blueseventy may be the suit of choice for open water swimming!

This article is from Lane 9 News and I really appreciate articles like these. They obviously have somebody on the ground there taking notice of what's going on rather than making drama out of the results page." Here is a snippet: "... teams from Russia, Italy, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Brazil, France and Mexico donned blueseventy's new PointZero3 suit. ..."

The article discusses water temps and pratice conditions: [Link]

Dara Torres HOOKED ME UP! - Is this cool or what?

Out of all the products that Dara Torres endorses, this one looks the most interesting. I made this post last September and I have been meaning to check it out myself :

I got a comment on my ABC NEWS video-profile of Dara Torres from someone posting anonymously. They enclosed a suspicious link but upon investigation it appears to be a pretty decent site. I had noted that Dara Torres looked amazingly flexible and the poster commented that it was all about Innovative Body Solutions.

I went to the site and I found some pretty useful information in the About US section. There they have photo illustrations and several paragraphs of a couple of important stretches as to how they are done safely and correctly. See the picture to the right. More stretches here [Link]

Here is a 'Dara centric page' in the About Us section with links to videos and audio reports of her swimming and stretching as well. [Link]

Grant Hacket is 'amped up' for the Sunday's 10km Open Water Championships in Seville, Spain!

I think these are the most enthusiastic quotes from Hackett that I have read regarding an upcoming race. Last Olympics it was all about his "partially collapsed lung" but today it's phrases like:

"I think this is more my forte than some of the events I have had success in before."

"People have seen me swim 200m but this is an opportunity for people like me to show our aerobic capacity

"There are a lot of other competitors who know this event a lot better than me but I have been working with Ky on a strategy," Hackett said. [Link]

Here is an article from last December talking up how well he can do in this event: [Link]

I will honestly be more impressed with Grant Hackett than I am with Ian Thorpe if Hackett can win in both the 1500 and the open water races. I would find it summarily acceptable for anyone to use the names Michael Phelps, Grant Hackett and Mark Spitz in the same sentence when discussing the best male freestyle swimmers to ever swim on this earth.

Videos of the UCLA Masters Meet hopefully coming tomorrow.

That's what I get for having someone else edit it for me. They are coming soon.

Dara Torres, American record holder in the 50 free, turns 41 today!

Dara Torres turns 41 today and her is a profile article: "...Torres began training to qualify for the 2008 Olympics for the U.S. Women’s Swim Team for the 50 and 100 freestyle. The trials will be held in July in Omaha, Nebraska. Only two swimmers in each category will qualify. The Olympic Games begin August 8 in Beijing.

Torres swims five days a week and lifts weights four days a week at the Coral Springs Aquatic Center in preparation for the upcoming trials and to keep up with the younger swimmers.

“A benefit is having a coach like Michael who knows what I can and cannot do with my age. Also, it is a lot about recovery. I get massages and do stretching exercises after every training session to recover from a day’s work,” she said. ..." [Link]

Steven Munatones talks up his open water picks

Steven Munatones in this About.com article picks his top ten men and woman for the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in Seville, Spain on May 3rd.

He is favoring Grant Hackett over Vladimir Dyatchin and Thomas Lurz and he also provides his reasons why. He was very generous with his US woman's picks and though I hope he is right, I suspect that Edith van Dijk of the Netherlands will do much better than 9th place; especially if her goggles don't get torn off her face like they did last time. I'm thinking 3rd for her.

Micha Burden should do better than 5th if she doesn't piss anybody off and get another rib broken. (These girls think they are playing hockey or something. It reminds me of a Rodney Dangerfield joke: I went to a boxing match and hockey game broke out!) [Link]

Longevity issues with the Speedo LZR?

Nicole Jeffrey of The Australin, quotes Leisel Jones regarding her Speedo LZR taking in water during a 200m breaststroke event at a short course meet in Canberra, Australia: "...They stretch after about three wears," she said. "I really wanted to swim fast and I prepared well. I felt quite good but the suit filling with water didn't help me much. It makes you pretty fatigued, dragging the water along."I was happy that I swam only a second off my best. And I've only had three weeks of training (since the Olympic trials) so fitness is an issue." [Link]

I wonder if breaststroke is more demanding on the Speedo LZRs than a more linear stroke such as backstroke or freestyle?

Manaudou will swim the 400m in Beijing

The Guardian UK: [Link]

Mini review of the 'Nike Hydra' speedsuit and a snippet about the 'blueseventy'

Last week I purchased a Nike Hydra from SwimOutlet.com for the UCLA Bruins Master Meet that was held today. My motive for buying the suit was this goal I have of making it into the top-10 swims in my age group for the 50 yard free. I am pretty confident that I made it in the 100, 200 and 500 free but I really want to make the list for the 50 free. The season was a bit short this year due to Nationals in Austin, Texas and the FINA Masters Swimming World Championships in Perth, Australia this month. Hence, only 36 or so swimmers in my age group competed this season in that particular race and out of those 36 swimmers I was sitting at number 10; a position on the bubble so to speak.

