Swimming Blogs - Chris DeSantis

Now that I've had the chance to watch some prelims, I am ready for those day 5 picks. I already feel vindicated in my pick of Alexander Dale Oen. Even if he does not gold medal, I think few would have even picked him to go 59.4 and lead qualifiers. While I wait anxiously to watch those live morning finals tonight and see who's at their best at 10 am, I start back with the breaststrokers.

Men's 200 Breaststroke

1. Kosuke Kitajima

2. Alexander Dale Oen

3. Daniel Gyurta

Rationale: Kitajima has shown his mettle on the Olympic stage and is peaking this year. Although I like upsets in the breaststroke, the lack of Hansen in this event means no one is within two seconds of Kitajima. Dale Oen looks like a strong bet to seperate himself from the pack of Rickard, Hugues Dubosq and Scott Spann. Missed amid the big drops this morning was Daniel Gyurta's 1:01.3. Although no longer a world class time in the 100, Gyurta couldn't manage much better than 1:03 in 2004 when he medaled in this event.

Women's 200 Fly

1. Jessica Schipper

2. Audrey Lacroix

3. Yuko Nakanishi

Rationale: Part of my strategy is to lull Jeff into complacency by picking Canadians. Why did I pick Lacroix? Well she was 2:06 last year before the current generation of suits. I think Keith Beavers 4:12 400 IM should be enough to let us all know that the Canadians are going to swim much fasters than they did at their mostly underwhelming trials meet. Schipper is the class of the field in this event, and with Jedrejczak reeling and looking slow in the 100 fly one of her biggest threats may not be there. Nakanishi seemed like a better option than Jemma Lowe, who nearly missed the 100 fly semi. I'm not giving up on her just hedging my bets.

Men's 100 Free

1. Pieter Van den Hoogenband

2. Garret Weber-Gale

3. Stefan Nystrand

Rationale: I know these picks are way out there. Most people think that Hoogenband is a little washed up and is finished now that a few swimmers have passed him by. I'm with Craig Lord on this one, Hoogenband has a lot left in the tank and I still feel he is better than his rivals. Weber-Gale looks shorter and weaker than his competitors- until he dives in and starts swimming. I went with Nystrand in a post a couple weeks ago and I still believe in him. That pick will either look like genius or just mindless bluster. You know what? I don't care.

4x200 Relay Women

1. USA

2. Australia

3. China

Rationale: Team USA can go four deep with 1:55's and 56's, I don't think anyone else in the world can match that. Australia is also deep and I like them in this meet more than the Europeans in my gut. After watching the Chinese swim so well in the 4x100 prelims this morning, I am just going to guess they will be able to pull something out in this event.