A.E.O.S.S.S. 50FR

For some who like bright lights and shiny things the 50FR is the marquee event in swimming.  The 100 yard dash.  The Heavyweight Championship.  One lap.  No turn.  Straight to the finish.  Who is the fastest man and woman in the world.

I am going to look at the men's and women's fields for the 50FR and assess who the players appear to be before the upcoming gauntlet of Olympic Trials to occur worldwide and the emergence of talented swimmers start to emerge from seemingly nowhere to step into the limelight of the Olympic spotlight.

Please remember, this is VERY early speculation but fun none-the-less!

STILL STEFFEN'S?:  WOMEN'S 50 FREESTYLE

The logical favourite:  Britta Steffen (GER)

Steffen's double gold in Beijing (50 & 100FR)

Steffen won the gold medal in the 50FR in Beijing, out-touching the ageless Dara Torres by .01, and remains the current world record holder in the 50FR at 23.73.  Now at 28 years old, Steffen is still amongst the best in the world in the 50FR, clocking the 8th fastest time in the world last year (24.67).

The reality of the post-polyurethane suit world is that if someone can get under or near 24.00 they are going to win the ladies 50FR.  It will take under 25 to get into the semifinals and likely around 24.50 to get into the Championship Final.

Steffen is going to have a bunch of competition in this event and like Steffen in 2008, if one of them gets hot they are more then capable of knocking off Steffen.  The fastest woman in the world in 2011 was Therese Alshammar (SWE) who swam a 24.14.   Alshammar is 34 years old, reigning World Champion in the 50FR, a former 50FR (SCM) world record holder, already a 4 time Olympian (96, 00, 04, 08), won silver in the 50FR in Sydney (2000), 4th in 2004, but missed the Final in 2008... she's an icon of sprint freestyle and butterfly and in 2010 was the FINA women's swimmer of the year.  In this era she's definitely a gold medal threat but people will always .

The rest of the elite contenders are an Aussie and a pair of stars from the Netherlands.  2008 Bronze medalist Cate Campbell (AUS) is very much still on the scene, Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) a 21-year old rising star who won the silver medal in the 50FR at the 2011 Worlds, Marleen Veldhuis (NED) has long been around (Olympian in 2004, 2008) and won the bronze medal in the 50FR at Worlds.

Beyond the core group of Steffen, Alshammar, Campbell, Kromowidjojo, and Veldhuis there are few sprinters that could rise up at contend although they should be considered outside the core...

Libby Trickett.. back after a brief retirement, more of a 100 freestyler, and is not even a lock to make the Aussie team in the 50FR
Amanda Weir & Dana Vollmer... the two fastest Americans in the 50FR in 2011, but there will plenty of competition in the US at their Trials to just get to the Olympics and neither can be considered a lock to even get to London

Canadian content:  I'm Canadian, I coach in Canada, have to look at the Canadian slant...  Chantal van Landeghem and Victoria Poon are both fast enough to get to London.  If both qualify they both would need great (but not unreasonable) swims to get to semis, but Finals will take a monumental effort.

For those who love the long-shots:  Yolane Kukla (AUS)... 16 year old Aussie sprint freestyle and butterfly swimmer.  She's good (16th in the world in the 50FR in 2011) but she'll need to be great to win.

Parting shot...  Dara Torres.  She'll be 45, making Alshammar look like a baby and Kromowidjojo like an embryo.  Silver in 2008.  Never say never.

... next blog... All Hail Cesar:  Men's 50FR.