PESCARA, Italy, June 17. THE Sette Colli Trophy meet got underway today in Pescara with some seriously fast swimming. A pair of long course meter world bests went into the rankings for this year on the first night of action.
Sweden's Therese Alshammar set a meet record in the women's 50 free with a sterling time of 24.27. That clocking moved her into the top spot in the world rankings this year ahead of Ranomi Kromowidjojo's 24.40 from March. Fran Halsall stands second with a 24.77, while Alshammar previously held third with a 24.82. Halsall picked up second tonight in 24.85, while Greece's Martha Matsa grabbed third in 25.78.
Italy's Federica Pellegrini blasted the world with its first sub-4:04 time of the year with a top-ranked effort of 4:03.12 in the women's 400 free. That time cut more than a second off her previous top-ranked effort of 4:04.30 from April. Hungary's Agnes Mutina touched a distant second in 4:09.15 to leapfrog Katie Hoff (4:09.37) for 16th in the world. South Africa's Wendy Trott completed the top three in 4:10.49.
Australia's Eamon Sullivan won the men's 50 free in 22.09 to tie Ashley Callus for seventh in the world this year. USA's Josh Schneider finished second in 22.21 to jump to 12th in the world, while Italy's Luca Dotto placed third in 22.55.
Italy's Federico Colbertaldo won the men's 400 free in 3:50.32 to move to 23rd in the world. Andrea Busato finished second in 3:51.88, while Luca Baggio took third in 3:52.46.
Italy's Fabio Scozzoli tied for 18th in the world in the men's 100 breast with a winning time of 1:01.42. Norway's Alexander Dale Oen took second in 1:01.61, while Italy's Loris Facci captured third in 1:02.02.
Great Britain's Elizabeth Simmonds turned in a 28.61 to win the women's 50 back. That performance nearly cleared her 17th-ranked season best of 28.58 from February. Ariana Barbieri finished second in 29.01, while South Africa's Chanelle Van Wyk placed third in 29.32.
Great Britain's Liam Tancock, who is the top-ranked swimmer in the world with a 24.52 from March, won the men's 50 back in 25.29. Italy's Mirco Di Tora placed second in 25.89, while Matteo Giordano finished third in 26.07.
Italy's Chiara Boggiatto claimed the women's 100 breast title in 1:09.01, while Martina Carraro grabbed second in 1:10.66. Giulia Fabbri wound up third in 1:11.19.
Great Britain's Fran Halsall cleared 59 seconds in the women's 100 fly with a winning time of 58.97. That performance fell short of her third-ranked season best of 57.83 from March. Norway's Ingvild Snildal posted a second-place 1:00.05, while Italy's Francesca Segat and Elena Di Liddo tied for third with matching 1:00.28s.
Serbia's Milorad Cavic touched out Kenya's Jason Dunford and Australia's Geoff Huegill in the men's 100 fly. Cavic won in 52.53, while Dunford took second in 52.64 and Huegill rounded out the top three in 52.75 to move to 18th in the world.
Italy's Giorgia Consiglio earned the women's 1500 free title in 16:29.79. Martina Rita Caramignoli placed second in 16:34.33, while Greece's Kalliopi Araouzou picked up third in 16:49.49.
Results: Sette Colli Trophy
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June 17, 2010 David Reider told me that Federica Pellegrini has awful technique so I am going to go ahead and assume that this swim was a total fluke Submitted by: Chris DeSantis
June 17, 2010 Didn't say she wasn't totally dominant. 4:03 is slightly surprising right now. She doesn't look very smooth in the water with her head flopping around everywhere. Doesn't mean she's not a great swimmer. Submitted by: David Rieder
June 17, 2010 24.27 is crazy faast!It will be very hard to beat a WR, but no impossible like some freaks journalists have guessed.
A question: The new start blocks are in the trophy?
I´m hearing some rumors about the relationship between Phelps and Bob Bowman are serious damaged because Phelps wants to go to a training camp in Auburn.Is it true or just a hoax??? Submitted by: MrIron
June 17, 2010 I'd say the old saw abotu "it ain't how you get there as long as you getthere first" might apply, but then the corrolary is the idea that if you get there in a more "refinhed" fashion you'll get there easier/quicker.
In ny event, the 400 seems to be La Lioness of Verona's "pet" event and as wr-holder in that race and the 200 too I can't see why she'd want to move up to the 800 as has been bandied about.
Stick with what ya' do best, Madame P.
As far as a split between Phelps and his long-time coach, I recall reading recently where Bowman said he was "disappointed" with how Phelps sswam lasy weekend @ the NBAC Invitational and thought that was just coach speak.
But maybe not...
