London 2012: Omar’s Swimmers to watch

Omar Elhamawy 05:46 28/07/2012
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  • Michael Phelps (USA): One last time 

    When the greatest of all time steps on the blocks, you just have to sit down and watch. With 14 Olympic gold medals, 26 world championship gold medals and I don’t know how many world records on his resume, he is the greatest swimmer of all time. PERIOD.

    So even if he smokes weed or doesn’t even make it to any of the finals, he has nothing left to prove to anyone. However, since Beijing it hasn’t been all rosy for MP. After a slow 2009 and 2010 (relatively that is) he ended the world championships in Shanghai last summer with 4 gold medals, two silver and a bronze, impressive by anybody’s standards but his. 

    He is not happy about being relegated to second best, and he is definitely not happy about losing two events to his countryman Ryan Lochte in Shanghai. And trust me, this is not good for the competitors. He has stepped up his preparations in an attempt to end his career with a performance to match his legacy. 

    He is now looking the sharpest he has since Beijing as he gave the world a warning in the US trials a couple of weeks ago by clocking world leading times in three of the four individual events he will be contesting. I believe he still has quite a bit left in the tank. 

    Federica Pellegrini (Italy):  Stay away from the tabloids

    Pellegrini first exploded on to the swimming scene as a 16 year-old girl when she won the silver medal in the 200m freestyle in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

    Since then she became one of the best middle distance swimmers in the world. Along with the 200m free crown from Beijing she won multiple world and European titles. She reached the pinnacle of her career in the world championships in Rome in 2009 when she won the 200 and 400 free setting world records in the process to the delight of the home crowd, en route to winning world swimmer of the year honors. 

    Things got a little bumpy after Rome, she was making headlines in the tabloids rather than in the sports pages, and she failed to medal in Dubai. But when push came to shove the managed to pull herself together and win the 200 and the 400 free in the world championships in Shanghai last year.

    The former came in emphatic fashion, as she pulled off an unparalleled back half after turning 7th at the half way mark. She has shown time and again, her ability to focus and bring her A game in the big events.

    I am sure she will be looking to add that elusive 400m Olympic gold to her hardware collection. 

    Sun Yang (China): China’s Pride 

    In Beijing, 16 year old Sun Yang made it to the Olympic final in the 1500 free, finishing in eighth position. It has only been on the up and up since then. In the world championships in Rome in 2009 he finished third in the 1500 in 14:46.84.

    However, 2010 was his breakout year, where he has been clocking world bests in every freestyle event 200 meters or longer using a beautiful smooth stroke.

    In 2011 he broke Grant Hackett’s once thought unreachable 1500m record in an explosive manner clocking 14:34.14 (in 2009 I would have bet my house and one of my kids that this record would survive another ten years) during the world long course championships in front of his home crowd in Shanghai, becoming only the second swimmer to take down a world record since the conclusion of the tech suit era. 

    Sun also won gold in the 800 meters and silver in the 400, losing out to the more experienced Korean Tae Hwan Park. In London he will be one of the centers of attention once again. With the 800m not in the Olympic program the more seasoned Chinese will be competing in the 1500 and 400 where he clocked world leading times, and the 200 freestyle, making that 200m final ever more interesting. 

    Rebecca Soni (USA):  Madam Breaststroke

    In Beijing Rebecca Soni shocked the world by masterfully outsmarting the former queen of breaststroke Australian Leisel Jones and overtaking her on the last 50.

    Since then the American has been virtually unstoppable. She owned women’s breaststroke taking several world titles in the process, including the 100 and 200 in Shanghai last summer as well as a clean sweep (50, 100 and 200) in the world short course championships in Dubai in 2010. 

    The two-time reigning world swimmer of the year suffered a little blip recently in the US trials when she lost the 100 breast to little known Breeja Larsen. But nevertheless, the 25 year old American is still the woman with an x on her back. She has clocked the best times of the year in the 100 and 200. 

    Soni owns both short course world records, but despite all her successes she doesn’t own either of the long course world records, thanks in part to the mess caused by the tech suits that are now banned. She will be ready to take a serious stab at those records in London. 

    Ryan Lochte (USA): Only shooting stars break the mold

    In Beijing Ryan Lochte finished with two gold medals and world records in the 200 backstroke and the 4x200m relay, and two bronze medals in the 200 and 400 IM, enough to satisfy any swimmer and call it a career. But the 28 year old Lochte is not “any” swimmer. 

    Tired of being second best coach Gregg Troy started resorting to unorthodox training methods. He had his fearless swimmer toss kegs in the air, pull cars and run around carrying heavy loads, stuff that we only see in “the strongest man” competitions. 

    Guess what, it worked, Lochte is second best no more. Lochte became the only swimmer in the world to break world records in 2010, breaking the short course 200 and 400 IM by a significant margin at the world championships in Dubai, and barely missing the 100 IM. 

