This is "Tin Medal Tony's" Swimmer's Network!

And my medal is tinted with a real bronze color too! Watch out Gold Medal Mel!

Below are 19 links to extraordinary swim sites. These are the pages I have bookmarked and read often. There are a couple of sites that I am on the fence about; (Swim Network is one for I am waiting for them to develop a track record before I commit), and there are a bunch of sites I missed since I am tired tonight after competing at SPMA Regionals and I need to recharge for tomorrow. I will get to you! Also, I have race video of SPMA Regionals that I will post soon.

Swim.Net - A landing page for Southern California Aquatics or SCAQ. The largest Swim club in America. It's the club I swim with and a club that has Olympians; plural, and national champions for coaches.

Go Swim - Glenn Mills has made a virtual online swim school. Since most people learn a sport with their bodies rather than the written word, his swim videos are an amazing asset in regards to intellectually learning the art of swimming.

Omega Timing - Results captured and archived really fast. This is the site that those who cover races go to so as to report any results.

FINA - The governing body for all things aquatic. I like the new redesign of their site but I wish they would finish it. Their masters page is lacking but they do keep it current with aquatics related news.

Flowswimming - Delicious and informative; original and groundbreaking. See workouts, interviews and raw workout footage; totally yummy! Mark Savage would call it, "swim porn."

Timed Prelims - Started out as an edgy satire site but has grown into a great site for interviews. They are also very charitable to their local swim community. (I wish they would do another home page redesign for reversed out type on a blue background is hard to read. Still a great site though.)

Merritr - Merrit is quite accomplished as a swimmer, an automotive engineer, and a contributor to She can discussed with ease all about the dark arts of fluid dynamics, passive drag and drag coefficient models and how it relates to a swim suit.

Here is a Google map she made with every freaking kick buck pool on the West Side and surrounding LA area. (She skipped the Valley but that is okay!) Yes, she rules; so go be blown away about our selection of pools. Especially those in the UK! [Link]

Swimming World - You all know why this site is not only an asset but a daily read. I use their swim calculator at least once a week as well. [Link]

WCSN - this site has been very good to us. They let me post their content and all they ask in exchange is that I include a link. Note, they continually post videos to You Tube they have provided more swim content than any other website or media outlet I know off. Check out their innovative website.

Swim Room A swim site dedicated to elite swimmers which leans more towards personality profiles than race content. The site is full of photos, high quality video and wonderfully innocent blogs. On occasion they have linked to me and I am very flattered by that.

Just Add Water - San Francisco swimmers do not fear cold water and it astonishes me. Great info there regarding swimming in the San Francisco Bay. (I wish it was updated more though.)

The 17th Man - Joel Swims in West L.A. and blogs about his workouts and observations therein. If you want to get inside a swimmers head and read what it is like to to live and swim in West L.A., this is the blog.

Canuckswimmer - Scott was one of the first people to leave a comment at my blog. He is the Canuck swimmer and when he has an controversial opinion, it goes global. One subject he wrote about had a USMS message board topic on fire for about 12 or so pages.

Vanderbilt Y Masters - I love reading about open water events in New York and this is a charming blog filled with a New Yorker's; (a Noo Yourka), masters swimming point of view.

Uinnista - Famous people leave comments there and they are usually a week or so ahead of me. A GREAT swim blog with an edgy sense of humor.

Swim News - Craig Lord has been writing some really good stuff lately. He has really found a voice as of late and it is thoughtful.

USA Swimming - Our national governing body for the sport of swimming. I am a bit cross with them right now over the Flowswimming fiasco but the content still is good

Southern Pacific Masters Association - This is my local USMS afiliat. They do a great job of helping clubs put on meets in the Southerm Pacific Masters Zone. I called "Spee-Ma" for short and I get yelled at for doing so.

LMU Woman's Team - One of the pools that SCAQ swims at is LMU. Bonnie Adair, and Clay Evans coach the LMU womens team and hence I support that team and follow their meets.

A recap of the '9th FINA World Swimming Championships' in Manchester, England

Remember, you can see all of the above races at streaming free at WCSN. [Link]

From the FINA Website: "... It was also the session in which the USA and Australia intensively fought for first place on the medal table, with the advantage, for now, going to the ‘Stars and Stripes’ squad. The home team is also having a fantastic Championships, with the highest number of awards so far – 16. Ryan Lochte (USA) and Kirsty Coventry (ZIM) are the stars of the competition, amassing medals and World records. ..." And they are both wearing the Speedo "Spiderman" suit too.

