What does Arizona and Venezuela have in common? Albert Subirats!

FINA WC Melbourne 07 - 100 fly FINAL
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Venezuela's, Albert Subirats, trains with Frank Busch at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Something both Venezuela and the United States are summarily proud of despite political tensions between the two nations.

"King Albert", as he is know in Venezuela, placed third behind Michael Phelps and Ian Crocker in the 100 fly final by half-a-body-length at the FINA World Championships last month. (See the video above)

Frank Busch in this Swim News article; [Link] says he is even getting faster. An Olympic win in the 100 fly for "King Albert" would not only validate South America but the coaching staff at the University of Arizona as well.

Two dissimilar nations can work together it appears. France and Italy should take note.

Triathlons are biased towards runners and biased against swimmers

I did the the Ironman in 1983 in Kona, Hawaii; (Thank you Julie Moss). After the race, Valerie Silk, the official Ironman race founder, told me that the first ever Ironman was a race between friends to settle a bet as to which athlete was the most superior: The swimmer, the cyclist or runner? (the swimmer won.) With that concept in mind or keeping with the spirit of the race, the distances in a triathlon should be calculated in terms of time/distance for fairness.

A fair triathlon would have the following distances or distances determined by using these proportions: 1.5 kilometer swim (1 mile), 25 Kilometer bike (15 miles), 5 Kilometer run (3.2 miles)

An elite athlete in any of these events could finish in a time of around 15 minutes. Ergo the race would require all around athletes rather than running and biking specialists. This to me would improve the sport of triathlon greatly. It would be a fair race and make the finishes much more exciting with racers much closer together throughout a competition. It would also determine which sport produces the greater athlete. But readers of this blog all ready know the answer to that: The swimmer would win.

One minute movie of the 12th FINA World Championship swimming pool being constructed at Rod Laver Arena.

What happened to to this incredibly fast pool post event?

Here are all of Michael Phelps' 2007 Fina World Championship of Swimming gold medal races

Speedo and WCSN have collected all of Phelps' gold medal swims onto one page at Speedo.com. The only downside is that they are not Quicktime files but rather Windows media slop: [Link]

Libby Lenton won 55% of Australia's gold medals! Here she is in the 50 meter Free

I probably talked up Natalie Coughlin to much and really didn't blog about Libby when I should have. Now, if you look at the medal count here: [Link], You will note that Australia won 9 gold medals total; but Let it be known that it was Libby Lenton who won 5 of those gold medals or 55% of their gold medal total. That is a Michael- Phelps-like accomplishment and it was poorly reported. Libby Lenton is the new Ian Thorpe. Australia should throw a party for her!

2 World Records in the IM: Phelps and Hoff

Look at Phelps' Sternomastoid muscle bulging in his neck as he strains to look at the clock. Boy, you know he wanted that record.

Michael Phelps has now won more medals in a FINA World Swimming Championship than Ian Thorpe and he now matches Mark Spitz. Last night Phelps made it 7 gold medals by breaking his own world record in the 400 IM by over 2 seconds in a time of 4:06.22.

There hasn't been a swimmer this inspired since Mark Spitz or Ian Thorpe.

I joke with friends that I am not convinced that Katie Hoff is a land dwelling animal. Her butterfly is dolphin-like, the pull on her backstroke defies physics, and her freestyle seems effortless after swimming the 3 events before. Katie set broke a seven year old world record in the 400 IM in a time of 4:32.89.

This USA team is the strongest in history. If it maintains this momentum you will be seeing phrases next year at Beijing stating that the US is a "world swimming superpower" and they won't be read as hyperbolic either but rather accepted as a fact.

FINA Videos : WCSN YouTube page

Here is a link to a You Tube page with all of the FINA videos from WSCN. Click on this link and see dozens of clips from the 2007 Fina World Championship of Swimming: [Link]

Ziegler 2, Manaudou 1

In the 800 free, Kate Ziegler beat Laure Manaudou on the last lap with a sprint and a subsequent close finish. Kate Ziegler's time: 8:18:52 defeated Laure Manaudou's time of 8:18.80 by a little more than a quarter-second. Throughout the whole race the two were side-by-side going into the last lap but Ziegler out-kicked Manaudou at the end. Both very very gracious about it. [Link]

Zeigler on Manaudou:

• "If she had not been there no way would I have gone that fast," said Ziegler, whose win completed the 800 and 1500 double at Rod Laver Arena.

