Yes, yes, yes, yes! In 2008 it could be argued that it was summarily "an act of God" that Jason Lezak was able to overtake, Alain Bernard, in the 4x100 relay. Frédérick Bousquet would argue that it was inexperience on the part of Bernard. Nonetheless, France has produce a 100-meter free LCM where it's top sprinters swam under :49 without tech-suits and one of them, Yannick Angel, is only 17-years old.It seems like every time Eamon Sullivan produces a fast time to take the top spot, a French swimmer is there to take it way, but this time it was taken away in a prelim and now there is no suit excuse for Sullivan!
I have to concede to, Ted baker, and others, since suits are now out of the equation and it is about the swimmers, it's all about the ability and it is about the technique. (I still want them back though. :-P)
Four swimmers under 49.00
- Alain Bernard: 48.32
- Fabien Gilot: 48.62
- William Meynard: 48.79
- Yannick Angel: 48.99 (Could he be the next Michael Phelps)
Photo taken by Elisabeth and Guillaume. All rights reserved!
7 comments:
I'm flattered! Thanks.
Wouldn't count the Yanks out yet, though. Nobody's got depth like the US. Nathan Adrian, Jimmy Feigen, etc. Plus, as my old coach used to say, "that guy you haven't heard of yet." And if there's one guy that go 47-mid without the suit, it's Phelps.
"If there's one guy to go 47-mid without the suit, it's Phelps."....
Try telling that to Cesar Cielo and Alain Bernard, I think they have a better chance than MP.
47-mid is tough, tough swim. I'm not sure Bernard has that in him. I think he can get to 47-high but I do think 47-mid is a stretch. I don't know if he's got the "speed endurance"; that is, I'm not sure he can sustain his front end speed through an entire 100m. He's a big guy and that's a lot of body to keep moving.
Cielo might be able to get there; in fact, I think he's got a better chance than Bernard. Not sure, though.
In the absence of the suits, I'm not sure any athlete can sustain that straight-arm, high-catch freestyle stroke for 100m. I think the aerobic price is too high. I think it'll be tougher for 50m guys to go up to the 100m than it will be for 200m guys to go down.
I love how you cover swimmers other than American ones and celebrate their achievements too. It is incredibly sporting and the variety is more interesting. Certain swimming sites like swimnetwork only ever seem to cover US swimmers.
Thank you for noticing that. I try to appreciate the swimmer only. I am very flattered you noticed.
Flipdip,
Just a heads up. Swimnetwork IS USA Swimming. It's part of the marketing/promotions arm of USA Swimming. When it was semi-separate as a joint production between USA Swimming and the Wasserman Media Group, it used to focus on non-U.S. swimmers. But, now that Wasserman left the sport, Swimnetwork is completely owned by USA Swimming.
Don't expect to see much international flavor on there anymore, which only makes sense.
I can see four guys possibly breaking 48 this year, but not 47-mid: Cielo, Phelps, Bernard, Sullivan, in that order of likelihood, with Nathan Adrian an outside chance.
The way I see it, van den Hoogenband's world record in the 100 free would have fallen in 2008 in jammers with the way Sullivan and Bernard swam at the Olympics (not before though). Don't think anyone woulda beaten 47.84 sans-polyurethane in 2009.
When we're talking about the French's relay chances, it's important to notice that only three out of the eight swimmers went faster in finals than in semis: Gilot (1st), Steimetz (4th), and Bousquet (5th). They're gonna need Bousquet to get his 100 mojo back and get to 48-mid (which I think he can do), and Agnel needs to stop bombing finals. His 400 final was no good, and neither was the 100. He went from a semi time of 48.99 to 49.51.
As usual, the 100 free in America is wide open heading into this summer. Lots of depth. The USA vs. France contest is all hypthetical, since France is swimming at the European champs and the U.S. at Pan Pacs, but it'll still be interesting to see who goes faster. The French need to worry about beating the Russians at Euros before they think about the Americans.
Post a Comment