Hail Cesar Cielo - the greatest freestyle sprinter of all time!

In a legal, fully approved, FINA swimsuit, Cesar Cielo, will probably hold the world record title for the 50-meter free for at least another 1/2-century!

Who will dare call him a cheater for wearing a "shiny suit"?

Born in Brazil, trained in Americas; [Plural], Cielo confirmed at the Brazilian Long Course Meters Championship that he is the planet's best 50-meter free swimmer and will be for a very long time.

I am so sorry that the aforementioned statement will hurt Eamon Sullivan, Libby Trickett, Mark Schubert, and Bob Bowman's feelings but that is the way both Arena and Cesar Cielo roll.

From Swimming World:

SAO PAULO, Brazil, December 18. DURING morning finals today at the Brazil Long Course Championships, Cesar Cielo beat the world record in the men's 50 free.

After clocking a 21.02 during prelims last night to put Fred Bousquet's global standard of 20.94 from April on notice, Cielo clipped the record with a blazing fast time of 20.91. Cielo's best time heading into this meet had been a South American record of 21.08 clocked at the World Championships this summer.

Cielo returned in the men's 400 free relay with a leadoff time of 47.29 as Cielo, Andre Daudt, Fernando Da Silva and Gabriel Mangabeira won the race with a meet-record time of 3:16.30.

[Link]

It's official: Libby Trickett thinks the LZR SUCKS!

Libby Trickett did not wear the LZR despite promises to do so - She wore an X-Glide, From Swimming World:

The women's 400 free relay started with a preview to the women's 100 free final where Libby Trickett faced off against Britta Steffen. Trickett wore a high-tech suit (despite being vocal about her wanting to swim in a LZR) to not disappoint the team. 52.22 was the time clocked by Steffen, which was a lead off, new world record, and also now the fastest split in history (again, this is a lead off). Coupled with a 52.37 surprising split by Daniela Schrieber, Germany took silver ahead of the Australians and the Americans.

[Link]

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

Trickett said her coach Grant Stoelwinder convinced her not to let teammates down and wear a new generation suit, but insists she will be loyal when it comes to her individual races even if it costs her a medal.

"I am very much a loyal Speedo supporter and I am still a contracted Speedo athlete," said Trickett.

"Sometimes you have to do things you may not necessarily want to, to try and do the best job for the team that you possibly can and I was greatly encouraged to do that.

... "It was a very, very difficult decision, and I hope Speedo understands because I'm just trying to do my bit in supporting the team as best I can. ..."

[Link]

And supporting the team meant not wearing an ineffectual swimsuit!

Libby, I think you did it for yourself and not the "team." I am impressed by your coach for 'falling on his sword" and taking the blame for your decision but let's see what you wear in the individual events.

Ultimately, you wore the best suit and the LZR was not it for it ranked well below the Hydrofoil, X-Glide, Jaked 01, blueseventy, The TYR A7 and many others.

I am going to have a measured response soon regarding the new FINA rule that Speedo surrogates "gamed" into our sport and I promise my response will have nothing to do with torches and pitch forks!

The photo above comes from an the Courier Mail and the author actually writes this with a straight face:

"... IT was Libby Trickett's loyalty to her country that broke her commitment to her long-term sponsor Speedo on the opening night of the world championships in Rome. ..."

[Link]

Nicole Jeffrey use to be my favorite swim coverage writer; however, that has changed. Both her articles and Craig Lord's hourly rants regarding the "suit crisis" were simply the fine art of manufacturing consent so as to ban them. Subsequently, they literally "stunk up the place."

So, they both get the SCAQ Blog Death Penalty: I will never link to Nicole Jeffrey nor reference Craig Lord ever again till they apologize for their editorials disguised as journalism so as to promote their "Amish values" in regards to swimsuit technology.

Link regarding the Amish points of views regarding technology and family here at About.com: [Link]

Bill Lee, the North American manager for Speedo : "...These suits are gross...!"

More hot rhetoric about speedsuits but this time from Sports Illustrated rather than the Commonwealth press:

"These suits are gross!"... His outrage is now academic. Gross or not, the skinsuit is available through Mrs. Rothhammer, and competing firms have moved fast to copy it

[One Olympian] "... clipped more than five seconds off the American record in the 500-yard freestyle. "I feel the suits are not indecent as long as everybody wears them,"

[Still more rhetoric] "...The suit sticks to me, and there's a lot less drag because water doesn't get down the front." Later she conceded, "This may be more psychological than physical; I always think I'm going to win when I wear it."

In both cases the skinsuits incorporated the first major changes in competitive swim-wear design in 13 years, and swimmers wearing them are setting records with regularity.

