With a break from many of the Olympic qualifying meets that have been going on around the world, this week still saw some breaking swimming news that will impact this summer. From coaching changes to a return to competition for some U.S. stars, read all the stories below to see the biggest stories from this week’s edition of The Week That Was!
The Week That Was #5 – Louisville Hosts Inaugural TYR Derby Pro
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
This past Friday the University of Louisville hosted the inaugural TYR Derby Pro ahead of the Kentucky Derby. The TYR Derby Pro featured eight men and eight women competing in a shootout 50 freestyle contest. While not a long course meters event, this brought together some of the best sprinters from around the world to compete in rapid-fire head-to-head racing.
On the women’s side, Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace won the final round with a 21.43, which was good for $4,000. Ivy Martin finished second in 21.83 to take home $3,000, with Kelsi Worrell (22.06) and Alia Atkinson (22.55) earning $2,000 and $1,000 respectively for their performances. On the men’s side, Josh Schneider posted the fastest time of the night in the finale, touching in 19.14 over Kristian Gkolomeev (19.34). Teen phenom Michael Andrew finished third over Joao de Lucca, 19.47 to 19.58.
The Week That Was #4 – Records Tumble At U.S. Masters Nationals
Photo Courtesy: Caroline Kosciusko
U.S. Masters Nationals kicked off in Greensboro, North Carolina this week, with dozens of records coming down over the course of the week. Allison Arnold started the meet off with a 18-24 year old record in the 1,650 freestyle (17:27.91). That broke the previous record that had been on the books for a staggering twenty-nine years.
Several big names were on hand as well, including U.S. breaststroke star Katie Meili, who broke Megan Jendrick’s 25-29 age group record in the 50 breaststroke with a 27.10. Other notable swims included Thomas Maine setting multiple national records, including breaking the 90-94 record in the 400 IM by over 30 seconds (8:37.61) on the final day of the meet. Overall, there were over 40 national records set throughout the course of the five day meet. For the complete coverage of the 2016 U.S. Masters Nationals, head over to our Event Landing Page.
The Week That Was #3 – Sergio Lopez Leaving Singapore For Auburn University
Photo Courtesy: Singapore Swimming Federation
This week the Auburn University Swimming & Diving team announced that Sergio Lopez will be taking over as Associate Head Coach in the fall. This means that Lopez will be leaving his post in Singapore after the Olympics to return back to the United States. Lopez’s Singapore position was originally expected to be a five year appointment when he started in January of 2015.
While in Singapore, Lopez guided the national team to previously unseen success, including working with Joseph Schooling who left Kazan with a bronze medal and most recently helped rewrite the NCAA record book en route to a second consecutive National Championship for the University of Texas. While overseas he also attracted the talent of American breaststroke star Kevin Cordes, who has been training there since this time last year. Lopez coached the three swimmers who tied for the 2016 CSCAA Swimmer’s of the Year: Caeleb Dressel, Ryan Murphy, and Schooling all swam for Lopez at Bolles. Lopez will replace John Hargis, who was recently named the head coach at the University of Pittsburgh.
The Week That Was #2 – Park Tae-hwan Posts Top 10 Times Despite Ban From Games
Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr
Despite his ban from competing in the Rio Olympics this summer, Korean star Park Tae-hwan posted some top times in the world at Korean Nationals. Park started off the meet with a win in the 1,500 meter freestyle, hitting the wall in 15:10.95 before going on to win both the 200 and 400 freestyles. His times in the 200 (1:46.31) and 400 freestyle (3:44.26) ranked him seventh and fourth in the world respectively for 2016.
Park is ineligible to compete due to a positive testosterone test from the 2014 Asian Games. Should he continue swimming, he would be eligible to compete in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Park is South Korea’s only swimming gold medalist. He captured gold in the 400 freestyle at the 2008 Beijing Games in addition to a silver in the 200 freestyle. He was the silver medalist in the both the 200 and 400 freestyles at the 2012 Olympics.
The Week That Was #1 – Katie McLaughlin Returns To Competition At TYR Fran Crippen Meet Of Champions
Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr
The TYR Fran Crippen Meet Of Champions was held this week, with U.S. star and Cal Bear Katie McLaughlin making her return to long course racing after heading home to rehab a neck injury that was sustained during the Bears training trip back in January. McLaughlin was the bronze medalist in the 200 butterfly at the 2014 Pan Pacs.
McLaughlin ended up having a solid comeback meet, taking home a victory in the 200 freestyle (1:59.74) and finishing third in the 200 butterfly (2:13.88) and 100 butterfly (59.94). Future Cal teammate Abbey Weitzeil also had a pair of victories in the 50 and 100 freestyle, both of which were meet records. Weitzeil posted a 24.80 in the 50 freestyle and a 54.13 in the 100 freestyle, both strong times for the nineteen year-old. Weitzeil is currently taking a redshirt year to prepare for the 2016 Olympic Trials before heading to Berkeley in the fall. Other notable swims included Stephanie Peacock moving to eighth in the world in the 800 freestyle (8:25.89), Tom Shields winning the 100 butterfly (52.15), and Jessica Hardy making her first return to competition after suffering a concussion during warm-ups at the Mesa stop on the Arena Pro Series.
For complete coverage from the TYR Fran Crippen Meet Of Champions, head over to our Event Landing Page.
The Korean PTH should not be mentioned in this web site!! He is a cheat who got cought and is serving a two-three years suspension. Young swimmeres as well as older ones are not interested and should not read about drug/prohibited substances users.
Take him off your web site and never talk about him again untill he has fully served his time off the swimming pools .