Simma.Nu, the world’s leading source of news about the Scandanavian swimming community, is reporting that Lotte Friis is the latest swimmer who will join Bob Bowman’s crew in North Baltimore.
Friis, who today swam her first ever open water race (which she won in a course record), won silvers in both the 800 and 1500 freestyles at the World Championships in Barcelona a month ago. She was the swimmer who went toe-to-toe with American Katie Ledecky in that instant-classic 1500 freestyle where both swimmers crushed the old World Record.
We spoke with North Baltimore head coach Bob Bowman, who said that Lotte will be joining the club for a few months to “see how it goes” before deciding on the long term.
Friis, in the lead up to Worlds, headed to Nice, France to train with one of the world’s really great middle distance freestylers Camille Muffat. As that program has gone through a lot of turmoil with head coach Fabrice Pellerin having some public disagreements with his star swimmers, Muffat will depart despite her success in Barcelona.
Now, she’ll head across the Atlantic with her former Nice teammate Yannick Agnel and join a group that includes Conor Dwyer, Tom Luchsinger, and eventually is expected to include the return of Allison Schmitt after she completes her education at Georgia.
So from one incredible middle-distance swimmer in Nice, to another in Schmitt. Friis and Ledecky could see each other more often in-season this year, with the two now training only about 45 miles apart (Ledecky at Georgetown Prep in North Bethesda, and Friis at NBAC.
Agnel, Dwyer and McLean in the same training lane. Jeez, like the riches of the Club Wolverine days. More impressive the flock came to Bowman sans Phelps.
to be honest…it might actually be because of “sans phelps” that they came. Previously, despite having a flock of swimmers…Bowman was still hyperfocused on Phelps…WHILE STILL COACHING OTHERS INCREDIBLY WELL. Now that Phelps is out of the pool…Bowman’s attention is a bit more undivided.
Don’t know if Phelps ever would come back but having these guys in the pool to train with would definitely be a check in the plus column if he ever starts thinking about coming back.
There is an interview with Danish head coach Nick Juba (don’t worry it’s mostly in English 🙂 at the Danish swim fed website here: http://www.svoem.dk/Nyheder/Nyhed/?id=906. Not really any new info though.
just did some social media detective work…gabriel fidelis, a swimmer from brazil, has also joined NBAC! (I admittedly am not familiar with her…)
ADD ANOTHER NAME TO NBAC:
According to twitter, Matt McLean is joining as well. (I think he just graduated…and given the coaching changes at UVA…makes sense to move to a post-grad group.)
oops. he graduated in 2011…and then trained at FAST with Jon Urbanczek.
regardless…going back to that extremely vague michael phelps tweet…conor dwyer’s subsequent response..(which seems to be deleted now…)…and today being the first day of training at NBAC….I’M THINKING MICHAEL PHELPS IS COMING BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Everyone here (and in other swimming forums) know that I will be the least surprised person if/when Phelps is back swimming.
Matt McClean started in the water today with NBAC. Good to see him part ways with the mess in Charlottesville.
Lotte’s start in USA got off to a rough start.Her SAS flight had to turn around after 1.5-2 hr flight due to technical issues…Wish her only the best in the US
Bobo could act as an investigative journalist and find out those things concerning Muffat. At least, inferred from her instagram photos she still seems to be on holiday.
Bobo, I believe Swimswam will publish the most recent photo of Olivia Smoliga in their next article about her if you discover something.
Don’t worry too much for Camille.
She was recently in Disneyland.
http://lemag.eurosport.fr/article/camille-muffat-prend-l-air-a-disneyland_a43370/1
Here’s the scenario of the drama.
It’s a very good soap opera.
Yannick Agnel thinks the coach Fabrice Pellerin could be more human with him.
The Agnel’s family hates Pellerin for a long moment.
Fabrice Pellerin hates the agent of Agnel and Muffat, Sophie Kamoun.
But Camille is so close to Sophie that she couldn’t continue to swim whithout her!
Will she have to choose between her coach or her agent?
Next episode in a few days with the start of training. 🙂
The only aspect I’m interested in all this drama is:
What kind of swimmer will Agnel be after one year with Bowman?
I want to see Agnel training for the 200 free/400 free double in the next years. He’s the only guy on earth who can beat Sun Yang. I want to watch this match in Rio!
Mr Bowman, please, forget the 100 free for Agnel.
I go along with you about Agnel’s events.
Even though he has delivered one monster leg in 4x100m freestyle, I’m rooting for Agnel to choose Thorpe’s path instead of Hoogenband’s. Agnel has shown he is very good at 400m freestyle, his stroke seems to fit well in it and he can challenge and encourage Sun Yang in a 400-metres freestyle.
Thorpe’s path was 100-200-400.
So you are actually suggesting Agnel to expand.
Nevertheless, I doubt very much Agnel will get to sub 3:40, the requirement to beat Sun Yang.
That’s fast. So we’re going to see a world record to fall then… 🙂
It’s about time the 400 WR fall.
Textile 400 free record is now the longest standing ever WR at 12 years.
