The Psych Sheet

Happy Holidays

Wishing all of those who celebrate Christmas a very merry and blessed day from The Psych Sheet. Here’s to family time without having to worry how to fit in swim practice, and a day of dry hair!

Thanks to everyone for their support and readership. Hope everything goes swimmingly for you and your family today and in the coming year with many personal bests and enjoyable laps!

Franklin Contributes to US Win

Missy Franklin proved to be an asset as Team USA defeated the European stars in the Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool, which wrapped up earlier today in Manchester, England.

Franklin, 14, led off the Women’s 4X100M Free relay with a blistering 52.78, not only her personal best, but the 7^th fastest women’s 100M free swam worldwide in 2009. In fact, her time bested the American Record set in 2007 by Dara Torres, but that record had already been bettered the day before by Olympian and NCAA Swimmer of the Year Dana Vollmer, 22.

In the relay, Franklin had to go head-to-head with European Recordholder Francesca Halsall of Great Britain, but held her own, finishing just 1.2 seconds behind. Franklin was teamed with Vollmer, Amanda Weir and Christine Magnuson, and together the four beat the European relay team by 1.1 seconds. They also finished well ahead of the American Record but weren’t granted the record because of an odd ruling by USA Swimming, which won’t recognize any records set in high-tech suits since banning them from domestic meets Oct. 1. The oddity being, US swimmers can still wear high-tech suits internationally until the end of this year, and in a couple of cases, World Records set at this meet by American swimmers won’t register as American Records.

Yesterday, Franklin placed 4^th in the 100M Free, which featured three American swimmers against Great Britain’s Halsall and two other European swimmers. Franklin was 2^nd among the Americans, beating Weir.

Next Sunday, Dec. 27, you can catch all the meet highlights during a special, two-hour broadcast from 2-4 p.m. EST on NBC.

Franklin Set to Compete in Duel in the Pool

Colorado Stars swimmer Missy Franklin, 14, once again finds herself on the international stage as she competes beginning tomorrow in the 2009 Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool, a two-day meet in Manchester, England, that pits a European select team of swimmers from Britain, Germany and Italy against a handpicked team of the United States top swimmers.

Franklin is the youngest member of Team USA, which includes 17 men (Ryan Lochte had to withdraw because of injury) and 18 women, many of them former Olympians, including Michael Phelps, Rebecca Soni and Aaron Peirsol.

The bi-annual Duel in the Pool is essentially a made-for-TV event designed to showcase the sport’s most exciting swimmers in non-Olympic years. A two-hour broadcast of the event will air on NBC on December 27 from 2 – 4 p.m. ET

Last month, Franklin broke onto the European scene at the FINA World Cup meets in Stockholm and Berlin. She was joined by fellow Colorado swimmer Jared Markham, 16, (shown in above photo with Franklin in Berlin) of Greenwood who competed in the 200M Backstroke at both meets. At Stockholm, Franklin took home an impressive 2^nd-place finish in the 200M IM, 4^th in the 200M Backstroke and 9^th in the 100M free, among her six races.

Colorado Contingent Impresses At Junior Nationals

Colorado swimmers were on fire at the 2009 Speedo Short Course Junior National Championships, which wrapped up Saturday evening. Colorado STARS, without Missy Franklin, took home the top team honors on the Women’s side, proving just what depth they have. Not only did they have fantastic individual swims, but their relays placed 2^nd twice and no worse than 5^th.

Meanwhile two Colorado swimmers took home 1^st place in their events – Jared Markham, 16, of Greenwood, set a meet record in the 200 Backstroke, and Bonnie Brandon, 15, of MACS, hot off her high-point success at the Grand Prix last month in Minnesota, took home 2 firsts in the 500 Free and 1650 Free.

An astounding 23 Colorado swimmers finished in the top 30^th, proof the state is shaping up to be a swimming powerhouse. What’s even more remarkable is that the majority of swimmers had more than one top 30 swim. Kelly Naze of STARS, for example, placed no worse than 6^th in five events including three 3^rd-place finishes.

As for breakout performances, I’d have to say two swimmers earned quite a bit of respect – Ryan Arata, 15, of Falfins, placed in four events, three of which were in the B Final and scored points, and although Clark Smith, 14, of Denver Swim Academy, didn’t make it to finals, he had two amazing swims with a 43^rd place finish in the 100 Fly (he was seated 91^st) and 37^th in the 100 Fly after being entered in the 64^th spot.

Overall, Coloradoans have much to be proud of.

