The Morning Swim Show, March 21, 2012: Previewing NCAA Men’s Division I Swimming and Diving Championships

PHOENIX, Arizona, March 21. WITH the start of the NCAA Division I men's swimming and diving championships just one day away, we break down the potential headliners on today's edition of The Morning Swim Show.

From the potential three matchups between David Noland Cory Chitwood to Tom Shields' title hopes and the team race at stake, Peter Busch and Jeff Commings break it all down for you. in Be sure to visit SwimmingWorld.TV for more video interviews.

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Morning Swim Show Transcripts
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Peter Busch: Welcome to the Morning Swim Show for Wednesday, March 21st, 2012. I am your host Peter Busch alongside Jeff Commings. Today we are going to break down the men's Division 1 swimming and diving championships which start tomorrow in Federal Way, Washington. Jeff is a former Texas Longhorn. I am former Arizona Wildcat — pretty fitting because Texas and Arizona most likely the teams to beat at this meet. Jeff I am going to take a guess that you are picking Texas.

Jeff Commings: I am picking Texas but not because I am a Longhorn. I am picking them because they just look good in every event and they are going to score the points that they need not only in relays but across all the strokes 100's and 200's and that is what you really need to win this meet.

Peter Busch: As someone who has followed Arizona swimming for a long, long time it has been kind of a weird year and that with new coach Erich Hansen, they swim faster in season in dual meets than they ever did when my dad was coach and it would actually kind of made me feel good though to see them swim not so fast at the conference meet because that is how Arizona does it. They say they are out for the NCAA's and they usually have the best drops. I didn't actually mean they are always the fastest but they have the best drops. So at least I think they are ready to continue that legacy. I think it is going to be a great meet and I can't say definitively that Arizona will win but I think it is going to be a really fast meet top to bottom.

Jeff Commings: And it is going to be a close meet. I think. I don't think it is going to be like it was last year where pretty much Cal had it locked up by the start of the third day of finals. I think it is really going to come down to who has got the depth in each of these events and you got Texas and Arizona and you got Stanford as well who have really got some swimmers who could put up a lot of great places, help them all out in relays and I think it is just going to be a real dog fight down to even the last event of that.

Peter Busch: It will be one of those meets I believe relays are really the difference because Arizona has got great medleys and they are seeded first in both medley relays but their freestyle is certainly their weak point. They have enough I think to be top 8 in all of the relays but they are not going to win any of those relays but I think those relays every little point is going to make a difference.

Jeff Commings: Absolutely. You got Auburn who is going to be the spoiler in the sprint relays to taking away those crucial team points from Arizona, Stanford and Texas, but it is just going to be who you know– Eddie Reese when I was in Texas said, “It is not just how you swim in finals. It is how you swim at prelims and every team has got to swim well in prelims to get those finals, a final spot because that toward they are going to be most important.

Peter Busch: I think for Arizona to win they need Texas to not do what Texas does and that is put like 3 guys in the final the 200 free, couple of guys in the 100.

Jeff Commings: Right.

Peter Busch: They need to have other teams kind of bump them out and not let them load up because Arizona has some events where the load up like the breaststrokes, the IM's, the backstrokes but again they lose depth in the freestyles. I think Giles Smith is really helping them in the butterfly this year but you know they are going to get fat on those couple of events and they can't have Texas you know being matching them with quality and certain events.

Jeff Commings: Right, absolutely.

Peter Busch: So there are going to be some interesting performers to watch and for me the best duel because they are swimming the same event, same 3 events and they both have a chance to win all three or one or two as David Nolan, the fantastic freshman from Stanford who we have talked about a lot on the Morning Swim Show and Arizona senior Cory Chitwood. They are both swimming the 100, 200 backstroke and the 200 IM.

Jeff Commings: Yeah. Everybody obviously is looking for David Nolan to see what he could do. We remember last year at Pennsylvania State when he swam a time that would have won NCAA's but now he has got to go up against Cory Chitwood who is obviously looking to you know kind of avenge the second place he got last year. That is going to be a really good battle but I really looking forward to that 100 backstroke because it is not Cory's best event. I don't think it is necessarily David's best event, so you know which are those two can really get into that first place finish. And then 200 backstroke I just it is a wild card I mean I don't really know what Dave Nolan is capable off in that 200 backstroke and I can't you know count him out of anything and we know Cory is really capable of you know 1:38.0 even, so you know it is just going to be who really wants it the most.

Peter Busch: If David is going to beat Cory he is going to have to go at least 1:38.

Jeff Commings: Absolutely.

Peter Busch: Cory in his senior year he is a tough guy. He is not going down in the least. He will go 1:37 I think if he has to. He is going to be all out for that his last race as an Arizona Wild Cat. I think whoever. If one of those guys wins two of the three events they probably win swimmer of the meet unless Tom Shields wins two or three which is highly probable at least 100 fly and we could certainly win the 200 fly or 100 backstroke as well. So I think out of those three guys one of them will be your swimmer at the meet.

Jeff Commings: Absolutely and yeah you can't forget Tom Shields. He could be the spoiler of 100 back to the one last year but I really am looking forward to seeing him in that 100 fly and now that he doesn't have the pressure of raising Austin Staab like he did last year where probably knows he is going in as the heavy favorite I think it is going to be more relaxed. He is going to pop up a really fast time that is going to make us all kind of amazed. I know last year you kind of have serious said that someone was going to go 43.

