Katie Hoff on bieng " out-touched" in Beijing against Rebecca Adlington in the 400m Free!

Look at that smile, isn't that smile full of "awesome and win?" Damn straight it is!

Let's go back to August '08 - In a dramatic moment in the 400 meter free at the Beijing Olympic Games, Rebecca Adlington out-touched Katie Hoff at the wall after coming back from a body length deficit in the last 100 meters.

SCAQ coaches and American swimmers were in a state of shock. ;_;

Clay Evans: "... Katie Hoff gave away the 400 free with horrible beginner's finish/ touch. She looped down and up touching with almost a completely flat hand like she did not want to break a nail. Meanwhile the Brit lunged forward plunging in a direct STRAIGHT line to the electronic pad making up at least one foot. It was plain as day in the under water shot. I was dumbfounded at that error. ..."

Erik Hochstein: "... This Katie Hoff finish will be replayed by American coaches for the next decade - yes, even a world-class swimmer can lose a 400 Free on a finish. This type of finish is actually more common than expected - I have seen this quite often at the elite level in the last few years.

I had no opinion at the time but I did feel perplexed after watching most Olympic swimmers avoid such basics like no breathing off the walls, don't look at another swimmer underwater, or even looking up as they glide into wall: (i.e. Milorad Cavic's "FAIL" was a bigger mistake than Hoff's.)

In this Baltimore Sun article Katie Hoff opens up on Bob Bowman coaching style and how someone like Michael Phelps is able to thrive whereas someone like Hoff was like "WTF, dude! This is a swimming pool, not Satan's bladder!" (I made that quote up, I'm serious.)

This is a "home run" as a swimmer profile: [Link]

Better than anyone else, Hoff knows how a swimmer's legacy can be shaped by fractions of a second. In the 400-meter freestyle Olympic final, she led by nearly a body length with 100 meters to go. But at the wall, Great Britain's Rebecca Adlington out-touched her by seven hundredths of a second. Had she held on, she knows it's likely her Olympic experience would have been viewed differently.

"A lot of my struggle was that [race]," Hoff said. "That is something that obviously still bothers me a little bit. But it bothers me a lot to be like, 'Could I have touched differently?' There is nothing more that I could have done. At this point it's like, OK, time to move on and keep going."

Baltimore Sun: "Hoff 'super-motivated' about leaving Baltimore!"

"Super motivated?" I love that phrase; it's very inspiring. Though she says nice things about Bob Bowman, it's my opinion she fired him due to her unusually poor showings for a swimmer of her sublime talent.

I look forward to her dominating again.

From the Baltimore Sun:

"I think it's time for a fresh start," she said. "Most people, after they're done with high school, they go off to college and they get that kind of change, but I've never really gotten that. I'm looking forward to it."

In California, Hoff will train at Fullerton Aquatics Sports Team, which this week was named by the U.S. Olympic Committee as one of two new professional and postgraduate training sites for elite-level swimmers working toward the 2012 Games.

[Link]

USA Today: Katie Hoff Opens Up!

I came away from the article thinking that Katie Hoff is overworked, overstressed, and not very happy. Not good news whatsoever. First rule of swimming: Swimming is suppose to be fun and Katie Hoff needs to have some fun!

From US Today:

After returning from Beijing, the 20-year-old Hoff made a coaching change, remaining at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club (NBAC) but choosing to train under Bob Bowman, who also is Michael Phelps' coach.

"He's someone I thought could help me take my career to the next level," Hoff says of Bowman.

Bowman changed her training regimen, adding more work in the weight room and putting her through the same brand of grueling practices he used to mold Phelps. Hoff has sought Phelps' advice on dealing with Bowman's hard-driving style.

"I'm not going to lie, there have been a lot of times where I've been going through some rough moments, days, weeks," Hoff says. "(Phelps) has been good, because he knows Bob really well and he's done this training for years so he knows the ins and outs of everything."

[Link]

Katie, go watch a TV show and relax. In fact go marathon a season's worth of America's Next Top Model on some lazy Sunday and skip your workouts for that day.

