The Back Alley Archives

Posted: **Mon Jun 25, 2012 7:53 am**

Every night this week, NBC will be airing the finals of the Olympic Trials, from Omaha Nebraska, at 8 p.m.

Here are tonight's races to watch:

Men's 400 IM: This MAY be Michael Phelps' first race. Over the weekend, he played coy with the media about whether he would swim the event - after Beijing, he was done with the 400 IM and would never swim it again. But he is still the world-record holder, and dominated this event for many years. It's almost a guaranteed medal for him, so he'd be stupid not to race it. Interestingly, last night was the deadline for scratching the event and Phelps did NOT scratch out of it. That doesn't mean he's going to take this race seriously, though - he may just use it as a warm-up.

UF's own Ryan Lochte is also swimming the 400 IM. Although Lochte is expected to challenge Phelps in a number of events, I don't see him coming close to pushing Phelps in this one - Phelps is just too dominant. Expect Tyler Clary to challenge Lochte for second place.

Men's 400 Free: This will be an interesting one. Peter Vanderkaay is the top seed, but he may be challenged by some younger swimmers - distance star Chad LaTourette among them. Vanderkaay is the experienced man, but the US hasn't had a great 400 swimmer in some time. The American record holder, Larsen Jensen, who won bronze in the event in Beijing, has retired - and is now a Navy Seal.

Women's 400 IM: This one is pretty wide open - I don't recognize any big names entered in this event. American record-holder Katie Hoff isn't entered in the event this year, despite winning bronze in Beijing and formerly holding the world record in the event. At a recent press conference, she revealed she'd be in the 200 and 400 freestyle events, but not the 400 IM. It's not clear whether she will race in the 800 free as well.

Posted: **Mon Jun 25, 2012 12:37 pm**

Just want to add that current Gator swimmer Elizabeth Beisel is the top seed in the women's 400 IM. ^

Posted: **Mon Jun 25, 2012 1:10 pm**

Lochte and Phelps are 1-2 in prelims for the 400 IM. Both just cruised - Lochte in 4:10, Phelps in 4:14. To give you an idea of how easy they both took the race, Phelps' world record is 4:03. That also gives you an idea of just how much these two are ahead of the pack.

In the 400 free, Peter Vanderkaay qualified fifth - La Tourette finished 10th, so he won't be in the finals. All of the top 8 swimmers in the finals are within 1.83 seconds of each other. This should be an exciting race tonight.

EDIT: Gator swimmer Conor Dwyer qualified second in the 400 free. And Peter Vanderkaay, although a Michigan graduate, now trains with Coach Troy in Gainesville.

It's shaping up to look like every final tonight could result in a Gator going to London.

Posted: **Mon Jun 25, 2012 1:22 pm**

Jensen is now a SEAL? Wow, my hats off to him. Takes a lot of balls to enter that field right now. No easy tours with those guys at the moment.

Posted: **Mon Jun 25, 2012 2:04 pm**

According to his Wikipedia page, he was first in his class at BUD/S.

Posted: **Mon Jun 25, 2012 2:23 pm**

Elizabeth "Diesel" Beisel is the number one seed for tonight's 400 IM final. Go Gators!

Posted: **Mon Jun 25, 2012 3:57 pm**

Coach Troy is the head coach of the US Olympic Team this year. Here's a good article about him from USA Swimming:

http://www.usaswimming.org/ViewNewsArti ... &mid=12757

Posted: **Mon Jun 25, 2012 8:10 pm**

3 events, 3 Gators and 1 quasi-Gator going to London.

Posted: **Mon Jun 25, 2012 10:44 pm**

[quote=DocZaius]According to his Wikipedia page, he was first in his class at BUD/S.[/QUOTE]
Badass MF'er.

Posted: **Tue Jun 26, 2012 7:44 am**

3 finals for tonight:

Women's 100 Butterfly: Dana Vollmer is the favorite to win this race. Last night, she broke her own American record on the way to winning the semi-final. Expect a good race for second, though: Natalie Coughlin, Elaine Breeden, Kathleen Hersey and the rest are all seeded very close to one another. If I had to pick a number 2, I'd go with Elaine Breeden - she's qualified before in this event. No Gator women are in the finals.

