It has been an exciting last week in the world of American swimming. After being in Omaha for part of the meet and watching the rest of it, here are a few of my observations.
- The venue and location seemed to be a big hit. USA Swimming, the Qwest Center did a spectacular job putting on the meet. The exciting atmosphere no doubt contributed to helping our swimmers go fast.
- The meet has become extremely fast. Times that were good enough for top 8 at the 2007 World Champs weren't good enough for top 16 at the trials in some cases.
- In my opinion, there are three major reasons for this. First, there are so many more post-collegiate swimmers competing. Increased money in the sport and more collegiate coaches who are willing and able to coach post-collegians have made the field faster. Opportunities after college have allowed athletes to continue to train and compete at a time when their bodies are capable of higher levels of performance (especially men in their late twenties). With the cutting of college swimming programs, will this trend continue?
- The effect of these post-collegians is that the cuts have become fast enough that fewer "club swimmers" achieve them. This is particularly the case on the men's side, where fewer than ten under-18 swimmers even qualified for some events.
- The "Dara Torres effect" on the women's field has been real. There is a growing number of women over 25 who are startlingly fit competing. I suspect that for physiological reasons this effect will never be as great as that on the men's field. We will likely always have 14, 15, and 16 year-old women swimming fast, particularly in the breaststroke and distance events.
- USA Swimming must be cognizant of this effect on the men's field and the filter-down effects that it has. Many of today's late-twenties men have been competing at the national and Olympic Trials level since they were in their late teens. By looking at the 18 & Under standings in my previous post, you can see that fewer of today's best 15-17 year-old men are getting this opportunity. The current developmental gaps between local meets, sectionals, junior nationals, and nationals must be plugged to ensure that our talented young athletes have sufficient encouraging opportunities along the way to be sure that they don't leave swimming for another sport.
- The second major reason I see for the Trials field improvement is the advent of the drag-reducing suits that we have seen in the past 8-10 years. First, these suits help everyone go faster. Second, the revenues these suits have produced for the manufacturers have come back to the sport in the form of more opportunities that I mentioned above. Third, these suits level the playing field between younger and older athletes. Our older swimmers tend toward the sprints, and it is possible that the new suits also provide a measure of buoyancy that helps offset any deficit of power or endurance that a swimmer in his mid-to-late thirties might have.
- The third major reason is simply that our coaches and athletes are doing a better job. We are aspiring to bigger and better things, becoming more knowledgeable, sharing our ideas more, and training harder and smarter than ever before. There is no doubt in my mind that the work of Russell Mark, Jonty Skinner, Genadijus Sokolovas, Dave Thomas and the rest of the team at USA swimming are in part responsible for this.
- A few images that will stick in my mind from these trials: Michael Phelps, Katie Hoff, Aaron Peirsol, and the remarkable ability they have to ALWAYS get their hand on the wall first. The second-greatest swimmer of all time Ryan Lochte stalking Peirsol and Phelps so closely that he is sure to pull at least one upset in Beijing. Elizabeth Beisel lighting up the meet with Olympic berths in the 400 IM and 200 back. The likely retirement swims of terrific champions Gary Hall, Kaitlin Sandeno, and many others. And of course, that peculiar green waterfall.
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