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- Asian Games + College Swimming Roundup
Asian Games + College Swimming Roundup
More College Hazing + Men's 100 Free Breakdown + World Aquatics Stops Construction in South Africa
SWIM NERD
October 02, 2023
Morning, Nerd.
Welcome to the Swimnerd Newsletter where each week we highlight the most interesting stuff going on in swimming. This week...
🌎 Fast Swims Around the World
📰 Swimming Headlines
📜 Set of the Week
🤡 Swimming Meme of the Week
This Week in Swimming is brought to you by the Swimnerd “Countdown to your Big Meet” Clock.
Hang it in your office or your team’s locker rooms, counting down the days until conference championships or Olympic Trials (257 days).
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🏊♀️FAST SWIMS AROUND THE WORLD 🌎
2023 Asian Games
After their scintillating first day of competition, China continued to hoard medals and take a torch to the meet record book throughout the rest of the Asian Games. They, alongside Australia, are threatening America’s swimming dominance.
The biggest highlight swims from the rest of the meet were the relays. In the men’s 4×100 medley, the Chinese team of Xu Jiayu (52.05), Qin Haiyang (57.63), Wang Changhao (50.68), and Pan Zhanle (46.65) popped a 3:27.01 that ranks as the second fastest relay in history behind the US’s gold medal Tokyo relay. The former two swimmers stepped it up even further the for the mixed 4×100 medley the next day, where Xu (51.91, a new PR), Qin (57.25), Zhang Yufei (56.05), and Yan Junxuan (52.52) also went the second fastest time of all time behind an Olympic gold medal relay (this time Great Britain) with a 3:37.73.
They weren’t the only country with record-breaking relays though, as South Korea is threatening to make the 4×200 free relay a three team affair in Paris. Yang Jaehoon (1:46.83), Lee Hojoon (1:45.36), Kim Woomin (1:44.50), and Hwang Sunwoo (1:45.04) ended up at 7:01.73, an Asian record and a time which would have taken bronze at Worlds.
Individual swims of note for the rest of the Championships:
Siobhan Haughey went her first 100 free PR since Tokyo, a 52.17 win and new Asian record. That goes nicely with her 1:54.12 200 free meet record and 2nd place 50 Free (24.34). She also swam some excellent breaststroke races with a new PB in the 50 nabbing a Bronze medal in 30.36 and splitting 1:06.1 on the medley relay.
Hwang Sunwoo came within a hundredth of Sun Yang’s 200 free Asian record with a 1:44.40 PR on the men’s side.
South Korea’s Ji Yuchan became the first from his country sub-22 in the 50 free, smashing through that barrier by a quarter second for a 21.72 meet record win.
Yu Yiting is the latest entry in the elite women’s 200 IM field, her 2:07.75 getting her within reach of the top in the world.
Zhang Yufei took a 25.10/55.86 sprint fly double, the former .05 off her Worlds silver and the latter faster than her Worlds gold. She also took the 50 free in a 24.26 meet record. She also cried with Rikako Ikee in her arms after the 50 Fly podium.
Her breaststroke teammate Qin Haiyang continued his assault on breaststroke record books. No PRs, but he swept meet records with 26.25/57.76/2:07.03.
Japan had a pretty disappointing meet overall, but Tomoru Honda took double golds with a strong 4:11.40 400 IM and a 1:53.15 200 fly meet record that was faster than his 2021 Olympics silver, and 2022 and 2023 World bronze performances.
College Swimming Roundup
A slightly more expanded college meet schedule this weekend:
Sprinters Getting Going Early: After some of the early elite performances last weekend, it should be no surprise to see more sprinters throwing down great times early here. Louisville’s Gabi Albiero went a 22.42 with a 21.97 relay split against Xavier, while Queen’s Matej Dusa popped a 19.66 against North Carolina. The latter marks 8 men sub-20 already two weeks into the meet season.
“Let Bella Sprint:” Florida decided to try this strategy for their freshman phenom in their opening meet against Vanderbilt. The Nevada native and already international competition veteran took on a bunch of sprints, going 49.20 100 free, 25.36/52.64 backs, and 53.06 100 fly. Also of note in this meet, fellow freshman Catie Choate went near-PR 53.60/1:55.86 backs.
Flying High in Altitude: Some good times from the Intermountain Shootout in Colorado. Tennessee transfer Jordan Tiffany went 47.27 100 back/47.11 100 fly to lead the NCAA on the weekend for BYU, D2 star from Colorado Mesa Ben Sampson swept the IMs in 50.65/1:51.19/3:57.48 (the latter two impressive at a mile altitude) while adding 22.38/48.49/1:47.35 backs, and Utah freshman Nick Chirafsi had a nice debut with 1:39.34/4:31.19 frees.
Intrasquad Meet Miscellany: A couple of the fastest published intrasquad meets you’ll find from Virginia and Texas. Always a little bit of a grain of salt on intrasquad results, but Gretchen Walsh posted a 21.28 50 free, 22.66 50 fly, and 23.33 50 back, Northwestern transfer Jasmine Nocentini went 26.88 50 breast and Alex Walsh went 3:00.37 300 IM and 1:32.57 150 breast for the Cavaliers. Recent grad Kate Douglass also popped a 51.97 100 IM which would appear to be the fastest ever. In Austin, Coby Carrozza went a 1:33.60 200 free to beat NCAA champ Luke Hobson, while three freshmen (Will Scholtz 53.37, Nate Germonprez 53.76, Brayden Taivassalo 53.82 PR) cracked 54 in the 100 breast.
