will have their work cut out for them when picking A and B teams at the games. Provided all 6 get to go of course, not sure how it is looking on the numbers front. But has to help that several are qualifying for 2, maybe 3 events. Unlike the 200 where 6th will be getting left out because of Caleb, Held should be making this trip.

I see Apple and Pieroni will both be available for both relays too if they can reach down to 6th in the 100, so some cross over there for coaches to use. Looks like Patrick Callan may be the one left off the roster getting 6th in the 200, and 7th(Blake) will now be a fill in if needed by virtue of the 100 results...More crossover will be good, just challenging for choosing who swims where.

Amazing time from MA tonight, but not a well-swum race. From -1.2 under WR pace to +1.3 in the final 50M. But hey, no one else in the field looks like they are capable of sub-1:56 so IF he can hold, it's his spot. He looked really tight on the free leg, no extension in his arms at all. I think if a couple of guys gamble hard and push him from the start he might crumble (I think if Smith and Kalisz push him there is no way Andrew can match them on the last leg). He benefitted from not being the 100 free final tonight, but (should) be in the 100 fly semi tomorrow-- it will be after the 200IM but might be on his mind. For all his defense of his training style, he still fades at the end and needs to at least go to a training camp under one of the master coaches out there who consistently produce swimmers at all distances (I'm thinking Bowman, Durden, Marsh, Troy, and now Nesty gets to own the University of Freestyle with Smith's and Finke's results so far).

Lochte might have a shot, but he still doesn't look in shape like he did 4 years ago. He might be working hard in the pool but isn't working hard enough with nutrition, he needs to get some notes from Matt Grevers on diet. He's going to have to go out hard and hope some adrenaline can carry him home. Lochte needs to probably change his sights and maybe do ISL this fall if he wants to continue to make money from swimming. He still has the talent/speed to be a good addition to a team, is versatile and can swim a lot of events including relays, but I don't know if he would want to leave (or move) his kids for that long.

Awesome swim by Flickinger, that lady has some brick house shoulders.

Speaking of shoulders, Ryan Murphy looks like Captain America and is absolutely toying with everyone else in the field.

I feel bad for Simone Manuel. Not sure the cause of her missed training but it sucks to come unprepared. I hope Smoliga makes the team again, she'll be a good veteran to have around since it looks like some others like Margalis, Dahlia, Manuel and some others won't be back.

Good swims by Dressel and ZApple. Can you believe we had to wait until day 5 for Dressel to officially be on the team?

Been noticing swim caps/ teams that are showing up a lot. Very impressive showing from Georgia, and as a Gator that hurts to say. They seem to always have two people side by side or in the same heat going 1-2. Florida, Georgia, Texas, Cal, with Indiana showing up in some high profile races are clearly getting some recruiting benefit (I think Georgia's cheating since their black caps tend to blend with a lot of other black caps).

Based on the 100 free, Held looks like the guy to challenge Dressel in the 50, but then again the 50 can go weird fast.

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He's always dreadful on the free leg, though.//

Well he at least is not going to watch the final like Simone Manual, she is going to have nightmares about that soft swim..Question for those in the know, would she be eligible for the 4x100 relay anyway?? If you are on the team in another event, are you automatically eligible to swim a relay you didn't qualify for?

He's scratched the 100 fly. Probably a wise choice. He had a shot to qualify in that event, but he clearly (and rightly) see himself as a gold medal contender in the 200IM. The schedule at Tokyo is the same as trials, so he'd be facing a possible 200IM final/100fly semifinal double if he did qualify. This seems like an uncharacteristically rational programming decision from his camp.


People have been saying for years he needs to train distance to help close the 200IM better, myself included. Maybe that's dated thinking. He's gone at this a different way; getting faster and faster on the first 3 legs, seemingly content just to avoid drowning on the last leg. And the aggregate results are hard to argue with. Does it really matter how you split your way to a 1:55.LOW? That wasn't just the fastest time in the world this year, that was the fastest time in the world since 2016. I pray he holds it together enough tomorrow to qualify.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

Everyone on the team is eligible for any relay. Manuel has to make it in the 50. Rowdy mentioned it, I saw it, her breathing was terrible. She is out of shape. Plainly. She was soundly beaten off the blocks. I don’t see much hope for the 50.

MA didn’t crude to the wall. He totally locked up. The flags in were bad. When you shut it down you get longer, he got really short.

Same with Lochte. But one thing I’ll say that gives him a chance: he will benefit more from the morning off than any of these 20 somethings. He looked stronger but sloppier last night. Especially in fly. He was smooth in prelims, let’s see if he can do strong and smooth one more time…

Pinfold - a local guy here - missed the team by .01 The last time I remember that happening was Neil Walker in 1996. Also 7th in the 100. Difference is Pinfold is 26 and selling houses for a living (walker was a sophomore at Texas and won 2 spots at 2000 trials).

Finke in control the whole way, interesting race form second, and a big charge at the end to take it

Man heartbreak for Licon - missed last 2 Olympic teams in this event by a combined 0.32 seconds - brutal

W100 free semi - sucks for Simone, seems as if she had some medical issues this spring that really impacted her training: https://www.si.com/...vertraining-syndrome Buncha meh there, 53's are fine i guess, but without Simone's proven 52 power, the relay is going to be tough

M200 bk semi - Murphy and everyone else. Casas has been a bit of a disappointment, but I think Katz still snags the second spot.

Good race, and good times.


Caleb's on form and ready to roll I'd say. Apple right on his best. Curry only got his cut 2 months ago and is now on the Olympic team. Hopefully Held rounds into form, they'll need every second they can get. Also a former Wisconsin Badger swimmer Brett Pinfold who took a couple years out of the sport barely missed the 6th spot by .01

W200 br semis really seems like Lilly and Lazor here, right on track.

M200 IM semi. Andrew swims this like nobody else in the world, that's for sure. I have to think with the pressure off to make the team, he keeps pushing the front 150 and hangs on enough to make the team. Kalisz the veteran for 2nd

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I wrote this, you should read it:
https://www.slowtwitch.com/...n_Swimming_6700.html