Editorial: More technical suits means a bigger, better, and a richer sport!

Editorial: Swimming is both a sport and a recreational activity. Swimming is not a religion nor a philosophy.

FINA is not the "Vatican" nor are they our "Confucius."

FINA's sole duty is to steward swimming into the future and not to keep it mired in some forgotten tar pit.

The rules of swimming can change, they are not carved-in-stone on some marble-tablet but rather written down with pencil and paper. These rules are "erasable" and "revisable" so that swimming can change and be as flexible as possible so as to adapt to the changing interests of the competitor and spectator.

If suit rules remain inflexible and revert back to the restrictions of 1975, suit manufacturers will have far fewer profit centers since how much can you charge an athlete for a pair of briefs or jammers versus the variations of the technical suit?

Subsequently, fewer profit centers mean less sponsorship money. A CEO recently told me those very words while sitting in a bar in Lusanne, Switzerland after a FINA meeting.

The oversupply of technical suit makers has made this a great year to be a swimmer.

Talented athletes like Chloe Sutton, Mary DeScenza, Peter Marshall, and best of all, Rowdy Gaines, have energized all venues of American swimming from the age groupers at the local level, the collegiate swimmers, and finally, the masters swimmers.

These deals have demonstrably made our sport bigger as well: On the SPMA.net website, our western zone is boasting over 4000 swimmers now. The biggest number it has ever seen I believe and I attribute this to Dara Torres, Technical innovation and the support form suit manufacturers who write inspiring ads and sponsor both open water events and swim meets.

Jaked, and blueseventy have now become the innovators inspiring the likes of TYR to build better suits such as the A7 and the Titan. Opportunity and a free market for ideas will make the sport bigger and better.

There is now have talk of building a pro-league because of suit interests and suit companies will probably help build it.

The photo above is of the La Brea Tar Pits, about 14-miles from my house. I got the photo from PaperMag Word up: [Link]

If only that mammoth had a speedsuit.

Flowswimming's coverage of the 2009 'USMS Master SCY Nationals' was unsurpassed!

Rowdy Gaines in Lane 6; Paul Carter is in the mix too but the whole field is outclassed by Rowdy's experience and strength. Even though Rowdy's talent was simply overwhelming, how flattering it must have been for Paul Carter and the others to be in the same heat with Rowdy Gaines.

Rowdy stays so high in the water and his pull is just as strong as his leg strength. It is an amazing combination and it was all brought to us by Floswimming.

What Floswimming really nailed with the USMS Masters SCY Nationals coverage is that they caught the spirit and the exuberance of the meet rather than just focusing on the results and records. That is something very hard to capture as a journalist and/or a filmmaker.

It's my belief that the USMS and the Local Masters Swimming Committees across the country should seriously consider handing any and all filming rights of local swim meets to Floswimming. To do so would grow Masters swimming exponentially!!

You hit it out of the park, Garrett & Company! 300 foot mark!

Breaking News: Rowdy Gaines settin' records and now sponsored by 'blueseventy'

I just got back from a sprint workout and a bit of great news from Julie in San Francisco was in my inbox. Rowdy Gaines is not only winning in a blueseventy Nero comp swimskin, he is now sponsored by 'blueseventy.'

I am going to shut up here and post what Julie forwarded me:

Seattle, WA, — May 8, 2009 — blueseventy, the world’s leading maker of wetsuits, swimskins, and other swimming accessories, is pleased to announce their sponsorship of swimming legend and triple Olympic Gold Medal winner, Rowdy Gaines.

“blueseventy has truly gone from zero to 60 in the pool swimming market in just a year,“ says Roque Santos, V.P. of swimming at blueseventy. “Today, we are very excited to be signing a man we consider to be swimming royalty. Knowing Rowdy personally and now working with him is a great honor. He truly encompasses all that is great about our sport and embodies the spirit of blueseventy.”

Back in the sport, and swimming competitively again, Gaines has broken three records in the blueseventy nero comp swimskin, including two National Masters records at the YMCA Nationals in the 50 yard freestyle and 100 yard freestyle and most recently at the USMS Masters Nationals in the 200 yard freestyle.

