The Deck

The Quiet

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 16:53:00 +0000

It's so quiet.

Almost scary quiet.
4 years ago the Athens Olympics had just ended and there was swimming everywhere. Michelle was at making BrendanHansenOnline.com a huge success. Suz had ramped up Swimstars. Fans of swimming were helping each other find all the news that was out there. Learning about the sport, not just about who was hot in a speedo.
Michael Phelps, Ian Crocker and Lenny Krayzelburg had toured the USA to raise the profile of swimming throughout the country.
We were counting the days until the World Championships in Montreal.
I personally made my friends , family and clients aware of the faces and names in the sport. I was so effective, that whenever there was so much as a photo of water splashing in a newspaper, full pages were mailed to me.
I had helped educate people about this wonderful sport. Those same people watched The Duel in The Pool on NBCTV because it made them think of me.

I opened Deckchange.

The next few years brought some shocking retirements (Thorpe). Some shocking returns (Torres). An amazingly beautiful World Championships in Melbourne that showed the world what "Michael" was capable of and how things might go in Beijing. It was very exciting.

Then came these glorious games of 2008. The auspicious number 8. 8.8.08
One single goal reached by one man, Phelps.
It would have been impossible without his 8 team mates, Lochte, Berens, Vanderkaay, Weber-Gale, Jones, Lezak, Piersol and Hansen. 8.
The population of the world lost their breath twice.
First when the heroic Jason Lezak proved once and for all that it's not only his talent, but his heart that have made him "The Anchorman".
The second when Serbian Milorad Cavic stood face to face with the Mighty Phelps. Uncowed by his "I AM" stare, forcing him to make an emotional and dangerously effective short stroke. He amazed everyone but the Omega cameras and won with an impossible touch.
The man was not to be beaten.

Others were the same. Stephanie Rice and the very strong Australian Women's team. Kirsty Coventry. Ous Mellouli.
Everyone had a Hero.
The hype was intoxicating and well deserved.
Five months later and all that is left is a photo or two of Phelps in every 2008 recap.

The most records annihilated at an Olympic Games. The best games ever.

So why is it so quiet now?
Now is when new fans, historically, should be gearing up for the next something big. All excitement for ROMA'09.
But all is quiet.
Is it because there are rumors of retirement from some of the sport's greatest? Has the business of swimming taken away it's soul? Have super-suits ruined everyone's idea of fair play?

Now there are no tours across the country.
Very few of the big names who begged for a Grand Prix series to showcase their talents and earn them some money, actually even swim in them.
Fans are losing interest because the best in sport have too. It has become about contracts and obnoxious agents not playing fair with all their clients. About lawsuits against a swimmer and suit manufacturer. About Swimmers being left off the team. About the numbers 8 and 41 with nothing in between.

I will attend the Grand Prix in Long Beach. Yes, I will be disappointed that I won't get to see some of the fastest athletes who train in the USA, competing in a 25 yard pool, but I will go because I love the sport. I will be disappointed because there are not more spectators there to see Ryan Lochte, one of the greatest the USA and the world has to offer, who is back to training after stepping out of Aaron Peirsol's shadow but glow s brightly behind Michael's. I will notice if someone does a personal best after hard winter training camp. And, yes, I will be there for the distance races, because that's what I do. Even when the meet runners don't have a ticket for me because the meet doesn't really start until the second day. And I will be angry because people have saved their seats between sessions so they don't have to get there early to stake their claim like I do.
And still, I will be there. Because I want to be, not because I have to.

American athletes have had a few months off, so have the fans.

I myself am guilty of being too quiet. I have a full year of photos to add to my gallery.

I just got a call that one of my clients is swimming at the Q meet today. So begins 2009.
Let's start making some noise.

Thanks for Stopping by in 2007!

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 02:43:00 +0000

I really want to thank everyone who visits this site. I know I am really far behind in post pictures and even worse with the labeling. I promise to catch up pretty quickly and keep 2008 on track. I have a good excuse.. really I do, but things are better now and I resolve to do better!

I also want to thank everyone who wrote in support of what I am trying to do here. It means a lot to get this type of support.

2007 had to be the greatest record breaking year in swimming in a very long time,if ever. I can't imagine a year as fast at 2007, but then I think I said the same thing about 2006. I also got the opportunity to meet a lot of really good people. I include the guys from Timed Prelims, Matt from USA Swimming, Jason from Swimming World Magazine and numerous fantastic athletes and parents and fans. Thank you all for the positive feedback. One of the goals of this site was to keep the sport in he public eye and to educate people that swimming is a year round sport And not just an Olympic event. Keep and eye on my Calendar of Events if you live in the USA, or are planning a vacation here and are looking for a meet to watch some elite swimming. I will try to keep that updated too!

Here is a list of our visitors by country:
UNITED STATES 159,648
UNITED KINGDOM 3,093
CANADA 2,758
SWEDEN 2,744
GERMANY 2,648
AUSTRALIA 1,889
JAPAN 1,621
ITALY 1,516
FRANCE 1,424
NETHERLANDS 1,038
HUNGARY 694
CHINA 642
PORTUGAL 449
ISRAEL 373
HONG KONG 364
IRELAND 355
SPAIN 347
SWITZERLAND 344
AUSTRIA 311
BELGIUM 311
FINLAND 287
BRAZIL 259
SOUTH AFRICA 250
MEXICO 246
SLOVAKIA 217
MALAYSIA 210
SINGAPORE 177
CZECH REPUBLIC 176
POLAND 170
TURKEY 135
ROMANIA 125
NEW ZEALAND 114
TAIWAN 112
UNKNOWN 105
ESTONIA 103
RUSSIAN FEDERATION 88
SLOVENIA 84
GREECE 82
CROATIA 82
CHILE 80
SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO 79
DENMARK 76
PHILIPPINES 74
NORWAY 73
EGYPT 60
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 59
ARGENTINA 47
ALGERIA 45
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 40
SAUDI ARABIA 39
BULGARIA 36
VENEZUELA 36
PERU 35
KUWAIT 35
SERBIA 32
INDIA 32
THAILAND 30
INDONESIA 23
MOROCCO 22
COLOMBIA 21
LEBANON 15
JORDAN 14
IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF 13
ECUADOR 12
LITHUANIA 12
LUXEMBOURG 10
SRI LANKA 10
VIET NAM 10
MALTA 9
SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC 9
PUERTO RICO 9
UKRAINE 8
QATAR 8
TUNISIA 8
URUGUAY 7
LATVIA 7
ICELAND 7
NEW CALEDONIA 6
KAZAKHSTAN 6
PAKISTAN 6
COSTA RICA 5
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 5
PANAMA 5
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 4
GUATEMALA 4
PARAGUAY 4
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 4
GUAM 4
CYPRUS 4
MACEDONIA, THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF 3
LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA 3
MONACO 3
GEORGIA 3
OMAN 3
BAHAMAS 3
EL SALVADOR 3
BAHRAIN 3
MADAGASCAR 2
BOLIVIA 2
MAURITIUS 2
COTE D'IVOIRE 2
ALBANIA 2
LAO PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC 2
BARBADOS 2
SENEGAL 2
FIJI 2
BERMUDA 2
MONTENEGRO 1
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA 1
GUYANA 1
MOLDOVA, REPUBLIC OF 1
AFGHANISTAN 1
FRENCH POLYNESIA 1
ZIMBABWE 1
KENYA 1
ANGOLA 1
YEMEN 1
JAMAICA 1
VIRGIN ISLANDS, U.S. 1
MALI 1
GIBRALTAR 1
SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS 1
NICARAGUA 1
NETHERLANDS ANTILLES 1
KYRGYZSTAN 1

And here is a list of the regions:

CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES 118,634
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES 11,527
UNKNOWN 8,087
VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES 3,609
TEXAS, UNITED STATES 3,228
ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM 2,529
FLORIDA, UNITED STATES 1,940
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN 1,723
ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES 1,338
PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES 1,285
ARIZONA, UNITED STATES 1,281
GEORGIA, UNITED STATES 1,219
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, UNITED STATES 1,198
ONTARIO, CANADA 1,078
NEW JERSEY, UNITED STATES 981
BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA 967
UTAH, UNITED STATES 966
ILE-DE-FRANCE, FRANCE 846
QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA 763
NOORD-HOLLAND, NETHERLANDS 745
SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN, GERMANY 715
WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES 679
CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES 673
MINNESOTA, UNITED STATES 673
MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES 658
NORTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES 646
MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES 642
MARYLAND, UNITED STATES 572
NORDRHEIN-WESTFALEN, GERMANY 507
OHIO, UNITED STATES 502
KANSAS, UNITED STATES 473
BEIJING, CHINA 463
TENNESSEE, UNITED STATES 456
QUEBEC, CANADA 433
OKLAHOMA, UNITED STATES 408
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY 401
MISSOURI, UNITED STATES 393
WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES 389
LAZIO, ITALY 379
BERLIN, GERMANY 369
OREGON, UNITED STATES 369
HONG KONG (SAR), HONG KONG 348
TOKYO, JAPAN 343
LISBOA, PORTUGAL 326
VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 322
NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA 321
INDIANA, UNITED STATES 295
SOUTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES 289
COLORADO, UNITED STATES 276
DUBLIN, IRELAND 275
WIEN, AUSTRIA 240
ZUID-HOLLAND, NETHERLANDS 225
HESSEN, GERMANY 224
PROVENCE-ALPES-COTE D'AZUR, FRANCE 222
IOWA, UNITED STATES 14
VERMONT, UNITED STATES 214
ALABAMA, UNITED STATES 211
AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY, AUSTRALIA 208
HAWAII, UNITED STATES 207
LOMBARDIA, ITALY 192
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL 190
DELAWARE, UNITED STATES 182
NEW HAMPSHIRE, UNITED STATES 176
SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE 175
NEW MEXICO, UNITED STATES 169
ALBERTA, CANADA 168
SELANGOR, MALAYSIA 168
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM 168
LANSI-SUOMEN LAANI, FINLAND 149
BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY 147
KENTUCKY, UNITED STATES 134
HALLAND, SWEDEN 131
BORSOD-ABAUJ-ZEMPLEN, HUNGARY 125
ETELA-SUOMEN LAANI, FINLAND 112
WESTERN AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA 111
HARJUMAA, ESTONIA 102
BUCURESTI, ROMANIA 100
NEUCHATEL, SWITZERLAND 98
JIHOMORAVSKY KRAJ, CZECH REPUBLIC 98
ISTANBUL, TURKEY 97
SACHSEN, GERMANY 95
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND 91
EMILIA-ROMAGNA, ITALY 88
DISTRITO FEDERAL, MEXICO 87
RHODE ISLAND, UNITED STATES 80
YERUSHALAYIM (JERUSALEM), ISRAEL 78
BAYERN, GERMANY 76
LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA 76
T'AI-PEI, TAIWAN 75
REGION METROPOLITANA, CHILE 73
LOUISIANA, UNITED STATES 71
GRAD ZAGREB, CROATIA 70
MISSISSIPPI, UNITED STATES 65
TOSCANA, ITALY 64
CATALUñA, SPAIN 61
NEVADA, UNITED STATES 61
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 59
VASTRA GOTALAND, SWEDEN 56
SARDEGNA, ITALY 55
PUGLIA, ITALY 55
NIEDERSACHSEN, GERMANY 55
NEBRASKA, UNITED STATES 54
UMBRIA, ITALY 52
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK 52
MOSKVA, RUSSIAN FEDERATION 52
HAMBURG, GERMANY 47
MAINE, UNITED STATES 46
MANILA, PHILIPPINES 43
SLASKIE, POLAND 43
ATTIKI, GREECE 39
SCOTLAND, UNITED KINGDOM 38
NORD-PAS-DE-CALAIS, FRANCE 38\
AICHI, JAPAN 38
AL QAHIRAH, EGYPT 37
ARKANSAS, UNITED STATES 37
KAO-HSIUNG, TAIWAN 36
MADRID, SPAIN 36
STEIERMARK, AUSTRIA 36
CHAMPAGNE-ARDENNE, FRANCE 35
WYOMING, UNITED STATES 34
LIMA, PERU 34
AL KUWAYT, KUWAIT 34
ANTWERPEN, BELGIUM 32
BRATISLAVSKY, SLOVAKIA 32
HíEFA (HAIFA), ISRAEL 32
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA 32
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND 31
LIMBURG, BELGIUM 30
NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA 29
KYONGGI-DO, KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 29
CHONGQING, CHINA 27
GUANGDONG, CHINA 26
SOUTH DAKOTA, UNITED STATES 26
OSLO, NORWAY 26
MANITOBA, CANADA 25
MAZOWIECKIE, POLAND 25
WEST VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES 25
HLAVNI MESTO PRAHA, CZECH REPUBLIC 24
SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA 24
NAVARRA, SPAIN 24
SOUTH AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA 24
SKANE, SWEDEN 24
VAUD, SWITZERLAND 24
KRUNG THEP MAHANAKHON, THAILAND 23
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND 23
RHEINLAND-PFALZ, GERMANY 22
WILAYAH PERSEKUTUAN, MALAYSIA 22
MONTANA, UNITED STATES 21
SOFIYA, BULGARIA 20
SICHUAN, CHINA 20
SHANGHAI, CHINA 20
ALSACE, FRANCE 20
CSONGRAD, HUNGARY 20
QUINTANA ROO, MEXICO 20
AR RIYAD, SAUDI ARABIA 19
VALENCIA, SPAIN 18
IDAHO, UNITED STATES 17
SOR-TRONDELAG, NORWAY 16
KHANIA, GREECE 15
OSAKA, JAPAN 15
TICINO, SWITZERLAND 14
MAHARASHTRA, INDIA 14
WEST-VLAANDEREN, BELGIUM 14
NORTH DAKOTA, UNITED STATES 14
ITA-SUOMEN LAANI, FINLAND 14
BREMEN, GERMANY 13
WIELKOPOLSKIE, POLAND 13
'AMMAN, JORDAN 13
FARO, PORTUGAL 13
NOORD-BRABANT, NETHERLANDS 12
THURINGEN, GERMANY 12
SãO PAULO, BRAZIL 12
IZMIR, TURKEY 12
FRIULI-VENEZIA GIULIA, ITALY 11
OOST-VLAANDEREN, BELGIUM 11
VENETO, ITALY 11
DISTRITO CAPITAL, COLOMBIA 11
ANDALUCIA, SPAIN 11
PULAU PINANG, MALAYSIA 11
PIEMONTE, ITALY 10
GAUTENG, SOUTH AFRICA 10
SHIZUOKA, JAPAN 10
CAMPANIA, ITALY 9
DOLNOSLASKIE, POLAND 9
ANKARA, TURKEY 9
RABAT-SALE, MOROCCO 9
CANARY ISLANDS, SPAIN 9
BASEL-STADT, SWITZERLAND 9
LUXEMBOURG, LUXEMBOURG 9
BEYROUTH, LEBANON 9
MALTA, MALTA 9
RHONE-ALPES, FRANCE 9
ALASKA, UNITED STATES 9
CASTILLA Y LEON, SPAIN 8
LUBELSKIE, POLAND 8
PORTO, PORTUGAL 8
BOURGOGNE, FRANCE 8
JALISCO, MEXICO 8
AD DAWHAH, QATAR 8
HIROSHIMA, JAPAN 8
SAARLAND, GERMANY 8
CENTRAL, FIJI 7
MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY 7
PUERTO RICO, PUERTO RICO 7
HAMERKAZ (CENTRAL), ISRAEL 7
NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA 7
GRONINGEN, NETHERLANDS 7
LODZKIE, POLAND 7
DELHI, INDIA 7
JAKARTA RAYA (DJAKARTA RAYA), INDONESIA 6
MIDI-PYRENEES, FRANCE 6
FLEVOLAND, NETHERLANDS 6
REYKJAVIK, ICELAND 6
NEW CALEDONIA, NEW CALEDONIA 6
SPLITSKO-DALMATINSKA, CROATIA 6
OVERIJSSEL, NETHERLANDS 6
SOUTHLAND, NEW ZEALAND 6
ABRUZZI, ITALY 6
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND 6
WALES, UNITED KINGDOM 6
PICHINCHA, ECUADOR 6
NANTERRE, FRANCE 6
THESSALONIKI, GREECE 5
KUJAWSKO-POMORSKIE, POLAND 5
RIGA, LATVIA 5
VARNA, BULGARIA 5
BALEARES, SPAIN 5
NAMUR, BELGIUM 5
PUEBLA, MEXICO 5
MEXICO, MEXICO 5
TEHRAN, IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF 5
LIEGE, BELGIUM 5
BRABANT WALLON, BELGIUM 5
VESTSJALLAND, DENMARK 5
ASTURIAS, SPAIN 5
VESTFOLD, NORWAY 5
SINALOA, MEXICO 5
OULUN LAANI, FINLAND 5
UTRECHT, NETHERLANDS 4
GUAYAS, ECUADOR 4
NUEVO LEON, MEXICO 4
MARCHE, ITALY 4
KARNATAKA, INDIA 4
MISTO KYYIV, UKRAINE 4
ZACHODNIOPOMORSKIE, POLAND 4
AL JIZAH, EGYPT 4
GELDERLAND, NETHERLANDS 4
GUATEMALA, GUATEMALA 4
LIGURIA, ITALY 4
CANTERBURY, NEW ZEALAND 4
RIZAL, PHILIPPINES 4
BERN, SWITZERLAND 4
DUNAUJVAROS, HUNGARY 4
VILNIAUS APSKRITIS, LITHUANIA 4
SICILIA, ITALY 4
PRIMORSKO-GORANSKA, CROATIA 4
HO CHI MINH, VIET NAM 4
FREDERIKSBORG, DENMARK 4
ASUNCION, PARAGUAY 4
OBEROSTERREICH, AUSTRIA 4
AL BAHR AL AHMAR, EGYPT 4
CASTILLA-LA MANCHA, SPAIN 4
JAWA TIMUR (DJAWA TIMUR), INDONESIA 4
ARHUS, DENMARK 4
MAKKAH, SAUDI ARABIA 4
KOPER, SLOVENIA 4
SANKT-PETERBURG, RUSSIAN FEDERATION 4
NORTHERN IRELAND, UNITED KINGDOM 3
NIEDEROSTERREICH, AUSTRIA 3
MORELOS, MEXICO 3
ZHEJIANG, CHINA 3
ASH SHARQIYAH, SAUDI ARABIA 3
LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON, FRANCE 3
TUNIS, TUNISIA 3
BURSA, TURKEY 3
CHELYABINSKAYA OBLAST', RUSSIAN FEDERATION 3
DISTRITO NACIONAL, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 3
DHODHEKANISOS, GREECE 3
PAIS VASCO, SPAIN 3
TASMANIA, AUSTRALIA 3
ZILINSKY, SLOVAKIA 3
SANTAREM, PORTUGAL 3
AVEIRO, PORTUGAL 3
GALICIA, SPAIN 3
MASQAT, OMAN 3
GUJARAT, INDIA 3
FUKUOKA, JAPAN 3
LIMASSOL, CYPRUS 3
AL MANAMAH, BAHRAIN 3
SAITAMA, JAPAN 3
MALOPOLSKIE, POLAND 3
HORDALAND, NORWAY 3
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL 3
POMORSKIE, POLAND 3
ADANA, TURKEY 3
SVERDLOVSKAYA OBLAST', RUSSIAN FEDERATION 3
HAUTE-NORMANDIE, FRANCE 3
STARA ZAGORA, BULGARIA 3
ARACINOVO, MACEDONIA, THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF 3
DIMASHQ, SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC 3
NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR, CANADA 3
SETUBAL, PORTUGAL 3
BRETAGNE, FRANCE 3
JöNKöPING, SWEDEN 3
UPPSALA, SWEDEN 3
LORRAINE, FRANCE 3
JAWA BARAT (DJAWA BARAT), INDONESIA 2
AKERSHUS, NORWAY 2
GUAM, GUAM 2
SIBIU, ROMANIA 2
MELAKA, MALAYSIA 2
CHIBA, JAPAN 2
KAUNO APSKRITIS, LITHUANIA 2
SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR 2
KANAGAWA, JAPAN 2
BASEL-LANDSCHAFT, SWITZERLAND 2
CRNA GORA (MONTENEGRO), SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO 2
SARAWAK, MALAYSIA 2
HOKKAIDO, JAPAN 2
SONORA, MEXICO 2
VEST-AGDER, NORWAY 2
HADAROM (SOUTHERN), ISRAEL 2
ANTIOQUIA, COLOMBIA 2
TAMAULIPAS, MEXICO 2
MARAMURES, ROMANIA 2
RIVNENS'KA OBLAST', UKRAINE 2
SALZBURG, AUSTRIA 2
CARTAGO, COSTA RICA 2
PAYS DE LA LOIRE, FRANCE 2
VALAIS, SWITZERLAND 2
PERAK, MALAYSIA 2
ST. MICHAEL, BARBADOS 2
PUNJAB, PAKISTAN 2
PODKARPACKIE, POLAND 2
PANAMA, PANAMA 2
BIHOR, ROMANIA 2
HEBEI, CHINA 2
PRAHOVA, ROMANIA 2
FUJIAN, CHINA 2
SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA 2
ROGALAND, NORWAY 2
MICHOACAN, MEXICO 2
SINDH, PAKISTAN 2
TIRANE, ALBANIA 2
HAJDU-BIHAR, HUNGARY 2
LA RIOJA, SPAIN 2
SHANDONG, CHINA 2
GRAUBUNDEN, SWITZERLAND 2
CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO 2
STORSTROM, DENMARK 2
CHIAPAS, MEXICO 2
MADEIRA, PORTUGAL 2
MUGLA, TURKEY 1
PUSAN-GWANGYOKSI, KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 1
IASI, ROMANIA 1
EXTREMADURA, SPAIN 1
KRONOBERG, SWEDEN 1
MAYO, IRELAND 1
FRIESLAND, NETHERLANDS 1
BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR, MEXICO 1
DEMERARA-MAHAICA, GUYANA 1
MURCIA, SPAIN 1
ST. GEORGE BASSETERRE, SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS 1
ARAGON, SPAIN 1
DAVAO CITY, PHILIPPINES 1
TIANJIN, CHINA 1
VERACRUZ, MEXICO 1
WATERFORD, IRELAND 1
ZEELAND, NETHERLANDS 1
LARA, VENEZUELA 1
SURAT THANI, THAILAND 1
VIANA DO CASTELO, PORTUGAL 1
KARELIYA, RUSSIAN FEDERATION 1
BARANYA, HUNGARY 1
LEIRIA, PORTUGAL 1
TOLNA, HUNGARY 1
CANTABRIA, SPAIN 1
PHUKET, THAILAND 1
ZUG, SWITZERLAND 1
CONSTANTA, ROMANIA 1
VASTERNORRLAND, SWEDEN 1
ORAN, ALGERIA 1
JILIN, CHINA 1
COIMBRA, PORTUGAL 1
TIMIS, ROMANIA 1
SACHSEN-ANHALT, GERMANY 1
FRENCH POLYNESIA, FRENCH POLYNESIA 1
GIBRALTAR, GIBRALTAR 1
SUHAJ, EGYPT 1
NORTH-WEST FRONTIER, PAKISTAN 1
MANAGUA, NICARAGUA 1
COCHABAMBA, BOLIVIA 1
ROSKILDE, DENMARK 1
ARIMA, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 1
ESKISEHIR, TURKEY 1
BALI, INDONESIA 1
MIYAGI, JAPAN 1
CALABRIA, ITALY 1
BAMAKO, MALI 1
WESTERN, SRI LANKA 1
VEJLE, DENMARK 1
GOIáS, BRAZIL 1
PRESOVSKY, SLOVAKIA 1
BURGAS, BULGARIA 1
ICEL, TURKEY 1
AHUACHAPAN, EL SALVADOR 1
KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA 1
SOMOGY, HUNGARY 1
SZABOLCS-SZATMAR-BEREG, HUNGARY 1
NAYARIT, MEXICO 1
CARABOBO, VENEZUELA 1
GUANACASTE, COSTA RICA 1
QUERETARO, MEXICO 1
ANTALYA, TURKEY 1
ATLANTICO, COLOMBIA 1
VALLE DEL CAUCA, COLOMBIA 1
HYOGO, JAPAN 1
KRASNODARSKIY KRAY, RUSSIAN FEDERATION 1
HAINAUT, BELGIUM 1
OREBRO, SWEDEN 1
HAMILTON MUNICIPALITY, BERMUDA 1
TOKUSHIMA, JAPAN 1
NEW PROVIDENCE, BAHAMAS 1
OAXACA, MEXICO 1
KAOLACK, SENEGAL 1
NAIROBI AREA, KENYA 1
BANSKOBYSTRICKY, SLOVAKIA 1
JASZ-NAGYKUN-SZOLNOK, HUNGARY 1
META, COLOMBIA 1
SUMATERA SELATAN, INDONESIA 1
SANTA FE, ARGENTINA 1
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, CANADA 1
BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO 1
OSJECKO-BARANJSKA, CROATIA 1
PODLASKIE, POLAND 1
STREDOCESKY KRAJ, CZECH REPUBLIC 1
PEST, HUNGARY 1
NORDJYLLAND, DENMARK 1
FEDERATION OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 1
PLZENSKY KRAJ, CZECH REPUBLIC 1
TARABULUS, LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA 1
GUANAJUATO, MEXICO 1
AUST-AGDER, NORWAY 1
KINGSTON, JAMAICA 1
MISAMIS ORIENTAL, PHILIPPINES 1
SLIGO, IRELAND 1
MORAVSKOSLEZSKY KRAJ, CZECH REPUBLIC 1
LASITHI, GREECE 1
LOS LAGOS, CHILE 1
KHORASAN, IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF 1
DALARNAS, SWEDEN 1
VISEU, PORTUGAL 1
NORDLAND, NORWAY 1
HEVES, HUNGARY 1
SOLOTHURN, SWITZERLAND 1
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES, CANADA 1
AZORES, PORTUGAL 1
CASABLANCA, MOROCCO 1
GUNMA, JAPAN 1
KAVALA, GREECE 1
KABOL, AFGHANISTAN 1
PUERTO PLATA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 1
SHANXI, CHINA 1
TRECIANSKY, SLOVAKIA 1
PICARDIE, FRANCE 1
HUNAN, CHINA 1
RIO GRANDE DO SUL, BRAZIL 1
OSTERGOTLAND, SWEDEN 1
BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN 1
USTECKY KRAJ, CZECH REPUBLIC 1
KOCAELI, TURKEY 1
MARIBOR, SLOVENIA 1
BASILICATA, ITALY 1
CLUJ, ROMANIA 1
MINAS GERAIS, BRAZIL 1
ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN 1
IBARAKI, JAPAN 1
EVVOIA, GREECE 1
WARMINSKO-MAZURSKIE, POLAND 1
LA PAZ, BOLIVIA 1
FYN, DENMARK 1
TAMIL NADU, INDIA 1
JOHOR, MALAYSIA 1
NICOSIA, CYPRUS 1
HA NOI, VIET NAM 1
ZACATECAS, MEXICO 1