Consequently, I was worried some fast guys would climb out of the woodwork at this meet and bump me off the list so I figured a little "tech doping" seemed like an viable, desperate, option and so I dropped the $165 on a midnight, black, Nike Hydra.

The suit arrived in a timely manner and it fit very well. The suit is very lightweight. My Speedo Fastskin II leggings were heavier and far harder to put on. Also, I never came close to swimming a "personal best" in the Fastskins and in a fit of anger, I gave them away.

At today's meet I decided not to warm up in the Hydra but rather warm up in a TYR brief instead and swim the 50SCY race with a dry suit versus a wet one. While waiting for my race, I saw a girl wearing a blueseventy and I asked her what she thought about it and she said she too was just going to jump in and see what her first impressions would be.

When the bell rang, I leaped in and I felt fast for the first lap, on the second lap the suit didn't feel as fast but I was only .02 off my personal best for the event in a time of 26:26. The time was a bit surprising since the air temp was at least 90 degrees today and I felt like I was melting before my event. My mouth was dry, I was starting to sweat since I was wearing a midnight, black, speedsuit, a latex cap and goggles and there was little to no shade. When the bell sounded it was sheer relief to jump in.

All of the above got repeated for the 100 free as well which was held 10-minutes later yet I did well in that event too. I swam a sloppy race only squeezing in one breath on the first lap and my turnover felt like it was in slow-motion yet in the 100 free I was only .07 off my personal best, a 58.67.

What I don't like about the suit, and the woman I spoke with who was wearing the blueseventy said the exact same thing to me after her race, is that both of us have the same sort of body type whereas we both have more of an exaggerated arch in the small of backs at our lumbar region hence, when I wore the Hydra I developed an air pocket in that area which is great till you do a flip turn. Post turn, it felt a bit floppy or saturated. This young lady said the same thing about the blueseventy. The conclusion she arrived at was that the suit would be great for a triathlon and my conclusion is that the Hydra would "motor" in a 50LCM leaving me to believe that I will comfortably break 30 seconds wearing one. epilogue: $165 was an amazing value considering most sppedsuits start at $300+ range all the way up to $550 for the LZR.

What I leaned about speedsuits is that the fit is more superior than the material. Speedsuits should be tailored and not purchased off the rack.

BTW, I came second today in the 50 free thwarting four challengers but I got beat by the fifth one and I don't believe I will make the top 10 for the 50. Maybe next year.

I have films of the event coming, even a tee-shirt relay. :-)

Amaury Leveaux (switches suits and) just misses Eamon Sullivan's 50m free world record by .1 of a second!

From Lane 9 News: "... Leveaux shocked the world as he finished just .1 seconds off Eamon Sullivan's world record time of 21.28 with a 21.38 during finals to usurp Alain Bernard's title as the Fastest Man in Europe. Leveaux's effort smashed Bernard's continental and national record of 21.50 set last month, which was the fastest ever at the time. Bernard, meanwhile, placed second in 21.69, while Fred Bousquet missed an Olympic spot with a time of 21.72. ..." [Link]

From the TYR website: "... At the French Olympic Trials Amaury Leveaux broke the European National Record in the 50m Freestyle and recorded the 2nd Fastest Time in History wearing TYR's latest generation swimsuit technology Tracer Rise. Amaury clocked in an astonishing fast time of 21.38, .1 shy of the World Record. ...

Amaury Leveaux is the first and only swimmer in history to swim under 22 seconds in the 50m Freestyle (LC) and swim under 1:47 in the 200m Freestyle (LC). Wearing TYR Tracer Rise, Amaury recorded his fast speed of 1:46:54 in the 200m Freestyle (4-21-08) and 21.38 in the 50m Freestyle (4-26-08) at the 2008 French Olympic Trials. ..."[Link]

Leveaux switched suit brands deciding to race in a TYR Tracer Rise rather than an Arena Powerskin R-Evolution. TYR just sent me this and boy is my face red: "...I read your blog today and I wanted to provide clarification that Amaury Leveaux has worn the TYR Tracer Rise for the entire French Olympic Trials including when he made his record swims in the 50m Freestyle and 200m Freestyle. Our team is on deck, so I am confident in this fact. Amaury Leveaux is a TYR sponsored athlete and has been for many years. ..."

Are these reduced times the result of "tech doping" or "placebo doping?" I wish Mythbusters would do a show on it.

What do Cesar Cielo and Cullen Jones have in common? Cullen Jones to train with David Marsh

An anonymous reader pointed that out that: Cesar Cielo's sprint coach at Auburn is Brett Hawke. Confirmed at NCAA.com. David Marsh was the head coach while Cielo swam at Auburn but Marsh has recently left to join the Mecklenburg Aquatic Club as their new director.

I read that Cullen Jones is training now with David Marsh at WCSN.com: "...Cullen's call came as a bit of surprise," Marsh told WCSN.com by phone last week from the short course world championships in England. "But his willingness to make a shift indicates that he understands the urgency and total motivation needed for us to push to make the U.S. team. ..."

