The Week That Was: Big Announcements, Record Swim Highlight Week’s Top Swimming News

Above Photo Courtesy: Azaria Basile

TUCSON – The odds are good that we’ll look back on February as one of the top months for swimming news in 2015, based on the buzzworthy moments that took place just in the past seven days. We’re counting down the top five swimming headlines of the week for The Week That Was, from stunning announcements to record performances.

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The Week That Was #5: Florida men overtake CSCAA top spot in latest swimming/diving rankings

As we head into the beginning of the collegiate championship season, performances in the pool are starting to get faster as athletes begin to feel more rested and ready to race. The University of Florida men’s swimming and diving team put up some spectacular times recently in their dual meet against Tennessee, which helped them knock Texas off the top spot in the latest poll of college coaches. As is always the case, this is not a crystal ball into which team will win at the NCAA championships, but it does give us an idea of the best dual meet teams in the country. Making some big moves in the poll were two Ivy League school, Harvard and Princeton. Harvard leapt from 25th to fourth thanks to some strong swims in the tri-meet with Yale and Princeton, while Princeton’s swims in that meet enabled the Tigers to go from being an unranked team to the 10th-best, according to those who voted in the poll. Things are bound to change as the dual meet season concludes and the conference meets start, but this recent poll is bound to motivate a lot of teams heading into taper.

The Week That Was #4: Michael Scott steps down as Swimming Australia’s high performance director

Swimming Australia is searching for a new high performance director 18 months before the Rio Olympics, as Michael Scott announced that he will move into the position of CEO for Rowing Australia. Scott will stay with Swimming Australia for three months, but the move could be troublesome for the organization as it looks ahead not only to the Olympics, but to this summer’s world championships. Under Scott’s guidance since April 2013, Australia has enjoyed a great deal of success in the pool, including three gold medals at the 2013 world championships and even more at last year’s Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific championships. Australia is still looking to put the disappointment of the 2012 Olympic behind them, and Scott was one of the people that was putting the country on the right track. We’ll see who steps into Scott’s shoes in the coming months, and hopefully that person knows how much responsibility helping lead one of the world’s best swimming nations can be.

The Week That Was #3: Micah Lawrence breaks leg in Australia

Nine members of the SwimMAC Carolina elite team stayed in Australia for a few days after the Super Series meet a couple of weeks ago to enjoy some summer sun Down Under and put in some training there. A bit of misfortune struck the team last week when Micah Lawrence broke her leg, requiring her to spend some time out of the water. Though SwimMAC Carolina did not give specifics on the type of injury, Swimming World learned that it was a break in her fibula bone. SwimMAC said the injury would only keep Lawrence out of the water for about a week, which is probably a week too long as she prepares for the world championships in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes.

The Week That Was #2: Katie Ledecky shatters records in final high school swim meet

By now, you shouldn’t be surprised that Katie Ledecky likes to challenge the limits of what’s possible every time she dives into the pool. Instead, awe is the only emotion that’s likely to take over when she breaks records, as she did last weekend at the DC Metros championships. In her final high school meet representing Stone Ridge, Ledecky went after her American record of 4:28.71 that she swam at the same meet last year, and demolished it with a 4:26.58. Ledecky nearly even-split her swim, posting a 2:12.96 in the first half and 2:13.62 on the back half. That included a 25.95 on the final 50 yards to seal the deal. That swim took place in the prelims of the 500 free, giving Ledecky the opportunity to go after a best time in the 200 free the following day without having to worry about being too tired for a great 500. Ledecky was on American record pace for most of the 200 free, but only posted a 1:41.55 that stands as the national high school record, and a little more than a second off Missy Franklin’s American record. Now the focus shifts to long course racing for Ledecky as she shoots for more history later this summer at the world championships.

The Week That Was #1: Michael Phelps making competition return in Mesa

We all knew it was a strong possibility, and now it’s been confirmed that Michael Phelps’ first meet after his six-month suspension ends will be the Arena Pro Swim Series in Mesa, Ariz., where he made his comeback official last year. Unlike last year, Phelps’ performances in Mesa will not be the start of a road toward a major international meet. Phelps withdrew from the world championship team after his DUI arrest and subsequent trip to rehab, and might be looking for a domestic or international long course meet in which to race for a chance to compete virtually with the rest of the world. Tickets for the Mesa meet are selling fast and are bound to sell out quickly, as they did last year. Of course, Phelps will not be the only major name at the meet. Ryan Lochte is bound to be there, as will Ledecky, Nathan Adrian and many others as they get ready for world championships.