BY MIKE GUSTAFSON//CORRESPONDENT
A big swim meet is here. Finally.
After waiting (what seems to be) ages since the last major international swim meet, the 2011 Pan American Games will commence this weekend, starting Saturday. Major names are slated to compete: Elaine Breeden, Annie Chandler, Eva Fabian, Elizabeth Pelton, Conor Dwyer, Clark Burkle, Eugene Godsoe, and Matt Patton, among others.
The Pan American Games serves two purposes: 1.) It will allow younger swimmers much-needed international competition experience. Remember: unless your name is Michael Phelps or Natalie Coughlin, it’s relatively tough to make it onto an international roster. Also remember: anything can happen at next summer’s Olympic Trials. An unfavorable situation for Team USA involves sending inexperienced swimmers to the London Olympics as their first-ever international meet. 2.) The meet, in my eyes, kicks off the Olympic competition year. This is a momentum-building meet. Swimmers have been training, enduring rigorous pre-season workouts, increasing aerobic yardage, getting in-shape after the summer season.
As usual, here are the Five Storylines To Watch:
1.) Will the Next Great Swimmer please step up? The Pan Ams are a perfect opportunity for younger, less experienced swimmers to showcase they are “clutch.” Though a performance here won’t guarantee anything, swimmers create a reputation. Guys like Matt Patton and Scot Robison, guys who qualified in the freestyle events, they need to create a reputation that they are clutch in international relay situations. Same for Amanda Kendall and Chelsea Nauta. Who will step up? Who will have a breakout performance? Who will standout on those all-important USA relays? We saw Missy Franklin do it this summer. She established herself as a swimmer who can perform under pressure situations. It’s important on these relays to come together, but also to say, “Hey world, I’m clutch. You can count on me.”
2.) Will Annie Chandler continue her upward trajectory? Chandler has said that she’s still waiting on her breakout swim. If that’s the case, her breakout swim should be an eye-popper. The 2011 “NCAA Woman of the Year” finalist has had, relatively speaking, a great two-year swimming campaign. She’s won an NCAA Championship in 2010, finished runner-up a few times at the ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships and she won gold at the World University Games. She’s placing herself in position to make noise in Omaha next summer. We’ll see what she brings to the table next week.
3.) The Next Michael Phelps? No, there won’t be a “next Phelps.” But two teenagers are catching attention of swim fans. Both are on the ‘11 Pan Am roster. Teenage swim phenoms Arthur Frayler and Ryan Murphy haven’t yet made the Olympic team, but they could be part of a new batch of up-and-coming male swimmers leading the next generation. Frayler, a distance swimmer from Germantown Academy, has already had international experience, racing last summer at the Mutual of Omaha Pan Pacific Championships. For Murphy, this is a major international meet and should provide excellent experience for the Bolles standout. Remember both these names.
4.) Claire Donahue, An Olympic Trials Favorite? One of the more intriguing stories heading into the Olympic Trials is that of Western Kentucky alum Claire Donahue. Hailing from a small town, and a small, mid-major university, Donahue has steadily dropped time for the past four years in the 100 butterfly. A perpetual runner-up (she scored 2nd at last season’s NCAA Championships, as well as this summer at the ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships) Donahue is looking for the perfect opportunity to show the world she’s the real deal. She had the second fastest American long course time this year. If she holds course, she’s one year away from being runner-up next summer, at the Olympic Trials. Which, as you know, is the only meet where 2nd place is as good as 1st.
5.) Watch Out For Conor Dwyer. In 2010, Dwyer stormed the swimming world by winning two NCAA Championship titles and earning NCAA Swimmer of the Year. In 2011, he had a disappointing NCAA performance due to illness. But Dwyer rebounded this summer, winning a national championship in the 200 IM, as well as swimming at the World Championships, winning gold as part of the 800 free relay. I believe we’ve barely scratched the surface of what Dwyer can do. He swims at Florida. He trains with Ryan Lochte and Peter Vanderkaay. He has all the resources around him to become great. Now we just need to see him do it in an international meet.
For more on the event, go to USASwimming.org.
