Speedo Grand Challenge Day 3 Prelim Results

Amanda beard swam a 2:34.03 for the 200m breast in Day 3 of the Speedo Grand Challenge. That is 13 seconds slower than her American record and 15 seconds off the world record. Granted this is just prelim results but three other swimmers swam seconds faster. Placings below:

1. Rebecca Soni, 20 - TROJAN-CA: 2:31.49
2. Keri Hehn, 26 - TROJAN-CA: 2:31.60
3. Tara Kirk, 24 - UN-PC/Stanford: 2:32.35
4. Amandea Beard, 25 - TROJAN-CA: 2:34.03

Prelim Results: [Link]

As of this meet, Amanda Beard may have qualifying times for Olympic Trials but she is seemingly not prepared enough to make the Olympic team. This is very precarious for her since she has to make the Olympic Team team to add equity to her sexualized, "Amanda Beard," brand and for her licensing agent, Stone America who wants to cut deals.

Last month in Australia we saw world records threatened and a world record fall by seconds in the 200 fly. We saw motivated swimming from all over the world. These swimmers were prepared, they races, and then hit the pool the day after World Championships. We have seen these swimmers compete in such events as the Duel in the Pool, The Eric Namesnick Memorial Grand Prix etc. etc..

I havn't seen any motivation from Amanda Beard whatsoever to race since Athens 2004. A sprinter like Gary Hall can take a 100 days to prepare for the Olympics, a specialist in the 200 anything needs 2-years-plus at least and more like four.

Back from pier-to-pier with Anthony

The drive up to the Manhattan beach pier. This picture was taken at 7:45 and the beach is all ready humming.

When we got to Hermosa pier a group of swimmers were taking off well before us and got a half-pier head start. I could tell Anthony smelled blood; for if there is ever a pod of swimmers in front of Anthony, it's like waving a rabbit under a greyhound's nose. Hence, I swam at full blown race-pace the whole way to keep up. Ultimately I did a pretty good job. He got me by about 25 yards after catching two great waves to shore.

(Oh, some 'wanker' fisherman threw something at me and hit me in the shoulder when I rounded Hermosa pier. Whatever it was, it had gravity and mass but the water dampened it. This guy actually risk getting arrested for assault or battery and perhaps sued over a stupid fish.)

A crowd of swimmers and triathletes, some of them LA Tri members, perhaps some SCAQ swimmers and some nomads meet up at the Manhattan pier each Sunday morning to walk/jog to Hermosa Pier and swim back to Manhattan Pier. Some swim the whole thing, some swim half, and some even less. If you swim the whole thing it is 2 miles.

Swimming Pier-to-Pier this morning again with Anthony

The picture to the left is Hermosa, the picture to the right is Manhattan. I am on my way out the door to go swim from one pier to the other, or a two mile swim, to get ready for the Alcatraz Sharfest race which is in four weeks two weeks. I feel tight and sore from yesterday's sprint workout with Erik Hochstein but so does Anthony. Hopefully he is as sore as I am.

These pictures were taken at Watch-the-Water-dot-org at 6:50 AM.

The Sewage spill advisory for Venice and Dockweiler has been lifted. It's not like the sewage magically disappeared but rather dispersed.

Speedo Grand Challenge Day 1 Results

Here are the Day one results for the Speedo Grand Challenge. As I thought, Amanda Beard is swimming faster than her seed times: Prelims [Link] Results [Link].

Amanda Beard's 100 breast was slow for a world class athlete. Her time was 4-and-a-half seconds off the meet record, 5-and-a-half seconds off the American record, and 6-seconds-plus off off Leisel Jones World Record. She scratched the final heat.

She swam the slowest 50's in the heat and was trailing from beginning to end, but, she did swim faster than her seed time.

Both Eddie Reese and David Marsh on Butterfly but Ian Crocker does it his own way

Last night I watched the instructional DVDs, Eddie Reese on Butterfly and David Marsh's Swimming faster butterfly. Both had different takes on how to do a proper pull and sweep. (The above links have movie clip samples)

Eddie Reese of the University of Texas, Olympic team coach for many Olympics said that the arms come out at shoulder width and began there sweep just under the neck so close that your thumbs nearly touch. David Marsh of Auburn stated that the pull sweeps underneath your belly-button and then sweep out as if you were emulating an hour glass shape. I talked to Anthony this morning and he said that the Richard Quick DVD; (Richard Quick coaches at Stanford), also endorsed the sweep in and sweep in and sweep out as the coaches above.

But Ian Crocker goes his own way. His elbows are high and he practically sweeps straight on through with only a wobble.

To see 'Bright Cove' hosted films on this blog you need to install the 'Flash 9 Player'

Movies I have posted and linked to at Bright Cove have not been showing up. This includes the Ian Crocker/Michael Phelps trailer and the UCLA Bruins Masters Swim Meet video. It appears that you have to install the Flash Player 9 for them to work. The Flash 9 Player is free and painless to install: [Link]

OGO Water has 35% more oxygen it! - The internet told me it will make me swim faster!

I am a sucker for a good design and if it can spin a fairly tale that plays up to a personal internal bias that I possess, I will join that cult and buy that product!

Meet OGO water. A bottled water product export from the top of planet geographically known as Norway, home to such gods as TYR, Thor and Odin, comes a water with 35% more oxygen in it then boring old earth water. Subsequently, with all this added O2 in it, one should be able to swim faster, run harder and jump higher, right?

Well, if this were true, that your body could absorb extra O2 through hydration, then why do cyclists blood dope with Epogen or EPO when they could insert more O2 into their blood via a water product? The answer to this rhetorical question is NO; we are not fish and we don't absorb O2 that way.

Airated water with added O2 is viable and makes the water pleasant to drink and swim in but it's not part of the plan when it comes to oxygenating yourself.

