Libby Trickett and Janet Evans are none to happy with Phelps!

Libby Trickett plays moral policeman much like Janet Evans did on CNN and tears into Michael Phelps a bit which is odd since she supported Amanda Beard when Beard posed naked in Playboy. Trickett had this to say about Phelps. From AFP:

"Personally, I think he's extremely lucky and if it had fallen under anti-doping laws, the penalty could have been double and that would have cost him a spot at the worlds," Trickett told the Daily Telegraph.

"He's got to face up to the responsibilities that come with being a role model and this is simply unacceptable behaviour from someone with his stature and profile in sport.

"Hopefully, he can learn from the mistake and it's a pretty big fall from grace after what he achieved in Beijing" at the 2008 Olympics, where the American won an unprecedented eight gold medals.

"It takes some of the shine off his spectacular performances in Beijing and this behaviour simply isn't okay."

[Link]

If I could I would like to ask Libby these questions: Can a Playboy Bunny be a role model to age-group swimmers, and which is a bigger moral transgression, posing naked for a soft-porn magazine with great articles in it; (read that as Playboy), or harming yourself with illegal drugs?

Note, Amanda Beard publicized the event whereas Phelps certainly did not want it publicized.

Bloomberg: Sports marketing professionals weigh in on how Phelps can turn this around!

First and foremost he is told to STFU! and get back into the pool. (I personally would suggest a therapist or a mentor but what do I know?)

From Bloomberg:

Even though Phelps has shown poor judgment twice, he still has time to recover, said Steve Rosner, co-founder of sports marketing firm 16W in Rutherford, New Jersey. It may affect him more in the next six months. Rosner said.

“With longer-term deals, there is time to put this behind him,” he said.

Time to Recover

Rosner said Phelps can recover.

“I would advise him to do a mea culpa, and then lay low and see if it passes,” Rosner said. “The next thing to do is get him back in the pool, because that’s where his head would be straight. Then once he’s able to perform at the highest level, show the public the kid had a setback, but he’s back on track.”

In August, Spitz said Phelps was going to learn how hard it is to be the best in history.

“Let him carry the burden of responsibility of the highest of expectations for the next 20, 30, 50 years or for the rest of his life,” Spitz said in an interview. “And let me tell you, it’s a hard life.”

[Link]

I must say that I am impressed with the Mark Spitz quote. I always wondered how Janet Evans felt about being the best for nearly two decades. She was the best and remained the best longer than any other swimmer in history.

On that very subject, here is a Wikipedia link to my very favorite Twilight Zone episode starring Jack Klugman and Jonathan Winters who did an amazing 20-minute teleplay on what it means to: "...live that hard life." Ironically enough, it was titled "A Game of Pool"

[Link]

Janet Evans is writing for Yahoo Sports! - You should have told me! >.<

Janet Evans on Dara Torres and the 50 free in Beijing: "... The 50 free could be anyone’s race in Beijing. Australian Lisbeth Trickett (nee Lenton) was the first woman to break 24 seconds with a 23.97 at her country’s long-course championships in March. Dutch sprinter Marleen Veldhuis, who posted a time of 24.09 in March, could be a strong contender in this race as well. And we can’t count out veteran Therese Alshammar of Sweden, whose 2007 posting of 24.13 is the third-fastest time – behind Trickett and Veldhuis – in the history of this event.

With her performances from Omaha and the confidence she has gained in the past few days, Torres’ time from Sunday puts her squarely in the race with the three fastest women in the world – all of whom will be competing in Beijing. Although I do not consider her the favorite to win this race, we can never count out Torres and her incredible will to win, especially because this race could represent the first and only individual gold medal of her Olympic career. ..." [Link]

I love that last sentence! It's both informative and a quasi double entendre. Janet, just get back in the water! I want to see you spank, Manaudou, Ziegler and Hoff in the 1500 in London 2012.

(The girls finally get to swim the 1500 in London, right?)