Peter Busch: I was actually really serious and looked like a fool after that prediction but Shields has the talent and speed in the short course pool to do that so I won't be stunned if somebody goes 43.9.

Jeff Commings: Absolutely. I think he has got you know the best dolphin kicks out there right now and that is really his strength and I don't think anyone can touch him.

Peter Busch: And one of the reasons why I think one of those guys will win the swimmer of the meet is because there is no — I don't want to say elite — but there is no dominant sprint freestyler out there right now.

Jeff Commings: Right and that is what is going to make the 53 even more exciting because you know I was looking back through the results and since 2004 we have had a really good like dominant sprint freestyle. Fred Bousquet, Cesar Cielo and Nathan Adrian and now you know we got Jimmy Feigen who has been kind of nipping at their heels but you know he hasn't really stepped up so will it be his turn or will it be Vlad Morozov I mean you don't really know.

Peter Busch: Has Feigen improved the last couple of years?

Jeff Commings: Not really in the short course. His main improvements in long course obviously not enough to really get in you know to say he is the one to watch at Olympic trials per se but…

Peter Busch: I mean at one point he was the future of American sprinting.

Jeff Commings: Absolutely Peter Busch: And he certainly could be good enough to make a spot on the Olympic team but like anybody views them going into this Olympic year as the guy to carry the torch.

Jeff Commings: Well he has been 18.9 a couple of times and you know and this year I think 18.9 could win so he definitely has that you know background but you know will he be able to do that this year.

Peter Busch: All right. Aside from that there is going to be some fast breaststrokes and your specialty event this kid from Arizona this Kevin Cordes. I know he is not much of a talker. We have had him on the show. I can't pull two words out of them but man has he been an awesome pick for the wild cats. I know they recruited them having I hopes but he was by no means like the blue chip guy who is already going 51.

Jeff Commings: Yeah I totally didn't see that coming when he did that in December. I was thinking this guy is really good you know 53 out of high school I was thinking 52.5 as a freshman but of course that was depending on how we and Eric Hansen drilled and how you know everybody was making the transition. Obviously it is going well. The key is going to be for that 200 breast. Arizona got the top three seeds and I just think they are going to really kind of try to show that Arizona breaststroke is just a really a big force that you reckon with which is kind of odd because Arizona's Greg Rhodenbaugh left I was kind of worried about how Arizona breaststroke would be doing but they have been doing phenomenally.

Peter Busch: To his credit though he helped build that place into a breast stroke stronghold. I mean they second to southern Cal probably early the women that they had training post grad. There is not a better center for breaststroke in the country right now

.Jeff Commings: Absolutely.

Peter Busch: Going back to sprint for a second. I have to notice. I mean it has become almost like as guaranteed as death and taxes Auburn will win the 200 freestyle relay at the beginning of the meet.

Jeff Commings: Yeah.

Peter Busch: It is absolutely incredible even given the struggles that Auburn has had lately both men's and women's side. They are no longer a dynasty program but they still turn out the best 50 freestylers in the country every year.

Jeff Commings: Well when the coach is a nationally and internationally known 50 freestyler he is obviously going to know how to bring in the 50 freestylers and it is just amazing the talent he can pull out because some of the guys that he has really developed through the years never really were on anybody's radar before they popped off these great times. You know look at Cesar who was…

Peter Busch: I know I mean it is like a sprint factory down there.

Jeff Commings: Yeah.

Peter Busch: The guys that come in with no names and they leave national champions.

Jeff Commings: Yeah, so yes it would be a shock. Last year was a shock that Stanford won the 200 free relay but I think Auburn is hungry they went to bring that title back.

Peter Busch: All right so again we have got it down to Texas and Arizona. There are certainly some other teams that are going to be players, Michigan. Stanford and Cal to a lesser extent they lost a whole lot of guys last year, but those would probably be the top four teams.

Jeff Commings: I think so. I think that is about right. You know there is obviously going to be some questions about how diving is going to play out. Texas has I think the better divers but Stanford has Kristian Ipsen as well so you know you just kind of see how those diving points will factor into the team race. Last year you know Cal is you know really biting their nails because they didn't have the good divers that Texas had so you know this year I am sure Texas is really depending on to relieving stint in others to really say this is where we are really going to help the team.

Peter Busch: So you agree with me day three will be the decisive day.

Jeff Commings: Day three.

Peter Busch: It is not going to be decided like the last year by day two.

Jeff Commings: No it is going to be who can put up the best prelim session on day three to really set them up because the point of really going to be important that day because Stanford has I think probably the best chance on day two to make a big jump. Texas has the best chance on day three and Arizona also has a best chance on day three so it is just a matter of who can put the most swimmers in the finals.

Peter Busch: All right, I can't wait. I am going to be there, up at Federal Way doing race day coverage after prelims and finals, Thursday, Friday and Saturday I can't wait to bring that to you. I hope you can watch on SwimmingWorld.TV Jeff thanks a lot.

Jeff Commings: All right, have fun Peter.

Peter Busch: All right thanks for watching.

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