Latest news with #Phelps'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Gretchen Walsh continues American record run at swimming nationals
Gretchen Walsh broke an American swimming record for the fourth time over the last five weeks, winning the 50m butterfly at the Toyota U.S. Championships on Wednesday. Walsh clocked 24.66 seconds in Indianapolis, lowering her national record of 24.93 from May 2 and qualifying for the World Championships in Singapore in July and August. Advertisement Walsh is the second-fastest woman in history globally in the event behind Swede Sarah Sjöström, who owns the world record of 24.43. The 50m butterfly makes its Olympic debut in 2028 and has been on the World Championships program since 2001. SWIMMING: Broadcast Schedule | Results Walsh is also the fastest woman in history in the 100m butterfly, having lowered her own world and American records twice on May 3. She'll swim that at nationals on Thursday (finals at 7 p.m. ET, live on Peacock). Also Wednesday, Olympic bronze medalist Luke Hobson won the men's 200m freestyle in 1:43.73 and became the second-fastest American in history behind Michael Phelps and fifth fastest ever globally. It was also the fastest time ever in a U.S. pool, dipping under Phelps' time from the 2008 Olympic Trials. Advertisement In the prelims, 16-year-old Luka Mijatovic swam the fastest 200m free ever for somebody that young (1:45.92), according to World Aquatics' database. Olympic champion David Popovici of Romania went faster at an older 16. Mijatovic, the second-youngest man at the 2024 Olympic Trials, also went faster than Phelps' national age group record for 17- and 18-year-olds. Mijatovic ended up eighth in the final. Claire Weinstein swam the world's best time in 2025 in the women's 200m free — 1:55.92 — to edge Katie Ledecky by 34 hundredths. Weinstein, eighth at the Olympics, also came in ahead of Ledecky at the 2023 nationals as the pair have gone one-two at four consecutive trials meets. Ledecky said before these nationals that she doesn't plan to swim the 200m free at worlds. She also dropped it from her schedule in 2022, 2023 and 2024, but still plans to be part of the 4x200m free relay. Advertisement Claire Curzan swam a personal best to win the 200m backstroke by 75 hundredths over American record holder Regan Smith. Curzan swept the backstrokes at the February 2024 World Championships, then missed the Paris Olympic team by seven hundredths. Jack Aikins took the men's 200m back in a personal best 1:54.25, one year after missing the Olympic team by one spot in both backstroke events. His time would have won the 2024 Olympic gold by one hundredth. Olympic champ Kate Douglass took the 200m breaststroke by one second over former University of Virginia teammate Alex Walsh (Gretchen's older sister). Katie Ledecky undefinedundefinedundefined
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
A Study Reveals the Place Where Time Moves 9% Slower for Humans
Finally, science has confirmed that time does slow way down when you're inside the gym. But it's not the boredom or the person on the next elliptical who won't stop talking on the phone. In a small study, participants completed stationary bicycle trials and then measured 30 seconds to the best of their ability. The results show that participants were about 8-9 percent faster than the real time, indicating that the clock would have appeared to move slowly to them. And besides the joke about time slowing down, this effect raises a lot of interesting research questions about what's going on. This study focuses on people's perceptions and psychological explanations, but the human body goes through a multitude of physical changes during exercise. If athletes want to improve pacing, they may need to work on a handful or more of variables. In the study, 33 participants completed a stationary bicycle course of 4000 meters. They were asked to estimate 30-second intervals at five points: before the course, after 500 meters, after 1500 meters, after 2500 meters, and then post exercise. There were three runs through the course. One was solo, like setting a time trial in Mario Kart. The second had an opponent, like the ghost you can race in those time trials. And the third was an active race, where participants were asked to try to beat the opponent. Each bicyclist was asked to rate their perceived exertion, but they weren't asked to hit specific speeds, except in the one trial with a competitive opponent. The details of the results may be surprising: 'There was no difference between exercise conditions or time points (500 m, 1500 m, and 2500 m).' That means the appearance of a competitor, and any extra effort toward beating them, didn't change the participant's perception of time; nor did the steady increase of perceived effort during the entire trial. The study is small, with just 33 participants, but the research team says a number of their method details and findings are novel, meaning without precedent in the existing research. Indeed, exercise science and athlete conditioning have both made huge leaps in sophistication in the last 20 or 30 years, creating opportunities to study and optimize entire new areas. These findings will lead to further study. This peer-reviewed paper appears in the journal Brain and Behavior. The four researchers, from both the Netherlands and England, focus on sports psychology in their discussion. After all, they hint, if having an active race against a close competitor doesn't help time feel like it's passing less slowly, athletes need something else to engage their attention in order to stay in the active zone and out of the boredom zone. Accurately pacing their progress is also key for competitive athletes, the researchers say. Elites like Michael Phelps often rely on visualization to help them rehearse their races to a point of rote muscle memory, and correct timing is key to this as well. In Phelps' career-defining races, an awkwardly timed flip turn could mean missing the world record. '[M]ore work has to be done to further unravel the role of external stimuli, exercise intensity, and duration on the perception of time during exercise,' the researchers conclude. 'All of these factors affect timing, pacing, and the successful completion of optimal outcomes across physical activities.' They suggest that newer techniques, like timed lighting, may help support athletes' goals in pacing and output. Indeed, almost anyone who's competed in a race sport has turned a corner or flipped a turn and realized they spent too much energy to bring it home. Timing is a biological and psychological challenge in the body, but learning and adjusting it is still up to the individual athlete and their coach. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