Marsh had this to say: "... "He needs to get substantially faster and there are several ways to do it," Marsh said. "First, we have to connect his strength to his swimming strength. There's vertical strength [Jones' has a 35-inch vertical leap] and prone strength and we have to apply the vertical to water. Second - the starts. There's always hundredths of a second to find there. Third - race strategy. And fourth - probably most important, his focus and confidence when he steps on the blocks." ..."

I am waching 'Go Swim: Freestyle with Kara Lynn Joyce' and I am both impressed and inspired.

I purchased this video last eek and it arrived in a timely manner. The most important part of any swim DVD is the presentation. For me, the more views and slow-motion the better. Most Swim DVDs present their work from the side and the front whereas this DVD presents a lot of 3/4 views from different angles such as above and below the surface. I love the underwater stuff.

As for the content, I would say that this DVD is designed for the beginning-intermediate to advanced swimmer. The primary focal point from Kara Lynn Joyce's point of view is symmetry and balance. (Watching her sprint is like viewing like a watch mechanism. (See the video above)

She brings something up that I have never really addressed in my own freestyle and that is the subject of balance. I like her thoughts on upper arm placement during the catch, the breath and head placement and I am going to swim with those ideas in mind.

I have a meet tomorrow and I wish I would have received this video a week ago. [Link]

You may have swam in an infinity edge pool but have you ever bathe in an infinity edged bathtub?

Found at Not.com, here is an infinity edged Sorgente Bathtub by Teuco: [Link]

I don't have enough adjectives to describe how elegant and well designed this tub is.

Recreational open water swimmer killed by a shark in San Diego

Poor family, I wish them the best..

I think the last so cal shark kill was in the 1920's though my friend Scott says there was a kill off of Point Dume in Malibu in the 1980's.

Snippet: "...Witnesses told lifeguards that a “big gray shark” attacked Martin, biting both his legs, said Solana Beach Marine Safety Capt. Craig Miller.

Martin was swimming with a group of about 10 others, heading north from Fletcher Cove, near Tide Park, when the attack occurred. The group regularly swims in the area. All the swimmers were wearing wet suits. ..." [Link]

FINA approves new speedsuit from the "SCAQ Laboratories"

Since the plastic in this swimsuit is woven, FINA has acknowledge that it is indeed a fabric and thus a perfectly legal swimsuit. Wired has the review: [Link]

Michael Phelps, Julianne Moore and Anne Leibovitz recreate "The Little Mermaid"

Disney has commissioned renowned photographer Anne Leibovitz to recreate famous Disney moments into a collection of photographs called the "Disney Dream Portrait Series." Such talent as Tina Fey, Jenifer Lopez, Jessica Biel, Gisele Bundchen, Mikail Baryshinikov, Scarlett Johansson, Beyoncé, David Beckham and many, many more have been chosen to pose. In the above photo, Michael Phelps, becomes a "merman" to Julianne Moore's, Ariel

Now, here is the best part: If you look really close, who is that bald guy in the center left, and the Africican guy in the back and that really hot brunette to the left, and what about that guy doing the flip turn? Well, you are looking at : Rowdy Gaines, Cullen Jones, Janet Evans, and Brendan Hansen.

Here is a link to a hi-rez version: [Link]

Here is a link to the press release: [Link]

'oobject.com': A compilation of 16 post World War II Olympic Stadiums

You can place a positive or negative vote for the ones you like or dislike. I like Munich, Athens, and Sydney the best. A couple of them I punched the negative button but I won't reveal those. [Link]

Britta Steffen stretching with Rainbeau Mars

Yes, Rainbeau Mars! And note that Rainbeau has a southern California accent as well. Surprise!

Laure Manaudou Meltdown in the "400m Championnat France Natation"

She went out to fast, way to fast. Look at the world record line that follows them.

Update: I am adding her reaction to the race since it is being buried at You Tube:

"Tracer Rise" details

Here is a link to media PDF from the TYR site with info regarding the suit: [Link]

If you are in hurry, this press release from the EarthTimes had this to say: "...TYR is the second-largest performance swimwear company in North America and has a brand presence in more than 80 countries. Over the last decade, TYR has pioneered technical swimsuit developments through research at International Center for Aquatic Research (ICAR, U.S. Olympic Training Center), the University of Buffalo's Center for Research and Development in Special Environments (CRESE) and conducted fabric validation testing by Bureau Veritas, an independent product performance agency. TYR was the first company to decompose the components of overall total drag in racing swimsuits into three elements: form drag, pressure drag and wave drag.

Tracer Rise utilizes Rapid Boundary Technology, the fusion of a non-permeable, polyurethane micro-coating to a proprietary lightweight water repellent woven fabric assisting the swimmer in a higher body position in the water and drag reduction.

This latest TYR technical swimsuit offers muscle contour seaming, designed to limit muscle undulation and maximize oxygen efficiency to the swimmer's core muscles. Hydrophobic properties provide maximum water repellency to eliminate absorption and restrict air trapping during high velocity strokes. Constructed from the strongest micro-fiber available for performance swimsuits, Tracer Rise offers athletic performance benefits to the competitor by providing high tensile strength flat seams that aid compression and muscle contouring essential for streamlining the swimmer's body through the water. ..." [Link]