    This is when he said he was in his “worst shape ever.” 

    In 2011 he took down his own 200 IM long course world record in Shanghai clocking 1:54.00. He beat MP in the 200 IM and the 200 free in that meet. He also beat him to earning “world swimmer of the year” honors in 2010 and 2011. He is ready to take all that preparation to the biggest stage of them all. 

    Camille Muffat (France): Show us what you got

    Over the past few years the 22 year old French woman has been has been consistently in the medal mix in the international scene. Finishing third in the 200 and 400 free in the world championships in 2011, and winning the 200 in the world short course championships in Dubai in 2010 are among her best achievement. 

    But this year the smooth stroking freestyler started making some serious noise. In the French trials in March she clocked textile bests of 1:54.87 and 4:01.13 in the 200 and 400 free respectively, and followed that by lowering the 200 to another textile best of 1:54.66 in the Canet stop of the Mare Nostrum series in June (later bettered by Alisson Schmidt’s 1:54.40 in the US trials in June). 

    Muffat is looking as dangerous as she ever has, however, let’s not be too quick to bet on her. She has a history of swimming better during the season that in the main event as she has done last year in Shanghai. 

    James Magnussen (Australia): James who?? 

    That’s what I thought to myself when I watched that 19 year old small town Australian kid step on the blocks to lead off his country’s team in the 4×100 freestyle relay in Shanghai. He went out solid, then he stormed back to clock a textile best time of 47.49, handing his team more than a full second advantage over the competition. 

    All his teammates had to do was hold on, which they did, to surprisingly win the gold. A couple of days later, he showed the world that this was no fluke, winning the 100 freestyle in similar fashion, clocking 47.63. In the final race of the meet he started the final leg of the 4×100 medley relay almost a second behind American anchor man Nathan Adrian. 

    He chased him down, gaining on every stroke, only to miss the gold by a whisker. He continues to shine in 2012. In the Australian Olympic trials in March he threw down a 47.10 in the 100 free, bettering his own textile best and giving the world record (that was achieved in a suit that is now banned) a scare. 

    He reconfirmed that he is the hot favourite for the blue ribbon event, and left the swimming world anxious to see if “the missile” as he is now dubbed, will be the first man to go under 47 seconds without the aid of a suit. 

    Melissa Franklin (USA): Lady Phelps 

    She is perfectly built for swimming; the tall and slender American stands about 186 cm tall and is rumored to have size 13 feet!! And she is only seventeen years old. 

    Franklin started making noise in 2010 on the US Grand Prix circuit, then she topped it off by finishing second in the 200 backstroke in the world short course championships in Dubai. In 2011 she really took off. 

    She won the 200 backstroke in the world championships in Shanghai convincingly on her way to a textile best 2:05.10 exhibiting a smooth stroke and powerful turns. She also took bronze in the 50 back and gold for her relay duties in the 4×200 free and 4×100 medley. 

    She led off the 4×200 free relay in 1:55.06, a time that would have earned her gold if she had swum the individual event. Later in the year she made the crowd gasp at the Berlin stop of the world cup series when she clocked 2:00.03 in the 200 back, becoming the first woman to set a world record following the end of the tech suit era. 

    Because of her versatility she is being thought of as the female version of Michael Phelps. The young and bubbly American will attempt an unprecedented seven medals at a single Olympiad. She will be contesting the 100 and 200 freestyle and the 100 and 200 backstroke, along with the three relays. 

    She has clocked world leading times in both backstrokes, including a textile best of 58.84 in the 100. Something leads me to believe that she is still saving some energy for London. 

    Oussama Mellouli (Tunisia): Ous, please come back

    It would be a shame to conclude this list without an Arab Swimmer. In Beijing Ous, as he is known in the swimming world, became the only Arab swimmer to ever win Olympic gold. He totally outclassed his idol and all time great Grant Hackett and the rest of the field in the 1500 free to be crowned Olympic champion in 14:40.84 in a masterfully paced race. 

    In 2009 Ous won gold again in the same event, in addition to a sliver in the 400 and 800 free in the world championships in Rome. In the short course worlds in Dubai in December 2010, he won the 1500 free again, along with a silver and two bronze medals. 

    Coach Dave Salo’s student looked poised to defend his title in London. But in 2011 something happened that caused Mellouli to lose his stature in the pool. In the world championships in Shanghai he finished 7th in the 400 free and didn’t even make it to the final of his pet event, the 1500 free, clocking a measly 15:13.56.

    This is more than 30 seconds slower than his time in Beijing. 

    This year Mellouli impressed in Qatar in the Arab games, sweeping most of the events, however, that was against a different level of competition. He still clocked 15:15 in the 1500 free. 

    With Sun Yang now in the picture, and the hot favourite to win the 1500 I don’t expect the Tunisian to strike gold again, but I would love to see him back on the podium.

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