Phelps, Ledecky set for 4x100m relay

No, I’m talking about unexpected things like Serena Williams, in a formal news conference, being asked a question about Donald Trump. She is, it would seem, both a sprinter and a long-distance swimmer. “They are waiting to cut the head off our team if we don’t win the gold”.

Sounds like this guy might be well prepared to be the next coach of the Lakers, Savic’s expertise at treading water just a bonus for a team that, for three seasons running now, keeps sinking deeper and deeper.

This very straightforward training plan was developed by Katie Ledecky, and do not play a drinking game for every time she is called the “female Michael Phelps” over the next few weeks because you will get quite toasty.

The relay line-ups, a closely-guarded secret, do not have to be submitted until the night before the race, but it would be no surprise for the pair to be included in the 4x100m.

To be sure, Ledecky is sweet.

She also said that by being in the stands, “I felt like I made an impact, not like watching on TV”. “I’ve had a lot of fun competing for global meets and gaining more experience”. After successfully swimming the length of the pool for the first time-in a race she insisted on participating in despite an ear infection-her mother, Mary Gen Ledecky suggested they go to Panera for hot chocolate, thus establishing Ledecky’s suburban bona fides. While Ledecky will surely win a bunch of hardware in Rio, she is being denied a shot at something historic: the chance to win gold medals at every freestyle distance from 200 to 1,500 meters.

Expectations are huge for Ledecky in Rio de Janeiro. Or that at 15, she’d become Olympic champion. Ledecky has also been undefeated in competition since the 2012 Olympics.

Not that she saw it that way. “From what I’ve read and seen and watched, he’s as focused or even more focused than he was before Beijing in 2008”.

“In the 800, nobody is going to get near her; unless she breaks a leg, she’ll win”, says Clive Rushton, who has previously coached the Great Britain, New Zealand, and Greece National swimming teams, and is now Technical Director at the Glenmark Academy in Mumbai. Even without that advantage, Ledecky smashed the four-minute barrier and subsequently lowered the record to 3 minutes 58.37 seconds, one of 11 world records she has set. Ledecky’s first individual event is the 400 freestyle, scheduled for the second day of competition, so there is no conflict for the 19-year-old.

So, anything less than that here would be – that’s right – unexpected.

All this and five-time Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte still recently said, “I don’t think she’s really touched her potential in the pool yet”.

“Nobody knows what’s going to happen and that’s why we do the race”.

Ledecky, who will start college at Stanford in the fall, said she is most looking forward to the 400 freestyle simply “because it’s first”, with both preliminaries and finals on Sunday.

“Because she’s scary, man”, Gemmel said.

And with the Olympics, the only diaper you might have to change is your own.

If Ledecky swims the prelims but sits out the final, she would still receive a medal if the US final quartet finishes in the top three without her. Australia is heavily favored in the event, but the U.S.is a medal contender.

Conger, who grew up in Rockville and went to Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, will take part in the 4×200-meter freestyle relays, set for Tuesday.