The Week That Was: Historic Meets Highlight Top Five Swimming Headlines

TUCSON – Swimming was a popular sport across all divisions of competition this past week, with elite athletes racing in Orlando, college swimmers wrapping up dual meets and high school swimmers competing in state championships. The Week That Was is looking back at the top five swimming headlines of the week.

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The Week That Was #5: Pro swimmers make big moves

This past week, three Olympians from three countries announced that they were moving to new training locations with the hope of not only qualifying for the Olympics but winning medals. The ADN Swim Project in Italy is getting two of them, with Russia’s Evgeny Lagunov moving there and George Bovell of Trinidad and Tobago relocating from Club Wolverine to Italy in the 18 months before the Olympics. Here in the United States, Kate Ziegler is putting a full focus on her return to the sport with the news that she’s moved to Knoxville to train with the growing postgrad squad there. Ziegler hasn’t competed at a high level since the 2012 Olympic Trials, but will likely make an impact by the time the 2016 Trials arrives.

The Week That Was #4: Foreigners dominate Arena Pro Swim Series in Orlando

Though the Arena Pro Swim Series is primarily a meet that features some of the top American elite getting in some racing – and winning money, if eligible – last week’s meet in Orlando was dominated by international swim stars. Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson shocked the crowd with a 1:06.79, while Hannah Miley provided some fireworks of her own with a 4:36.74 in the 400 IM. On the men’s side, the 200 butterfly top four was taken by foreigners, led by a 1:57.32 by Denmark’s Viktor Bromer. Former Russian Arkady Vyatchanin won the 200 back ahead of Russian up-and-comer Grigory Tarasevich, while Brazil’s Joao De Lucca won the 100 and 200 freestyles. Americans still did well. Cody Miller swam the world’s fastest time in the 200 breast with a 2:10.28 and Ryan Lochte showed up for just the 200 IM and won that with a 2:00.52. The series picks up in April in Mesa, where Michael Phelps will mark his return to competition and many collegiate swimmers will kick their long course season into gear.

The Week That Was #3: Vladimir Dyatchin’s two-year ban prompts retirement announcement

We’ve known for more than six months that open water star Vladimir Dyatchin had failed a drug test at last summer’s Russian open water nationals, but what was not known until now was that he was given a two-year suspension that was going to keep him from qualifying for the 2016 Olympics. Dyatchin told Russian media that he was going to retire and focus on the administrative side of swimming. This is the third major positive drug test for Russia since fall 2013, a black eye for a country in the middle of preparing to host the world championships. A German documentary has revealed an administrative regime of doping in Russia, where athletes were taught how to evade drug testers and cover-ups ruled supreme. FINA has yet to act against Russia, and various notable names in swimming have called on FINA to impose sanctions on Russia immediately.

The Week That Was #2: Missy Franklin swims final collegiate dual meet

Missy Franklin is closing out her time as a collegiate athlete, and marked her final dual meet with a team victory over Stanford Saturday. Franklin won only the 200 back, and was second in two other events. Franklin will be turning pro after the NCAA championships this year, a plan that had been in place since her high school days. In her two collegiate seasons, Franklin has made a major impact on the sport both in and out of the pool. Surely that will continue when she becomes a professional swimmer, but her presence in the collegiate race pool will be sorely missed.

The Week That Was #1: Carmel High School breaks three relay national high school records

Carmel High School’s 29th consecutive girls swimming and diving high school Indiana state title was never in doubt, and the team rolled through the meet in a style that gives us pause to wonder if Chris Plumb’s team is one of the best high school squads in history. For the first time in swimming history, one school owns all three girls overall national high school relay records. Carmel broke 1:40 in the 200 medley relay with a 1:39.25, demolished the 3:20 barrier with a 3:15.38 in the 400 free relay and lowered the 200 free relay record down to 1:30.72. For good measure, all 27 girls on the team scored points, highlighted by the 22.15 by Amy Bilquist in the 50 free and a 48.36 in the 100 free. Carmel won all but two swimming events at the Indiana state meet, and it looks like winning state title number 30 is not in question. If that happens, Carmel will hold the record outright for the most consecutive high school state titles, which they co-own with Punahou High School’s boys swimming and diving team. It’s also a likely scenario that Carmel will win this year’s Swimming World Magazine Girls High School Team title.