{"id":135896,"date":"2015-06-10T14:00:23","date_gmt":"2015-06-10T21:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=135896"},"modified":"2015-06-10T07:44:26","modified_gmt":"2015-06-10T14:44:26","slug":"olympic-trials-biggest-male-upsets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/olympic-trials-biggest-male-upsets\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Biggest Olympic Trials Upsets Since 2008, Men’s Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Patrick Murphy, Swimming World Intern<\/em><\/p>\n

When I watched the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Trials, I saw a fair share of upsets. There are always favorites going into Olympic Trials, but no one earns an Olympic berth on paper.<\/p>\n

What have been the biggest upsets in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Trials? The criteria I used to rank these upsets takes into account the hype and media press of the upsetter heading into Olympic Trials and the star power of the favorite.<\/p>\n

5. Peter Vanderkaay knocks Erik Vendt out of the mile in 2008<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Photo<\/a>

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n

This race was not even close. Peter Vanderkaay<\/strong> ran away from Vendt and crushed him by 22 seconds, so how was this an upset? Well, Vendt went 14:46 (U.S. Open Record) in May at the Santa Clara meet and in prelims at Olympic Trials, he went an easy 14:50 where he looked unbeatable. Although Vanderkaay was a well-known 200-400 guy, he was relatively inexperienced in a tapered 1500 Free.<\/p>\n

He went a 14:52 at a Grand Prix meet in April, but he didn\u2019t even swim the race in 2007. His lifetime best time prior to that Grand Prix was a 15:14. Heading into the meet, Erik Vendt<\/strong> and Larsen Jensen<\/strong> were the two clear favorites according to Swimming World Magazine.<\/em> So when Peter Vanderkaay beat the guy who was known for ridiculous distance sets and had been a mainstay in the mile for years, it was a big-time upset.<\/p>\n

4. Cullen Jones gets 2nd<\/sup> in 100 Free in 2012<\/strong><\/h3>\n