Race Day: Taking A Broad Look At Arena Grand Prix Series

PHOENIX, Arizona, February, 21. SWIMMINGWORLD.TV brings you another episode of Race Day. Tiffany Elias and Jeff Commings talk about the Arena Grand Prix circuit and where the athletes are at this point in the season.

During the 20-minute conversation, the two touch on a variety of topics. First, they talk about how tough of a year this is for swimmers with multiple pinnacle meets like Pan Pacs, Commonwealth and the Asian Games, instead of just one overall World Championship. Commings and Elias also touch on how this year’s nationals for the U.S. will once again pick next year’s World Championship team, which is extremely important considering four years ago Matt Grevers missed the team and Missy Franklin only swam in one event even though 2011 proved to be a breakout year for the star.

Elias and Commings also detail Ryan Lochte’s comeback at Orlando, including how a promising performance in the 200 back might help buoy the star heading into this summer. Additionally, Elias explains her talks with Tyler Clary, who has had to fight off a back injury and multiple other challenges including a pair of bouts with the flu in just a month.

Then, one of the most exciting swimmers on the planet right now, the Iron Lady Katinka Hosszu is the subject of some speculation on what it takes to be able to handle a full race schedule like she does, before Commings and Elias transition into talking about how wide open the sprint freestyle is for the U.S. behind Nathan Adrian and Jimmy Feigen.

In one of the longest parts of the discussion, Elias and Commings talk about 14-year-old professional swimmer Michael Andrew, who readily admits that he and his coach-father do not believe in strength training outside of the pool, since it is not specific to the water. That’s definitely an interesting conversation to watch between Commings and Elias as the duo talk about the Ultra Short Race Pace Training concept Andrew follows as well as whether he’s going to need to rethink eschewing dryland when he reaches adulthood.

There’s plenty of other topics covered on Race Day, so make sure to watch it below.

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