In any event, if Phelps has designs on winning the 100 free @ London he could do worse that train with the world's fastest sprinters -- in Auburn! Submitted by: slickwillie32
June 17, 2010 What???? Phelps leave Bowman? Bowman leave Phelps? Obviously something isn't right with Michael's "performances"....so far. I don't want to jump the gun here, but he is getting older and can't put out phenomenal times at the drop of a hat. Look at Piersol. His times haven't been earth shaking - so far - and he has two years on Phelps. Maybe Michael and Bob need to look at what will work for the long haul. Maybe a sprint camp at Auburn would put a fire in him he hasn't experienced before. Bousquet and Phelps training together? Makes me smile! I LOVE IT! (Is Bousquet still at Auburn???) Submitted by: paddles
June 17, 2010 A move to Auburn would be the best thing Phelps could do for his sprinting, but at this point, given his performance last year, the 100 free has to be considered a bit of a vanity event for him, just as it was for Thorpe. Yes, Phelps held the AR at one point, but then he announced that he was changing to a windmill stroke last year and it didn't work out for him. He should stick with Bowman, and stick to the events he does best -- the fly's and the 200 IM (assuming he stays away from the 400 IM). His legacy is obviously cemented no matter what he does from here, and you have to applaud his wanting to explore his limits, but just think what it would mean to add the title of first guy to win the same event at three Olympics, and then to do it in three events. It would mean a lot more than a bronze behind Cielo and someone else in the 100 free.
Another thing Phelps has to realize is that he can't just fool around these next two years the way he has for the past two. He spent a fair amount of time in Vegas after Beijing, and hanging out in those casinos you take in an awful lot of secondhand smoke. After fifteen minutes in the Bellagio your eyes will start to burn, and they have the best ventilation system going. Three hours on the floor at Caesar's Palace and you feel as if you've smoked a pack of cigarettes. That's not exactly doing your 200 events any favors. Phelps can chase all the girls he wants to, nothing wrong with that, but he really has to stay away from bars and casinos. And he has to put in an honest year of work this coming year. Otherwise he'll never catch Biedermann. And some of the others, like Lochte and Cseh and Cavic, may
catch him.
Submitted by: halfbreed
June 17, 2010 Let me think.....an OLYMPIC bronze medal in the 100 freestyle, or, another gold medal for the 200 I.M. Hmmmmmm.......what will Michael choose? Gold or bronze....gold or bronze..... TAKE THE GOLD MEDAL, MICHAEL! You are right, halfbreed. Michael has to remember what got him to the level of Olympic Legend in the first place, and it wasn't at a casino. Submitted by: paddles
June 17, 2010 Are we really taking this rumor seriously? Submitted by: Chris DeSantis
June 17, 2010 This has gone so far even I am lost. LOL Submitted by: paddles
June 17, 2010 I'm just going with what I heard here and speaking hypothetically. Submitted by: halfbreed
June 17, 2010 The best thing The King could do is get the hell out of Dodge [Baltimore) and move to Auburn -- ASAP -- while there's stll two years before the next Olympics.
You ssy don't mess with success, i.e., don't leave the guy who got you to where you are today?
Spitz left George Haines (ok, was kicked off the team), ended up @ Arden Hills with Sherm Chevoor and diddn't fare too badly afterwards as I recall.
OK, granted, they [Phelps/Bowman] have had a phenomenal run for thr last decade.
But all good things have to come to an end sometime and maybe it IS time Phelps sought greener pastures.
Staying with Bowman all this time is commendable but maybe a fresh new approach IS indeed warranted, and Phelps'd sure get that @ Auburn or Texas or Arizona or even with Dave Bottom @ Michigan (!!!...ANYPLACE else save where he's at now.
What's Bowman ever done with ANBODY besides Phelps?
You say what he's done with Phelps is amasing, unbelievable, unprecedented, etc etcand so forth.
I quite agree but that's just ONE swimmer and how how muuh of that is attributable to great coaching and how much to even greater talent/ability/motivation/desire on the part of the athlete?
Did Phil make Kobe/Michael or vice versa?
Bowman's put exactly ONE swimmer on three Olympic teams although of course that swimmer is the greatest of all time.
OK, maybe he coached Hoff but mostly that was left to that other guy who left last year to go to Auburn.
Bowman is undoubtedly a great coach but he's got to prove it with more than one swimmer.
Casey didn't make it into the Hall of Game coaching just one ballplayer and neither did Coach Wooden nor Haines nor Eddie Reese or the late Richard Quick.
The best sprint program in the country if not the world reight now is @ Auburn and Phelps knows it.
Somdbody posited that Phelps should go for the 200 IM gold at London rahter than the 100 free.
