In Michael Andrew's defense on that 100 fly, he had about a 12 minute turnaround from the 50 back final, where he took down Grevers, Murphy, Pebley, and Held for the win. Who knows what his mindset was for the 100 fly, but I suspect that altered his objective. "First to the 50, cruise home," maybe? That might have been more rewarding/instructive than a well-split, but mediocre, full 100.
On the subject of his training methods, I will agree that he's racing at closer to peak potential at his in season meets than many of his competitors (which isn't bad if you're trying to make a living on the Pro circuit), but to say that he's got no untapped potential to uncork at a big meet seems to ignore how many PR's he's posted at big meets the past couple seasons. I've done USRPT, at a much lower level than Andrew, and I can assure you that there is accumulated fatigue that you can shed with a reduction in workload. Not as much as with traditional training, of course, but you can unload. Whether you believe it's physical or all mental, you can't argue that Andrew doesn't mange to find another level for his personal "A" meet.
And let's not forget he's basically a college sophomore. Had he swam at NCCA championships, he'd have been the favorite in the 50 free; and a strong podium contender in the 100 back, breast, or fly. He'd obviously have been coveted for any 200 free relay. There's not a 400 Medley relay team in the country he wouldn't have made better, and he could have swum
any stroke on
any 200 Medley Relay team in the meet and made that relay faster. .He'd probably be considered the best underclassman in the NCAA, and, given his versatility, in the discussion for most valuable swimmer overall. So why would he doubt what he's been doing? He's remained the best of his age cohort, and his training is still netting him gains. Lastly,
he's still pretty young in the scheme of things. He's gotten where he is in a different manner than Dressel got where he was at at 19, and may ultimately never be as successful as Dressel, but that doesn't mean he would have been better had he done it Dressel's way. Let's not forget that "Dressel's way" drove him to the brink of quitting at 17 years old. At least he came back from the brink. A lot of really talented age groupers burned themselves out early. MA has been able to keep himself physically healthy, and has managed to mentally cope with more outside scrutiny and second-guessing than any other teenage swimmer has ever had to endure. The lack of regular 10-14k slog-fests probably has something to do with that.
ripple wrote:
. MA is essentially like the HS kid trying to get best times every race during meet season, only
it never culminates in anything. Jeebus, he's qualified for 2019 LC Worlds in 4 individual events, and was "1st man out" on 2 more. What more would you want from a 19 year old?* ÂŻ\_(ă)_/ÂŻ . I'll take a couple helpings of that kind of failure, thank you.
*There are only 2 younger than him on the US Worlds roster.....including the women's roster. He's a baby in this arena. IMHO, we really won't be able to assess the success or failure of the "Michael Andrew Experiment" for another 5 years.
"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"
