Simone says: Olympic champ pushes for change in, out of pool
Outside of it, the Olympic champion is pushing herself in a new endeavor to boost the profile of women’s sports. AdShe’s aiming to defend her 100 free title at the Tokyo Olympics, delayed for a year by the coronavirus pandemic. When Stanford closed its facilities last March, Manuel and training partner Katie Ledecky found a backyard pool to work out in. He failed to make it out of the preliminaries, finishing 32nd in the 100 free and 25th in the 100 breaststroke. Blake Pieroni won the men’s 100 free in 49.19 seconds.
Ledecky wins easily in 1st major swim meet amid pandemic
(AP Photo/Michael Sohn)Like everyone else, Katie Ledecky was forced to shelve her plans when the coronavirus pandemic took hold. Ledecky is still working toward making a big splash at this summer’s delayed Tokyo Games. Ledecky is among several big names diving back in with three months to go until the U.S. Olympic trials. Caeleb Dressel, Simone Manuel, double backstroke world-record holder Regan Smith, and Ryan Lochte will swim over four days in the first single-site American meet since the pandemic began. In the early days of the pandemic, Ledecky scrambled to find a pool to train in after Stanford shut down its facilities.
Swimmer Ryan Lochte miffed at his times in return to racing
“This is probably going to go down as my worst meet that I’ve ever had,” he said by phone from Sarasota, Florida. When I get back (home), I’m going to start turning it up again.”At 36, Lochte is taking aim at making a fifth U.S. Olympic team. I know I’m physically tired,” he said. Lochte said he’s still in touch with Phelps, who retired after Rio and has three boys of his own now. It’s still fun.”Lochte still has his supporters, whether it’s his fans who know he’s always willing to accommodate their requests or those in the sport.
With COVID-19 surging, swimmers return to racing in the US
Irvine is hosting about 240 swimmers — a mix of national team members, collegians and high schoolers — competing outdoors under strict safety guidelines at a time when COVID-19 is surging again in many parts of the country. Ryan Lochte, seeking to make his fifth Olympic team at age 36, is competing at the U.S. Open site in Sarasota, Florida. Swimmers enter the complex through a designated spot and follow a progression from the warm-up pool, competition pool, warm-down pool and exit. The number of swimmers who can be in the same lane training at the same time is limited to a maximum of four. Multiple sessions are being staged to keep the number of swimmers at the complex at one time lower.