The 'FINA Arena World Cup' featured great performances and big payouts!

This FINA Arena World Cup was a great meet and you can get a PDF of the results at Lane 9 News. [Link]

For instance: Randall Bal "leapfrogged" three of Peter Marshall's WRs in the 50scm backstroke to claim the title.

Tara Kirk really did well finishing first in both the 50scm, and the 100scm breaststroke with little training.

Kara Lynn Joyce stands out too finishing 3rd in the 50scm free and 6th in the 400scm free which is pretty impressive considering that she is a sprinter.

Then there were the WRs set by Alshammar but then eclipsed by Guehrer Marieke in the last heat of the 50scm fly.

We need more of these international races.

Peter Marshall's things to do list: Thursday: Set world record - Friday: Set world record - Saturday: Set world record!

Originally spotted in an email alert from Lane 9 News, I zipped over to Universal Sports to go see Peter Marshall's WR; It is indeed a spectacular swim and worth a look. Then I noticed that they posted it on YouTube an hour ago and with permission I am able to post it here. Here is the YouTube description: "...2008, Berlin, Germany, FINA, Swimming World Cup, American Peter Marshall smashes his five day old record in the mens 100m backstroke, by .31 seconds. With a new time of 49.63 seconds, he chasing down Cameron Van Der Burgh for the world cup...." [Link]

So, where was this guy in Beijing? From AP News: "...Marshall, an Atlanta native who starred on the Stanford swim team, set a world record in the same event in 2004 but was denied a spot on the Athens Olympic team by a mere four-hundredths of a second ...

Believing that would be his final meet, Marshall didn't train at all for the next two months. He went camping at Yosemite National Park. He visited family in Georgia. He hung out with old friends and did a little surfing.

"I didn't even touch the water unless I was on a surfboard," he said.

After the layoff, Marshall made a slight revision in the rest-of-his-life schedule. He decided to swim a handful of World Cup events in the fall before retiring. [Link]

Peter Marshall swims for TYR.

The 'FINA/Arena World Cup' is filling my mailbox with WR alerts! - Here is a link to some video!

VIDEO: Peter Marshall swims two world records

VIDEO: Watch day 2 from Stockholm

VDEO: Marshall's golden day in Stockholm


Also, Therese Alshammar has really done well. I have been rooting for her every since her blue eyes did me in! From Universal Sports: "... In the final event of the day, Swede Therese Alshammar delighted the home crowd by setting a world record in the women's 50m butterfly. Her time of 25.31 bested the old mark of 25.32 set by Australian Felicity Galvez last April. It was the fourth world record to fall at the two-day meet. ..."

Oh, Kim F. sent me a note that the world record in the backstroke was set in a TYR Tracer Rise. Berlin is going to be the final stop and it is going to totally rage! You can watch it for free at Universal Sports: [Link]