The new root of all evil: Jammers!

I got three letters; one from an Olympian, and an IM from a writer about a site that I won't mention that actually condemned jammers as essentially being "evil tech dope."

This is the same site that lobbied FINA day-after-day, hour-after-hour, to ban tech-suits but now they have found a new target: they are going after jammers.

I think their real target here is adolescent boys since once the jammers are banned, there won't be any young boys swimming in the USA.

Australian Olympian Jodie Henry just retired!

A great 100-freestyle specialist is retiring! - The word great is an overused adjective but for Jodie Henry it is an accurate one. In the video above she pulls a "Jason Lezak" on our very own Amanda Weir!

From USA Today:

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Jodie Henry has quit competitive swimming.

The 25-year-old Australian, who once was the reigning Olympic and world champion in the 100-meter freestyle, submitted her retirement forms to Swimming Australia on Wednesday.

[Link]

Below, the Brisbane Times was bit harsh in my opinion. Jodie Henry has amassed numerous gold medals at the international level in venues like the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, and the FINA World Championships but the Brisbane Times claims she had motivational issues post her 2004 Athens Olympic Games successes.

Well, I pose this to the Brisbane Times: perhaps after 9th-or-10th gold medal it's time to conquer something else:

The 25-year-old struggled with motivational problems throughout her career and never reached the same heights following her superb week in Greece five years ago.

Henry won the prized 100m freestyle title and anchored Australia to victory in the 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m medley relay in Athens.

She also collected three gold medals at world championships and four gold medals at Commonwealth Games.

[Link]

She had a great run; Zeus is proud!

Ariana Kukors signs with TYR - I think she will be unbeatable in London 2012!

Ariana Kukors, who grabbed the 200-meter individual medley world record by the throat at the 2009 Fina World Championships of Swimming and made it tell her who it's mommy is - TWICE, has signed with TYR.

Here is a link to a video of her devastating Stephanie Rice by making the WR hers: [Link]

Comments upon signing:

"I am very excited. Wearing TYR when I made my first national team six years ago, I am proud to be part of the family. I chose TYR because of their long heritage in swimming and I enjoy the people behind the brand..."

"We’ve been around Ariana for about 6 years now, since she was just a kid breaking onto the national scene,” said TYR Promotions Director Matt Zimmer. “She’s a part of our family and we couldn’t be prouder of what she’s accomplished. ..."

The money is on Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympics!

I am still rooting for Tokyo... From the BettingPress:

"... Brazilian city all the rage with punters to get vote to stage summer Games ..."

[...]

Ladbrokes spokesman Robin Hutchison said: "Rio is the only city punters want to back and we've had to cut the odds on the Games going to Brazil to 6/4.


[Link]

Andy Potts situation clarified - His management has some 'splaining to do, Lucy!'

Here is a statement that blueseventy ran regarding the Andy Potts situation. I am throwing this up raw and will comment tonight.

Following an investigation between TYR & blueseventy on the contract overlap regarding Andy Potts it has been discovered that both companies were misled by athlete's management. It should be clarified that while the incidence was unfortunate, blueseventy holds no issue with TYR's actions. blueseventy’s decision to end Andy Potts' contract with immediate effect still stands but the company wishes the best to Andy in the coming season.

Federica Pellegrini with the number '4' reflecting in her right goggle lense!

I bumped into this photo by accident at Al Gore's Current.com who yanked it from OlympicGirls.net: [Link]

Today I Raced in a Short Course Yards Meet at Loyola Marymount University!

LMU had a fund-raiser today for their women's swim team and I "legally" got to race in two separate tech suits to see which was faster: a FINIS AMPhibian or my beat up TYR Tracer Light.

First, details about the event and how fun it was.

Two swimmers once told me that LMU is God's gift to swimming. Those were the exact words from two people who did not know each other. Sort of apropos too since LMU is a Catholic University here in Los Angeles.

This LMU event was a NON-SANCTIONED SPMA/USMS event and I had a blast!

SCAQ puts on the event yearly to support the girls team. It's like the "Duel in Pool" but it's the SCAQ masters swimmers versus the LMU girls. Our best guy posted a 20.33 for a 50-free. His name is Matt and he is now a SCAQ coach! :-P

We promoted the event just inside SCAQ circles and I believe that we raised a couple-thousand dollars or more. Oh, and there was free food too!

