5 Swimming Headlines From the Past Week Around the World (The Week That Was)

Swimming - Prudential Singapore Swim Stars 2014 - OCBC Aquatic Centre, Singapore Sports Hub, Singapore - 5/9/14 Fans cheer Nathan Adrian Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Norman Ng Livepic EDITORIAL USE ONLY.

PHOENIX, Arizona, September 3. THANKS to several countries continuing to showcase their top athletes in the pool, we just saw a great week of swimming around the world, which is where most of our top five headlines of the past week come from for today’s show. We’re going to the southern hemisphere for our number five headline, where two countries are picking their teams for the short course world championships.


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Brazil and New Zealand held national championships last week in short course meters to pick the athletes who will be racing in December at the world championships in Qatar. Several swimmers did more than just secure their spots on the world teams. They broke some major records. Brazil’s Jose Finkel meet featured Cesar Cielo putting up a 20.68 in the 50 free in prelims in addition to his return to the 100 free with a 46.08. Cielo was not too far off his national records in both events, hinting that he will be close to his best ever at short course worlds. Etiene Medeiros broke the South American record in the 50 backstroke twice in one day, swimming a 26.58 in prelims and a 26.41 in finals. Felipe Silva also broke the continental record in the 100 breast with a 56.25, just six tenths away from the world record. also In New Zealand, Glenn Snyders broke national records in the 50 and 100 breaststrokes, just two weeks after winning a bronze medal in the 100 breast at the Pan Pacific championships. Snyders went 57.67 in the 100 breast prelims then followed it up with a 26.58 in the 50 breast. Matthew Stanley broke the New Zealand record in the 200 back with a 1:52.87 and Nathan Capp took down a 22-year-old record in the 1500 free with a 14:38.74. These three gentlemen, as well as Lauren Boyle, are set for the world championships in three months.

Let’s go further west to Singapore for our number four headline. The country invited many of the world’s top swimming stars to compete in a one-day sprint meet that offered some hefty cash prizes. Nathan Adrian and Melanie Schlanger, for example, each earned $20,000 for winning the 100 freestyle. For the most part, the times didn’t set the world on fire, but that’s not what made this meet exciting. When a country’s swimming federation, with the help of Fred Bousquet, can get people such as Nathan Adrian, James Magnussen, Fran Halsall, Ruta Meilutyte, David Plummer, Cameron Van der Burgh, Katinka Hosszu and much more, it speaks on the direction things can go for professional swimming. In addition to the meet, the pros put on a swim clinic for young swimmers that is going to be a priceless memory for the kids involved. Hopefully this event’s success, which packed the natatorium for the swim meet, will provide inspiration for other countries to host events like this.

This weekend, Michael Klueh and Emily Brunemann said “I do” in front of family and friends to give swimming another happy married couple – and the number three headline of the week. Klueh and Brunemann met in Ann Arbor, where Brunemann had been a student the University of Michigan, and Klueh was training there as a postgrad. The two continue to train with a focus on making the Olympic team in two years, but now are taking the time to enjoy a much-deserved honeymoon. Swimming World sends our congratulations to the bride and groom.

The number two headline on our show came as a bit of a surprise to swimming fans, as Brian Barnes announced last Tuesday that he was stepping down as women’s head coach at Notre Dame after one of his most successful seasons. Barnes said in the school’s press release that he was taking a break from coaching to spend time with his family. Just one day after the announcement, Tim Welsh was named as the interim coach to replace Barnes. Welsh had just retired as the men’s coach after 33 seasons, but is coming back to help in the transition. Neither Barnes nor Notre Dame indicated that Barnes is stepping away for good, so we could see him back on deck. This past college season, Emma Reaney scored an American record in the 200 breast in winning Notre Dame’s first swimming title, a big boost to Barnes’ growing list of accomplishments. I’ve known Brian Barnes for many years, going back to our time together on the national junior team. I’m sure everyone joins me in wishing Brian and his family all the best.

And now we’ve arrived at the number one headline of the week, and it concerns a 20-year-old Japanese swimmer who continues to put up amazing swims in the long course pool. Kosuke Hagino broke his own Japanese and Asian record in the 200 long course individual medley on Saturday at the Japanese Intercollegiate Championships with a 1:55.38. He beat his record by three hundredths of a second, and remains the only swimmer under 1:56 this year. In addition to that 200 IM swim, Hagino broke 4:10 in the 400 IM and made himself the fastest 100 freestyler in Japan with a 48.76 as a relay leadoff. But that’s not all. He swam a 52.75 in the 100 back leading off a relay and a 1:45.9 in the 200 free, again leading off a relay. Hagino often has trouble with his multi-event schedule when he swims outside of Japan, so we’ll see how he handles the potential six individual events and three relays in Korea at the Asian Games in a couple of weeks. We don’t want to forget another great swim at the Japanese Intercollegiate championships. Miki Uchida broke a 13-year-old national record with a 25.02 in the 50 freestyle, setting herself up as well for some hardware at Asian Games.

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