On a totally chauvinistic note, the women's 100 fly is chock full o' good looking women. Check this out:

Dana Vollmer:

Elain Breeden:

Kathleen Hersey:

Natalie Coughlin:

Kelsey Floyd:

Men's 100 Breaststroke: Brendan Hansen is heavy favorite in this race, and I don't see any reason that he will be challenged by the rest of the field. The real race will be for the second spot on the team. Although he was the fourth-fastest in the semi-finals, I am picking Eric Chanteau to come in second, due to his surviving testicular cancer. Sorry, Marcus Titus - ball cancer trumps deafness. Gainesville native Clark Burckle, who started his collegiate swimming career at Florida but transferred to Arizona is the 8th-fastest in the finals.

Women's 400 Free: This ought to be an interesting race - lots of talent in this field. Don't know who's going to make finals, but I note that Katie Hoff is one of the top seeds. She's got lots of competition, though: Allison Schmidt, Chloe Sutton, Kate Ziegler. Elizabeth Beisel is entered in this event as well, but I don't know if she's a good enough freestyler to make the top 8. I'll update this after prelims.

Posted: **Tue Jun 26, 2012 9:26 am**

Posted: **Tue Jun 26, 2012 9:42 am**

The last story on NBC's nightly news last night was on the Phelps-Lochte showdown. Shameless self-promotion disguised as news on their part, but regardless. Almost every piece of footage they had of Lochte, he was wearing his Gators swim cap. Nice.

Posted: **Tue Jun 26, 2012 4:16 pm**

Ok, after prelims in the women's 400 Free, the finalists are (by lane number):

1 McDermott, Amber 19 Athens Bulldog S-GA/Univer 4:10.20
2 Ziegler, Kate 23 The Fish-PV 4:08.38
3 Sutton, Chloe 20 Mission Viejo Na-CA 4:07.91
4 Schmitt, Allison 22 North Baltimore-MD/Georgia 4:05.60
5 Ledecky, Kathleen 15 Curl Burke Swim-PV 4:05.78
6 Beisel, Elizabeth 19 Bluefish Swim Cl-NE/Florid 4:08.37
7 Ryan, Gillian 16 North Baltimore-MD 4:09.83
8 Mann, Becca 14 Clearwater Aquat-FL 4:10.38

Katie Hoff had a really crappy swim this morning - her coach says she's got an intestinal bug. Janet Evans also had a really crappy swim this morning - but that's just because she's old and is fooling herself to think she can jump back in the pool with six months of training and compete with these fast little girls.

Like the men's 400 Free, I expect this to be a pretty tight race, too.

Posted: **Tue Jun 26, 2012 4:18 pm**

One other event to watch tonight: the Men's 200 Freestyle semi-final, if only because Lochte and Phelps will be right next to each other in the second heat. Lochte had the top time in prelims, Phelps the third-fastest time. The result is meaningless, as they will both qualify for finals, but people like to see them race.

Posted: **Wed Jun 27, 2012 10:41 am**

Welp, last night went pretty much as expected. Allison Schmidt and 15-year-old Kathleen Ledecky were 1-2 in the women's 400 Free. Lochte and Phelps went 1-2 in the 200 free semifinal; Vanderkaay didn't do so hot, though, finishing 9th. Conor Dwyer, however, also showed up to race in the 200 free - he's going to be in the final as well; I don't expect him to beat Phelps or Lochte, but I do expect him to place third or fourth, which will of course send him to London for the 800 Free Relay. Dana Vollmer won the 100 fly as expected, but came up shy of a world record and shy of the American record she set in the semis. Western Kentucky's Claire Donahue surprisingly took second in the 100 fly; you don't see too many Hilltoppers in the Olympics. The men's breaststroke was predictable - Brendan Hansen and Eric Chanteau taking the two Olympic spots. Kind of surprising to see Japan's Kosuke Kitajima in the stands watching this - you might remember that he and Hansen have a rivalry going back to 2004. Kitajima now trains with Dave Salo at USC (so do a bunch of breaststrokers, Chanteau included).

Tonight's finals are as follows:

Men's 200 Free: Lochte vs. Phelps - that's about all that can be said. Sure, Conor Dwyer's in the mix, too, but he's not going to challenge those two. His best hope tonight is to get third.

