"FINA World Cup' Berlin: Watch for these swimmers who love walls!

In Durbin, South Africa, Therese Alshammar, Stefen Nystrand and TYR's, Peter Marshall, all become "A-list actors" when it is a short-course-meters race. Their turns should be studied:

"The Usual Suspects" From Lane 9 News:

Women's 100 IM
Sweden's Therese Alshammar lowered the world record in the women's 100 IM with a time of 58.51. Her performance wiped out the record of 58.54 set by Emily Seebohm in August. [...]

Women's 50 fly
Sweden's Therese Alshammar followed the world record performance in the 100 IM with a top-seeded time of 25.68 in the sprint fly. The Netherlands' Hinkelien Schreuder grabbed second in 25.74. [...]

Men's 50 free
It took a 21 to make the finale of the men's splash-and-dash. Sweden's Stefan Nystrand captured the top seed with a time of 21.45, while Russia's Sergey Fesikov took second in 21.47. Sabir Muhammad of the U.S. placed third in 21.56, while South Africa's Roland Schoeman touched fourth in 21.70. [...]

Men's 50 back
Peter Marshall of the United States earned the top seed in the sprint back with a time of 23.92, while Brazil's Daniel Orzechowski placed second in 24.03. Russia's Stanislav Donets finished third in 24.18. [...]

[Link]

I am really looking forward to Berlin!

The photo above was taken by Mark Savage at the Mission Viejo Pool during the TYR Swim Meet of Champions last summer. His celebrity stuff can be seen at Corbis but here are some links to a couple of his sites:

Mark Savage Photography [Link]

$95 headshots [Link]

I missed posting this shot of Peter Marshall at the TYR Swim Meet of Champions!

Note how his feet are out of the water. Great streamline position too but as for shaving down for an early summer meet? That's not the way he rolls?

Mark Savage took the photo: [Link]

Newsweek: 'America's Unemployed Olympic Hero'

Newsweek has an article on Olympic champion and 4x100 superhero, Jason Lezak. From Newsweek:

It was late morning in Beijing on Aug. 11. In the waiting area before the start of the 4-by-100 freestyle relay, Lezak called a huddle with his young teammates, Cullen Jones, Garrett Weber-Gale and Michael Phelps. Lezak told them he had been a part of this relay in 2000 and had come in second. He was a part of this relay in 2004 and got bronze. The message: enough. They nodded and walked out to the pool.

Newsweek: [Link]

The article goes on to discuss monetary compensation that Lezak is asking for and while reading it the name, Evan Morgenstein, appears. He is the sports agent who refuses to do any work with TYR due to a lawsuit TYR filed against one of his clients, Eric Vendt, for switching suit brands while on the TYR payroll.

My reference is this quote from Morgenstein posted at SwimNews.com:

"...TYR Sport is no longer on our list of active apparel companies with whom we will do business with in the future." However Morgenstein's decision to speak out against their treatment of Vendt will not effect their current TYR sponsored swimmers. ..."

[Link]

According to the Newsweek article, Morgenstein's client list includes Brendan Hanson, and Aaron Peirsol, who both may also be in the same boat as Jason Lezak; that is to say: Unemployed.

It makes me think of Peter Marshall, a guy TYR sent off to Berlin, Germany, to participate in the FINA, Swimming World Cup and he consequently set three world records in the backstroke. He also came away away with $75,000. Not bad for a fast weekend: [Link]

I have to wonder if TYR had those three amazing swimmers in their stable how well would they have done if sent off to Berlin? Sure would have made one hell of IM relay.

Lezak has the talent, but does he have the talent management he needs to be employed?

Gold Medal Mel on Peter Marshall!

Mel Stewart profiles Peter Marshall, the TYR swimmer who almost quit swimming only to set three world records at the FINA World Cup: "...“Before the World Cup, I’d been out of the water for two months, surfing in Baja, visiting family and friends back in Georgia. In South Africa, my start of the World Cup, I basically got wet with a team just to get a feel for the water. That was it. While I was there, I had other goals: to see and do everything.”

Marshall went on a cageless shark dive, and then a safari for an entire week.

“In Stockholm,” he told me, “the night before competition, I went walking around the city most of the night looking for an old Viking ship. It was cold and rainy, but we were on a mission.”

He was with friends: 2008 Olympian Kara Lynn Joyce, sprint-free aficionado Kicker Vencill and many others. The way Peter described the Viking Ship hunt, it sounded like everyone was lost in the moment. Competing the next day did not seem to be a very high priority. ..." [Link]

The image comes from Yahoo UK/Eurosport where they covered Peter after setting his first WR: [Link]

Here is a fast profile on Mel Stewart: [Link]

They have that Swimming Hall of Fame museum in Florida but if they were ever to give out doctoral degrees to coaches and/or swimmers for contributions made to swimming that had never been made before, Mel would deserve one for he created an innovative way to do 'fly. Just watch the video and look at his head position.

