Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr
Editorial coverage for the Pan Pacific Championships is proudly sponsored by Master Spas! For complete coverage of the Pan Pacific Championships, check out our event landing page.
GOLD COAST, Australia, August 23.
Shortly after finding the happiness he so desires at the top of the individual podium, Michael Phelps came back down to earth a bit as the Australian completed a 400 free relay sweep tonight at the Pan Pacific Championships when the men followed the women with a victory.
Although it was closer than the women’s race, and Phelps got the American men off to the right start with a 48.88 leadoff, the U.S. had no answer for a pair of sizzling 47s from James Magnussen and Cameron McEvoy. In the end, Tommaso D’Orsogna, Magnussen, Matthew Abood and McEvoy turned in a 3:12.80 to win gold in front of a highly-partisan crowd.
The big-name American foursome of Phelps, Nathan Adrian, Anthony Ervin and Ryan Lochte did enough to take silver, while Brazil’s Joao de Lucca, Marcelo Chierighini, Bruno Fratus and Nicolas Oliveira showed signs of being a world title contender with a third-place time of 3:13.59 that did not include Cesar Cielo as part of this trip. Once Cielo is back to firing on all cylinders, Brazil could be in the mix for just about any title on the planet.
Japan (3:14.93), Canada (3:19.26), Hong Kong (3:24.47) and South Africa (3:24.70) claimed the other finishes in the finale.
Results:
1 AUSTRALIA 'A' 3:13.44 3:12.80 930
1) D'ORSOGNA, TOMMASO 23 2) r:+0.34 MAGNUSSEN, JAMES 23
3) r:+0.21 ABOOD, MATTHEW 28 4) r:+0.31 MCEVOY, CAMERON 20
r:+0.64 23.67 49.29 (49.29)
1:11.78 (22.49) 1:36.97 (47.68)
1:59.62 (22.65) 2:25.20 (48.23)
2:48.04 (22.84) 3:12.80 (47.60)
2 UNITED STATES 'A' 3:11.42 3:13.36 922
1) PHELPS, MICHAEL 29 2) r:+0.22 ADRIAN, NATHAN 25
3) r:+0.17 ERVIN, ANTHONY 33 4) r:+0.25 LOCHTE, RYAN 30
r:+0.69 24.03 48.88 (48.88)
1:11.25 (22.37) 1:36.59 (47.71)
1:58.93 (22.34) 2:25.16 (48.57)
2:48.37 (23.21) 3:13.36 (48.20)
3 BRAZIL 'A' 3:14.41 3:13.59 919
1) DE LUCCA, JOAO 24 2) r:+0.19 CHIERIGHINI, MCELO 23
3) r:+0.11 FRATUS, BRUNO 25 4) r:+0.21 OLIVEIRA, NICOLAS 27
r:+0.68 23.75 49.05 (49.05)
1:12.01 (22.96) 1:36.96 (47.91)
1:59.27 (22.31) 2:24.96 (48.00)
2:48.42 (23.46) 3:13.59 (48.63)
4 JAPAN 'A' 3:14.73 3:14.93 900
1) SHIOURA, SHINRI 22 2) r:+0.16 NAKAMURA, KATSUMI 20
3) r:+0.29 FUJII, TAKURO 29 4) r:+0.18 ITO, KENTA 23
r:+0.68 23.38 49.13 (49.13)
1:12.27 (23.14) 1:37.22 (48.09)
2:00.78 (23.56) 2:26.57 (49.35)
2:49.20 (22.63) 3:14.93 (48.36)
5 CANADA 'A' 3:20.24 3:19.26 843
1) KISIL, YURI 18 2) r:+0.16 PEDDIE, LUKE 21
3) r:+0.16 TROSKOT, KYLE 22 4) r:+0.19 ALLEN, COLEMAN 21
r:+0.71 23.82 49.26 (49.26)
1:12.67 (23.41) 1:39.01 (49.75)
2:02.04 (23.03) 2:28.99 (49.98)
2:52.64 (23.65) 3:19.26 (50.27)
6 HONG KONG 'A' 3:21.22 3:24.47 780
1) WONG, JEREMY 20 2) r:+0.37 NG, CHUN NAM 20
3) r:+0.40 WONG, DAVID 25 4) r:+0.05 CHEAH, GEOFFREY 23
r:+0.66 24.14 50.92 (50.92)
1:15.70 (24.78) 1:42.62 (51.70)
2:07.30 (24.68) 2:34.67 (52.05)
2:58.26 (23.59) 3:24.47 (49.80)
7 SOUTH AFRICA 'A' 3:45.05 3:24.70 777
1) ERASMUS, DOUGLAS 24 2) r:+0.32 ELLIS, RICHARD 26
3) r:+0.20 VAN WYK, JACQUES 22 4) r:+0.25 COETZEE, RYAN 19
r:+0.58 24.16 51.16 (51.16)
1:15.82 (24.66) 1:42.55 (51.39)
2:06.62 (24.07) 2:33.78 (51.23)
2:57.72 (23.94) 3:24.70 (50.92)
Are you forgetting about Mattheus Santana and his 48.25 from the Youth Olympic Games? I think Cielo’s got his hands full to qualify for Brazil Olympic Relay, although he may not need to. Rio will probably be his last meet as an athlete.
Why is this “stunning”? Australians placed first, third and tenth in the 100 free while Americans placed second, fourth and eleventh? The combined time of the first three Australians in the 100 final was almost .7 seconds faster than the combined time of the first three Americans in 100 free. The only thing mildly surprising is that the Americans were as close as they were to the Aussies.
If no young American sprinters step up and knock at least Ervin and Lochte off this relay (maybe Phelps too), the American 4 x 100 free relay won’t medal at Rio. Because none of the three of them are going to swim faster at Rio. Also, regardless of his flat start time, Phelps has fairly slow relay starts (because he didn’t swim high school or college and lost the chance to do high pressure relay starts in duals meets a dozen times a year for eight years), which means he has to lead off and that might not be the best idea in two years.
The reality check for both AUS & USA is that these times would not have got them medals at EUROS and therefore they will end the year outside the world’s top 3 times !
One can raise valid points about sub-optimal racing conditions and questions over full fitness of certain swimmers but it cannot disguise that BOTH need to seriously reassess future line-ups. Can the veterans still do the business for the US ? AUS clearly cannot continue to carry someone like D’Orsogna if they seriously wish to compete for the major coin. Are there any satisfactory replacement parts available ?
I am really hoping some of the younger guys come through for Australia in time for next year’s World Champs…we cant afford a 49s split against the big guns next year