📰 SWIMMING SPORTS HEADLINES
EIU Suspends Men’s Swimming for Hazing
First Boston College. Then Texas A&M. Now Eastern Illinois.
Well maybe Texas A&M? SS said the “majority of the team” would be suspended for the first semester but they went out and beat up on Incarnate Word with what looks to be the majority of their team. So who knows what the truth is in College Station.
But the men’s team at EIU, basically last place in the Summit League, is definitely suspended as an independent investigation begins.
World Aquatics Has Stopped Construction in South Africa
Apparently, World Aquatics & Swimming South Africa partnered to build a high performance center in Stellenbosch, right outside of Cape Town.
Unfortunately, about 6 months ago, construction stopped. And it seems nobody knows what exactly the plan is.
Brett visited the construction site with South African Olympic Champion, Ryk Neethling.
“I’m not exactly sure what the future holds for this project.” - Ryk Neethling
Will Pan Zhanle Bring Balance to the Force 100 Free?
Earlier this week I went down a little rabbit hole researching the Men’s 100 Freestyle - swimming’s #1 event.
To close out the Asian Games, China’s Pan Zhanle led off the relay in 22.52/24.54 to go 47.06.
This was similar to his splits in the actual event a couple days previously 22.45/24.52 when he became the 5th person to ever break 47 in the 100 Free (46.97).
What caught my eye was how differently he was swimming it. Pan is taking the race out half a second faster than he was. He is attacking the 100 now as opposed to relying solely on his back end speed.
At 2022 World Champs he went 47.65 — out in 22.97 back in 24.68.
In May 2023, when he popped a new PB of 47.22 and put the 🌎 on notice, he crushed the 2nd 50: 22.96/24.26. In fact, 24.26 is one of the fastest 2nd 50 splits ever. Only Chalmers, Phelps, and Popovici have ever been quicker.
But Pan’s most recent (and fastest) performances show his strategy has changed. Maybe he’s gained additional speed through tapering for the Asian Games. I know people like to say that this is a major focus and he’s from that province yadayadayada but I think China is probably just using common sense to say okay we have the back end now we need the front end speed - this is where we have the most room to improve.
Only 2 men have gone under 47 in the last 4 years.
One is Chinese, the other is Romanian. They are both 19 years old. They both have tremendous back ends and both are looking to get out faster.
Here’s how others have split the 100:
David Popovici’s WR 46.86 was done in 22.74/24.12.
Cesar Cielo’s former WR 46.91 was split 22.14/24.77.
Alain Bernard’s 46.94 was split 22.35/24.59.
Caeleb Dressel’s 46.96 was split 22.29/24.67.
Cam McEvoy’s 47.04 was split 22.54/24.50.
Eamon Sullivan’s 47.05 was split 22.44/24.61.
Kyle Chalmers has been 47.08 in 22.79/24.29.
Moral of the Story: You can win both on the front and on the back end.
But I think the next person to level up the Men’s 100 Free will have extraordinary balance and it’ll look something like this:
22.42/24.35 = 46.77
That person could very well be Pan Zhanle.
CLIPS OF THE WEEK
Matt Sates breaststroke training
Watch out for Caitlin De Lange, South African Sprinter
This week on INSIDE with BRETT HAWKE...
Tomorrow…
Coach Dhill represented the Philippines from 2004-2014 and is still the national record holder in the 50 and 100 Fly SCM. Today he is a coach in Singapore at the Nexus International School.
00:00 - Welcome Dhill Anderson Lee! 03:30 - Developing A Coaching Philosophy 05:32 - Coaching Education in the Southeast 08:13 - Learning From Dolphins and Orcas 11:53 - Philippines to Singapore 21:55 - Pressure and Motivation Based On Perspective 26:36 - The SEA Games and Asian Games 34:21 - Where is Home? 35:49 - The Cost of Living in Singapore 40:32 - Upcoming Plans
On Thursday…
5x Australian Paralympian Matt Levy discusses his journey juggling intensive training with a full-time job, emphasizing the importance of recovery, open communication, and a strong support network. While praising Australia's seamless integration of Paralympic athletes with the overall Olympic movement, Matt reflects on the value in shaping a shared societal perspective.
📝 SWIM SET OF THE WEEK
James Guy’s Killer Fly Kick on Back Set
FKOB (Fly Kick On Back) is one of my favorite past times so this set is right up my alley. The Swimnerd Masters team better be very concerned because this is coming down the pipe.
3 Rounds:
4×50 going 25 underwater, 25 on top - all fly kick on your back - max effort @ 1:30
200 best effort fly kick on your back @ 5:00
📅 COMING UP…
The FINA World Aquatics World Cup is set to begin this weekend.
Berlin, Germany October 6-8
Athens, Greece October 13-15
Budapest, Hungary from October 20-22
The showdown I want to see the most is Adam Peaty facing off with Qin Haiyang. World Aquatics has announced both of them will be in attendance.
Also, the Pan American Games are being held in Santiago, Chile from 21-25 October. The American roster is college heavy.
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