Here are the Colorado swimmers who placed top 30. (My apologies to anyone I may have missed):

Bonnie Brandon, 15, MACS: 1^st 500 Free, 8^th 200 IM, 4^th 400 IM, 16^th 100 Back, 6^th 200 Back, 1^st 1650 Free
Jordan Mattern, 16, STARS:,3^rd 500 Free, 10^th 200 IM, 11^th 400 IM, 7^th 200 Free
Steve Schmuhl, 16, Boulder: 4^th 500 Free, 24^th 100 Fly, 2^nd 200 Free, 13^th 200 Back
Jared Markham, 16, Greenwood: 8^th 500 Free, 5^th 200 IM, 5^th 400 IM, 4^th 100 Back, 1^st 200 Back
Ben Holston, 16, TOPS: 19^th 500 Free, 10^th 1650 Free
Jacob Ores, 16, Loveland: 22^nd 500 Free, 14^th 1650 Free
Andrew Chevalier, 17, North Jeffco: 30^th 500 Free, 20^th 400 IM, 27^th 1650 Free
Kelly Naze, 15, STARS: 3^rd 200 Free, 3^rd 400 IM, 3^rd 100 Fly, 6^th 100 Breaststroke, 4^th 200 Breaststroke
Mackenzie Stein, 16, UN-TOPS, 6^th 200 Free, 10^th 400 IM, 30^th 100 Fly
Caroline Piehl, 16, STARS: 13^th 200 IM, 10^th 200 Free, 13^th 100 Free
Bridgette McNally, 17, TOPS: 29^th 200 IM, 29^th 400 IM, 26^th 200 Breaststroke
Christine Wixted, 17, STARS: 30^th 200 IM, 16^th 100 Breaststroke, 6^th 200 Breaststroke
Brandon Hatanaka, 16, Loveland: 15^th 400 IM
Ryan Arata, 15, Falfins: 22^nd 100 Butterfly, 17^th 100 Backstroke, 14^th 200 Backstroke, 17^th 200 Butterfly
Lauren Stoeckle, 16, MACS: 24^th 100 Breaststroke, 17^th 200 Breaststroke
Jeremiah Zglieczynska, 16, MACS: 21^st 1650 Free
Patrick Scally, 17, CSST: 30^th 1650 Free
Kyle Noser, 17, TOPS: 30^th 100 Breaststroke
Jenna Gregoire, 17, Falfins: 10^th 100 Free
Kyrene Clarke, 17, CSST: 20^th 200 Breaststroke
Rachel Snyder, 16, North Jeffco: 29^th 200 Butterfly
Lauren Rigg, 17, North Jeffco: 30^th 200 Butterfly
Andrew Torres, 15, North Jeffco: 25^th 200 Butterfly

State’s Elite Swimmers In Ohio at Jr. Nationals

Many of the state’s top swimmers have taken their game to Columbus, Ohio, for the 2009 Speedo Short Course Junior National Championships, which gets under way today and runs through Saturday.

Sixteen Colorado teams are represented at the meet: ACES, Boulder, CSST, Denver Swim Academy, STARS, Evergreen, Falfins, Fort Collins, Greenwood, HRA, Longmont, Loveland, MACS, Montrose, North Jeffco, RallySport and University of Denver Hilltopppers (TOPS). TOPS has brought the most Colorado swimmers with 13 competitors, making it among the larger teams at the meet.

Altogether 60 swimmers from the state are entered: Jason Hartbarger, 16, Kaitlyn Jackson, 17, Brian Styerwalt, 17, Lizzy Anderson, 15, Julia Anderson, 17, Jaclyn Best, 18, Steve Schmuhl, 16, Kyrene Clarke, 17, Ashley Forsyth, 17, Jordan Mattern, 16, Kelly Naze, 15, Caroline Piehl, 16, Christine Wixted, 17,  Clark Smith, 14, Hillary Thomas, 16, Lexie Malazdrewicz, 14, Ryan Arata, 15, Jenna Gregoire, 17, Emily Campbell, 15, Samantha Guay, 14, Joseph Thelen, 17, Gretchen Cohen, 17, Spencer Fronk, 17, Matthew Long, 17, Jared Markham, 16, Yana Garvey, 18, Andrew Parker, 16, Conor Dwyer, 15, Brandon Hatanaka, 16, Jacob Ores, 16, Bonnie Brandon, 15, Lauren Stoeckle, 16, Mikella Zglieczynska, 18, Jeremiah Zglieczynska, 16, Logan Morris, 14, Emily Stucky, 17, Andrew Chevalier, 17, John Gedney, 18, Eric May, 16, Lauren Rigg, 17, Rachel Snyder, 16, Andrew Torres, 15, Siobahn Hengermuhle, 16, Rin Isobe, 16, Anna Labozan, 16, Darien Brunetti, 17,  Rachel Burns, 18, William Franz, 16, Ben Holston, 16, Daniel Jurgs, 17, Mark Maguire, 18, Michael McCormick, 16, Bridgette McNally, 17, Alex Todd, 16, Shelly Patton, 16, Mackenzie Stein, 16, Kristen Milberg, 18, Kyle Milberg, 17, Paige Newell, 17, Kyle Noser, 17 and Peter Wickwire, 17.

The psych sheet and more information about the meet are available here. Results are also being posted by USA Swimming.

Congrats and a best of luck to all the swimmers.