2017 FINA WORLD CUP – SINGAPORE
- Saturday, November 18th & Sunday, November 19th
- OCBC Aquatic Centre, Singapore
- SCM
- Prelims 9:30am local/Finals 6pm local
- Startlists
- Day 1 Recap
- Results
Reigning short course world champion in the 100m IM, Michael Andrew of the United States, lowered his own World Junior Record in the event while competing on day 1 of the Singapore World Cup stop. After bypassing prelims, Andrew crushed a new personal best of 51.65 to earn silver tonight behind Russian Vlad Morozov, while outperforming his own pervious career-fastest of 51.84 that won him the world title in Windsor.
In both his Windsor race and tonight’s event in Singapore, Andrew took out his opening 50 in identical marks of 23.57. The difference came on the back half, where the Kansas native was able to drop .19 and earn a split of 28.08 tonight compared to the 28.27 he registered last December.
Andrew had another big star from whom he could pace tonight, as Russia’s Vlad Morozov clocked 50.49 to come within .19 of his own World Record time of 50.30. For perspective, the 25-year-old former USC Trojan scored splits of 23.00 and 27.49 to win the gold tonight by over a second.
Andrew’s 51.65 now checks the teen in as the 14th fastest performer in the event of all-time, tying China’s Wang Shun. When looking exclusively at Americans, however, Andrew now slides into the spot as the 2nd fastest performer ever, sitting only behind Ryan Lochte and his 50.71 from Istanbul. Andrew’s time tonight ties legendary swimmer Michael Phelps‘ mark of 51.65 from 2011 as the #2 fastest U.S. performer of all-time.
Everyone acknowledges that he is a great 50 swimmer in LC and that he is still improving, but they are also aware of how risky it is to put all your hopes into a 50 free, especially for the Olympics. He is really limiting his options and I think people want to see him on senior national teams but are worried that his plan and training won’t see him be as successful
90 plus percent of all U.S. Olympians not named Dressel, Ledecky, Lochte, or Phelps, etc. put all their eggs in a one event basket for the Olympics. Sure, they may swim more than one event, but few make it in more than one event. You could say it’s too risky for Lilly King or Adam Peaty to just be a 100 breastroker, for Tony Ervin to just do the 50 free, for Kalisz to only make the team in the 400 IM, for Grevers to just be a 100 back guy, etc. MA is a truly gifted sprinter. He’ll get better as Ervin and Adrian are likely to get worse with age by 2020. Only Dressel is ahead of him… Read more »
The thing is tho,Michael andrew has the potential to be a ledecky,phelps,or dressel type swimmer. He is so versatile and if he trained a little differently(in my opionon) could make the olympics in multiple events. That’s why everyone “hates” on him.
The 50 is simply a “riskier” event because of the amount of things that need to be done perfectly. MA could swim 21.7 again in 2020 and still somehow miss the Olympic team because someone snuck in ahead of him at the wall. The only example stated above that truly is risky is grevers in the 100 back because that event is so competitive and new backstroke talent emerges every Olympic cycle. Ervin is most likely done, at 39 it would be even more of a miracle to make the team again than winning Olympic gold at 35. King and peaty are the world record holders and far ahead of the rest of their respective countries and kalisz is now… Read more »
Making a little money along the way with the events he’s already good at doesn’t count as just focusing on the sprints. Kid’s swam the 400 IM like 4 times this season already. They’re clearly looking to prove something this year.
I completely agree, especially in swimming where there aren’t many chances to make significant money if you aren’t a superstar with a household name. I mentioned in a previous comment I thought it was good he was trying new things and switching up his races/training. I was just responding to the comment roughly saying “he’s a pure sprinter and 2nd in the US in the 50 free so he’s fine for the Olympics in 2020”. All the 400IM’s will be helpful for his 200IM and it would be great to see him have a breakout 200IM or 100 breast in the coming years. MA excels in the sprints and has a real shot there, but could also be extremely successful… Read more »
I quit doing the 100 IM when I was 13.
He turned pro when he was 14.
Congratulations Michael Andrew on a job well done. But.. I think the road to you making the 200 IM in 2020 just got even tougher with Caeleb swimming an unshaven SCY 1:40.6. I don’t think Caeleb is just having fun now with the 200 IM. He’s a man on a Tokyo 2020 mission. ?
MA’s road to Tokyo is the 50 free. Three 21.7’s at Jr. Worlds, putting him ahead of Adrian as the #2 U.S. sprinter, makes trying to drop 4 seconds in the 200 IM to make the team seem stupid. He’s a sprinter, and the rest of us need to get over that.
lol
Only .36 away from a World Record! You can do it, Michael! Keep up the good work!
Math is hard for some people.
I was going to comment on this earlier. I’m glad I didn’t because your comment is great.
Do you think the fastest swimmers have kind of small heads? MA’s head seems kinda small from this angle.
Boom. You’ve cracked the mystery. WADA is considering cracking down on head vises.
Good to see that he is improving and seems to be trying new things in his training. The only issue, which I’m sure will be repeated in the comments, is that it’s a 100 IM. Yes the time is crazy fast and tying MP in any event is an accomplishment but it doesn’t really count to most of the swimming world as a “real” event.
Same can be said about “most of the swimming world” for SCY times. So, in other words, David Nolan never really swam.
In the world of swimming (LCM) outside the USA/college swimming I don’t know if many people would know David Nolan’s name. He, like MA is/was an amazing swimmer, that isn’t the argument i’m trying to make. I’m trying to say in the world of swimming SCY and SCM doesn’t really count and is seen more as a fun thing/novelty for the swimmers. People can be successful there but LCM is where it counts and where people are remembered around the world.
Dudeman, MA said exactly that two years ago, and got a load of stick from the college swimming fans. That is also one of the reasons he is not bothering with college. He thinks SCY is a joke.
If I recall dad made that decision for him when he went “pro” at age 14. It’s easy to claim that decision was because short course is irrelevant after that decision was made for you.
Pumped he can swim that at the olympics..oh wait
Well, you’re right. This is good for kicks & Grand Prix season prize money. But the full flower of Andrew’s international career will be 2020 & 2024. There isn’t a 100 IM long course. The 50 fly, back & breast won’t be events in 2020 or 2024. We know that…that die is cast. And yet, what are the 4 events Andrew seems to target most? 100 IM short course, and 50 fly, back, breast.
He’s got to make his focus on Olympic events. I know he’s really sharp at these, but come next long course season and in 2019, Andrew really needs a more focused events plan.
Second-ranked American in the 50 LCM free last summer (ahead of Adrian), so I guess he could use that as a fallback.
Well said. Argument over
He has to swim it three times at Trials.