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Devon Nowicki has seen his 100-meter breaststroke hover around a minute, before finally breaking through with a 59.
Now he is looking to do it again.
The Michigan Lakeshore Aquatics swimmer is seeded first in the 100 breast with a 59.48 heading into this week’s 2019 Phillips 66 U.S. National Championships at Stanford.
“I am looking forward to going out to California and getting the top seed. It felt really good to see that. It was really surprising,” Nowicki told Swimming World. “Of course, seeds don’t matter when you dive in. You have to do it.”
Nowicki has been motivated to prove that he is capable of sub-minute performances on a regular basis.
“I want to take this meet and drop some really fast times to show people I am the real deal. There are a lot of (doubters) that think I can’t go that fast. I just want to prove everybody wrong,” he said. “And I want to show sponsors and endorsers that I am around to stay and still can post fast times. I want to show my times last year were not a fluke.”
He has so far this summer — but it didn’t start perfectly.
“I went to (TYR Pro Swim Series) Clovis and didn’t swim how I wanted to. The 105-degree was hard, then DQing in the 50 breast of course felt really good,” he said. “Swimming at the West Michigan Classic, my strokes felt super good, a lot stronger than I thought they’d be. The 100 breast and 50 breast felt phenomenal.
“Hopefully things will be even better with a full taper.”
Check out the psych sheet here. More nationals coverage here.
Devon Nowicki said his stroke is more fluid this summer.
“We are working on my start because I want to be more explosive off the block,” he said. “I want to feel strong in the water, pulling myself forward and keep momentum through my stroke. My pullouts are just on fire right now. I don’t really know why. Everything is just coming together.”
It is rubbing off on his teammates, too.
“It is pretty cool to be able to train with Devon,” MLA’s Derek Maas said. “I know he is going to be the top guy, so if I can stick with him, I will be in it. Of course, it doesn’t always work that way. But I try to keep with him.
“It is crazy with the top seed. It will be cooler if he wins, which he definitely could.”
Danny Pawlaczyk
I like his attitude with Dressell and Ledecky and the performance at the 2019 World’s the USA looks strong. I will be watching tomorrow through Sunday the Phillips National Championships. To the USA Swim Team, I’m going to view the Fond du Lac Cardinals Girls Swim Team and Boys Team later on in the Winter ending up in Madison in UW’s brand new Natatorium.
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Devon Nowicki