I just made myself a SCAQ t-shirt at: 'MySOTI.com'

MySoti is an acronym for "My Stuff On The Internet." It is a site where one buy or sell various products like t-shirts, posters, etc. for a price determined by the user on top of the base profit price that mysoti.com wants collect.

For instance, I just wanted to make myself a SCAQ team shirt. I created the art and when asked what percentage over $14.99 that I would like to collect, I put down 0%.

This is a great way for small teams or large to raise money or do "one-offs" for themselves like I am doing. There are other sites too like cafepress, zazzle, which I made use to make a long sleeve t-shirt and I am sure there are many others.

I am collecting no fee, no favor, no gift, nor even a hug or a kiss for promoting this site but small teams that want to make do a beautiful four-color t-shirt can and sell it at a reasonable price.

TYR Sport inc. vs USA Swimming/Speedo/Mark Schubert/Erik Vendt pre-trial ruling

I have uploaded the ruling for the pretrial motions in the TYR versus USA Swimming/Speedo/Mark Schubert/Erik Vendt lawsuit to my personal website for downloading.

I ask humbly for others to upload it to their sites too or just go ahead and post the whole 26 pages so my personal site won't get so hammered.

Here is a link to the PDF: [Link]

Now, I am going to drop an opinionated bomb here and I hope FINA is reading. This is my opinion only: If any paid Speedo endorser was on the voting tribunal that decided which suits should be FINA approved and which suits should not be approved, please take note that the same antitrust situation that USA Swimming is having to defend against could be applicable to FINA if European law is similar to that of US law.

Nullify that vote if this is the case!

Let me phrase it this way - I suspect a class action suit is not out of the question if it means Jaked, blueseventy, Diana and others are "run out of town" over a "paid-vote" or two rather than straight science!

Update from yesterday:

Why this lawsuit is not as Craig Lord says, "...on the fringe of the current suits crisis," but rather at "grand zero" is that According to TYR, Speedo is being accused of setting up USA Swimming as a covert marketing arm for it's products so as to set up a de facto monopoly in the high-end suit market.

The judge seems to agree with 9-out-of-10 assertions that this is the case. Most notably the hiring a paid endorser of Speedo; (Coach Mark Schubert), to convince the USA Olympic Swim Team to wear nothing but Speedo. According to TYR, blatant lies were used to sell swimmers such as Erik Vendt that this was the case.

With that said, One has to ask, and certainly Craig Lord isn't asking this, is Speedo doing this same nonsense with FINA and is FINA merrily buying into, or being handsomely "bought" into doing this?

Very brief snippets from the TYR ruling

Snippet about USA Swimming Coach Mark Schubert:

"... But there is more. The Complaint alleges that Schubert went beyond criticism and threatened athletes who chose to wear the TYR product:

• “I would strongly advise them to wear the [Speedo] at trials, or they may end up at home watching [the Olympics] on NBC.” (Complaint, ¶ 16(l).

• “Schubert has gone so far as to suggest that he will use his authority as Head Coach to mandate use of SPEEDO equipment.” (Id., ¶ 16(e).) He was reported as stating that he will tell his team to wear Speedo at the U.S. Trials. (Id.)

• “Some athletes (including Defendant VENDT) have followed through on SCHUBERT’s recommendation that they breach contracts with their equipment providers in order to avoid ‘staying home’ during the Olympic Games.” (Id., ¶ 33.)

Read in the light most favorable to TYR,7 these allegations support a claim that Schubert used his position to coerce swimmers to wear Speedo swimsuits or face being left home for the Olympics. To be sure, the facts here are different from Hyrdolevel where a trade group’s standard had the de facto force of law. But the same impermissible element of coercion is present where Schubert sets the standard (Speedo) and then enforces it by threatening to remove swimmers from the Olympics. The exclusionary anticompetitive effect on TYR directly parallels the effect on the plaintiff cut-off valve manufacturer in Hydrolevel. [ Hydrolevel was a legal precedence - Tony]

Court finds that TYR properly pleads that the disparaging statements are “provably false” (Compl. ¶ 23); that Schubert essentially told the national team that the Speedo LZR could be the difference between making the Olympic team or staying home (id. ¶ 16(l)); that the swimmers who heard Schubert were likely persuaded (id. ¶ 17); that athletes had no way of knowing that Schubert’s claims of a “2% advantage” were false (id. ¶¶ 16(k), 17-18); that Schubert’s disparaging statements began at least in September 2007 and continued at least through April 2008 (id. ¶¶ 16(a)-(I)); and that Schubert’s position as Olympic team head coach gives his statements “a degree of credibility that would never attach to statements made by equipment manufacturers” (id. ¶ 17).