Also, as one Gizmodo blog comment put it so eloquently: "... I agree with your hypothesis that no product can be truly useful in a package that pretty?" [Link]

With having said all the above: Hey, look at it, it's beautiful and looks like a drop of water. It also appeals to my personal internal bias so I am going to buy a guppy jug worth and swim faster than all of you. You will see and I will also review it here. For now, here is a snippet from the PDF:

• Produced by The O-Company in the Netherlands, OGO is also popularly known as “The Breathing OGO Oxygen Water is obtained from a local natural spring water source in the Netherlands and around 35 times more oxygen compared to regular water. Verve Brands LLC, an importer of international brands based in Memphis, Tennessee, has been awarded the exclusive appointment and market OGO Oxygen Water in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean Islands.

"Duel in the Pool Meet" - Ian Crocker filmed underwater for a half-a-lap

He is the world record holder. Phelps hasn't touched that.

Venice beach and Dockweiler Beach is closed today till further notice!

The beaches here in L.A. County should have water that is just as clean and beautiful as the clear turquoise water of the above photo taken at Emerald Bay, Catalina Island! A bay that is only 26 miles off our coast!

"... Beach Closed at portions of Venice Beach and Dockweiler Beach. This Beach Closure extends from Ballona Creek to 1/4 Mile North and South of the creek, and is a result of a sewage discharge. ..." -- Watch-the-water-dot-org

"... About 5,000 gallons of sewage spilled into Ballona Creek Wednesday, prompting Los Angeles County health officials to post warnings at the beaches for people to keep clear of the water.

Tree roots apparently blocked a set of Los Angeles city-owned sewer pipes leading to a condominium complex in the 4200 block of Wilshire Boulevard around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, but the problem wasn't reported until seven hours later, according to Cora Jackson-Fossett, a spokeswoman for the city's Bureau of Sanitation. ..." -- KNX 1070 News Radio

5000 gallons from a condo complex equal 40,000 pounds of sewage. Ergo, this leak; (Read as flood), has been going on for quite some time. Hmmm, say 5,000 toilet flushes?

The L.A. County is over developed with cement, oil, and trash. It should have NO runoff into the ocean at all. This includes the L.A. river, the gutters, the creeks, and river mouths. All the above should be routed to treatment facilities or dammed and treated for farming and power generation. Swimming in an ocean at a large metropolitan city should not be a health issue but today it is.

Erik Vendt, 1500m specialist, has a blog

He also "owned" Michael Phelps in the 1500m free last weekend at the Eric Namesnik Memorial Gran Prix. Though the 1500m free is not Michael Phelps' event, Erik Vendt used just 3 seconds to remind him. Vendt: 15:31.29 - Phelps: 15 34.18.


Erik has a blog and a photo gallery. Here is a link to his blog: [Link]

Speedo has a Podcast page

If you have iTunes; (it's free), you can listen to dozens of interviews and profiles of the Speedo stable of swimmers. Most of the interviews are personality profiles but they do include some insights on how the athletes train. On Page 15 of the Podcast page there is an interview between Olympian Scott Goldblatt and founder of the website Timed Finals and Natalie Coughlin regarding her training, Pan Pacs performance and life after swimming. [Link]

Amanda Beard has presumably put down a false seed time for a meet this weekend! - Ringer!

Not only is Amanda Beard posing in Playboy but she has presumably put down a false seed time for the, Nova Aquatics SPEEDO GRAND CHALLENGE, set for this weekend in Irvine, California.

Amanda Beard holds the American record for the 200m breast in a time of 2:22.24. This record was set in July of 2004 just before Athens. (To the right is a picture of her doing just that at Olympic trials.) For the meet this weekend she put down a seed time of 2:38.09. That's more than 16 seconds slower! Now, either Amanda has gotten really slow or she wants to clean water to win her heat with. I didn't bother looking at her other times.

For seed times for the meet, here is a link to the PDF: [Link]

More Ian Crocker Fly but this time from underwater - Just loving that pull!

Ian Crocker does fly different than everybody!

His hands are perfectly set up for his catch and while most butterfly swimmers make an hour glass motion with their pull that comes into their chest and explodes out their hips, Crocker keeps his elbows higher and has more of a wobble in the pull than an hour glass shape that Marsh and Reese talk about. This video is is the best butterfly technique video I have seen at You Tube. Doing it this way has made my "anemic butterfly on life support" a second or so faster.

San Francisco swimmers are the toughest in the United States!

I will be doing the Alcatraz Sharkfest in 17 days with Anthony. It's an open water race to commemorate the successful escape by the Anglin Brothers from Alcatraz some 45 years ago. It's not an easy race. It's formidable, intimidating and though I finish in the top 10%, I get a little nervous during the swim. It's nothing like Pier-to-Pier or the 2.4 Open water swim at Kona. The water is cold, the currents overwhelmingly powerful and you MUST know the tide schedules or a 3-5 knot ebb tide can carry you out of the bay and as far as the Farallon Islands. If you have seen Shark Week on the Discovery channel you know the geographic significance of that.)

The San Francisco Chronicle has an article about a foot race called the Bay to Breakers race whereas you run from the San Francisco Bay all the way to the beach but these athletes decided to swim it instead. Of course like a true San Franciscan they wore no wet-suits and the water had to be at most 55 degrees. Snippet from the article:

• Boldest was Jessica Sullivan, 30, a high school biology teacher from San Mateo. Sullivan planned to swim about 21 miles, circling around the city from Candlestick to Fort Funston -- hoping to complete this route for the first time. She did her "jump" into the chilly bay waters off Candlestick Point at 3:26 a.m., so she could start at slack tide and later score a boost from a potent, 5-knot ebb. [Link]

*Disclaimer: Don't try this at home or at your local beach break or bay. These guys are from San Francisco and innately contain the "personality disorders" necessary to do stuff like like this. ;-)

Olympic Trials will be held in Omaha, Nebraska

Olympic Trials will be held in Omaha, Nebraska. From USA Swimming:

"Officials of the Omaha Sports Commission, USA Swimming, City of Omaha and Qwest Center Omaha announced today that approximately 9,000 all-session tickets to the 2008 Olympic Team Trials for Swimming, set for June 29 to July 6, will go on sale Thursday, May 24, at 10 a.m. ..." [Link]

Also, Mutual of Omaha has been a sponsor of swimming related events as well such as Duel in the Pool which they plan to do again with US versus the EU.

I like their logo. too.

