In just two days since she won the 400 free in Canet in a lackluster time, France’s Camille Muffat found a second-and-a-half of time drop in Monaco to go a career-best time of 4:05.46. That pushes her to 5th in the world rankings, and is a meet record that bettered the time of Lotte Friis from 2009. Last season, she went her career-best time in June as well (at the Paris Open), but then laid an absolute egg at the European Championships nearly 6-seconds off. With the World Championships starting two weeks earlier in the season schedule than Euro’s last year, and this meet coming two weeks earlier than the Paris Open, she looks like she’s dangerously on-target for another disastrous championship meet. Hopefully, her coaches recognize that and change something in her routine to avoid that this year.
Muffat coupled her win in the 400 with a victory in the 100 free in 55.05, which was interestingly more than a second off of her career-best time from March. This shows that, despite being ranked 3rd in the world in the 100, that she has been focusing on her distance-training for the 200, 400, and maybe even the 800 in Shanghai.
In the men’s 400 IM, Laszlo Cseh was contented to just cruise to a solid victory and pick up more prize money in 4:13.27. That’s two seconds off of his world-leading time in this race from the Barcelona stop a week ago (the race was not contested in Canet), but with an 18-second gap between him and his next-closest competitor there wasn’t much pressure for him to put up a special time.
In the women’s 200 fly, Japan’s Natsumi Hoshi blew the field away in 2:06.92. That breaks Felicity Galvez’s Meet Record from 2008. Australian Jessicah Schipper was 2nd in 2:08.48, and American Kim Vandenberg scored a 3rd place finish in 2:10.09. Vandenberg flies under the radar for much of the season because she’s an American who trains with the famed Marseilles club in France, but even at 27 still has to be considered a serious threat to make the 2012 Olympic team. At the very least, she’s probably the favorite to win the US National Title in this race this summer (with Mary Mohler and Jasmine Tosy as her biggest competition) and earn a spot on the Pan-Am team.
After her win from the 50m backstroke duel earlier in the race, Anastasia Zueva carried that momentum over into a mild upset in the 100 back. Her time of 59.37 beat Aya Terakawa, the same woman she beat in the 50, who touched in 59.52.
2008 Beijing silver-medalist Alexander Dale Oen from Norway won the men’s 100 breaststroke in 1:00.24, which is barely faster than his time from Canet earlier in the week. It bumps him into sole-possession of 5th-place in the world rankings. Japan’s Ryo Tateishi took 2nd in 1:01.10, and Germany’s Henrik Feldwehr was 3rd in 1:01.84. Feldwehr won the 50 breaststroke earlier in the day, and the need for an immediate jump in training yardage, caused by the late timing of the German World Championship Trials, has shown in his times.
Yannick Agnel continued his recovery from a lung infection with a win in the 200 free in 1:47.44. That’s about four-tenths slower than he went in Canet earlier in the week, but the ability to put up two 1:47’s in the same week shows that his conditioning has returned at least somewhat. Laszlo Cseh finished 2nd in 1:48.96.
After Hannah Miley dominated the 400 IM on day 1, the 200 shaped up to be a much tighter affair between her and Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry. Coventry jumped out to a big lead in the backstroke, and extended it on the breaststroke leg, but Miley is a back-half IM’er. Miley outpaced Coventry on the back-half by a full second in 2:12.69. Coventry’s runner-up time was 2:12.91.
In the men’s 200 back, Ryosuke Irie went a 1:54.34, which is the second-best swim in the world this year. In fact, Irie now holds the five fastest 200 backstrokes in the world this year: all under 1:55. In fact, nobody else in the world has even gone under 1:56 this year, though both Tyler Clary and Ryan Lochte have at least 1:53 potential. As we outlined during the Canet meet, Irie is swimming the same consistent in-season times as he did last year, only this year he’s doing them a full second faster. Many doubt whether or not he can drop down to match the two Americans in Shanghai, but he seems destined for at least a bronze.
Satomi Suzuki won the women’s 200 breaststroke in 2:26.27.
Full Results from Day 1 in Monaco
Full Results from Day 2 in Monaco
Full Recap from Monaco Sprint Finals
Full Results from Monaco Sprint Finals