Note to Michael Phelps: I respect you more now than I ever have for you are the greatest pro-swimmer ever. You the greatest not because you lost today, but that you kept your word despite the consequences. Both your moral and ethical integrity were more important than a win and that is commendable. You will own that record once again!Mr. Paul Biedermann and Ms. Britta Steffen, thank you! You just saved the speedsuit.
From the Baltimore Sun:
Shockingly, it was Olympic swim star Michael Phelps who was left in Biedermann's powerful wake today at the World Championships at the Foro Italico sports complex. Biedermann, of Germany, not only beat Phelps in a convincing manner, but he took away Phelps' world record in the 200-meter freestyle.
Biedermann went 1 minute 42 seconds, and Phelps was second in 1:43.22. Last summer, Phelps won this race in a world-record 1:42.96 at the Olympics in Beijing and Biedermann was sixth in 1:46.
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Britta Steffen set her world in the 100 free wearing an Adidas Hydrofoil; Paul Biedermann beat our very best, Michael Phelps, wearing an Adidas as well. Dara Torres is now wearing an Adidas and now records are falling further.
Speedo will now be forced to lobby hard to get speedsuits legal again because if speedsuits are indeed outlawed, Speedo may never hold another world record for at least a generation. That's right, 30-years!
How ironic that Speedo will now be the ally of those that want the suits like myself.
18 comments:
OMG, this is getting even more dramatic.
Michael Phelps' coach has threatened to withhold the swimmer from international meets until FINA bans high-tech bodysuits.
Told of the possible delay, Phelps' coach, Bob Bowman, said FINA better "do something or they're going to lose their guy who fills these seats."
Phelps: "My coach sets my schedule."
wow drama! speedo opened the pendora box ! karma!
Amanda and Maly - this is outrageous and boy is my face red. Talk about ugly American! He just threatened FINA! - I am posting Amanda's comments to an official blog post now
(1) Bowman is certainly not going to get sportsman of the year, but while FINA looks better than FIFA, its not a well run orgnization. Bowman is correct that FINA needs to make a decision on the suits and that leaving it open until Spring 2010 is really a poor decision. That potentially wrecks the whole college season, and opens up the Spring season of international competitions for more enhanced record-breaking. January 1, 2010 is the logical break and Bowman pushing for that makes sense. If he and people like him don't push, FINA will just keep waffling while the sport is damaged.
(2) As for Speedo, I have total confidence that Speedo will be able to create a tech suit that is competitive if the rules don't change. The other real problem in all of this is the effect of leapfrogging. The German who won the 200 said that the suits he had last year at the Olympics were a joke--presumably in comparison to the LZR--and now his supplier has leapfrogged Speedo and he has a better suit. That's not going to stay the same and I'm sure that Speedo is working on their own next generation tech suit if the rules don't change.
Can Speedo bring a suit to market in time to make it both available to the public and the athletes in the next 5-months or less?
speedo is the compagny who asked fina for the delay of the new rule so i found it strange that bob is treaten to boycott. he should talk to speedo about this mess.
Speedo had too or they leave the speedsuit era in shame!
Their very own athletes wearing Arena and Jaked and a beaten Michael Phelps who chose to wear Speedo!
Speedo has to leave this era as a winner or be branded as the loser who forced the system in their favor
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Le Speedo a eu trop ou ils laissent la piscine dans la honte !
Leur possédez très des athlètes portant l'arène et le Jaked et un Michael battu Phelps qui ont choisi d'utiliser le Speedo !
Le Speedo doit partir d'un gagnant ou être stigmatisé en tant que perdant qui a forcé le système en leur faveur
Not sure if you've seen this, Biedermann supports the ban on speed suits:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/swimming/suit-worth-two-seconds-in-germans-record-swim/2009/07/27/1248546678468.html
‘‘I think the suit is problematic. I think the suits make us swim really fast and, yeah, it made me really fast. I honestly think it was worth about two seconds in this race. I really, really hope next year we can go back to the normal one, because it’s important for the sport. I think the suits destroy a little bit of the real sport. It’s not any more about technique; it’s not any more about good starts or turns; it is just, put this thing on and feel really, really fast in the water.