Michael Phelps - Ian Crocker movie trailer

I posted this two weeks ago I believe from a You Tube link I found. This is from Bright Cove and look at the difference in clairty! Here is a link to larger version: [link]

Sprinter, Cullen Jones, profiled and interviewed on BET's "Ballers"

An underwater sculpture garden

I found mention of this site at Wooster Collective; a site that chronicles street art here, there, and everywhere. In this case here, there and everywhere is underwater. Sort of reminds me of the old submarine ride at Disneyland.

This sculpture garden is located in Grenada in the West Indies and has it's very own website. Be sure to check out the gallery: [Link]

This is what Michael Phelps would look like if he had a white beard and stringy long hair

Michael Phelps doing breststroke. He looks sort of like a swimming Santa Claus or a character from Lord of the Rings.

Google Trends: Amanda Beard is as big or bigger than Michael Phelps in some cities and regions

Google has a tool called Google Trends and you can compare one trend; (or trends), against the other or others just by typing two or three trends together and separating them with a comma. Such as this trend search: "Britney Spears, Paris Hilton".

Google Trends will tell you who is being search for the most and then provide a comparison graph for different regions, cities and languages.

In our imaginary search of Britney and Paris, Britney is huge in Latin America whereas Paris is big in Los Angeles. (Who knew!?!)

Next, I did a trend-search comparing Amanda Beard to other notable female swimmers such as Natalie Coughlin, Kate Ziegler and Katie Hoff and on a lark I threw in Michael Phelps in the mix for an extreme trend result.

I did this trend-search to see if it would validate my premise that Amanda Beard's decision to pose nude in Playboy will put media attention upon Beard's naked breasts or lack thereof instead of the accomplishments of the US women's team.

Though the trends favor Michael Phelps, Beard is searched for more than Phelps in countries like Australia, Spain, and Italy, and even in cities like Tucson, and Indianapolis. The only other swimmer that registers is Natalie Coughlin and she is barely a blip. It is a de facto shame because Natalie has proven to be a better swimmer this past year.

Upon viewing these stats, I now wonder if Beard's soft porn stunt will hurt both the brand equity or even the integrity of the US women's team since Beard will be the focal point rather than the women's team accomplishments. Obviously Beard disagrees or does not care.

The trend graph can be seen here: [Link]

XII FINA World Masters Qulaifying Times Released

They are slow too; slower than the qualifying times for FINA World Masters at Stanford in 2006.

• Here is a link to the qualifying times: [Link]
• Here is a link to the schedule of events: [Link]

I am trying out a new video sharing service

Here is the UCLA Bruins Masters Swim Meet video on Bright Cove. Big difference in quality between both You Tube and Daily Motion. I endorse Bright Cove for the time being. To see a larger version go here: [Link]

Chinese men's swimming at the Olympic level is in trouble but the women look good.

China just finished it's national championships and it was ugly. Only five Chinese men made the Olympic standard. Snippet from the article:

• The national championships were meant to begin a confidence-building process leading up to the 2008 Games, but national coach Zhang Yadong said he saw little to celebrate. [Link]
  

Though this is really bad news for the Chinese men's team, there is something very impressive about this Chinese team. Snippet from the article:

• Not a single registered Chinese swimmer failed a doping test in 2006 despite a marginal increase in test numbers, local media reported on Wednesday.

• None of the 922 tests on 456 swimmers, both in and out of competition, turned out positive, the China Daily said, citing swimming officials. [Link]

With better nutrition, training, and free speech rights, I expect the Chinese to dominate this sport due to their shear population numbers; (See photo above), but all three suggestions would have to be implemented though.

On the Women's side all looks potentially gold. The Chinese women's team qualified for every event save for the 200 free. a standout was a 13-year-old girl named Li Xuanxu. She looks good in the IM. [Link]


Scott Brings up a good point!

Scott said...

The major handicap the less developed nations have in producing world class swimmers is the lack of available pools for the general population. With fewer pools fewer people swim and the population base from which to draw elite swimmers becomes correspondingly smaller. Building swimming pools is very expensive which is why the United States has been a perennial powerhouse in world swimming - it has the most pools per capita of any country in the world by far. China will take a long time to get even close. So these results are to be expected for a country which isn't into wholesale cheating (questions could be raised about why the women have done so much better than the men though).

The 17th man describes what it is like to swim a 2:12.27 in the 200 fly

In a stream of consciousness format Joel describes vividly what it is like to shave 2 seconds off your personal best with your right goggle lens filled with water and only 8 laps left to go. He accomplished this feat at the 2007 Short Course National Championships. [Link]

Swimming Baby - Only 18 months old

I love his backstroke but I think teaching babies how to swim is not a good idea primarily because of chlorine issues and... Well, I will leave the rest to your imagination.

The Little Mermaid slips into a swim suit designed to enhance the lifestyle of the active Muslim female.

Amazing satire! They must have been reading our blog regarding Islamic swimsuits. From the L.A. Times:

• The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen was found draped in a Muslim dress and head scarf.

• The [Little Mermaid] statue dedicated to Hans Christian Andersen draws about 1 million visitors a year and is targeted occasionally by vandals. On Tuesday, the statue's face, left arm and lap were found doused with red paint. [Link]
  

Amanda Beard Signature Collections?

I started my art career officially in '83 after I did the Ironman. My first real job was at Peter Green Design where I learned the basics of both design and business. (Thank you, Peter!) My first lesson was learning that the company OP or Ocean Pacific, which was one of the first surf clothing related companies, didn't really exist!

That is to say that they had no factories or assembly lines making surfboards or clothes and that they were really nothing more than a logo and a marketing division.

OP would go to OEMs or the Original Equipment Manufacturers would go to OP and say, "Hey, let us put this logo on these sunglasses, teeshirts, surfboards or anything that fits the OP brand and sell it!" OP would then market the brand, or the OEMs would market the brand for them, and OP would get a portion of the profits. Disney does this too and now Amanda Beard wants to do it as well. [Link]

Amanda Beard has signed with a company called Stone America. They are a brand licensing firm that takes a name like Amanda Beard, Hang Ten, Laura Ashley and then they find the OEMs who want to put their names or brand names on their products. Since humans are social animals, a brand name creates a social recognition with the buyer and thus differentiates itself as part of a particular "tribe" or social network.

