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Mare Nostrum + PSS Mission Viejo + Club Meets

Mare Nostrum + PSS Mission Viejo + Club Meets

Coleman Stewart retires. Ryan Lochte LIVE. Cam McEvoy's Fav 100 Free Test Set.

SWIM NERD
May 22, 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

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🏊‍♀️FAST SWIMS AROUND THE WORLD 🌎

Mare Nostrum - Barcelona

Even more fireworks from this week's edition of the Mare Nostrum tour in Barcelona.

The first big splash was another great performance by Japan's junior 400 IMers. '05 born Riku Yamaguchi dropped a second from his PR with a 4:12.43 after his close miss (.33 off) 4:13.68 last week in Canet, but still didn't get the win. He again touched a hundredth of a second behind the winner, this time also '05 born Tomoyuki Matsushita who dropped 5.5 seconds off his time from last week to win in 4:12.42, just off his 4:12.20 best. Matsushita would later come almost as close to his PR 200 IM with a 1:58.49 runner-up performance there. The winner, So Ogata, hit a 1:58.09 to better his performance from Canet last week.

Immediately after that 400 IM, Hong Kong's Siobhan Haughey, no stranger to Mare Nostrum success, dropped the hammer with a 52.50 100 free. That swim ended up .35 faster than last week at Canet and leapfrogged the O'Callaghan/Jack Australian duo as the fastest swim in the world this season. She'd go on to post 24.67/1:55.56 in the other two sprint free races on day 2.

Two races later, Olympic 100 breast champ Lydia Jacoby popped a season-best and world 3rd ranked 1:05.84. She's now within a second of her Tokyo gold medal effort, and this marks her fastest swim since then. On day 2, Jacoby hit a big PR 2:24.03 200 breast. Also notably, Ruta Meilutyte went a 1:06.38 out of the 100 breast B final, a time only three tenths off her semi and final efforts at 2022 World Champs that netted her the bronze medal at that meet.

Israel's do-everything star Anastasia Gorbenko was another top performer on the first day - she set a new national record in the 200 IM, dropping a half second off her old best and record with a 2:09.47. She'd also break the national record with a strong but somewhat less internationally relevant 4:40.76 400 IM.

That women's 200 IM was a fast race overall, with Mary-Sophie Harvey coming within a half second of her best with a 2:10.63 for second, Marrit Steenbergen (who finished runner-up behind Haughey in the 100 free earlier that day with a near-PR 53.45 and in the 200 free on day 2 with an actual PR 1:56.10) hitting a solid 2:10.78 featuring a 28.93 free split and Fantine Lesaffre touching .03 off her best with a 2:11.73.

Some other strong swims from the two-day affair:

Polish 18-year-old Krzysztof Chmielewski came within .03 of his European Juniors-winning PR 200 fly with a 1:55.04 in prelims. He couldn't replicate that in finals, but the prelim swim sits at 8th worldwide. This was another fast race overall for in-season, as the entire A final and 4 in the B final went under 2.
Former 200 breast world record holder Ippei Watanabe went a 2:08.48 200 breast to take the win. Not a PR or season-best but a good swim nontheless.
Tunisian distance sensation Ahmed Hafnaoui took the distance double in 3:47.13/15:02.85.
A quartet of women broke the 28 barrier in the 50 back. Canadian Ingrid Wilm led the way with a 27.76, while Ireland's Danielle Hill went 27.83. Czech Simona Kubova and Pole Adela Piskorska went 27.87-27.88 to lead prelims.

Mare Nostrum - Monaco

The European swim tour took a couple day breather and then jumped back in in Monaco. This stop was the sprinters' turn in the spot light, with knockout style matchups for all the 50s. The highlights from the five rounds of racing over two days:

Sarah Sjostrom upped the ante in her specialties, breaking the Mare Nostrum record in the 50 free in 23.82 (the old record from an epic Sjostrom/Kromodijojo clash over the course of the 2017 series), and also took the 50 fly in 24.89.
Lara van Niekerk likewise broke the series record in the 50 breast with a 29.75. That's .03 off her PB and South African record. Lydia Jacoby went a PB in 30.08.
Ingrid Wilm tied the series record in the 50 back - 27.34 is a PR by five hundredths.
On the men's side, Czech Mirslav Kndela had the most impressive performance, breaking his national record in the event with a .18 PR of 24.71.
Michael Andrew beat out Thomas Ceccon in the 50 fly, 22.85-22.87.
Andrew was on the wrong end of a touch out in the 50 free, with Sebastian Szabo getting the better of him by .02 in the 50 free with a 21.72 win.

