Saturday, December 27, 2008

The 'Albatross,' otherwise known as Michael Gross, slams speedsuits

From Wikipedia: "Michael Gro[ss] is a former swimmer from Germany. A 202 cm (6 ft 7 in) athlete, he received the nickname "The Albatross" due to his especially long arms which gave him a total span of 2.13 meters... [He] won three Olympic gold medals, two in 1984 and one in 1988 in the freestyle and butterfly events, in addition to two World Championship titles in 1982, two in 1986 and one in 1991." [Link]

From dw-world.de: "...It has become a technology battle which even overshadows the doping debate. That is a wrong turn for the sport," Gross told German news agency DPA. "Swimming is risking maneuvering itself on to the sidelines."

"..."

"I am glad that we didn't have this discussion during my days. But the worst thing is that the kick is slowly gone for the swimmers as well, the motto being 'I can try whatever I want, it is the suit that wins.'"

[Link]
He said this more than a week ago and I missed it. Rats!

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