Thanks again, and here's to a fast and exciting 2008!

TYR Swim Meet of Champions 2007

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 11:10:00 +0000

There are people who think the distance races are boring. I am not one of those people. The TYR meet was covered by a local cable company. One handheld camera, one on a track moving up and down the pool, and one aerial view. For two days one would have thought that this was a really high profile meet. Excellent athletes from all over the world. Past and Current World record holders. The New Zealand National team were there, many of the German National team including Britta Stephan and Antje Buschschulte, star Athletes from ASU, U of A, and USC to name a few. South Africans Roland Schoeman and Lyndon Ferns,USA National Team members Rachel Komisarz, Whitney Myers, Lacey Nymeyer, Nick Brunelli, Peter Marshall, Jessica Hardy, Jason Lezak, Rebecca Soni, Robert Margalis and Adam Ritter among others. People capable of swims worthy for television.

The stand out of the meet though, was Kate Ziegler. She had an amazing meet.
On Thursday she set a new pool record by 5 seconds (8:24.40) in the 800 freestyle. The old record set by Tiffany Cohen in 1984 was 8:29.48.

Friday night while being recorded for history, She took 5th in the 100 freestyle and surpassed Janet Evans' 400 freestyle pool record, set in 1988 of 4:08.46, by going 4:05.44.

Saturday night, still being filmed properly, she set a new pool record in the 200 freestyle going 1:58.80, surpassing Maki Mika of Japan's 2000 mark of 2:00.25. She also swam the consolation final of the 50 freestyle.

Sunday night, the cameras were gone.
It was Father's Day. The first event of the night was the Women's 1500 meter freestyle. No wonder the cameras were gone.

Kate had nearly a full 2 seconds on her competition when she touched the first wall. By the time she went about 200 meters, it was obvious she was feeling pretty good. By 400 people were starting to put down their mobile phones and pay attentions. Her pace was incredible, people were leaving their seats lining the deck. 800 meters everyone was screaming for Kate to keep it up, expecting her to "die" in the back half. She was smoking the world record! 5, 6 seconds under! The announcer did an amazing job of making it clear to us what was about to happen. All I could think of at that point was the fact that the cameras were gone and everyone was going to miss this. That Kate's parents live on the other side of the country and even if all I got was the last 300, at least they would see how much support there was for their girl. So I switched my junky little camera from photo to video mode. Thank God for youtube.com!

18 year old Kate Ziegler had broken Janet Evans' 1988, 19 year old World record of 15:52.10, by nearly 10 seconds. 15:42.54. Amazing. Janet's record was also a National Age Group Record. Every time Kate had swum this race since she was an age group swimmer, Janet's name and time were there at the top of the page. Now it will be Kate's world record (also a national age group record) that will be the benchmark for young girls all over the world.

I feel the reason this race was so special for me was the fact that so many people don't watch this event. They show up a little later. They don't pay as much attention. Kate demanded attention that day. Actually she does every time she touches the water. Just like World Championships in Montreal and Melbourne. She makes these distance races special. She's making some strong progress in the middle distance races too. She is also a really sweet and humble woman. I look forward to the probability of her swimming in relays on the National Team.

It is redundant to say she was the high point female swimmer of the meet. I didn't even get into Robert Margalis, the high point winner for the men. He went straight from a win in the 200 IM with about a 2 lap swim down to the 1500 freestyle final.

I always enjoy myself at the TYR meet (even when there are no world records). The Mission Viejo Nadadores are great hosts. And there are usually many international swimmers as well as USA National Team members and Olympians.

FINA World Championships - Melbourne 2007

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 06:33:00 +0000

The torches were flaring more than the organizers ever imagined they would! Every time a new record would be set, these torches would go off. I am afraid that the people in the front rows must have been scorched.

Championship records
▪ Women's 100 m freestyle - Libby Lenton Australia (53.42)(4x100 m freestyle Relay lead off)
▪ Men's 4x100 m freestyle Relay - Michael Phelps, Neil Walker, Cullen Jones, Jason Lezak United States (3:12.72)
▪ Women's 100 m freestyle - Natalie Coughlin United States (53.40) (semi finals; equalled in finals)
▪ Women's 100 m freestyle - Libby Lenton Australia (53.40) (equalled)
▪ Women's 400 m freestyle - Laure Manaudou France (4:02.61)
▪ Women's 800 m freestyle - Kate Ziegler United States (8:18.52)
▪ Women's 1500 m freestyle - Kate Ziegler United States (15:53.05)
▪ Women's 200 m backstroke - Margaret Hoelzer United States (2:07.16)
▪ Women's 100 m breaststroke - Leisel Jones Australia (1:05.72)
▪ Women's 100 m butterfly - Libby Lenton Australia (57.15)
▪ Women's 200 m individual Medley - Kathryn Hoff United States (2:10.13)
▪ Women's 4x100 m freestyle relay - Libby Lenton, Melanie Schlanger, Shayne Reese, Jodie Henry Australia (3:35.48)

That is impressive enough, but now I have to talk about the World Records....

World Records
Also new championship records
▪ Men's 200m freestyle - Michael Phelps United States (1:43.86)
▪ Men's 100m backstroke - Aaron Peirsol United States (52.98)
▪ Men's 200m backstroke - Ryan Lochte United States (1:54.32)
▪ Men's 200m butterfly - Michael Phelps United States (1:52.09)
▪ Men's 200m individual medley - Michael Phelps United States (1:54.98)
▪ Men's 400m individual medley - Michael Phelps United States (4:06.22)
▪ Men's 4x200m freestyle relay - Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Klete Keller, Peter Vanderkaay United States (7:03.24)
▪ Women's 200m freestyle - Federica Pellegrini Italy (1:56.47) (semi finals; beaten in finals)
▪ Women's 200m freestyle - Laure Manaudou France (1:55.52)
▪ Women's 50m backstroke - Leila Vaziri United States (28.16) (semi finals; equalled in finals by herself)
▪ Women's 100m backstroke - Natalie Coughlin United States (59.44)
▪ Women's 400m individual medley - Kathryn Hoff United States (4:32.89)
▪ Women's 4x200m freestyle relay - Natalie Coughlin, Dana Vollmer, Lacey Nymeyer, Katie Hoff United States (7:50.09)
▪ Women's 4x100m medley relay - Emily Seebohm, Leisel Jones, Jessicah Schipper, Libby Lenton Australia (3:55.74)

There has never, to my knowledge, been a Championships that was this lopsided. If Michael Phelps were a country, he would have been in third place according to gold medals won. I went into this meet knowing he was a really talented swimmer, but I left in awe of his abilities, his stamina, and his hunger. He is a Beast. The really crazy swim for me was when he broke Ian Thorpe's World Record in the 200 Free. This was the the first world event since Thorpe retired, and Phleps unceremoniously wiped his name off the record book. Without any kind of warning! There really isn't much more to say. Except maybe if he weren't swimming in this day and age, Ryan Lochte would be the most titled swimmer around. Those guys are incredible. Let's not forget the ladies who made huge marks on the history books at this meet: Kate Ziegler, Laure Manaudou, Katie Hoff, Libby Lenton, Natalie Coughlin. This meet was out of control. It started off slowly, but once the first record was broken, the tempo of the meet got faster and faster.