Women's 100 Backstroke: We finally get to see 17-year-old star Missy "The Missile" Franklin in a final. She's the favorite but once again the field has lots of talent, including defending American record-holder Natalie Coughlin.

Men's 100 Backstroke: Matt Grevers is the favorite, but I'm really not familiar with the rest of the field. Grevers won silver in Beijing behind fellow American (and current world record-holder) Aaron Piersol, who retired from swimming in 2011. 16-year-old Bolles School (Jacksonville) swimmer Ryan Murphy qualified for finals - I wouldn't be surprised if he eventually ended up swimming for Florida.

Women's 100 Breaststroke: Rebecca Soni is the favorite here although current world record-holder Jessica Hardy is going to challenge her. The two of them should give us a pretty good race.

Men's 200 Butterfly Semi-Final: Michael Phelps swims again, in what is arguably his signature event (he has so many, but he has continually held the world record in this event since 2001). He'll have no problem qualifying for finals; it wouldn't surprise me to see him take it just a bit easy.

I'll update this post after prelims if anything seems weird about the other semi-finals being swum tonight.

Posted: **Wed Jun 27, 2012 6:44 pm**

Update from USA Swimming, http://www.usaswimming.org/ViewNewsArti ... &mid=12757 :

2012 Olympic Trials: Day 3 Prelims Report

Tweet
6/27/2012

Here are some notes from prelims on day 3. The top 16 swimmers from each event will go on to swim in tonight’s semifinals.

Women’s 200m Free
Allison Schmitt and Dana Vollmer qualified as the top two seeds in the women’s 200m freestyle, in 1:58.02 and 1:58.34. These two ladies can breathe a little easier after qualifying for the Olympic Team on day 3 – Schmitt in the 400m freestyle and Vollmer in the 100m butterfly. Missy Franklin qualified for the third seed in 1:58.62. She will be swimming a tough double tonight, first competing in the semifinals of this event then returning to the pool approximately 20 minutes later for the finals of the 100m back. Overall, the semifinal is a tight field, with the top eight separated by a little more than a second.

Men’s 200m Butterfly
Stanford’s Bobby Bollier and Tyler Clary lead the pack after this morning’s prelims in 1:56.69 and 1:57.23, respectively. Clary is looking to bounce back from a disappointing third-place finish in the 400 IM on the first night of competition and was just looking to get into that semifinal spot in this morning’s prelims.

“Everyone encounters failure at some point,” Clary said. “That’s life, and why we have to be a little more dynamic. It’s all about how quick you get back on your feet.”

Michael Phelps, the two-time defending Olympic champion and world record-holder in this event, was the third seed, tied with Thomas Luchsinger at 1:57.75. Phelps will compete in the finals of the 200 free before swimming in the semifinals of the 200 fly tonight.

Women’s 200m IM
Caitlin Leverenz was riding high after her second-place finish in the 400 IM on the first night of competition. Though she has not officially made the Olympic Team yet, she will likely be added to the roster pending swimmers qualifying in multiple events. She is the first seed heading into tonight’s semifinals of the women’s 200 IM in 2:12.38. Qualifying right behind her was Elizabeth Beisel, who was officially named to the team after winning the 400 IM on day 1.

Beisel has been busy this meet. In addition to winning the 400 IM, she also qualified for the semifinals of the women’s 200m free with a 13th seed in 1:59.79.

“There’s no doubt I can do a meet like this just because of all the training we’ve done,” Beisel said.

Also in the mix is world record-holder Ariana Kukors, who qualified third in 2:13.58. Kukors’ world record in this event stands at 2:06.15 and was set in the era of the high-tech, polyurethane suits. Because of that, she said she considers the time she swam en route to a bronze medal at last year’s world championships (2:08.12) as her real lifetime best.

“It’s funny to see that (world record), but it doesn’t put any extra weight on my shoulders,” Kukors said.

Tonight’s finals
In addition to the three semifinals, finals will be contested in four events tonight – the men’s 200m free, the women’s 100m back, the men’s 100m back and the women’s 100m breast.

Here’s a look at how the finals picture is shaping up:
Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps are set up for another epic face-off in the finals of the men’s 200m freestyle, qualifying first and second in 1:46.26 and 1:46.27. As many as six swimmers may be named to the team in this event.