Arena has now comes up with a new fabric that is practically see-through:

"... Arena feared that a solid color might unsettle women wearers. Indeed, the tricolor pattern makes the suit seem opaque. Arena calls its mystery fabric Elastomere and claims it is different from the other stretchy materials. Elastomere feels like silky tissue paper because it is woven with a fine elastic thread rather than knitted as the other skinsuit fabrics are. Putting on the Arena suit has been likened to "slipping into a sheer silk stocking. ..."

There there is this classic comment:

"...The U.S. girls who have worn the skinsuits are enthusiastic about them. Their comments range from "All I could feel was my kick," to "When I took my first flip-turn, I wanted to reach down and see if I still had my suit on." "It's like sliding through the water," said another. "The body is completely compressed by the suit. I felt no resistance whatsoever." "I don't feel anything at all," said [an Olympian]. "It's just like wearing nothing." ..."

Sports Illustrated: [Link]

Oh, I forgot to mention that this article was forwarded to me by Anonymous within the comments section of: "A deal is a deal" - Libby Trickett will wear the Speedo LZR at Worlds!" post I made recently.

I also forgot to mention that this Sports Illustrated article was written in 1972, more than 1/3-of-a-century ago! - The Olympian with the comments full of "awesomeness and win" is Shirley Babashoff!

I don't know what happened to Bill Lee, the North American manager for Speedo, but I do know his comments were made after Speedo was getting beat in the pool.

It's all just a little bit of history repeating itself isn't it? This time let's shift to the "Bill Lee's of our day"

[Libby Lenton before the Jaked 01, TYR Titan, blueseventy NERO]

"...MULTIPLE Olympic gold medal winner Libby Trickett believes banning the use of hi-tech bodysuits would set the sport "back a decade".

"...I read that in 1972, I think, there were 53 world records broken, and there has been 54 [long course] this year," Trickett said. "What provided that difference that year?

"...I don't think it really makes sense to ban the suits across the board, because then we would be going back over a decade ago to when we were just wearing the togs - and that, to me, would be a reversal in the sport. I don't see why we would want to go back to that time.

[Link]

[Now the change of opinion]

" I don't believe (swimsuit technology) should have gone to that level ever," Trickett said.

"I don't blame the manufacturers, they are there to make money, but FINA should have put their foot down, they shouldn't have sold out and I believe they did sell out.

"Now people are more concerned about what suit they wear than what training they have done. FINA shouldn't have put us in this position."

Speedo's poster-girl said she would willingly return to 2007 swimsuit technology, before the advent of the LZR, which opened the door to the new generation of fast suits, if it would rid the sport of the scourge of polyurethane next year.

"No-one wants to waste a year of training and get beaten by a swimsuit," she said.

[Link]

But the USA still has their very own versions of "Bill Lee" too:

[Mark Schubert before the Jaked 01, TYR Titan, blueseventy NERO]

“My advice to athletes is, ‘You have a black-and-white decision - the money or the gold medal.' And it's going to be a real test of character.

“There is no doubt the suit makes a difference and there is no doubt that there is one manufacturer that's put millions into research while the other manufacturers are more into fashion. Nobody at this level [world-class athletes] can afford to give up 2 per cent. It is not rocket science. ...” -- Mark Schubert

[Link]

[Now the change of opinion]

"It's totally out of control,'' Mark Schubert, USA swimming's national team director, told me by telephone Monday. ``Now we're into speedboat driving.''

"It would be pretty unfair if a record was set in a suit that becomes illegal and was determined to give a decisive competitive [advantage]," Schubert said. ``But the saddest thing is we no longer are able to [compare] generations. Swimming should be about the swimmer, not the suit."

[Link]

With all this said, the best part about it, and I am sure both sides of the argument can agree, swimming is being talked about and people want to see what these suits look like.

The photo above comes from the Geelong Advertiser. The article is entitled: Libby Trickett, Eamon Sullivan the fastest swimmers on earth!

Libby Tricket: "A deal is a deal" - Will wear the Speedo LZR at Worlds!

Libby Trickett tried on a "polyurethane" suit and suddenly had an anti-speedsuit epiphany; but why didn't this epiphany occur when she tried on the LZR?

Remember when the LZR came out how times dropped fantastically? Why then was it the swimmer and not the suit?

Why then was a suit not a weapon?

With Schubert, Thompson, and now Trickett who have seemingly seen a "burning bush" once their employer started getting spanked in the pool by lesser capitalized but more innovative companies, the same talking points are repeated over and over by those athletes in Speedo employ.

From Nicole Jeffrey in the Australian:

" I don't believe (swimsuit technology) should have gone to that level ever," Trickett said.