But how about Kirsty Coventry from politically torn Zimbabwe? "... Coventry definitively became the brightest star of the 9th FINA World Swimming Championships, by getting on the fourth day of the competition her fourth gold medal and third World record.

Here is the gold, silver bronze and total medals awarded

USA	8	2	1	11
AUS	6	8	2	16
ZIM	4	0	1	5
GBR	3	9	7	19

MEN SWIMMING

Day 1
4x100 M FREESTYLE RELAY
USA United States 3:08.44 WR

100 M BUTTERFLY
Adam Pine USA 50.09 CR

Day 2
100 M BREASTSTROKE
Igor Borysik UKR 57.74 CR

100 M BUTTERFLY
Peter Mankoc SLO 50.04 CR

4x200 M FREESTYLE RELAY
AUS Australia 6:55.65 CR

Day 3
50 M FREESTYLE
Duje Draganja CRO 20.81 WR

200 M INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY
Ryan Lochte USA 1:51.56 WR

50 M BACKSTROKE
Liam Tancock GBR 23.41 CR

50 M BUTTERFLY
Adam Pine AUS 22.70 CR

Day 4
100 M INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY
Ryan Lochte USA 51.25 WR

100 M INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY
Liam Tancock GBR 52.27 CR

WOMENS SWIMMING

Day 1
400 M INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY
Kirsty Coventry ZIM 4:26.52 WR

4x200 M FREESTYLE RELAY WR
NED Netherlands 7:38.90

100 M BACKSTROKE
Kirsty Coventry ZIM 57.99 CR

200 M BUTTERFLY
Mary Descenza (USA) 2:04.27 CR

Day 2
50 M BREASTSTROKE
Jessica Hardy USA 29.58 WR

800 M FREESTYLE
Rebecca Adlington GBR 8:08.25 CR

100 M BACKSTROKE
Kirsty Coventry ZIM 57.10 CR

50 M BUTTERFLY
Felicity Galvez AUS 25.48 CR

Day 3
200 M BACKSTROKE
Kirsty Coventry ZIM 2:00.91 WR

50 M BUTTERFLY
Felicity Galvez AUS WR

4x100 M MEDLEY RELAY
USA United States 3:51.36 CR

100 M FREESTYLE
Marleen Veldhuis NED 52.17 =CR

400 M FREESTYLE
Kylie Palmer AUS 3:59.23 CR

400 M FREESTYLE
Kylie Palmer AUS 3:59.23 CR

100 M BREASTSTROKE
Jessica Hardy USA 1:04.63 CRDay 4
200 M INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY
Kirsty Coventry ZIM 2:06.13 WR

4x100 M FREESTYLE RELAY
NED Netherlands 3:29.42 WR

50 M BACKSTROKE
Sanja Jovanovic CRO 26.71 CR

100 M BREASTSTROKE
Jessica Hardy USA 1:04.22 CR

Never Drug tested: Aaron Fike said he competed in the 'Craftsman Truck Series' races while he was on heroin!

From ESPN: "... "In the 10 years that I've raced, I've never been drug-tested," Harvick said. "To me, that's not a proper drug policy for a professional sport. We haven't made any headway whatsoever on the drug-testing policy."

Harvick and Stewart were reacting to an ESPN The Magazine story this week in which former driver Aaron Fike said he competed in Craftsman Truck Series races while he was on heroin.

Baseball, football, NASCAR, basketball, the more money a sport makes the less chance its athletes will be vigorously drug tested. That is my conclusion. Doping is never okay, but the degree of punishment towards a swimmer when caught is certainly more severe than that of a lineman or outfielder. [Link]

More 'Speedo LZR' fallout: 'Swimming World' jumps in with a 'Wizard of Oz' metaphor!

Actually, it wasn't enough for Swimming World to use just the Wizard of Oz metaphor; they threw in Pandora's Box and Aladdin too. Here is a snippet:

"...The Genie is the technology itself. Once it is tried, tested and proven, there is no going back. Swimwear manufacturers have every right to bring new technology to the sport. Matter of fact, it is their responsibility. ...