Amanda Beard plans on licensing her name to any and all parties interested in leveraging her name recognition into various collections of products. I wonder how Speedo feels about this?

With Playboy, Stone America, and other business endeavors Amanda has her foot in, I see a swimmer here who is more interested in her career post Olympics rather than her swimming career at present. Subsequently, I don't believe she has the focus to make the Olympic team. I am seeing shades of Ian Thorpe here!

Swimming World Lane 9 News: Erik Hochstein set a national record in the 500 free

Dan Leonard has this update:

Karen Melick who swims with SCAQ and TYR set two national records (50-54) at the Masters SCY Nationals this Weekend: 100 Breast 1:13:93 and 200 Breast 2:40.34. Of course, she won both events.

Men's 500 freestyle

National titlists included Jon Russell (18-24 � 4:36.95), Justin Brannock (25-29 � 4:51.41), Ili Selinger (30-34 � 4:59.80), Erik Hochstein (35-39 � 4:43.17), Mike Shaffer (40-44 � 4:47.27), Matthew Kanzler (50-54 � 5:13.93), David Radcliff (70-74 � 5:57.07), Thomas Taylor (75-79 - 7:08.37), Jurgen Schmidt (80-84 � 7:48.66) and Gilbert Young (85-89 � 9:13.75). [Link]

You can watch Erik Hochstein; along with Christopher Beach, Scott Hubbard and Dan Wegner set a national record in the 800 free relay in this UCLA Bruins Master Meet video: [Link]

Team Tyr: Erik Hochstein and Dan Wegner: first and second in the 500 free!

1 Hochstein, Erik 38 TYR - 4:43.17

r:+0.93 25.99 53.88 (27.89)
1:22.21 (28.33) 1:50.77 (28.56)
2:19.33 (28.56) 2:48.17 (28.84)
3:16.52 (28.35) 3:44.70 (28.18)
4:13.72 (29.02) 4:43.17 (29.45)

2 Wegner, Dan 35 TYR - 4:50.00

r:+0.89 25.40 53.27 (27.87)
1:21.86 (28.59) 1:50.82 (28.96)
2:20.27 (29.45) 2:50.14 (29.87)
3:20.41 (30.27) 3:50.87 (30.46)
4:21.15 (30.28) 4:50.00 (28.85)

#45 Men 500 Free

I ran into this nausiating quote by Olympian, Summer Sanders! - I contrast it with a Michael Phelps quote.

Summers Sanders is an Olympian who participated in the Barcelona games in 1992. She won gold, a silver, and a bronze in primarily butterfly, IM events, and a relay. She parlayed her medals into sports media work working on such "seminal" broadcasts as Skating with Celebrities and a reality TV show that lasted barely a year. Anyway, she certainly is no Rowdy Gaines.

Here is Sanders on her athletic talent and the disabled: "I was lucky. Like, suppose my father had put in a tennis court instead. I can't play tennis at all. I'd be in some retarded league right now instead of going to the Olympics."

In the image to the right, Johnny Knoxville actually starred with Special Olympians and featured them in a positive light within the movie. Sanders seems to feel they are well below her standards.

-- •• --

Michael Phelps is Michael Phelps in the same way that Mark Spitz is Mark Spitz. To win a gold medal means you are great; but there is a level above that, and you can count all of the people in that Pantheon on one hand. Names like Johnny Weismuller, the first swimmer to break a minute in the 100m free with no flip-turn and a wool swimsuit. Duke Kahanamoku who not only has three golds and a couple silver but invented or rediscovered a billion dollar sport called surfing. Then there is Janet Evans who still has the longest standing records in the sport of swimming, each lasting through four Olympic Games.

Here is Michael Phelps on the disabled: "I was talking to some of the paralympians who came over from Iraq -- they were soldiers over there," Phelps said. "One of them said to me, 'It's really great what you do. We love watching you.'

"I said, 'Are you serious? What I do is nothing compared to what you guys do.' "

Phelps said his conversations with the military paralympians inspired him. [Link]

The Phelps factor: Elite New Zealand swimmer getting coached in America

Moss Burmester is a Commonwealth Butterfly champion from New Zealand. He has been swimming with Michael Phelps lately and it shows. Down under in OZ, Moss competed in a meet called the Telstra Grand Prix in Brisbane with no taper at all. Just showed up and swam. Consequently, he won his best event; the 200 fly, after doing three grueling weeks swimming along side Michael Phelps.

I wish they would post one of his workouts but look at these two sets Bowman had them do:

Kick: 10 x 100's LCM on the 1:50 (Then one more as a time trial.) Phelps: 1:03, Burmester: 1:07
Sprint 40 x 50s on a short rest [Link]

Another example of why it is acceptable to train in other countries. France and Itlay shold take note.

Back from Pier-to-Pier

Lots of athletes today; dozens and dozens of swimmers but few did the two miler. Most did a mile or a mile-and-a-half probably as a result of spotting issues due to the fog.

As usual Anthony swam without a wet-suit but I wore mine. We swam fast and I struggled a bit, probably from the workout at Santa Monica yesterday, nonetheless I did keep up with Anthony today in that he only got me by about 30 yards or so rather than 2 minutes worth of standing on the beach waiting for me. Not bad for a two-mile swim.

Second week in a row I brought my camera and forgot to take pictures.

Pier-to-pier this morning with Anthony - 3rd swim so far

Anthony and I have done three ocean swims so far after today with three more training swims to go before the Alcatraz Sharkfest. These pictures were taken at 6:18 this morning, The tide is low, there is a little bit to much moisture in the air for my taste, it means more sensory deprivation in trying to spot the pier 2 miles away. I bet that any swimmer in San Francisco reading this thinks I am wimp. The fog gets so bad there I suppose that swimmers have to use a compass to find the shore. Will meet Anthony there in about an hour or so.

This one is for Ogged! Breaststroke momentum graph and video! Send in your own video and get it graphed!

If you send in a video to Team Termin Sports Performance they will chart and graph it for you like the video above: [Link]

Here is nice steamling video with a fancy graph to make it look important.

A swim suit designed to enhance the lifestyle of the active Muslim female.

