G. John Mullen analyzing races better than anybody - Rebeca Soni versus Jessica Hardy!

Coach G. John Mullen over at Swim Science is the future of swim analysis and coaching. He is a doctoral candidate at USC in physical therapy, he coaches weekly and his race analysis and postulates have have lots of math that is both demonstrable and inspiring.

Here is a snippet analysis of Rebeca Soni versus Jessica Hardy:

"... Second 25 meters: Once again, Hardy has a great turn and starts off strong getting to the 15-meter mark .4 seconds faster than Soni, but into the wall she already starts to fade. The last 10-meters into the wall, Hardy's distance per stroke is even with Soni's (1.67 meters/stroke), but her strokes/second (Stroke Rate) begins to fall to .21 strokes/second slower than her first 25 to .89. During this time Soni is steady
sailing continuing her stroke rate around .93 and her distance per stroke at 1.67 meters/stroke.

My overall impression at the first 50 is even though Hardy is ahead by .45 seconds, her slowing speed into the wall is not a good sign for the upcoming 50. ..."

[Link]

I cornered John at Starbucks yesterday we talked about swimming and blogging. Afterward he pin-pointed muscle groups for me that I need to stretch to improve my streamline. Most or all the coaches I asked about it told m to focus on my shoulders when in reality it is my upper back and pectorals that are causing me the most dificulty in executing a more reasonable streamline.

Some swimmers love walls, some just need water: Jessica Hardy and Roland Schoeman dominate in Moscow!

Jessica Hardy and Roland Schoeman continue to prove that if you "just add water" they can win.

From Swimming World:

Women's 100 breast
The United States' Jessica Hardy rattled the world record with a sterling time of 1:03.75. She came up just short of Leisel Jones' global mark of 1:03.72 set in Canberra in April 2008. With the time, she became only the second person to clear 1:04 as she wiped out her American record of 1:04.15 set at the Durban stop. That time also stood as the World Cup record. Hardy had an incredible first 50 with a 29.96 split that was just off her world record of 29.45 also set in Durban.

Men's 50 fly
South Africa's Roland Schoeman closed down the evening with a near World Cup-record setting performance when he clocked a 22.33 in the sprint fly. The time came up just short of his 22.32 set in Durban last month. Russia's Evgeny Korotyshkin touched second in 22.50 to lower his Russian record of 22.51 set in December 2008. Meanwhile, South Africa went 1-3 with Lyndon Ferns taking third in 22.93.

[Link]

The Jessica Hardy ruling is about to become more messy

Phillip Hersh in the L.A. Times:

"... What is the difference between U.S. swimmer Hardy and Chinese swimmers Qu Jing, Liu Bingyao, Zuo Ziqiao, Fu Bo and Hu Shaozi?

And why might that difference factor into Chicago's 2016 Olympic hopes?

First, the facts (with a little interpretation, of course):

* All six swimmers tested positive last year for the anabolic steroid clenbuterol.

* The five Chinese have received two-year suspensions, as mandated by the World Anti-Doping Code, from their national swimming federation.

* Hardy's two-year suspension was cut in half by an American Arbitration Assn. panel that on Monday issued one of the strangest rulings in what long has been an Alice-in-Wonderland world of doping punishments. ..."

He goes on to say that the shortened suspension [flies] in the face of the IOC and WADA ..."

[Link]

Read the article for he goes into specifics.

Next, Ron Judd in Seattle who I think is the finest sports journalist around quoted the following in the Seattle Times:

"... "Every single raw material used in the specific lots consumed by Ms. Hardy [Hardy is the AdvoCare Lawyer] also tested negative (Not Detected) for Clenbuterol."

The test results were certified by NSF International, an independent laboratory licensted to test for controlled substances, the release states. The results also were certified by HFL Sports Science, a World Anti-Doping Association-experienced laboratory that AdvoCare says has analyzed more samples for banned substances than any other lab in the world. ..."

