Hobson Joins Sub 1:44 Club & Walsh Jets Home In 24.6 As Californian Games Dreaming Gets Real
Superb efforts from Luke Hobson and Gretchen Walsh point to golden prospects at World Championships in Singapore, while the turbulence in the podium pecking order in all day 2 finals at U.S. Nationals gave us a glimpse of home-Games aspiration washing through the American ranks
Luke Hobson and Gretchen Walsh led the charge on domestic records on day 2 at U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, he with a 1:43.73 200m free that made him the sixth man in history to join the sub-1:44, sub-Thorpedo-pace 200 freestyle club, she with a 24.66 hammer in the 50 'fly.
Hobson, inside the pace of Paris 2024 gold, is now fifth fastest man ever, fourth in textile, and, as the American who made the Olympic podium in the solo 200m (bronze) and 4x200m free (silver), he's a captain among those the USA will need if it is to find its way back to the alchemy of turning spoils into gold. Hobson had been set on the right path before Bob Bowman arrived at the Texas Longhorns. That there was more to come was obvious. Today proved it.
Walsh's 24.66 followed two 24.9s this season to join sprint legend Sarah Sjöström, who is away becoming a mum his season, but with sights set on a sixth Olympics in 2028. The Swedish ace clocked a stunning 24.43 for the World record in Bǒras back in 2014. No-one else had breached 25 until Walsh his spring. There'll be.wave of others working to get down that way with singular focus on the dash: the 50 butterfly (backstroke and breaststroke, too) became an Olympic target in this year:
Craig Lord
More on Gretchen Walsh's win and other race reports from day 2:
Craig Lord
If the superb efforts of Hobson and Walsh pointed to golden prospects at World Championships in Singapore come July and August, there was enough turbulence in the podium pecking order in their events and elsewhere to imagine a good deal of California Games Dreaming is going on in the ranks of American aspirers as a home Olympics looms in Los Angeles three summers on.
Yes, it's a while and as Lao Tzu put it “Those who have knowledge don't predict. Those who predict don't have knowledge.” When it comes to LA, only the swimmer and the closest of guides will already have the knowledge of what's being worked on. There'll be a lot more turbulence and challenge to established stars along the way but after two of five days of racing in Indianapolis, we have been given a fleeting glimpse of a national swim program with a big history, and conscious of the big shift in the power of its impact in Paris last year, and what it might do about it.
The Tables That Show The Shift:
Craig Lord
Read on for Day 2 Race Reports and Results:
