March Swimmers of the Month

Just like I did in February, I am giving my awards for the top swimmers from the month of April. Same categories, and I'm gonna try to do my best to keep the repeats to a minimum, but I can't make any promises! I try to avoid ties, but sometimes it just isn't possible!

Pacific Rim Women's: Emily Seebohm, Australia

*The iron-woman of the Australian championships, Seebohm posted a 59.21 in winning the 100 back, faster than the pre-techsuit world record. She also won the 100 free and 50 back, took second in the 200 IM, and placed third in the 50 fly and 200 back, meaning she will most likely tackle a Phelpsian-eight events (including two relays) at this summer's Pan Pacs and Commonwealth Games.

Pacific Rim Men's: Brenton Rickard, Australia

*Rickard posted stellar, world-leading times in all three breaststroke distances at Aussie trials, including becoming only the third man to crack 2:10 in the 200 breast (2:09.31) in a textile suit.

African Women's: Achieng Ajulu-Bushell, Kenya/Great Britain

*In the midst of her break-out meet at the British Championships, the 16 year-old posted the second fastest time in the world in the 50 breast (31.04), behind only Leisel Jones. Look out for her 100 breast in the next few days! She is sitting out from international competition this year as she switches nationalities from Kenya to Britain/England.

African Men's: Jason Dunford, Kenya

*Swam the second-fastest time in the world in the 100 fly (52.33) and posted a top-ten time in the 50 fly (23.85) in winning both events at the Amsterdam Cup.

European Women's: Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Netherlands

*Taking over the mantle of the top Dutch sprinter from the pregnant Marleen Veldhuis, the 19 year-old posted the top times in the world by large margins in the 50 (24.40) and 100 free (53.44) at the Amsterdam Cup. Both rank among the fastest times ever in textile suits.

European Men's: Tie - Fred Bousquet, France and Liam Tancock, Great Britain

*Bousquet posted the only sub-21 50 free in 2010 with a 21.95 at a meet in Nancy, France, earlier this month, and also posted the third-fastest time in the world in the 50 fly (23.71). The 21.95 is perhaps the fastest ever in-season time swum without a techsuit. Tancock is currently swimming at the British championships in Sheffield, where he posted the top time in the world in the 50 back (24.52) and the second-best time in the world in the 100 free (48.80).

American Women's: Tie - Ariana Kukors, United States and Rebecca Soni, United States

*Posted stellar in-season times of 2:10.34 and 4:37.63 in the 200 and 400 IM, respectively, at the Austin Grand Prix, both second-ranked in the world to Olympic champion Stephanie Rice's swims from the Australian championships. Soni, meanwhile, dominated the breaststroke events in Austin swimming blistering times in both; she posted a 1:06.43 in the 100, the second fastest time in the world behind Leisel Jones, as well as a 2:22.91 in the 200, the fastest time in the world (even after Jones' swims from Aussie nationals).

American Men's: Matt Grevers, United States

*Posted blazing times in the 50 and 100 back on the second day of the Austin Grand Prix, clocking 24.72 and 53.05, respectively. Also finished third behind Cesar Cielo and Garrett Weber-Gale in both the 50 and 100 free.

Day 3 at Men's NCAA's

As the final session of prelims concludes, I wanted to put up some revised predictions for the last session of finals. Cal's finishing five swimmers between 17th and 23rd as well as Sean Mahoney's DQ in the 200 breast put Texas back into the team race, and it promises to be an awesome dogfight between the two teams in finals.

1,650 Free

Original predictions:

1 - Chad LaTourette

2 - Martin Grodski

3 - Troy Prinsloo

New predictions:

1 - Chad LaTourette

2 - Martin Grodski

3 - Troy Prinsloo

200 Back

Original predictions:

1 - Tyler Clary

2 - Cory Chitwood

3 - Marco Loughran

New predictions:

1 - Tyler Clary

2 - Cory Chitwood

3 - Eugene Godsoe

100 Free

Original predictions:

1 - Nathan Adrian

2 - Jimmy Feigen

3 - Gideon Louw

New predictions:

1 - Nathan Adrian

2 - Dave Walters

3 - Jimmy Feigen

200 Breast

Original predictions:

1 - Curtis Lovelace

2 - Sean Mahoney

3 - Aaron Opell

New predictions:

1 - Scott Spann

2 - Curtis Lovelace

3 - Martii Aljand

200 Fly

Original predictions:

1 - Mark Dylla

2 - Shaune Fraser

3 - Dan Madwed

New predictions:

1 - Shaune Fraser

2 - Tom Shields

3 - Mark Dylla

400 Free Relay

Original predictions:

1 - Texas

2 - Auburn

3 - California

New predictions:

1 - Texas

2 - California

3 - Auburn

Day 2 at Men's NCAA's

Halfway through the men's NCAA championships, it looks like a two-team race between Texas and California. Cal has dominated the sprints and the relays thus far but big points from the 200 IM and diving put Texas ahead after day 1. After day 2 prelims, the two teams are seeded well ahead of the pack. Based on seeds from prelims, the projected score after all events except the timed final 800 free relay are as follows:

1 - California, 320

2 - Texas, 300

3 - Florida, 233

4 - Arizona, 232

5 - Auburn, 226

6 - Stanford, 198

7 - Michigan, 137

Some preview of tonight's races:

200 Medley Relay: Auburn, the typical sprint power, will have its hands full with a tough team from Cal, which will most likely be without 50 free runner-up Nathan Adrian, as he can only swim four out of the five relays. It will be a tight race between those two teams. Stanford, Arizona, Texas, and Florida will be tight for third.