Next year you are all invited and you can bring your fins, tech-suits, Mexican wrestler masks, monofins, paddles, snorkels, sons, daughters and you can even bring your friends. The meet only took three hours to conduct and you literally picked which events you wanted to swim on the fly. If there was an empty block, climb on and swim! We had touch pads, a score board, Olympian Clay Evans as the meet director and a bunch of brand new swimmers who had a blast.

The events I swam were all freestyle with nothing longer than 50-yards. I was in a 200- free SCY relay, an individual 50-free and finally a 200-IM SCY relay.

I have put over thirty-swims in my Tracer Light so it is getting beat up and the FINIS AMPhibian was new out of the box.

I am not going to break down the sensations I felt, nor the detailed minutiae like I should but rather I will keep it simple.

I swam faster in the TYR Tracer Light!

In an un-tapered swim in the Tracer I rendered a :25.78 for a 50 free in a 200-free SCY relay with a beautiful rolling start. If I was tapered I would have swam faster.

The next two races, an individual 50-free SCY and a 50-free during a 200-IM SCY, I swam a little slower, a :26.05 in the FINIS, and I did not get my exact time for the IM though it appears it was a low :26 posted again in the FINIS.

In the TYR Tracer Light my body position feels level in the water, In the FINIS I feel a more buoyant top-half which made my legs feel asymmetrical. The suit is more effective during breaststroke than free; I learned that by warming down

Your mileage my vary.

Amy Shipley breaks the bad news first: 'FINA Masters Committee' recommends no tech-suits for masters swimmers!

I'm astonished that I actually belong to this organization via the USMS. >.<

I also want to say that I am more proud than ever to be a SCAQ swimmer. I will simply find events and governing bodies that will allow me to wear what I want.

From Reach for the Wall:

Masters swimming took the first step Saturday toward implementing the same ban on full-length, high-tech suits as at virtually every other level of the sport, but the issue remained far from resolved at the close of a meeting of the masters technical committee for the sport’s world governing body (FINA).

[...]

The decision Saturday by the FINA masters committee to pass the issue back to the FINA Bureau — despite FINA’s apparent unwillingness to deal with it earlier — represented a surprising turn of events for U.S. Masters Swimming officials, who had said they expected a concrete ruling from the committee itself and were prepared to take action based on that ruling.

“We expect them to issue a ruling,” USMS Executive Director Rob Butcher said last week. “What it is going to be is anybody’s guess.”

[Link]

One USMS Official is a member of the FINA Masters Committee!

Nancy Ridout is a member of both the USMS and the FINA Masters Committee. Heck, I should have been sending her roses for the past 6-months but I only found out today. RATS!

Here is a link to her profile and there is an email link too: [Link]

It is now 6:45 PM in Lausanne, Switzerland, yet 'FINA Masters' has released no guidlines for tech-suits for masters swimmers!

A decision was suppose to be issued this week but nothing has come done thus far.

'blueseventy fires Andy Potts for breaching his contract over the 'TYR Hurricane' wetsuit photo!

I posted a photo of Andy Potts wearing the upcoming TYR Hurricane wetsuit while he was under contract with blueseventy. Subsequently, I was contacted about within an hour.

Triathletes have more sponsors than swimmers. They endorse bicycles, swimsuits, wetsuits, bottled water, helmets, etc. etc. Triathletes are like "NASCAR drivers" who have the economic opportunity to endorse every single "nut-and-bolt" within their discipline.

Potts was endorsing TYR tech-suits but he has been under contract for the past three years; (up until today), to endorse blueseventy wetsuits. He has been winning in b70 wetsuits too.

In Andy's defense, he was told that the TYR Hurricane photo would not run till next year but the fault is ultimately his for you just don't touch a competitors product while being paid not to. Ultimately he was sublimely embarassed.

Here is what blueseventy sent me:

blueseventy has agreed to part company with Andy Potts effective immediately. The USA World Champion triathlete has worn the blueseventy Helix wetsuit for 3 years, a longstanding commitment that has been beneficial for both parties. blueseventy have provided the fastest swimskins and wetsuits in the world, and Potts has been one of triathlons fastest swimmers. His contract, expected to expire at the end of the year, has been mutually terminated with immediate effect after his 2010 wetsuit sponsors TYR, took the unusual step of using his image well before his new contract comes into effect in January.

CEO, Steve Nicholls [added]: " We're not thrilled with this situation to be honest, but, at the end of the day, our company's philosophy is to be there for swimmers and athletes. Andy is a great guy, and a top athlete and I don't want to see him involved in something like this. The last thing he needs is to be caught up in a dispute between a current and future sponsor, especially given his recent accident. We will do the best thing for Andy and walk away. He's been put in a difficult position by what could be termed as questionably ethical marketing decisions, something we would never do to an athlete."