It is always sad when the person the you expect to win a race gets ill and can't compete. The loss of Brendan Hansen in the 200 Breaststroke was devastating. It made it hard to watch the final of that race. As happy as I was for the winner, who is now called "World Champion", it seemed to me like an empty victory. Forever when the race is spoken of it will be told that Kosuke Kitajima is the champion only because Brendan was unable to compete.

On the other hand, I appreciate it when the officials have the courage to DSQ a swimmer or team who don't perform to the rules, especially at this level of competition. Quite a few top swimmers never made it to finals. I was really disappointed that the USA Men's Medley relay team was DQ'd in prelims, but I blame the coaches for that. I feel that the guys who are used to swimming off each other in a relay should do it in the final. Yes, Michael Phelps swam a faster time in the 100 Fly than Ian Crocker. But it was a negligible amount. He also swam a faster time than Jason Lezak in the 100 Free. Like I said, he is a beast. I just think it was a bad judgement call. If they knew they were going to put Michael in the final, they should have practiced the starts as soon as the decision was made. But swimmers and coaches are human and they make mistakes.
That being said, the Australian men put on a hell of a show and fought hard for that gold Medal.

The Rod Laver arena was a nice place to put the Suzie O'Neill pool. The volunteers were really sweet, friendly people. They were so welcoming and made me feel great every single day. I thank them. I also had a really great experience with USA Swimming and want to thank Matt Farrell for taking such good care of me and also Cathy and Don for welcoming me so openly. It was great to finally meet face to face with a few of my Australian friends who are in my heart forever. If I could, I would live in Melbourne. Australia is a beautiful country and the people truly appreciate the sport of swimming. We could all learn something from them.

The last thing I want to comment on is how much I hated the ads on the caps of the swimmers. I feel the fact that they have to wear the ads on the blocks is bad enough, althoug I can sort of understand it, but the caps really sucked. I found it very difficult to tell who was who. I personally look for flags on caps to establish who is swimming. These caps were lame. A huge ad on one side, and a small flag and a small name on the other. With the money I paid for my tickets, was that really necessary? I think not.

I don't want to end this post on a downer since this was such a fantastic moment in history. A parent of one of the Australian swimmers asked me to pass a message to a parent of a USA swimmer. He told me to tell her that he was so glad to be at this meet to see what was being accomplished there. As a life long fan of swimming, he said this was a meet he would never forget. I am with him on that. We saw water catch fire.

Speedo Grand Challenge 2007

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 01:32:00 +0000

Tyler Clary, Euan Dale, Tamas Kerekjarto and Vanni Mangoni

The Irvine Novaquatics hosted another fine meet with superstars in attendance. This
meet brought the return of Klete Keller to Southern California and the Trojan Swim
Club. For this SoCal girl, it was good to see Klete back in the Cardinal and Gold.

British Swimming showed off some of their best swimmers here as well, with a few of the finals being British only. This meet uses a format that has only the top four finishers from the prelims making it to the championship final. The Brits were in good form at this point in the season and swam some nice times.

We also got to see Amanda Beard's return to competitive swimming. She made finals for each event she swam, even if she didn't compete in the final. This shows me she is on track in her training as she made Olympic trials cut times in her breaststroke events. The field is pretty impacted so she is going to have to work very hard to win her berth on the Olympic Team, but the same can be said for all the other women vying for a spot.
I always love seeing the Pac-10 club teams going up against each other, and Stanford and Cal sure didn't disappoint.

There was one HUGE disappointment though. I complained about this same thing last year here on my blog, and I guess I will have to say something official next time. The spectator seating is overrun by 10X10 foot sunshades and folding chairs that have no one in them. After last year I decided that it was best not to go to prelims as all the seating space is used for the swimmers who are swimming all day. They do need the shade for prelims as the sun is very hot on that side of the pool in the morning, BUT. The sunshades on lower levels block the view for anyone behind them. So the swimmers who are sitting on higher levels have to squish down to watch the meet. You can kind of see it in this photo. I think that can't be very good for their backs.

All that is fine for prelims, but if this meet wants to ever have any spectators, they have to change the way things are done. A lot of the clubs leave all their chairs and sunshades up when they leave after morning sessions. Spectators come in and have no place to sit because they don't want to encroach on other peoples' space. The upside is, I ended up standing on the deck one day and I am happy with my action shots from that vantage point. But I really think that people need to carry it out if they carry it in, or better yet have their swimmers that don't make the finals stay and watch. They are given the opportunity to see some of the best swimmers in the world. Olympians. World record holders. Amazing coaches. They could learn so much.

I will continue to go to this meet whenever possible. The Nova families and the people who run this meet are very friendly and efficient. (Except for the seating area thing.) I enjoy the music and the sense of fun that this meet has. And the announcer does a great job. So, I'll see ya next year!

Namesnik Memorial Grand Prix 2007

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Mon, 28 May 2007 21:11:00 +0000

Men's 400M Freestyle Relay - Matt Patton, Davis Tarwater, Peter Vanderkaay, Joe Redmon, Michael Phelps and Jon Larocque

Eric Namesnik was an American Olympian with two silver medals, the father of two and a Great Coach for the University of Michigan. He was only 35 years old when he died as a result of injuries from a car accident.
I remember being told on the morning he passed away by my friend Tim who lives in Michigan. The swimming community is smaller than one might think and great coaches are well respected by everyone. A couple of weeks later Kaitlin Sandeno and Kalyn Keller attended the Q meet in Long Beach with a jar for donations for "Snik's Kids", a memorial fund set up to help Eric's children, Austin and Madison. I was so impressed that these young swimmers and their families were putting all the change they could find as well as some checks to support this worthy cause.

As a show of respect the upcoming Grand Prix that Eric was going to be overseeing at the Canham Natatorium at U of M was renamed as the "Namesnik Memorial Grand Prix".

Right after my return from Australia and the World Champs, while I still had the travel bug, my friends Michelle from Alabama, Blair from Kentucky, Peter from Indiana, and Tim from Michigan, convinced me that it would be fun if I flew out to Michigan to attend the meet. I will admit that time spent with my friends all in one place really was fun. BUT......

Morning Finals!
Because of NBC requesting that the Swimming and Gymnastics competition for the Olympics be adjusted to accommodate the prime time schedule of North American (USA) viewing habits, the finals for swimming and gymnastics will be held in the morning. What?
So to prepare the athletes for this schedule, the Snik meet had this format.

I hated it. I thought it would be bad, but I had no idea. One downfall is the meet goes an extra day. There was a prelim on Thursday night for Friday morning finals. Friday night prelims for Saturday morning finals. And Saturday night prelims for Sunday Morning Finals. (We did get out fairly early on Sunday which was nice, and allowed for a fine home cooked meal given to us by Tim's family at their home, so that was a truly tasty upside.)

I am used to outdoor meets, which I think are louder and more exciting, but I feel the silent crowd was caused by the fact that people were still a little sleepy when finals started at 9am. And then after you already saw the fast stuff in the morning it was tough to go sit through heat after heat of prelims after running around and seeing the city or having lunch... or a nap.

I tried to pay attention to who bettered their times from prelims to finals. There were few like Michael Phelps, Katie Hoff, Davis Tarwater, Mary Descenza, Kaitlin Sandeno, Kim Vandenberg and Peter Vanderkaay, to name a few, who were able to drop times. (It was also great to see the return of Chris DeJong to competition.) In the big picture, I guess they are the people who actually need to if they intend to make the podium in Beijing.

I don't know how many other meets will have this format as we lead into this final year before the big event, but I know the Australians ran a meet with this same format on the same weekend as the Snik meet. I would love someone to check to see if the people dropping times were their more elite swimmers as well. I would also like to know if there were less significant time drops than ususal. But then again maybe the prelim times were faster due to evening prelims. It all means nothing, but it is interesting to me.

Here is the one suggestion that I have though for future meets with this format. We know that these swimmers will walk in as prepared as they can possibly be to swim the best they can. The responsibility lies with the friends, family and teammates of these swimmers to really be supportive. You are there anyway. These people are pulling themselves up on the blocks to actually race that early. We need to cheer and clap and get these people up for these races. Ask anyone and they will say that the crowd helps them get to the wall faster. Ask the Canadian men's relay that took silver in Montreal. Ask the Australian men who won that medley relay in Melbourne if they could have done that without the support of the crowd. Maybe it will take remembering that when you go to the Olympics that you are not only there to see your swimmer. You are there to see all your Nation's swimmers. You need to get behind them as you would your own child, friend, or teammate. It is up to the crowd to make a venue electric. It is up to everyone in attendance to make sure that the athletes can't tell that is it too darned early for a final when they walk out behind the block.

The Namesnik Memorial Grand Prix had everything it needed for great swimming. It had a nice venue with water the correct temperature and fast swimmers. If there was anything wrong with the meet is was the fact that the crowd either wasn't there or they weren't in the mood to make a noise.

Read more about Eric Namsnik as well as quotes from a few of the people who loved and respected him here.

Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix 2007

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 06:46:00 +0000

USA National Team Members: Brendan Hansen, Klete Keller, Aaron Peirsol, Kaitlin Sandeno and Ryan Lochte

The Long Beach Grand Prix started the year off with a bang for National Team members. Many members of the team attened this first, hopefully annual, event. This meet is traditionally the Senior Q meet, with a lot of young swimmers who were thrilled to have these amazing athletes share the deck with them. It was a great opportunity for the team to bond a bit before World Championships. As the weekend went on you could see the National team start leaving their club groups and start hanging out as a team. The high point winners for the meet were Kaitlin Sandeno and Michael Phelps. Both of these swimmers swam crazy full programs and did not let the fans down with their times or the way they mingled with the local swimmers. It was fun seeing Michael take on "the specialsist" Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen and Ian Crocker. Everywhere you looked you could see the smiles from the younger swimmers. I am sure that some of the kids planted some dream seeds having these amazing athletes share the same water with them.

The really strange thing is it was so cold that weekend. I can't remember when Long Beach was this cold. I heard the men's showers had no hot water and that it was tough to get motivated to swim when there was no way to get warm. (Although you could not tell it from the performances.) Well I can't guarantee it, but I can say that I doubt it will be this cold if this event is held at this time again next year. This is Sunny California! I loved having athletes of this caliber at the pool just a few blocks from my home. Please come back next year! We will get the sun to shine for ya. ;)

ConocoPhillips Summer Nationals 2006

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 07:38:00 +0000

Texas Longhorn Aquatics and Club Wolverine

The pool at Irvine is a great place to house this event. Outdoors, beautiful facilities. More for the swimmers than the spectators but who cares! The swimming was very competitive and fast. I am so proud of the state of swimming in this country. There were a few givens and a lot of new faces on the podium. A few interesting things came to light.