Manaudou on Ziegler:

• "We had been swimming side by side for 400 metres but she was better in the end," said Manaudou after winning her second silver of the meet.

Kate Ziegler has now defeated Manaudou in both the 1500 and the 800 free whereas Laure Manaudou beat Ziegler in the 400 free. The Olympics will be an exciting rematch. Laure has to decide if she wants a quantity of medals by competing in 7 or so events or by skipping an event or two so as to be more competitive in events like the 800 or the 1500.

50 meter trifecta bet: Cesar Cielo, Cullen Jones, Roland Schoeman

I should have put Roland first but I am putting down who I want to win not who I think will win. Cielo is amazingly strong and he has no pressure to do well which leads me to think he will medal. Plus it would be so cool for Brazil to go gold. I believe Cielo trains with Coach Marsh at Auburn and look at his face in the photograph to the right. Sort of reminds me of Natalie Coughlin.

Cullen Jones seemed off his game in the 4 x 100 relay but he got a gold and he has international experience. Roland is hungry; he is always hungry, and he has a gold too in the 50 fly beating Ian Crocker as well. So, ipso facto, my "trifecta" is probably backwards so place you imaginary bets accordingly.

Pieter Van Den Hoogenband: Humble in victory, gracious in defeat

Pieter's take on Michael Phelps' world record in the 200 is amazingly gracious and revealing. He comments about how Phelps has evolved as a swimmer, what it means for Beijing, and it spoken with amazing clarity and honestly with no PR or spin whatsoever. Two quotes from the article:

• "I was racing against him at Olympics and World Cups and I never lost a race. I was one of the few people on this planet who had never lost a race to Michael Phelps.

• "I was next to him, I know how fast it was. I was with Ian Thorpe twice when he swam 1.44, but Michael has gone from 1.45 straight to 1.43.

• "It's fantastic to see what Michael is doing. The sky is the limit."

His comments at Eurosport.com: [Link]
Here is a link to Pieter's english blog [Link]

Michael Phelps should have been disqualified in the 200 meter free?

UPDATE: After reading the rules it appears the black markers are most likely placed at the 13 meter mark.

RULE: "... The color of the floats extending from the walls the distance of 5 meters for long course and 15 feet for short course shall be distinct from the rest of the floats. Distinctive colored floats, or markers extending around the full circumference of the floats, shall be placed at 15-meters (49' 21/2") from each end wall in both short course and long course pools. Additionally, in long course pools, a distinctive warning line or lane markers may be placed at a distance of 13 meters from each end wall.

It appears that on the third turn of the 200 free, Michael Phelps', head inadvertently emerges well past the 15 meter marker. A swimmer is not allowed to swim underwater on a turn for more than 15 meters or 16.4 yards. In the photo above Phelps' head and arms are well past the 15 meter mark and he hasn't even emerged.

I want to stress that this is seemingly inadvertent and not intentional. Nonetheless, he should have been DQed and the gold given to Pieter Van Den Hoogenband.

You Tube Video of the 200 meter free: [Link]

USMS Rules with FINA reference: [Link]
USA Swimming - Officiating Championship Swimming PDF: [Link]

Michael Phelps 200 free world record swim this week.

Watch his turns, he completely devours the field. Van Den Hoogenband takes 2-and-a-half strokes before Phelps emerges.

Phelps, Manaudou set world records

Michael Phelps lowered his own WR in the 200 fly by more than a second. His previous WR was 1:53.71 but last night he swam a 1:52.09

Laure Manaudou set a world record in the 200 free with a time of 1:55.52 down from 1:56.47. In my opinion she was smart to capitulate in the 1500 against Kate Ziegler yesterday. If she would have contested Ziegler, who swam an extremely fast race, it could have degraded her subsequent races.

Liesel Jones can bend light!