[UPDATE] - Here is a statement that blueseventy ran regarding the Andy Potts situation sent to me by TYR PR

Following an investigation between TYR & blueseventy on the contract overlap regarding Andy Potts it has been discovered that both companies were misled by athlete's management. It should be clarified that while the incidence was unfortunate, blueseventy holds no issue with TYR's actions. blueseventy’s decision to end Andy Potts' contract with immediate effect still stands but the company wishes the best to Andy in the coming season.

I so predicted this: TYR is selling wetsuits to triathletes and open water swimmers!

TYR created more tech-suit products than any other swimsuit brand and FINA pretty much discriminated against the company at every turn. Hence, in self-defense it appears to me that TYR is heading for friendlier waters. i.e. Hello triathletes and a friendly national governing body!

All those investment dollars are now being placed where they are most appreciated: Triathlons, triathletes, non-sanction USMS/FINA open water swimmers!

The Exodus of investment dollars begins. The triathlete above is named Andy Potts.

From Slowtwitch.com

At the 2009 Interbike trade show in as Vegas, TYR is introducing a line of wetsuits, something that has been missing in the portfolio of the Huntington Beach, CA company with the slogan "Made for swimmers by swimmers."

[ there will be three lines of wetsuit - go to the link below and read about it.]

According to TYR, this line of wetsuits has been 2 years in the making and they were getting quite a bit of feedback from 2007 Ironman 70.3 World Champion Andy Potts in the process, but the brand has been around for about 25 years without wetsuits. That of course begs the question, why now, after all these years without? There are many brands of wetsuits on the market now, and it appears that more and more new brands are jumping into the game.

[Link]

That "Voldemort guy" in the UK said this wouldn't happen either!

That "Polar Bear" guy, Lewis Gordon Pugh, is going swimming on Mt. Everest!

So, the location for his next swim will be in and around the Khumbu Glacier which is generally in the Mt. Everest's vicinity. The Khumbu Glacier is 17,000 feet above sea level and oxygen, at that altitude, will be extremely scarce when he starts hyperventilating in such cold water. This will be a much harder and a more treacherous swim than his North Pole endeavor.

I opened Google Earth and did a fly-by of the area and there are numerous lakes for him to swim in.

Next April Lewis Gordon Pugh will take a dip in the waters of a lake on the Khumbu Glacier, 17,000ft above sea level in the Himalayas.

He will attempt the 1km swim in just his [briefs], swimming cap and goggles and is expecting, or possibly hoping, to only spend 20 minutes in the water.

The mountain range's glaciers provide water to more than 1.3bn people and are receding faster than in any part of the world.

Temperatures in the Himalayas have risen by around 1 degree Celsius and some are predicting the glaciers could be gone within 25 years.

[Link]

I personally think his swimming stunts are beautiful to watch but his reasons for doing so are rather silly.?

Let me submit this political awareness ad from TBWA depicting a "melting polar bear" made entirely of ice as a contrast to the Lewis Gordon Pugh's photo above.

Which image is more effective in creating an emotional response towards global warming awareness?

The image above was found at Why Me Design. They have an image of a jaguar too: [Link]

Yep, the 2010 speedsuits are coming and note that nobody is smiling in this TYR ensemble ad!

This is the most poignant ad I have seen for a 2010 swimsuit line from any company yet. I just got it in the mail.

The Speedo "Flipturns" campaign is "product suicide" as far as I am concerned.

USMS Convention: 101-93 in favor of abolishing tech suits at the masters level - That is not a mandate!

The last thing I ever wanted was the "red-state / blue-state" phenomena to become part of a recreation that I love. Yesterday's USMS tech-suit vote made it official: we are all now Democrats or Republicans, progressives or conservatives, and we are angry at each other.

To have a governing body grant swimmers the right to wear tech-suits; (which ultimately sprouts a cottage industry to support that right), then within a year deny that right is more than just aggravating, it is disenfranchising.

Members on both sides of the debate are passionate, angry, and are pointing fingers at each other like Democrats and Republicans. Apparently the only common ground is a complete lack of respect for FINA.

I for one am currently evaluating what I will do next year if it is mandated that we compete in briefs or jammers.

From RobAquatics who is at ground zero of this debacle. This is just a snippet, the article is a must read:

Ok, so I just got out of the final meeting of this year's house of delegates. The last action item was, dun dun dun.... swimsuits. It finally happened. Up until this point hardly anyone mentioned it, it was like bringing up religion or politics in casual conversation... not a good idea. Once the floor opened up the comments got pretty hot for a little while. ..."

