On Top of the Swimming World (Sort Of)

The World Swimming Championships just concluded and the United States led the way in both gold medals (9) and total medals (29).  Just like at the Paris Olympics.  Yet, despite winning the Best Team trophy, the meet was considered a disappointment for the Americans.  Just like at the Paris Olympics.

Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte were very pointed in their criticism on social media, and Rowdy Gaines said basically the same thing on the broadcast throughout the meet.  Rowdy gave the team's effort a grade each night, and, especially on the first few nights, that grade wasn't good.  It got higher as the meet went on and the U.S. collected more medals, but his overall impression still wasn't great.  He was also quick to note, however, that there's still plenty of time until the LA Olympics.  And that it's not all negative.

There were plenty of reasons for the Americans' troubles in Singapore.  A big one is the fact that a majority of the team was sick with acute gastroenteritis at early in the week.  The timing of the illness obviously wasn't ideal, as it affected swimmers' training and recovery schedules.  Some medal contenders had to withdraw from their primary events because of their sickness.  As they recovered later in the week, the performances improved.  This is not an excuse, mind you.  It's merely an explanation.

And, just like in Paris, there were some events where the Americans just got beat.  The United States finished with 11 silver medals.  In four of those events, the gold medalist set a championship record.  In two others, the gold medalist was either Summer McIntosh or Leon Marchand, the two dominant swimmers in the world right now.  And another was an American sweep.  So, it's not crazy to think that some of those silvers easily could've been gold...which would've made the medal table look very different.

It's also important to note that this was the fourth consecutive year with a World Championships.  There was both an Olympics and a Worlds last year.  A lot of top swimmers already sit out the post-Olympics Worlds, and that was especially the case this year.  So, Team USA was missing a lot of its biggest stars.  Especially on the men's side.  Which means the team was weaker than it otherwise would've been.  Which, again, is not an excuse.  

With all that being said, however, the criticism of the team was entirely valid.  Especially with a home Olympics coming up in three years.  And the team's performance in Singapore was lackluster.  By any other standard, that effort at the World Championships would've been considered a success.  We're not talking about any other standard, though.  We're talking about what's come to be expected from USA Swimming.  Which isn't what we saw in Singapore.  Or Paris.

At the Olympics last year, the American men won a total of two gold medals and, notably, didn't get an individual gold until Bobby Finke set a world record in the 1500 freestyle--literally the last individual event of the meet!  At this year's World Championships, you know how many total gold medals the American men won?  One!  Luca Orlando in the 200 butterfly.  That's it. 

They didn't even win a relay, the first time that's ever happened.  In fact, they only won two bronzes in the three relays and were off the podium altogether in the 4x200 freestyle.  And, in the medley relay, they only got the bronze because of a crazy anchor leg by Jack Aleksy that moved the U.S. from fifth to third.  It's not just that they didn't win any of the relays, either.  It's that instead of going into the relays among the favorites, the consensus was that they'd be lucky just to medal--which turned out to be prophetic.

That's just the tip of the iceberg, though.  There was a grand total of one American finalist in the three men's backstroke events.  The backstroke.  An event that the U.S. used to dominate!  There were multiple events where the American men didn't even reach the semifinals!  Not winning medals is one thing.  Even not making the final is somewhat understandable.  But, at the very least, you should be able to get out of the prelims.

Things weren't much better in the breaststrokes.  The U.S. also failed to medal in any of the men's breaststroke events.  Of the six swimmers in the three events, only two even made the semifinals (they'd both make the final).  The 200 butterfly, where Urlando won gold, was the only non-freestyle event where the U.S. had multiple finalists.  Of the 17 individual men's events, seven didn't have an American finalist.

If you think this was exclusive to the men's team, think again.  The U.S. set the world record in the mixed medley relay while winning gold in Paris.  It's an event where you'd expect the U.S., at the very least, to be on the podium.  But in Singapore, the "A" team (perhaps consisting of, say, Regan Smith, Josh Matheny, Gretchen Walsh and Jack Aleksy) didn't even get the chance.  Because the "B" team that swam in the prelims ended up 10th.  Unacceptable!

Fortunately, outside of the mixed medley relay, the struggles were mainly limited to the men's team.  The women won six individual golds and set a world record in the medley relay (which clinched the top spot ahead of Australia on the gold medal table).  Of the 20 women's events including the three relays, the U.S. won at least one medal in 17 of them, including two medals in all three backstrokes.  And, in the three where they didn't, the top American was fourth once and fifth twice.

So, things are not as dire as they seem.  The women's team was strong in Paris, was strong in Singapore, and figures to remain strong in the leadup to LA.  The men's team, however, struggled in Paris and struggled again in Singapore.  That's two major global championships in a row in back-to-back summers where the U.S. men failed to live up to the standard that's expected of them.  And, for the men's team, the clock is ticking until the 2028 Olympics, which are just three short years away.

Maybe this is just a lull.  American fans got spoiled by Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, then Caeleb Dressel.  The best men's swimmers in the world right now, however, aren't American (although, they do train in the U.S. with American coaches).  But, with the LA Games approaching, the American men need to get out of this lull fast.  Otherwise, things will get uglier than they already are.