Fact or Fiction: World Beaters

As I covered in a Split Time with Garrett McCaffrey, now is the time of year that I get nervous for the US National Team. In the past, I've written a blog where I foolishly try to predict the who the breakout stars of the coming summer season will be. Today, I'll be taking a different wrinkle. I'm going to look at the swimmers who have shot up th World Rankings in recent months, look into my crystal ball, and tell you whether they are for real.

Robotic Visitor from Desolate Future Speaks to FINA Swim Bureau (Blast from the Past)

I originally posted this on my blogspot about a year and a half ago to make fun of FINA's handling of the tech suit mess and the group who was still pushing to get rid of jammers.  I am re-posting it here to celebrate April 21, 2011:  the day SkyNet was set to start it's aggression against mankind in the Terminator movies. It gained sentience on April 19th.  I hope you burned all your neoprene suits.  Enjoy.   

Today's meeting of the FINA Bureau was visited by Governor Schwarzenegger, who gave advice regarding swimsuit technology, drug use and dating.

January 16, 2010

The Screaming Viking!

The date of January 1, 2010 has passed, and with it, many feel, has ceased the controversy over the “performance enhancing” high-tech swimwear that had cast the world of competitive swimming into disarray for nearly two years. The battle between the purists, often considered luddites for their wish that the sport would return to the days when nothing more than limited length textiles and skin entered the water, versus those who embraced technology as a way to promote competitive swimming to a more mainstream status, was declared a knock-out win when the FINA Congress of Coaches voted nearly unanimously to banish all swimsuit advances after 2007 and to set limits on the specific parts of the body the textile fabrics may cover.

"Professional Swimming" in Our Awesome Economy

Anyone see the Newsweek article featuring Brian Goodell? Here's the lead-off paragraph:

Brian Goodell, of Mission Viejo, Calif., won two gold medals in the 1976 Olympics. An all-American, God-fearing golden boy, he segued into a comfortable career in commercial real estate. Until 2008, when he was laid off. As a 17-year-old swimmer, he set two world records. As a 52-year-old job hunter, he’s drowning.

Swimming Needs Its Own "Marathon" Term

Today I signed into "The Atlantic" -- part of my daily procrastination ritual designed to keep me from ever accomplishing anything that could be labeled as "real work." (Never go to the website "The Daily What." The blog is a time vortex and will suck you down into its deep, dark rabbit hole of videos and links. Unless you're like me and that's your thing.)

Come on, guys. We can do better.

While I was working on my education degree we were warned by professors to never be left alone with a student; never give them a ride home alone; always pull in someone to be a witness during a reprimand…  these were general ways to protect ourselves from false accusations.  We were told that one accusation can be enough to ruin a career. 

Deena Deardurff Schmidt's Heartbreaking Deposition

Throughout my blogs chronicling USA Swimming's handling of sexual abuse, I've read many troubling stories. There is perhaps none that have left me as sick to my stomach as I was after reading the recently posted deposition of Deena Deardurff Schmidt. While SOT (Splash of Truth) has given some attention to the aggressive tactics of the USA Swimming lawyer, I think there is a far more troubling narrative in this deposition.

Why Don't We Have Better Meet Results?

In the news, I'm constantly reading about how America is falling behind the rest of the world in infrastructure. South Korea has way faster internet, Japan has had faster trains for what seems like forever, and our airports seem completely overwhelmed. But I'm here to write about a far more important type of infrastructure: the way American swimming fans/nerds can track meets as they go and past results.