"... Pandora is the consequences of technology not being regulated, standardized or evenly distributed to all on an even playing field. ...

"...The Wizard of Oz movie ends with everyone happy. This story may not end that way, especially when The Man finds Pandora's footprints leading all the way to Beijing. ..."

You have to read for it's quick emotional impact and the entertaining mash-ups; or mixed metaphors and genres, but even better they link to some "scientist's" page who has 23 technical articles regarding speedsuits and how they offer an unfair advantage.

Swimming World article: [Link]

'The Canuck Swimmer' has an article about 'Tech Doping" on the half-shell

If the panels, plates or strutures on the Speedo LZR are rigid and corset-like, I really can't say it better than Scott:

"... Muscle compression is the key to the suit’s success but only incidentally, because the compression is not a design feature – it is merely a consequence of the design. The body fits into the suit rather than the suit fitting up against the body. It is a racing shell which is worn! Forget the fact the LZR Racer is made out of fabric. The suit is to all intents and purposes a racing shell – a boat, albeit a soft sided boat, but a boat nevertheless! And using a boat to reduce your drag is most definitely a swimming aid, and aids to swimming are specifically banned under FINA’s own rules. FINA was looking in the wrong place. The LZR Racer is illegal! ..." [Link]

Here is a PDF document issued by FINA regarding swimsuit, goggles, and cap specifications:

In section 3.1 B, the document states: "...Regular flat fabrics and exclusion of outside applications: the fabrics used shall be regular and shall not form outstanding shapes or structures, such as scales. No outside application shall be added on the fabrics (use of different fabrics, see below). ... It is further clarified that: the application of fabrics put on top of each other as a result of a manufacturing/application process to combine the fabrics is permitted provided that this remains in the usual thickness and does not create outstanding shape(s) or structure(s). ..."[Link]

"Natalie on the Half-Shell" above is a composited image I created by combining a scallop shell that I found from this website: [Link] And a promo image of the Speedo LZR posted at dailymail.co.uk here: [Link]

Tech Doping! - I love that term - Salon uses it to describe the 'Speedo LZR'

This paragraph really stood out: "... Carlile also hit on another issue of concern: Money. The Speedo swimsuit is expensive -- $500 for us civilians -- and even more for competitive swimmers, who must wear new suits every 10th swim. ..." That means if I swim in 10 meets throughout the year, I have to drop another $500 to maintain the speed integrity that the suit offers. That means if I swim 3-4 SCY races, 3-4 long course meter events, and finally 3-4 short course meter events, I have to put an extra $50 in the piggy bank for each meet to purchase a news suit. [Link]

Picture updated to feature Joel Greenshields, from Airdrie, Alta; which is somewhere in Canada near Calgary.

Also here is a fascinating quote from Canoe/Slam Sports: "...

Italy head coach Alberto Castagnetti is one of the leading opponents of the new suits, which were banned at the Italian championships last week.

"This is going down a very dangerous road," Castagnetti told the AP. "It removes the purely competitive aspect of the sport and puts outside factors into play. Swimming has always been based on ability. Now, there are other aspects. It's like technological doping. It's not in the spirit of the sport."

The one world record set by a swimmer not wearing the LZR since mid-February was from Federica Pellegrini of Italy in the 400-metre freestyle at the European championships last month.

"It would be one thing if it was Michael Phelps setting all these records, but a lot of them have come from fifth-and sixth-ranked swimmers," Castagnetti said. ..." [Link]

What makes it fascinating is that an Italian coach is acknowledging Michael Phelps is the best and can't be beaten. Also, this Italian coach has seemingly coined the term "Technological Doping," a term Salon used with attribution.

Streaming at WCSN: 2008 FINA Short Course Swimming World Championships

I have said this before and now it is more relevant than ever especially since there has been a power struggle in the blogging community for swim content: WCSN and Swimming World have done more for competitive swimming than any other swim website.

WCSN has the rights to 2008 FINA Short Course Swimming World Championships., a meet that is being held in Manchester, England from April 9th -13th. WCSN is providing daily news and photos and some free videos too. If you want to watch the races like I do, the cost for a month's worth of WCSN programming is just $4.95. For the whole year it's $49.95.

