Speedo Performance of the Week: Michael Andrew Wins Big In Austin

Insightful choice for POW.

I find Michael much more interesting at this point than when he “turned pro” a year ago. He has clearly now broken through to a new level. I can’t claim to fully understand the USRPT approach, but can someone at least ask if he was shaved — other than armpits — and if so at what point in meet? If he’s now a “pro” there should certainly be a way media can contact his “people” (his dad? Other?) for such inquiries. He’s obviously shown skill in every stroke as his career has developed, or if not particular skill, enough strength/power in relation to those he was competing against (his age group?), to have success in each stroke. To win at a Grand Prix/Pro Series event, there is clearly significant skill involved as he’s not in a position of overpowering the “adults” he’s now won against. What I’ve found interesting is that he’s tended to have an event or two or maybe three of great success in each meet he’s attended, but seldom one meet with everything clicking at the same time as one might expect in a good standard “taper.” One stroke stands out in one meet, another in the next meet. Is that according to training plan or just happenstance? Is he now a breaststroker or will his butterfly or IM have a similar competitive breakthrough against elite athletes at his next outing as his breast in Austin? I’m having fun watching. Despite his Hosszu-like tendency to enter a large number of events in each meet, in Austin he did not even enter the 100 Back, his winning event from last summer’s Juniors. His 100 Fly seed, from last summer, was :53.46, yet he had prelim-final swims in Austin between :55.5 & :56, both over 2 seconds over seed. His 100 Free was nearly a second and 1/2 over seed, 50 free 0.25 over. 200 IM was likewise over a second over seed. Yet he drops 1.7 to win the 100 Breast. So this was not a matter of hitting the 100 breast when everything was clicking. His breaststrokes were the only events he was even close to his best times. Both fascinating and hard to anticipate.

And in a side note about how difficult it is to have generalist sports media understand or recognize quality in our sport, Carsten Vissering, the previous holder of the NAG Andrew broke in Austin, was a Sports Illustrated “Faces in the Crowd” celebrant this week FOR HIS SWIMS IN A HIGH SCHOOL DUAL MEET, giving only secondary side mention to his 100 Breast National record. And a D-II swimmer was another “Face” in the same issue after setting 5 school records in her first semester and being Northeast-10 Conference swimmer of the week. Nice but ….