Converting The Best International Swimmers To Short Course Yards
Converting The Best International Swimmers To Short Course Yards
This article converts the fastest long course meters swimming times to short course yards times. It features some of the worlds best international swimmers including Adam Peaty, Caeleb Dressel, Gregorio Paltrinieri, and more.
As we say farewell to another long course season in the United States and look forward to another NCAA short course season, the FloSwimming crew got into a little bit of a discussion on one of the prominent questions of the day: "I wonder how fast the best international swimmers would go in short course yards?"
Thus, we picked five international swimmers who have all competed in the past year and never competed in the NCAA. After that, we used a handy-dandy conversion tool to provide the best estimate of a swimmer's long course meters time converted to in short course yards.
DISCLAIMER: Conversion tools are not perfect. There are too many variables to consider with an individual swimmer (starts, pullouts, underwaters, strength/power vs. endurance, etc.) to create a perfect algorithm. Conversion tools are meant to provide a general point of reference. So let's not all freak out at once.
*Relay Split
Given the level of dominance Adam Peaty has exerted in the LCM sprint breaststrokes, one would expect his SCY converted times to be much faster than what has been done before. While Peaty has taken the LCM world records to unthinkable limits, the fact of the matter is that SCY breaststroke has progressed rapidly on the whole and a major factor in that progression is improved pullouts. Or, for you cynics out there, more opportunities to take multiple dolphin kicks...
*Relay Split
Swedish sensation Sarah Sjöström took the swimming world by storm in 2017 -- taking down two world records in the 50/100m freestyle and pulling her total up to four along with the sprint butterfly races. Her 50m fly is the most significant with a converted time of 21.35. While Kelsi Worrell has been 21.9 on a relay start, there is absolutely nobody who can touch a 21.3 on a flat start. Not even close. The sprint freestyle conversions are right up there with what Simone Manuel has done in the SCY pool -- makes sense considering Manuel is a 23.9/52.2 in the long course pool, which is right on Sjöström's heels. Verdict? Pretty accurate here.
Yes, we know what you are thinking. The G.O.A.T. -- Michael Phelps -- competed plenty of times in SCY and has even held American records. However, he never competed in the NCAA. and thus short course yards swimming was never a focus for him. The only conversion that seems a little off here is the 200 fly. His time of 1:51.51 is unbelievable, and nobody has been within a second of that time since Phelps threw it down at the 2009 World Championships in Rome. If he shaved and tapered for a SCY meet, I have to believe Phelps would have thrown down 1:35 in his prime. What's even scarier is that Phelps could have potentially broken the 3:30 barrier in the 400 IM. I mean, really? That's stupid fast.
Same as above for Adam Peaty in the sprint breaststrokes. It's a fact that the SCY 200 breaststroke has progressed more rapidly than the LCM 200 breastroke. Numbers don't lie and we can prove it. In 2007, the fastest 200m breast to date was a 2:08.50 by Brendan Hansen -- 1.83 seconds off what it is today. In 2007, the fastest 200-yard breast to date was a 1:52.62 also by Brendan Hansen -- 4.71 seconds off what it is today.
Clark Smith -- who is the fastest ever in the SCY 500 freestyle with a 4:08.42 -- emphatically said that the record is "soft" and should be much faster. There may be some truth to that, as the record really hasn't progressed in the last decade (or longer). While the 400 LCM freestyle and the 500 SCY freestyle are completely different animals, it is very likely that China's Sun Yang could pop off a 4:05 -- if not faster. Sun doesn't have the best turns in the world, which would play a factor, but still -- anybody who threatens 3:40 in the 400 is dangerous regardless of vulnerabilities. Sun's 14:31 converting to a 14:09 in the 1650 seems feasible as well. Again, the limiting factor here would be the turns.
At the end of the day, I think we can all agree that we would love -- just once, and only once -- for a major international competition to be held in a SCY pool. The amount of mind-numbing performances would be more than we could handle.
Oh well, for now we will just have to debate. What do you think?
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Thus, we picked five international swimmers who have all competed in the past year and never competed in the NCAA. After that, we used a handy-dandy conversion tool to provide the best estimate of a swimmer's long course meters time converted to in short course yards.
DISCLAIMER: Conversion tools are not perfect. There are too many variables to consider with an individual swimmer (starts, pullouts, underwaters, strength/power vs. endurance, etc.) to create a perfect algorithm. Conversion tools are meant to provide a general point of reference. So let's not all freak out at once.
