Swimming Video is courtesy of Universal Sports Network, a SwimSwam Partner.
Men’s 100 Freestyle – FINALS — reported by SwimSwam.com
Michael Phelps – goes 48.8 in the 100 free, an in-season, unshaven PB.
Michael Phelps stays underwater much longer than most sprint freestylers, but it appeared to work for him. Nathan Adrian was out first at the wall in 22.96 and stayed ahead to win the race with a time of 48.17. Michael Phelps had the advantage of being next to Nathan Adrian’s tsunami of a wake, swimming into second place with a 48.80. Both Adrian and Phelps were more than a second faster than they were this morning. Conor Dwyer fell one position from this morning to finish third with a time of 49.76. Adam Brown and Yannick Agnel were also able to sneak under the 50 second barrier for 4th and 5th. Matt Mclean won the B-final of the men’s 100 freestyle with a time of 50.26.
Full coverage of the 2014 Arena Grand Prix at Santa Clara is here.
A really good time for Phelps now.
Damn…Chieriguini needs to get his top form now more than never.I know he is in heavy training, but so is Santana and he is a second faster right now doing heavy weights.
Accidentally early post…
…(let the phelps phreaks and their defense of the GOAT commence)
If he really pulls the trigger and goes after it, seriously for the 100free, could we see a change in his free technique with 2016 in mind?
I only ask because that giant gallop just seems like a huge drag everytime he comes back down to the water. Many of the big boys have a little lope during the breathing cycle, but not to that proportion.
I don’t think it’s a matter of if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Short of having a massive strength assymetry, there could be huge dividens paid off for evening it out. His last 10 meters he put his head down and came in fast, surely that even stroke would pay off the whole… Read more »
I think it’s a fine stroke to use for the 100 and that he’s able to use the extra rotation of the breath to help power the pull of that arm, but I agree that dialing that back just a tad would be beneficial. I think the only way for him to improve sheer speed would be to increase stroke rate, which the huge breathing stroke doesn’t facilitate as much as finding a happy medium between the hybrid stroke with the huge gallop and a less pronounced, more evenly tempo’d hybrid.
It’ll be interesting to see if and how they tweak it in the coming months, now that there’s no need to worry about the 400 IM or 200 fly,… Read more »
48 low for MP in August!
I can’t believe there’s even a chance he swims a 47.
It’s amazing.
I hope he will swim the 100 free and the 100 fly at Pan Pacs in individual and the 3 relays even if swimming 2 races of 100 free and one 200 free in the relay the same day could be a little challenge for him.
Possible schedule
Day 1. Nothing
Day 2. 100 free and 4X200 free relay
Day 3. 100 fly and 4X100 free relay
Day 4. 4X100 medley relay
😎
I noticed Phelps was the only one in this final whose front lower leg angled back when he took his mark. Everyone else’s front lower leg was straight up and down, pitching them more forward. Maybe he’s leaning back more than necessary?
Also, was that Agnel closest to the camera? His entry is looking floppier than it did in London and Barcelona. Like his hands might be entering late / too high relative to his elbow.
I noticed that too! I think the style of start he was using won’t get you off the block as quickly but MIGHT give you more momentum entering the water; I guess people have to experiment and see what works best for them. Don’t you wish there was a way you could get your comment to Bowman to see if he noticed that? LOL! He could thank you in the press conference following Phelps’ PanPac 100 free win!
Bowman has been known to reply to tweets occasionally…
There’s at least some recent evidence suggesting that the rear weighted track start might be as good or better than a front weighted track start (here’s an abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18341139– only female subjects in the study, no males, for what that’s worth). Ultimately, it’s going to vary depending on what the swimmer is able to execute well and some physical attributes. Rate of force production in the legs and hips vs. peak force etc.
I believe Cordes utilizes a rear weighted track start, which especially makes sense to me for breaststroke since you have to get the absolute most speed and distance out of your start to make up for the lack of dolphin kicks.… Read more »
Is it just me, or did it look REALLY windy at the start. The flags were being knocked around a ton IMO. Not saying wind made ’em slower, but it probably didn’t make them faster.
I noticed that too, McGillRocks. I’ve swum in that pool before and it can get pretty windy sometimes. I was shocked that Phelps went so fast. Who would have thought that this early in his comeback he would be doing an unshaven, in-season best? He never ceases to amaze me. Adrian very consistent and things are looking great for him as well.
Debbie downer time – how often did he swim the 100 free in-season before? And if he did, odds are he was swimming 10,000 other things the same weekend, yes?
What was his in-season best time prior to this? I always need to temper expectations, womp womp.
Wow, thanks for posting! I didn’t know that!