First, there are two clubs that hold the lion's share of the talent in USA Swimming. Texas Longhorn Aquatics, is a club made mostly of swimmers who came from the UT stables and have continued with their coaches to post grad successes on the World Championships and Olympics stage. Then there is Club Wolverine, which has quite a nice handful of Michigan alumni and is fast becoming the favorite training place for a whole bunch of displaced USC swimmers (among others) who have also made some big marks on the World and Olympic Stage. There were also a few swimmers who trained at these clubs who weren't wearing their caps but the influence showed (ie Eric Shanteau). The coaches at both these schools, Eddie Reese, Kris Kubik, Bob Bowman and Jon Urbanchek, have garnered a ton of respect from their swimmers and everybody else's swimmers too. It will be exciting to see if the proposed Elite National club will cause either of these clubs to lose swimmers at all.

Next, Brendan Hansen. What an amazing Athlete. He set the world record in the 100 and 200 Breaststroke in 2004, and then came back and blasted them again at this meet, resetting the marks at 59.13 and 2:08.74 respectively. He was so hot that 2 weeks later at Pan Pacs, he lowered the 200 mark to 2:08.50. Some Nationals records were set here too. A few of us were noticing that Michael Phelps looked tired and unhappy when he finished his races at Nationals even while setting Championship records. Judging by the World records he set at Pan Pacs, I am guessing he missed his taper for Nationals but brought the heat to Victoria. The huge smiles were back. This summer was the first time either of these men had personal best swims in two years. Not an easy feat when you hold the fastest times in the world.
American Records were set by Amanda Weir, Katie Hoff (a few times)
Championship records were set by Michael Phelps (a few times), Aaron Peirsol, Kate Ziegler, Klete Keller, and the women of California Aquatic and Arizona Ford Dealers.
I had a great time with my friends who came from all over the country to see this meet so close to my home. I got to show off Southern California a little bit. Huge Congratulations to the athletes who made the national teams. And also to those swimmers fast enough to make the Olympic cut times who competed at this meet.

Thanks for Stopping By in 2006!

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 11:10:00 +0000

This has been an incredible year for swimming and also for this site! I check the stats every couple days and have been amazed how many people are coming to see deckchange. I hope that is because swimming is growing in popularity. I do love getting a good seat at a meet but I want to see more spectators in the stands! People have been really sweet and supportive of the site. I want to thank all of you who have e-mailed me, posted on the blog, or linked deckchange on your own websites. I was shocked when someone pointed out that we are the top site when searching the words "deck change".

2006 brought us some shocking times in women's racing by long reigning women and quite a few new faces. The men reminded us that the top guys are planning to be there for a while.

On a personal note, I was devastated to learn of the retirement of Ian Thorpe. It was his stroke that showed me the beauty of swimming. His dynamic personality and humanitarianism prompted me to start looking more closely at the other athletes in this sport. I had really hoped that I would see him swim in person some day. And I may still see him around, but not swimming. That I what I was most hoping to see. But it is probaly for the best. I really would have hated seeing him race without the fire to do it.

I have been lucky enough to have photographed the greatest swimmers to have competed in the last 2 years. I have enjoyed seeing people come really close to, and in some cases, even beat their heroes. Proving to themselves that dreams are possible. I have been amazed at the athletes, fans and families that I have met. Every single person has been kind and completely inspiring. You all give so much to the sport and the fans, young and old. So once again, I want to thank you all.

The visitors were many this year. I hope I can continue to give you a reason to come back, and maybe even entice you to say hello.
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EMILIA-ROMAGNA, ITALY 20
ETELA-SUOMEN LAANI, FINLAND 20
WIEN, AUSTRIA 18
RHEINLAND-PFALZ, GERMANY 18
ZUID-HOLLAND, NETHERLANDS 17
LOUISIANA, UNITED STATES 17
SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE 17
ARKANSAS, UNITED STATES 16
MANILA, PHILIPPINES 15
KRUNG THEP MAHANAKHON, THAILAND 15
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM 15
STEIERMARK, AUSTRIA 14
SÃ£O PAULO, BRAZIL 14
CASTILLA Y LEON, SPAIN 13
HÃEFA (HAIFA), ISRAEL 13
ANTWERPEN, BELGIUM 13
CHAMPAGNE-ARDENNE, FRANCE 13
OKLAHOMA, UNITED STATES 13
TASMANIA, AUSTRALIA 13
SARDEGNA, ITALY 12
SOUTH AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA 12
SELANGOR, MALAYSIA 12
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA 11
MAKKAH, SAUDI ARABIA 11
SRBIJA (SERBIA), SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO 11
NEVADA, UNITED STATES 11
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND 11
CAMPANIA, ITALY 10
VESTSJALLAND, DENMARK 10
WEST VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES 10
ATTIKI, GREECE 10
MALOPOLSKIE, POLAND 10
VENETO, ITALY 10
LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA 9
REGION METROPOLITANA, CHILE 8
BUCURESTI, ROMANIA 7
VAUD, SWITZERLAND 7
IDAHO, UNITED STATES 7
KOSICKY, SLOVAKIA 7
SHANDONG, CHINA 7
UTRECHT, NETHERLANDS 7
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND 7
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 6
OVERIJSSEL, NETHERLANDS 6
MALTA, MALTA 6
YERUSHALAYIM (JERUSALEM), ISRAEL 6
RHONE-ALPES, FRANCE 6
ISTANBUL, TURKEY 6
HAMERKAZ (CENTRAL), ISRAEL 6
DISTRITO CAPITAL, COLOMBIA 6
LIMA, PERU 6
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL 6
MANITOBA, CANADA 6
NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA 6
GUANGDONG, CHINA 6
NOORD-BRABANT, NETHERLANDS 6
MAZOWIECKIE, POLAND 5
VERMONT, UNITED STATES 5
BRATISLAVSKY, SLOVAKIA 5
MIDI-PYRENEES, FRANCE 5
BORSOD-ABAUJ-ZEMPLEN, HUNGARY 5
VALAIS, SWITZERLAND 5
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN 5
PICARDIE, FRANCE 5
WYOMING, UNITED STATES 4
PUERTO RICO, PUERTO RICO 4
BUSKERUD, NORWAY 4
AL QAHIRAH, EGYPT 4
SLASKIE, POLAND 4
MECKLENBURG-VORPOMMERN, GERMANY 4
PAIS VASCO, SPAIN 4
AQUITAINE, FRANCE 4
WALES, UNITED KINGDOM 4
MARCHE, ITALY 4
THURINGEN, GERMANY 4
MOSKVA, RUSSIAN FEDERATION 4
SALZBURG, AUSTRIA 4
GUATEMALA, GUATEMALA 4
ST. GALLEN, SWITZERLAND 4
SOR-TRONDELAG, NORWAY 3
CANARY ISLANDS, SPAIN 3
SACHSEN-ANHALT, GERMANY 3
GRAUBUNDEN, SWITZERLAND 3
NORD-PAS-DE-CALAIS, FRANCE 3
SHANGHAI, CHINA 3
ZHEJIANG, CHINA 3
FLEVOLAND, NETHERLANDS 3
ANDALUCIA, SPAIN 3
LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON, FRANCE 3
LIEGE, BELGIUM 3
BALEARES, SPAIN 3
ST. MICHAEL, BARBADOS 3
MISSISSIPPI, UNITED STATES 3
OULUN LAANI, FINLAND 3
BASEL-STADT, SWITZERLAND 3
BERN, SWITZERLAND 3
WIELKOPOLSKIE, POLAND 3
DELHI, INDIA 3
SOUTH DAKOTA, UNITED STATES 3
POITOU-CHARENTES, FRANCE 3
HLAVNI MESTO PRAHA, CZECH REPUBLIC 3
NAMUR, BELGIUM 3
PRIMORSKO-GORANSKA, CROATIA 3
ASTURIAS, SPAIN 3
NUEVO LEON, MEXICO 2
GYOR, HUNGARY 2
NIEDEROSTERREICH, AUSTRIA 2
HAJDU-BIHAR, HUNGARY 2
PORTO, PORTUGAL 2
FRIESLAND, NETHERLANDS 2
ALSACE, FRANCE 2
MINAS GERAIS, BRAZIL 2
KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA 2
PANAMA, PANAMA 2
KINGSTON, JAMAICA 2
CANTERBURY, NEW ZEALAND 2
GALWAY, IRELAND 2
PERNAMBUCO, BRAZIL 2
GELDERLAND, NETHERLANDS 2
YUCATAN, MEXICO 2
JERSEY, UNITED KINGDOM 2
CENTRAL, SRI LANKA 2
HYOGO, JAPAN 2
CSONGRAD, HUNGARY 2
REPUBLIKA SRPSKA, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 2
POMORSKIE, POLAND 2
HEILONGJIANG, CHINA 2
PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 2
SHIZUOKA, JAPAN 2
REYKJAVIK, ICELAND 2
CHONGQING, CHINA 2
SICILIA, ITALY 2
DOLNOSLASKIE, POLAND 2
JIANGSU, CHINA 2
TRENTINO-ALTO ADIGE, ITALY 2
TARTUMAA, ESTONIA 2
SOUTHLAND, NEW ZEALAND 2
JALISCO, MEXICO 2
PICHINCHA, ECUADOR 2
KHANIA, GREECE 1
EXTREMADURA, SPAIN 1
CAPIZ, PHILIPPINES 1
JUJUY, ARGENTINA 1
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND 1
PUEBLA, MEXICO 1
MORAVSKOSLEZSKY KRAJ, CZECH REPUBLIC 1
PODKARPACKIE, POLAND 1
CONSTANTA, ROMANIA 1
NORDJYLLAND, DENMARK 1
WARMINSKO-MAZURSKIE, POLAND 1
USTECKY KRAJ, CZECH REPUBLIC 1
THESSALONIKI, GREECE 1
VOJVODINA, SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO 1
PRESOVSKY, SLOVAKIA 1
LODZKIE, POLAND 1
MACAU, MACAO 1
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK 1
WATERFORD, IRELAND 1
GUJARAT, INDIA 1
LA RIOJA, SPAIN 1
BEYROUTH, LEBANON 1
NEW PROVIDENCE, BAHAMAS 1
FUKUOKA, JAPAN 1
FUJIAN, CHINA 1
VASTRA GOTALAND, SWEDEN 1
SANTA CRUZ, BOLIVIA 1
BRABANT WALLON, BELGIUM 1
YUNNAN, CHINA 1
HEDMARK, NORWAY 1
SANTA CATARINA, BRAZI 1
AGUASCALIENTES, MEXICO 1
LIMOUSIN, FRANCE 1
TICINO, SWITZERLAND 1
PODLASKIE, POLAND 1
SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA 1
ASH SHARQIYAH, SAUDI ARABIA 1
HEBEI, CHINA 1
NORRBOTTEN, SWEDEN 1
RIO GRANDE DO SUL, BRAZIL 1
OREBRO, SWEDEN 1
ZAKINTHOS, GREECE 1
TIROL, AUSTRIA 1
ALASKA, UNITED STATES 1
AICHI, JAPAN 1
MEXICO, MEXICO 1
JONKOPING, SWEDEN 1
PUGLIA, ITALY 1
DAVAO CITY, PHILIPPINES 1
FRIBOURG, SWITZERLAND 1
CEBU CITY, PHILIPPINES 1
AL KUWAYT, KUWAIT 1
GUIZHOU, CHINA 1
CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO 1
SURAT THANI, THAILAND 1
BRANDENBURG, GERMANY 1
KOPER, SLOVENIA 1
MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY 1
MARAMURES, ROMANIA 1
KUJAWSKO-POMORSKIE, POLAND 1
BREMEN, GERMANY 1
RIZAL, PHILIPPINES 1
VILNIAUS APSKRITIS, LITHUANIA 1
IZMIR, TURKEY 1
SPLITSKO-DALMATINSKA, CROATIA 1
MARIBOR, SLOVENIA 1
OBEROSTERREICH, AUSTRIA 1
JAKARTA RAYA (DJAKARTA RAYA), INDONESIA 1
RIGA, LATVIA 1
GALICIA, SPAIN 1
MADEIRA, PORTUGAL 1
THURGAU, SWITZERLAND 1

Janet Evans Invitational - 2006

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 05:43:00 +0000

Pat Cary, Bart Stenninger, Fiona O'Donnell-McCarthy, Lyndon Ferns and Hailey DeGolia

I have always wanted to go to Janet Evans and I finally got my chance. It was hot. I mean Africa Hot. The temperature was in the middle 90's at 5pm. What a beautiful pool USC has with the McDonald's Swim Stadium. The spectator seating is limited to one side only, but that was not a problem at this meet. There were a small handful of parents but very few casual spectators. That really surprised me expecially looking that the talent that was in the pool. Natalie Coughlin, Jason Lezak, Salim Iles, and Roland Schoeman to name a few.