The standard events had some impressive performances as well.

Siobhan Haughey continued her long sprint rampage, dropping her season best down to 1:55.04 in the 200 free.
SCM 200 fly WR-holder Tomoru Honda popped a 1:54.22 in the LCM version of the event, with only his 1:52.70 Japan Open performance better for him this season.
15-year-old Argentinian Agostina Hein took the 400 free in a PR 4:09.94 - a nice improvement curve over her 4:16.03 from World Jr Champs last year.
The men's 100 fly yielded a strong podium - Noe Ponti 51.28, Katsuhiro Matsumoto 51.40, Jakub Majerski 51.86, with aforementioned Honda just back in 51.89.
Anastasia Gorbenko further knocked down her Israeli 200 IM record with a 2:09.28, while Mary-Sophie Harvey came even closer with a big PR 2:09.75.

Pro Swim Series - Mission Viejo

Some of the biggest US-based stars showed up at Mission Viejo for another leg of the Pro Swim Series.

Cal Bear Abbey Weitzel had a biggest swim of the weekend - her 53.26 100 free coming about a quarter of a second from her 52.99 PR swim from the Tokyo Olympics semis. She'd also take the 50 free in 24.59.

The men's side had some breakout performances from other current and future Cal Bears. incoming freshman Keaton Jones had a big weekend, winning the 200 back over a star-studded field including Ryan Murphy, Hugo Gonzalez, and Destin Lasco with a 1:57.04 PR, also logging 25.89/54.90 in the shorter backs. Meanwhile, Dare Rose almost got to his PR with a 51.47 100 fly win, taking that race by over half a second.

Other notables:

Torri Huske had a fun back-to-back on the last day of the meet, with 56.84 100 fly and 2:11.88 200 IM wins.
Teammate Claire Curzan won the 50 fly (25.88), 100 back (59.00), and 200 back (2:07.78).
Hunter Armstrong's 52.82 100 back was notable as he took the Pro Swim Series sweep, winning all 4 meets in the event, all sub-53. He's been the most consistently fast racer in the event this season, especially impressive with how deep the 100 back is across the world.
Nic Fink and Jake Foster had some fun breaststroke showdowns. Fink took the 50 (27.50) and 100 (59.77, a season best). Foster finished a bit behind in the 100 (a 1:00.81 PR), and won the 200 just touching out Fink (2:11.58-2:11.72).
Texas teammates Kelly Pash and Dakota Luther had a great 200 fly showdown, with Pash running down Luther in the last 50, 2:08.20-2:08.25.

Fast US Meets

The summer/LCM season is starting to get into gear for USA club swimming. Here's some of the highlights:

It's almost a rite of passage for a season to see Carson Foster put up stellar times at a lower-level Texas club meet. This time, he hit a 1:56.51 200 IM season best, as well as a 1:47.25 200 free.
At the same meet, Caspar Corbeau swam a 22.73 50 free and 1:01.43/2:11.60 in the breasts.
At the Martha McKee Charlotte Open, Israel's Michael Laitarovsky put together a couple of internationally relevant backstroke sprint PRs with a 25.27 in the 50 and 54.82 in the 100.
Also at Charlotte, 16-year-old Jordan Willis popped an almost three second PR for a 2:15.51 200 breast win.
Some current and former National Team members showed up at the Indy Spring Cup. Anna Peplowski showed she'll be a factor for the US Worlds team with a 1:57.02 200 free PR. She also went 54.81 in the 100 free and a 1:00.74 100 back.
Indiana high school superstar siblings Alex and Aaron Shackell had some strong swims. The former hit a couple PRs in her specialties with 57.63/2:08.68 flies, adding a 54.69 100 free and 1:02.06 100 back to boot. The later took the 2 fly in 1:58.47, adding a 54.58 100 fly and 1:49.45 200 free.
We saw the season debuts for two long sprint national team stalwarts. Drew Kibler opened up his campaign with 50.07/1:48.56/3:55.98 in the 100/200/400, while veteran Blake Pieroni went 22.80/49.65 in the shorter stuff.
Ohio State's Charlie Clark put up some strong distance times, going 3:51.97/7:55.76/15:04.80 to sweep the 400/800/1500. He's still going to be a player in those longer two races for the second spot behind Finke.
At the Richmond Super Sectional, a couple high school women hit strong times. Erin Gemmell posted a 1:57.11 200 free, while Leah Shackley went 58.22 100 fly and 59.55 100 back.
Thomas Heilman was his usual impressive self, with a 22.99 50 free and 52.55/1:58.84 flies, as well as a PR 4:25.38 400 IM. Fellow 16-year-old Josh Howat beat Heilman in the 50 with a 22.94 for a PR by .3.