Don't go near a pool till your well and you can't wait to get back in.

In fact, It's summer so go fall in love for a couple of months and get some time away from your several "to-do lists."

Then when you are all comfy an relaxed, go call a professional like Natalie Coughlin or Libby Trickett and asked them what they think? Both of these ladies have made tough career decisions when they were on the ropes and it changed them for the better.

Katie Hoff: Get a new coach, PLEASE!

This sent in from a reader I have nicknamed "Rain Man;" (which is meant as a compliment and not a slur), since he can call out any time swam in the 1970's swam by a nationally ranked swimmer.

Here is what he had to say about Katie Hoff:

"...Tony - Her time yesterday at Nationals in the 400 free would have won her the gold in the '72 Olympics but not in '76. She was also wearing a speed suit. I wonder what her time would have been yesterday had she been wearing a Speedo from 1976? ..."

[...]

Something is wrong. She is way to talented to be swimming like this. Something is not working, workouts need to adjusted , I want to see her setting records again.

I got the photo and I am following coverage of Nationals through both Universal Sports and Swimming World. Here is a link to the photo gallery where I got the shot of Katie Hoff.

Universal Sports Nationals Day 1 Gallery: [Link]

Katie Hoff: The SCAQ Blog is worried about your swimming!

To be blunt, you use to dominate the field but now this is no longer happening. You have to take immediate action because talent like yours does not evaporate at such a young age.

[... deleted ...]

Memo to Katie Hoff:

1. Takes two weeks off and rest!
   
2. Go to the doctor and get a blood panel and get any necessary tests done on any specific painful areas!
   
3. If you morale is abnormally low or you feel a bit of irrational angst or upset - go see someone!
4. Evaluate your coaching by the way of the pace clock. Are you getting better, worse, or staying the same? All those intervals and set times are logged. go look at them.
   
5. If any of the above reads, "FAIL", consider Australia since they have a track record when it comes to coaching women.
6. Finally, send an anonymous note to the SCAQ Blog informing us of your plans
   

It is so painful to this blogger to see someone as talented as Katie Hoff, bog, bonk and DNA in the standings. (Did not advance)

CRITICISM! Open Memo to Katie Hoff and Ryan Lochte!

As Cullen Jones would say, both of you are the CEOs of your careers and your "sales are down," review your coaching situation immediately.

Katie Hoff - you are swimming 1976 times in the 200 free. Sippy Woodhead, circa 1979, would have kicked your butt in her low-tech, Lycra suit.

Though you have access to better nutrition, immunizations her generation/mine never had, better starting blocks, deeper pool depths, dolphin kicks off the wall, and you are swimming in a swimsuit made by NASA's finest mad scientists, you are failing in taking the 200-free to the next level. The USA has not owned a record in that event for the past 30-years. Fix it.

Dagny Knutson is swimming 1979 times and Sippy can beat her too. One could ask what Dagny is doing differently to beat you but what one should really ask is what are the Europeans doing differently since they can "own" you both in an off-meet?

Laure Manadou knows how to swim a 200 Free and obviously so does Federica Pellegrini. They apparently sprint it like it's a quarter-mile, horse race. Laure Manaudou taught the Europeans how to do it why can't American swimmers learn how?

Here is an idea: You don't go out in a 58.00! You pretend your Libby Trickett, or Britta Steffen, and you go out in 55.00 and then when you are coming back and you can't hold on, you do what the Europeans do! You hold on!

Consider going to Italy or France and asking for help. Perhaps French Coach Philippe Lucas is available? Just do something, Australia has a nice ring to it too.

Ryan Lochte: It "smells" like you are over training. (Garbage yardage has an odor, right?) You changed something and it is not working. I would collect all of your times in both workouts and races and evaluate what you were doing when things were going great and discard those practices that are screwing with your "bonus money."

You are very charismatic and you could be the breakout swimmer like Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods, or Johnny Weismuller are to their respective sports. Note, like a 50-meter free, it only takes one mistake to blow a medal.

Don't get married to a bad decision. The three aforementioned athletes certainly changed when they had to. You coach is your employee not your employer.

