Swimming Blogs - Chris DeSantis

With World Championship Trials just one week away, I thought it would be appropriate to do a preview. However, rather than bore you with a rundown of all the events, I'm going to give you a couple of what I think are the most interesting subplots of the Trials meet. The meet itself is crucial from a psychological standpoint- last year the American squad mostly watched a world record onslaught from afar and then put on a show in Omaha. So far this summer we've seen some serious spikes from a number of traditionally bit players internationally: Brazil, Spain and even a bit of a comeback from the German men. Can the US answer the bell again? Lets get started:

1. Are American sprinting men screwed without Jason Lezak?

Unless you were in a coma last August, you know that the US needed one of, if not the greatest, relay performance of all time to beat the French in the vaunted world sprint battle that is the 4x100 relay. This year, France looks locked and loaded again, with 4 of the top 6 100 freestylers in the world. The only possible chink in the armor I can see is Amaury Leveaux, who despite a time of 47.7 at French trials and an earlier year SCM world record of 44.9, seems to be in a bit of a funk and a little psyched out by "the suits". The Aussies return all the members of a bronze medal winning relay, but its unclear whether Eamon Sullivan can still give them an ace in the hole after recovering from another surgery. Meanwhile, the US still has every piece but Lezak intact: Phelps, Weber-Gale and Jones. Matt Grevers looms as a solid replacement- will he continue to improve as he did last summer? Will one of either Nathan Adrian or Jimmy Feigen translate their impressive SCY swims to LCM this July? In order to think about winning gold or medaling individually in this event, the US will need to find a sprinter besides Lezak that is capable of going below 47.5. The current best times of the above mentioned swimmers are:

Adrian: 48.46

Feigen: 49.77

Jones: 48.35

Weber-Gale: 47.78

Grevers: 48.53

2. Who will emerge as the top US male breaststroker?

Where have you gone Brendan Hansen? Although Brendan had an off meet at the Beijing Olympics, he was generally a lock to medal and push the American medley relay ahead for good. So far this summer, Eric Shanteau has been the most impressive American male. We didn't see the best of Eric at last summer's olympics as he battled testicular cancer. Mark Gangloff is the other mainstay, as reliable as Hansen but not as fast. Neither swimmer has broken 1:00, the new standard for international competitiveness. Meanwhile, Scott Spann did make a solid showing at Santa Clara with 1:02/2:16, but will have to be better than last summer, no sure thing given his long recovery from knee problems. Lastly, can Sean Mahoney make the leap in the 200 breast? Lets hope so.

3. Is the women's IM field more wide open than we think?

Again, Katie Hoff has pretty much been a lock here for the last few years. But this summer, she has struggled a little after her layoff. We won't know for sure what her form is until the start of the meet. Elizabeth Beisel, coming off a dramatic improvement last year in the 400 IM, looks equally as strong this summer. Everyone knows about Dagny Knutson, who will be vying for her first spot on an international senior team. However, Ariana Kukors has been flying under the radar this summer, if you can call 2:10 and 4:38 flying under the radar. Kukors was just one stroke away from making Beijing in the 200 IM, and seems to have continued to improve. In any case, these swimmers will likely have to break 2:10 and 4:30 to medal in this event in Rome, so all have some drops to make in the next month.

I guess we'll see in Indy.