PHOENIX, Ariz., USA, July 22. HERE's your chance to challenge the experts at Swimming World.
Last week, Phil Whitten (Editor-in-Chief and Chief Media Officer), John Lohn (Newsmaster for SwimmingWorldMgazine.com) and Steve Thomas (Australian correspondent) independently wrote down their picks for the medalists at the FINA World Championships in Montreal. Surprisingly, they agreed on the winner in 24 of the 40 swimming events: 13 men's events and 11 women's.
Here is where they agreed on the winner:
MEN
200 free: Phelps (USA)
400 free: Hackett (AUS)
800 free: Hackett (AUS)
1500 free: Hackett (AUS)
100 back: Peirsol (USA)
200 back: Peirsol (USA)
100 breast: Hansen (USA)
200 breast: Hansen (USA)
200 IM: Phelps (USA)
400 IM: Cseh (Hungary)
400 Med Rel: USA
400 Free Rel: USA
800 Free Rel: USA
WOMEN
50 free: Mills (AUS)
200 free: Pellegrini (ITA)
400 free: Manaudou (FRA)
100 back: Coughlin (USA)
200 back: Coventry (ZIM)
100 breast: Jones (AUS)
200 breast: Jones (AUS)
200 fly: Jedrzejczak (POL)
200 IM: Hoff (USA)
400 Med Rel: AUS
400 Free Rel: AUS
Despite the great agreement on winners, the three experts found little to agree upon when it came to the minor medals. On only two events did they pick the same swimmers for the top three places: The men's 100 back and the women's 200 back. They agreed on the top two in six additional events.
Herewith, their picks:
John Lohn's Picks
MEN
50 free: Draganja, Schoeman, Lezak
100 Free: Schoeman, Phelps, Lezak
200 Free: Phelps, Hackett, Vanderkaay
400 Free: Hackett, Phelps, Rosolino
800 Free: Hackett, Jensen, Rosolino
1500 Free: Hackett, Jensen, Davies
50 Back: Rupprath, Bal, Welsh
100 Back: Peirsol, Morita, Bal
200 Back: Peirsol, Lochte, Rogan
50 Breast: Duboscq, Kitajima, Warnecke
100 Breast: Hansen, Kitajima, Rickard
200 Breast: Hansen, Imamura, Piper
50 Fly: Crocker, Rupprath, Serdinov
100 Fly: Phelps, Crocker, Serdinov
200 Fly: Wu, Korzeniowski, Matsuda
200 I.M.: Phelps, Cseh, Lochte
400 I.M.: Cseh, Lochte, Boggiatto
400 Medley Relay: USA, Japan, Australia
400 Free Relay: USA, Italy, Germany
800 Free Relay: USA, Italy, Australia
WOMEN
50 Free: Mills, Lenton, Veldhuis
100 Free: Henry, Coughlin, Mills
200 Free: Pellegrini, Marshall, Hoff
400 Free: Manaudou, Potec, McClatchey
800 Free: Ziegler, Manaudou, Shibata
1500 Free: Ziegler, Yamada, Rigamonti
50 Back: Pietsch, Rooney, Buschschulte
100 Back: Coughlin, Ornstedt, Buschschulte
200 Back: Coventry, Nakamura, Hoelzer
50 Breast: Hanson, Edmistone, Kirk
100 Breast: Jones, Hanson, Kirk
200 Breast: Jones, Kirk, Poleska
50 Fly: Mills, Alshammar, Dekker
100 Fly: Schipper, Jedrzejczak, Lenton
200 Fly: Jedrzejczak, Schipper, DeScenza
200 I.M.: Hoff, Coventry, Hanson
400 I.M.: Hoff, Sandeno, Bardach
400 Medley Relay: Australia, USA, China
400 Free Relay: Australia, USA, France
800 Free Relay: USA, Australia, Great Britain
Steve Thomas's Picks
MEN
50 freestyle
Gold – Jason Lezak, USA
Silver – Frederick Bousquet, FRA
Bronze – Javier Noriega ESP
100 freestyle
Gold – Filippo Magnini ITA
Silver – Jason Lezak, USA
Bronze – Frederick Bousquet, FRA
200 freestyle
Gold – Michael Phelps, USA
Silver – Grant Hackett, AUS
Bronze – Hayden Brent, CAN
400 freestyle
Gold – Grant Hackett, AUS
Silver – Michael Phelps, USA
Bronze – Massi Rosolino ITA
800 freestyle
Gold – Grant Hackett, AUS
Silver – Larsen Jensen, USA
Bronze – Massi Rosolino ITA
1500 freestyle
Gold – Grant Hackett, AUS
Silver – David Davies, GBR
Bronze – Larsen Jensen, USA
50 backstroke
Gold – Thomas Rupprath, GER
Silver – Randall Bal, USA
Bronze – Kunpeng Ouyang, CHN
100 backstroke
Gold – Aaron Peirsol, USA
Silver – Morita Tomomi JPN
Bronze – Randall Bal, USA
200 backstroke
Gold – Aaron Peirsol, USA
Silver – Laszlo Cseh, HUN
Bronze – Razvan Florea, ROM
50 breaststroke
Gold – Mark Warnecke, GER
Silver – Oleg Lisogor, UKR
Bronze – Brenton Rickard, AUS
100 breaststroke
Gold – Brendan Hansen, USA
Silver – Brenton Rickard, AUS
Bronze – Kosuke Kitajima, JPN
200 breaststroke
Gold – Brendan Hansen, USA
Silver – Jim Piper, AUS
