Beijing's Olympic Champions Are...

By David

And so the race has been run. In Omaha, Sydney, Berlin, Auckland and Christiansted, the trials have been held, the cast has been settled. But who will win in Beijing? No one from Auckland or Christiansted, but Omaha, Sydney and Berlin could have a few. I’m not allowed to bet on swimming but for those of you who are and have access to a London bookie here is a list of the swimmers I think would be worth a pound to win.

Men’s 50 Freestyle – Eamon Sullivan

I’ve been fortunate enough to see Sullivan and his American competition swim the 50 this year. Sullivan might not be that much faster but his effortless straight arm stroke makes it all look so easy and that is usually a very good sign.

Men’s 100 Freestyle – Eamon Sullivan

A bit harder to pick because Alain Bernard from France has been preparing quietly and carefully and he is the world’s fastest, but I think Sullivan is a better competitor. American sprinters Garrett Weber-Gale and Jason Lezak are good competitors but not fast enough to take down the Aussie.

Men’s 200 Freestyle – Michael Phelps

No matter what the others do, Phelps has this race covered. van den Hoogenband is good but not as good as Phelps.

Men’s 400 Freestyle – Tae Hwan Park

A close one between Park and Jensen from the USA; I give it to Park because of his unbelievable last length speed. How well he swims may be influenced by how he has handled the fame that came from his swims at the World Championships in Melbourne.

Men’s 1500 Freestyle – Grant Hackett

Hackett is a master at this event and his 400 speed is better this year. He will be too good for Prilukov from Russia or Colbertaldo from Italy, fast and all as those two certainly are.

Men’s 100 Backstroke – Aaron Peirsol

The ultimate competitor and world record holder has too much of all that’s needed to be headed in this event. He should swim faster than his Trials 52.89 world record as well.

Men’s 200 Backstroke – Aaron Peirsol

I’d love to say Ryan Lochte will win this event. He is my favorite US swimmer; tough, hard working and modest. The final will be close but Aaron Peirsol has an uncanny knack of finding the wall first. My guess is he’ll do it again in Beijing ahead of Lochte, second and Ryosuke Irie from Japan, third.

Men’s 100 Breaststroke – Brendan Hansen

Hansen is a better 100 breaststroke swimmer than Kosuke Kitajima. He had a less than impressive US Trials but I’m picking will be good enough to win the 100, especially as the event is his only individual event.

Men’s 200 Breaststroke – Kosuke Kitajima

This should be an easy win for Kitajima. It will be interesting to see what a biased US press accuse him of this time. Bad sportsmanship is just as repulsive when it is practiced by television commentators and newsprint journalists.

Men’s 100 Butterfly – Michael Phelps

Phelps main competition will be Ian Crocker from the US and Frédérick Bousquet from France. They will not be good enough to beat the world’s best male swimmer just now.

Men’s 200 Butterfly – Michael Phelps

In this event Phelps rules supreme. Moss Burmester from New Zealand is a very good swimmer and a couple of months ago won the World SC Championship. If he lived in the US however his very best would not have been good enough to even place in the USA Trials.

Men’s 200 Medley – Michael Phelps

It’s becoming tedious but he will win this one too. His trials swim was a world record 1.54.80. At the Olympics his breaststroke length will have improved.

Men’s 400 Medley – Ryan Lochte

This selection is more from the heart than the head. To beat Phelps, Lochte has to pass Phelps in the breaststroke. Catching him will not be enough. With a hundred to go Lochte with three meters may be too much even for Phelps – I hope so, as I'm a big Lochte fan.

Women’s 50 Freestyle – Lisbeth Trickett

The American sentimental favorite will be Dara Torres. However her best swim at the trials ranks her only fifth in the world. If she lived in Australia she would not even be in the event. This one is going to be a contest between the Australians, the Dutch and the Germans.

Women’s 100 Freestyle – Lisbeth Lenton

Lenton will be too good for the world in this event as well. I suspect Torres will withdraw from the 100 in favor of the 50. Coughlan’s trial swim ranks her seventh in the world. Once again the winner will be Australian, Dutch or German and I think the ocker will take it.

Women’s 200 Freestyle – Laure Manaudou

I would actually prefer to see Katie Hoff win the race but my guess is that Manadou will be too good. Her romantic flights to Italy and back to France and her three changes of coach will find her out in the 400, but in the 200, she should be good enough to win.

Women’s 400 Freestyle – Federica Pellegrini

The Italian and European Champion will be too good for Katie Hoff.

Women’s 800 Freestyle – Katie Hoff

Rebecca Adlington from Great Britain has the 2008 world’s best time in this event. The poms however have a knack of losing when it matters most. My guess is that Katie Hoff has only scratched the surface of her potential in this event. I think she will win and break Janet Evans' world record.

Women’s 100 Backstroke – Natalie Coughlin

Wouldn’t it be good to pick Hayley McGregory as the winner of this event? She is the best backstroke swimmer I’ve seen; not the fittest perhaps or the best underwater but at swimming the stroke she is sublime. Instead Coughlin will win in Beijing. Her underwater speed provides her with an advantage no one will be able to better.

Women’s 200 Backstroke – Margaret Hoelzer

This race will be a close struggle between Hoelzer, Kirsty Coventry and possibly Laure Manaudou. Whoever is coaching Manaudou at the Games should scratch her from this event. She has more than enough to do handling her freestyle events. The Japanese always seem to have good female backstroke swimmers and this year Reiko Nakamura certainly fits that description. For some reason though, they never win the big one. 2008 should be no exception.

Women’s 100 Breaststroke – Leisel Jones

The Australian is a vastly experienced breaststroker now and will be too fast for the rest of the world.

Women’s 200 Breaststroke – Leisel Jones

The American Rebecca Soni is getting better all the time at this event. She is however still two and a half seconds behind Jones and will continue be about that far behind after the Beijing final.

Women’s 100 Butterfly – Lisbeth Lenton

Women’s butterfly is the “weakest” stroke in this Olympic Games. Certainly Inge Bruijn’s 56.61 world record is not going to be broken this year. The race will probably end up as a scrap between Lenton and her Australian team mate Jessica Schipper. The 58.11 that won the US Trial is not going to be anywhere near fast enough to pose any threat.

Women’s 200 Butterfly – Jessica Schipper

The world’s fastest time this year is actually held by the Japanese Yoko Nakanishi. I am however backing the world record holder and the fine tradition of the Australians in this event to produce the winner. The US Trials winner Elaine Breeden swam a good time of 2.06.75 and looked capable of improving on that time.

Women’s 200 Medley – Katie Hoff

This will be one hell of a race. America’s Coughlin and Hoff, Australasia’s Rice and Africa’s Coventry should be the main combatants. Why do I think Hoff will win? Well she’s well coached; she’s tough and just a bit better all rounder than the others. Yes, I think Hoff will be first followed by Rice. But it’s going to be bloody close.

Women’s 400 Medley – Katie Hoff

If Hoff wins the 200 IM she will certainly win this one. She broke the world record in the US Trials and if her past record is anything to go by she will do that again in the main event. Rice and Coventry will be trying to spoil Hoff’s party. But they will not be good enough.

So there they are my 26 Beijing winners. Do you agree?