If only Sun Yang has somebody real fast swimming next to him, he might have already broken it.
Thanks. And after Disneyland, Camille Muffat, it’s time to dive back into pool! She could train a little bit with Pellegrini. They can cross-teach each other about opening and closing speed in a race.
They need to solve that triangle of anger (or the scenario of drama as Bobo referred to it). In elite sports you can’t afford such distractions in your life. Everything must be in order.
Oh no!!!!
Please, don’t put Federica Pellegrini and Philippe Lucas in the casting of my soap opera!
The last thing we need is Pellegrini and all her dramas.
There would be another boyfriend story after one week. 🙂
well heres an Olivia sneak preview 🙂
just 4 her biggest international fan (that means u Bobo!)
https://www.google.com/search?site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1471&bih=906&q=olivia+smoliga&oq=olivia+smoliga
hope this will motivate you to spy n report on all the French teams activities hehe
so US fans here can exploit all their weaknesses b4 Kazan or Rio (ie encourage Amary to enjoy more hamburgers n pringles lol)
Dear emilyr, I see you are always the best swimming gossip writer! 🙂
But I’m not sure I’m her biggest international fan.
I’m sure she has thousands of other fans in the world.
And among the swimswam readers too. 😛
About the weaknesses of the French swimmers, I think I don’t have to spy and report! We have remarked they were very skilled for the dramas and very good to make them public! 🙂
Wowww… this is a stunning news.
NBAC is going to have a crazy collection of swimmers to rival Salo’s.
This also means Friis will train together with one of her main competitors in 400 free, as I assume Friis will move back down to 400-800 for the next olympics cycle.
I wonder how this move will affect her, but she’ll be testing the water for few months and this is the ideal time to try out new coach/environment before Rio.
I hope she keeps improving (which is stunning since she’s already 25) or at least maintain her speed to give some sort of resistance to Ledecky. Her 1,500 battle with Ledecky was one of if not the greatest swim race… Read more »
Still a total mistery for Muffat.
Of course the depart of Agnel was surprising for her. Of course the media drama with the coach and Agnel has been a problem a few days before Barcelona.
But I believe more in the fact that she hasn’t accepted to see a youngster, Katie Ledecky, coming in her primary event and dominating. She knew for many weeks before Barcelona she would be beaten. And Miss Ledecky attacks the races like her. Very fast. I think Camille was in shape to swim at least 4.02 but the head wasn’t there. And many times in her career we have seen her mentally collapsing. I thought it was a finished problem after London where… Read more »
Oh no… Is Muffat turning into a (Laurel) Manadou?
This is like a Deja Vu.
Manadou also infamously gave up while racing the 400 free in Beijing (finished eighth at 4:11.26!) once she knew she would be beaten by Pellegrini (in the end it was Adlington who won), and she collapsed in her other races too! And this was only one year after her super successful 2007 Worlds.
And now. following successful 2012, Muffat may also have done a Manadou in BCN.
I think Manadou was also sulking in 2005 Montreal and scratched 800.
I also think that Barcelona was a tactical blunder by Muffat. Why did she enter 100-200-400-800? (did she actually train for 800 too?) Sure… Read more »
I believe that both of your analysis of mental blow caused by Ledecky in 400-metres, aka Laure Maunaudou in Beijing, is quite close to be truth. In my book Muffat’s form wasn’t enough to go below 4 minutes in 400m but the title in 200m freestyle wasn’t beyond her reach.
I’ve said this before and do it again, these mental ghosts ruining your performance appear to be excessively a European problem, okay, maybe Aussies have had their fair share of it as well. What makes this interesting is the fact that, mentally, Agnel seemed to be just the opposite of Muffat.
I think that’s because Agnel seems to be very pragmatic to me.
After his last showing in 2011 Shanghai where his 400 free plateaued and where he was left even further behind by Yang and Park, and knowing that the landscape of men200 free was relatively weak, Agnel made very swift decision to abandon 400 free, and focusing on 100-200 free in order to take advantage of weak field and that he knew he could still improve by a lot in 100.200.
His very quick, pragmatic and well-thought off decision resulted in such great 2012 London.
I also doubt he will take on the 400 again. He has stopped swimming 400 LCM for two years now. You just don’t stop… Read more »
Really interesting analysis.
I agree Muffat should now focus on the 200 free. I think her time is over in the 400 free. She has been olympic champion. What to expect more? Miss Ledecky is, in my opinion, too much ahead now.
About Agnel, I understand your arguments but let me dream of this showdown. Yannick Agnel vs Sun Yang in the 200 free and in the 400 free! Wow! I think Yannick is unbeatable in the 200 free until Rio. He will take strength and will work very hard his underwaters with Mr Bowman. He has a great training partner with Conor Dwyer. I don’t expect a world record, 1.42.00 is just too stupid, but I see… Read more »
Yes, a well reasoned piece of writing by ASwimFan which is appreciated of course.
My view on Agnel’s chances in the 400m may be a bit deluded by Agnel’s performances in 400 SCM.
As for Muffat’s events in the future what possibly applies to her may be relevant to Pellegrini as well. Moreover, Pellegrini lacks the (opening) speed what is needed in 100m but what Muffat proved to possess, which squeezes Federica into the 200-metres freestyle.
I don’t want to sound disrespectful by any means, but to think that Agnel has his 400 peak behind him after at age 21 ( finished just June this year) and after this insane 3:32 short course World record last year is almost insulting. I am a bit tired of this constant talk about the age, and placing a 21 year old into this is an absurd. To be perfectly honest I don’t think he even reached his prime yet. I believe the young age of the swimmers in the past wast more to do with the opportunities given to them back in the days. Swimming was a great way to finish college but there was not much more after… Read more »
Paul,
I think you are over-dramatizing.
No one here is trying to decide any swimmer’s future.
In this particular article Bobo, swimfanfinland, and I are just swim fans who are having fun and talking about swimmers performances and their potentials.
1. I don’t know why you said that I am almost insulting to say that Agnel’s 400 peak is behind him. I never said that. This is what I ACTUALLY said:
“I also doubt he will take on the 400 again. He has stopped swimming 400 LCM for two years now. You just don’t stop training specifically for 400 free for a few years and then hoping you could challenge WR after only re-starting training specifically for 2 years,… Read more »
Having said all those above, I realized that I may not have made myself clear for Paul:
I don’t think Agnel has reached his fastest 400 free, and if he gets back to training for 400 again, it very possible he will set 400 PB, but based on statistics and history, it will be unlikely he can set 400 free WR (which I additionally think is the requirement to beat Sun Yang either in Kazan or Rio).
I think that the American philosophy of “Race quite often, even when you’re in heavy training and not expecting to do amazing things” does help many swimmers build mental toughness so that you don’t feel like you need to have everything go perfectly for you to have a decent swim.
There really does seem to often be a difference between an amazing racer and a swimmer who sometimes goes amazing times.
I actually went over to Copenhagen to watch this race yesterday, my first ever open water event 🙂 Enjoyed it despite the terrible weather (typical Danish summer has returned with a vengeance after the freakishly hot weather we had in early August) and Lotte gave me a nice smile and a wave before the start,
This comes as something of a surprise as Lotte seemed to be really settled in Nice and enjoying things there. However the Danish article says that she is going to train with Bowman up until the European short course championships because she wants to prepare really well for a championship at home and it won’t be a priority for the training group at Nice. So… Read more »
Will she focus on open water now with Rio in mind or was it just for fun yesterday?
I think she was considering it at one point, but as far as I know just for fun. I think the fact that she swam so well in Barcelona may keep her in the pool.
Thank you. I hope she continues in the pool. We need many other great battles in the future between Katie Ledecky and Lotte Friis. It was so amazing to watch in Barcelona.
I can’t help thinking Agnel’s departure had a bad effect on the Nice squad and, in my opinion, it was visible in Muffat’s performance in the 400-metres freestyle when she clearly gave up.
Fabrice Pellerin did a good job for Lotte. When you look at the likes of Muffat and Agnel, his long-time pupils, he is the one to ask for if one is dreaming of a long and smooth freestyle stroke. I’m sad if there are other problems which prevents talents from improving further.
Lotte’s comment that it wouldn’t be possible to prepare for Herning properly in Nice sounds little bit like giving reassurance. Where Pellerin’s squad is preparing for so furiously that no compromises cannot be made between… Read more »
Perhaps we’ll hear a bit more in due course, you could be right that her explanation has a little bit of diplomacy in there.
This will be quite a blow for Muffat too, as she and Lotte seemed to have become very good friends.
It’s turning into something of a swimming soap opera…
She’s not hanging around either!
http://statigr.am/p/535239616658271956_344512170
haha. Sorry, I didn’t refresh the site. You noticed that first!
At least Muffat has still Charlotte Bonnet to train with. Lotte didn’t wait long to implement her decision (after it was made public):
http://instagram.com/p/dtjZh0oe7U/#
I don’t know who is currently training there, but Dave Salo had these swimmers training with him part or full time: Kitajima, Mellouli, the russians (morozov, efimova, etc), Dominik Meichtry, Katinka Hosszu, Mads Glaesner, Clement Lefert, not to mention top US swimmers such as Hardy, Soni, Berens, Anderson, etc. Dunno if they are still training with him though.
Apparently Thorpe also trained for a month or two with Dave Salo in 2006 when he flee Australia.
A very impressive list of names.
Hosszu mentioned something that she wasn’t completely happy with the level of attention she got after which she moved back to the Hungary, or several places around the world as she’s competing all the time. However, maybe you can’t expect too much attention if your training partners consist of names you listed.
It’s always balancing. The high level of competition in training is generally a good thing but it comes at the cost of attention directed at an individual, methinks.
I think they are still far from the Trojan Swim Club in Los Angeles. I call this place the united nations of swimming. 🙂
I had made a list last spring and I had between 20 and 40 international swimmers who trained regularly or momentarily there.