SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side, or you can find the poll embedded at the bottom of this post.
Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers to pick the most impressive swim of last year:
RESULTS
Question: What was the best swim of 2016 (excluding relay splits)?
- Katinka Hosszu‘s world record 400 IM – 9.2%
- Adam Peaty‘s world record 100 breast – 52.5%
- Katie Ledecky‘s world record 800 free – 34.5%
- Sarah Sjostrom‘s world record 100 fly – 1.1%
- Cate Campbell‘s world record 100 free – 2.7%
Ever the forgotten stroke, breaststroke gets some sorely-needed recognition this week, with SwimSwam voters overwhelmingly selecting Adam Peaty‘s world record 100 breast as the best swim of the year 2016.
Peaty’s 57.13 was extremely impressive, bettering the pre-Rio mark by a whopping eight tenths of a second. In fact, Peaty is now 1.3 seconds faster than anyone else in history in the event, a margin bordering on Katie Ledecky territory.
Peaty’s world record beat out Ledecky’s 800 free world record by 18%, or about 400 votes. We only included Ledecky’s 800, leaving off her 400 so as not to split her votes between events. Her 800 free finished a solid second in our votes after lowering the old world record from 8:06.68 to 8:04.79. Over the year as a whole, Ledecky took the record to 8:04 from 8:07.39, breaking the record twice in 2016.
Katinka Hosszu‘s unbelievable 400 IM earned less than 10% of the votes – an interesting result, given the record itself inspired massive doping allegations when it was set by China’s Ye Shiwen in 2012. Hosszu broke the record by more than two full seconds in winning her first Olympic gold.
Cate Campbell‘s record seemed to suffer from its limited context. Campbell set the 100 free world record (a formerly super-suited record) in July at a nondescript national meet. Her disappointing Olympic showing likely dampened her vote-getting capabilities here. The oddball is Sarah Sjostrom‘s 100 fly, which garnered just 26 total votes in more than 2,300 ballots cast. Sjostrom took two tenths off her own world record and is now a half-second faster than anyone in history. Perhaps working against Sjostrom is that she has so roundly dominated the butterfly races for the past four years that her gold medal win and new world record were almost completely unsurprising to a great number of fans – a true case of a perception of success actually working against Sjostrom’s notability.
Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks voters to pick which NCAA swimmers are most likely to repeat their 2016 double individual titles.
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ABOUT A3 PERFORMANCE
The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner
I voted for Peatty’s swim but, to be honest, choosing that performance over the others noted is kinda like choosing a Picasso over a Monet as compared to a Renoir & a Jackson Pollack. All great works of art and not going wrong with any of them. A fun exercise, though!
His – Peaty’s – relay split, though, was… I don’t know if I can describe it with being hyperbolic. Absolutely out of this world and maybe the greatest relay performance of all time in the history of the sport.
This race of Adam Peaty deserves to be considered one of the most impressive race of the season and not this season only. Now imagine that he improves this time by 0.1 sec next year that would be even greater achievement. Nobody will care. Such is the life in sport: whatever is expected is not a news. Not meeting expectations is a failure regardless of the quality of the result. In 2014 Ledecky’s 15:28 won the award of the best race of the year. Next year her 15:25 wasn’t even listed among achievements considered for such award.
Peaty’s conversion would be like swimming 100-yard breaststroke in a :46. Crazy, impressive swim.
These hot disputes of who is greater trying to compare incomparable without providing any reasonable common ground where some measures and numbers can apply, totally relying on personal taste, devotion, preferences, ambitions, etc
all these reminds me uncompromised dispute between two five years old boys of who is stronger elephant or whale and who will win the fight lion or tiger.
Come on people, grow up. It is like comparing two type of infinities trying to figure out which one is larger. They both are infinite. The only thing that makes Katie Ledecky’s and Adam Peaty’s achievements look alike is the following:
I can assure you that nobody who contributes to this site will never see in… Read more »
Ledecky’s swims were impressive but in comparison to Peaty they were a sad joke.
To improve your mood and to move from “sad joke” to a funny one I can advise you (if I may) to watch 2012 Olympic final at 800 freestyle ( https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JHbNKX3VkIM ). It was so funny when 15 yo noone has joked around by six and eights seconds the toughest swimmers at this distance including world record holder. Fooling them that she will dye at the end of the race after swimming the first half under incredible world record pace. And that was a baby-talk compare to what has followed. I agree with you that it is very sad that this unprecedented four years run of steady improvement is completed and targets got achieved.… Read more »
There is nothing impressive about a swimmer who can do nothing but distance freestyle. Watching her swim is boring and uninspiring. No respectable coach or swimmer will ever respect distance races because they require no hard work. Just natural talent. Sprinters have to work for their success. Too bad that the majority of the swimming world is not too intelligent and takes what they see at face value.
Ledecky’s a “sad joke”, ladies and gentlemen. You heard it here.
If Ledecky (Stanford Athlete, multiple world record holder, multiple Olympic Gold medalist, continuously improving) is a “sad joke” what does that make you, on your computer at home saying hurtful things about a college girl? Class act.
🙂 🙂 to all those who voted negatively on my comment I’m asking to excuse me for reminding your age. Life is short and the End is inevitably coming and those two records of these exceptional swimmers are really tough to beat. I’m sorry but it is true. 🙂 🙂
Boxing have their pound for pound rankings, countries have their sport personality of the year etc. All based on people’s jundment. You have an interesting perspective on the simple question, what was best swim of 2016.
Maybe this poll was just for fun? It isn’t taking away the amazing performances of this athletes. You taking this too seriously dude.
Sure. I know, Sir. Swimswam does it to keep the reading audience active when nothing is happening in January. And if you think I’m taking it seriously, then you are mistaken. Do you really think that I believe that I can change opinion/view of such funny joke loving people like Mr/Mrs (whatever it is) SWIMMER?
It is dark, cold lonely evening in my place. What else can we do to entertain ourselves but playing games of words?
Tiger obviously. Whale likely, depending on species
Thank you for returning memories of that nice time of my life. But allow me to complete your response : whale will crash elephant, tiger beats lion … and my dad is the strongest man in the world. 🙂