9 questions for Natalie Coughlin over at Swimming World

This stood out the most for me:

Jason says: You also keep threatening the 100 IM record. Since this race isn't really done much, what is it about the 100 IM that you enjoy the most?

Natalie answers:

I love that race! I think they should add it to the long course format with a 10-meter buffer zone in the middle of the pool to change strokes. Wouldn't that be an exciting race to watch? What's not to like in that race? You race all four strokes and the race is super quick. I wish I could do that race every meet. [Link]

The 17th man blog brought us a new visitor

This snippet from Scott's profile is inspiring.

"...I know for someone who’s had a broken back I’ve been very lucky but in August, 2004, having not worked out for at least a couple of years and packing on several additional kilos of flab, my continued neglect finally caught up with a vengeance. My back gave out. Three months bed rest and a further six months forced to work on my stomach gave a lesson not to be forgotten. Even then months more therapy, yoga, and light exercise (and two further relapses) were necessary before I reached the point where I could start regular physical workouts. ..."

I got back into swimming after I herniated 3 disks and partially lost the use of my left leg so Scott's story really resonated with me. When I got injured, I was a train wreck and now the doctors are amazed and credit my swimming as the healing factor.

You can read the 17th man blog here: [Link]

I found a cool site for both swim rankings and world records.

It 's called Swim-Rankings-dot-net. Bookmark it! Not only does it have the latest swim news but it has a reference section to world records for both men and women. Click here to see: [Link].

I believe the site is out of the UK despite the "dot-net" domain for the swim rankings therein are just for European swimmers and the language is in English.

That gentleman to the right is Alexander Popov, world record holder in the 50 free LCM.

Why I support college swimming!

I gave $530 to the LMU pool last summer to help support their team. Soon, a brick will be dedicated at the pool with my eldest son's name carved on it. When you donate money to college swimming you are supporting programs that will elevate both swimming and the community at large in several different ways.

Three reasons why we should aggressively support college swimming:

1.) College swim teams provide outstanding pools for masters swimmers and those that want to be swimmers such as triathletes and kids.

At the time of this writing there are about 10 pools open in the city of L.A. available for club or masters swimming. (This excludes the Los Angeles Unified School District pools since they have their own schedules and priorities such as PE, water polo and school swim teams.)

L.A. has a population of nearly 4 million people and with 10 pools total to represent 400,000 citizens each, this is obviously not a big enough aquatics infrastructure to support quality club swimming. College pools, on the other hand, are more interested in both swim clubs and masters programs so more college pools means more quality pools for triathletes and clubs.

2.) College scholarship opportunities for like-minded athletes.

Cullen Jones; (pictured above), is tied with Gary Hall as my favorite sprinter. Cullen goes to North Carolina State University and is majoring in English with a minor in Psychology. Hailing out of Irvington, New Jersey, a town that has a 17.4% population which is below the poverty line, Cullen attends NCSU as a result of a swim scholarship.

It is looking pretty good that Cullen will be a member of the US Olympic Team come the 2008 Beijing Olympics and it wouldn't be a stretch to say that he may break Popov's 50 meter long course record between now and then. He would be the first American of African heritage to hold that record.

Swim teams are yet another sporting opportunity to get bright individuals into a cool university. Let's not allow these opportunities to fade.

3.) The sport itself, which includes future Olympians, master swimmers, swim clubs, triathletes and even sprint triathlons will evaporate if college teams fade away and pool construction halts. This is a variation of reason number one with the added threat of non-competing pools being converted for other real estate functions. If there are no teams, why own a pool?

What you can do? Donate to college swimming programs or withhold donations to schools that plan on dropping swim programs. Write or call the NCAA and demand that they defend all Olympic related sports especially swimming.

THE BELL SHAPE CURVE OF SCAQ SWIMMING - BY CLAY EVANS

How about a politically incorrect "bell shape curve". How good a swimmer are you? SCAQ has about 1,000 swimmers and this is a break down of where I think they fit. (* These are yard times. For meter conversions add 10% if you have lousy turns and 12% if you have good flip turns). [Hey Clay, I bet $200 to Children's hospital that Scott Hubbard and Dan Wegner could do 10 x 100s on a minute.]

10 x 100 Yards in a short course pool
0 swimmers @ 1:00
10 swimmers @ 1:05 top 10
20 swimmers @ 1:10 top 30 / 1000
40 swimmers @ 1:15 top 70 / 1000
80 swimmers @ 1:20 top 150 / 1000
100 swimmers @ 1:25 top 250 / 1000
150 swimmers @ 1:30 top 400 / 1000
150 swimmers @ 1:35
150 swimmers @ 1:40
150 swimmers @ 1:45
100 swimmers @ 1:50
80 swimmers @ 1:55
70 swimmers @ 2:00
60 swimmers @ 2:05
50 swimmers @ 2:10
40 swimmers @ 2:15
30 swimmers @ 2:20
20 swimmers @ 2:25

Many will be discouraged with these statistics. I think you should realize how good our SCAQ swimmers are. Even to swim 10 x 100 on 2 minutes is quite an accomplishment and would put you in the middle of the pack of most triathlons.

Most triathlons do not have coach potatoes. They are vigorous people intent on their health and fitness. Anyone in the 1:20s and above most likely had a competitive swim background. The reason I put this out there is to get swimmers a sense of accomplishment and to help you in goal setting. You want to keep an eye on the clock and an eye on your times for the main goal: staying in the water and enjoying a little effort at being healthy.

Now, if you want to make a jump to the next tier on the bell-curve you have several options: You can add an extra workout per work, ask your coach for stroke correction, or if you feel your technique, or the lack thereof, may be holding you back, click here to sign up for a swim clinic of your choice.