From Timed Finals: Inge de Bruijn Officially Retires From Swimming

Inge de Bruijn or Inky Retires. :-( What a loss, what a career and she never tested positive. I never thought she was a dirty swimmer either but American Olympian, Amy Van Dyken, six-time gold medalist for various freestyle endeavors did.

From Swim info: “… Amy Van Dyken gracelessly evoked the question; [steroids], when she spit [a mouthful of water] into De Bruijn’s lane before the semifinals of the 50 and commented after Inky set a world record: 'If I were a man, I could swim that fast.' …” [Whoa, how crass, huh?]

Inge or Inky had no steroid bulk whatsoever and she never tested positive at any Olympics including Athens 2004 where testing was both thorough and extensive.

How ironic that it was Barry Bonds and Amy Van Dyken who testified before the grand jury in the Victor Conte/Balco steroid distribution scandal but Inky has never been summons or penalized.

From SFGate.com: “…Through Romanowski, Conte also gained access to athletes from other sports, such as six-time Olympic gold medalist Amy Van Dyken, who once described herself as “the Bill Romanowski of the swimming world,” and 1996 Olympic gold-medal-winning sprinter Chryste Gaines of San Leandro, a Stanford graduate who last year was charged by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency with a BALCO- related doping offense. …"

Check out the announcement on Timed Finals: [Link]
Check out this wiki link for a run down on Inky's accomplishments: [Link]

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.