[...]

The vote was much closer than I would have expected. 101 to 93 in favor of dropping the suits earlier rather than later. Boo. I still think FINA has plenty of flip flop left in it and this was probably a whole lot of fighting for nothing. We'll see how it goes down. From what I understand we still get to ride out the rest of SCM season in tech-suits.

[Link]

USA Swimming bans tech suits in less than two-weeks from now!

Any time a politician utilizes an emotional argument to validate their political point and then salts that argument with a subjective statement posed as a fact, you are about to be bamboozled.

Chuck Wieglus is really working it with this statement that he probably had his PR people write.

From Swimming World:

"As an organization, we have been working with FINA and other swimming nations to find a solution that will ensure a fair and even playing field for all swimmers, and that will ultimately advance the best interests of our sport," said Chuck Wielgus, USA Swimming Executive Director. "With Saturday's vote, our membership has sent a clear message that it wanted this action taken sooner, rather than later. We hope that this action will put the emphasis back where it belongs – on our athletes, their training and hard work."

[Link]

What bravado and arrogance! Saying tech-suits are not fair is like saying the Titanic is unsinkable and both statements are easily disproved. For instance, what if every swimmer in a race wore a tech-suit! Why would that be unfair? Hmmm, because Michael Phelps would lose?

Mark Savage shot that photo of a swimmer at the Mission Viejo. If you look at the photo in the masthead, this is the third photo in that start progression.

How to measure the exact distances of an open water swim, a bike ride or a run using 'Google Earth!'

The Alcatraz Sharkfest Swim claims the distance between Alcatraz island and the finish line at Aquatic Park is 1.5 miles. As a crow flies or as a dolphin swims, it is definitely not 1.5 miles. However, if you swim in an arc as the race director recommends or you are thrown off course like a cork in a tempest like I was last August, it probably is a 1.5 mile swim.

Kerry, a SCAQ Blog reader and swimmer, who loves to tell me when I am wrong especially when it comes to "sacred cow" subjects like tech-suits, insisted that the distance that the Sharkfest promoters claims is way off and that it can't be more than a mile.

So, using the free Google Earth application, I was able to plot the exact distance; (if my faith in the Google satellite imaging data is correct), by using the ruler tool to calculate the exact path.

The distance between Alcatraz and the finish line at Aquatic park in 1.25 miles

Here is a quick overview how to do it

You use the RULER icon and select PATH from the pop-up menu. Then "click" each point of your swim path, bike path, run path, on the actual map and the total distance will appear in the in the RULER POP-UP panel!

Way cool!

What it is like to be an elite swimmer of African descent at a swimming pool in America!

Jeff Commings is not Cullen Jones though he is a heck of a breastroker; (50 SCY: 25.62) and a very active swimmer with the USMS.

In this Swimming World article he discusses what it is like to be one of the very few elite swimmers who is coincidentally of African descent.

Apparently people mistake him for Cullen Jones just because he is black!

From Swimming World:

"... And, if you see a black man with a swimmer build at a swimming-related function, do not immediately deduce that the man you are looking at can be no other person than Cullen Jones.

I offer this advice because I am a black man with a swimmer build. I am presently at a swimming-related function at the United States Aquatic Sports Convention. And I am not Cullen Jones.

But in the past week, six people have believed otherwise.

The first time this happened was at the American Swimming Coaches Association's world clinic last week. A woman came to the Swimming World booth to look at some of the instructional books and DVDs we sell. After flipping through a book, she handed it to me and asked, "Would you be willing to sign this?"

[Link]

USA Swimming has got to get this guy involved with the Make a Splash program.

Luare Manadou retires at 22-years-old - Thank you garbage yardage for yet another casualty!

Swimming is amazing, it's euphoric, it's like jumping into a warm, blissful, zero-gravity, HELLO! Yet pro-swimmers, when they retire, such as Thorpe, Popov, and now Laure Manaudou do not only feel an intense sensation of relief as they leave the sport, they flee from the pool as if it were the French Bastille during the French Revolution.

With that in mind, this all says to me that both fame and garbage yardage are the culprits!

From Associated Press:

"I quit. This hasn't been an easy decision to take," the Frenchwoman told Friday's edition of Le Parisien newspaper. "It came to me little by little. I didn't make it on impulse."

