Alshammar's 50m Butterfly WR Has Been Rejected!

Therese Alshammar was wearing a Jaked swimsuit, a European brand which uses a fabric that appears to be chloroprene in nature. The suit has few seams, an indented cut in the chest area and could provide modesty issues for swimmers.

From The Australian:

Alshammar immediately submitted an appeal against her disqualification. But after discussing the rules with referee Janelle Barnett, Alshammar elected to withdraw her appeal.

Alshammar told The Australian she had misunderstood the local swimsuit rules: "I'm still happy with the swim - it's just a technicality in my eyes.

"I have obviously not understood the rules of the Australian championships. I was wearing a unisex suit which does not cover my chest completely so I need to wear an old cut-down suit underneath. I thought it was a modesty suit. It's just so I don't fall out the side, to feel more comfortable."

[Link]

'Swimming Australia' sounds like a bunch of grumpy old men!

Every sport has adopted technology to make the experience more enjoyable: Runners got "plushy" running shoes, cyclists got faster bikes, American football players got better helmets, and baseball players got bigger gloves

From the Australian:

" ...[Swimming Australia president David] ...Urquhart, who met FINA executive director Cornel Marculescu in Singapore two weeks ago, said he expected FINA to act to curb the worst excesses of suit development.

He believes FINA should outlaw multiple suits and suits that are fastened with zippers, because they allow the suits to be tight enough to gain unnatural support through the core. ..."

[Link]

Guys like Urquhart remind me of old men wearing white suits and straw hats while playing bocce ball or Tennis in the1920s. Swimming is a game not a religion, it moves forward, it evolves and gets better.

I think Swimming Australia should listen to the swimmers and the public at large: we want speedsuits. They are fun, fast and modest.

This creative commons photo "CC" was found at km6xo photostream at Flickr.com

Stefan Nystrand: "...46 seconds in an Olympic pool is coming fast."

Nicole Jeffrey has an article in The Australian about sprinter Stefan Nystrand and his thoughts about the upcoming FINA World Cup meet this weekend in Sydney, Australia.

Here is a snippet: "...The world short-course record-holder, who arrived in Sydney yesterday to contest next weekend's World Cup meet, predicted that every leading sprinter would be eyeing off the 47-second barrier after Australia's Eamon Sullivan clocked a sensational 47.05sec in an Olympic semi-final in Beijing.

"It's very close (to 47 seconds) already," Nystrand said.

"Men's freestyle sprinting is going down a lot now and it wouldn't surprise me if it kept going down, but you have to swim and accept the fact that times go down and go with the flow. ..." [Link]

This time last year Nystrand was king of the hill, the only man to clock a sub-48 second time (47.91sec) in 2007. The Swede also set an outstanding short-course world record of 45.83sec. ..."

(See You Tube above of Nystrand swimming a 45.83 100SCM.)

You can watch him swim for free by going to the Universal Sports website. Click the banner below to see it.

Longevity and quality issues with the 'Speedo LZR' documented in the press!

These five instances of 'wardrobe malfunctions' are what I culled from numerous articles about the LZR. Note each suit failure is in regards to quality, longevity, and fragility. In the photo on the left, the LZR material looks so thin that you can almost see Michael Phelps chest hairs through it when enough light is present. Also note that the failures below are the ones we are hearing about. I wonder how many we haven't heard:

Nicole Jeffrey of The Australin, quotes Leisel Jones regarding her Speedo LZR taking in water during a 200m breaststroke event at a short course meet in Canberra, Australia: "...They stretch after about three wears," she said. "I really wanted to swim fast and I prepared well. I felt quite good but the suit filling with water didn't help me much. It makes you pretty fatigued, dragging the water along."I was happy that I swam only a second off my best. And I've only had three weeks of training (since the Olympic trials) so fitness is an issue." [Link]

NPR Day to Day: Brent Rutemiller confirms that the Speedo LZR will only last a handful of races. His exact quote: "The suit itself only lasts for 6 to 12 wears. Michael Phelps could theoretically go through 3 or 4 swim suits at 500 a pop at the Olympics. ..." Here is a link to an audio of that NPR, Day to Day interview: [Link]

Amy Shipley of the Washington Post: "... Three times since the suit was released this year, the drawstring in the waistband has ripped, according to Phelps's coach Bob Bowman

The most inconvenient tear occurred Friday, throwing Phelps's pre-race preparation into arrears. Moments before filing out for his race, he was sprinting across the complex to the Speedo tent to get a new suit -- but not the LZR. He wanted nothing further to do with fragile drawstrings. (He grabbed an older model FS-Pro instead.)

"It was very upsetting to him," said Jon Urbanchek, the assistant coach at the University of Michigan's Team Wolverine, where Phelps trains. "He will have to learn to control that. It was a good learning experience. He will have to have a Plan B, Plan C . . . What if it happens at the Olympics?"

Said Bowman: "By the time he got [back with the new suit], he was absolutely fuming. At that point, I knew the swim was somewhat compromised. ..." [Link]

From the Daily Telegraph: "... [Eamon] Sullivan's girlfriend Stephanie Rice, meanwhile, learned a valuable lesson when the 200 and 400m individual medley world record holder suffered a costume malfunction in the change rooms before the start of the 100m butterfly heats. ...

Things didn't go so smoothly for Rice, who split her Speedo LZR suit and did not have a spare suit in her kit bag. The 19-year-old had to resort to her Speedo nylon suit and missed the final with a time of 1:01.47 to place fourth, having to settle for a swim in the night's B final. ..." [Link]

From Hansen Sports Media: "MONTE CARLO, June 8, 2008: Twenty-four hours after Stephanie Rice’s suit mishap in Rome, prospective Olympic breaststroke medalist Tarnee White suffered a similar fate in the opening Mare Nostrum Swim Meet in Monaco today – before joining Australia's latest list of international record breakers.

World ranked number two White, showed all the composure that makes her a seasoned veteran, to overcome a suit malfunction of her own before claiming gold and a meet record on the first of the two days of the Monaco meet.

White’s zipper split apart just before the start of the 50 metres breaststroke heats, a day after Rice split her Speedo LZR suit before the heats of the 100m butterfly. [Link]

Photo comes from the "I love Sports" blog: [Link]

Longevity issues with the Speedo LZR?

Nicole Jeffrey of The Australin, quotes Leisel Jones regarding her Speedo LZR taking in water during a 200m breaststroke event at a short course meet in Canberra, Australia: "...They stretch after about three wears," she said. "I really wanted to swim fast and I prepared well. I felt quite good but the suit filling with water didn't help me much. It makes you pretty fatigued, dragging the water along."I was happy that I swam only a second off my best. And I've only had three weeks of training (since the Olympic trials) so fitness is an issue." [Link]

I wonder if breaststroke is more demanding on the Speedo LZRs than a more linear stroke such as backstroke or freestyle?

Nick D'Arcy off the Australian Olympic Team!

From TheWest.Com.AU: "... Controversial swimmer Nick D'Arcy has been thrown off the Australian team for the Beijing Games for bringing his sport into disrepute. ...

D'Arcy is facing charges of assault and assault occasioning grievous bodily harm for his alleged attack on Cowley, who suffered a broken jaw, broken nose, fractured eye socket, crushed cheekbone and fractured palate from just one punch. ..."

One punch? One single Punch? He must have a pretty big hand. [Link]

This article from The Australian states that 20 screws and some plates were drilled into Cowley's face to repair it. Yeah, it was more than one punch. [Link]

Link to a video of the announcement: [Link]

Thanks go out to Wendy for all the time and effort she put in to sending me these links!