The Week That Was sponsored by Suitmate.
The Week That Was featured a showdown postponement, training as a freshman at the University of Michigan, the upcoming NCAA Board of Governor’s meeting, breaking down Florian Wellbrock’s world record, and the San Jose State settlement.
The Week That Was #1: Commonwealth Games Priority Leaves Ariarne Titmus-Katie Ledecky 400m Freestyle Showdown II On Hold
by Ian Hanson
Dual Tokyo Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus has revealed she wants to be at her peak for this year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and that may mean she won’t defend her world 400m freestyle crown three months earlier.
A decision that could also mean that the next big showdown between swimming’s female freestyle heavyweights – Titmus and her US nemesis Katie Ledecky may have to wait until the 2023 Fina World Championships in Doha or 2024 Olympics in Paris.
The Week That Was #2: A Glance At the Training of Michigan Standout Freshman Letitia Sim (Sample Sets Included)
Photo Courtesy: TNT Swimming Facebook
by Michael Stott
Letitia Sim arrived on the University of Michigan campus in the fall as CollegeSwimming.com’s No. 1-ranked recruit from Alabama and 15th nationally. She has not disappointed, opening up her college season by winning her signature 100-200 breaststroke events with lifetime bests.
Her final year as an age grouper was one to remember.
The Week That Was #3: NCAA Board of Governors to Discuss Transgender Participation Policy in Meeting Next Week
by David Rieder
While the University of Pennsylvania and the Ivy League have recently issued statements in support of transgender athlete Lia Thomas racing in women’s events, the NCAA has been quiet on the matter up to this point. Thomas, who recorded the fastest times in the nation in the women’s 200 and 500-yard freestyle in early December and recently competed in her senior meet for Penn, followed all NCAA rules regarding her eligibility as she underwent more than one year of hormone therapy before competing in women’s events.
Initially, the NCAA did not respond to multiple inquiries from Swimming World regarding the fairness of its transgender policy and of Thomas competing as a female and also whether the organization was considering changes. However, the NCAA provided a short statement Friday that indicated it would at least consider the issue.
The Week That Was #4: Data Analysis: How Enhanced Turn Performance Led Florian Wellbrock to World Record in 1500 Freestyle (Visual Charts)
Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
Guest Editorial
We witnessed a new world record in the men’s 1500-meter freestyle at the recent 2021 World Short-Course Championships in Abu Dhabi. For the present article, we compared the new world record of Florian Wellbrock to Gregorio Paltrinieri’s previous world record (2015 European championships in Netanya) and Mykhailo Romanchuk’s championship record (2018 World championships in Hangzhou) to provide a deeper insight and show some interesting details about these amazing performances.
Florian Wellbrock – 14:06.88 – Abu Dhabi – 2021
Mykhaylo Romanchuk – 14:09.14 – Hangzhou – 2018
Gregorio Paltrinieri – 14:08.06 – Netanya – 2015
The Week That Was #5: San Jose State Settles Suit, Formally Apologizes to Swim Coach Sage Hopkins
Photo Courtesy: San Jose State Athletics
by Matthew de George
It’s taken more than a decade, but San Jose State swim coach Sage Hopkins has attained a level of vindication in a long-running saga with the school. The long-time swim coach and the university settled a retaliation suit, the conditions of which included a formal apology by the university to Hopkins for his “steadfast commitment to student-athlete health and welfare.”
The announcement was made quietly on Sunday by the university. It stems from allegations first brought to the university’s attention in 2009 by Hopkins, after as many as 17 swimmers on the SJSU team alleged that trainer Scott Shaw had touched them inappropriately and abused his access to female student-athletes.