Swimming Blogs - Chris DeSantis

Another world record fell victim to what Craig Lord referred so fondly to as the "World Record Bull Run" of 2008 a few days ago. The short course 100 breaststroke was felled by South African Cameron Van Der Burgh a couple days ago. Setting aside any discussion of suit technology (who wants to talk about that!), I wanted to use this as an excuse to reflect on the former record holder- Glenn Edward Moses.

In case you haven't noticed yet, I've always been particularly interested in the fickle nature of breaststroke, having experienced it myself as a swimmer. If you need evidence, just look at how Brendan Hansen's 100 breaststroke form suddenly escaped him after the semi-final in Omaha, or Kitajima's two year funk, or Roman Sloudnov's eight year funk. The list goes on and on.

But perhaps no swimmer in the recent past conveyed how quickly breaststroke fame can come and go better than Ed Moses. At the 1996 Olympics, he was not even swimming, instead playing golf for his high school team. By 2000, he was the favorite alongside Sloudnov for Olympic gold. In 2004, he failed to make the team and retired from swimming.

His meteoric rise to national prominence began in full force the spring of 1998. Although i can no longer find results, I distinctly remember him making his first national cuts at Junior Nationals that year. Except he wasn't just making cuts, he was smashing them. By the summer, at his first nationals, he placed third (!) in the 100 breaststroke. Interestingly enough the second place finisher was a similarly aged Patrick Fowler- another subject who might fit equally as well into the fickle breaststroke paradigm.

Now I've got to stop here to enact a plea. "Fickle breaststroke paradigm" is an awful name for this phenomenon. We need something catchy. Something with a name attached. Maybe the Deburghgraeve Theorem (after Frederick Deburghgraeve's upset 1996 gold medal in the 100 breaststroke) or the Law of Fioravanti (same as Deburghgraeve except the 200 as well in 2000). People, this concept needs a name!

Ok, moving back to Moses. In the span of two years, he went from not swimming, to third at nationals, then two years an Olympic favorite with a share of the world record. While Moses would win a silver medal, his most impressive legacy was, to me, his short course world records, one of which as I mentioned at the top was just broken.

In those days, the dark ages of swimming years ago, it was nearly impossible to catch a glimpse of your favorite swimmers outside the Olympics. Which is a shame because Ed Moses was a breathtakingly beautiful short course breaststroker. I caught him his freshmen year at NCAA's in the two hour taped highlight reel broadcast 3 am on ESPN 5. After declaring pro he would swim exhibition breaststroke races at UVA dual meets, including a 1:51 200 breaststroke in 2003 that was better than any time Brendan Hansen would produce while in college. The most startling was his short course meters 200 breaststroke record: 2:02.92.

This record is the most impressive to me for two reasons: consider that over long course races, the women's world record in the 200 backstroke has consistently outpaced the men's 200 breaststroke. Then consider the effect that the mass popularization of dolphin kicking has had on short course backstroke records. Ed Moses was well ahead of the short course women's 200 backstroke record until earlier this year when Kirsty Coventry went 2:00.9.

Watching what youtube video I could find, it was pretty remarkable how Moses' stroke was even better than I remembered it. This video has commentary from Ed himself interspersed with him dusting Kitajima on the way to his SCM world record. I urge you to watch this video. Moses makes the other swimmers look like they are doing pullouts in quicksand. His technical precision on top of the water makes it look like he's almost swimming a different stroke.

Alas, Ed Moses was gone and done after the Long Beach Olympic trials. At the time I remember him blaming his failure to make the team on a chlorine allergy. I think it was closer to the truth that just as many before and after him, the stroke had cruelly left him at precisely the wrong time. I heard also that he was possibly reviving his golf career and attempting to get a PGA tour card. If he does, I can only hope he finds his stroke.