world championships review
Another World championships has come and gone, and perhaps understandably in the year after the Olympics it lacked that extra edge. The swimming however was still top notch and our highlights from Fukuoka 2001 are shown below.
race of the week
From a British perspective it is tempting to say the women's 4 x 200 freestyle relay, but the surrounding controversy reduced the impact. The best race of the week was for me, the men's 200m Fly - no one expected Michael Phelps to hang on, having taken the race out so quickly, especially given the experience of Franck Esposito and Olympic Champion Tom Malchow in the next door lanes, but hang on he did in a superb world record time. A great race from start to finish.
swim of the week
With 8 world records falling, there were plenty of top class performances to choose from. All of the Thorpedos' records were outstanding swims, but the best of the week was put in on the last day by one of his teammates. Grant Hackett mist have wondered what he had to do to come out of Thorpe's shadow, particularly after being blown away on the last length of the 800, but he found out in the 1500. A truly sensational solo swim saw him obliterate Kieren Perkins world record in an astonishing 14:34.56 unquestionably a case of saving the best to last and the swim of the meet. The rest of the world simply cant know what they will have to do to beat him. The American swimming authorities have offered one million dollars to an American who wins the 1500 in Athens. Their money looks very safe.
swimmer of the week
There really could only be one swimmer of the week. To contest 7 events, win 6 gold medals, set 4 individual world records and be involved with a further team world record is truly unique. That the individual records were over distances from 200m to 800m and to add to that he swam sub 49s for the 100 as well indicates outstanding versatility and superb technique. Of course it could only be Ian Thorpe. The rest of the world must wonder what they have to do to beat him, as he really did look invincible over the middle distance events.
disappointment of the week
No real swimming disappointment in the pool as such, but the biggest negative form these world championships has to be the problems with the timing system. The controversy and agonising waits for confirmed results that it produced were beyond doubt the biggest disappointment of Fukuoka 2001.
surprise of the week
The biggest shock to me has to be that Pieter vanDen Hoogenband, such an impressive swimmer in Sydney failed to win a single gold. One can only assume that his preparations were overshadowed by his new found celebrity, but I for one feel sure that we haven't seen the last of him.
British swimmer of the week
Only one clear candidate for this. Despite 5 individual medals, and Karen Pickering again showing that she is one of the best anchor leg swimmers Britain, if not the world, has ever produced to pick up two medals, the British swimmer of the meet has to be Graeme Smith. After a lean spell of 5 years he finally hit peak form at the right time with a silver and bronze, two British records and most impressively, became only the 12th man ever to swim a sub 15 min 1500, finally cementing his status as world class.
the British performance
Following the dismal display in Sydney most of us would have been happy with any medals at all. To finish with seven is superb and shows that Britain's swimmers can be tough when they want to be. The most pleasing thing about the team performance, however was that the majority of our swimmers swam at or above their best, with the vast majority at least coming close to their position in this year's rankings, a comparison of which is shown below. Bill Sweetenham must feel vindicated for his tough selection criteria and for his insistence on bet performances in heats, as the number of semi finalists and finalists showed. We must not, however, get too carried away. Of course this was a great improvement over Sydney, but the real test will come in Athens. e can only hope that the Team continues to build on a much improved championship showing.
your comments
Fantastic swims by Rebecca Cooke (would have been my 2nd choice after Graeme Smith for GB's best) -- DaveC
british men - entrants versus world rankings
|
event
|
world ranking
|
result
|
| 50 freestyle | 2. 22.13 Mark Foster, GBR | 7. 22.44 Mark Foster, GBR |
| 200 freestyle | 5. 1:48.10 Paul Palmer, GBR | 10. 1:49.32 Paul Palmer, GBR |
| 400 freestyle |
9. 3:50.47 James Salter, GBR 10. 3:50.53 Edward Sinclair, GBR |
12. 3.52.72 James Salter, GBR 15. 3:54.52 Edward Sinclair, GBR |
| 800 freestyle |
7. 7:57.93 Graeme Smith, GBR 12. 8:01.77 Adam Faulkner, GBR |
3. 7:51.12 Graeme Smith, GBR 10. 8:01.15 Adam Faulkner, GBR |
| 1500 freestyle | 3. 15:03.15 Graeme Smith, GBR | 2. 14.58.94 Graeme Smith, GBR |
| 50 Backstroke | 7. 25.91 Neil Willey, GBR | 10. 25.98 Neil Willey, GBR |
| 50 Breastroke |
4. 27.79 James Gibson, GBR 6. 28.10 Darren Mew GBR |
6. 28.10 Darren Mew GBR DQ (27.71) James Gibson, GBR |
| 100 breastroke | 7. 1:01.52 Darren Mew, GBR | 7. 1.01.92 Darren Mew, GBR |
| 200 breastroke | 5. 2:12.70 Ian Edmond, GBR | DQ (2:15.84) Ian Edmond, GBR |
| 50 Butterfly | 10. 24.12 Mark Foster, GBR | 3. 23.62 Mark Foster, GBR |
Note: tables based on the latest rankings (26 June 2001) available at swimnews. Results in Bold indicate British records Times in brackets indicate British Records set in previous rounds
british women - entrants versus world rankings
|
event
|
world ranking
|
result
|
| 50 freestyle | 4. 25.07 Alison Sheppard, GBR | 4. 25.00 Alison Sheppard, GBR |
| 200 freestyle | 3. 1:59.32 Nicola Jackson, GBR 5. 1:59.65 Karen Pickering, GBR |
6. 1:59.44 Nicola Jackson, GBR 12. 2:00.52 Karen Pickering, GBR |
| 800 freestyle | 6. 8:34.91 Rebecca Cooke, GBR | 5. 8:37.21 Rebecca Cooke, GBR |
| 1500 freestyle | 2. 16:21.75 Rebecca Cooke, GBR 16. 16:42.18 Nathalie Brown, GBR |
5. 16:20.15 Rebecca Cooke, GBR 9. 16:32.29 Nathalie Brown, GBR |
| 50 Backstroke | 15. 29.33 Sarah Price, GBR | 14. 29.57 Sarah Price, GBR |
| 100 backstroke | 3. 1:01.32 Sarah Price, GBR 9. 1:02.07 Katy Sexton, GBR |
6. 1:01.82 Sarah Price, GBR 15. 1:03.16 Katy Sexton, GBR |
| 200 backstroke |
2. 2:11.04 Joanna Fargus, GBR 4. 2:11.65 Katy Sexton, GBR |
3. 2:11.05 Joanna Fargus, GBR 10. 2:14.37 Katy Sexton, GBR |
| 50 Breastroke | 3. 31.62 Zoe Baker, GBR | 3. 31.40 Zoe Baker, GBR (31.23) |
| 100 breastroke | 13. 1:09.64 Jaime King, GBR | 14. 1:11.04 Jaime King, GBR |
| 200 breastroke | 12. 2:28.10 Jaime King, GBR | 16. 2:34.67 Jaime King, GBR |
| 50 Butterfly | 6. 27.05 Alison Sheppard, GBR | 10. 27.15 Alison Sheppard, GBR |
| 200 butterfly | 4. 2:10.21 Georgina Lee, GBR | 10. 2:11.07 Georgina Lee, GBR |
| 4x100 free | - | 2. 3:40.80 |
| 4x200 free | - | 1. 7:58.69 |
| 4x100 medley | - | 6. 4:06.66 |
Note: tables based on the latest rankings (26 June 2001) available at swimnews. Results in Bold indicate British records Times in brackets indicate British Records set in previous rounds