The 2013 Duel in the pool takes place next weekend in Glasgow, Scotland, where a European All-Star team will take on their visiting counterparts from across the Atlantic in the U.S. All-Stars.
Each team can enter up to four swimmers per event, but only the top three overall score points for their team. We’ve been breaking down the matchups stroke by stroke, and today we continue with the women’s sprint freestyle events, the 50 and 100 frees.
See also:
Probable Swimmers:
Europe
Ranomi Kromowidjojo
Francesca Halsall
Jeanette Ottesen Gray
Femke Heemskerk
Michelle Coleman
United States
Simone Manuel
Megan Romano
Shannon Vreeland (100)
Jessica Hardy
Olivia Smoliga
This looks like an awfully tough matchup for a young American squad. Ranomi Kromowidjojo was the 2013 World Champ in the 50 as well as the 2012 Olympic Gold medalist in both the 50 and the 100. She also holds the fastest time in the world this year in short course, going 23.24 at the World Cup event in Eindhoven. Only 23 years old, Kromowidjojo is already a veteran of two Olympic Games, who holds Olympic gold, World Championship gold and world records – the records coming as a part of Dutch freestyle relay teams. That’s a mix of youth and experience that’s tough to match, and she’s got to be the odds-on favorite in both the 50 and 100 frees.
Great Britain’s Francesca Halsall is a highly-decorated Duel in the Pool returner, having scored 27 points over her Duel in the Pool career. The 23-year-old also finished in the runner-up spot in the 50 free at Short Course Worlds in 2012 (a meet Kromowidjojo did not participate in). Third in that same race was Jeanette Ottesen Gray out of Denmark. At 25, she’s one of the veterans of a pretty young and talented European crew. Ottesen Gray is a great all-around sprinter, holding the 4th best SCM time in the world this year in the 50 free and the 5th-fastest 100 free time, and of the women ranked ahead of her, only Kromowidjojo will swim at Duel.
The U.S. contingent is going to be very reliant on youth. The top American threat is Megan Romano, thrust into a very high-stakes situation relatively early in her international swimming career. Then again, that’s nothing new for Romano, who has exploded onto the international stage over the past year and a half, winning multiple medals at Short Course Worlds in 2012 and just about stealing the show in Barcelona in 2013 with her lights out relay performances. That might be the biggest plus for the U.S. in this category: even if Europe controls the individual races, if the meet is close come the 400 free relay (the final event of the duel on Saturday night), the Europeans have to at least be wary of Romano’s run-down ability after her amazing comeback on the Australian relay at Worlds this summer.
The name on the U.S. roster with a lot of intrigue is Simone Manuel. Only 17 years old and still a high school senior, Manuel is a fresh face on the international scene and a rising swimmer with tremendous and visible talent. Her 50 free from Worlds (where she took 7th) this past summer sits 12th in the world for 2013, and though the top 3 European threats still outrank her, if you’re guessing which swimmer is most likely to pop of a huge time drop, you could do a lot worse than to bet on the 17-year-old who’s still adjusting to international competition and meters swimming.
The hopes of the U.S. in this event really bank on the budding potential of Romano and Manuel blossoming fast enough to overcome the European All-stars, most of whom are more known commodities. And those two aren’t the only young stars on the American roster. Romano’s college teammate at Georgia, 22-year-old Shannon Vreeland is mostly known as a 200 freestyler, but can also swim down to a strong 100, especially in meters. Long course, she was just ahead of Manuel and Romano at U.S. National Champs this past summer, going 53.83, still a top-10 time in the world. And in what’s becoming a crowd of current and former Georgia Bulldogs, current Georgia freshman Olivia Smoliga could be a factor or at the very least a relay option – she’s mostly known as a backstroker, but is also a great sprint freestyler, at least in short course yards. Again, she fits the theme of this U.S. women’s sprint corps: youth and upside. If she can get a quick feel for short course meters swimming, she’s another swimmer that could really sparkle at the Duel.
The veteran of the U.S. group is breaststroker/freestyler Jessica Hardy. After starting her career as primarily a breaststroker, Hardy has become arguably more dangerous as a sprint freestyler at age 26. She was one of the American Olympic entrants in both the 50 and 100 frees in London, taking 7th and 8th overall in those races. Hardy has over 8 years of international meet experience and should provide some veteran leadership to the very young U.S. sprinting group.
Europe has a few other options for sprint entries or relay legs as well. Femke Heemskerk of the Netherlands is a very versatile piece for the European contingent, with the ability to swim backstroke and IM in addition to sprint free. That being said, she’s probably best as a freestyler – she ranks 6th in the world this year in the 100 free and should be right in the thick of things with Ottesen Gray and Halsall for Europe. In addition, Sweden’s Michelle Coleman is the youngest sprinter on the European side at age 20, and could factor in as well.
Both sides have some distance and mid-distance oriented swimmers who could probably swim down to solid 100 if need be. Kathleen Baker is a backstroker but could probably suffice in a pinch for the U.S. in a 100 free. It’s hard to bet against Katie Ledecky right now in anything, but it doesn’t appear as if she’ll make a 100 free appearance for the U.S., focusing instead on the 200, 400 and 800. Camille Bonnet of France is also good enough to swim down to a 100 free, but it sure doesn’t seem like Europe would need her to, given its strength and depth in the sprint races. Overall, this has got to be considered an edge for the European All-Stars and could be a blowout event if the youngsters from the U.S. aren’t able to pull out something spectacular.
50 free top 3 picks:
1. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (EURO)
2. Jeanette Ottesen Gray (EURO)
3. Simone Manuel (USA)
100 free top 3 picks:
1. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (EURO)
2. Megan Romano (USA)
3. Fran Halsall (EURO)
Dear Jared , i would just like to correct the Forename about a French female swimmer :
It’s Charlotte Bonnet and not Camille ( Muffat ) Bonnet . Great article nontheless . We are all excited to follow Duel in The pool . I love this very young & talented Sprint Us team . I feel great racing spirit coming from Romano and Manuel . They have The WC in Barcelona to boost up their motivation and confidence ; as well Shannon Vreeland must be in confidence to perform well . It will be very interesting to see how they cope with the pressure and how they challenge the Very strong European team .
No Halsall for the 50? Wow – Big pick. She has been 23.9 on the circuit already this year, and is getting faster every time she swims – I don’t think an American will break 24secs.
My picks – 50m – R. Kromowidjojo, F. Halsall, J. Ottesen. 100m – R. Kromowidjojo, F. Heemskerk, J. Ottesen.
Euro sweep.