What happened to Pellegrini? Just last
night she lagged behind in the 400 free final, finishing fifth. That
performance indicates that she has much more in the tank for the shorter 200
than she did the 400. Expect her to be in the medal chase, though Allison
Schmitt and Camille Muffat still have a leg up on the competition. Missy
Franklin qualified third for the semi-final tonight, setting up a huge double
with her 100 back final. She will have about 15 minutes between her two races
tonight, an extremely tough double without a doubt. She will need an
exceptional performance to both make the final in the 200 free and win a medal
in the 100 back.
Michael Phelps cruised into the fifth
seed in the men’s 200 fly. Phelps grabbed third in his heat, allowing top
qualifier Dinko Jukic to pass him on the final lap. Phelps knew what he had to
do to get into the semis comfortably in a 1:55.53, far superior to the 1:56.71
he swam in prelims at Worlds last summer. Phelps remains comfortable in this
event. Meanwhile, World Champs medalists Wu Peng and Takeshi Matsuda both
cruised into the semi-finals, along with Aussie bad boy Nick D’Arcy, while
American Tyler Clary debuted in the Olympics in style with a 1:54.96, improving
on his Trials time of 1:55.15.
The women’s 200 IM kicked off next, and
the race has become Yi Shiwen’s to lose. When she won the World title last
year, Yi hung with the pack before blazing home on the free. Now, though, Yi
came swim the race however she wants. Today, she took the race out fast before
cruising home on free – to the identical time in which she won the World title,
2:08.90. No one swam anywhere close to Yi, and I don’t think anyone will. Her
time stands a full second and a half faster than anyone else.
The second-fastest qualifier swam in Yi’s
heat, and no one came within two bodylengths of Yi in that heat. Kirsty
Coventry was that second qualifier, Coventry coming back into the fray after
not contending in the 100 back yesterday. She came in at 2:10.53, just ahead of
Caitlin Leverenz, Katinka Hosszu, and Alicia Coutts. Let’s see who else can
jump into the medal mix in tonight’s semi-finals; don’t forget about world
record-holder Ariana Kukors, who looms in seventh, and ninth-ranked defending
champ Stephanie Rice. Rice, though, has a long way to go if she wants to
contend for a medal.
Well that was quick. So let’s widen the
lens a little bit; the Olympics consist of more than 32 events in the pool,
after all. Essentially, the last two days have followed the same pattern for
me: wake up at 5am, watch prelims, write a blog, watch other events, watch
swimming finals at 2:30 online, write another blog, and watch NBC’s primetime
coverage – a busy schedule, I’m sure you can tell. I’m the swim geek, of
course, but I love watching other sports as a casual American fan.
Always to see American medalists in
other aquatic sports, especially in diving. After twelve medal-less years, Abby
Johnston and Kelci Bryant got on the podium in three-meter synchro yesterday,
and the pairing of David Boudia and Nick McCrory have the chance to do the same
today. I have to appreciate a sport like rowing, a low-glamor sport that
requires some serious toughness. As gymnastics and track pick up over the next
few days, I’m sure those sports will capture my attention on the prime time
broadcast. And how can one not enjoy watching Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and
Kevin Durant on one team?
As more light swimming days pop up, I’ll
keep writing some on the blog about the other sports, with some thoughts headed
into the later finals events – though don’t expect me to be quite as analytical
there. Despite my laser-attention on the pool, I love the Olympics as much as
any fan, and I’m certainly finding time to watch the vast array of sports.
Swimming may come to an end on Saturday, but we still will have a long way to
go – including the open water events. The Olympics, as you know, have just
begun.
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