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!

Erik Hochstein: German Swimming - Under Trained and Over Analyzed?

I can't believe I am linking to Timed Finals but this article is to good to pass up. Here is a snippet: "... The German swimmers in general simply do not train enough yardage. I am not a proponent of mega-yardage training methods, but swimmers in Germany simply do not put in the time in the pool. I would estimate that there are no more than 100 swimmers in all of Germany training 18 hours or more in the pool every week. [...] Even if one believes in quality over quantity, you have to put in 9-10 workouts a week at 1.5 to 2 hours per workout. Personally, my yardage increased by about 50% when I came over to the United States (and my times got slower, but that’s another story). [Link]

Erik also discusses how he trained while swimming for the German team or when the German team was a true powerhouse with people like Michael Gross.

Where is Michael Gross these days?

West German swimmer, Michael Gross, IOC porfile.

Michael Gross swam for West Germany(FRG) all throughout the 1980's.

Gross was 6'7" in height but his wing span was 7'2". That is almost as tall as Yao Ming of the NBA who stands at 7'6". Look at this IOC You Tube video and notice how his hands practically hang over each lane line as he does his fly. Imagine sharing a lane with him while doing a fly set? If you weren't careful you would get karate chopped in the neck. ;-)

Ithe IOC website has a multimedia gallery

Michael Gross from Germany in the 100m butterfly at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad. (That one was in Seoul, Korea.) The photography at the gallery is impressive. They claim they have films but I can't get them to work. [Link]