“I have been involved with this great sport for 35 years,” says Gaines. “It is amazing what blueseventy has brought to swimming. I am so proud to be a part of a company that thinks of the athlete first, both young and old."

Under this agreement, Gaines will serve as an ambassador for blueseventy at Masters Swimming Competitions as well at his clinics. In addition, Gaines will work as a close advisor to the blueseventy product development team on innovations in swimskins, goggles and other swim accessories.

How cool is that? If swimming continues to grow like it has, I am sure more Olympians will follow suit; [bad pun], especially since it is now possible to continue to swim post an Olympic career or NCCA participation with a sponsor.

Now, we have to go dust of Mel Stewart, Michael Gross, Mark Spitz on the men's side. Janet Evans, Shirley Babashoff, Rada Owen on the womens' and I would pay triple to swim in that meet!

SCY Masters Nationals: Rowdy Gaines, Erik Hochstein win their events!

Dan Leonard, featured above from SCY Regionals, sent this note from SCY Masters Nationals in Clovis California:

"... Many, many B-70s. Virtually everybody on SCAQ was in one. Looked really good with the black and yellow SCAQ caps.

Our age group this meet is much faster than, Austin, Texas, last year. Several 50+ went under 1:50 for 200 free. I think Rowdy Gaines won in 1:43 something.

All SCAQ swimmers did well. Erik Hochstein won the 200 free, Jenny Cook won the 200 breast. Our men's 35+ 200 fr relay won with a time of 1:27:00 - that is smokin'.

I went 7 seconds faster than last years nationals: 2:26.67 (PR) and once again placed 11th in the 200 breast ! Our age group is insane.

Saw a few suit malfunctions - one guy's suit spit right up the but crack just as he did his start on a relay - and no modesty suit!

It is very hot, but meet is going very smoothly, with two, eight-lane courses going simultaneously. ..."

You can follow the results here:

[Link]

NICE JOB SCAQ!

Rowdy Gaines states that swimmers swim faster on their side when underwater - Not True, Rowdy!

Imagine you have a square cube of water and you want to make it smaller or more compressed. To do so would take astronomical amounts of weight to complete that task. The water at the bottom of the ocean is compressed but not really that much. The water would be as thick as pancake syrup if it was easy to compress but water is not that much "thicker" at the bottom of the ocean.

With that in mind, when you are surrounded by water, you are surrounded by dense atoms that have no "secret shortcut" to swim through. When I do a flip turn I swim on my side because it's fun and I can look down the line to see where I am on the food chain of a race.

When you are swimming on your side when doing freestyle, you do go faster since both air and water are involved.

[Reference: Link]

The Europeans film swimming so much better!

NBC is not showing enough underwater work, they is no red line displayed upon the water to denote the WR pace, and the names are not superimposed or displayed within the lanes as the first three swimmers touch.

I am actually angry about it. NBC is a billion dollar organization, they have an underwater camera but they are only showing the turns. The interviews suck too. Should have let Rowdy do them.

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]

WCSN has been very good to swimming and swimmers at large

WCSN has cut a deal with FOX Sports to provide content for them through MSN. Business Wire [Link], Lane 9 News [Link]

Unlike the Wasserman Media Group that wants to tie up the video rights to such swim events as the ConocoPhillips 2007 Swim Nationals even going as far as sending out copyright notices to You Tube and Google to pull down fan videos from the stands, WCSN has been a very charitable neighbor posting swim videos as soon as 24-48 hours after a competition. This cable network along with Rowdy Gaines have done more for swimming than any for profit organization I know.

Here is a link to a about 100-million cubic feet of water and some great races swam therein. All posted by WCSN. I want this cable station; I may even get satellite dish to get it. [Link]

Rowdy Gaines has a website with a swim tips section.

Here is a link to some serious flipturn tips by Rowdy Gaines. My biggest transgression is tip number 1:

Tip #1 - Accelerate
Never slow down going into the wall. One of the big mistakes young (and old) swimmer make is, when they approach the wall, they begin to "measure" and their speed begins to decelerate. The more speed you have going into the turn the more momentum you will have coming off it. [Link]