📰 SWIMMING HEADLINES

Coleman Stewart Retires

100 back SCM World Record-holder Coleman Stewart is retiring at age 25. He's the owner of some of the best underwaters in men's swimming (some might say *too good* depending on your point of view at the 15m mark!) and used those to great advantage in NCAA competition for NC State (SCY back PRs of 20.65/43.62/1:37.71, American record holder in 400 free relay) and the ISL for the Cali Condors (SCM PRs 22.61/48.33/1:50.98 back, 49.10 fly).

He also was the source of some controversy over his career - in the ISL, where he was the target of some Ryan Murphy trash talk, igniting an online discussion of just how well competitors should get along; and in USA Swimming, where he was passed over for SCM Worlds despite holding the 100 back world record because of outdated USA-S selection procedures that picked the SCM team based on LCM performances.

His retirement statement mentioned transitioning to "the other side of the deck," so odds are we'll see him making his way up the coaching ranks soon. Book him for your next swim camp, here.

Please enjoy his World Record:

👨🏻Coleman Stewart anunció que se retira de la natación a sus 25 años. Poseedor del WR de 100m dorso en CC, 48.33🥶
Una gozada su Récord Mundial… de los más impresionantes que he visto y de los que más he disfrutado🤌🏻. Jackpot total en la ISL🎰
— Coco Trejo (@CoqueTrejo)
4:16 PM • May 17, 2023

BRETT HAWKE CLIPS OF THE WEEK

Flo Manaudou just wanted to turn on the lights
Flo Manaudou's new quest set forth by James Gibson
Flo Manaudou swims 21.88 in Barcelona
Rowdy Gaines would trade his Olympic Gold medals for this!
Eamon Sullivan underwater never gets old
Amateur vs. Professional Swimming
Ryan Lochte gives away his medals

This week on INSIDE with BRETT HAWKE...

This morning at 10AM EST...

Catch up on all the world's fastest swimming and stories with Brett, Sonny, and Nate on Dive Inside LIVE.

With special guest, RYAN LOCHTE! You may remember him from the hit TV show, "What Would Ryan Lochte Do?"

He also won 12 Olympic medals and 39 World Championship titles.

Tomorrow...

#319 Unsung Heroes: Celebrating Extraordinary Lives with Jerrod Hardy

Jerrod Hardy spent 21 years in law enforcement. He has a fascination with ordinary people who have done great things and impacted others.

They discuss the importance of recognizing and appreciating the amazing people around us who make a difference in our lives, such as coaches, teachers, or colleagues. Jerrod stresses the value of expressing gratitude for those who have contributed to our growth and helped shape who we are.

Jerrod also shares his own life story, emphasizing the importance of knowing one's purpose and the reason behind our decisions and actions. He reveals how his mother's sacrifices affected his outlook on life and drove him to make the most of the opportunities given to him. Although his career in law enforcement happened somewhat by chance, Jerrod was determined to explore different paths and share the stories of others living life with purpose.

Overall, this interview sheds light on the remarkable impact that ordinary people can have and the importance of recognizing and celebrating their contributions in our lives.

On Wednesday...

All Training is Not Physical by Dr. Rayma Ditson-Sommer

Dr. R. Ditson Sommer's presentation "All Training is Not Physical" (1997) focuses on the importance of understanding and utilizing brain waves in training. The talk covers the speaker's experience in working with attention deficit clients, including Olympic Champion, Gary Hall Jr.

Dr. Sommer highlights the critical differences between attention, relaxation, and focus, as well as the role of brainwaves (Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta) in determining a person's ability to perform at their best. Remember what Romain Barnier said last week about relaxation...

Dr. Sommer also shares examples of practical techniques to help athletes improve their focus and achieve optimal performance, such as unrolling the ears for bilateral hearing, speaking into the right ear for direct communication, and utilizing neurotechnology with light and sound to achieve a relaxation response. These methods have proven to be effective not only in improving athletes' performance but also in helping them better manage stress, anxiety, and overall well-being.