When recapping Michael Andrew's short course National Age Group Record on Sunday, we commented that it had been about a month since he had made a new entry in the record books.
As it turns out, that's not entirely true. We just didn't scroll down far enough.
That's because two weeks ago, at a meet in Cary, North Carolina, Andrew broke two long course National Age Group Records.
His time of 25.50 in the 50 free snuck just .01 under the mark of Gregory Pelton of North Baltimore (older brother of Liz) from back in 2003. He also put up a 27.26 to take down Justin Lynch's 2009 50 fly record that was previously 27.36.
Andrew doesn't train on a typical “peak and taper” training cycle, which is what has allowed him to get a run at some long course records at these in-season meets. In part, his size (he's already over 6 feet tall) has allowed him to tear up the short course record books, but in part it's also his age – he ages up in late spring, which is perfect timing for the short course season, but bad timing for long course.
Also of note, this past weekend Michael reportedly was experimenting with side-breathing butterfly after inspiration from “Gold Medal Mel” Stewart. The initial results were an addition of time.