“It felt pretty good,” Lochte said after the semifinals. “The only thing I really worked was the last 50. I have a lot left, so we’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”

Rebecca Soni broke her Olympic Trials record in the semis of the women’s 100m breaststroke, turning in a time of 1:05.82. She is the top seed for tonight’s finals.

Missy Franklin and Matt Grevers are the top seeds heading into the finals of the women’s and men’s 100m backstroke, touching in 59.06 and 53.10, respectively. Franklin’s time was a 17-18 women’s national age group record.

I wouldn't read too much into Phelps' third-place qualifying swim in the 200 fly - that's way way off his blistering world record pace and only a second behind first place. He can still smoke the field without working too hard. That 200 free race is going to be a battle between him and Lochte, though.

Posted: **Thu Jun 28, 2012 9:53 am**

Welp, Phelps bested Lochte in the 200 free, and Missy Franklin got an American record in the 100 back. Breeja Larson winning the 100 breast was surprising to me (and to her, I think, based on her reaction).

Phelps looked pretty surprised at the end of the 200 fly semifinal last night - I think that swim hurt him more than he expected. Watching Phelps and Lochte, I get the impression that neither one of them is fully rested for this meet. They should be a lot faster if they're really tapered and ready - it's got to be difficult for the coaches to know just how rested they need to be to win a spot on the team, but at the same time be ready to swim a few weeks later.

Anyway, tonight's final races are:

Women's 200 Free: American record-holder Allison Schmidt should win this one pretty handily. The real question is who will take second place - Missy Franklin? Dana Vollmer? Shannon Vreeland?

Men's 200 Fly: Will Michael Phelps be ready? He looked a little tired in the semi-final. He has held this world record continuously since 2001 - he has never lost a final in major competition in this event. Assuming Phelps can handle the pressure, second place is up for grabs: fastest seed Bobby Bouillier could take it, but so could Davis Tarwater, or Tyler Clary. Should be a fun race.

Women's 200 IM: Caitlin Leverenz blew away the competition in the semis, but as in the other races, it looks like the big race will be for second place. Elizabeth Beisel will be in the hunt, as will world record-holder Ariana Kukors and 18-year-old Elizabeth Pelton.

More to come on the semi-final races...

Posted: **Mon Jul 02, 2012 10:31 am**

OK, so I slacked off on the last three days. Chalk it up to me being out of the office.

Rather than go through all the analysis, here are the results:

Friday, June 29

Men's 200 Breast: Scott Weltz and Clark Burckle (former Gator, transferred to Arizona) got the two Olympic spots. The two favorites (at least in my mind), Eric Shanteau and Brendan Hansen, were third and fourth, respectively.

Women's 200 Butterfly: Cammile Adams and Kathleen Hersey.

Men's 100 Freestyle: Nathan Adrian and Cullen Jones - but remember in this event, they take the top 6 for the relay. So Jason Lezak, former American record-holder and hero of the 400 Free Relay in Beijing (and quiet contributor for the last 3 Games) will once again be a part of the Olympic Team. The remaining three qualifiers are Matt Grevers, Ricky Berens and Jimmy Feigen.

Saturday, June 30

Women's 200 Breast: No surprise as Rebecca Soni takes first. Micah Lawrence places second. What is surprising is how poorly Breeja Larson and Caitlin Leverenz did in the final.

Men's 200 Backstroke: Favorite Ryan Lochte took first; Tyler Clary took second. Gator swimming alum Rex Tullius took sixth.

Men's 200 Individual Medley: Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte faced off yet again, and the result was Phelps on top. Lochte still holds the world record, though these two were not that far off it. I think one of these two will break the world record again in London. Gator Conor Dwyer placed third.

Women's 100 Freestyle: Jessica Hardy and Missy Franklin placed first and second. Rounding out the top six, who will get to be on the relay, are Allison Schmitt, Lia Neal (making some news because she's 17, from Brooklyn and half-black and half-Chinese), Amanda Weir and Natalie Coughlin.

Sunday July 1

Women's 200 Backstroke: Missy Franklin on top of Gator Elizabeth Beisel for the Olympic berths.

Men's 100 Butterfly: Michael Phelps beat both Tyler McGill and Ryan Lochte, but wasn't anywhere near his world-record pace. Lochte was third, so he won't be swimming this one at the Olympics.