Therefore, the Court cannot dismiss TYR’s federal and state antitrust claims based ..."

Regarding USA Swimming having Immunity like the NFL

USA Swimming next contends that it has implied immunity under the Sports Act, as applied to federal and state antitrust laws. To establish its implied immunity in this case, USA Swimming primarily relies on persuasive authority from the Eleventh Circuit in JES Properties, Inc. v. USA Equestrian, Inc., 458 F.3d 1224 (11th Cir. 2006). But JES Properties is not controlling.

To begin with, implied immunity is strongly disfavored in the antitrust context. In Carnation Co. v. Pac. Westbound Conference, the Supreme Court made clear that

[r]epeals of the antitrust laws by implication from a regulatory statute are strongly disfavored, and have only been found in cases of plain repugnancy between the antitrust and regulatory provisions. We have long recognized that the antitrust laws represent a fundamental national economic policy and have therefore concluded that we cannot lightly assume that the enactment of a special regulatory scheme for
particular aspects of an industry was intended to render the more general provisions of the antitrust laws wholly inapplicable to that industry.

... Therefore, implied immunity cannot be extended from the face of the pleading.10

Federal Judge to 'Speedo' and 'USA Swimming': TYR's lawsuit against you has merit and you are going to court!

I got a hold of the Judge's ruling this morning and I will post a bunch of snippets from it tonight and I will include a link to the PDF.

For now here is the TYR Press release on the subject:

May 29, 2009 – In a ruling earlier this week in Santa Ana, California, a federal judge has denied legal challenges by Speedo (USA), USA Swimming and Mark Schubert to antitrust claims filed by TYR Sport, Inc.

TYR filed its lawsuit in May 2008, alleging that the relationship between USA Swimming and Speedo, and Schubert’s dual role as Olympic team head coach and paid Speedo endorser, was an unlawful restraint of trade. TYR and Speedo are leading competitors in the $200 million market for competitive swimwear and equipment. USA Swimming is the national governing body of the sport, and shares an exclusive endorsement relationship with Speedo.

Among the assertions made by TYR is that Schubert used his stature as national and Olympic team head coach to promote Speedo’s products. TYR also claims that Schubert made untrue and disparaging statements about products manufactured by TYR, as well as those of other Speedo competitors.

Speedo, USA Swimming and Schubert filed motions seeking to dismiss TYR’s claims, and a separate motion was filed by USA Swimming and Schubert to strike TYR’s state law claims. In response, United States District Judge James V. Selna issued a 26-page opinion upholding the state and federal antitrust claims brought by TYR.

"We are pleased by this ruling," said TYR’s counsel, Larry Hilton. In total, nine claims will proceed toward trial on the court-appointed date in March 2010.

Under water photos by alinka echeverría: 'The unbearable lightness of being!'

These shots of synchronized swimmers taken under water and then flopped upside down bend reality giving the illusion that these women are actually above the water.

Originally found at NotCot.org but presented by youmightlikethis.com.

15-year-old Italian prodigy storms the 100-meter breast at Italian Championships!

Megamodo, an Italian news site, has a great recap on new Italian breaststroke record. Ilaria Scarcella from Genoa, Italy, is barely 15-years-old. In the 100- breaststroke she swam a 1:06.99 or a second-plus slower than the world record 1:05.09. set by (Leisel Jones, Australia, in 2006.)

Ilaria was so elated and so filled with emotion that she nearly cried at the wall!

Here is a sloppy translation from BabelFish of the Megamodo article:

It is a dream - it has said the portacolori of the Rivaroresi Swimmers - is the beautiful day of my life, I do not have words. I ringrazio my Tiziano [I phoned my coach? -tony] technician Novels.”

[Link]

In a later heat she lowered her time further making it the fifth-fastest in history. From Swimming World:

PESCARA, Italy, May 28. ILARIA Scarcella completed a remarkable two-day progression of the Italian record in the women's 100 breast at the Italian Long Course National Championships.

