Eamon Sullivan in Beijing: "...Fell into swimming's oldest trap."

I think Sullivan placed 6th in the 50-free at the Beijing Olympics because of the overwhelming talent in the pool not because he looked around to check out where Alain Bernard was.

The fact that every competitor in that final swam a :21 should validate the amount of ability and talent in the pool that day.

However, it does bring up many questions about how the swimmers swam their races in Beijing. Remember Katie Hoff, who didn't want to "break a nail" as Clay Evans noted to this blog; Milord Cavic, who looked up and lost by a 100th-of-a-second to Phelps in the 200 'fly 100-meter 'fly; and even Jason Lezak who looked over at the end of the 4x100 relay at Bernard?

From The Age.com:

Let's get this straight: Sullivan didn't choke. What he did do, however - just like Ian Thorpe in his favourite 200-metre freestyle event at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, when he was a sure thing beaten by Holland's Pieter van den Hoogenband - was fall into swimming's oldest trap.

"You see little kids when they're swimming and their coaches tell them not to look around," Sullivan says, "and they're doing breaststroke and they're in front and [he motions with his head turning like a side-show clown] they look back to see where the others are. I guess you never lose that sort of thing, and when you see someone next to you, that's when instinct tells you to try harder and that's when your technique goes. ..."

[Link]

This is how close the Beijing Olympics, 50-free final went; Hail Cesar:

21.30 - Cesar Cielo
21.45 - Amaury Leveaux
21.49 - Alain Bernard
21.62 - Ashley Callus
21.64 - Ben Wildman-Tobriner
21.65 - Eamon Sullivan
21.67 - Roland Schoeman
21.72 - Stefan Nystrand

50m free: Caesar Cielo looked down the whole way!

The 50m free: I am not so sure I agree with the technique point of looking straight down during a sprint but it sure worked tonight in the 50 meter free for Caesar Cielo. Since Tobriner couldn't win, I am glad it was Cielo.

Hail Caesar! Go Brazil!

Quick thoughts

Thoughts on the 50 free prelim:

1) Cielo looks straight down the whole way
2) Nystrand has a "tomahawk/windmill" stroke as do many others.
3) Tobriner has his arms go into the water at a angle.
4) Schoeman has a very symmetrical stroke. His body is very rigid. (Rotates little?)

Thoughts on the 200 breast:

1) Rebecca Soni has a short glide phase and at least "two or three hearts."
2) Jones should have won but SOni was stronger - Jones looked fatigued all throughout - even on the blocks

Thoughts on the 200 back:

1) Lochte's Dad cried. :-]
2) Perisol did it again! He kicks on his belly during the turn! - NOT OK
3) Lochte does not kick on his belly

Thoughts on the Women's 200 back:

1) Manaudou lost weight, looks pale. Could be the LZR making her look thinner!

Thoughts on the 200 IM

1) Cseh is the most underrated swimmer in these Olympics
2) Phelps is making this looks so easy. Is it easy?

Women's 100 Free thoughts

1) Francesca Halsall has a beautiful body!
2) Britta Steffen STORMED it in the last 10 meters. Where everybody was fading she got stronger.
3) Natalie Coughlin is STRONG!

New American Record for Cullen Jones as Jones, Wildman Tobriner and Gary Hall swim the 50m prelim in under :22.00

I can't wait to see that prelim-swim. Especially the part when "old man" Gary Hall pulls up to the blocks in his "mobility scooter" then has his two nurses help him remove his red, white and blue, Everlast hospital gown and help him onto the blocks! (I hope he doesn't read this.)

What an epic prelim that will be watch. Here were the times for the top three finishers:

Cullen Jones: 21.59

Ben Wildman Tobriner: 21.68

Gary Hall: 21.89

Lane 9 News: [Link]

Benjamin Wildman-Tobriner profile in the 'New York TImes'

Benjamin Wildman-Tobriner is destined to be both an Olympian and some sort of doctor/surgeon! Now how is that for pressure?

Here is the snippet: "... Blame life’s crazy crosscurrents. Aspiring to be a doctor and an Olympian, Wildman-Tobriner is being pulled by two powerful desires: medical school and a medal. ...

His challenge this month is to avoid being dragged under by deadlines. June is when he is supposed to decide whether to enroll in classes this fall. It is also when the cut-down process starts for selecting the United States swim team that will compete in the Beijing Games. ...

When did he know he had the ability to be the best in the world? “Right after I touched first at the world championships,” Wildman-Tobriner said with a smile. ..." [Link]

Paging? Doctor Wildman, Paging Doctor Wildman: Code blue in room 212! Stat!)I had to say that because it sounded so cool.)

'Janet Evans Invitational' prelim results are up!

The Janet Evans Invitational preliminary results times are posted. In the 50m free Erik Hochstein who is about twice as old; (seriously, he is twice as old), as 64% of the competitors in the event posted a 50m free time 24.27 thus beating more than 60% of the field. The fastest time in the prelim was posted by Wildman Tobriner who went a 22.29 or 1.88 seconds faster.

I am in awe. [Link]

Train high, live low: That apparently is the most effective way to train.

Eamon Sullivan, Ryk Neethling, Roland Schoeman, César Cielo, and many other sprinters from outside the US seem to gravitate to the United States when it comes to training.
From the Herald Sun: "STAR sprinter Eamon Sullivan is confident a stint of high altitude training in the US will give him an added advantage as he steps up his campaign for the Olympic swimming trials in March. ..." [Link]

Here are some of the names I feel will be in the 50 meter free final in Beijing. All have trained in or live in the United States:

César CieloBen Wildman Tobriner
Roland Schoeman
Cullen Jones
Eamon Sulivan

Swim News did a bunch of homework handicaping the 2008 Olympics

Swim News did a bunch of homework sizing up their favorites for the the swim events in Beijing. You would think Craig Lord was a Las Vegas actuary or odds maker in that his list is so thorough. Here is a link to the Craig's. [Link]

The photo above is Ben Wildman Tobriner of Stanford. He is my favorite for the 50m free since he can swim consistently under 22.00. (He has done so 3 times according to the Swim News article.)

Alain Bernard has posted the fastest time this year but he needs to post a couple of sub 22s before I change my mind.

The above photo comes from EmmyMik's photostream at Flickr.com. Here is a direct link to the photo: [Link]