"Oh Noes" - FINA calls for emergency suit meeting, Coach Alan Thompson has been asked to attend!

Is Alan Thompson pro Speedo? These quotes in the The Sydney Morning Herald seemingly declare his allegiance to the suit manufacturer:

"... AUSTRALIAN swimming coach Alan Thompson says there may be swimsuits on the market that will not pass the new guidelines put in place at the weekend by the sport's governing body, but the Speedo LZR Racer won't be among them and his team will be able to wear them at the Rome world championships in July. ..."

"...Asked if he was concerned about his team's suit supplier, Speedo, and the availability of its LZR Racer suit for Rome, Thompson said Speedo had assured him of compliance...."

Regarding Speedo competitors or rival suit manufacturers:

"...I think there is a possibility that some of them won't make the thickness and the buoyancy requirements," he said. "I think that's what we have been wanting, a framework around it just to measure that. People say they are buoyant and all sorts of things. Now you can measure it and there is this framework there so you will know for certain, and if they don't pass the testing, they are out." ..."

[Link]

It is my opinion that the average mouth speaks faster than the average brain's ability to measure the words coming out of it. (I for one am certainly the template for that theory.) Hence, when Coach Alan Thompson quasi-guarantees that the Speedo LZR will be available for Rome but seemingly declares in gleeful tones that some of his competitors won't, not only is that a red flag that the LZR is not as fast as the competitors, but a possible statement of his allegiance to Speedo if I am reading this right? It also has shades of Coach Mark Schubert who is being sued for this sort of stuff by TYR

Now this FOX SPORTS:

He [Coach Alan Thompson] said next week's meeting would focus on the legality of suit designs for the world championships and welcomed the move by FINA to conduct an open forum with national coaches to explain the process around the testing and approval of the suits.

"It is a proactive move and it will clearly spell out what the rules are and what suits athletes can wear, so there is no confusion," Thompson said.

[Link]

Is FINA actually having a Coach who apparently is looking forward to his swimmers wearing the Speedo LZR in Rome... discussing the approval process to rival suit makers? FINA will explain it, not the FINA Coaches Commission!

My gosh, Could Speedo be driving this secondary approval process in the first place?

Shane Gould on Speedsuits: "... I've done tests myself and they float higher than a lily pad!"

eWhat a classic quote in regards to the technological advancement of fabric.

Shane Gould on speedsuits and fairness, From the Sydney Morning Herald Online: "... The FINA Handbook of 2005-2009 states: "No swimmer shall be permitted to use or wear any device that may aid his speed, buoyancy or endurance during a competition."

Gould added: "What are the protocols? How exactly do they test the suits? What are the specific scientific tests they do to determine whether these suits float or not? I've done tests myself and they float higher than a lily pad. ..." [Link]

Shane Gould won 3 golds, a silver and a bronze in the 1972 Munich Olympics. "... She is the only person, male or female, to hold every world freestyle record from 100 m to 1500 m simultaneously, and the first female swimmer ever to win three Olympic gold medals in world record time. ... wikipedia"

Arguably she could be considered the greatest freestyle swimmer ever.

Don Talbot makes controversial statements about performance enhancing drugs

I woke up this morning and looked at my Swimming World RSS feed and saw that they had an article about Don Talbot, a famed Australian coach, stating that perhaps performance enhancing drugs should be legal.

This is just one of his quotes to the Sydney Morning Hearld: "When people start to talk about legalising it, I don't like the sound of that, but maybe it needs to be looked at more," Talbot told The Sun-Herald. * [Link]

In The Daily Telegraph Talbot really sounded off and called those who dope "bastards" and "buggers" and that someone should give Marion Jones "...a kick up the arse." He went on to say she should give back all of her money, her houses, fame etc. (She has four houses.) [Link]

The only way to remove dopers from the Olympics is to remove the profit potential for cheating. The Olympics must return to amature athletes only whereas sponsors and athlete endorsements are disallowed. Dopers should go to jail for fraud since great sums of money are involved and subsequently these cheaters should be held liable in civil lawsuits as well. There, Dan Talbot has his suggestion and now I have added mine.

The above photo is entitled: "Epogen, the wonder drug that helps Fred's anemia." I found it at Flickr.com: [Link]