WCSN is streaming the event FREE! [Link]

Above, Dutch swimmers: Inge Dekker, Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Marleen Veldhuis and Femke Heemskerk celebrate after the 4x200 relay. (Caption copy/pasted from WCSN. I can do that, copy-and-paste and even yank photos from WCSN without having to worry about them sending ninjas after me. Support that network.)

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. >.<

Michael Phelps 400 IM at the 'Columbus Grand Prix'

Attention USA Swimming or WMG: DO NOT PULL THIS VIDEO! If you do, you will only alienate us again and I hope you have learned something over the Floswimming fiasco.

SwimNetwork has not made any video available thus far of the Columbus Grand Prix available so I am posting this Michael Phelps 400 IM here. Mega thanks go out to swimmingismylife
over at You Tube.

There is a 'plugin' for the Firefox browser called "Download helper." With it you can download videos from You tube; or other sites that contain video, directly to your hard drive and view at your leisure. I am bringing this up because I have a bad feeling that when I wake up tomorrow this video will be gone. Hence, get the 'plugin' and use it for those videos you would like study so as to make you a better swimmer.

Swim Network is allowing bloggers to embed videos - I think that is fantastic news!

See Tara Kirk set a new American record at the Encore Swim. I am so stoked that I am able to post this. I think Swim Network has the potential to be a great friend to swimming if they maintain this openness.

Note: if you use Blogger like I do, you have to manually tweak the HTML to make the movie fit. I had to adjust the width and height settings down by 20% or so to: height="328" width="415"

What is troubling me is that it does not embed a video controller along with it like You Tube does. None the less, beggars can't be choosers but I am stoked they are adopting a more open policy towards the swim community at large.

New "Powerskin R-Evolution" commercial

Commercial needed more suit and less drama. Here is a link to a higher-rez version: [Link]

Natalie Coughlin Swim Workouts with the "iTrainH2O" player

Here is Natalie Coughlin delivering a workout via the iTrain H2o player. The actual workout itself is an hour long and this You Tube is just a two minute video. If you own the iTrain H2o player, you can download her workouts at iTrain.com

Note how strong and relaxed Coughlin's kick is; so much power with so little effort. Also, note the "S-curve" on her backstroke pull; very symmetrical.

The new Michael Phelps 'Power Bar' commercial

Great premise, beautiful lighting and color tinting, the compositing of the sharks is wonderful yet at the end when he dives off the blocks, we don't get to see him enter the water. Arrrgh!

HOWEVER, this is the making of the commercial so we get to see it from behind the scenes. ;-)

Phelps tired and "absolutely destroyed" by weight trainning and the yardage

When asked if he was tired? Phelps responded: "I would say that's an understatement," Phelps said, laughing. "We've been getting absolutely destroyed, in the weight room and in the pool. Literally, I feel like a brick in the water." "..."

"I left just about everything I had in the pool for that race. I'm pretty happy with it. It could've been a little faster, but I'll take that for right now. And having those three races in 45 minutes was tough." The Detroit News: [Link]

Terry Laughlin sent me his thoughts regarding the post I made about the new 'Arena Powerskin R-Evolution ' speedsuit

My quote regarding the new suit: "What really has me interested in this suit is that a scientist named Alfio Quarteroni did the number crunching so as to develop computer models that would quantify drag reduction and speed increase too."

Here is a link to the orignal blog post: [Link]

Terry responds: "I get the Science of Sports newsletter and followed a link from it to your blog. This topic is of significant interest to me as well. One question that Jonathan and Ross raise that I do not hear from others that often is, if the drag reduction potential from a suit is that significant, how many more significant opportunities for drag reduction from biomechanical improvements are being overlooked. Given that the suits are most likely to have their greatest impact on reducing friction drag which is the least significant of the three forms of drag, how much more could swimmers and coaches be doing to reduce, say, wave drag, which is the most impactful form of drag and which the suit is not likely to impact at all? I suppose Alfio and friends could contribute something meaningful to documenting what technique adjustments do impact that and how much. But of course, who would pay the millions for that sort on non-commercial research.

In any case, I enjoyed reading. Thanks." Here is a link to the Total Immersion website: [Link]

It is accurate to say that Terry Laughlin has had a big impact on swimming and I am very flattered that he wrote me. I may not swim well, and I may not swim fast, but it is a real joy for me when I get letters or comments from giants in the field such as Terry Laughlin, Glenn Mills, Erik Hochstein, masters swimmers, bloggers, friends or the Olympians who post anonymously and either call me out or correct me.