Original prediction

1 - Auburn

2 - California

3 - Texas

New predictions:

1 - Auburn

2 - California

3 - Texas

400 IM: Shapes up to be a battle between Michigan's Tyler Clary, the defending champ and NCAA record-holder, and Georgia Tech's Gal Nevo, runner-up last year. Both had poor 200 IM swims on Friday night but swam well in the prelims. The biggest challenge to the top two lies in Arizona swimmers Clark Burckle and Jack Brown. 200 IM champion Austin Surhoff of Texas missed finals, finishing tenth.

Original predictions:

1 - Tyler Clary

2 - Gal Nevo

3 - Jack Brown

New predictions:

1 - Tyler Clary

2 - Gal Nevo

3 - Jack Brown

100 Fly: Without defending champ Austin Staab of Stanford, this race is fairly wide open. Cal freshman Tom Shields is the favorite, after a lightning-quick 44.5 relay split last night, while world championship finalist Tyler McGill will be looking to re-bound for Auburn after a very disappointing morning session. Behind them, it's anyone's game.

Original predictions:

1 - Tyler McGill

2 - Tom Shields

3 - Chris Brady

New predictions:

1 - Tom Shields

2 - Tyler McGill

3 - Mark Dylla

200 Free: An extremely tight race between eight of the best middle-distance freestylers in the world, this one will be a doozy. Dave Walters and Ricky Berens both have Olympic and world golds on relays, while Scott Jostes joined them on Texas' winning 800 free relay in 2009. Florida's Shaune Fraser is the defending champion, while his brother Brett is also a fabulous 200 freestyler, and Conor Dwyer won the 500 free last night. Jean Basson took second in the 500, and Virginia's Scot Robison has the top time in the nation at 1:32.45. This one will be tight.

Original predictions:

1 - Shaune Fraser

2 - Ricky Berens

3 - Jean Basson

New predictions:

1 - Shaune Fraser

2 - Ricky Berens

3 - Conor Dwyer

100 Breast: Cal's Damir Dugonjic has dominated this event the past two seasons, and after his performance in the medley relay last night, that should continue. Scott Spann put his name in the mix after an awesome medley relay split last night, while Adam Klein and Marcus Titus, among others, could also contend.

Original predictions:

1 - Damir Dugonjic

2 - Marcus Titus

3 - Adam Klein

New predictions:

1 - Damir Dugonjic

2 - Scott Spann

3 - Marcus Titus

100 Back: After a dominating 44.93 medley relay split, Stanford's Eugene Godsoe is the clear favorite. Behind Godsoe, the minor places are wide open, especially with Auburn's Pascal Wollach missing the A-final.

Original predictions:

1 - Eugene Godsoe

2 - Pascal Wollach

3 - Hill Taylor

New predictions:

1 - Eugene Godsoe

2 - Hill Taylor

3 - Omar Pinzon

800 Free Relay: This shapes up to be a battle between Texas and Florida, both teams that have three swimmers in the 200 free final. The key will be each team's fourth swimmer. Florida has Jeffrey Raymond, who swam 1:35-flat this morning or Sebastien Rosseau, who was 1:34.5 at SEC's. Texas' best bet is probably Peter Jameson, who clocked 1:35.6 this morning.

Original predictions:

1 - Texas

2 - Arizona

3 - Michigan

New predictions:

1 - Florida

2 - Texas

3 - Arizona

Shapes up to be a dogfight between Texas and Cal throughout the night. The only possibility of another team getting back into it is if Florida scores enough points in the 200 free and 100 back and wins the 800 free relay to get momentum going into day 3.

Comments from Day 1 at Men's NCAA's

All of the posts below originally posted on the CollegeSwimming.com forums.

My immediate reactions to my pathetic predictions, before the medley relay:

200 Free Relay
Prediction:
1 - Auburn
2 - California
3 - Texas

Actual:
1 - California - Did a bit better than I expected
2 - Auburn - Did a bit worse than I expected
3 - Texas

500 Free
Prediction:
1 - Jean Basson, Arizona
2 - Conor Dwyer, Florida
3 - David Mosko, Stanford

Actual:
1 - Conor Dwyer - Stepped it up against a fairly slow field
2 - Jean Basson - Not too shabby after being sick, and from lane 8!
3 - Clement Lefert - Wasn't he on France's medley relay as the butterflyer in Rome?

200 IM
Prediction:
1 - Jack Brown, Arizona
2 - Tyler Clary, Michigan
3 - Shaune Fraser, Florida

Actual:
1 - Austin Surhoff - Freshman wins the title; the next big thing...
2 - Shaune Fraser - Looking scary for the 200 free and 200 fly
3 - Martin Liivamagi - Where did that come from? Call it Cal's out to get the title
5 - Tyler Clary - Pace yourself! Leading until the 150 and a 25.97 final 50...
9 - Jack Brown - Hey, I meant he would win the B-final...

