Destin Lasco Takes Down 31-Year-Old National Age Group Record In 200 IM

Come on, Jeff. On the discussion of the top Commonwealth week performances, there was no berating, just facts in comparing a couple of wonderful swims (All time best in any suit, breaking a rubber suit record v edge of top 5 textile performance).

Here, I acknowledged “…it will be impossible to look past Ledecky’s 400 free.” I feel that is especially so in that it reflected the fall of another “rubber suit” era record. But I just felt, even though it is an apples and oranges comparison, some recognition in the performance of the week would be appropriate for breaking a 31 year Morton record, unless you know of some Australian, Hungarian, Chinese or other youth over time who had already gone faster. I’m certainly NOT suggesting you overlook 3:58+; I’m suggesting it is not fair to entirely overlook a performance which, in its context, is at least similarly impressive. All NAG records are not created equal; National Championship winning swim by Simone Manuel in 50 free at :24.56 was a 17-18 NAG record, breaking a 2004 Kara Lynn Joyce :25.00 mark (after Abby Weitzel had already broken it earlier in the week with a :24.80 in Time Trials section of the meet). But I’d not suggest breaking that decade old NAG record as a Performance of the Week contender this particular week; frankly, it didn’t even match the otherworldly Sjostrom :24.4 50 fly from earlier this summer. But, again, Lesco broke a 31 year old record.

Most weeks, it is not that difficult to determine a singular performance standing out above all others. Some weeks that is not the case. I am suggesting the format of the Performance of the Week be tweaked to allow, in highly unusual circumstances (I think 31 years qualifies as pretty unusual) for some type of recognition of more than one swim in a week (co-performances? Honorable mention?) where more than one swim justifies such consideration.

Without getting into the “record” fest at the 2009 world championships, I recall there was a pretty big deal made of one day at the 1989 Pan-Pacs in Australia when there were 4 world records broken by Americans on the SAME DAY, much less the same week. (Evans and Wharton and 2 other, I believe). How would you have chosen just one? And should you have? Multiple recognitions where there have been multiple worthy performances seems a good thing to me.