Bruno Fratus Makes Strong Argument for 50 Freestyle as Hardest Event; ‘You Have to Be Ice Cold’ (VIDEO)
To say Bruno Fratus knows a little something about the 50-meter freestyle would be an understatement. The 36-year-old Brazilian enjoyed a sensational career in the pool, with the one-lap dash his specialty. In addition to winning a bronze medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Fratus was a three-time medalist – two silver and a bronze – in the 50 freestyle at the World Championships.
At the recent World Championships in Singapore, Fratus had some fun chatting with World Aquatics hosts Elizabeth Beisel and John Mason. In a clip shared on World Aquatics’ YouTube channel, Fratus makes a passionate, entertaining and logical argument for the 50 freestyle as the hardest race in the sport. More difficult than the 1500 freestyle. Tougher than the 400 individual medley. More demanding than the 200 butterfly.
“People, listen to me! The 50 free is the hardest event on the whole program. Come at me on Twitter now,” Fratus said.
After Fratus made his initial comment, Mason interjected and asked the sprint legend to explain why the 50 freestyle holds that status. The Brazilian was armed with a strong response.
“There is no room for error, right?” Fratus said. “There’s no room for mistakes. There’s no turns if you have a slower reaction time. You don’t have space to make things right. You just have to be clutch 10 out of 10 times you race the 50 free. Usually, people say it’s the mile, it’s the 400 IM, the 200 fly. But if you take the physical aspect (of the 50 freestyle) and the psychological, the neurological aspect of the race, the emotional aspect of the race. I mean, if you just go behind the blocks being all emotional, being all in your head, you have to be ice cold. You have to be clutch in order to race the 50 free.”
