World’s Best Take Top Swimming Headlines on The Week That Was

The end of the USA Swimming nationals and the start of the FINA World Cup were just two of the topics that made headlines in the past few days in the swimming community. An NCAA champion’s new training location was also a buzzworthy topic, and it’s included in our countdown of the top five swimming headlines on The Week That Was.

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The Week That Was #5: FINA holds Masters world championships in Kazan

For the first time, FINA held the Masters world championships in the same location as the “regular” world championships, with the swimming meet starting the day after the world’s elite swimmers were finished with their competition. The Masters swim meet was held in the Aquatics Palace, and about a dozen world records fell over six days.

The big draw for the meet was set to be Olympic champion Alexander Popov, but the Russian legend did not compete in the 50 and 100 freestyles. That left Bela Banki Horvath of Hungary to steal the show with a world record in the 200 backstroke with a 5:24.20 for the 95-99 age group. Sanderina Kruger of South Africa broke two world records in the 100 free and 200 free to become one of a few multiple record breakers in the meet. Though the meet featured a large majority from Russia, athletes from the United States, Canada, Japan and Brazil traveled the great distance to race in the Aquatics Palace.

The Week That Was #4: NCAA releases qualifying times for Division I championships

The list of qualifying times for the 2016 NCAA Division I championships are now out with the new college swim season on the horizon. As is usually the case, the times are faster since the top swims from last season were fast. The times are often a reflection of the progression in short course yards swimming, as was evidenced not only by the winning times, but the times it took to place in the top 16 in each event in the women’s and men’s meets. The “A” cuts are very tough to beat, with only about seven or eight able to swim that fast during the season per event. The “B” cuts are much easier, but the closer an athlete is to the “A” cut, the better their chances of getting picked to swim at the Big Meet.

The Week That Was #3: Michael Phelps and others make U.S. nationals thrilling

Michael Phelps wasn’t able to compete at the world championships, but he put up three times at the U.S. nationals that would have won gold medals in Kazan. Perhaps as a statement to his competitors that he’s not down for the count, Phelps swam some of his fastest times ever in the 100 and 200 butterfly as well as the 200 IM in San Antonio. Phelps was on world record pace in the 200 IM, and his butterfly swims were in a way a response to the comments made by Chad Le Clos and others about his ability to swim fast. Others that put themselves in the spotlight were Caeleb Dressel with a 50 free that would have placed in the top five at worlds, Kelsi Worrell with an impressive 100 fly and Jack Conger’s runner-up times in the butterfly events.

The Week That Was #2: David Nolan relocating to pro team in Arizona

Bob Bowman is collecting an impressive group of postgrad swimmers at Arizona State University in this year before the Olympic Trials. NCAA champion and American record holder David Nolan will join Michael Phelps and Allison Schmitt as he looks for long course success to rival his extraordinary prowess in the short course pool. Nolan won’t be the only Stanford swimmer moving to Tempe, as Tom Kremer and Drew Cosgarea will be joining the group as well. Nolan is likely diversifying his racing schedule, moving away from the 200 IM in the Phelps/Lochte era, as evidenced by him scratching the 200 IM in San Antonio in favor of the 100 fly and 100 free.

The Week That Was #1: FINA World Cup begins

This year’s edition of the FINA World Cup will feature all eight meets in long course format as the world’s best start to look forward to the Olympic Games next year in Brazil. Katinka Hosszu is already cementing her defense of her women’s World Cup overall title, earning eight wins and earning more than $60,000 for four days worth of swimming. Chad Le Clos is the defending men’s overall champion, but his South African teammate Cameron Van Der Burgh has the lead in the men’s race with three wins.

With the first leg of the series taking place just two days after the conclusion of the world championships, several world champions took part. In addition to Hosszu and Le Clos, Camille Lacourt, Emily Seebohm and Gregorio Paltrinieri swam in Moscow. The second stop of the series took place in France, where Missy Franklin joined the group after taking part in a photo shoot for sponsor Speedo. Several other Speedo athletes also took part in the France meet, though Ryan Lochte bowed out after previously committing to the meet. The next stop on the tour is in about six weeks in Hong Kong.