Performance of the Week: Jan. 22, 2013

PHOENIX, Arizona, January 22. WE had another quandary on our hands for this Performance of the Week. A lot of great swims to choose from again, and the decision was not an easy one.

We had a great swim from Roland Schoeman in an exhibition 100-yard freestyle last weekend and a fantastic double from Vlad Morozov in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles in the Classic at SMU meet. But the swimmer that really stood out was Nathan Adrian at the Arena Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.

First, Adrian dropped a 48.32 in the 100 free to not only send a message to rival James Magnussen, who swam a tenth slower in a meet last weekend, but broke the longstanding pool record of 48.42 by fellow UC-Berkeley alum Matt Biondi, which had been set at the Olympic Trials there in 1988. The following day, Adrian was dominant in the 50 free with a 21.70, just two hundredths of a second slower than he swam in the final at the Olympic Trials.

This was Nathan Adrian's first racing opportunity since the Olympics, since he had jammed his finger at winter nationals on the first day and sat out the rest of the meet. It makes a statement to the rest of the world that the Olympic champion is not resting on his laurels. Congratulations, Nathan, you won our Performance of the Week

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