50 Free
Prediction:
1 - Nathan Adrian, California
2 - Jimmy Feigen, Texas
3 - Josh Schneider, Cincinatti

Actual:
1 - Josh Schneider - Believes he can beat Nathan Adrian, beats Nathan Adrian!
2 - Nathan Adrian - Surprised he lost, thought he'd be faster
3 - Adam Brown - Stepped it up when he needed to to get those points for Auburn!
4 - Jimmy Feigen - Went 18.97 in prelims... which would have gotten second. His slowest of four flat-start 50s today

Some things I noted from the medley relay and how they will affect the lead-up to Saturday's races:

Backstroke: Eugene Godsoe will win the 100 back. Could break Lochte's American record of 44.60. Could win the 200 unless Clary gets it together...

Breaststroke: 50.91 from Dugonjic, who is once again the clear favorite for the final. Scott Spann was next best (51.42), setting himself up for some good swims in the 100 and 200 breast.

Butterfly: TOM SHIELDS! 44.54, sealing the deal for Cal. McGill could have his hands full in the 100 fly tomorrow, after only splitting 45.39.

Freestyle: Adrian by far the fastest at 40.89 (not quite as fast as his 40.23 last year but still...). Next was Robert Andrews of Stanford, 41.54, and then Louw and Feigen rounded out the sub-42s.

Cal's six points behind Texas, but that will change tomorrow. They have some big-scoring events tomorrow, with Dugonjic (100 breast), Shields and Adrian (100 fly), and with the way Liivamagi swam tonight, he could put some points on the board in the 400 IM. Texas has the 200 free with Berens and Walters, and Scott Spann in the 100 breast. Auburn needs McGill, Wollach, and Klein to come through big time to be able to challenge

"An open letter to the swimming community" by Mark Spofforth

After witnessing his daughter finish out her NCAA career by leading her Florida Gators to a surprise NCAA title, Gemma Spofforth's father Mark posted this letter on the CollegeSwimming.com forums. In the letter, he thanks the coaches and team and people at Florida and the entire NCAA and swimming community for taking in Gemma as a foreigner and building up her career to make her one of the world's best backstrokers. He also describes Gemma's struggles early in her life and her challenges just to get a scholarship to Florida and later to make the Olympic team, win a world title and set a world record in Rome, win six individual NCAA titles, and lead her team to their achievement that cumulated on Saturday night. Gemma's performance on that Saturday night was crucial, one of the greatest displays of "team" by an individual athlete; after being denied her fourth straight 200 back title, Gemma bounced back 90 minutes later to swim a critical leg on the third-place 400 free relay, just enough for Gators to hold onto the victory.

An open letter to the swimming community.

All of you reading this who are parents will understand the mixed emotions that surround the birth of your first child. Joy, pride, but above all sheer terror at the thought of bringing a new life into the world and having to nurture and protect him or her with very little training in parenthood.

In our case we had an added problem when the doctors went into a little huddle to discuss some issue with our baby which they didn’t want to tell us about straight away – that was a nervous time. As it turned out, it wasn’t a major difficulty, and a small operation a year or so later sorted it out.

But really quickly you find yourself leaving your child – a daughter in our case - at her first school, and again the terror at entrusting your baby to a teacher that you don’t really know leaves you with a physical pain in your stomach.

Things go well, the child begins to flourish and soon shows an aptitude for swimming, so you take her to the local swim club, and soon the local competitions start. Once again your stomach turns somersaults every time she races; our daughter seemed to come second most of the time, so you spend some time counselling as well and urging her to keep going, “One day you’ll be a winner if you keep trying”.

The local coach spots something in her psyche and offers to give her longer hours, and eventually county/state competitions become part of the routine, leading to a trip to a national championships and a space on the national talent development team, which in turn lead in our case to a European Junior Competition, and a Gold medal. When the national anthem plays and you daughter stand on the podium, it’s impossible not to cry.

A few years on and things are not so good. A really unpleasant illness has kept her out of the water, she’s unfit and the national team have pretty much discarded her. Thoughts turn to academic achievements and potential jobs rather than sporting excellence. The illness appears to have been properly diagnosed, but might recur, who knows?

But then we have to choose a University, and we start to think about what it might be like to get away from all the local pressure, and look at the facilities on offer in the USA. Eventually she’s offered a golden chance to train at the University of Florida on a sporting scholarship, even if the Coach thinks this is the riskiest scholarship he’s ever awarded, and is daunted by the task ahead trying to get this girl fit….. but again, he sees some spark, some character that he thinks might just turn into something given a following wind.

4 years later, and that girl is a World Champion, a World Record Holder, an Olympian, and her last act for the University is to lead her team to the NCAA Championship.

I am so proud of Gemma, but can’t forget that fear of the unknown the day she was born, and the days that we’ve entrusted her on to teachers and coaches who have all paid back that trust with exceptional effort and skill, far beyond what might be expected of an employer.