That's the safe, easy way out.
Y not be adveturesome and try something new?
So maybe [I know, bite my tongue!]he DOESN'T win the 100 there. BFD. The challenge of TRYING to beat the best sprinters in the world'll do him a trrmendous amount of good -- as will a change of scenery/coach -- as opposed to the tried-and-ttue of trying to threepeat in the 200 IM.
(I haven't see the London sked but presimably there's a conflict between the two races.)
Fifteen years of listening to the same guy day after day, month after month, year after year gets old.
Let Phelps experience new surroundings, new techniques, new teammates and if he finds it is not for him..sayonara baby.
But at least give it a shot or he'll kick himself for not having tried.
Vince Lombardi left the Packers after a pair of Super Bowl wins for the challenge of coaching the Redskins.
Phil Jackson left the Lakers for a couple of years in the mid '00s to get away from coachingfor a spell,then came back refreshed, enthusiastic and you know how that story's turned out.
Time for Phelps to take a hike.
As for Peirsol's times from the Mare Nostrum Series not being anything to write home about, agreed, but let's reserve judgment until after Nationals and then presuambly Pan-Pacs.
When it counts. Submitted by: slickwillie32
June 18, 2010 Agree completely slickwillie with what you wrote, but I am still up in the air about the 100 free/200I.M. switcheroo. I understand it is Michael's decision. After all, it is his life and he is the one who is in the water. But from the fan point-of-view, I would love to see him make some history and three-peat that event (providing Mr. Lochte doesn't have an opinion on this. lol)
Spitz left Haines on VERY ugly grounds. What is going on with Michael and Bob? Maybe they are just tired of the same-old-same and need some fresh perspective? Does anyone know? Still, it is just an opinion, and Michael is the one who has the final say in all of this. Whatever he decides, I guarantee the fans will back him up 100. Submitted by: paddles
June 18, 2010 Meant to say the fans will back him up 100%. Submitted by: paddles
June 18, 2010 Is Michael Phelps economically / contractually tied to Bob? I recall after the Olympic endorsement rush reading that Bob had some economic interests / royalty on Michael's endorsements and other income alike to an agent's cut. That might or might not be the case, and also might not matter. Just a question.
Is hard to see a guy departing from the coach that took him 15 years down this road...just wondering. Submitted by: outside smoke
June 18, 2010 My 1.62 euro-cents: Besides the "fact" that the 100 free is the glamour event of Olympic swimming, Michael ain't all that bad at it. I'll be the first to admit that his true strength is fly and IM, but he obviously likes the 100 free and thrives on competition. Remember Beijing? He actually swam faster than Cielo, so who knows what will happen once the suits are off? This (bronze at most) is not a done deal. Swimming is more about talent than specialization and Phelps is the greatest talent there is. If he was trained for the 300 IM in Beijing, he can do better if they drop the 400 IM completely out of the picture. Plus I'm not Bowman is the greatest 100 free coach out there, but it has so much more to do with the coach/athlete matchup than what the coach "specializes" in.
All this being said, I do NOT understand why Phelps doesn't make more out of his backstrokes. To me, that's the last "uncharted waters" for him internationally. He's been close to the world records on several occasions and qualified for Athens in the 200. His stroke is amazing and more focus on that should only improve his times. Oh well, maybe Irie will be unbeatable come 2012 Submitted by: JakedBadForYou
June 18, 2010 If Phelps is swimming a program to maximize his Gold Medal count legacy at the age of 27, the schedule dictates what he's going to do.
The big thing is in 2012 will be age is an issue. The body is different at 27 versus 23, especially with some the events being middle endurance and not short sprint.
1. Qualify for the free relays by putting in fast enough prelim swims in the 100 free and 200 free. He swims 3 relays and that's 3 medals, maybe 3 Golds maybe not...
2. As much as he hates the 400 IM he simply has to swim it and he will win it. The world is catching up, but truthfully noone is in the same time zone as him in the event. It's a day #1 event, and the only other event in that first leg of the schedule that would compete for his attention is the 400 free. And that event has never quite clicked. So what is he going to do, sit in the stands and let someone collect a Gold medal for the taking because he doesn't enjoy the event? Not happening. And friction between Bowman and Michael or no, Bob did get the memo and won't be entering Michael in teh 400 IM in every Grand Prix or other meet along the way this cycle. It's four minutes of Michael's time...done. Individual Gold #1.
2. Next he can stretch the middle part of the meet with going after the 200 free and the 200 fly. That's busy and exhausting at the age of 27. Throw out the 200 free and take another gimmie in the 200 fly. With all due respect to the field, he's just a lock down 200 fly guy and could be to the age of 31 in Brazil if he wanted to be. The world is faster in the 200 free and that outcome is, well, competitive for Michael more and more as he ages. Individual Gold #2.
