To swim three 100m strokes at near-record pace... and THEN swim a final 100m in 59 sec, MATCHING Ryan Lochte’s split for that same leg of the 400 IM (58.6)... when she is 16... and female... and swam the same race last year SEVEN seconds slower. This is an event where 4 seconds separate 1st from 8th place in most pools. Sorry. To tie the top male swimmer in the world on a split, when she is an unheralded and previously unremarkable swimmer? It defies credulity.
I have to agree with you.
Our daughter is a top tier ranked HS swim sprinter going to college on scholarship. She will swim in the NCAAs as a freshman. Her brothers before her were state champ sprinters.
But she will not take that much time off, and she will not swim faster than the top male sprinters. It’s just fact.
We have been in competitive swimming for nearly two decades .
I work as a stroke and turn judge and timer.
As parents of top tier swimmers we know what swimmers go through to prep for key events. We also know what they can and can’t do within reason.
What happened here defies natural biology of both an individual swimmer’s capabilities and gender.
While she may get away with it, I don’t think she earned it.