Joel of the '17th Man blog' swims a 48.08 in the 100 'fly wearing a "Splish"

The Splish suit pictured above is pending FINA approval and obviously they have to make some mods to the arms and ankles before it gets anywhere, hence the "pending"qualifier.

Well, Joel of the 17th Man got to wear one and he swam a 48.08 in the 100 SCY butterfly in a sectional held at Buffalo Breath Aquatics Center in Utah. (I think it's a Mormon church school pool in some rural part of Utah?)




Nonetheless, I am surprised he didn't get disqualified since the suit has not received FINA approval nor has anyone heard of it.

I got an email an hour ago that a website is going live between now and the weekend with details about the suit and an announcement that they will be sponsoring Joel McKenna, not as a masters swimmer, but as a potential Olympian!

Joel said this about the suit, "...It's like wearing "leather water!" - He said the the science is there and he pointed me to this New Scientist article regarding the material:

"...This fine layer of air ensures that water never comes into contact with the polyester fabric. It can be submerged in water for two months and still remain dry to the touch, says Seeger.

In addition, the plastron layer can also reduce drag when moving from water by up to 20% according to preliminary experiments conducted by Seeger. "This could be very interesting for athletic swimwear applications," he suggests, raising the possibility of future swimsuits that never get wet..."

[Link]

'The 17th boy' or Blogger Joel during his "Wonder Years"

Above is Blogger Joel of The 17th Man!

The 17th Man spanks Jay Leno!

Blogger Joel grabs the cultural Zeitgeist around it's scrawny little neck and makes it tell him who it's daddy is! And Jay Leno too!

Jay Leno did something really stupid to one of his guests last week: Ryan Phillipe, was on his show promoting a movie that he was starring in called "Stop Loss." Phillipe plays a gay character in the movie and Leno requested that he "show his gayest look for the camera." Here is a link with more details: [Link]

Blogger Joel didn't like that and here is a post by Joel explaining Jay Leno' personal apology over the phone to him regarding his stupid patronizing joke: [Link]

I took the picture to the right of Blogger Joel as he "surveyed his realm" at the Belmont Plaza before the 200SCM Butterfly. He swam it faster than I did the 200 free - but I'm not jealous. Really. >.<

Thanks to the 17th Man and the Cannuck Swimmer

Thanks for the info regarding Guidstar. This will allow me to investigate USA Swimming's 501c form and to see how their execs will be compensated as a result of the Wasserman Media Group deal since nobody really knows.

If you want to check two blogs of two really fast masters swimmers click here, The 17th Man Canuckswimmer

'The 17th Man' Surveying his realm, and it is good!

Blogger Joel of "The 17th Man" up at the blocks at the Belmont Plaza and ready to swim the 200 fly at the SPMA Short Course Meters Championships. Blogger Joel swam the 200 fly as fast as I can swim a 200 free. Joel makes the 200 fly look like a warm-up swim. he is relaxed and very well paced. Meet results page: [Link]

The meet was hosted by The Long Beach Grunions who are the most cohesive team I have ever seen. They are friendly, organized and enthusiastic but they have a peculiar habit of teasing each other when they are up on the blocks. Nonetheless, I must say that the insults and the witty retorts made for great swim theater as well as Grunion camaraderie. :-)

Dozens of world records were broken there and Swimming World covered it too [Link]

The 17th man describes what it is like to swim a 2:12.27 in the 200 fly

In a stream of consciousness format Joel describes vividly what it is like to shave 2 seconds off your personal best with your right goggle lens filled with water and only 8 laps left to go. He accomplished this feat at the 2007 Short Course National Championships. [Link]

The 17th Man has reentered the building

I like Joel's blog because he posts aggressive swim workouts he did the night before along with his interval times. (His warm up intervals are my main set goals.) He also posts amazing photos of pools and swimmers. I lost his link when I updated Blogger to this new template but the 17th Man is in the building his site is back now in the links list so please go visit: [Link]