Adam Peaty (Great Britain)
| LCM Best Time | SCY Converted | Fastest SCY All-Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50m Breaststroke | 25.95 | 22.39 | 22.64 (Katis, 2015)* |
| 100m Breaststroke | 57.13 | 49.47 | 50.04 (Cordes, 2014) |
Quick Rationale
Given the level of dominance Adam Peaty has exerted in the LCM sprint breaststrokes, one would expect his SCY converted times to be much faster than what has been done before. While Peaty has taken the LCM world records to unthinkable limits, the fact of the matter is that SCY breaststroke has progressed rapidly on the whole and a major factor in that progression is improved pullouts. Or, for you cynics out there, more opportunities to take multiple dolphin kicks...
Sarah Sjöström (Sweden)
| LCM Best Time | SCY Converted | Fastest SCY All-Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50m Butterfly | 24.43 | 21.35 | 21.96 (Worrell, 2015)* |
| 100m Butterfly | 55.48 | 49.21 | 49.43 (Worrell, 2016) |
| 50m Freestyle | 23.67 | 20.85 | 21.12 (Weitzeil, 2016) |
| 100m Freestyle | 51.71 | 45.71 | 45.56 (Manuel, 2017) |
Quick Rationale
Swedish sensation Sarah Sjöström took the swimming world by storm in 2017 -- taking down two world records in the 50/100m freestyle and pulling her total up to four along with the sprint butterfly races. Her 50m fly is the most significant with a converted time of 21.35. While Kelsi Worrell has been 21.9 on a relay start, there is absolutely nobody who can touch a 21.3 on a flat start. Not even close. The sprint freestyle conversions are right up there with what Simone Manuel has done in the SCY pool -- makes sense considering Manuel is a 23.9/52.2 in the long course pool, which is right on Sjöström's heels. Verdict? Pretty accurate here.Michael Phelps (United States)
| LCM Best Time | SCY Converted | Fastest SCY All-Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100m Butterfly | 49.82 | 43.74 | 43.58 (Dressel, 2017) |
| 200m Butterfly | 1:51.51 | 1:37.90 | 1:37.35 (Conger, 2017) |
| 400m IM | 4:03.84 | 3:30.92 | 3:33.42 (Kalisz, 2017) |
Quick Rationale
Yes, we know what you are thinking. The G.O.A.T. -- Michael Phelps -- competed plenty of times in SCY and has even held American records. However, he never competed in the NCAA. and thus short course yards swimming was never a focus for him. The only conversion that seems a little off here is the 200 fly. His time of 1:51.51 is unbelievable, and nobody has been within a second of that time since Phelps threw it down at the 2009 World Championships in Rome. If he shaved and tapered for a SCY meet, I have to believe Phelps would have thrown down 1:35 in his prime. What's even scarier is that Phelps could have potentially broken the 3:30 barrier in the 400 IM. I mean, really? That's stupid fast.Ippei Watanabe (Japan)
| LCM Best Time | SCY Converted | Fastest SCY All-Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200m Breaststroke | 2:06.67 | 1:49.94 | 1:47.91 (Licon, 2017) |
Quick Rationale
Same as above for Adam Peaty in the sprint breaststrokes. It's a fact that the SCY 200 breaststroke has progressed more rapidly than the LCM 200 breastroke. Numbers don't lie and we can prove it. In 2007, the fastest 200m breast to date was a 2:08.50 by Brendan Hansen -- 1.83 seconds off what it is today. In 2007, the fastest 200-yard breast to date was a 1:52.62 also by Brendan Hansen -- 4.71 seconds off what it is today.Sun Yang (China)
| LCM Best Time | SCY Converted | Fastest SCY All-Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 400m Freestyle | 3:40.14 (400) | 4:05.45 (500) | 4:08.42 (Smith, 2017) |
| 1500m Freestyle | 14:31.02 (1500) | 14:09.24 (1650) | 14:22.41 (Smith, 2017) |
Quick Rationale
Clark Smith -- who is the fastest ever in the SCY 500 freestyle with a 4:08.42 -- emphatically said that the record is "soft" and should be much faster. There may be some truth to that, as the record really hasn't progressed in the last decade (or longer). While the 400 LCM freestyle and the 500 SCY freestyle are completely different animals, it is very likely that China's Sun Yang could pop off a 4:05 -- if not faster. Sun doesn't have the best turns in the world, which would play a factor, but still -- anybody who threatens 3:40 in the 400 is dangerous regardless of vulnerabilities. Sun's 14:31 converting to a 14:09 in the 1650 seems feasible as well. Again, the limiting factor here would be the turns.At the end of the day, I think we can all agree that we would love -- just once, and only once -- for a major international competition to be held in a SCY pool. The amount of mind-numbing performances would be more than we could handle.
Oh well, for now we will just have to debate. What do you think?
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