TYR Pro Series Recap, Peyton Hillis, World Aquatics Wins Lawsuit

Remembering Martin Luther King Jr. and the Right to Swim

Morning, Nerd.

Welcome to the Swimnerd Newsletter where each week we highlight the most interesting stuff going on in swimming. This week...

  • πŸ“°Β Swimming Headlines

  • πŸŠβ€β™‚οΈ Swim Guy of the Week

  • πŸ“œΒ Set of the Week

  • 🀑 Swimming Meme of the Week

This Week in Swimming is brought to you by D-Band. Used by top swimming programs like Texas, UVA and Cal, D-Band is an essential part of any world class swimmers' training equipment. It develops upper body strength while improving technique, balance, and endurance. Team discounts available!

πŸ“° SWIMMING HEADLINES

TYR Pro Swim Series: Knoxville

Though a majority of the times from this meet were expectedly slow because of holiday training, there were a few that stood out:

Katie Ledecky β€” 200/400/1500 Freestyle: 1:55.47/4:00.20/15:37.99 -- for the most part, it's Ledecky vs. the clock at a meet like this. Except when you get tossed in the 400 IM against Katie Grimes and you gotta try and run her down.

Katie Grimes (4:35.92) β€” Women's 400 IM - Ledecky vs. Grimes. This might have been the best race of the meet. Grimes coming off an outstanding winter juniors meet where she went one of the fastest 400 yard IMs in history, Katie Ledecky had to storm home to just miss her in the final few meters. Grimes topped the money board with $6,500 winning the 200 Fly and 800 Free, as well.

Henry McFadden β€” 200 Free: 1:47.23 - We've been talking about the Jersey Wahoo and Stanford commit a lot this year. He shaved another second off his 200 Free PB, dropping the hammer in the last 50 (26.6), while beating Olympians Kieran Smith and Drew Kibler.

Abbey Weitzeil β€” 50 Free Final: 24.74/100 Freestyle Prelim: 53.65 - the first time we've seen Weitzeil nearing top form in a while. Her 50 Butterfly win was also very impressive (26.58).

Hunter Armstrong β€” 100 Backstroke: 52.68 - beating his new training partner Ryan Murphy by almost a second (53.47).

Ahmed Hafnaoui β€” 400 Free: 3:47.41 - nearly four seconds off his gold-medal-winning time from the Tokyo Olympics, Hafnaoui won the event by more than three seconds over Olympic bronze medalist in the event, Kieran Smith (3:50.53).

Simone Manuel β€” 100 Free 54.81/50 Free: 25.19 -- The Olympic Champ is back. Go inside her journey to recovery and preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympics in this new short documentary, "Head Above Water".

World Aquatics Awarded Summary Judgement in ISL Antitrust Lawsuit

On Tuesday, the U.S. District Court in San Fransisco decided in favor of World Aquatics (formerly known as "FINA") in 2018 cases filed by the ISL and by Michael Andrew, Tom Shields, and Katinka Hosszu.

The two cases argued that there were "unreasonable restraints of trade" by World Aquatics and alleged that athletes competing in non-FINA competitions would be "sanctioned". However, the court did not agree:

β€œIt is undisputed that top-tier swimmers are not bound by contract to swim only in FINA-sanctioned competitions. Indeed, the undisputed evidence is that ISL can and does sponsor top-tier swimming competitions without any affiliation with member federations.”

Furthermore, the U.S. District Court found that World Aquatics did not attempt to stop non-FINA competitions by sanctioning or threatening to sanction swimmers that attended, saying:

β€œThere is no rule (and never was) that allows FINA to penalize a swimmer who participates in a competition that is not affiliated with a member federation, and no evidence that FINA ever did, or even threatened to do so.”

See World Aquatics press release below:

On the national holiday remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. we remember his love of swimming and the role he played in making swimming accessible to all.

Brush up on your swimming history with Bruce Wigo, the former President of the International Swimming Hall of Fame, as he takes you back to St. Augustine, Florida in 1964.

Hard to believe the Civil Rights Act of 1964 happened just 58 years ago.

πŸŠβ€β™‚οΈ SWIM GUY OF THE WEEK πŸ™

Peyton Hillis

Former NFL running back Peyton Hillis risked his life to save family members who required a water rescue. According to reports, Hillis was helicoptered to the hospital while unconscious and needed to be on a ventilator once hospitalized.

Reports from his girlfriend indicate that Hillis is on his way to recovery and is "no longer relying on a ventilator". Hopefully no serious damage was done to his brain.

Hillis is a hero. Though we focus a lot on swimming as a competitive sport, it is much more than that. Swimming is a life skill and knowing how to safely swim could save more than your own life.

Godspeed, Peyton.

inside with brett hawke banner logo transparent

BRETT HAWKE CLIPS OF THE WEEK

  • 200 Back: Special kind of pain. Watch it.

  • From tragedy to triumph. Watch it.

  • Are the Campbell sisters coming back? Watch it.

  • Who wins 100 free at Aussie trials? Watch it.

  • Will 2 guys swim 17 in the 50 in the same race? Watch it.

This week on INSIDE with BRETT HAWKE...

Kirsty Coventry is the most decorated Olympian from Africa ever. She's also the Minister of Sport, Arts and Recreation of Zimbabwe and an IOC Board Member. On top of all that, she runs her own foundation teaching water safety to children in Zimbabwe.

Meagen Nay joins Brett, Sonny, and Nate to talk about swimming.

* TYR Pro Swim Series in Knoxville * Short course swimming vs. Long course swimming * Ryan Murphy vs. Hunter Armstrong * Kaylee McKeown vs. Regan Smith * Emily Seebohm riding around India on a moped * Can Katie Ledecky go best times again? * Simone Manuel Returns * Henry McFadden wins the 200 Free in a new PB * Katie Grimes vs. Katie Ledecky 400 IM * On the pod this week: Kirsty Coventry!

πŸ“ SWIM SET OF THE WEEK

Meagen Nay placed 7th and 5th at two Olympics in the 200 Backstroke. She was coached by the legend, Michael Bohl.

Here is one of Meagen's favorite 200 Backstroke training sets...

"Thursday Afternoon Special"

16x50's Best Average @ 1:30 or 1:45

And here is another of her favorites:

4 at 40 beats under

4 at 30 beats under

4 at 20 beats under

🀑 SWIMMING MEMES OF THE WEEK

What is your favorite part of, "This Week in Swimming"?

Click on a link to tell us...