Scarcella clocked a time of 1:06.86 to lower her short-lived record of 1:06.99 from semis. Coming into the meet, Chiara Boggiatto held the mark with a 1:08.09 that she set in April. Robert Panara then dipped under that standard with a 1:08.01 before Scarcella crushed it with a 1:06.99 in the following semifinal.

[Link]

Finally, I am loving that pool. The tiles are so full of "awesomeness and win."

Swim News: "We are here to cut the cancer out," said FINA Executive Director, Cornel Marculescu, regarding speedsuits!

Cornel Marculescu, pictured to the right, is the Executive Director of FINA.

Now either this FINA Executive Director is a very biased chairman who likes to use 'hot rhetoric' to inform swimmers and suit companies of it's speedsuit intentions, or this quote was never uttered.

It was close to lunchtime, after a 9am, start at the Lausanne Palace Hotel, when Cornel Marculescu held up his hands in resignation, sighed and told a small group of journalists, mainly from France, Italy and Japan: "We cannot achieve everything ... [...]

"We are here to cut the cancer out," said Marculescu. FINA had not opted for "surgery now" but for a remedial, transitory treatment. He said that those working on a solution that would "continue to narrowing of the tunnel" to a lasting solution had been tireless in their efforts.

[Link]

Swim News mentioned that several journalists were present in the room when the quote was said, let us see if this quote is printed elsewhere.

If Marculescu did use words like 'cancer" and "narrowing of the tunnel," I bet he will be sooooo fired when when FINA votes on a new executive Director. Hence, how is it possible that he would say something like this?

This sort of rhetoric is not diplomatic, it denotes an emotional bias stated in hyperbolic terms, and it tells suit companies to pull out like Nike.

A FINA Executive would never do that. One does not rise to that level with that sort of rhetorical style.

Here is a quote from a reader at Swimming World regarding this pasrticular quote. It illustrates well what hot rhetoric gets you. It's at the bottom of the article:

"...The "cancer" is the governing body rife with conflicts of interests that result in spurious rules, not advances in suit technology...."

[Link]

'Pas de Deux' - Two swimmers at the Italian championships never more than a hundred-of-a-second apart in the womens 100-free!

A tie for second place: Alice Carpanese swam a 27.19 - 28.96 • Livia Travaglini swam a 27.20 - 28.95. Both did a 56.15 and apparently matched each others stroke as if they dancers. Simply incredible! [Results]

Ellen Butler nearly drowned when she was 5-years old - Now she thrives and creates art underwater!

Originally spotted at NotCot.org, Don't Panic has the details: [Link]

ROME: World Championship Pool seized by the Italian courts!

I have an Italian Correspondent now! Isn't that cool? All I can tell you about this person is that they can swim very fast!

On the front page of the Italian papers is news that the 2009 FINA World Championship pool has been seized by the courts for not adhering to an agreed upon urban plan for these structures.

Promises are being made that everything will work out in the end but as usual, money is involved and they have less than two months to work it out: [Link]

Jason Lezak interview at the Janet Evans Invitational! - Jason wore a Jaked swimsuit!

Jason Lezak wore a Jaked. It is unclear which model since the Jaked 01 is not legal whereas the Jaked 03 is.

Jason Lezak just misses a Michael Phelps record in the 100-free! - Jason Lezak is relevant, he is in the game, and he is hungry!

From Swimming World:

"... IRVINE, California, May 24. ROSE Bowl Aquatics' Jason Lezak provided some serious fireworks on the final day of the Janet Evans Invitational as he threatened the American record in the men's 100 free over long course meters.

In another head-to-head battle, Lezak smashed California's Nathan Adrian. Lezak took a run at Michael Phelps' American record of 47.51 in the men's 100 free, but settled for a smoking time of 47.80. Adrian could not keep up as he finished second in 49.14. Jason Dunford completed the top three in 50.38.

[Link]

Jason Lezak, swimming without a sponsor is currently the fastest, American, 100-free swimmer so far this year; (correct me by sending a comment please if I am mistaken).

He is motivated and winning. Every meet for Lezak is an opportunity.