New York Times
20-02-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Michael Phelps journals to find the ‘best version' of himself. When I tried it, the results surprised me
Michael Phelps knows himself. He knows if he doesn't exercise throughout the week, he'll turn into some 'big ass ogre that no one wants to be around.' He knows Post Malone's music has recently worked best for cardio days and Eminem's for heavy lifting. He believes in structure, which is why he has his four sons place their shoes and backpacks neatly by the door. Advertisement He understands that while he hardly ever swims these days, it's still the one thing that will help him through a bad mental health spell. And he knows that peace, for him, is cooking breakfast and dinner for his wife and sons each day. There is an easy answer for why Phelps, the most decorated and accomplished Olympian of all time, knows these idiosyncrasies about himself: He writes down even the most minuscule details of his day in a journal, then reads over his entries later on, viewing it as a tool to better understand himself. 'I have to be the best version of myself and give myself that chance,' he told me. We talked about many things: his love for old school hip-hop, the scorpions that have recently been hiding around his house and how he's able to maintain a positive headspace in part because of journaling. I swam competitively for 15 years and, like most swimmers, idolized Phelps for his 23 gold medals over five Olympics. But as the years went on, something else stood out: His emotional intelligence and sense of self. To better understand where that came from, I decided to test Phelps' journaling method. The idea was simple: One notepad, one pen and one week to see what I might pick up from the best Olympian of all time. In Phelps' world of journaling, there are two rules. The first: No limits. No prompts, no planning, just riffing. Phelps established this as a first-time journaler, and it's been his style since. 'It was my way of just getting all the thoughts and feelings and emotions on paper,' he said. 'To where I wasn't really carrying them as excess weight around my life.' The second rule comes naturally if you're following the first: Document everything. How did you feel when you woke up? What was on the agenda for the day? Did an interaction make you feel weird? What did you eat for dinner? Advertisement At first, Phelps admitted his intention was simply a desire to remember. But he came to see the entries as useful in another way. 'I always want to constantly learn,' he said. 'Reliving those memories again, I'm always learning different things.' So that night, I cracked open my own journal. I put on my writing music of choice, Bon Iver and Beach House, placed my phone across the room and clicked my pen. Before this experiment, I'd call myself a loose journaler, picking it up here and there or documenting a trip I really wanted to remember. But I've never done it the way Phelps does, noting small details about a regular day. I worried I wouldn't have anything to say. But in order to journal the Phelps way, I started with little mundane details about my morning: Been feeling sick so I've been waking up way slower than usual recently. This morning I drank two cups of blueberry coffee and had yogurt with granola and raspberries. OK. Nothing groundbreaking. Was texting Lauren and Kasey today and talked about our trip to Philly in March, so excited for that. I continued to write, elaborating on why that excited me, which led me to my first surprise. Those friends are some of my best friends from college. I used to see them every day. Now we live hundreds of miles away from each other and instead of walking to each other's apartment, hanging out requires a flight or long drive. I didn't know where exactly my thoughts were coming from, but I filled up several pages on our friendship and how it has evolved. It felt like one of those magic tricks where the magician pulls a never-ending scarf out of their sleeve: More and more unexpected thoughts kept rolling out. I wrote about the group chat we have, called Hoping for Highs. To stay connected, we used to send our highs and lows of the week every Wednesday. A little tradition that I loved. It always made me feel up to date with their lives. But I realized while journaling that we hadn't done that in forever. We're just so much busier now and we are so much further away from each other and I hate it. I hate growing pains. Phelps picked up a journal for the first time in his early 20s as a last-ditch effort to avoid seeing a therapist. His mom, Debbie, raised him and his equally active two older sisters while simultaneously working as a school principal and studying as a graduate school student. He made it clear that two sentiments of his upbringing are true: His mother did 'a f——- hell of a job' raising him and his sisters, but there was no time for emotions. Advertisement 'My mom taught us to stuff it down and pretend like everything's fine,' Phelps said. 'She did the best she could in providing and pretending like everything was great on the outside, but I think for myself and my two sisters, that's why we took to journaling. Because we wanted to get this stuff out.' Phelps is now a big advocate for therapy, but the journaling stuck. He journaled on the day each of his four sons was born, jotting down every detail — what he was doing, what the trip to the hospital was like and how special each of those milestones were for him and his family. He also has countless entries of bad days. Or filler days where nothing major happened. But all of his days to him, good, bad or boring, are puzzle pieces. He first started viewing his life as a puzzle during his swimming career. There were parts of him, or rather pieces, that didn't quite fit. Some he couldn't understand. Unexpected 's—head moods' and 'hating who he was' when looking in the mirror. Each one confusing him when holding them up to the rest of the pieces of his life. When he realized he could employ the help of his journal entries, he slowly began to crack some sort of code. 