"I don't blame the manufacturers, they are there to make money, but FINA should have put their foot down, they shouldn't have sold out and I believe they did sell out.

"Now people are more concerned about what suit they wear than what training they have done. FINA shouldn't have put us in this position."

Speedo's poster-girl said she would willingly return to 2007 swimsuit technology, before the advent of the LZR, which opened the door to the new generation of fast suits, if it would rid the sport of the scourge of polyurethane next year.

"No-one wants to waste a year of training and get beaten by a swimsuit," she said.

[Link]

My take: Then wear the best suit - the suits are free for you and there are several manufacturers making polyurethane and Chloroprene suits: TYR, blueseventy, Arena, Jaked, FINIS, Rocket Science on ad infinitum.

Actually when you think about it, it's just Speedo that is not trying to make a better polyurethane suit for that is what the panels on the LZR are, they are polyurethane.

Look, this is 2009. Everything has evolved from clothes, to automobiles to sports. The polyurethane suits are as thin as Lycra, which was thinner than nylon, which was thinner than wool.

Lycra was once a weapon, poly-lycra folowed, then Teflon-coated poly-lycra, etc...etc... Would these swimmers utter the same content if they were employed by the suits they fear?

Maly sends us news that Britta Steffen set a new WR in the 100-LCM Free

I had criticized Britta Steffen's comment regarding the suit she wore at German Nationals where she stated: "this material can destroy the sport of swimming." I countered with a comment that she only swam .42 seconds off her personal best and only .03 faster than the former WR held by Libby Trickett in the event.

Her world record of early last week was a 52.85 lowering the standard to a 52.82

Maly sent us news that Britta set another WR in the 100-meter-free in a time of 52.56: split 25.30- 27.26. Hence, the suit she wore, the Arena Hydroplane, may had reduce as much as .71 seconds off her personal best time in Beijing 53.12. (Read as possible and not definitive.)

From The Straits Times [Link]

I will say that this is a significant drop!

Dawn Fraiser went form a 1:02 to a 58.9 in her swimming career

Shane Gould went from a 59.9 to a 58.5

Kornelia Ender from East Germany during the 1970's droped her WR times by more than 3-seconds and her teammates dropped another second after that but the conditions are more than just suspicious.

However, with that said, the new suits are not dropping times that significantly.

If you look at Jenny Thompson's record in 1992 where the materials for suits were lycra and polyester, her WR time was a 54.48 Now moving forward to From Inge de Bruijin to Britta Steffen in 2006 the WR dropped from 53.80 to 53.30 or a full .50 seconds in a six six years.

When the suits appear in March 08, the times drop a total of .71 - I really don't think that a .71 drop is destroying the sport of swimming when you look at the girls who are setting these records.

Libby Trickett on her new straight-armed freestyle: "It feels very powerful and very strong"

Wendy from Of(f) the Deep End blog sent us this. Trickett speaks about her straight-arm technique and her second fastest 100-free time she set at the Australian National Championship yesterday. Here is a snippet from The Australian:

"...However, at the national championships in Sydney, Trickett was feeling no strain as she surged to the second-fastest time in history, 52.99sec, just 0.11sec short of her world record.

"I am pretty pleased, it's only 0.1 of a second off my best and only the second time I have officially gone under 53 seconds," Trickett said.

[Link]

John Payne provides "opportunity and motive" as to why Libby Trickett changed her stroke

John Payne at ix3sports quotes me in his blog post about Libby Trickett's new straight-arm freestyle and as usual I start out sounding really smart till you get the typo and then I finally sound like the idiot I really am.

With this in mind, I am linking to the post, not to illustrate my typo; (which I fixed), but rather the motive behind Trickett's stroke change. John Payne has done the homework and here is a snippet about what he deduced:

"...I think Trickett’s change in stroke mechanics are a calculated move made less on “body-type and/or physical abilities” and more on taking advantage of bleeding-edge, but controversial, swimsuit technology available to swimmers today. She and her coach are betting that some of the advantages - if not all - conveyed to swimmers by the new technology will remain in place after the upcoming FINA meetings regarding swimsuit construction. ..."

[Link]

I am guessing that the crux of his argument is that speedsuits maintain momentum more efficiently and consequently you have less speed loss when taking that additional lunge needed to generate more torque. Correct me if I am wrong.

I have included a trailer to Glenn Mills, Go Swim Straight-Arm Freestyle with Olympic gold and silver medalist Scott Tucker to illustrate how the stroke is executed. Here is a link to the DVD if you are interested:

[Link]

Libby Trickett's Tattoo!

