2021 ATLANTA CLASSIC
- May 14-16, 2021
- McAuley Aquatic Center @ Georgia Tech
- Atlanta, GA
- Hosted by SwimAtlanta
- LCM Format (50m)
- Top 40 Finals: A, B, C, D (18&U)
- Meet Site
- Meet Packet
- Psych Sheets
- Wave I & II Olympic Trials Cuts
- FINA Olympic Qualifying Standards
Reported by Nick Pecoraro.
MEN’S 200 BACK — FINALS
- Meet Record: 1:55.94, Ryan Murphy (CAL), 2016
- Wave II Cut: 2:00.81
- Wave I Cut: 2:02.99
Top 3:
- Ryan Murphy (Cal Aquatics), 1:56.14
- Bryce Mefford (Unattached), 1:58.16
- Daniel Carr (Unattached), 1:59.62
Dropping 5.77 seconds from his smooth morning swim was Ryan Murphy, splitting 27.20/28.99/29.55/30.40 at 1:56.14. Murphy was just a hair of his top American time this season of 1:56.04 from PSS San Antonio. Cal teammate Bryce Mefford took second at 1:58.16, ranking third in the US behind Shaine Casas (1:58.04).
Cal’s Daniel Carr placed third with a sub-2:00 effort of 1:59.62, swimming ahead of top-6 finishers Dynamo’s Ian Grum (2:00.25), SwimAtlanta’s Keegan Walsh (2:00.38), and Florida’s Clark Beach (2:00.43).
It’s probably The Field > Murph in the 100 back, but I don’t know that there’s any one swimmer with a better chance to win. I guess that makes him “the favorite” in my book. In the 200, he’s further off, but there are fewer real contenders so his chance to win is probably just as good. 3:1? 4:1?
He swam two perfect races in Rio to win gold and achieve his childhood dreams.
This time around he’s got even more competition. He’ll need some PBs to get both golds again.
I hope the tapers go well. I’m sure he’s put in the work to be ready.
I feel like people write him off way too much based on the fact that his best year during the last quad was 2018 and 17 and 19 worlds he was just OK by his lofty standards. If he had swam the times in 2019 that he did in 2018 everyone would be picking him again.
I think this is true. Even in the 200back, Rylov hasn’t pushed the times to territories that are outside of Ryan’s abilities, despite the fact that he’s drop something like 0.7 in his 100back.
I do think it’s the drop in rylov’s 100back that suggests to my that Rylov hasn’t been swimming the 200back anywhere near his potential.
Until 2019 Rylov’s 100 back was lacking behind his 200, which was strange because his 50 back is always very good yet he almost always tried to back half his 100 (basically even splitting a bunch of 52’s since Rio). He finally started going out well under 26 for the first 50 which is what brought his 100 down to the 51.9 -52.1 range. I definitely think he’ll be 1:52 in Rio and the 200 is definitely his race to lose at this point. If Murph is on in the 100 I think he wins, Xu and Rylov have never swam their fastest 100 of the season in the 100 back finals but it would also be pretty incredible to… Read more »
Rylov would win the 2 back in Gwangju even if Murphy swam his 2018 time (which is also his current pb), but the margin would be small. (1:53.40 v 1:53.57).
Of all the major “stars” of the swimming world, I think Ryan Murphy is my favorite — by a mile. While character judgments done from afar are always suspect, he strikes me as a superstar who 1) seems to have NO guile whatsoever; 2) his modesty concerning his achievements always hangs ‘in perspective’; 3) he never tires of saying he can improve, but with a sincerity I find authentic; 4) he ought to be sitting on the IOC and FINA when his swimming days are over.
For real. He carries basically 0 weight of being someone who swept the backstrokes and set a world record at an Olympic Games.
He’s too genuine (and morally intact) to be in FINA. Maybe IOC though, but honestly I see him using that Haas business degree for more good elsewhere.
Wow townley got a school named after him. Kinda bummed it wasn’t the communications department tho
Totally agree. I’m not saying other pro swimmers don’t do this but the way Murphy has built his brand and holds himself really reminds me of other superstars across other sports. Yeah other pro swimmers have endorsements but the way Murphy goes about it gives off a really “professional” vibe. In other words, you can tell he is actively seeking to collaborate with other brands to build his and the sport of swimming. Ex. Men’s fitness, Goldfish, etc.
Dressel comes to mind too. Both are humble, thoughtful, and overall great representatives of the sport.