"I've got all the titles," Manaudou added. "I had everything I wanted, even more than in my dreams... I have all the time to think about my future."

Manaudou, who gave France its first swimming gold since Jean Boiteux in 1952 when she won the 400-metre freestyle at the Athens Olympics in 2004, said she lost her motivation after splitting with the coach behind her successes, Philippe Lucas.

"She made the right choice by deciding to stop," Lucas told the Le Point magazine website. "At last, she is going to enjoy some peace of mind."

[Link]

Reactions:

Roxana Maracineanu

Babelfish translation: "... former world champion of swimming: “It was the best swimmer of all times. And not only French. But [she] did not go [to the] end of [her] talent. [She] was Michael Phelps... the female one.

Christian Donzé " ...Techinical officer French Federation: With such a talent, I was convinced that [she] could go back in [the] saddle for 2012.

Amuary Leveaux: "... I think that [she] could have made [another] Olympiad... Now, it is [her] choice to stop and [she] should be respected”.

[Link]

Photo credit: sagicel's photostream at Flickr.com

'Swimming Canada' and their tech-suit time machine!

In a gleeful press release issued today yesterday; (This post is late), Swimming Canada, states that they could not wait for FINA's January 1st, 2010 deadline to ban tech-suits and since banning them yesterday was not soon enough, they chose to ban them 2-weeks ago!

From Swimming World:

"... OTTAWA, Ontario, September 17. SWIMMING Canada announced that effective September 1, 2009, all swimwear worn in swimming competitions sanctioned under the authority of Swimming Canada must conform to the January 1, 2010 FINA swimwear approval guidelines.

"We want our athletes to start the season on the right foot," [mixed metaphor] says Pierre Lafontaine, CEO and National Coach for Swimming Canada. "By implementing the rule in September, we are giving our athletes more time to adapt to the technology changes as they prepare for the big events this year." ..."


[Link]

Comedian, Louis Black once said that his style of humor comes from a guy who is stranded on the the Titanic and nobody but himself knows what is going to happen. Hence, his salty use of sarcasm, profanity, and the impression of being on the brink while trying to convince the right people to avert disaster.

Today, I feel like Louis Black on the Titanic and this suit ban will be competitive swimming's "iceberg.

My rant is on:"

Suit sponsors will focus intensely on triathletes whereas pro-swimmer paychecks will shrink and so will interest in pro-swimmers.

A professional triathlete will happily wear your tech suit for $30,000 to $40,000 per year but if you want a triathlete "...that will rule them all," it might cost $50,000 or $60,000. (I can't expose my source on this.)

Contrast that to all of the tech-suit wearing athletes at the FINA World Championships last month and ask yourself what sort of dollars they were making directly or indirectly for switching suits. Ask what their endorsement did for that particular suit company?

A pair of briefs or jammers is not a viable business model

What is the difference between a $30 pair of jammers from TYR or Speedo versus a $14.95 pair of jammers from Club Swim or Aquatica? The answer is obviously nothing since all of the above are made from 80% Polyester & 20% Lycra fabric blend.

Gross profits for swimsuit manufacturers will be cut in half or more. A $30 product purchased 3-or-4 times a year; (you mileage may vary), cannot match in gross income a $350 tech-suit purchased once-or-twice a year by colleges, athletes and age groupers.

Consequently, manufacturers will have to provide at least five other lifestyle and equipment products which will not produce the sort of revenue that a tech-suit can generate. (For instance: how often do you buy a swim bag or a parka? I trust not once or twice a year?

Swimming is not chess, but it will become as "popular" as chess if it does not continue to evolve technologically along with other successful sports.

When I was a kid the daily paper would print these chess board situations in a specific portion of the paper like they were a daily "war room map" during WW II. Those who were interested in chess would stare at these "war puzzles" and make notes, perhaps open a book and try to solve them and the next day the answer would be posted. The L.A. Times, nor the does The New York Times do that anymore for chess has become irrelevant.

If you compare swimming to triathlons, cycling, running, baseball, basketball, golf, hockey, on ad infinitum, these sports have evolved faster and more progressively than swimming has and to keep our sport from becoming chess-like, swimming has to evolve just as fast!

Is swimming really growing?

They use to make movies about synchronized swimming, they threw a ticker-tape parade for a swimmer named, Gertrude Caroline Ederle, who swam the English Channel. They made movie stars out of swimmers as well such as Johnny Weismuller, Esther Williams, Annette Kellerman.

The photo above of Speedo's groovy new Flipturns are on sale now! However there is always Splish is you really want something "outloud."