Michael Andrew, 14 years old, continues to improve as critics continue to argue his training method, Ultra Short Race Pace Training (USRPT) doesn’t work. Andrew’s 47 National Age Group Records speak for themselves, but his recent appearance at the Schroeder YMCA meet in the 200-400 yard races, which were just off NAG records, may speak louder. Andrew dropped a 3:54 in the 400 yard IM and a 1:48 in the 200 yard butterfly.
Michael Andrew with Father and Coach Peter Andrew (credit: Mike Lewis)
Peter Andrew, Michael’s father and swim coach, has slowly increased his son’s range and endurance with the USRPT method, and feels the 400 IM could be a part of his son’s schedule at the 2016 US Olympic Swimming Trials. At this point Peter knows it’s too early in his son’s development to make that determination, but the 200 and 400 meter events aren’t of the table for 2016. Looking ahead to 2020, Peter feels the focus will be 50 and 100 meter events entirely.
Michael Andrew’s gaze is fixed on tentpole international events this later this year. Specifically, he would like to attend the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games in China provided USA Swimming selects him.
You can follow Michael Andrew on Twitter here.
Michael Andrew is a P2 Life Athlete. See here.
This is a Gold Medal Media production presented by SwimOutlet.com. Host Gold Medal Mel Stewart is a 3-time Olympic medalist and the co-founder of SwimSwam.com.
See Michael Andrew’s 45th, 46th and 47th NAG Record race videos here:
https://vimeo.com/86188244
https://vimeo.com/86188243
https://vimeo.com/86188242
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It fascinates me that in the USA, the birth and holy land of commercialism, US swimming folks are questioning the choice of Michael Andrew going pro.
Sports don’t make much sense in relation to how capitalistic the country is as a whole. The NCAA’s amateurism rules, professional sport drafts & salary caps…it’s all really strange how backwards those things are.
I am part of a High School team, and while we don’t do quite USRPT, we do what WE call SRPT. Just take out the ultra. As an athlete I personally love the race pace at practice. It keeps us in the top mental shape, and decreases the physical wear. On top of that, we focus highly on technique, which we could never do if we were training in a sort of “traditional” sense. We always have blazing fast relays and sprints, and most guys can get up to 100’s and 200’s very fast even with the short amount of training (we have limited pool time).
One success that I know of in a sort of “Short Race Pace… Read more »
And don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with a sort of “traditional” approach. There can be success on both sides. It all depends on the athlete. Take a look at the ever-surreptitious training methods of Bob Bowman. While he trains very high capacity training for most of his athletes, he also keeps the intensity very high. It’s all mentality, and training smart: setting goals, getting athletes to actually want to improve, swimming with a purpose (not mindlessly putting in brain-dead yards).
These are all my views as an athlete myself in a changing swimming community. Everything is changing, and I think that with all the new views on training, we will see some fantastic swimming.
But… Read more »
Michael Andrew adds excitement to swimming. He is also a beacon for young swimmers showing what they can accomplish. Good for him and his family.
Bob Bowman said that he wants his program to be the best. Not the best in the US but the best period. Whether it is age group or any other aspect. That would apply to 10&U, 11-12 etc. I try to instill that same attitude to my son. Give your best, try to be the best. I would never tell him “don’t try to be the best, swim slowly now so you can be faster later”. I don’t see the logic in that. How many Olympians, not US Olympians, were outstanding as age groupers?… Read more »
Exactly. Can you imagine the parents of an aspiring concert pianist telling their kid not to practice because they might get too good too soon? How about a skateboarder? It’s the kids who are passionate, even obsessed, who change the world.
Swimming is a very technical sport that requires both practice (skills) and training (conditioning) to reach excellence. The GOAT demonstrated this reality through his singleminded devotion to analysis, technical refinement, and hard work year after year. One of the things that makes swimming a great lifelong pursuit is that there’s always something to improve on. As with any skill based endeavor, starting young is a huge advantage.