Interesting Statistic: Records no guarantee of Olympic glory unless you're Janet Evans

From Australia's The Age: At the past five Olympics, more than half the swimmers who set world records in the months leading up to the Games did not win their events. Six swimmers set records before Seoul in 1988 but only one, American Janet Evans (800 metres freestyle), went on to win gold. [Link]

Michael Phelps, Julianne Moore and Anne Leibovitz recreate "The Little Mermaid"

Disney has commissioned renowned photographer Anne Leibovitz to recreate famous Disney moments into a collection of photographs called the "Disney Dream Portrait Series." Such talent as Tina Fey, Jenifer Lopez, Jessica Biel, Gisele Bundchen, Mikail Baryshinikov, Scarlett Johansson, Beyoncé, David Beckham and many, many more have been chosen to pose. In the above photo, Michael Phelps, becomes a "merman" to Julianne Moore's, Ariel

Now, here is the best part: If you look really close, who is that bald guy in the center left, and the Africican guy in the back and that really hot brunette to the left, and what about that guy doing the flip turn? Well, you are looking at : Rowdy Gaines, Cullen Jones, Janet Evans, and Brendan Hansen.

Here is a link to a hi-rez version: [Link]

Here is a link to the press release: [Link]

If you have no kick and no hope of ever getting one then this is how you want to swim

The rotation of her turnover is amazingly symmetrical and maintains momentum so well. If you look at Ziegler or Manaudou you will see a similar stroke.

'Janet Evans Total Swimming': Sixty Workouts, Stroke Technique and 12 Swim Programs!

Forgive me but I am copy/pasting this from the Swimming World store, my comments are below:

"..Improve your fitness level, achieve your swimming goals, and maximize your workouts with the help of four-time Olympic gold medalist Janet Evans!
...
A total of 60 workouts and 12 progressive programs allow you to tailor your swim sessions by distance, intensity, and goal. The gold-medal information also details proper stroke technique, advantages of various gear, concepts such as interval sets and training phases, and making each workout more productive by stretching, building core strength, warming up, and cooling down.
... "

My comments: I have always wanted to know what one her workouts were like or the angle in which she approached swimming. Nonetheless, Janet Evans is arguably the greatest swimmer ever and any knowledge she imparts will certainly add equity to the sport. I just hope that this book isn't a ghost written book with rhetoric culled from various USA Swimming resources but rather a swim training manual from her point of view. I am going to purchase this book and blog what I think about it here.

Swimming World store page [Link] or at Amazon: [Link]

It's like asking a mail-carrier if they would like to go for a walk after dinner!

Kristy Kowal was a Silver medalist in the 2000 Sydney games medaling in the 200m breaststroke. The photo to the right is what Kristy Kowal would look like with a white beard, if she were a Norse God, or a member of ZZ Top. (I love breaststroke photos, everybody looks so undignified.)

I was over at USA Swimming and they have a 20 questions article with Kristy about her life, hobbies and accomplishments post swimming retirement. (She is a land dwelling animal now.)

It seems that once a swimmer wins a medal or medals they seem to try and get as far away from a pool as possible. I am seeing this with Popov, Kowal, Evans, maybe Thorpe, and numerous other heroes. I guess after all those miles it is like asking a mail carrier if they would like to go for a or hike or a walk after they retired. [Link]

Janet Evans 400 free in the1988 Olympics - She owns the last 100 meters

Note that that she has just a 2-beat kick. Kate Ziegler uses a two-beat kick as well save for the last 100 where she just tears into it and kicks all out.

Kates Ziegler breaks water

Kate Ziegler will be both the new Laure Manadou and Grant Hackett in Beijing. I think she is unbeatable in the 1500, and the 400. I don't know what her third event is; the 800?

I found out today after asking a coach who knew Janet Evans as to how much yardage she put in. He replied 10k a workout. Then he clarified that she did doubles. That's right, 20k a day. Laure was asked to do 15 to 17 a day and she felt that was to much. (I do too.)

The "real reason" why Manaudou left for Italy

Manaudou gave an interview to an Italian newspaper. Suddeny it is not about love; (Yeah right), and now it's about workout intensity:

• "...La Stampa quoted Manaudou as saying the training sessions had become too much for her.

• "Physically I could not take Lucas' training sessions anymore. I was about to explode," the Frenchwoman told the Italian newspaper.