[Link]

My take: I am willing to presume Jessica Hardy is telling the truth because I have a reasonable doubt or more accurately, a bias towards "Nutritional Supplement" salesmen.

I will accept that her intake was accidental but I can't accept that her suspension is allowed to be shortened whereas the other athletes from China are forced to sit out the 2012 games. We either follow international rules or we don't compete.

Jessica Hardy cleared of intentional doping and will sue her former supplement sponsor, "Advocare"

Jessica Hardy was quoted as saying this in the L.A. Times:

"..."I am extremely happy that the arbitration panel was persuaded by my scientific proof of supplement contamination, and that they believed me when I told them that I never have and never would use performance enhancing drugs..."

[Link]

I really should have slept on this before posting but what keeps running through my head is what was Jessica Hardy thinking when she signed on the dotted line with a company whose slogan is: "We build Champions", and according to the OC Register, has several product liability lawsuits filed against them.

WADA Rule: If you admit you doped after being confronted - your doping suspension is one year?

From AGI Italia in regards to Italian cyclist Marta Bastianelli: "... articles 2.1 and 10.5.2 of Wada regulations, declared the athlete herself responsible for the ascribed charges and, recognizing the reduction of the sentence for a not substantial offence, imposed her a year ban with effect from 7 August 2008, date of the precautionary suspension, to 6 August 2009. ..."

Jessica Hardy, post trials, got a one year ban after admitting she inadvertently took Clenbuterol via a food supplement. [Link] The Guardian [Link]

Jessica Hardy has removed her name from the US Olympic team

Associated Press: "...The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency announced Hardy's decision Friday, saying she did so "in the best interests of the team. ..." [Link]

Now that she has removed herself from the team and will not appeal her removal, what happens to the alternates? This whole episode has been a definitive fiasco in planning by both US Swimming and the US Olympic committee.

A deal must have been struck. I am NOT saying that Hardy is dirty; that is for WADA and USADA to judge, I just have a strong suspicion that a lot of people really want this to episode to go away and to do so quickly. Now, Jessica Hardy has provided an out.

After reading this from Bloomberg, this sort of smells like the deal to me: "...Hardy didn't contest the laboratory findings and was granted additional time by an American Arbitration Association panel to investigate possible causes of her positive test. While she received a two-year ban from competition, Hardy will be permitted to come back to the AAA panel to present evidence which could reduce her period of ineligibility, USADA said. ..." [Link]

Daniel at cruzatte.com is following the Jessica Hardy positive test very closely

Daniel is following the Jessica Hardy positive drug test and fallout very closely. Here is a link to cruzatte.com which has several articles regarding Hardy, AdvoCare, her appeal and more. [Link]

Dara Torres, Jessica Hardy, Lara Jackson in the US Trials 50m free final

Dave Salo weighs in on why Jessica Hardy tested positive!

In my uninformed opinion Dave Salo should have said nothing but instead Coach Salo was quoted in the Orange County Register as saying this: "... Dave Salo, Hardy's coach at the Trojan Swim Club, told the Orange County Register on Thursday he thinks Hardy's positive drug test at the recent U.S. Olympic Trials for the banned stimulant clenbuterol was the result of "inadvertent consumption of a banned substance" possibly through supplements or vitamins. ..." [Link]

He also mentioned that he told Jessica Hardy to have whatever she is taking tested for purity. Though I understand his intention, that too is a bit ill advised for the product here is not regulated whatsoever and the quality and content can and will change from time to time.

These companies that make and distribute supplement products don't actually make these supplement products anyway. They are primarily distribution companies that buy product in bulk form from an original design manufacturers (ODM), slap on an expensive looking logo that says "Bicep-Blaster" or "Power-Butt-Desintegrator" and then they sell it.

They don't know what is in it especially if it is from overseas.

Jessica Hardy was part of that machine and she got hosed. If Dave Salo's speculation is correct, Tara Kirk, Lara Jackson and Amanda Weir belong on that Beijing squad and they were improperly denied.