'I'm like, 'Oh, I was in a s—head mood because I slept four or five hours for three days in a row,'' he told me, laughing. 'Like, hmm, no wonder you were not very nice!' By recording as many details as he can, he's able to go back and access everything when he needs it. Essentially, to Phelps, re-reading entries is piecing together the puzzle. 'I feel like when I don't do it, I'm not giving myself the best chance to be me,' he said. 'And I know that when I'm just my authentic self, it's a lot easier and a lot happier to live life.' On my second day, I turned on Leon Bridges and Fleetwood Mac. I was a little more excited than day one, knowing that I might stumble into something unexpected. Once again, I started with my morning: Still kind of feeling sick so mixed it up this morning and drank chamomile tea with milk and honey. Forgot how good tea is. Advertisement Wait a minute, I thought. Tea is really good. I love tea! Why am I not drinking tea regularly?!? I know, I know: Forgot how good tea is. Not exactly a life-altering revelation. But the simple act of writing about tea caused me to stop and think. Maybe that's what Phelps was talking about when he told me you'll discover things about yourself that can lead to routine changes. 'If you're not doing these small things that make you the best version of you,' Phelps said, 'then you're skipping, you're cheating big parts of life. You're not being your authentic self. For me, I believe we are all so special in our own ways and we're supposed to be our authentic self and if we're not doing that, then c'mon.' As the days went on, I started to really look forward to journaling each night. In a way, it became 10 to 15 minutes of my day when all I had to worry about was remembering what I did and how I felt. And no matter how much I didn't expect there to be something to expand on, there always was. One day I realized I'd spent too much time on my phone so before going to bed, I set my phone to 'do not disturb,' and I've slept better ever since. Another day I realized I had hardly drank any water, which made me stop and think. I get tons of headaches and usually write it off as allergies. But maybe, just maybe, I'm chronically dehydrated? I made an effort to drink more the rest of the week and will try to tally how many headaches I get in my journal to see if there's a trend. Small changes, but maybe I wouldn't have made them otherwise. It reminded me of something Phelps said about 'doing little things well and stacking those things on top of each other.' 'As long as I'm doing something right or something positive throughout the day,' he said, 'then I feel like I'm learning from that.' Advertisement Four days after my first journal entry, I did something I hadn't done in a while. I texted the highs and lows of my week to our group chat. While we still talk often, nothing makes me feel more connected with my friends than hearing about their recent highs and lows. A few minutes later, they texted back their lists, too. Ultimately, I'm just surprised at how many details I'm aware of now, by letting myself marinate in situations or topics longer than I ever would have. And maybe the most telling part of the experience has been reading back the entries, even a week later. It's allowed me to look deeper into how I function, forcing me to hover over the versions of myself from each day of the week. Or, in Phelps' terms, to scan each puzzle piece until I know what fits. (Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Clive Rose / Getty Images)
Reuters
15-02-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
No. 8 Texas A&M pull away late to seal win over Arkansas
February 15 - Wade Taylor IV scored 18 points and keyed a late Texas A&M surge as the eighth-ranked Aggies pulled away over the final eight minutes for a 69-61 win over Arkansas on Saturday afternoon in a Southeastern Conference clash in College Station, Texas. A&M never trailed after the 12:30 mark of the first half. The game was tied at 50-50 with just over eight minutes to play until the Aggies (20-5, 9-3 SEC) reeled off a 9-0 run culminated by a putback layup by Henry Coleman III with 5:08 remaining. A layup and then a free throw by Andersson Garcia stoked the A&M lead to a game-high 11 points with 2:45 to play. Arkansas never got closer than seven points the rest of the way as the Aggies won their fifth straight game. Zhuric Phelps added 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds for A&M while Garcia had 11 points. Karter Knox led the Razorbacks (15-10, 4-8 SEC) with 17 points while Zvonimir Ivisic added 13 and Adou Thiero had 10 points before he fouled out with 2:45 to play. Arkansas has dropped two of its past three games. The Razorbacks owned the game's initial four-plus minutes, roaring out to an 8-0 lead after Johnell Davis's 3-pointer at the 16:43 mark. Texas A&M missed its first seven shots and committed three turnovers in that opening stretch that put it behind the eight-ball early on. Phelps' jumper with 15:01 remaining in the half finally got the Aggies on the board. His 3-pointer and then a dunk and a layup from Pharrel Payne -- the latter at the 12:59 mark -- propelled A&M into a 10-9 lead. The teams traded the front through the rest of the half, with a 3-pointer by C.J. Wilcher with 25 seconds to play allowing A&M a 33-28 advantage at the break. Knox led all scorers with nine points before halftime while Phelps' seven points paced the Aggies. A&M expanded its lead to seven points twice over the first five and a half minutes of the second half, the second on a Phelps steal and dunk with 14:26 to play. Arkansas swung back, getting layups from Thiero and Davis to pull to within 46-43 with 13:21 left.