‘‘I really believe all the new suits should be banned.’’
With regards to the incredibly fast WRs, one solution would be to put an asterisk next to any WR set in 2008/09 and have swimmers compete against -2007 WRs.
One year ago, Speedo had the best tech suit in the market--the LZR, and the Euros were compalaining until Speedo said they could make them available. I can't think of any reason why Speedo can't reverse engineer the Jaked and get something similar on the market by next spring. I'm sure they started 6 months ago.
Another point on Bowman and Phelps--its Bowman's job to take the heat for Phelps. If something needs to be said that's in Phelp's best interset, Bowman needs to be the one to say it if its going to be controversial.
I think speedsuits are a blast and I respect both his and our opinion.
I feel we need a pro league and masters get to wear whatever they approve.
All true! He is his mouth piece so to speak. Nicely worded.
As for Speedo, let's imagine that they got a suit to market next week? What international events would occur between now and then which would allow them to restore their brand?
Amen Bill. Very well stated.
Biedermann seems like a great guy. I've been very impressed with his humility and honesty in interviews and look forward to seeing what he accomplishes in the future. But you know the sport's in trouble when the guy setting the records outright acknowledges that the suit made the difference between gold and silver.
i dont understand why MP is a saint and Trickett is a sinner for sticking with their sponsors?
even though Libby did wear a different suit for the 4x100 free relay, she did speak out about staying with Speedo before the World Champs began. then you gave her crap about it, and then later gave her crap about wearing the Arena X-Glide even though her coach is the one who suggested it! doesnt this sound similiar to what happened with the American team last year at the Olympics!
Libby's coach can tell her to wear a different suit (which would break her contract) and its HER fault. This makes her a bad person. BUT Mark Schubert can tell his athletes to wear the LZR (breaking some of the swimmers contracts) and its HIS fault. This makes the COACH a bad person. Shouldn't the blame be placed on the similar parties? The swimmers in both situations were the ones being pressured to do something they didnt want to do!
i hope this means that a company besides Speedo is finally the "bad guy" now!
something that I found funny/interesting:
"Biedermann, who is wearing the controversial high-tech suit made by the Italian company Arena, was almost apologetic after the 400 victory and admitted the suit made him much faster.
Said Biedermann: FINA allowed it, it's not my problem."
IF YOU FEEL THAT THESE SUITS SHOULD BE ILLEGAL, SHOULDNT YOU BE LISTENING TO THE LITTLE VOICE IN YOUR HEAD THAT SAYS "DONT WEAR THE SUIT?!?!"
what if FINA allowed swimmers to use medicine/growth hormones/steroids that would positively affect their performance, but ONLY if they had a medical condition (such as ian thorpe's lung infection a couple of years back)? should athletes try to "get sick" in order to use these performance enhancing drugs to positively affect their race? or should they listen to their conscience and do the right thing?..
hmmm, i wonder!
I think Bowman reacted to this loss not like a coach, but like a disappointed parent, which I guess shouldn't be unexpected. There are certain advantages and disadvantages when the coach/athlete relationship goes beyond the professional. Bowman was far too emotional.
Anyway, I was impressed by how Phelps dealt with questions about the suit and Biedermann. He wouldn't speculate about how much benefit the suit gave Biedermann and acknowledged that Biedermann was in superior shape.
Why is Libby Tricket a sinner? She was pro LZR when her team and the US had a monopoly on them but switched stances when she had to potential to lose in one and decried their use.
SHe also did not stick with Speedo.
speedo is an international business. join speedo "make waves" on itunes. most of the videos are made by the Australian and English "branches."
here is a great video of MP during the press conference after the 200 free!
you have to sign on to facebook though... and be friends with Mel Monroe Stewart. haha i cant find the video anywhere else!
maybe someone can help?
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1173335128487
when asked whether biedermann won because of the suit or the swim, MP replied "the swim"!!!
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