Bronze – Genki Imamura, JPN
50 butterfly
Gold – Thomas Rupprath, GER
Silver – Ian Crocker USA
Bronze – Ryk Neethling, RSA
100 butterfly
Gold – Michael Phelps USA
Silver – Andriy Serdinov, UKR
Bronze – Ian Crocker USA
200 butterfly
Gold – Takeshi Matsuda, JPN
Silver – Nikolai Skvortsov, RUS
Bronze – Peng Wu CHN
200 Individual Medley
Gold – Michael Phelps, USA
Silver – Lochte Ryan USA
Bronze – Laszlo Cseh, HUN
400 Individual Medley
Gold – Laszio Cseh, HUN
Silver – Alessio Boggiatto, ITA
Bronze – Sano Hidemasa, JPN
4×100 Medley Relay
Gold – USA
Silver – JAP
Bronze – ITA
4×100 freestyle relay
Gold – USA
Silver – ITA
Bronze – RSA
4×200 Freestyle relay
Gold – USA
Silver – ITA
Bronze – AUS
WOMEN
50 freestyle
Gold – Alice Mills, AUS
Silver – Libby Lenton, AUS
Bronze – Therese Alshammar SWE
100 freestyle
Gold – Alice Mills, AUS
Silver – Jodie Henry, AUS
Bronze – Natalie Coughlin, USA
200 freestyle
Gold – Federica Pellegrini, ITA
Silver – Josefine Lillhage, SWE
Bronze – Melanie Marshall, GBR
400 freestyle
Gold – Laure Manaudou, FRA
Silver – Camelia Potec, ROM
Bronze – Ai Shibata, JAP
800 freestyle
Gold – Ai Shibata, JPN
Silver – Kate Ziegler, USA
Bronze – Cooke Rebecca, GBR
1500 freestyle
Gold – Kate Ziegler, USA
Silver – Cooke Rebecca, GBR
Bronze – Ai Shibata, JPN
50 backstroke
Gold – Janine Pietsch, GER
Silver – Antje Buschschulte, Germany
Bronze – Xiujun Chen CHN
100 backstroke
Gold – Natalie Coughlin, United States
Silver – Kirsty Coventry ZIM
Bronze – Antje Buschschulte, Germany
200 backstroke
Gold – Kirsty Coventry ZIM
Silver – Reiko Nakamura, JPN
Bronze – Margaret Hoelzer USA
50 breaststroke
Gold – Xuejuan Luo CHN
Silver – Jade Edmiston AUS
Bronze – Zoe Baker NZL
100 breaststroke
Gold – Leisel Jones, AUS
Silver – Tara Kirk, USA
Bronze – Xuejuan Luo CHN
200 breaststroke
Gold – Leisel Jones, Australia
Silver – Tara Kirk, USA
Bronze – Mirna Jukic AUT
50 butterfly
Gold – Therese Alshammar SWE
Silver – Moravcova Martina SVK
Bronze – Alice Mills AUS
100 butterfly
Gold – Otylia Jedrejczak, POL
Silver – Jessica Schipper AUS
Bronze – Libby Lenton, AUS
200 butterfly
Gold – Otylia Jedrejczak, Poland
Silver – Jessica Schipper AUS
Bronze – Yuko Nakanishi, Japan
200 Individual Medley
Gold – Katie Hoff, USA
Silver – Kirsty Coventry ZIM
Bronze – Rohmann Teresa, GER
400 Individual Medley
Gold – Kaitlin Sandeno, USA
Silver – Katie Hoff, USA
Bronze – Georgina Bardach, ARG
4 x 100 Medley Relay
Gold – AUS
Silver – USA
Bronze – CHN
4×100 Freestyle Relay
Gold – AUS
Silver – FRA
Bronze – USA
4×200 Freestyle relay
Gold – USA
Silver – AUS
Bronze – GBR
Phil Whitten's Picks
MEN
50 free: Draganja, Bousquet, Schoeman
100 Free: Schoeman, Phelps, Magnini
200 Free: Phelps, Hackett, Rosolino
400 Free: Hackett, Phelps, Brembilla
800 Free: Hackett, Prilukov, Rosolino
1500 Free: Hackett, Jensen, Davies
50 Back: Bal, Welsh, Rupprath
100 Back: Peirsol, Morita, Bal
200 Back: Peirsol, Lochte, Cseh
50 Breast: Lisogor, Gibson, Duboscq
100 Breast: Hansen, Mew, Kitajima
200 Breast: Hansen, Imamura, Piper
50 Fly: Crocker, Schoeman, Swanepoel
100 Fly: Crocker, Phelps, Serdinov
200 Fly: Matsuda, Wu, Korzeniowski
200 I.M.: Phelps, Lochte, Cseh
400 I.M.: Cseh, Lochte, Verraszto
400 Medley Relay: USA, Australia, Japan
400 Free Relay: USA, Italy, France
800 Free Relay: USA, Australia, Italy
WOMEN
50 Free: Mills, Lenton, Metella
100 Free: Henry, Mills, Veldhuis
200 Free: Pellegrini, Marshall, Lillhage
400 Free: Manaudou, Shibata, McClatchey
800 Free: Shibata, Ziegler, Cooke
1500 Free: Manaudou, Ziegler, Rigamonti
50 Back: Pietsch, Rooney, Chen
100 Back: Coughlin, Ornstedt, Manaudou
200 Back: Coventry, Nakamura, Hoelzer
50 Breast: Edmistone, Hanson, Luo
100 Breast: Jones, Luo, Kirk
200 Breast: Jones, Kirk, Jukic
50 Fly: Coughlin, Alshammar, Mills
100 Fly: Schipper, Lenton, Moravcova
200 Fly: Jedrzejczak, Nakanishi, DeScenza
200 I.M.: Hoff, Coventry, Hanson
400 I.M.: Hoff, Sandeno, Jakobos
400 Medley Relay: Australia, USA, China
400 Free Relay: Australia, USA, France
800 Free Relay: Australia, USA, China