• Manaudou, who is the reigning Olympic champion over 400m freestyle as well as world record holder in both the 200m and 400m freestyle, would swim between 15km and 17km a day under Lucas regime. ..." [Link]
  

Swimming that far each day is the aerobic equal to running a marathon every single day? I suspect that the heart can only get so strong and then swimming becomes superfluous and produces negative attitudes. I heard that Janet Evans "only" swam 10k a day.

Article: "How to Swim With Your Body - Not With Your Arms" by Terry Laughlin

"Whoops-a daisy": edits ahead in the fifth paragraph!

I am convinced that swimming is both an art and a science and what is ironic is that I have a; er..., "sketchy" stroke and I am about to give an opinion regarding freestyle.

Over at Timed Finals there is an article on Freestyle by Terry Laughlin discussing how to swim with your core. Snippet:

• Consider this… as the core is rotating so that the right shoulder is rising, it is pulling the upper arm along with it. The upper arm is pulling the forearm and hand through the catch. It is NOT the hand that initiates the pull or the propulsion, it is the CORE. If that is the case, should not the kick be timed to assist the core rather than the hand? When the timing is right, not only does the core drive the extensions called arms… it drives the extensions called legs. ALL of the body becomes involved in the stroke if it comes from the core. [Link]
  

After reading this article and then Erik Hochstein's comment, I remembered in one of my art anatomy books; (Art Anatomy by William Rimmer 1877), there is a page where 12 different body types, all of them male, were illustrated. Each body type varied from longer torsos and curved spines to more linear figures that you would see in a ballet rather than a 100 meter dash.

Also noted is that women have proportionately longer legs than men but proportionately shorter arms. That females also have less elongated torsos because they have one less rib. [Boy is my face red. Both men and women have the save amount of ribs but the floating ribs on a woman are much smaller and placed closer together. The extension a man has is what frames the male torso.] (That floating rib that men have truly frames their core strength.) Refference: [Link]

With all that in mind, if you compare Janet Evans', Laure Manaudou's, or Kate Ziegler's, stroke to that of Grant Hackett or Ian Thorpe you will notice that there is no Glide phase in these women's strokes but rather constant motion. You will see that they swim with a windmill or kayak stroke whereas Grant or Ian use their longer arms and perhaps core strength to glide.

Subsequently I am convinced that each body type swims in a different way and that no "official technique" can be imposed but rather modified to that person's needs and abilities.

Jazz is a perfect example. Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz and John Coltrane all played the tenor sax. All played with perfect pitch but all have a different sound.

Is Janet Evans roaring like a lion or just taking a deep breath?

I wish I could ask her. I have never seen somebody do that during a start dive. The worst start-dive I ever did was at a fund raising meet at LMU. Right when I jumped off the block I wondered in mid-air if I had taken a breath before the bell went off. I got these images from the IOC website: [Link]

"I have a secret, I see slow Australians and they don't even know they are slow..."

Meet Kate Ziegler; the new Janet Evans. Sure Laure Manaudou has been swimming faster than Janet Evans did but so has Kate Ziegler.


From Wikipedia:

• Her most recent records were set at the 2006 Tom Dolan Invitational, there she broke both of Janet Evans' distance records (SCY). With her time of 15:37.17, she broke Janet Evans’ former record of 15:39.14, set on March 17, 1990 in Austin, Texas. Her time of 9:21.57 in the 1000y free shattered the previous mark of 9:24.80, which Ziegler set last year at this same meet. Her times was also a U.S. open records and the 17-18 age group records. Ziegler now owns all three of the distance records (SCY)previously held by Evans.

• In February 2005, at the FINA World Cup stop in New York, Ziegler won the 800m in 8:16.32, breaking Sippy Woodhead's 25-year-old American Record in that event, which at the time was the oldest American record on the books. (Sippy Woodhead swam with SCAQ)
  

At the American Short Course Yards Championships she clocked a 4.39:54 for a 500-yard-free and a a 1:46 flat in the 200-yard-free so this girl is doing her hydro-ballistic ballet to astonishing results. Kate is going to formidable against the Australians.