The standard to reach is Ian thorpes’ world champion title at 15 years & a few months .
For Michael that would be Kazan. Then he will be news.
Is that the standard? So if he isn’t world champ at 15, he’ll be a failure? What a crazy standard…
As I’ve stated before… He probably won’t be on the team in Rio. And there is NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT.
I think 2016 Trials is a good focus, and maybe 2018 Worlds… but to make an conclusion on this kid and his training based on some ludicrous standards that he and his family have never talked about is completely unfair.
It’s the peanut gallery that’s talking Olympic Gold and World Records. I’ve only ever heard them talking about going faster than they are now.
It’s going to be a fun next 2-6 years. That’s for sure.
Why are you so defensive ? I have merely demonstrated that 15 year olds can reach the top.
No you were not. You were doing a kind of putting down MA. Hulk pointed that out. You said “then he will be news” – that implies he isn’t new now. He has set 47 NAG’s = he is news.
Don’t try to change your own story after HULK SMASH!!!
SMASH!!
Haha 42. Hitch hikers guide to the galaxy.
Yes, SwimSwam reports on NAGs, and yes, the Andrews try to break NAGs, but their goal isn’t for him to be the best in the world at 15 or 17. Their plan obviously extends much further than yours. You can see in their interviews that 2016 is certainly on their list of goals, but in the big picture it’s just a stepping stone to them.
So maybe Phelps broke a world record at 15. It was a 1:54.9, and 8 years later, his world record was just 3.4 seconds faster (some might object to the usage of “just” but bear in mind he had a magical supersuit aiding him, so you could argue that the actual improvement was less than… Read more »
Phelps swam a 1:52.09 in a fs2 jammer.. The magical suits did not help him all too much.
Fair enough. So, officially, his best textile time improved by 2.83 seconds in 6 years (01-07). I’m not speaking of a 2.8 second drop being bad in terms of a world record, but just saying that dropping .6 seconds in your signature event in the two years between ages 15 and 17 (July, 2001-July, 2003) or one second from ages 15-20 is not normal when you’re working hard every day and improving your technique. And I know this may sound silly since it’s the WR holder I’m talking about, but that kind of early success and slow improvement is neither normal nor ideal.
So yeah, maybe MA will only improve a bit between 15-21 just like MP. Or maybe he’ll… Read more »
What is the fuss ?
There are 2 15 year olds taking Sochi by storm in the half pipe & the w ice skating respectively . There is always room for these exceptional kids & no one is worrying about this & that. They are also both professionals on the verge of earning millions& millions.
Michael is only a domestic age group swimmer. Until he makes an international impact , his life is his entirely .
Good luck kid.
On the fitter and faster swim videos Matt Grevers said that he was the 10 and under NAG record holder in 50 back. I consider Matt Grevers and Michael Phelps to be sufficient to dispel the myth that 10 and under success is not an excellent sign that someone will achieve Olympic success. Half of uS male individual gold in 2012 was earned by people who broke 10 and under NAGs.
I do not understand why people are so obsessed with USRPT. It is not something new, Dave Salo and many other coaches have been using this type of training for years. It also does not produce “the best results in history”. So far Michael Andrew is the best age group swimmer USA swimming has seen. Until I see every gold medalist and all of the world records broken by swimmers who use USRPT, I’m not going to say it is the best way to train. Training is something that depends on the individual. People like Elizabeth Beisel (Florida & Bluefish) seem to flourish under high yardage programs. Others like Dana Vollmer do better when they switched from high yardage to… Read more »
Everything is about Michael Andrew these days… This kid is definitely a stud but let’s not put too much pressure on the guy he is only 14 at the moment… Keep up the good work Michael!
He decided to go Pro… If he wants to behave like a Professional.. he will have to live up to all the expectations that a pro must attend to.. independent of the age.. ( I know it´s harsh.. but If he wants the benefits of being pro.. he can´t have that without all the responsabilities and expectations that come together)