So I just wanted to say THANKYOU to everyone who has supported her over the last four years, especially the “Gator family”.

Thankyou to her friends and housemates for accepting a foreigner and helping her understand your country, especially the Beales family, who were there from the first day.
Thankyou to Coaches Troy and Wilby for their coaching skill and their ability to keep Gemma focussed when times were really bad - and believe me there were some bad times
Thankyou to UF for understanding the benefits of bringing in foreigners to work and play alongside your students – I understand the debates about the wisdom of doing that, and I hope that you never succumb to those that would have you restrict your tuition to US nationals alone
Thankyou to all the other swimming parents for acting as surrogate parents at swim meets when we were the other side of the world
Thankyou to all the volunteer officials and managers who make the meets possible in the first place
Thankyou to the USA for having a system that has helped make my daughter a World Champion.

But most of all Thankyou to the sport that she loves and which has helped build character and confidence into what was once a small and sickly newborn baby. You should all be proud of your part in this success

Men's NCAA's: Is It Even Worth Predicting?

On Saturday night, I got home and went to check the results of women's NCAA's. I wondered if it was Stanford or Georgia, or maybe Arizona or Cal. I looked through the event results. I saw the upset of Florida's Gemma Spofforth in the 200 back, Georgia's Chelsea Nauta's 12-place drop in the mile along with the great rise of Cal's Lauren Boyle, A&M's double victory, Elaine Breeden's title in the 200 fly for Stanford, and then I went straight to the 400 free relay; I saw the Stanford victory and then scrolled down to view the final team results. Florida? WHAT?

After the wild and crazy women's NCAA meet, the men's meet promises to be even more so. The battle for the team title in Columbus, Ohio, will be very tight between four teams, possibly more, while events will be fast and competitive. First, I will analyze the prospects for the top few teams and then go into my predictions for the individual events.

Arizona - Some big-time stars in Jack Brown, Cory Chitwood, Marcus Titus, and Jean Basson. Great 4x200 relay, but the other relays need drops. Not especially deep. Did not taper for Pac-10's, so they are somewhat of an unknown. They are a co-ed program, and their women had great success following the exact same plan.

Auburn - Deep in sprint freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke, and strong relays (except the 4x200) and they have senior Tyler McGill who is hungry for individual and team titles, but they are very weak in longer distances. They are a co-ed program, and their women did not swim well in Purdue.

California - Deep in the sprints, breaststrokes, IMs. They have huge event favorites Nathan Adrian and Damir Dugonjic and freshman stud Tom Shields. Not especially strong in backstroke. Will be a factor in all the relays. Not a co-ed program.

Texas - Strong swimmers all across the board, butterfly perhaps the weakest. Need Dave Walters and Scott Spann to step it up after fairly disappointing seasons, but the potential is there. Ricky Berens is a consistent top swimmer, while Eric Friedland and Austin Surhoff made big improvements at Big-12's. Could win 4x100 and 4x200 free relays depending on Dave Walters. Not co-ed.

Others - Stanford and Florida both have strong swimmers but not enough depth to crack these four teams.

For event predictions, I'm just going with top three. I have some other thoughts, but I'll keep those to myself. Please comment on these; tell me how stupid I am for thinking whatever!

200 Free Relay

1 - Auburn

2 - California

3 - Texas

500 Free

1 - Jean Basson, Arizona

2 - Conner Dwyer, Florida

3 - David Mosko, Stanford

200 IM

1 - Jack Brown, Arizona

2 - Tyler Clary, Michigan

3 - Shaune Fraser, Florida

50 Free

1 - Nathan Adrian, Cal

2 - Jimmy Feigen, Texas

3 - Josh Schneider, Cincinatti

400 Medley Relay

1 - California

2 - Auburn

3 - Texas

200 Medley Relay

1 - Auburn

2 - California

3 - Texas

400 IM

1 - Tyler Clary, Michigan

2 - Gal Nevo, Georgia Tech

3 - Jack Brown, Arizona

100 Fly

1 - Tyler McGill, Auburn

2 - Tom Shields, Cal

3 - Chris Brady, Michigan

200 Free

1 - Shaune Fraser, Florida

2 - Ricky Berens, Texas

3 - Jean Basson, Arizona

100 Breast

1 - Damir Dugonjic, Cal

2 - Marcus Titus, Arizona

3 - Adam Klein, Auburn

100 Back

1 - Eugene Godsoe, Stanford

2 - Pascal Wollach, Auburn

3 - Hill Taylor, Texas

800 Free Relay

1 - Texas

2 - Arizona

3 - Michigan

1,650 Free

1 - Chad LaTourette, Stanford

2 - Martin Grodski, Georgia

3 - Troy Prinsloo, Georgia

200 Back

1 - Tyler Clary, Michigan

2 - Cory Chitwood, Arizona

3 - Marco Loughran, Florida

100 Free

1 - Nathan Adrian, Cal

2 - Jimmy Feigen, Texas

3 - Gideon Louw, Auburn

200 Breast

1 - Curtis Lovelace, Stanford

2 - Sean Mahoney, Cal

3 - Aaron Opell, Indiana

200 Fly

1 - Mark Dylla, Georgia

2 - Shaune Fraser, Florida

3 - Dan Madwed, Michigan

400 Free Relay

1 - Texas

2 - Auburn

3 - California

My Top Ten:

1 - Texas

2 - California

3 - Arizona

4 - Auburn

5 - Stanford

6 - Florida

7 - Michigan

8 - Virginia

9 - Ohio State

10 - Georgia

I just wanna point out the fact that I really don't have a clue. These are all pure guesses and speculation. I thought about a lot of different swimmers and teams and orders, and this is just what makes the most sense to me. We'll see what actually plays out starting Thursday in Columbus!