I will say that I am profoundly disgusted with his talent management. It completely astonishes me that someone as capable as Lezak is not is not sponsored by TYR, blueseventy, Jaked, Mizuno or Arena for that matter. He could have been tearing up Europe at those short-course-meter racers that Peter Marshall was setting WRs at.

Win, place or show is how they bet in horse racing: Do you realize the exposure a suit brand would have garnered at one of those meets if Lezak simply showed up and either won, placed, or showed?

The buzz would have been great for everybody: The meet itself, the suit brand, and the American/European rivalry.

I bet TYR would have sent him, they sent Peter Marshall who I had never heard of for a fast $75,000, AND HE SET WORLD RECORDS!

Japan to ratify Ryosuke Irie's world record - will allow those suits unapproved by FINA in domestic competitions!

From Swimming World:

TOKYO, Japan, May 24. THE Japanese Swimming Federation held a press conference yesterday to confirm that the Federation will ratify Ryosuke Irie's world record as a Japanese record even if FINA does not recognize it.

[...]

"...Furthermore, the Federation stated that it WILL allow swimmers to race in non-approved suits in domestic competition until March 31, 2010...."

[Link]

FINA so screwed this up! How can FINA, with any moral authority, withdraw suit approvals just because they saw a "burning bush" on the way to Lausanne, Switzerland, that told them to reverse course?

Well, the Japanese and the Italians have seen a "burning bush" too.

Perhaps the manufacturers will see one too that tells them to sort it out in court?

Coach John Leonard of the ASCA predicted as much on March 4th 2009. You can read his article: What’s Up With The Suits? at the American Swimming Coaches Association site. (Scroll down to the appropriate date to find it.)

Coach John Leonard also has a seat on the Coaches Commission at FINA.

No "off-meets" for Aaron Peirsol or Jason Lezak either- Every meet demands a win and win they did!

There are no "off-meets" for these two. From Swimming World:

"...In a head-to-head battle between a pair of Olympians, the veteran Jason Lezak challenged the American record in the men's 50 free with a triumph over Nathan Adrian. Lezak, swimming for Rose Bowl Aquatics, won in 21.90. The American record is held by Garrett Weber-Gale with a 21.47 from the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials.

[Link]

Texas Senior Circuit: "...Longhorn's Aaron Peirsol crushed the field in the men's 200 back with a swift time of 1:56.38. [about 2-seconds off his personal best - Tony] Mustang Matt Thompson placed a distant second in 2:01.52 with Timothy Johnson taking third in 2:04.52.

[Link]

I grabbed the photo to the right of Jason Lezak at his website. (Yes, I did alter he photo.)

Can anybody tell me what suit he is wearing? It is kind of snazzy!

2000 Sydney Olympics: WR in the womens 4x100-free relay with Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres, Courtney Shealy and Amy van Dyken

Jenny Thompson's wall work is amazing.

My rebuttal to a Craig Lord's article "Why We Know This Is The Age Of Buoyancy " at 'Swim News'

The suit approval letter sent to FINA by Professor Jan-Anders Manson, from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne, Switzerland to FINA was re-posted at SwimNews.com.

Craig Lord had a different point a view regarding the interpretation of Professor's Mason's phrasing than I did.

"...While these swimsuits comply with the buoyancy value when tested in accordance with the defined procedure, we note that this kind of construction may cause significant air trapping effects when worn by the swimmers."

Prof Manson's letter makes something very clear: a ban on the use of non-permeable, non-textile fabrics of any kind is well overdue. [...]

For those who grasp at the word "may", it is used in this sense: "If you walk in the rain with your hood off, you may get wet hair". No-one is left in any doubt that hair would indeed get wet. ..."

[Link]

My Rebuttal: The honorable Professor designed a testing protocol with a de facto set of buoyancy standards that were made known to all the suit manufacturers in Dubai last March.

Several suit manufacturers underwent radical redesigns whereas some suit companies simply went with what they had.

Subsequently, those standards were met by all the "rubberized" suit companies and the first sentence makes that clear.

Next, It is my belief that Craig Lord; who I respect as a journalist and who has done some great work for the Times Online, does not define or provide an accurate example or definition of the word: "may."