The above photo is Team Arena which I found on the Arena website: [Link]

I thought 'Swim Network' was going to post videos of the 'Columbus Grand Prix' but I am not seeing any posted at their site?

I made an assumption that WMG/Swim Network had the rights to the Columbus Grand Prix events. Perhaps they don't? If there are any fan videos out there please share them on You Tube with us. Especially if any one filmed Natalie Coughlin here on the west coast. That swim would be a real treat to see.

Live Results from The April 4-6 Grand Prix Meets

I found the live result link at About.com, so far all the meets have been pretty underwhelming. I was hoping for a riposte from Katie Hoff over Stephanie Rices's obliteration of her world record; instead our swimmers are swimming this meet like it was a lactic acid workout with all their attention apparently focused on US Nationals in July. Live Results for the Grand Prix meets: [Link]

I saw at Lane 9 News that Natalie Coughlin didn't make the A-final due to being a bit groggy and by subsequently placing 9th in a time of 57.14. Tyr swimmer, Amanda Weir, swam a 55.33 to win "A" final but in the "B" final Natalie swam a 53.40 to break the pool record. This "B" swim has been the most impressive swim of the weekend for me. A break down of all the swims at Lane 9 News but you probably all ready knew that: [Link]

I have a lot to post this weekend - For now check out this "sea organ" that plays music

Located in Zadar, Croatia, this musical "instrument" randomly plays notes depending upon the ebb and force of the tide. The greater the tidal impact, the more powerful the sound. In the YouTube below, listen to how melodic and soothing it is. Since the musical tones are created randomly by the rhythm of the tide, you can experience the music with all five senses just by standing in ankle deep water. Wow! what a rush!



I originally found this at NotCot.org with the original post located at the PomPomist: [Link]

Alain Bernard: Hurricane in progress!

Look at that water, it looks like it is going to spontaneously combust! Also look at his hand and how far it is crossing over! Ouch! That would so hurt my shoulder.

Here is another Speedo Lazr article from STUFF.co.nz: [Link]

D'Arcy barred from Olympic camp - Cowley will need surgery!

Note the picture to the right of Nick D'Arcy. He does not even have one bruise to his face. He has been charged "grievous bodily harm." From the SMH: [Link]

Simon Cowley, to undergo corrective surgery - From livenews.com.au: "... Controversial swimmer Nick D'Arcy will not particiapte an Australian Olympic Team Orientation Camp as the fallout from his alleged assault of fellow swimmer Simon Cowley at a Sydney nightclub.

D'Arcy was charged with assault following his alleged involvement in a pub brawl that left Cowley nursing multiple facial fractures, and will miss the camp to be held later this month. ...

D'Arcy has spoken of his "deep regret" over his involvement in the incident and the serious injuries suffered by Cowley, who is due to have surgery tomorrow. ..."

Doctors are waiting for the swelling to subside before performing corrective surgery for numerous facial injuries, including a fractured jaw and broken nose. ..." [Link]

My take: Cowley will probably have scars and perhaps permanent damage to his eye socket as a result of this beating but at least charges have been filed against D'Arcy who goes to court on April 21st. I found NO reference to Simon Cowley being charged, just D'Arcy. Hence, let's see what sort of defense D'Arcy puts up.

But you know what really "blows" for Australia? Some of their best swimmers witnessed this and now they will have to explain to the public, their sponsors and to the police what they were doing when this was all going down and they will do so under oath.

I can only cheer for the Australian women's team now. I can't even cheer for Grant Hackett after he meekly defended D'Arcy. Now I hope Larsen Jensen, Eric Vendt and even Park Tae-Hwan hand him his ass.

Next, Olympic great, Kieren Perkins said the The Age.Com.Au: "... Dual Olympic gold medallist Kieren Perkins said swimmer Nick D'Arcy had failed as a role model and should be banned from competing at the Beijing Games. ... I really can't see how we could possibly take somebody in that scenario onto an Olympic team," the 34-year-old told ABC radio.

"It is a group of people that are representing our country at the highest international level.

"Yes, we're sports people. Yes, we want to win. Yes, we want to see that we're the best in the world - but at what price? ..." [Link]