Women's 800 Freestyle: Kathleen Ledecky and Kate Ziegler will represent the US in the women's endurance event. Ledecky, just 15, will be the youngest member of the team going to London. Janet Evans' Olympic hopes ended in the prelims - she was flat-out terrible. Just goes to show that if you want to make a comeback, you're gonna have to work - especially if you're not a sprinter. She's still got the American record, though, which is nice.

Men's 50 Freestyle: Speaking of comebacks, Anthony Ervin decided to return to swimming at the age of 31 and he's now on the Olympic team. Sporting god-awful arm tattoos and giving an interview that made him sound totally gay (not that there's anything wrong with that), he proved that for some people, natural talent will take you farther than hard work. America's token black swimmer, Cullen Jones, won the event.

Posted: **Mon Jul 02, 2012 1:32 pm**

Here is an interesting tidbit:

Phelps qualified for five events at Trials: 100 fly, 200 fly, 200 IM, 400 IM and 200 free. That means he is eligible to repeat his 2008 performance of 8 gold medals, if he is selected for all three relays (although he did not swim the 100 free in this meet, the coaches get the final word on who competes in the relay).

Could Phelps do it again? What a mind-boggling accomplishment that would be!

Posted: **Mon Jul 02, 2012 1:54 pm**

There are only two finals left:

Women's 50 Free: UF's own Dara Torres, the current American record-holder in this event has qualified with the third-fastest time in the field. At 45, she is literally old enough to be any one of her competitors' mother - the next-oldest finalists are Christine Magnuson and Kara Lynn Joyce, both 27. If she make the team, it will be an astonishing sixth Olympic Games for Torres. I remember watching her swim in Gainesville when I was 12. But, she's going to have to get past Magnuson, Jessica Hardy and a handful of other, younger swimmers.

Men's 1500 Free: So why don't they have a women's 1500? Who cares? In the final race of these Olympic Trials, a bunch of guys you probably never heard of are "going the distance" for Olympic glory. Okay, so maybe you've heard of a couple of them. First up is Peter Vanderkaay - although he shit the bed in the 200, placing 9th, he did win the 400. He's probably still the favorite, even though he's the fourth-fastest qualifier. Since Larsen Jensen retired, Vanderkaay is America's Great White Hope in the distance events.

Posted: **Mon Jul 02, 2012 4:38 pm**

This just in: Phelps has scratched from the 200 Free. That means Ricky Berens will swim in the individual event.

Posted: **Mon Jul 02, 2012 8:53 pm**

Another 8 gold would be an unbelievable feat. I think Lochte will steal at least one though.

The Back Alley Archives

Olympic Swimming Trials - Finals are LIVE on NBC this week.

Olympic Swimming Trials - Finals are LIVE on NBC this week.

Olympic Swimming Trials - Finals are LIVE on NBC this week.

Olympic Swimming Trials - Finals are LIVE on NBC this week.

Olympic Swimming Trials - Finals are LIVE on NBC this week.

Olympic Swimming Trials - Finals are LIVE on NBC this week.

Olympic Swimming Trials - Finals are LIVE on NBC this week.

Olympic Swimming Trials - Finals are LIVE on NBC this week.

Olympic Swimming Trials - Finals are LIVE on NBC this week.

Olympic Swimming Trials - Finals are LIVE on NBC this week.

Olympic Swimming Trials - Finals are LIVE on NBC this week.

Olympic Swimming Trials - Finals are LIVE on NBC this week.

Olympic Swimming Trials - Finals are LIVE on NBC this week.

Olympic Swimming Trials - Finals are LIVE on NBC this week.

Olympic Swimming Trials - Finals are LIVE on NBC this week.

Olympic Swimming Trials - Finals are LIVE on NBC this week.

Olympic Swimming Trials - Finals are LIVE on NBC this week.

Olympic Swimming Trials - Finals are LIVE on NBC this week.

Olympic Swimming Trials - Finals are LIVE on NBC this week.

Olympic Swimming Trials - Finals are LIVE on NBC this week.

Olympic Swimming Trials - Finals are LIVE on NBC this week.

Olympic Swimming Trials - Finals are LIVE on NBC this week.

Olympic Swimming Trials - Finals are LIVE on NBC this week.