Streamlined News: Jan. 27, 2012


PHOENIX, Arizona, January 27. JAMES Magnussen continues to make himself the one to chase in the men's 100 freestyle in the lead-up to the Olympics, posting the two fastest 100 freestyles of 2012 so far. At the South Australian state championships in Adelaide, where the Australian Olympic Trials will be held in March, Magnussen swam a 48.74 in prelims then won the final in 48.05. Matt Abood and Eamon Sullivan took second and third, with Abood swimming a 49.85 and 50.63.

Blair Evans has been known as a world-class distance freestyler, but now she's getting some attention in the 400 IM after her 4:36.21 today in Adelaide. Evans dropped about four seconds off her best time, and would have placed seventh in that event at last summer's world championships. This could give Australia a two-woman presence in the 400 IM at the Olympics, with Stephanie Rice already leading the way – that is if her shoulder holds up and she feels comfortable in the event for Trials.

Another swim of note in Adelaide came in the men's 200 IM, where Daniel Tranter swam a 2:00.41 to put him third in the world right now behind Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte. Tranter has been chipping away at his lifetime best time, swimming a 2:00.58 last month in Queensland. Kenneth To and Mitch Larkin were the only Aussies to break two minutes last year, and could set up for a three-man race at Trials.

Later today in Queensland will be a special meet where prize money will be offered to top finishers. The meet has attracted a few members of the Chinese national team, including 1500 freestyle world record holder Sun Yang, who has been training in the area for the past few weeks. Sun will race the 100, 200 and 400 freestyles in prelims today, with finals taking place tomorrow. Jiao Liuyang, the reigning world champ in the 200 fly, is in the meet, as is 100 back world champ Zhao Jing. For the Australians, 100 breast world record holder Brenton Rickard will likely sweep the breaststroke events, and Thomas Fraser-Holmes in the freestyle and IM events.

Earlier today the Euro meet got underway in Luxembourg with some distance events. Ioannis Drymonakos and Raphael Stacchiotti highlighted today's swimming with the second- and third-fastest 400 IMs of the year so far. Drymonakos won with a 4:18.46 with Stacchiotti second in 4:18.98. The swimming community will be watching this meet more eagerly tomorrow, when Ian Thorpe steps up to race the 200 free. Thorpe has told the media that he's not expecting to put up any fast times until the Australian Olympic Trials in March, which hasn't stopped the world from wondering if Thorpe can indeed make the Olympic team after only a year in serious training.

The college dual meet season is winding down, and this weekend will feature a few good matchups. The Cal and USC women are meeting in Los Angeles today, and it will feature a showdown in the individual medley between Katinka Hosszu and Caitlin Leverenz, who are likely to duel in the IMs at the NCAAs. USC will then race Stanford on Saturday, which should also be a good matchup.

Arizona and Texas are the top two men's swimming teams in the country right now, and they'll square off tomorrow in Tucson. Arizona has shown they have a quality team after putting up dozens of automatic NCAA qualifying times with swimmers ranked number one in five events nationwide. Texas will be strong as well, especially in the freestyle events.

The first leg of the FINA 10K world cup begins Sunday down in Brazil, as many of the swimmers already qualified for the Olympic 10K race will get in some racing experience. Martina Grimaldi and Marianna Lymperta, the silver and bronze medalists from the world championships, are scheduled to swim in the women's race. World champion Spyridon Gianniotis will lead the pack in the men's race, though he'll be challenged by world bronze medalist Sergey Bolshakov. Richard Weinberger, who won the 10K race at the Pan-American Games and at the Olympic test event, will be one to watch as well.

Michael Phelps is ranked 34th in a list of the 100 most powerful athletes around the world. The list ranks athletes based on their performances in 2011, total earnings, sponsorships, social media presence and appeal. Drew Brees, the quarterback for the New Orleans Saints, ranked number one. Phelps ranked 11th on this list in 2011, and will likely rise up the charts next year after his farewell performances this summer at the Olympics. Ryan Lochte and others could also show up on that list next year.

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