For some reason the stand out swim for me was South African swimmer Lyndon Ferns (swimming for Tucson Ford Dealers Aquatics) in the 100 Fly. Hey blew the field away and the energy coming off of him was palpable. His finish time of 52.59 was more than a second faster than his seed time of 53.75 and a second faster than the next finisher. I wrote his club to see if he was close to a PB. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe this was it. It was great to see a world calliber swimmer like Lyndon really bringing it to a meet like this.

The star of the meet was the incredible heat. I feel there might have been more spectators there if the heat weren't so bad. But if I can stand it anyone else can. The facilities there are beautiful. I will definately attend more meets there. I don't know if Janet Evans was there the first day and then just didn't present awards after that or if she was not there at all, but it would have been nice to have seen her at her namesake meet. The international teams competing were the French and Chinese. The sunsets were beautiful during the relays. I love the lighting duing the final events. Just wish I had gotten better pics at that time of day. I hope this meet continues and grows in popularity. I'd love to see more spectator support at this meet. So.. Same time next year, BE there!

Speedo Grand Challenge - 2006

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 07:34:00 +0000

Jessica Hardy spins the infamous "Mystery Wheel".

I know it has taken me a while to post and I am a few meets behind but I am working on it I promise! I know a few of you are waiting on the pictures. So I am on it.

This year the Speedo Grand Challenge was over-run with 10x10ft sun shades, blocking the view of the pool, or just taking up space. I had to sit behind the blocks on the wall around the deck on the first day of prelims. Therefore, I didn't go back to prelims the following days. Then during the finals, there were sunshades set up everywhere and many of them only had a couple people under them, or no one at all. I hear a lot of complaints about the lack of support for the sport, and then some events make it impossible to try to be a spectator. I understand the need for shade, but unless you were on a team who happened to have one of these monstrosities, you were out of luck. My suggestion to fix this problem is that the meet admistrators allow the large sunshades only on the top level of the deck seating on the competition pool during finals and as many as they want any time at the warm down pool and during prelims. Or think about starting a collection for a permanent retractable awning system to cover the bleachers because the sun is an issue that is not going to go away. Well... until dark. Heh. It would be a worthy investment.

All of that aside, this is a really great meet. I think the format is interesting. What makes it different is the fact that only four swimmers compete in the championship final. There are always some good races with the prizes for first place ranging between $300 - $1000 depending on the top qualifyer's spin of the lovely and talented "Mystery Wheel". It is fun how the level commitment from people watching gets a little greater when the prizes are more valuable. It is tough to spin the big amounts though. And always a little sad when the winner can't claim the cash prize due to amature status or NCAA eligibility. It was great to see such greats as Jason Lezak, Jessica Hardy, Kate Ziegler and Tara Kirk to name a few.

I got to play with a "real camera" that belongs to my friend Michelle, proving that I have a lot to learn before I can ever use such a beautiful camera. Those are the photos from May 26th. I love so many things about them but they were under-exposed so I had to do a lot of adjusting in Photoshop. It would be great to have that kind of a set up though. But for now I will be happy with my little point and shoot.

Santa Clara International Invitational 2006

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 04:19:00 +0000

Wolverines Peter Vanderkaay, Klete Keller and Erik Vendt - Men's 400 Freestyle Medalists

This time I got my first look at the new powerhouse of Club Wolverine. Don't get me wrong. Coach Jon Urbanchek left an amazing legacy for the club. But these days Coach Bob Bowman is wearing the big shoes. Olympians Klete Keller, Michael Phelps, Peter Vanderkaay along with World Team member Davis Tarwater, left a huge mark in 2005. This spring brought the return of Coach Urbanchek and some amazing talent to the team. This was the first time I saw Hayley Piersol, and Olympian Erik Vendt wearing the CW. Vendt came out of retirement to do it. Kaitlin Sandeno has left USC and is now training in Michigan. Exciting news for the street cred of Club Wolverine.

For me the race of the meet was the Men's 100 free. In the last 10 meters there were only three guys in that race. Eamon Sullivan, Brent Hayden and Jason Lezak.

Eamon Sullivan, Brent Hayden and Jason Lezak - Men's 100 Freestyle Championship Final
Somehow I caught it on my camera. Michael Phelps came from nowhere and took the race. Out touching Sullivan by .08 of a second. He must have really blown that last 20 out.

Michael Phelps, Eamon Sullivan, Brent Hayden and Jason Lezak - Men's 100 Freestyle Championship Final

This meet was also attended but the Australians. They were the big winners with the Telstra Dolphins and Queensland team finishing in first and second place respectively in total points scored. I was impressed with these swimmers. They took a lot of heat in the Australian press for being the B team. These swimmers got to have some good international competition and they did very well. They swam fast and represented their country very well. They put times time on the relays and Individual races at both meets they attended that will be on the books for a long time. I want the Aussie press to stop shooting these young swimmers down and start seeing the potential they represent for the future of Australian Swimming. [/rant]

Swimmer of the meet awards went to Natalie Coughlin (who swam a PB in the 50 free) and Michael Phelps. This is my favorite annual meet to attend. The pool is beautiful, the weather can be either really hot or very cool from one day to the next but it is a beautiful meet. And the granstands are packed full of swimmers and fans. Coach George Hearns built a foundation for Santa Clara Swim Club that will continue to thrive as one of the strongest clubs swimming has ever seen. This was made evident during the parade of Olympian that were cultivated from this amazing club. This year the meet shared the day with the Grand Prix at College Station in Texas. That meet kept most of the Longhorn swimmers close to home but Kelsey Ditto and Dale Rogers and Olympian Brendan Hansen, to name a few, made it out for great competition and a beautiful meet.

TYR Swim Meet of Champions 2006

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 07:00:00 +0000

Patrick Murphy, Grant Brits and Hayden Jackson - Men's 200 Freestyle Championship Final

The Aussies came to California this summer to put the word out that even their young team is a powerful force when rested if not tapered. With most of the top ranked swimmers (exceptions being Olympians Shayne Reese,Ashley Callus, Patrick Murphy and Eamon Sullivan) chosing to stay in Australia, Queensland Swimming and Swimming Australia were here to show off the future of Australia's swimming programs. Both Men and Women did well with the deep field having multiple participants in almost every final. The Japanese team provided a lot of pooldeck entertainment with their enthusiasm for their swimmers and their generosity with the local teams, trading uniforms and other swag.
USC Trojan Ous Mellouli and Mission Viejo Nadadore Sachiko Yamada, in her home pool, were high point winners for the meet. It seemed every time I looked at the podium Ous Mellouli was standing on top with his infectious smile. The big race of the day on Saturday was the Men's 200M freestyle. Canadian Brent Hayden was the only Non-Australian in the final and took the race. International guest teams were Canada, Scotland, Japan and Australia. The weather stayed bright and beautiful and provided more that a few participants with well tanned skin and the reason we have outdoor pools in Southern California. The swimming I saw in Mission Viejo was pretty fast. This promises to be quite a season.

Dave Denniston Relay Across America 2006

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Mon, 15 May 2006 11:30:00 +0000

Dave Denniston and his Physical Therapy team from Project Walk

Another fulfilling day spent at the Dave Denniston Relay. Again the event was was held by the Novaquatics Swim Club in Irvine. They did an excellent job. There seemed to be less NOVA swimmers this time but more from other clubs. The weekend was also the CIF (California High School) Championships so a lot of the kids were otherwise engaged. The event started with Dave fulfilling his promise. With the assistance of a walker he walked the 25 yards across the deck. It was very emotional to watch (yes.. I cried. So what?) and I am amazed at what Dave and the people at Project Walk have been able to accomplish. If you had told me last year that he would be upright this year I would not have believed you. It just goes to show that you can never underestimate the power of the human spirit. Dave looked Fantastic! His upper body looked so big I thought it was just great details on his Nike shirt, but then when he peeled you could see it was all Davo! He didn't even need to be lowered into the pool. He just lowered himself out of his chair. This year Dave was joined in his swims by his family and his Therapists from Project Walk. There were also a few of the other spinal cord injury survivors there too. On the deck, Dave was joined by Olympians Jason Lezak, Natalie Coughlin, Lenny Krayzelburg, Derya Büyükuncu, Kristen Caverly and Staciana (Stitts) Winfield. World Championship team member and recent world record holder Jessica Hardy was also on hand to sign autographs with the rest and support Dave in his event. There were regular relays of about 6 members and a few so called "fun" relays. And they really were fun! Natalie and Jason helped out in the innertube relay's where the object was to get the tube back and forth by any means possible as long as you keep contact with the tube. The smartest team was the one that recruited Jason to pull the whole team. Jason and Lenny also helped out in the T-shirt relay. Lenny's team was very efficient with the t-shirt change exchange in peeling the shirt off one person and putting it on another in one smoothe gesture. I am not sure how much money was raised for Project Walk this year but I hope it is an event that will be continued. Dave said he will try to skip across the deck for us next year. I think he just might do it!

XI FINA World Championships - Montreal, Canada

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Thu, 11 May 2006 04:34:00 +0000

Photo Bottom to Top: Nick Brunelli, Salim Iles, Roland Schoeman and Bartosz Kizierowski

I just went back to look at my sheets and results from World Champs. Finding a photo to represent it for me could only be this photo. There was crazy fast swimming! I decided to put some stats down in one place because the bar has really been raised.