Special thanks to Mark Savage on this post.

The photo of Federica Pellegrini comes from Zimbio.com and they have another photo of her which they call Female Physique of the Day. :-O [Link]

Times Online: "Strokes of genius that changed the world for Rebecca Adlington"

The Times Online has a great overview regarding Rebecca Adlington's training for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Shades of Michael Phelps here: Technology and a plan allowed Adlington to reverse split in the 400-meter free earning herself a solid gold medal in Beijing by 700-of-a-second:

"...To swim faster, most swimmers increase the stroke rate, but with the aquapacer, Miley took Adlington through a session where they slowed her stroke rate down and found she was able to maintain the same high speed. In other words, the length of her stroke was her asset. “Rebecca is one of the rare swimmers where this is the case,” Miley said. “She was moving with such efficiency, it may have felt like she was swimming downhill....”

Adlington also worked on the finer points of her swim such as her turns. I like the innovative way they addressed filming them:

"... Once back in the pool, Adlington was able to fine-tune the weaker part of her game: her tumble turn. This involved linking up again with Jodi Cossor, the biomechanist at British Swimming, who, over the course of the previous year, had worked with her in the pool at Loughborough, videoing her turns from above and below. ..."

Then there was her finish, the one side-by-side with Katie Hoff. The one where I quoted Clay Evans angrily saying this about Katie Hoff: "it looked like she didn't want to break a nail. ..."

"... The finish itself was programmed into Adlington, too. “Rebecca knows exactly how many strokes per length so she is coached to finish at the end of a stroke,” Furniss said. “It's been drilled into her. And that is what she did.”

Hoff, however, finished with her arm not straight, her wrist cocked and her hand flat. No one can be sure how much time that final error cost her but for that last five metres took Adlington 2.69sec, Hoff 2.89. ..."

The photo comes from RobH3's photostream at Flickr.com.

Here is a direct link to the photo: [Link]

Katie Hoff changes coaches - Will train with Bob Bowman!

Mike Freshley told me at the Santa Clarita Masters Meet a couple of weeks ago that, "you learn how to win when you lose!"

Katie Hoff is switching coaches. From the Washington Post:

Swimmer Katie Hoff has changed coaches after a disappointing Olympics in which the six-time world champion failed to win a gold medal in a half dozen events.

Hoff is working with Michael Phelps's coach, Bob Bowman, who has returned to her North Baltimore Aquatic Club after four years at the University of Michigan. Hoff trained with Paul Yetter since before she qualified for the 2004 Olympics as a 15-year-old.

[Link]

"We Spartans are descended from Hercules himself!" :-P

The "dark arts" of touching the wall by the from the Wall Street Journal: "... Mr. Lezak also demonstrated the importance of an invisible and little-known skill: touching the wall. ...

"C'mon, Katie, get to it!" shouted Mr. [Lenny] Krayzelburg, standing and pumping his fist as Ms. Hoff bore down on the wall. When she touched it, Mr. Krayzelburg shouted, "Yeah!"..."

But her touch fell seven one-hundredths of a second short of that of the U.K.'s Rebecca Adlington. Underwater replays determined that Ms. Hoff touched the wall with her wrist bent, rather than extended. "That's the difference between winning a gold medal and not winning it," said Mr. Krayzelburg, shaking his head.

"It was hard to know at first if I was first or second," said Ms. Hoff after the race.

Swim races are decided when a finisher touches an electronically sensored wall -- an action that is nearly impossible for observers to see amid furiously splashing water. For fans, that can be akin to watching a night baseball game for eight innings, only to have the lights go dim for the ninth.

Mark Schubert, head coach of the U.S. Olympic swim team, instructs his swimmers to time their final strokes in much the way that long jumpers time their final strides before leaping. Swimmers should spot the wall about five or six strokes away and adjust accordingly, he says.

"The last stroke should be full and strong with the fingers extended," says Mr. Schubert. ..." [Link]

I thought Katie Hoff and Kate Ziegler were going to be unstoppable!