3. The back part of the meet he can stretch and get after both the 100 fly and the 200 IM or choose one. If he's still running hot in 2012 he'd be the favorite in both, and I'm guessing it's a coin flip to swim only one with more rest and focus. And these two are no gimmies either: maybe Individual Gold #3 and maybe not. A coin flip.
Six medals, two lock down individual Golds and who knows on the balance. I don't see a 4th or a 5th individual event. And in the case of adding a 4th it's the 200 IM and the 100 fly...not a backstroke or a sprint free swim.
Michael does have a great backstroke that he's never really solely focused on, and it would be fun to see him try. But what event in the world for men or women is more loaded than the male backstrokes? Seems like there are a dozen or more guys in the 100 back who have a real or an outside shot at Gold in the 100 back...shorter list in 200 back, but still. Men's 100 free the same. A dozen guys who today can go to sleep believing they can be Olympic champion in the 100 free without being nuts to the world around them for that.
Michael can humor himself a candidate in the backstrokes and in the 100 free, but why bother? Go for the highest yield (medals) and quality of yield (Gold ones). It's just business. Submitted by: outside smoke
June 18, 2010 Well said, outside smoke! Submitted by: paddles
June 18, 2010 Outside smoke, ditto, your analysis is perfect. Phelps would do well to do as you suggest. The 200 free looks like an awfully big hill to climb at this point, and Izotov is lurking there as well. Plus, as you say, the 100 free and 100 back each have large packs of hungry wolves each with resumes in those events as good as Phelps's. Submitted by: halfbreed
June 19, 2010 So Mike is not setting WR's every swim. Big deal....I'm sure he'll be ready when he needs to be.
Seriously, some of you folks need to get a life. Submitted by: WEK5000
June 19, 2010 The 400 IM is the hardest event out there and even Lochte has hinted that it might interfere with the rest of his meet. I do believe Phelps was so well trained in Beijing (4 years of nearly perfect preparation), that he could overcome almost any schedule. I mean, it wasn't like he swam tactically in Beijing. He could easily have coasted the 200 free and 200 IM finals and left himself fresher for the risky 100 fly. He didn't and still won.
Whether or not his body is finally changing to one that can't handle the same schedule, only he and Bob knows. But I'm not so sure the 400 IM is a lock anymore unless he finds the strength to repeat at least one year of truly solid and grueling training in the leadup to London. He might have had his appetite quenched as far as that event is concerned. We all know how important motivation is to an athlete trying to accomplish incredible feats, and Michael might well think 4.03 is close to his full potential, whereas other events still seem as ripe fruits ready to be picked off the tree.
Michael has said himself that the only thing that keeps him going is surpassing himself and the goals he has in mind. For a guy that already has 14 Olympic golds, I could imagine conquering the 100 free (sub-47?), a sub-50 100 fly in jammers, sub-1.50 200 fly, reclaiming his 200 IM record and perhaps backstroke success are far more motivating factors than "just" maximizing his Olympic gold medal count. Swimming isn't "just business" Submitted by: JakedBadForYou
June 19, 2010 JakedBadForYou,
i agree with you about Phelps possible schedule for London.
But there´s a lot to consider about the program.
In 100 fly, only cavic can match him.
In 200fly, no one.
In 200IM, just Lochte.
But in 100 free... a lot of good(and young) guys.And the main guy(Cielo) is two years younger than him and(still) improving.Even a 46.9 time can´t beat him in London.Cielo already said he
wants his records gone in 2012.Because of the new start blocks, i believe a bunch of WR´s will fall til there.But only time will tell. Submitted by: MrIron
June 19, 2010 100 fly, don't be so sure... We'll see about Cavic with his alleged back problems and if you think NO ONE ELSE will close in on Phelps over the next two years, you're in for a surprise.
200 IM, never count out Cseh.
As for the 100 free, there's a difference between what Cielo says he wants to do and what he will actually do. I'm looking forward to the first sub 47.8 in a legal suit this summer. From there down to 46.9... we shall see! I do believe Phelps' freakish 2nd 50 and even more freakish last 15 will prove much more decisive once they're all in jammers. The true sprinters (remember Schoeman in Athens?) will the grand piano on their back once again.
As for the new blocks, I train on them every day. Haven't measured the difference to regular blocks really precisely, but they feel great. But thinking world records will tumble in jammers just because of greater entry speed off the blocks is naive IMO. Besides, the freakish records of Istanbul and Berlin (dec. and nov '09) were already set on the new blocks AND the "old" suits :) Submitted by: JakedBadForYou
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