Reported by James Sutherland.
Ryan Murphy: “It’s good to be in a tight race like that, there’s definitely some places where there’s room to improve in these next couple of weeks, but I’m happy to be in a tight race like that – happy that me and Jacob [Pebley] got on the team.”
MEN’S 200 BACK FINALS
- American Record: 1:51.92, Aaron Peirsol, 2009
- U.S. Open Record: 1:53.08, Aaron Peirsol, 2009
- LC National Meet Record: 1:53.08, Aaron Peirsol, 2009
- FINA ‘A’ Standard: 1:58.55
- Ryan Murphy, CAL, 1:54.30
- Jacob Pebley, CAL, 1:54.78
- Robert Owen, HOKI, 1:57.17
The Cal duo of Ryan Murphy and Jacob Pebley came through as expected tonight, going 1-2 in times of 1:54.30 and 1:54.78 respectively. Murphy was out from the start, out in 26.91 at the 50. Pebley essentially matched his splits from there, coming within a hundredth of his PB from 1:54.77.
Robert Owen held 3rd throughout the race, touching in 1:57.17, with Sean Lehane 4th (1:57.33) and Austin Katz 5th (1:57.60).
Bryce Mefford (1:58.63) and Alessandro Boratto (2:00.87) won the B and C-finals respectively.
Ok… Murphy wanted to be a pro swimmer at age 7 when he practiced 2x a week. BUT now I practice 2x a week and everyone tells me that I’m never going pro. What gives???
Such an awsome swimmer and great role model. Hope he’ll get the double (or even triple?) at worlds like he did Rio. It wont be easy but I believe he can
I knew Piersol was fast, but I had forgotten just how fast!
Murphy seems to be the fastest after Piersol …and still has a margin for improvement
Lochte is actually the second with 1.52 from 2011 worlds
100flyer, Irie is actually 2nd with his 1:52.5 compared to lochtes 1:52.9
in the 100
that 200 back WR seems unreachable – and the Us Open record is not easy to come close to either . ?
Piersol was always on another level, and his longevity and medal haul make him a strong candidate for greatest backstroker of all time.
That record also was done in an Arena x-glide supersuit in 2009. Piersol was on fire that year, seemed to benefit from the suits, and had just missed making the finals in the 100 earlier in the meet so he had a chip on his shoulder. I also go the distinct impression he knew 2009 could be his last World Championships and that he wanted to leave the world record in a place that would really cement his legacy.
All those factors combined result in a 1:51 backstroke, something that might not be touched for… Read more »