only a third of tris wrote:
LV is obviously a huge talent. He's still in HS and his times are unbelievable. I just think it's silly to assume he's going to walk onto the ITU circuit and end up on the Olympic team, let alone on the podium in the next 2 years.
That said, I think its unfair to discount the running ability of current triathletes, by assuming LV is going to catch and crush everybody on the run. If you look at the top ITU guys right now, Brownlee, Gomez, Don, those guys are incredible swimmers in addition to solid runners. Brownlee's never run a fast 10k on the track, but you have to imagine he's at least as fast as Don.
As for Sean, I dunno if he ever ran the 5k or 10k on the track, but that's irrelevant. You don't need to when you're competing for the title in the mile. I would guess he had more than a sub 29 in him tho.
At Xc Nats:
2003 - 43 seconds behind winner Ritz and Hall
2004 - 11 seconds behind Hall, 23 behind Solinksky and Curtis, and 1:08 behind winner Bairu on a super muddy, super tough day.
He's the real deal.
Top 20 may not sound like much, but D1 Xc Nats is arguably the most competitive race on US soil (in terms of depth).
If Sean stays healthy and spends 10hrs a week in the pool for the next 5 years, he's got a shot at the podium in 2016.
If LV or Ritz can learn to swim fast enough to make the front pack, they'll be beasts. Learning to swim that fast though is a multi-year project, which is why I said I thought he should run in college and continue to develop as an athlete. 2 hours is a long time to race.