The featured suit can be purchased here: modestswimsuits.co.uk

If you asked a person in Iran or Pakistan what they thought of American culture you may get a shrill or perhaps an accurate critique depending on your point of view. If you ask a French national what they thought of cultures that endorse female circumcision, you would get definitely get an ear-full and rightfully so from my point of view as well.

To the right of this paragraph is a swim suit from ahiida.com which is "...designed with the respect of Islamic values and aimed to enhance the lifestyle of the active Muslim female. ..." [Link]

To my untrained eye regarding Islamic tradition and/or law, I see no reason why a swimmer from an Islamic country cannot wear a full-bodied speed suit, goggles, and a cap and still maintain their Islamic traditions or values. In my opinion these suits look perilous in water that is deeper than shoulder high.

I found this suit on page 7 at the blog: The Muslim Woman

Michael Phelps, his 4x100 relay team, and perhaps Eamon Sullivan are not "morning people"?

(That's Eamon Sullivan above.) In Beijing next summer, NBC talked China into having the final heats for all the swimming events to be held in the morning so that people in the US and Canada can see the results in real time.

Well, when the world got word of this they were not amused. Australian swimmers complained such as Thorpe and Lenton, European swimmers chimed in as well but Michael Phelps made his intentions known by taking NBC's side:

"If you make the Olympic team and you can't come and be ready to swim in the morning, if you can't get excited to do that, give your spot to someone else." [Link]. You can see these posts I made about the controversy here. [Link]

So, it's now 2007 and now swim meets all over the world are having heats in the morning to prepare their athletes and it appears that some athletes are not quite morning people yet.

This Swim News article states that in a meet down under, The Telstra Grand Prix in Brisbane, sprinter Eamon Sulivan false-started after swiming a 50.15 in a preceding heat before. [Link]

Michael Phelps had mixed results logging two wins and placing 2nd in the 4x100 free. [Link]

I just had a strange thought that appeared out of nowhere: "Captain Kirk" was the first blogger.

Erik Hochstein "owned" the 200 Free! - Dan Wegner got second!

1 Hochstein, Erik: TYR - 1:42.68
r:+0.88 23.93 - 49.93 (26.00)
1:16.23 (26.30) - 1:42.68 (26.45)
2 Wegner, Dan: TYR - 1:44.06
r:+0.88 23.78 - 49.92 (26.14)
1:16.39 (26.47) 1:44.06 (27.67)
Taylor, Curtis: OREG - 1:44.43
r:+0.82 24.39 - 50.40 (26.01)
1:17.37 (26.97) 1:44.43 (27.06)

Team TYR Swimmer Erik Hochstein places 2nd in the 100 fly

2007 USMS Short Course Yards Championships: The 100 fly is not Erik's event; he usually swims the 200 free as his specialty, so I missed that he swam in it this morning and placed second. 52.62 - split times 24.59 - 28.03

Blog Friend, "the 17th man," swam this morning

Update: Joel is going to have some "'splaining to do, Lucy" about the 200 free.

2007 USMS Short Course Yards Championships: Joel did the 100 fly in 1:00.58. Here is his split time: 28.33 - 1:00.58, coming back in 32.25 which is a really strong second 50. Here are the results so far today:

#5 Men 100 Fly
#6 Women 100 Fly

Dolphin kick drill that strengthens core muscles

At Glenn Mills' site; GoSwim.tv, I found this dolphin kick drill that strengthens core muscles. There is a Flash video in the upper right you can click on to see it demonstrated. Snippet:

• The buoyancy of the pull buoy adds an extra bit of resistance, and makes you work more intensely with your core. The added resistance of the pull buoy forces you to be super aware of how you position your body in the water. Notice that the swimmer in the video keeps her hands, arms, and head in super streamline. She forms a stake with the front part of her body, and drives the stake through the water using her core and her legs. ... [Link]
  

2007 USMS Short Course Yards Championships started today!

The USMS short course Nationals began and I will be watching out for Joel of the The 17th man blog and Team TYR. Click on the following links for the results:

#1 Men 1000 Free
#2 Women 1000 Free
#3 Men 1650 Free
#4 Women 1650 Free

FINA won't accept Libby Lenton's world record, Lenton appeals

Libby lenton raced Michael Phelps as part of a mixed relay at the Mutual of Omaha's Duel in the Pool Swim Meet. This meet had pitted the United States against Australia in a swimming spectacle that was fun to watch. Therein Libby Lenton got to swim a 100 free against Michael Phelps as the lead-off swimmer. Subsequently, she swam under the world record mark but the international swimming body, FINA, will not recognize it. (See Lenton break the womens 100m free record in the video above.)

FINA's reasons: it wasn't a FINA sanctioned event and she raced side-by-side with one of the fastest men on earth . Well, Libby feels wronged and wants her record acknowledged. Hence, she has hired a lawyer to appeal the FINA decision. (I have to side to FINA on this one.) [Link]

Laure Manaudou's two beat kick in Athens 2004

Manaudou versus France and Italy

An European eccentricity I don't understand: The Laure Manaudou controversy.

Laure Manaudou falls deeply in love with an Italian swimmer name Luca Marin. She decides to leave her French coach who states that she left because she is lazy and feels that he is working her to hard. Well, Is it love or coaching? Who cares, she jets off to Italia to train and be with her lover.

The coach feeling jilted flames her new Italian coach and his training methods by insinuating how "fearful" he is that they will turn her into a "Frankenstein-like pharmaceutical experiment." The Italians look the other way and take the political high ground.

The Italian Swim Federation is worried that the French Federation will feel a French Olympian training in Italy is unacceptable and could lead to bad blood. They say, we won't train her unless the French agree or she changes her nationality! [Link]

Blam! Drama! Drama! Drama! Some negotiation , some wine, maybe a little French cheese and all is good. Laure will swim under the French flag and race for her [former] French club Canet-en-Roussillon! [Link] [More]

In America, American swimmers can train wherever they want. The "patron saint" of this blog, Natalie Coughlin, who we often make fun of but appreciate greatly trains in Australia from time-to-time. Ian Thorpe trained in America briefly. German Olympian, Erik Hochstein, trained at USC. We currently have Chinese swimmers, Turkish, South African, British, Brazilian swimmers training in the United States and USA swimming has no problem with an American swimmer interchanging ideas with coaches from other countries.