Australian Championships: Expect the Unexpected; "England Just Won Itself a Couple of Relays"

It might be a cliché, but this meet truly embodies the quote "expect the unexpected." In two full days of competition, very little has gone the way I predicted it to unfold, especially on the women's side. Swimmers in off events are destroying the specialists; rising stars Blair Evans and Yolane Kukla have come out of the woodwork to win events that aren't their best. Of my top six predictions for the women's 100 free, two of the ladies I predicted made the final eight; naturally, the others finished tied for 9th, 11th, and 13th. There is all-around craziness with swimmers who are supposed to be at the top of their game not living up to expectations, while others who didn't have such high expectations suddenly find themselves back in the limelight. Some thoughts:

Yolane Kukla: This girl is good. Similar to what we've been seeing from Missy Franklin in the U.S., Kukla has come from nowhere to beat accomplished veterans, and, like Franklin, she is proving to be quite a versatile swimmer. Beating a world champion such as Marieke Guehrer is no small feat, and Kukla sits in a tie for third heading into an open 100 free final, and fifth going into the semis of the 100 fly (not counting visitor Therese Alshammar, who cannot swim in semis). Don't forget this name anytime soon!

Who is the Iron-Woman? Last year, Stephanie Rice was the iron-woman of the Trials when she swam in at least some rounds of the 100/200 free, 100 back, 100/200 fly, and her signature 200/400 IMs. This year, she is swimming a similarly ambitious program, but she is not the only one. Emily Seebohm, once just a backstroker, already finished second to Rice in the 200 IM, third behind Kukla and Guehrer in the 50 fly, and is seeded second headed into the 100 free finals. Already with two individual spots assured (or nearly assured), she is favored to rack up more events, as she is the huge favorite in the 100 back, a near-certainty for top-two in the 50 back, and a big contender in the 100 free. There is one other lady who could be considered to have the most demanding program: Alicia Coutts. Coutts, who finished 5th behind Rice in the 200 IM in Beijing, already finished third in her specialty this week, and is top qualifier for the 100 free final and third qualifier for the 100 fly semi-final. Perhaps not as much sheer distance as Rice or Seebohm, but Coutts has developed strongly into a versatile swimmer with many more chances to make the Commonwealth Games.

Men's freestyle: In the 200 free final, I predicted the correct six swimmers to make the relay; the order was completely different, and the swimmers were all over the place. The order will probably change again at Pan Pacs, even though both Nicholas Ffrost and Thomas Fraser-Holmes are both assured individual spots in Delhi at the Commonwealth Games, while Pan Pacs will decide the third spot. In the 100 free, coming up in the next two days, less than 1.1 seconds separates places two through sixteen in prelims; the top seed is six-tenths ahead, and that would be Eamon Sullivan. Despite his coach claiming that it would be a "fluke" for Sullivan to qualify for a top-six relay berth, considering his recent hip surgery and an unsuccessful cortisone shot earlier this week, he just recorded the fastest time in the world this year. If he can hold up, even his prelim time of 49.06 should be good enough to make top six (at least). There will be a lot of big names in this one, and just to get into finals will be a dogfight: Abood, Prosser, D'Orsogna, Targett, Monk, Ffrost, Lauterstein, Richardson, and the list goes on.

Women's freestyle: Behind the upset winner Blair Evans, there was nothing out of the ordinary in the women's 200 free. The next day in the 100, well, things turned pear-shaped. The three un-retired members of last year's relay team, Felicity Galvez, Marieke Guehrer, and Shayne Reese, finished 9th, 11th, and 14th respectively. Meanwhile, Olympic and world bronze medalist in the 50 free and favorite in this race Cate Campbell finished tied with Guehrer for ninth, after recording the top 50-split but fading, while Beijing Olympian Mel Schlanger was 13th. So who's left? IMer Coutts, backstroker Seebohm, Kukla, mostly-breaststroker Sally Foster, middle distance swimmer Bronte Barratt, the veteran but inconsistent Alice Mills, Angie Bainbridge, and Kelly Stubbins. Not the deepest field we've ever seen, so much that Priyant Pratap, of the dormant Behind the Blocks, wrote that "[I] think England just won itself a couple of relays," as is the obvious weakness of the 100 free in Australia right now. However, the race will be close and competitive. It is the first women's race on the program for Thursday's finals, so all the girls will be fresh. I think Seebohm has the very slight advantage, but I could see Kukla pulling it off. Really, it's anyone's game.

