From lane 8, Michael Andrew took everyone by surprise to grab the 50m free title in the 2023 US Open Swimming Championship. Incidentally, this event was supposed to include all the timings from other finals, including the former world champion in the event, Caeleb Dressel. In the absence of that, the final was termed unofficial. However, Michael Andrew’s latest timing came in at 21.80, lagging behind the world record clocking, 20.91. That has made Caeleb Dressel’s absence feel more. 

Still, in the event, Michael Andrew found huge competition from other lanes. So after the event, the eclectic swimmer revealed something never heard of. 

Michael Andrew’s outing in the Championship 

In the A final, Michael Andrew faced four-time World Aquatics Championship medalist, Joshua ‘Josh’ Liendo. The Canadian swimmer was paired with Santo Condorelli and Mikel Schreuders. Eventually, all of these four registered at 21.00. Michael Andrew stood tall among them with the 21.80. Eventually, USA Swimming posted the event in X  with the caption “OUTSIDE SMOKE”, mentioning the result.

In the final result, the rest of the three stood at 21.9, clinching the positions for fractions of seconds. Mikel Schreuders tried his heart out and he broke his own record to come behind Michael and Josh Liendo. Josh fell .10 short of Michael Andrew’s pitch in the event. Santo Condorelli broke his record made in the 2016 Olympics to find himself in a fourth position in the 50m free event in the US Open Swimming Championship this year. 

Vying for other “revolution”

Michael Andrew’s timing in the US Open Swimming Championship came at par with his best outing in the same event. In 2022, he took 21.41 in the World Long Course Championship to cross the same distance. However, the 24-year-old swimmer didn’t seem to be much deterred by the result. Though the results were announced unofficially. 

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Later, in the post-match interview, Michael Andrew claimed about the sprinting revolution. “some interesting stuff happening in the sprinting world. A little bit of a sprint revolution, I would say”, he said. Though, it is not clear yet what he meant by the term, “sprint revolution”. However, that might make the athletic community go for the reason. But the swimmer knows that Caeleb Dressel would pose for greater competition in the coming days for his Olympic dreams. 

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