The exchanging of information and knowledge for benevolent purposes should have no border, boundary or law preventing it. The French and Italians should realize this and embrace it.

USA Swimming has an article on Gary Hall

Gary Hall talks about swimming and his financial endeavors in a USA Swimming article: [Link]

Gary Hall Jr. has been to three Olympics and medaled in all of them. Gary has 10 medals total, 5 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze. (Sprinters can do that. Their shelf life is far longer than a distance or middle distance swimmer. Mark and I joke that a warm up for a sprinter is just a long hot shower.)

He and his father also founded the Race Club where he trains and coaches. What is revealing is that Gary Hall not only has the Race Club as a business endeavor but that he is a financial planner as well. One of his financial vehicles is buying "Stock Warrants" for his clients.

An example of buying a stock warrant: Let's say we have a company called Tony Bologna Steel. Let's say that Tony Bologna was a publicly traded company on the stock exchange but it went bankrupt, thrown off the stock exchange, and is now in the process of reorganizing so as to pay off it's debts. Once this is accomplished, Tony Bologna Steel plans to come out of bankruptcy and be relisted as if it were a brand new company. Now, before Tony Balogna can do that, it needs to pay off it's debts utterly and completely. So, here is what it does: it goes to family member or a friend and even a stranger and says, "I need one-million-dollars to pay off all Tony Bologna debts, Once my debts are paid I will be relisted on the stock market for $30 a share, I will allow you to purchase right now 3-million dollars of that stock for only 1-million and I will give you a "promise receipt" called a "stock warrant" to guarantee that sale! Once I am out of debt and back on the exchange, 3- million-dollars worth of stock is yours and you can sell it any time you want."

Gary Hall has a variation to this where he purchases stock warrants of companies BEFORE they were EVER listed on the stock exchange. In other words companies that have not gone bankrupt. Keep in mind this is speculative investment that relies primarily on trust.

By the way, the little kid in the picture "owned" Gary Hall in a 200 LCM. ;-)

These points of interest represent all the cities and towns of all the individuals who came to the blog today!

You can click on the picture to make it bigger.

By 7:00 PM today the blog had nearly 500 visits. These points of interest represent all the cities and towns of all the individuals who came today thus far. The blog had visits from all over the United States and from almost every continent as well. Then there was the USA Today link to the site which was a total surprise.

WOW! Consequently, I was so overwhelmed and so flattered that I could hardly work today. As a result I will try to make this blog much more, much better, and much different because of you!

Stay tuned!

I'm shocked! - "USA Today Sportscope" linked to us

USA Today Sportscope linked to us today. Remember that "snarky" post I did about Amanda Beard posing nude in Playboy? Well, USA Today Sportscope decided to talk about it:

• - Tony Austin, Southern California Aquatics Swim Club: No one's arguing that the photos will hurt women's sports, but we're arguing that they'll distract attention from Kate Ziegler, Natalie Coughlin, Katie Hoff and other clothed swimmers. Austin also isn't buying the notion that people will buy Playboy because she's a swimmer. [Link to USA Today Sportscope]
  

Scroll down and look for the picture of Amanda Beard and you will see my paraphrased take.

Swimming World: Pair of Masters Relay Records Set by Team TYR

Swimming World has the article but we have the video of the 800 SCY Freestyle Relay Record! It is the very last swim featured on the video below. Here is a write up about the national records they set: [Link]

I have never set a record; have you? Must be profoundly exhilarating. :-)

In the UCLA Bruins Swim Meet video below, Dan Wegner, Scott Hubbard, Christopher Beach, and Erik Hochstein, in that order are the swimmers.

When I began swimming about three years ago I purchased two swim instruction DVDs: Swimming Faster Freestyle by David Marsh and Eddie Reese on Freestyle. Each DVD featured minor differences in opinion on technique but each had a defined style a swimmer should try and emulate. To Eddie Reese's credit he did mention that you should try to learn the classical form first before experimenting. Sort of like Picasso learning how to paint classically before painting in abstract form.

Each of the swimmers below grab and kick the water differently. To me all of them have created individual freestyle solutions to suit their strengths. Scott Hubbard, the second swimmer, uses his right arm like a "Venician Gondolier" uses a oar for leverage and momentum. Christopher Beach has a very symmetrical stroke and it is very harmonious and graceful; I like his rotation too. Erik Hochstein's kick makes a distinct "thumping noise", He has a long reach and nice glide phase. I bet he could kick a 50 faster than I could swim one.

I now believe that freestyle should not be a "cookie-cutter" type of stroke when one style fits all but rather a stroke that is designed for the particular individual's strengths.

UCLA Bruins Master Swim Meet Movie

UCLA Bruins Masters Swim Meet
Uploaded by groovydoo

'The UCLA Bruins Master Swim Meet' movie is completed and I am now rendering a final version for uploading

Spent all evening on the "title" and "backplate" but the video is finished. As I type this the film is rendering out to a Quicktime file for uploading to both You Tube and Daily Motion. The uploads will take about 2 hours and I will try to have this up before noon tomorrow; emphasis on the word try.

Erratum: There will be only one national record being set on this video since the first was incomplete. Another issue, I refused to put my race in this video but two particular people in my life insisted so I compromised; I am in the video for 2 seconds.

Also, "I PROMISE I WILL USE A TRIPOD NEXT TIME." I am so tired of trying to make chicken poop into chicken soup that I will never shoot a race again with out a tripod. It's not fair to the person your filming who wants to study their technique and it makes me look bad.

A rerun of the Hayden/Magnini tie in the 100m free at 2007 World Championships

Look at the ferocity of this swim; you would think they were swimming just 50 meters.

Aaron Perisol likes to body surf!

I bet Aaron's coach gasped in horror when he saw this at the GoSwim site or perhaps something along these lines: "Me Money! There goes me money" -- Mr. Krab from SpongeBob SquarePants

The Laure Manaudou "drama" extends into the 200 Backstroke event.

