Morning Splash (Special Afternoon Edition): Hearing From Trials Triple-Winners

michael-phelps-
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Editorial Coverage provided by Suit-extractor-logo

By David Rieder

It’s hard to fly under the radar when you swim the second-fastest time in the world in the 100 free and third-best in the 50 free. But that’s exactly what Nathan Adrian has done this week at Olympic Trials.

Adrian’s victory in the 50 free Saturday night seemed almost routine—even if it was just by one one-hundredth of a second. The win was redemption for Adrian after he was third in the 50 free four years ago, but he has not lost either the 50 or 100 to an American since. Adrian is swimming well and has developed a knack for touching the wall first these past few months, a scary combination just a month out from the Olympics.

Two other double winners from these Trials had already broken out—Ryan Murphy and Lilly King both put on shows at their respective NCAA championships in March—but now the wider public knows exactly who these two are, legitimate Olympic medal contenders.

And then there were three three-time event winners at these Trials, and each of whom added a win in their final event Saturday night. Maya DiRado came first, adding the 200 back to her wins in the 200 and 400 IM earlier in the week. Even without swimming best times in the IM races in Omaha, DiRado already looked like a medal contender in those events.

The 200 back, her extra event? She’ll be a force there, too. Her 2:06.90 from that race has her ranked fourth in the world this year behind Belinda Hocking, Emily Seebohm and Katinka Hosszu.

I did a radio interview with ESPN Hawaii Thursday afternoon and was asked specifically about DiRado as a breakout swimmer of the Trials. DiRado will be getting more national attention than ever before over the next month, and she says she’s ready for it.

“I think just keeping things in perspective, focusing on the process again, going back into training, and I’ll probably try to stay off social media as much as I can and just kind of focus on being with the team and doing the work that we need to do,” DiRado said.

“The fact that I was able to compete as a professional swimmer for the past two years and make a really comfortable living without having even been to an Olympics is a testament to what Michael [Phelps] has done with the sport of swimming. We will gladly welcome the attention we get from the country and the support that we receive because we’re excited that people care, and I think we have to look at it that way.”

Phelps followed DiRado to the pool, swimming the 100 fly final out of lane seven.

“I’ve never been out there, and I don’t want to be out there again,” Phelps said afterwards.

All week, Phelps has tried to take in the moment as he competes in the United States for the final time—even as his times have not been what he might have hoped for coming in.

“I felt some of those emotions today as well walking into the venue today. I started thinking about this is my last American soil race ever, and I said to Bob [Bowman] before I went out there, I said, there is not a chance that I’m losing my last race on American soil,” he said.

“Afterwards he said to me, ‘I knew you were going to win after you said that.’”

Phelps used his typical surge on the last 15 meters to pull ahead of a tightly-bunched field and come in at 51.00 to secure a spot in his third event in Rio. That time was not the fastest in the world, but Phelps says he’s up for the challenge as he attempts to add more individual gold—and more history—to his already-sparkling résumé.

“It’s frustrating to not be able to go the same time or faster than I did last year, especially because I think I’m in better shape than I was last year. But I believe I can. I’m not going to put a limit on myself of what I can or can’t do,” Phelps said.

“I’m excited to see what can happen. It’s been since 2009 since I’ve done a best time, and I think it would be kinda fun to do one before I retire, but time will tell.”

Katie Ledecky swam the 800 free right after Phelps got out of the pool, and in a total non-shocker, she picked up her third victory of the week.. Just like she did in the 400 free, Ledecky swam well under world record pace for much of the race but could not shift into gear at the end.

By Ledecky’s high standards, an 8:10.32 in the 800 free—merely the third-fastest time in history—was routine.

“It just didn’t feel like it was anything special. I can’t complain about an 8:10, but I just could feel that I wasn’t really able to bring my legs in, swimming with a one- or two-beat kick the whole time. When I really start to get going, I can bring in that kick and get into a good rhythm, and that wasn’t there tonight, and [it] made my arms more tired than they normally get.

“So I think I can take what I did tonight and improve on that in Rio and I know how I felt in that race. I know what an 8:10 feels like, I did it twice now, and hopefully I can be back down and a little faster in Rio.”

Ledecky has competed in eight individual races at the World Championship or Olympic level and has won them all. With that track record, and her habit of dropping chunks of time on her second taper, it would seem foolish to bet against her come Rio.

*Missy Franklin did not win any events this week in Omaha, but she did finish second twice—in the 200 free and 200 back—and second place is just as good as first at the Olympic Trials.

Franklin had to dig deep Saturday night in the 200 back as Lisa Bratton was charging hard the last 25 meters. But it was enough, and Franklin could end a chaotic, draining week on a high note.

The expectations were piled on Franklin coming into the week, and she has admitted that those pressures have weighed on her, especially after finishing seventh in the 100 back and missing out on the final of the 100 free.

But from the experience came perspective.

“It’s okay to be nervous, it’s okay to be scared, it’s okay to talk to someone about it, and it’s okay to realize that it’s different this time around,” Franklin said.

“I had this idea that if I didn’t live up to these expectations that so much was going to change, and this week has been very good in helping me realize that—even though I’ve never had to deal with it before—it’s more than just being Missy the swimmer. It’s about being Missy the person and making people proud of me both aspects, but I think the timidness came from just wanting so much to make people proud of me.”

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x