Well, that shows me! Though Hoff's bronze and silver are impressive; (despite that "don't break a nail" touch at the wall" in the 400m), both swam about 1.5% slower than their personal bests in the 800, an event I thought they both would own. What happened?

From the L.A. Times: "...Katie Hoff, and Kate Ziegler to a lesser extent, found out the long hard way on Thursday night, both failing to qualify for the final of the 800-meter freestyle. Hoff looked utterly spent in her final race at the Olympics, wearily pulling herself out of the pool after the third heat of the event at the Water Cube.

Hoff may not have been last to touch -- having been third in her heat -- but she was last to clamber out after a startling 8-minute, 27.78-second performance. Her winning time at the U.S. Olympic trials a little more than a month ago in Omaha was 8:20.81. ..."

I question her motives and her perception of taste!

Amanda Beard poses nude again just in time to grab all the attention away from Katie Hoff, Kate Ziegler, Natalie Coughlin, Dara Torres, Kara Lyn Joyce, etc. etc. etc. and become the de facto showgirl for women's swimming.

The Powerade nudity I posted earlier rules for it's all about celebrating the human body in motion. This PSA for PETA has Amanda Beard posing sexy and nude and though it is an anti-fur ad, it apparently is all about Amanda Beard, her nationality and her sexuality.

I was just starting to like her again too. She worked incredibly hard to make the Olympic team which illustrated an incredible work ethic when you compare her times from a year ago. She did a PSA for shark protection awareness and now this silly PSA for a political organization with a spotty record of their own in regards to animals rights abuse. PETA has even been known to use physical intimidation and battery against those that wear or write about fur. [Link] -- (Though this linked site is hyperbolic, it links to source references.)

Another pop-culture, attention-grab by the "Paris Hilton" of Swimming. If you want to read her; what I believe to be a faked quote regarding fur, it's here in the L.A. Times: [Link]

Fantastic Olympic Trials Photo-Gallery at Boston.com!

That's Katie Hoff and I am loving that "manta ray" shape she is making with her body. Michael Phelps, Lochte Jensen and others are featured brillantly: [Link]

Michael Phelps swims without his new 'Speedo Lazr' at the 'Missouri Grand Prix'

Michael Phelps swims a 1:55.26 in the 200 fly at the Missouri Grand Prix sans a Speedo Lazr. I wonder if the other swimmers like Dara Torres, Katie Hoff, Kate Ziegler swam without the Lazr as well. You would think that they would have worn one since Speedo has been showboating it all over creation.

Here is a Baltimore Sun article about the Michael Phelps and the Missouri Grand Prix: [Link]

Phelps, Crocker, and Hoff will be paid to learn Chinese for the 2008 Olympics!

Michael Phelps, Ian Crocker, and Katie Hoff will be learning Mandarin for the Beijing Olympics. Each athlete will be sponsored by Rosetta Stone, and be provided the language tools from their product line to do so. I was told that this was the first Chinese phrase they learned: 显示我金钱 or, "show me the money," was the first sentence they were able to read and write! ;-) [Link]

The actual Rosetta Stone from the British Museum is pictured to the right. Here is some info regarding the Rosetta Stone: [Link]

To lighten things up here is Katie Hoff setting an American record in the 200 IM

Sometimes I wonder if she is a land dwelling animal. ;-)

Since March, Kate Zeigler, has been the most searched for swimmer on this blog with 1,863 searches but globally it's all about Amanda Beard!

The next swimmer is Amanda Beard followed by Katie Hoff. I then went to Google Trends to see who are the most searched for swimmers globally in 2007 and there were some surprises. Ian Thorpe is more popular than Michael Phelps searches but Amanda Beard is the top search of all with Laure Manaudou a possible second. Laure and Amanda do not make 30-million-a-year like Michael Phelps is rumored to make.

This surprises me greatly. It means that female swimmers are in more demand than their male counterparts but yet the male swimmers seemingly have the biggest contracts. Madison Avenue is usually is quite amoral about the sexes preferring to go with the "unit" that has the most "constituents." In this case it appears to be female swimmers yet Amanda Beard does not make nearly as much as Michael Phelps and Laure Manadou probably makes only 10% of what Phelps makes.

