The international swimming scene has held most of their world championship trials meets during the last two weeks. Team USA will hold theirs in June, but in the meantime those big boys of the water have been putting down some very fast times so far.
Here’s a breakdown of who’s posted some of the top times in the world so far this year:
50 freestyle
France’s Florent Manadou, the reigning Olympic champion in the 50 free, posted a 21.55 to remain on top of the world rankings.
He is followed by Bremerton’s Nathan Adrian in the No. 2 spot, in 21.70, a time he set at the Austin Grand Prix in January. Adrian also has the third fastest time of 21.71 from the Mesa Grand Prix in Arizona just last week.
France’s Fred Bousquet followed right behind in 21.73, set at the French championships earlier this month.
South Africa’s Roland Schoeman popped a 21.88 in the prelims of the S.A. Nationals on Saturday.
100 freestyle
Adrian held the No. 1 spot in the world since Jan. 3 when he went 48.11 at the 2nd Mediterranean International Meet (MOM) in Marseille, but has since been surpassed by Russia’s Vladimir Morozov.
Morozov was the first to go sub-48 in 2013, posting a 47.93 at the Russian National championships on Saturday to win the 100 free.
Nikita Lobintsov‘s time of 48.17 is currently third and Danila Izotov is fourth in 48.18. Izotov bettered his time of from the semis of 48.23.
Australia’s James Magnussen posted a 48.38 at the Australian BHP Billiton in January and William Meynard of France went 48.53 at the French Championships. China’s Zetao Ning posted a 48.60 at the Chinese Nationals while France’s Yannick Agnel went 48.62 at the national championships.
So, really, what does all this mean?
The world championships are still about three months away and the elite swimmers are stepping up their training and prepping for what will be an epic worlds meet in Barcelona.
I’d expect with these times the meet to be on par with London in terms of excitement for fans, although there is usually not as much media hype. That in itself is unfortunate as swimmers consider this meet to be just as important — and maybe a tad bit more — as the Olympics.