Below is Mel Stewart defeating Michael Gross in the 200 fly. To me this victory is more significant than Michael Phelps defeating Milord Cavic for Michael Gross was the 'Michael Phelps' of his day.



And this is why I call Michael Gross the Michael Phelps of his day:

Gold Medal Mel talks up the obvious potential of a pro-circuit much like the 'FINA World Cup!'

From Gold Medal Mel.com: "...Coming off of Golden Goggles less than a week ago, I'm left with one nagging topic: US World-Class swimmers want a fall pro-circuit, one like FINA's World Cup. It was talked about a lot, or was the subtext of most conversations. It makes sense. Once an Olympics is over and swimmers face 4 long years before another big show, they wonder what they really have to look forward to...

Interestingly, I've been trading emails with Peter Marshall. Peter didn't make the 2008 US Olympic Swim Team, but this fall at the FINA WORLD CUP he broke two world records in the 50 and 100 short course meters backstroke. Later this week I'll interview him about some related subjects; pro-swimming, a US fall pro-circuit, not retiring because there's more to swimming than making the Olympic Team... Peter, who had planned to retire after this fall, may have changed his mind after his blisteringly fast backstroke swims abroad... I'm sure if Peter continues swimming, his sights will be set on the next Olympics. However, what does it mean to him, to be successful, a world record holder, a world swimming star, beyond the Olympics????..." [Link]

To pay for such a circuit, they should allow people to bet on it like they do with cycling or Keirin racing in Japan!

It you were late to the 'FINA World Cup' - 'Universal Sports' has a wrap-up and videos of each event!

To the right is Tara Kirk storming it in the breaststroke. Tara did quite well proving that she she so deserved to go to the Olympics.

Here is a snippet from Universal Sports: "... The FINA/ARENA Swimming World Cup 2008 got under way Oct. 10 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Over the next six weeks, drama in the pool unfolded in the form of world records, close finishes, renewed rivalries and comebacks.

The seven-meet series, which came to a climactic finish in Berlin on Nov. 16, provided swimming fans an opportunity to see some of their favorite athletes post-Beijing. Americans Tara Kirk, Randall Bal and Peter Marshall performed well, while international stars such as Oussama Mellouli, Christian Sprenger, Therese Alshammar and Katheryn Meaklim cemented their reputations as some of the world's top swimmers. ..." [Link]

The 'FINA Arena World Cup' featured great performances and big payouts!

This FINA Arena World Cup was a great meet and you can get a PDF of the results at Lane 9 News. [Link]

For instance: Randall Bal "leapfrogged" three of Peter Marshall's WRs in the 50scm backstroke to claim the title.

Tara Kirk really did well finishing first in both the 50scm, and the 100scm breaststroke with little training.

Kara Lynn Joyce stands out too finishing 3rd in the 50scm free and 6th in the 400scm free which is pretty impressive considering that she is a sprinter.

Then there were the WRs set by Alshammar but then eclipsed by Guehrer Marieke in the last heat of the 50scm fly.

We need more of these international races.

Peter Marshall's things to do list: Thursday: Set world record - Friday: Set world record - Saturday: Set world record!

Originally spotted in an email alert from Lane 9 News, I zipped over to Universal Sports to go see Peter Marshall's WR; It is indeed a spectacular swim and worth a look. Then I noticed that they posted it on YouTube an hour ago and with permission I am able to post it here. Here is the YouTube description: "...2008, Berlin, Germany, FINA, Swimming World Cup, American Peter Marshall smashes his five day old record in the mens 100m backstroke, by .31 seconds. With a new time of 49.63 seconds, he chasing down Cameron Van Der Burgh for the world cup...." [Link]

So, where was this guy in Beijing? From AP News: "...Marshall, an Atlanta native who starred on the Stanford swim team, set a world record in the same event in 2004 but was denied a spot on the Athens Olympic team by a mere four-hundredths of a second ...

Believing that would be his final meet, Marshall didn't train at all for the next two months. He went camping at Yosemite National Park. He visited family in Georgia. He hung out with old friends and did a little surfing.

"I didn't even touch the water unless I was on a surfboard," he said.

After the layoff, Marshall made a slight revision in the rest-of-his-life schedule. He decided to swim a handful of World Cup events in the fall before retiring. [Link]

Peter Marshall swims for TYR.