Coverage of the 2015 FINA World Championships is sponsored by Wylas Timing. Visit our coverage page for more.
Ryan Lochte had some first-race jitters to shake out in today’s 200 freestyle prelims at the FINA world championships, and he said he will need to execute his race in tonight’s semifinals better to make sure he’s in the top eight qualifiers for the final.
Lochte qualified 13th in the prelims with a 1:47.18, which placed fifth in his heat. He said he wasn’t concerned about making the top 16 as he was easing up on his speed in the final stretch of the race.
“I didn’t know I was going to be that close to sneaking in,” he said. “I knew from my heat that I was right behind everyone, so I shut it down the last 10 meters. I won’t be able to do that tonight.”
Listen To Interview On Swimming World Radio
Lochte will be looking to return to the podium in the 200 freestyle after being shut out of the medals the past three years. He was fourth in the 200 free at the 2012 Olympics and 2013 worlds, and fifth at last year’s Pan Pacific championships. He said he’ll be using his new technique of kicking underwater on his back off each turn, a new tactic that he started implementing last month.
He only used the new kicking technique on the last turn in the prelims. Lochte is regarded as one of the best underwater kickers in swimming, and he believes kicking on his back is faster.
Megap megap