Championship Records:
Men's 50m Free - Roland Schoeman 21.69
Women's 50m Back - Gao Chang 28.31
Men's 100m Free - Filippo Magnini 48.12
Women's 100m Fly - Jessica Schipper 57.01 prelim, 55.75 semi, 57.23 final
Women's 200m IM - Katie Hoff 2:10.41
Women's 400m IM - Katie Hoff 4:36.07
Women's 4X200m Free relay - USA 7:53.70
Women's 4X100m Free relay - AUS 3:37.32
Men's 4X100m Free - USA 3:13.77
Women's 4X100m Medley Relay - AUS 3:57.47

World Records:
Women's 50m Breast - Jade Edmistone 30.45
Men's 50m Butterfly - Roland Schoeman 23.01 and then 22.96
Women's 100m Breast - Jessica Hardy 1:06.20
Men's 100m Fly - Ian Crocker 50.40
Men's 200m Back - Aaron Peirsol 1:54.66
Woman's 200m Breast - Leisel Jones 2:21.72
Woman's 200m Fly - Otylia Jedrzejczak 2:05.51
Men's 800m Free - Grant Hackett 7:38.65

All the world record swims were exciting, my favortie was Grant Hackett breaking Ian Thorpe's 4 year old record. The crowd was on its feet for the last 300m. People who think distance racing isn't exciting are crazy! There were some questionable calls by the officials, in my opinion, but I enjoyed it all the same. The venue was as nice as the swimming was fast, set on an island with subway access. And the people of Montreal really showed up to support their team. There were a couple of races that I felt the heart of the crowd carried the Canadian swimmers to podium positions. Beautiful city, excellent sport.
I am now finished with all the meets from 2005. I had a great time making friends and watching excellent swimming last year. I hope I get to do it again in 2006.

Women's Pac-10 Championships

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Sun, 02 Apr 2006 04:58:00 +0000

Photo: Arizona Wildcats Pac-10 Champion Seniors.

Conference Championships are the best! I know, I say that about every meet I go to. But, really they are! I was lucky enough to attend the Men's Pac-10 Champs in 2005 as it was in my home pool and this year got to repeat for the ladies. As this post is so late in going up we all know that this talented Conference went on to take 4 of the top 6 places at the NCAA Championships last month.
The really special thing about Conference Championships is that the Graduating Seniors are honored. It is hard enough to graduate from a University without adding a sport to it. These women have already accomplished more than a great number of people will in their whole lives and they are only just beginning!
This time I sat among those cheering for Arizona the first night and UCLA the second. It was strange not to sit with Stanford or USC but the spectator seating was crowded with family and friends. I was wearing Cardinal. The question remains: Was I wearing it for USC or for Stanford? I'll never tell.
Arizona plowed through the meet. But it was Trojan freshman Rebecca Soni who wore the laurels this year as the top swimmer of the Pac 10.
The 200 butterfly had a few bumps right at with the beginning with the starter telling the girls to get on and off the blocks so many times that it became a comedy. And it's always funny until someone's goggles break.

There were alot of laughs and a few tears as teammates spent their last meet together. Sorry there are so few pictures but I had a good time watching and forgot to use my camera one night and was engrossed in the swimming the next.

FINA World Cup - New York 2006

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 09:42:00 +0000

Photo: Filippo Magnini, Michael Phelps and Massimiliano Rosolino - Men's 200m Freestyle

Another great swim meet. On the first night it was obvious that it was gunna be a good one. The thing that surprised me was that alot of the swimmers didn't seem to be shaved for this meet. I guess they were holding off for the American Short Course Championships in Texas. The world was very well represented there. A great number of Itallians, Germans, Dutch, Canadians, Brazillians, Russian. It was crazy watching a few of the swimmers in several events in one day.

The event was televised in the US. As much as I am happy that it was shown, I was not happy with the coverage. I guess this is my blog so I can say what bothers me here. I love what Michael Phelps profile has done for swimming here in the USA. What I dont like is the fact that USA Swimming and Speedo only show Athletes that I know are sponsored by Speedo. (With the exception of Kate Ziegler who up to this moment is unsigned.) I guess that Speedo pays for broadcast too, but so do Mutual of Omaha, and Toyota, and Omega, and ConocoPhillips. There was only one race that was shown that was won by a non American. They shot the swimming both days and yet only aired one hour. Twice. Maybe that is my problem with it. I felt they could have used the popularity of Phelps as a teaser to show the public other athletes as well. I feel that the fact that the OLN was willing to give swimming two full hours over two days time was wonderful. And I feel the least that USA Swimming could do is use this time to educate and and titilate the population but showing us that we are in a time where swimming is filled with great potential in every distance and every stroke. The athletes are breaking records that have either sat on the books for years, or they are smashing their own crazy time standards. Thank you for showing Tara Kirk and Randall Bal and Peter Marshall. It was great to see Kate Ziegler as she is an amazing athlete and she seems to be an incredible young woman, I love that she is being recognized. But there were other greats there too. Brendan Hansen, Oleg Lisogor, Neil Walker, Massimiliano Rosolino, Therese Alshammar, Andiry Serdinov,Marlene Veldhuis, Filippo Magnini, Rachel Komisarz, Arkady Vyatchinin, Margaret Hoelzer, Brent Hayden, Kaitlin Sandeno. Champions all. Even I have left many incredible athletes out of the gallery and my list above that were there. I just think this is one of the most exciting times in the history of the sport. The rest of the world is watching and we want to watch too.

U.S. Masters Nationals 2005

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 07:01:00 +0000

I attended this meet because a friend of mine was competing. She wrote and said, "OMG I can't believe that I did this!" So I decided I could go support her. She was a swimmer in high school and had let her swimming go then joined a Masters class and thought it would be fun to do this competition. I LOVED it! It was so great to see age group swimming! A whole different age group though. There was the only man in the first heat of 50m butterfly. Robert Christians. He was 90 years old and he had to have assistance to get on the block. It was so inspiring. He is in the first few pictures in that gallery. There were quite a few World and National Masters records broken that day. One by 4 Men in their 80's that broke the world record by nearly 5 seconds. Amazing. There were people from ages 90 to 19. There were past Olympians like Gary Hall and a current Olympian, Gary Hall Jr. He was being teased mercilessly by all the "Sr.s"calling him "Jr" and telling him to take it easy out there. There were also some recognizable women there too, although it was so long ago that I have forgotten who they were. Sorry ladies! It was a very friendly and fun meet. The Halls were there promoting Race Club and the sport of swimming. It is good to see that people don't have to leave the sport when they hit say 30. All abilities were racing. People were sporting their fastskins and ready to make a mark and swim fast. I was really moved. I hope the trend catches on and other people who love swimming and racing continue after elite swimming is over for them. Or maybe some people who never did make it to an elite level find their way back to racing. Masters Worlds is being held at Stanford this summer. I have yet to see if I can make it there, but I think it would be great to see. Hey Janet... Janet Evans, start swimming masters. You can still be the queen!

Speedo Grand Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 05:43:00 +0000

Photo: Kaitlin Sandeno and Natalie Coughlin

I am going to blame the whole thing on Mr. Lezak, Jason's dad. When we went to the Dave Denniston Relay he told me about the Speedo Grand Challenge. I had no idea I could see elite and Olympic caliber swimming a few miles from home. As you can see from the pics I got Olympics Rings Tattoo crazy. I wanted to see everyone's Rings! Some I could see casually and some I had to ask to see. It was an interesting meet. British Swimming used the meet as a last chance to qualify for World Championships in Montreal. They came to the meet shaved and tapered and ready to make the team. A lot of pool and meet records fell those three days and most if not all of them to GRB caps. I was definitely not expecting to see them there and swimming so fast. Again Novaquatics was host to a wonderful meet. The environment is such that I found myself helping clean up after the meet. It just seemed to be the right thing to do. As if it was my home. The way this meet is different from others I have been to is the prize money is chosen by a spin of the wheel. The person who qualified first for the final gets to spin to see what they were swimming for in the way of prize money. They only allow the top four qualifiers to the final so the heats went pretty fast too. No taking it easy to qualilfy. Decent races the whole day. I sat in the USC section since the only person at the whole pool I even remotely knew going in was Kaitlin Sandeno. It was very exciting for me to see Natalie Coughlin swim too, she and Kaitlin are such amazing women. I got to meet up with Mr. Lezak again and met Mrs. Lezak too. Jason had a back injury and only raced the first day but his parents returned to the pool to support the meet. That's what I call class. This is an annual event and a good time. Bravo Novaquatics for being a great host! Oh and talk about sunburns.... That British team was not prepared for the bright California Sun. So thanks Mr. Lezak and Kaitlin for pointing me to quite a few meets in my local area. My spring started here. These pictures are the reason for this website.

Dave Denniston Relay

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Sat, 07 Jan 2006 10:00:00 +0000

Photo: Dave Denniston

Back in May of 2005 the Novaquatics Swim Club in Irvine held a fund raiser to benefit Breast Stroker Dave Denniston to aid him in his recovery from a spinal cord injury which paralized him from the waist down. The event organized by Jessamyn Miller raised $30,000 that day. (Half of which he then donated to Project Walk) An amazing feat.

It really was an awesome day. My friends Deena and Kerry decided to swim for the cause and raised $600 thru Brendan Hansen Online and did a great job of swimming! They were superstars! All the Nova kids were rockstars. So fun to watch. Each relay team had 4 members and each member had to swim 10 lengths of the pool. Much more fun that a marathon swim. I love this sport and to be part of that day was like watching all your football playing cousins come home for Thanksgiving and play a big game with their family members, young and old. Dave Denniston, his sister, mother, dad and tiny nephew Timmy all swam too. It was an awesome and inspiring thing to see Davo get into the water and swim 10 laps just a few short months after breaking his back. His will is earthshattering. It was very special, and I can't thank my Kerry and Deena enough for swimming. I probably would not have gone if they hadn't been swimming. But I learned something important. If you go to a swimming event, and you don't know anyone going in, you will when you come out. It was a very special day. I met Jason Lezak, his wife and his father for the first time. The senior Mr. Lezak is one of the nicest men you could ever meet. I have continued to see him at many meets even if Jason isn't swimming. Just because he loves the sport. Like me! Lenny Krayzelburg was also there with his new wife. Jeri Moss and Turkish swimmer Derya Büyükuncu were also there. The most impressive thing that day was the community at Novaquatics. An amazing group of people coming together to aid a fellow swimmer. (No, the most impressive thing was not Coach Dave Salo's Gary Hall Jr. impersonation.)

Davo is progressing amazingly well. He has such strong will. He is taking a few steps now merely a year after his accident. If you dont know his story please go to davedenniston.com and be inspired. His journal is the place to go. Start at the bottom and work your way to the top. It is worth the read. Send it forward.

Thanks for Stopping By in 2005!

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 06:55:00 +0000

Since I launched this site in August, I have had a diverse group of visitors. It is one of my favorite things about the sport. When you are a football fan and you are talking to people from other countries you have to say "real football" or "soccer" or "futbol" or "American football". But swimming is swimming all over the world. It does get a bit confusing when you talk about World Cup though. ;)

So thank you all for stopping by! I hope you found yourself or someone you like.
Hopefully I will get to see more swimming. More records fall, and more people at the meets. in 2006!