Laure Manadou has left her French coach back in France and has adopted an Italian coach in Italy. (If you have saw the earlier post where I discuss him, you will not that he is a snappy dresser) Her nationality remains French but her training ethos is Italian. Ultimately this is the moral equivalent of South African swimmer, Roland Schoeman, training in the United States. It no big deal to me and I wish him well for it reflects well for my country.

I don't know what the French think of this but according to Swim News Online that Laure Manaudou has avoided swimming the 200 back because her former training partner, Esther Baron, swam that event. Now that Manaudou is free from the socio/politico issues with her former coach, Philippe Lucas, she will challenge the 200m backstroke world record at the behest of her new coach and snappy dresser, Paolo Penso. This record was set in 1991 by Krisztina Egerszegi in a time of 2:06.91 Let it be known that Laure Manaudou has a sub one-minute 100m Backstroke. Article snippet:

Paolo Penso, the new coach of Laure Manaudou, has thrown the gauntlet back at former coach Philippe Lucas: On June 1 in Modena, the world and Olympic champion freestyler will extend her repertoire to 200m backstroke, over which former Canet teammate and friend Esther Baron is European champion.

The move, announced in L'Equipe today, comes a day after Lucas cast doubts over the ethical welfare of his former star and suggested that he was ready to "destabilise" Manaudou in time for the Beijing Olympic Games by helping other women swimmers match her speed and tactics on freestyle. [Link]

The UCLA Bruins Master Swim Meet video is done but I want to add a swanky title graphic and nice bumper

The movie will probably go live Monday evening California time. I want to make an opening title and a closing bumper for it and that is the hold up. There are many more swimmers in this video than the last video and I include a a national record setting swim by Team TYR in the 800 Free relay.

What is so frustrating is that I spent hours syncing my edits to specific beats in the song I picked but after it gets on You Tube or Daily Motion I know the extreme video compression will make the sound go out of sync after the first minute or two. I wish I could hand all of you a high resolution DVD.

Back from the pier-to-pier swim with Anthony - That was a hard swim

Anthony stormed it! He beat me to the beach by 2-minutes-plus; the guy has a "Ferrari" for a heart. It was a difficult swim today; foggy, moderate swell and a high tide.

We started off with a pod of other swimmers, some wearing L.A. Tri caps so I figured we would drop them since triathletes focus their attention on three sports rather than one. Two-miles later when I was coming into shore I switched to an occasional backstroke to make sure a surprise wave wouldn't overtake me. As soon as I go into backstroke-mode I see that same pod of swimmers a body length behind me. When I get to the beach it turns out several of them were SCAQ swimmers; I didn't recognize any of them since SCAQ is a huge club, but Anthony did.

I brought my camera but I forgot to take pictures.

Pier-to-pier this morning with Anthony

This picture was taken at 6:17 AM this morning. Hermosa Pier is on the left and Manhattan Pier is on the right. Look at all the moisture in the air. That means spotting landmarks is going to suck. Photos brought to you by "watchthewater.org" which features web cams on most or all of L.A. beaches.

Anthony and I will swim the two-mile length this morning as a training swim for Alcatraz Sharkfest swim that we will be doing in June. I will wear a wet-suit but Anthony won't. Side note, Mark told me he saw Anthony on a re-run episode of Seinfeld; he was Elaine's boyfriend.

I have edited 1:27 of the UCLA Masters Swim Meet Movie so far

I am hopeful for Monday morning but only hopeful. When it is finally posted you will see two national records set by Team TYR.

A brainless editorial over at FOX Sports regarding Amanda Beard posing naked for Playboy

Article Title: The naked truth: Beard not hurting sports by Michael Rosenberg [Link]

The author sets up a "straw-man" argument stating that critics believe Amanda Beard is hurting women's sports by posing nude. Then the [...] author knocks his "straw-man" down with an anemic conclusion which summarily concludes that since Amanda will not be the prettiest model in Playboy, individuals will buy the magazine because Amanda Beard has been a sports star for the past 11 years, ergo, her sport is the focal point not her nudity.

I am one of the few out in the wilderness of public opinion who feel this is nothing short of a "skanky" business decision on her part. I think it will distract attention away from Kate Ziegler', Natalie Coughlin, Katie Hoff' and other US Olympians in 2008 since the focal point in Beijing will be Amanda Beard's nude body in Playboy rather than the accomplishments of the US Women's Swim Team.

[...]

"The Vanderbilt Y Masters" blog has entered the building

I found the coolest blog; well actually, the coolest blog found me. This site covers swimming in the New York area and has some really good event info on local aquatics stuff. Such as: They are building a yummy indoor pool in Queens that features a post modernist feel. Snippet from the blog:

• The building is uniquely designed with a cable supported roof system that will allow for potential expansion to a larger venue...The pool and diving tank will be on the second floor with dramatic views of the park. The movable floor makes the Olympic-sized pool very flexible, creating the potential to have recreational swimming and competitive events simultaneously. An outdoor terrace will be accessible from the pool deck." [Link]

The post references a New York Magazine article as well.

Bookmark The Vanderbilt Y Masters blog: [Link]

Check out this floating pool in New York

The boat pictured above has be christened The Floating Pool Lady by it's owners, The Neptune Foundation. This foundation was founded in 1999 by Ann Buttenwieser to created a transportable water front to serve low income communities.

This concept is so generous and so vital since most drownings occur in underserved neighborhoods due to a lack of property tax revenue or engaged voters.

It will be moored in Brooklyn on July 4th.

The original heads up and posting can be seen on Vanderbilt Y Masters blog.

Laure Manadou has switched coaches and here is a look at what he is having her do

Can you do a set of 400s LCM on the 4:40? Laure Manaudou is. She also has a nutritionist hooking her up with a diet, something she never had in France. She will be lifting weights with a football team in Turin, Italy and she will train in both in long course meters and short course meter pools.

The SCM pool with be used for technical work which really means starts and turns. Turns is what Laure could improve if she wants to do a sub four-minute 400. At World Championships she breathed off every turn. Maybe this is good but Michael Phelps has redefined the freestyle making it a hybrid event now with butterfly being the dominant underwater stroke.