USA Swimming had a two day window after Hardy tested positive to include Kirk, Weir and Jackson to the US Olympic Swim team!

Swimming World editor, Jason Marstellar, actually took the time to read the FINA rules to find out when the deadline was to declare our US Olympic swim team. The deadline was actually July 23 not the 21st. USA Swimming at the very latest received news of Hardy's positive test on June 21st; (If you believe that this was the date they found out), and USA Swimming consequently had a 48 hour window to select alternates in her place.

From Swimming World: "... However, the drop-dead deadline from FINA to receive entry forms from National Olympic Committees, available on its website here, was July 23 - in Switzerland.

Now, at first blush, someone might say that USA Swimming had plenty of time to pull the trigger and replace Hardy with Tara Kirk in the 100 breast, Lara Jackson in the 50 free, and Amanda Weir in the 400 freestyle relay. Knowing something on July 21, regardless of a self-imposed deadline, should allow someone to make a last-ditch effort before the true final deadline of July 23 in the final stages of the process, wouldn't you think?

There are so many levels involved in this conversation, that I don't believe it can be simplified that much ...." [Link]

Well, I think it can be simplified, boolean and positioned black-and-white terms: Jessica Hardy tested positive so you select the alternates! Period. :-P

If the time frame does not allow for Hardy to make the case that she is innocent, then USA Swimming has to take responsibility for this and fix both the process and the screw-ups.

Here are some simple suggestions:

1. Acknowledge you played havoc with the FINA rules by making up your own silly deadline and state you want to fix it.

2. Move Olympic Trials to sometime in April or May rather than early July thus allowing a 12-week window or more for testing to be completed, appeals to be made, and for USA Swimming's to get their bloody "ducks in a row." Apparently they need that much time.

3. Make good with all those swimmers that were effected by the poor execution and the sloppy handling of the FINA rules by either placing them on the team; (if FINA will allow it now that it is past the deadline), or by compensating them economically for the time, effort and training costs for following the rules and then being denied a legitimate spot that they honestly earned.

Above is a photo of Amanda Weir.

Jessica Hardy, Larsen Jensen and 4 other Olympians have a lot in common!

UPDATE: Orange County does a partial retraction to the Jessica Hardy/AdvoCare story. What is really interesting was what wasn't retracted: [Link]

"What a mess!" is how the email from Daniel ended and what an understatement that was! Daniel emailed me a slew of articles about the Jessica Hardy fallout and all of which clearly illustrate what a tangled web this is going to be. Perhaps even to the level of a Balco if more Olympians test positive?

So, what does Jessica Hardy, Larsen Jensen and four other Olympians have in common? From the OC Register: "... World champion swimmer Jessica Hardy is one of at least six members of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team who are listed as endorsers of a nutritional supplements and sport performance products company whose products have been banned by the NCAA and have been linked to positive drug tests. ..."

"...Hardy has promoted her use of AdvoCare products on both her personal website and company websites. On one AdvoCare site Hardy said she used 12 of the company's products with names like "Muscle Gain," "Muscle Strength," "Catalyst," "Amplify A.T." and "02 Gold. ... " [Link]

Also mentioned in the article is that AdvoCare also has 14 product liability lawsuits filed against it! In a side bar at the OC Register, this is why it si going to get real messy. More from the OC Register: "...But this press release from the NCAA says student athletes are inadvertently testing positive for synephrine, a banned substance, and lists a number of supplements that contain the drug, including one made by AdvoCare. ..."

I suspect that all the athletes connected to this company, Jessica Hardy, Larsen Jensen and the four others are going to be extraordinarily scrutinized at this point.

Jessica Hardy tested positive on July 4th 2008 - Hello? Was anybody home at USA Swimming?

Jessica Hardy tested "barely positive" on July 4th, or two-whole-weeks before USA Swimming had to declare their team to the IOC.