Men's backstroke: The dorsal events are deep and fast. Veteran Hayden Stoeckel, returning from shoulder surgery, won a touch-out in perhaps his weakest of the three distances, the 50, over younger swimmers Daniel Arnamnart and Ben Treffers, locking out Australian record-holder Ashley Delaney. Another relatively inexperienced swimmer named Bobby Jovanovich leads Delaney in the prelims of the 200 back, with Stoeckel in fifth. Since 2008, the backstrokes have been deep and competitive Down Under, and there are no indications of any change headed into the finals of the 200 on Thursday or the 100 coming up.

Geoff Huegill: His amazing comeback is just 23 seconds away from fruition. Huegill's time of 23.60 in the semis was the top time, and it matched the time he swam as a world record in the very same pool ten years ago. (He broke that with a 23.44 a year later.) I think he can do it. Andrew Lauterstein and Matt Targett put themselves in a great position to challenge Huegill after the semis, but the experience of "Skippy" will get the job done over these relative youngsters.

Predictions of Thursday’s finals:
Men's 200 Back - Hayden Stoeckel
Women's 100 Free - Yolane Kukla
Women's 200 Breast - Leisel Jones
Men's 50 Fly - Geoff Huegill
Women's 100 Back - Emily Seebohm
Men's 100 Breast - Brenton Rickard
Men's 800 Free - Robert Hurley

2010 Australian Championships

This week, Australia will pick the swimmers that will represent the world no. 2 swimming nation at this year's Pan Pacs and Commonwealth Games at the Telstra Australian Championships. The meet runs Tuesday, March 16 until Sunday, March 21. As the Aussies are the first big swimming nation to hold their trials, expect the world best times to be rewritten over the next week. As qualifying procedures are not set in stone, since more than two swimmers per nation may compete at both Pan Pacs and Commonwealth Games, I will predict the top three finishers in all events, except the 100 and 200 freestyle, where I will go to six spots, since they are relay events. Over the course of the meet, look for 31 year olds to star on the men's side, with Geoff Huegill and Ashley Callus attempting to return to the national team, while Jessicah Schipper, Emily Seebohm, Stephanie Rice, Leisel Jones, Matt Targett, and Andrew Lauterstein are consistent performers who are heavily favored to return to the team. Note that Eamon Sullivan underwent (ANOTHER) hip operation in January, and he hasn't competed since December, and we will not know how he rebounds until race day.

Women's 200 Free
1 - Meagan Nay
2 - Stephanie Rice
3 - Bronte Barratt
4 - Ellen Fullerton
5 - Merindah Dingjan
6 - Kylie Palmer

Men's 50 Back
1 - Daniel Arnamant
2 - Ashley Delaney
3 - Ben Treffers

Women's 50 Fly
1 - Marieke Guehrer
2 - Emily Seebohm
3 - Jessicah Schipper

Men's 400 Free
1 - Robert Hurley
2 - Ryan Napolean
3 - Robert Hurley

Women's 200 IM
1 - Stephanie Rice
2 - Emily Seebohm
3 - Alicia Coutts

Men's 200 Fly
1 - Nick D'arcy
2 - Chris Wright
3 - Lachlan Staples

Women's 50 Breast
1 - Leisel Jones
2 - Sarah Katsoulis
3 - Samantha Marshall

Men's 50 Fly
1 - Geoff Huegill
2 - Matt Targett
3 - Andrew Lauterstein
*Targett and Lauterstein will have fast semi-final times, but Huegill will put it together in the finals, as the 31 year old completes his remarkable comeback.

Women's 100 Back
1 - Emily Seebohm
2 - Belinda Hocking
3 - Sophie Edington

Men's 100 Breast
1 - Brenton Rickard
2 - Christian Sprenger
3 - Craig Calder

Women's 100 Free
1 - Cate Campbell
2 - Melanie Schlanger
3 - Emily Seebohm
4 - Sally Foster
5 - Marieke Guehrer
6 - Felicity Galvez

Men's 200 Free
1 - Tomasso D'Orsogna
2 - Kenrick Monk
3 - Patrick Murphy
4 - Nick Ffrost
5 - Robert Hurley
6 - Thomas Fraser-Holmes

Women's 800 Free
1 - Kylie Palmer
2 - Melissa Gorman
3 - Blair Evans

Men's 100 Free
1 - Cameron Prosser
2 - Matt Targett
3 - Tomasso D'Orsogna
4 - Eamon Sullivan
5 - Andrew Lauterstein
6 - Matt Abood
*After missing out on the Worlds team last year due to a poor semi-finals swim, Prosser will be a force to be reckoned with, and he could upset the veteran Targett.