Visitors by Country:
UNITED STATES 6,085
CANADA 590
UNITED KINGDOM 315
GERMANY 244
ITALY 233
HONG KONG 214
AUSTRALIA 64
SPAIN 54
NORWAY 44
FRANCE 34
SWITZERLAND 28
CZECH REPUBLIC 23
SLOVENIA 16
UNKNOWN 15
SWEDEN 13
ISRAEL 10
BELGIUM 9
MEXICO 9
NETHERLANDS 9
PUERTO RICO 8
JAPAN 8
SINGAPORE 8
IRELAND 8
AUSTRIA 6
POLAND 5
HUNGARY 4
DENMARK 4
CHINA 4
BRAZIL 4
ESTONIA 2
MALTA 2
RUSSIAN FEDERATION 2
CROATIA 1
ARGENTINA 1
MALAYSIA 1
PHILIPPINES 1

Visitors by region:
CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES 2,497
VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES 779
UNKNOWN 664
ONTARIO, CANADA 387
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES 298
NEW JERSEY, UNITED STATES 293
ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM 282
FLORIDA, UNITED STATES 260
HONG KONG (SAR), HONG KONG 213
KANSAS, UNITED STATES 204
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, UNITED STATES 172
BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA 170
ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES 170
TEXAS, UNITED STATES 148
NORTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES 147
MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES 135
TENNESSEE, UNITED STATES 126
INDIANA, UNITED STATES 123
PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES 113
SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN, GERMANY 98
UTAH, UNITED STATES 56
NORDRHEIN-WESTFALEN, GERMANY 48
OHIO, UNITED STATES 42
OSLO, NORWAY 39
NEW MEXICO, UNITED STATES 34
ALABAMA, UNITED STATES 32
PIEMONTE, ITALY 31
CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES 28
WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES 28
KENTUCKY, UNITED STATES 27
CANARY ISLANDS, SPAIN 26
SCOTLAND, UNITED KINGDOM 26
SOUTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES 23
ARIZONA, UNITED STATES 22
COLORADO, UNITED STATES 21
MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES 20
MARYLAND, UNITED STATES 16
GEORGIA, UNITED STATES 15
NEUCHATEL, SWITZERLAND 13
CASTILLA Y LEON, SPAIN 12
ARKANSAS, UNITED STATES 11
NEW HAMPSHIRE, UNITED STATES 11
DISTRITO FEDERAL, MEXICO 10
MINNESOTA, UNITED STATES 10
QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA 9
PUERTO RICO, PUERTO RICO 8
BERLIN, GERMANY 8
SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE 8
WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES 8
DUBLIN, IRELAND 8
OREGON, UNITED STATES 8
LOUISIANA, UNITED STATES 7
NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA 7
RHODE ISLAND, UNITED STATES 6
MISSOURI, UNITED STATES 5
LIGURIA, ITALY 5
HAMERKAZ (CENTRAL), ISRAEL 5
NOORD-HOLLAND, NETHERLANDS 5
ALBERTA, CANADA 4
GUANGDONG, CHINA 4
OOST-VLAANDEREN, BELGIUM 4
GELDERLAND, NETHERLANDS 4
QUEBEC, CANADA 4
LIMBURG, BELGIUM 3
IOWA, UNITED STATES 3
NORDLAND, NORWAY 3
SCHAFFHAUSEN, SWITZERLAND 2
DELAWARE, UNITED STATES 2
LOMBARDIA, ITALY 2
OKLAHOMA, UNITED STATES 2
SOR-TRONDELAG, NORWAY 2
SACHSEN, GERMANY 2
MAZOWIECKIE, POLAND 2
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL 2
NEVADA, UNITED STATES 2
HARJUMAA, ESTONIA 2
NEBRASKA, UNITED STATES 2
MAINE, UNITED STATES 2
MISSISSIPPI, UNITED STATES 2
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND 2
MANITOBA, CANADA 2
VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA 2
WEST VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES 1
WESTERN AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA 1
CEBU CITY, PHILIPPINES 1
MINAS GERAIS, BRAZIL 1
NAMUR, BELGIUM 1
MOSKVA, RUSSIAN FEDERATION 1
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA 1
BALEARES, SPAIN 1
HAWAII, UNITED STATES 1
SARDEGNA, ITALY 1
BAYERN, GERMANY 1
ZADARSKA, CROATIA 1
CATALONIA, SPAIN 1
VENETO, ITALY 1
HíEFA (HAIFA), ISRAEL 1
KOMAROM-ESZTERGOM, HUNGARY 1
ANTWERPEN, BELGIUM 1
VERMONT, UNITED STATES 1
TOKYO, JAPAN 1
CELJE, SLOVENIA 1
MECKLENBURG-VORPOMMERN, GERMANY 1
SãO PAULO, BRAZIL 1
WIEN, AUSTRIA 1
BLEKINGE, SWEDEN 1

I am sure about 2,000 of the California visits are myself..... Ha!

Swimming This Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 18:08:00 +0000

There are a couple of excellent meets this weekend and I have been sitting here (cyberly) with Sarah (ICO), Terrie (RBO) and Aims, watching Omega Timing for the results of the US Open at Auburn University. And Hy-Tek for the Texas Invitational at University Of Texas - Austin.
It is too crazy because there are really fast swimmers at both meets and I have to know how it is going! It is nice to see the return of Pieter Van den Hoogenband to competition. He's competing at the US Open. He took the top qualifying time in the 200m Free this morning. I wish I were there to see Klete Keller try to catch him. The rest of the Wolverine guys are at Texas where Arizona is doing well. The Texas meet has people swimming all kinds of strange events with Ian Crocker doing 100m back and Aaron Peirsol on the 500 free and 200 fly (wtf?). If you like consistancy there are Kellers and Peirsols kicking butt at both meets. Hayley Peirsol and Klete Keller at Auburn and Aaron Peirsol and Kalyn Keller at Texas. I wish I could go but I am off to San Francisco this weekend. Those of you who live nearby should go to one of these meets. And take pictures. If you have a photobucket you could share with the rest of us! I'd love to see Hoogie after a year off for surgery and marriage.
I know there are pics from Texas Invitational up at Brendan Hansen Online, Texas-Trio, and SwimStars. Go check 'em out!
And go see swimming!

Stanford Rules the Speedo Cup

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 05:00:00 +0000

Photo: Stanford Cardinal

Last weekend was the Speedp Cup hosted by U C Irvine. I had a really nice time. Thank God for Terrie! I took a bazillion pictures (like I do) and she helped me put the names on them. She has pulled me into her intrest in Stanford as you can tell by my photos and her knowledge of the team really made labeling the pics a lot of fun. The Stanford Cardinal Women finished the meet on top followed by Nevada and BYU. The and Stanford Men also scored high point followed by US Air Force Academy and BYU. Stanford's Elizabeth Durot and Hongzhe Sun were both named swimmers of the meet. It is always fun to see new meet records set and there were a few swims that made NCAA cuts. It should be fun to see the next meet at my home pool which will be the Women's Pac-10 Championships. Again, I have to say how much I love to see school spirit. The winners of that award for me went to U C Santa Cruz and UC San Diego. Those people had a blast! The team seemed really tight and alot of fun. I also watched the Coaches quite a bit and I am really impressed with the new women's Coach at Stanford, Lea Maurer. I think she will make a good transition easier after the retirement of the great Richard Quick. I also really loved the horned helmet worn by a few of the AF men. It was a fashion risk, but a good one. And all I have to say about Caroline Bruce is, "Wow!" Chick has a mean breast stroke. I have never seen anyone start a Breast Stroke race from in the water, at the wall before. But she was still almost 4 seconds ahead of the second place finisher. She has one hell of a push. Thanks again Terrie!

TYR Swim Meet of Champions

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 23:55:00 +0000

Photo: Jason Lezak, Nick Brunelli and Lydon Ferns

I'm sorry it is taking me forever to edit these pics. The TYR meet is held in Mission Viejo, California. The facility doesn't have nearly enough parking for this event but it is in such a beautiful location that it is almost a joy to walk to the venue. ALMOST! This meet had some interesting energy because the Japanese Worlds Team was there. And they brought the media with them. These are the superstars of Japanese Swimming and the country really supported them here. Because of the filming, the local cable company was able to air the meet too. Of course I don't use the local company so I never got to see it, but I was there so I guess I win. Kaitlin Sandeno and Justin Mortimer were the big point winners of the meet. That had to be really sweet for Justin since that is his home pool. Again that 50 Free just blew me away. As Did the 1500 Free. Kaitlin broke the Meet record in the 100 Free in personal best time. I missed it. Dammit. Teach me to miss finals. I met the amazing Mrs S, and she re-affirmed the strength of my theory that Swim!Parents are the greatest people ever. Try starting up a friendly conversation with a Soccer Mom. Hehe. This was the meet where it became obvious to me the difference between good swimmers and Elite swimmers. As the prelims were going on for the 50 free the guys just kept getting bigger and the whole energy switched. By the time the last two heats were run you could tell those guys were the real deal. The intensity was palpable. It was a beautiful weekend and I had a great time. My favorite thing was this little teeny girl sitting next to me on the deck yelling "GO RYAN" , over and ove
r. I asked her who Ryan was and she told me it was her sister. But we were watching Men's heats and her sister Ryan is a little age group swimmer who wasn't swimming that day. I guess we learn to cheer for those we love early. I did the same thing when I went to the PAC-10 Men's Finals. Gary Marshall was breaking meet records in the Breast events and I was crossing my fingers that Brendan Hansen's NCAA records would hold. They did. Nothing against Gary but I want them to last as long as Janet Evans World Records or at least until he graduates. Anyway, I am currently attending the SPEEDO CUP in my home town of Long Beach. College meets are are such a blast. The big difference is the cheering. You can't help but get behind the team with the loudest cheering section. At the TYR meet any time a team member was in a final, the Japanese team was on their feet. USC and UT are good at supporting their teams too. You've got to cheer people. Give em wings!

ConocoPhillips Summer Nationals

noreply@blogger.com (lala) — Fri, 04 Nov 2005 04:34:00 +0000

Men's 400m Freestyle Relay

I have finished editing the pics from Summer Nationals. This meet happened three days after the Duel in the Pool and 5 days after the close of the Fina World Championships. I found as I went throught the pics that I took less and less each day. Sorry about that. I started getting into wathcing more than taking pics. The meet went late in the evening so it got dark and really hard to shoot with my little Olympus.
It was a really fun meet. I got to see alot of the USA swimmers from worlds who were only in relays there, really get to race. People like Klete Keller, Davis Tarwater, Ben Wildman-Tobriner. They had excellent swims in individual events! Wolverines: Peter Vanderkaay, Michael Phelps, Klete Keller and Chris DeJong, broke a US Open record in the 800m relay that has stood for 9 years. It is great to see the old records fall. Somebody better go after Janet Evans now! She is the reigning queen who has been on top almost as long as Elizabeth II. (j/k) Kate Ziegler, Kalyn Keller, Hayley Peirsol, Kelsey Ditto.....Come on girls! Enough about Janet. I can't tell you all enough how much fun there is to be had at a swim meet. You meet the best people. I am always saying how lucky I am to live in California, but there is amazing swimming happening in the Universities all over the States and the World too. Alot of swimmers who compete for foreign countries train here, so you get to see great from all over the world at the small meets too. Thats where alot of your 2008 Olympians are going to come from, so go see 'em now! Stanford is comming to my neck of the woods in a couple of weeks and I haven't even finished editing my pics from this past summer. I am thinking about not taking my camera. Just to going to see the swimming.

Anyway, Summer Nationals put a perfect end to a Summer of great meets. I saw alot of records fall this season. It seems impossible for people to go faster then they do. But it will be done, and I hope I get to see more old records fall. Although just to see people swim a personal best is really cool. I'll probably edit this all away so if you read this while it is babbling, sorry about that.
Oh, and Porn Mustache month is over. So SHAVE 'EM OFF!!