Liesel Jones and Libby Lenton are the Australian "corsage" of the 2007 Fina World Championship of Swimming. They are the only two swimmers from Australia to win gold medals; three so far. I predicted the men would get bruised but they are suffering a slow motion mugging.

Enter Liesel Jones who won a gold medal in the 100 meter breaststroke against a talented Tara Kirk.

From the article: "...It is the Queenslander's fourth consecutive world championship medal in the event. As well as gold in Montreal in 2005, she won bronze in Barcelona in 2003 and silver in Fukuoka in 2001. .."

The Age: [Link]

Libby Lenton is movitaved

So far Libby Lenton has won two gold medals: One in the 100 butterfly and another in the 4x100 relay. She has a silver and bronze too. She is the favorite in three individual events coming up and then swims another two events after that. Here are the remaining events: The 100m freestyle, 50m freestyle, 50m butterfly and two relays.

Though Libby is motivated, really motivated, she still has obstacles. One of those obstacles is the Australian press who is suggesting that she could win 7 gold medals and the Australian press is no fun if you lose even if they use the word "could" because the word "could" in Australian means "She will win or else we will write what a lazy bones she was in training."

Now, add Natalie Coughlin who has actually trained in Australia and swam an Australian meet last year to prepare. Natalie is hungry and she wants to win as bad as Lenton and with Natalie setting a World Record in the 100 backstroke that can be pretty inspiring if you are going to swim against Libby Lenton.

If Lenton can win 3 golds out of the 5 to me that will be a Michael-Phelps-like accomplishment, an accomplishment the Australians need due to the disarray the men's team seems to be suffering. A feat as amazing as Michael Phelps or Ian Thorpe and she should be recognized if she pulls it off.

The Herald Sun: [Link]
Sky News Australia: [Link]
The Australian: [Link]

FINA World Swimming Championship: Back half of of the 4x100 Relay featuring Cullen Jones and Jason Lezak

I found a YouTube video of the 4x100 relay. Unfortunately it only shows the swims of, Cullen Jones, and a blazing fast, Jason Lezak. We missed the two great swims from Michael Phelps and Neil Walker. (Jason Lezak had the fastest American time of the four.)

Amanda Weir's kick viewed from above

I was at WCSN.com watching the heart wrenching silver the US got in the women's 4x100 relay and they showed the race briefly from overhead. Amanda Weir's kick is so symmetrical that the wake behind her looked like a DNA helix.

Natalie Coughlin on a mission

"I was really strong," Coughlin said. [Understatement, she was 8 tenths off her world record in the 100 back.]

"I did exactly what I needed to do for tonight. I have a final and semi tonight so hopefully I can get through those and look forward to the final tomorrow." [Read as, consider yourselves "pwned" tomorrow night because I really want this.]

Read it over at Eurosport.com: [Link]

Australian women beat the USA and Germans in the 4x100 relay

From Eurosport: "...Libby Lenton - formerly the 100m freestyle world record holder - got the race off to a flying start swimming the second fastest 100m in history to put Australia in front of the United States' Natalie Coughlin after the first leg ..." [Link]

Gold - AUS 3:35.48 Course Record
1.)LENTON (53.42), SCHLANGER (53.95), REESE (54.90), HENRY (53.21)

2.) Silver - USA 3:35.68 COUGHLIN (54.13), NYMEYER (53.50), WEIR (54.02), JOYCE (54.03)

3.) Bronze - NED 3:36.81 DEKKER (54.57), KROMOWIDJOJO (54.82), HEEMSKERK (54.13), VELDHUIS (53.29)

STEFFEN (52.65) Fastest time

Gold in the 4x100 relay

The USA stormed it but look at Magnini's time for Italia. Also the race featured two swimmers of African ethnicity: Sicot and Jones. From Eurosport: [Link]

1.) USA 3:12.72 Course Record
PHELPS (48.42), WALKER (48.31), JONES (48.67), LEZAK (47.32)

2.) 2. Silver - ITA 3:14.04
ROSOLINO (49.35), CALVI (49.06), GALENDA (48.45), MAGNINI (47.18) Fastest time

3. Bronze - FRA
3:14.68 GILOT (49.18), BOUSQUET (48.48), SICOT (48.84), BERNARD (48.18)