USA Today: "FINA to announce approved swimsuit list!"

Attention FINA: If a FINA staff member is being paid by a suit manufacturer, they should not be allowed on a FINA commission deciding which suits get to stay and which suits have to go.

From USA Today: "... LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Swimming's governing body was preparing to announce Tuesday which high-tech racing suits will be approved for this year's world championships.

The list has been created by a special commission which included national team head coaches Mark Schubert of the United States and Australia's Alan Thompson. ..."

[Link]

How is this for some background info: Mark Schubert, according the New York Times blog, Schubert was being paid by Speedo when coaching our Olympic team. Could Alan Thompson be on the Speedo's payroll too?

"...What he did not mention is that the defendants, in asking for a continuance, provided sworn testimony from Stu Isaac, the director of marketing for Speedo, confirming that [Mark] Schubert is paid to endorse Speedo and that one of Isaac’s jobs is to manage Speedo’s relationship with USA Swimming. ..."

[Link]

Emotional bell curve: Libby Trickett knows just how Kara Lynn Joyce felt when she was added to the US Olympic Team!

I didn't know that Libby failed to qualify till after Pang was DQed. It was one of those races where I assumed Steffen and Trickett were a "gimme." She is the world record holder, you would figure at the very least she would pull a lane 7 or lane 2 assignemnt, instead she lost and ultimately she was overwhelmed.
This same circumstance happened to her in Athens as well. Then, minutes later it was announce that Pang was DQed.

From The Australian: Trickett swam a poor 54.10sec to finish fourth in her semi, a time which left her hopes of qualiying for the final hanging by a thread.

In the next semi-final minutes later, the first five swimmers to touch the wall under Trickett's time, leaving her ninth fastest and out of the final.

But then, in what Australian head coach Alan Thompson described as "some intervention from above"..." [Link]

Bad ventillation in the Water Cube?

The Australian press is using words like "smog on the water" but I think it's humidity and poor ventilation within the Water Cube. It's a vast structure and has to many intricate shapes to allow for easy ventilation. (It was an Australian architect that designed it too.) Here is what the The Sydney Morning Herald said:

While they were gobsmacked by the striking architecture of the venue, they were also left bewildered by a dense haze that hovered over the pool.

Australian head coach Alan Thompson said while many of his team had spent some time taking pictures of the bubble-clad stadium from the outside, the misty conditions inside had been noticed.

"I am trying to find an answer to that question … I did notice the haze," Thompson said. ..." [Link]

Also mentioned in the article is that Michael Phelps isn't talking to the media - he's focused, he's channeling Spitz, he's under lock-down and amping up for his close-up with history!

I found the photo above at the Beijiner: [Link]