Women's 100 Fly
1 - Jessicah Schipper
2 - Stephanie Rice
3 - Felicity Galvez

Men's 200 Back
1 - Hayden Stoeckel
2 - Bobby Jovanovich
3 - Ashley Delaney

Women's 200 Breast
1 - Leisel Jones
2 - Tessa Wallace
3 - Samantha Marshall

Men's 800 Free
1 - Robert Hurley
2 - Ryan Napolean
3 - Christopher Ashwood

Men's 50 Breast
1 - Brenton Rickard
2 - Karl Wurzer
3 - Christian Sprenger

Women's 50 Back
1 - Emily Seebohm
2 - Sophie Edington
3 - Marieke Guehrer

Men's 100 Fly
1 - Andrew Lauterstein
2 - Mitchell Patterson
3 - Adam Pine

Women's 100 Breast
1 - Leisel Jones
2 - Sarah Katsoulis
3 - Samantha Marshall

Men's 100 Back
1 - Hayden Stoeckel
2 - Ashley Delaney
3 - Daniel Arnamnart

Women's 50 Free
1 - Cate Campbell
2 - Sally Foster
3 - Marieke Guehrer

Men's 400 IM
1 - Thomas Fraser-Holmes
2 - Sam Beinke
3 - Shane Ashbury

Men's 50 Free
1 - Ashley Callus
2 - James Roberts
3 - Matt Abood
*Look for Callus to win by nearly a half-second after missing Rome last year.

Women's 200 Back
1 - Meagan Nay
2 - Belinda Hocking
3 - Emily Seebohm

Men's 1,500 Free
1 - Ryan Napolean
2 - Robert Hurley
3 - Theodore Pasialis

Women's 400 Free
1 - Bronte Barratt
2 - Ellen Fullerton
3 - Blair Evans

Men's 200 IM
1 - Leith Brodie
2 - Thomas Fraser-Holmes
3 - Tommaso D'Orsogna

Women's 200 Fly
1 - Jessicah Schipper
2 - Samantha Hamill
3 - Felicity Galvez

Men's 200 Breast
1 - Brenton Rickard
2 - Christian Sprenger
3 - Craig Calder

Women's 400 IM
1 - Stephanie Rice
2 - Ellen Fullerton
3 - Samantha Hamill

Women's 1,500 Free
1 - Melissa Gorman
2 - Kylie Palmer
3 - Belinda Bennett

Prediction Time: Women's NCAA's

It's that time of year again: college championship season. Women's NCAA's start this upcoming Thursday, March 18, and run until Saturday, March 20. The three-day meet in West Lafayette, Indiana, on the campus of Purdue, will determine the top team in college swimming in 2010. It will be a fast and exciting meet to be sure. Without further ado, some names:

Thursday:
200 Free Relay - Stanford

500 Free
1 - Allison Schmitt, Georgia
2 - Wendy Trott, Georgia
3 - Kristen Heiss, Texas A&M

200 IM
1 - Julia Smit, Stanford
2 - Kathleen Hersey, Texas
3 - Julia Wilkinson, Texas A&M

50 Free
1 - Michele King, Tennessee
2 - Anne-Marie Botek, Georgia
3 - Elizabeth Webb, Stanford

400 Medley Relay - Stanford

Friday:
200 Medley Relay - Tennessee

400 IM
1 - Julia Smit, Stanford
2 - Katinka Hosszu, USC
3 - Caitlin Leverenz, Cal

100 Fly
1 - Elaine Breeden, Stanford
2 - Hannah Wilson, Cal
3 - Kathleen Hersey, Texas

200 Free
1 - Allison Schmitt, Georgia
2 - Morgan Scroggy, Georgia
3 - Sara Isokovic, Cal

100 Breast
1 - Jillian Tyler, Minnesota
2 - Micah Lawrence, Auburn
3 - Annie Chandler, Arizona

100 Back
1 - Gemma Spofforth, Florida
2 - Presley Bard, USC
3 - Kateryna Fesenko, Indiana

800 Free Relay - Georgia

Saturday:
1650 Free
1 - Wendy Trott, Georgia
2 - Chelsea Nauta, Georgia
3 - Haley Anderson, USC

200 Back
1 - Gemma Spofforth, Florida
2 - Kateryna Fesenko, Indiana
3 - Kristen Heiss, Texas A&M

100 Free
1 - Julia Smit, Stanford
2 - Julia Wilkinson, Texas A&M
3 - Kate Dwelley, Stanford

200 Breast
1 - Alia Atkinson, Texas A&M
2 - Elizabeth Smith, Stanford
3 - Yi-Ting Siow, Arkansas

200 Fly
1 - Katinka Hosszu, USC
2 - Kathleen Hersey, Texas
3 - Elaine Breeden, Stanford

400 Free Relay - Stanford

The (Dreaded) Top Ten
1 - Stanford
2 - Georgia
3 - Texas (my BIG darkhorse!)
4 - Texas A&M
5 - Cal
6 - Florida
7 - USC
8 - Arizona
9 - Auburn
10 - Virginia

On this week's edition of Split Time, Garrett McCaffrey and Peter Busch discussed the meet and gave their picks for winner, placer (2nd), and darkhorse. I added my thoughts in the comment box (including my darkhorse picks), and I'm going to have a contest for picking winners. It's simple: one point per winner, whoever gets the most correct wins. Feel free to add your picks either as a comment on this blog or Split Time, or send me a message on Twitter or Facebook.