In project management textbooks words and concepts like "deliverables" and "milestones" are defined and are recommended to be acknowledged or signed off in some way.

I don't know for certain but one would think that USADA and USA Swimming were talking to each other once the initial findings were known yet no "Plan B" was in place to replace an athlete if a second test came back positive. Why? Especially if you had a deadline to declare a team to the IOC within two weeks.

Who is the genius that screwed that up?

Perhaps a two week warning notice for USA Swimming was not enough time which then raises the question that perhaps Olympic Trials were held too late in the year. If that is the case, why would they play "chicken" with such a deadline?

Consequently, due to their seemingly incompetent management or their presumption that all USA Swimming athletes would test negative, there are two athletes sitting at home right now, Tara Kirk and Lara Jackson, who legally, honestly and ethically deserved to be in Beijing in two weeks but it is looking like they won't be.

This is a serious screw-up on the part of USA Swimming and they need to take responsibility. How will they rectify this for these two swimmers?

From the New York Times: "... A person close to Hardy, who requested anonymity because he did not have all the details of the results, said he was told that she tested “barely positive” on July 4. That was the night Hardy placed fourth in the 100-meter freestyle to earn a relay spot.

The positive test, the person said, was sandwiched between negative test results on July 1, after Hardy’s victory in the 100 breaststroke, and on July 6, after she finished second in the 50 freestyle behind Dara Torres. [Link]

In my opinion USA Swimming needs some sort of internal audit for it is there responsibility to deliver an effective team to represent the USA in the Olympics and that requires planning, organization and a speedy determination of who is allowed on that team. They apparently were blindsided by a situation way to obvious to not predict.

One has to ask how culpable USADA/USA Swimming are for this Olympic team mess-up!

I spoke with someone close to this situation by email this morning and they filled me into the missed details by the two organizations that are suppose to serve the athletes.

On July 21st the IOC required an Olympic team roster from USA Swimming. Yesterday, three days past that deadline it was leaked that Jessica Hardy had tested positive for a banned substance. (Newsweek reported that it may have been a stimulant which could be as simple as an antihistamine or something more insidious as meth.)

The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) performed the test and obviously notified USA Swimming before the July 21st deadline. One would think that either USA Swimming would have pushed USADA to deliver results well before they had to declare a de facto team or that USA Swimming would have scheduled Olympic Trials earlier enough to ensure that all their athletes rights would be respected.

In project management textbooks they talk of deliverables and milestones that should signed off and closely managed. I didn't see that here.

From USA Swimming's perceived "secret deals" with the Wasserman Media Group (WMG), the accusations from TYR that USA Swimming is engaging in anti-trust tactics with Speedo, and the bullying of Floswimming. One has to wonder who is running the shop there!

Jessica Hardy tested positive! - Both "A" and "B" samples!

When I was at workout tonight, Erik H., told me Jessica Hardy tested positive. As soon I got back I saw a link in my inbox from an anonymous reader linking me to a Swimming World article.

My first reaction was shock/denial, my secondary reaction is that no country has a monopoly on ethics. My third reaction came after I read the Swimming World Piece.

From Swimming World: "...The news comes just a bit too late to be helpful for Lara Jackson, the third-place finisher at Trials in the 50 free, and Tara Kirk, the third-place finisher in the 100 breast. After not making the team originally, the pair would be bypassed for Joyce and Soni. ..."

According to a report at NBCOlympics.com, "both her A and B samples have come back positive." NBCOlympics.com also reports that the tests came from Trials. ..." [Link]

If Jessica Hardy took drugs then the aforementioned swimmers who were clean and honest and who probably worked a major portion of their lives for this goal should be Olympians and sent to Beijing anyway.

Screw this silly rule that they can only pick from available talent. Lara Jackson and Tara Kirk are Olympians and should be sent!

If ever a lawsuit was warranted to get one placed on an Olympic team, this is it!!!