Snippet from the article:

• Alongside Manaudou in a technical training set in a 25-metre pool in the morning were Chiara Boggiatto and relative unknowns, Erika Buratto, Alice Gianesini, Roberta Ioppi. No-one, in effect, who might challenge Manaudou. "At the moment, Laure will do the same sessions as the other girls," said Penso. ...

• Penso is then quoted as saying something rather curious: "She swam all the 400s crawl today in less than 4:40. That's very positive." 4:40? I have personally witnessed Manaudou undertaking a set of multiple 400s in times much, much, much faster. Maybe he meant in the context of making up for lost time, Manaudou having broken her season with a 5-6-week break that must surely have set back her preparations for Beijing 2008 - that's a few weeks less training than Ziegler, Shibata, Jêdrzejczak, Hoff et al. It may all count for much in the end. [Link]

Former open water star Susie Maroney Beat Cerebral Palsy Through Swimming

I endorsed this story as credible. I have seen kids with CP nearly relax their afflicted body part after getting out of a pool.

• Susie Maroney, the Australian open water medallist who holds the fastest time ever for a double crossing of the English Channel, today revealed that she and her twin brother were born with cerebral palsy but fought the condition and won using swimming as their biggest medical weapon.

• Now 32, Maroney told Australian reporters that she had kept the condition a secret in her youth for fear of being ridiculed.

• "You'd be winning at a school swimming carnival but you'd still get picked on. So I've never talked about it," says the swimmer in a widely reported magazine article. [Link]
  

Both Susie and her brother went on to become Ironman triathletes

Philippe Lucas, Laure Manaudou's former coach, insults Italy, Manaudou, and a Dutch football team in one breath

Philippe Lucas coached Manaudou and made her the champion that she is. He deserves that credit utterly and completely. However, his histrionic rants regarding Laure Manaudou's integrity and the ethical nature of Italian doctors borders upon the irrational. Snippet from Swim News:

• In comments that will go down like a lead balloon in Turin, Lucas, asked by L'Equipe if he was worried for his former charge, he said: "Frankly? It drives me mad. I'm worried for one sole reason: ethics. Laure has always been a self-conscious girl. And there (in Turin), at the medical level, there's an air of danger when ... you see the doctors who will be watching over her (the French newspaper then places in parenthesis the words 'the old medicine of the football club Juventus'). The structure is unclear. We can't tell where this will lead her. She doesn't even know herself who will coach her. That's alarming!" [Link]

Manaudou's comments were more measured reassuring the public she wasweight training and swimming and that all was good.

My money is still on Kate Ziegler due to all of this drama surrounding her.

Was on jury duty today hence the lack of postings

Forty-eight jurors were called into the court room with I being one of them and then the process of selecting twelve jurors and three alternate jurors began. It's astonishing to me what people will enter into the public record to get out of jury duty. Today three people admitted they were racist, two admitted they couldn't understand English despite an amazing vocabulary, and at least 4 people said that it is perfectly acceptable to slug someone if a conversation goes bad. I suspect none of the people mentioned above believed a single word they said yet they all got dismissed. I hope one of them tries to run for congress someday and this public record gets outed.

As each crowd of liars was dismissed I wanted to stand up and shout to Judge Stone of the Beverly Hills Court and all the lawyers therein, "Dude, you guys deal with liars all day long and these guys were the worst set of actors I have ever seen. Don't let them get away with this bologna!" But then they would call another 6 people from our pod of jurors and each time I barely missed getting picked as a replacement. By the end of the day they had their jury set and I along with 10 people left from our pool of forty-eight potential jurors were allowed to go home.

Kates Ziegler breaks water

Kate Ziegler will be both the new Laure Manadou and Grant Hackett in Beijing. I think she is unbeatable in the 1500, and the 400. I don't know what her third event is; the 800?

I found out today after asking a coach who knew Janet Evans as to how much yardage she put in. He replied 10k a workout. Then he clarified that she did doubles. That's right, 20k a day. Laure was asked to do 15 to 17 a day and she felt that was to much. (I do too.)

This Jason Lezak photo is stunning!

This guy has beaten Cullen Jones. Note that his elbow is higher than his hand, he is looking up instead of down and there is little wake turbulence. From his website photo gallery: [Link]

Meet the new Laure Manaudou, the one in the middle standing next to the old Laure Manaudou

Her name is Kate Ziegler and she is the new Laure Manaudou. Laure Manaudou will zero out her aerobic ability to that of an average mortal in three months time if she doesn't keep swimming. I suspect it would take weeks for her move her stuff, get the coach she wants, a pool she likes, and a routine that is as productive as it needs to be to perform at that level.

If she didn't move for love, then she should have come to Los Angeles and trained with me... err, or Dave Salo at USC. No one would have cared who she was and the focus could have been more centered.

For now the new number one women's distance swimmer is Kate Ziegler. Here is her bio from US Swimming: [Link]

This is my RSS news feed URL

For those of you that know what an RSS news feed is here is my URL: http://scaq.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default You can copy/paste this into your newsreader news page at Google or Yahoo. (That is an RSS icon to the right)

For those of you that don't know what RSS is, please read this explanation from "What-is-RSS-Dot-Com: [Link]

RSS (Rich Site Summary) is a format for delivering regularly changing web content. Many news-related sites, weblogs and other online publishers syndicate their content as an RSS Feed to whoever wants it.

An RSS newsreader is:

Feed Reader or News Aggregator software allow you to grab the RSS feeds from various sites and display them for you to read and use. [You can look at headlines from all the news source feeds tyou have collected all on a single news page such as My Yahoo or a your personalized Google page. I use both sites]]

A variety of RSS Readers are available for different platforms. Some popular feed readers include Amphetadesk (Windows, Linux, Mac), FeedReader (Windows), and NewsGator (Windows - integrates with Outlook). There are also a number of web-based feed readers available. My Yahoo, Bloglines, and Google Reader are popular web-based feed readers.

RSS solves a problem for people who regularly use the web. It allows you to easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from the sites you are interested in. You save time by not needing to visit each site individually. You ensure your privacy, by not needing to join each site's email newsletter. The number of sites offering RSS feeds is growing rapidly and includes big names like Yahoo News.