Definition of the word "may"

may ¹ (m)aux.v. Past tense might (mt)

1. To be allowed or permitted to: May I take a swim? Yes, you may.

2. Used to indicate a certain measure of likelihood or possibility: It may rain this afternoon.

3. Used to express a desire or fervent wish: Long may he live!

4. Used to express contingency, purpose, or result in clauses introduced by that or so that: expressing ideas so that the average person may understand.

5. To be obliged; must. Used in statutes, deeds, and other legal documents. See Usage Note at can¹.

Finally, Scientists don't parse or measure words. the data is demonstrable or it is not. Professor Mason simply stated a conjecture with his use of the word "may" as noted in the definitions above.

If I am mistaken and this is not the case than it is Professor Mason's responsibility to clarify the letter and produce data that validates that "significant air trapping effects" produced a buoyancy factor that violated the protocol. If that cannot be done, then the suits passed and France, Japan, Italy and the USMS have got it right.

Sydney Morning Herald: Australian Coach, Alan Thompson, was on the panel in charge of the FINA swimsuit approval process!

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

"... Australian head coach Alan Thompson, who was on the panel in charge of the approval process, said yesterday the decision makes the most level playing field possible for the world titles, but it won't be fully level until the new rule changes come in January, where among them, swimsuits will be required to pass permeability testing.

As for Sullivan holding onto his records - the French ones are yet to be ratified - Thompson says in the wake of the failed tests Sullivan's should stand. ..."

[Link]

Some process, huh?

Well, if this is an accurate statement written by the Sydney Morning Herald, It suddenly becomes obvious why USA Swimming and Australian Swimming "fully support FINA with all their hearts and minds" versus the Japanese, the French, and the Italians?

No wonder rational minds and countries have a problem with this approval process. It's my belief that Alan Thompson should clarify if he is or has ever been a paid endorser by Speedo.

There are no "off-meets" for Dara Torres! - Every meet counts!

I was scolded in a comments section a few posts back for criticizing Ryan Lochte, and Katie Hoff for doing mediocre at the 2009 Charlotte UltraSwim Grand Prix.

I praised Frederick Bousquet for his victory in the 100-free and for knowing full well that a victory over Phelps would add tremendous value to his both his name and swimsuit.

I was told, it was an off-meet and that it did not matter. I was told to look how they both do when they swim a big meet like World Championships or Nationals. That opinion is valid and morally correct but it is not a correct business decision.

Dara Torres swam no "off-meets" to test her butterfly or new technique: She came to a meet that was "off every body's radar" and consequently Dara captured the American record in the 50-meter 'fly.

If both Hoff and Lochte had Dara Torres' business savvy, they should have come prepared to sweep all of their events and while Lochte would have looked like the "giant killer" to the clueless media for beating Phelps, Hoff would have had a satisfying return post Beijing.

Fred Bousquet understood the gravity of beating Phelps and I have a feeling he is now bigger than both Amuary Leveaux and Alain Bernard in France at this time.

In tomorrow's sport page Torres will have garnered lots of ink and/or electrons on our computer screens and her sponsors are going to be stoked! She may even be on national TV and I bet she gets a bonus. Hoff and Lochte will have to wait.

Dara Torres just swan a 25.8 in the 50-meter fly for a new American record!!

Amazing! The "Terminator" does it again but this time in the 50-meter 'fly.

From Swimming World Online:

"... During long course meter swimming in prelims, Torres clocked a time of 25.84. That performance wiped out Jenny Thompson's 26.00 set back in 2003 in Barcelona. Torres will be gunning for Marleen Veldhuis' world record of 25.33 set back in April..."

[Link]

Overhead on deck after the swim:

Kyle Reese: The 600 series had rubber skin. We spotted them easy, but these are new. They look human... sweat, bad breath, everything. Very hard to spot. I had to wait till [she] moved on you before I could zero on [her].

Sarah Connor: Look... I am not stupid, you know. They cannot make things like that yet.

Kyle Reese: Not yet. Not for about 40 years.

Sarah Connor: Are you saying it's from the future?

Kyle Reese: One possible future. From your point of view... I don't know tech stuff.

Fan video of the mens 100-free final at the Charlotte Ultraswim!

It has no sound but great footage of an enthusiastic Bousquet in his red Jaked suit. You could just feel that he knew he was going to win.

Universal Sports coverage of the 2009 Charlotte UltraSwim here: [Link]