It reads Light of the World and includes a star hand drawn by her husband, Luke Trickett. Found at sunrise.seven's photostream at Flickr.com. Here is a direct link to the photo: [Link]

Libby Trickett has changed her stroke opting for a straight-arm freestyle.

Awesome photo of the master in her race, Libby swam a respectable 53.81 in the 100m free which is just shy of a second slower than her world record in the event.

I think this is a very exciting time for the sport of swimming for we are seeing swim technique "dogma" or "religious beliefs" about how a person is "suppose" to swim completely throw out the window and strokes are now evolving designed to match a particular person's body-type and/or physical abilities.

Libby [Trickett] is experimenting with her freestyle and she is liking what she is feeling. From the Sydney Morning Herald:

"... Showing a new straight-armed freestyle action, very similar to that of Sullivan and fellow training partner Andrew Lauterstein and a style rare in women's swimming, Trickett - who is currently in solid training - produced an impressive 53.81 seconds swim to comfortably win the 100-metres freestyle last night.

"It's one of the changes that 'Stolly' and I have made to my technique, and I'm really enjoying it, and so far I think it's been quite beneficial," Trickett said.

"It keeps my rhythm a lot better, it has changed my head position, as well as a bunch of other things. It feels strong and you have to be a certain type of athlete to get used to it, but so far so good and it's all been positive signs for me. I'm really happy with that swim. ..."

[Link]

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.

Libby Trickett has changed her stroke and she will debut next weekend!

I love it when a swimmer makes a declaration about tweaks or changes to their stroke for you can then compare, measure, and learn form their experimentation.

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

"Any differences? You might have to wait and see. There's been a few little changes to my starts and to my stroke and things like that, so it will be good to test those things out under a race situation. And it will be good to get a gauge of where I am at in terms of fitness and strength and endurance."

Selections trials for the Rome world titles will be held in Sydney in March, with Trickett revealing she will swim the 50 and 100 metres freestyle - the two events in which she is the world record holder - and the 50m and 100m butterfly, in which she won her individual gold medal in China.

[Link]

I love that photo above, it is so honest and exuberant.

Eamon Sullivan's coach, Grant Stoelwinder, suggest that the 'Speedo LZR' may not be the fastest suit!

Grant Stoelwinder is the head coach of the West Coast Swimming Club; his most notable accomplishment is sprinter, Eamon Sullivan. He is now working with Libby Trickett. Stoelwinder has placed himself in the "suit burner" camp and he had some very provocative things to say about speedsuits to the Sydney Morning Herald:

"....Grant Stoelwinder believed the controversial Speedo LZR Racer, the suit that ignited the record spree, shaved about 0.3 of a second off times per lap compared to previous suits - an enormous advance in sporting terms.

[...]

"I don't fool myself for one second as a coach and the trouble is as coaches some people think that swimmers are improving and you have to put it at about .3 per 50 with the Speedo suit on and I think some of them are even more. ..."

[Link]

He mentions that if speedsuits are banned, world records may be untouchable for a least a decade or so. Hence, one has to ask if that would benefit swimming in any way?

Libby Trickett: "Suit burners are Luddites"

I had a email conversation with Ahelee about how an "old boys network" will be deciding the fate of speedsuits and that we have yet to hear any female voices; Well, here's one and she actually swims too. From the Sydney Morning Herald:

"...MULTIPLE Olympic gold medal winner Libby Trickett believes banning the use of hi-tech bodysuits would set the sport "back a decade".

"...I read that in 1972, I think, there were 53 world records broken, and there has been 54 [long course] this year," Trickett said. "What provided that difference that year?

"...I don't think it really makes sense to ban the suits across the board, because then we would be going back over a decade ago to when we were just wearing the togs - and that, to me, would be a reversal in the sport. I don't see why we would want to go back to that time.

[Link]

Well that shows you, Clay Evans, Blogger Scott, and Craig Lord. ;-P

The photo of Libby Trickett came from ABC.net.

Herald Tribune: "Swimmer Libby Trickett breaks with longtime coach"

Wow! Jessicah Schipper and now Libby Trickett! I am noticing that Australian swimmers are more aggressive in demanding results from their coaches than we Americans are. Libby Trickett nearly did not make it in the 100m free Olympic final and only did so when Chinese swimmer Pang was DQed for a false start. Trickett was the world record holder too and had to swim in the gutter against Britta Steffen.

Swimmers her in the US seem to marry their coaches more so than Australians. Cullen Jones seems prone to the Australian mindset whereas, like the Australians, he has made it clear that "he is the CEO of his career" and not his coach.