Austin Grand Prix

Some of the top swimmers in the world are convening in Austin, Texas for the next stop of the USA Swimming Grand Prix series. It is by far the biggest meet of the Grand Prix series so far, with over 1,000 swimmers competing. Because of that, there will be five heats of finals in each event. The meet has a unique format of short course prelims and long course finals, which could make some events interesting, with primarily long course swimmers potentially missing A-final swims because of weak because of poor short course swimming. Among those thousand swimmers are the top stars in every event, as only five events lack a swimmer who has been ranked in the top ten in the world in 2008 and/or 2009. And those five events are NOT weak, as Chloe Sutton leads the field 800 free, as does Dana Vollmer in the 200 fly, while Robert Margalis is the class of the field in the 400 IM, and Alex Vanderkaay leads the way in the 200 fly and 200 IM. Without further ado, some predictions:

Thursday, March 4
Women's 500y/400m Free
1 - Katie Hoff, FAST
2 - Chloe Sutton, Mission Viejo
3 - Samantha Tucker, Longhorn

Women's 100 Fly
1 - Dana Vollmer, California Aquatics
2 - Christine Magnuson, Tucson Ford
3 - Natalie Coughlin, California Aquatics

Men's 100 Fly
1 - Masayuki Kishida, Tucson Ford
2 - Matt Grevers, Tucson Ford
3 - Joe Bartoch, Swim Ontario

Men's 500y/400m Free
1 - Peter Vanderkaay, Club Wolverine
2 - Michael Klueh, Longhorn
3 - Matt Patton, Club Wolverine

Women's 200 IM
1 - Ariana Kukors, FAST
2 - Justine Mueller, SwimMAC Carolina
3 - Erika Erndl, Swim Florida

Men's 200 IM
1 - Alex Vanderkaay, Club Wolverine
2 - Nick D'Innocenzo, University of Texas
3 - Robert Margalis, FAST

Women's 50 Free
1 - Jessica Hardy, Trojan
2 - Lara Jackson, Tucson Ford
3 - Amanda Weir, Swim Atlanta

Men's 50 Free
1 - Cesar Cielo, Auburn Aquatics
2 - Cullen Jones, SwimMAC Carolina
3 - George Bovell, Auburn Aquatics

Friday, March 5
Women's 400 IM
1 - Katie Hoff, FAST
2 - Ariana Kukors, FAST
3 - Justine Mueller, SwimMAC Carolina

Men's 400 IM
1 - Robert Margalis, FAST
2 - Alex Vanderkaay, Club Wolverine
3 - Ian Clark, SwimMAC Carolina

Women's 100 Breast
1 - Rebecca Soni, Trojan
2 - Jessica Hardy, Trojan
3 - Megan Jendrick, KING

Men's 100 Breast
1 - Mark Gangloff, Auburn Aquatics
2 - Mike Alexandrov, Tucson Ford
3 - Henrique Barbosa, Auburn Aquatics

Women's 100 Back
1 - Natalie Coughlin, California Aquatics
2 - Margaret Hoelzer, FAST
3 - Ariana Kukors, FAST

Men's 100 Back
1 - Aaron Peirsol, Longhorn
2 - Nick Thoman, SwimMAC Carolina
3 - Matt Grevers, Tucson Ford

Women's 200 Free
1 - Dana Vollmer, California Aquatics
2 - Chloe Sutton, Mission Viejo
3 - Christine Marshall, Auburn Aquatics

Men's 200 Free
1 - Peter Vanderkaay, Club Wolverine
2 - Michael Klueh, Longhorn
3 - Matt Patton, Club Wolverine

Saturday, March 6
Women's 200 Back
1 - Margaret Hoelzer, FAST
2 - Katie Hoff, FAST
3 - Madison White, Crow Canyon

Men's 200 Back
1 - Aaron Peirsol, Longhorn
2 - Nick Thoman, SwimMAC Carolina
3 - Matt Grevers, Tucson Ford

Women's 100 Free
1 - Dana Vollmer, California Aquatics
2 - Amanda Weir, Swim Atlanta
3 - Natalie Coughlin, California Aquatics

Men's 100 Free
1 - Cesar Cielo, Auburn Aquatics
2 - Matt Grevers, Tucson Ford
3 - Garrett Weber-Gale, Longhorn

Women's 1,000y/800m Free
1 - Chloe Sutton, Mission Viejo
2 - Lindsay Seemann, Swim Ontario
3 - Sarah Henry, Raleigh Swimming

Men's 1,650y/1,500m Free
1 - Peter Vanderkaay, Club Wolverine
2 - Michael Klueh, Longhorn
3 - Zane Grothe, BCH Heatwave

Women's 200 Breast
1 - Rebecca Soni, Trojan
2 - Megan Jendrick, KING
3 - Katy Freeman, Santa Barbara

Men's 200 Breast
1 - Henrique Barbosa, Auburn Aquatics
2 - Mike Alexandrov, Tucson Ford
3 - Bart Steninger, Tucson Ford

Women's 200 Fly
1 - Dana Vollmer, California Aquatics
2 - Whitney Myers, FAST
3 - Kelly Nelson, Unattached

Men's 200 Fly
1 - Alex Vanderkaay, Club Wolverine
2 - Matt Patton, Club Wolverine
3 - Aaron Peirsol, Longhorn