Amanda Beard and Laure Manaudou are being poorly represented in the marketplace. I recommend that they switch to more Hollywood driven representation. These girls should should be selling perfume and high end clothing rather than Red Bull for Beard and Lancel hand bags if you're Manaudou. But what do I know? I was told I was "F-ing clueless" by an Amanda Beard fan with a USC ip address. [Link]

P.S. Come to think of it, when it comes to swimming, I'm told I'm "F-ing clueless" a lot!" 0_o

Katie Hoff swims and wins the 1500

Loving those "antenna ears" in that picture! Anyway, I don't think I have ever seen or heard of Katie Hoff swimming the metric mile but on Monday night at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club Long Course Championships she swam a sizzling 16:18.43. What does that work out to be; a 1:05.50 per 100? (I did the math in my head so beware.) She swam the 200, and the 400 as well. [Link]

'Swim Room' has entered the building. Go say hello!

Swim Room has entered the building. Swim Room is a swimmers' version of My Space. It has forums, blogs, videos, Podcasts, classifieds and I forget what else so you have to go there and see. [Link]

Here is a link to some video interviews of Ian Crocker, Michael Phelps, Megan Jenrick. local boy Lenny Krayzelberg, Ryan Lochte, Katie Hoff et al. Enough superheros to fill a comic-book. [Link]

I am including a link to Swim Room in the links section to the right.

SWIM NEWS, TIMED FINALS very generous with their rhetoric towards Amanda's comeback.

At the Speedo Grand Challenge, Olympian Amanda Beard managed a third. I consider this a flop!

Amanda's best finish thus far was a third in the 200m IM; (2:20.16), behind Elaine Breeden (2:18.75) and Julia Smit (2:15.01). The American record was set at Nationals last Summer; (2.10.05), set by Katie Hoff.

In her signature event, the 200m breaststroke, she scratched in the final. Amanda's prelim time was a 2:34.03 versus the winning time of 2:27.66 clocked by Keri Hehn.

She flopped and I am not convinced that she has enough time to swim well at Olympic trials next year. This is what you get for placing business before your craft. The above screenshot is Amanda Beard hawking Red Bull; (of all products for an athlete to promote), at the official Red Bull site: [Link]

However if you read the swim press such as Timed Finals you would think she was still in the game:

Last night Amanda Beard made her first return to competition since 2004 and seems to be a bit rusty…but still solid. ..." [Link]

Swim News called it the "Comeback of the month." (Perhaps there is something lost in translation.) [Link]

Google Trends: Amanda Beard is as big or bigger than Michael Phelps in some cities and regions

Google has a tool called Google Trends and you can compare one trend; (or trends), against the other or others just by typing two or three trends together and separating them with a comma. Such as this trend search: "Britney Spears, Paris Hilton".

Google Trends will tell you who is being search for the most and then provide a comparison graph for different regions, cities and languages.

In our imaginary search of Britney and Paris, Britney is huge in Latin America whereas Paris is big in Los Angeles. (Who knew!?!)

Next, I did a trend-search comparing Amanda Beard to other notable female swimmers such as Natalie Coughlin, Kate Ziegler and Katie Hoff and on a lark I threw in Michael Phelps in the mix for an extreme trend result.

I did this trend-search to see if it would validate my premise that Amanda Beard's decision to pose nude in Playboy will put media attention upon Beard's naked breasts or lack thereof instead of the accomplishments of the US women's team.

Though the trends favor Michael Phelps, Beard is searched for more than Phelps in countries like Australia, Spain, and Italy, and even in cities like Tucson, and Indianapolis. The only other swimmer that registers is Natalie Coughlin and she is barely a blip. It is a de facto shame because Natalie has proven to be a better swimmer this past year.

Upon viewing these stats, I now wonder if Beard's soft porn stunt will hurt both the brand equity or even the integrity of the US women's team since Beard will be the focal point rather than the women's team accomplishments. Obviously Beard disagrees or does not care.

The trend graph can be seen here: [Link]