From the International Herald Tribune: Trickett, 23, told a news conference she was leaving Brisbane coach Stephan Widmer to train in Sydney under Grant Stoelwinder, who coaches world sprint record holder Eamon Sullivan.

"For me to commit to four more years, I needed new challenges and new stimulus and I think that's what this will bring for me," Trickett said. ..." [Link]

From the Sydney Morning Herald: "..."She rang and said, 'It's Libby,' and it took me a few moments - I let the voice play - then I was like, 'Oh, Libby'," Stoelwinder said. "It was a huge compliment. I spoke to Eamon, he's in Geneva, he's been to Oktoberfest and now is on his way to the Canary Islands. He's really excited. I think in Beijing, Libby asked Eamon a few questions about the program, and I think he had probably had some idea Libby was maybe looking at some options after Beijing."" [Link]

Britta Steffen going all out with a nice rotation and her pull is outside her center line!

That is how it's done Dara Torres; a nice rotation and a strong catch outside your center line like we see Britta Steffen doing it, like we see Kara Lynn Joye doing it, like we see Rada Owen doing it! You can too and you are going to have to do it in Rome 2009 if you want to win. So start doing drills! :-P

Dara may be stronger but Britta beat her by way of a superior freestyle technique and the fact that she was seemingly immune to pressure. I spoke with someone close to the German team who said that she was expected to deliver for Germany despite how amazing Trickett and Torres can swim. The fans expected it, the team expected and she came through in a big way! What is best about her win is that we will see a probable rematch between the three in Rome!

Freestyle technique: Torres versus Trickett!

Dara Torres freestyle pull crosses well over her mid-line. That surprised me and it has got to hurt her shoulders. If you watched the underwater slo-mo of Trickett and Torres side by side, Trickett has less wobble and a spectacular looking stroke.

Emotional bell curve: Libby Trickett knows just how Kara Lynn Joyce felt when she was added to the US Olympic Team!

I didn't know that Libby failed to qualify till after Pang was DQed. It was one of those races where I assumed Steffen and Trickett were a "gimme." She is the world record holder, you would figure at the very least she would pull a lane 7 or lane 2 assignemnt, instead she lost and ultimately she was overwhelmed.
This same circumstance happened to her in Athens as well. Then, minutes later it was announce that Pang was DQed.

From The Australian: Trickett swam a poor 54.10sec to finish fourth in her semi, a time which left her hopes of qualiying for the final hanging by a thread.

In the next semi-final minutes later, the first five swimmers to touch the wall under Trickett's time, leaving her ninth fastest and out of the final.

But then, in what Australian head coach Alan Thompson described as "some intervention from above"..." [Link]

Libby Trickett sets a WR in the 50 LCM Freestyle

She now owns both the 50 and the 100 LCM. Australian swimming is rising to great heights post the Ian Thorpe period led by names like Stephanie Rice, Eamon Sullivan, Emily Seebohm, Libby Trickett and the great Grant Hackett. Is the USA team as strong?

As the swimmers are introduced look at their physical profiles and note how strong and slender they look. Most of the above look thinner and stronger than any model ever produced at the "Vogue" or "Elle" secret DNA laboratories but some of these swimmers' "latssimus dorsi" muscle groups shake around like a fat lady's arm. I am convinced that the new Speedo Lazr is a ultimately a corset and the panels in between the "welded seams" are not fabric but rather what appears to be semi-rigid rubber. With that in mind the TYR Aquashift should not have been banned by FINA.

This quote from the LA Times has me wondering: "...One rare complaint, however, surfaced Wednesday at the trials in Australia. Jess Schipper said that the LZR filled with water as she competed in the 200-meter butterfly final and caused her to fade down the stretch. ..." [link]

Isn't water suppose to get into your swimsuit? If it can't, then isn't that using the air between your body and the suit to promote buoyancy? I think FINA may have a mess on their hands? Why does the TYR Aquashift and it's arm bands receive no FINA approval yet a quasi rigid LZR that has semi-rigid panels and resists water from crossing the seam/panel barrier get approval? That really disturbs me. All the Aquashift had were three trip lines or strings sewned into the fabric. The Speedo LZR has a rubber that has never been seen nor is it accessible.

For a higher-rez version, click here: [Link]

Libby Lenton-Trickett set the world record today in the 100 LCM Freestyle - Here is that swim!

Note that she looks WAY UP! She does not look down at all! In fact, on the slo-mo replay her first three strokes are so powerful and she is looking up so high that her goggles are almost out of the water.

In 2008, I am seeing a free-for-all in regards to technique. There are no "rules" anymore such as always look down, do not utilize a straight arm recovery, it is all about what works for you, your body and the clock.

Higher-rez version here: [Link]