Activity - Article Comments

Article - Jason Lezak for President

No pedro....Vote for Lezak!!!!!

Article - Jason Lezak for President

WOW that is amazing

Article - Jason Lezak for President

Most insane night ever

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So true about all of us trying to figure out how to exist on the Michael Phelps level. Jeeze, I think the dude is superhuman

Article - Jason Lezak for President

all i have to say is i hope i never have to hear rowdy gaines announce again. he almost ruined the whole race with his dumb commentary

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o my gosh i dont' even know if this is really you but you and natiley are my idols someday i ant to break your world records and maybe even meet you. you did awsome in the bejing olympics and i think your really cute also well i can't wait till next 4 years and keep on dreaming you'll always acomplish something if you reall belive in it.

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Dave - good post - you are correct the journey is what it is all about - the things that are demanded to be successful in our sport creates people of character.

I love the suit comment! I am proud of my swimmers because they have a similar attitude as your swimmers and take pride in what they can do in whatever suit they have rather then what the suit can do for them.

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Garrett - I agree people should watch swimming for the right reasons. Having races set up in different ways doesn't need to trivalize the sport (pink hats, horses, etc...).

A few years back in Canada after the World Cup that was held in Edmonton a great "Skins Event" was held in Calgary. I have put a link to an article about it at the time:
http://www.swimnews.com/News/view/32
I know the same was done in Austraila and it was hugely popular and it was just a different way to present racing. It is a different way to keep people interested.
Agree that we should not try to change the sport for people outside the sport.

Article - Jason Lezak for President

What was Lezak's splits for the second 50 in the relay and in the solo?

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yeah dave, luke is the man for rocking the aquablade brief at juniors.

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Extremely well puy Dave! Why don't you start blogging for Floswimming? I'd read it.

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Being old enough to have seen Mark Spitz doing his 7 golds reminded me of the hype created by Mark. Everyone wanted that stars and stripe suit but you had to lay out almost $15 to get one. If I could have grown a mustache I would have done that too. I can't even remember the first time I saw a guy wear a swim cap. I think the shaved head was more "chic" then the swim cap. I still remember those University of Tennessee swimmers with their bald heads and their raccoon skin caps. Definitely old school swimming!! The next big thrill in swimming for me was having an American break 50 seconds in the 100m Free in 1976 in Montreal. Wisconsin's own Jim Montgomery took care of that!. What would 49.99 do today? It would qualify you for our trials but not even make it close to the semi's. Us old school swimmers also had to deal with the factory known as East Germany also. How many medals were we robbed of back then!! New school has everyone wearing a $500 suit which of course only those with means will be able to afford. Speedo of course was very glad to have everyone wear one in Beijing and I could count the number of other brand of suits worn on a couple of my hands. And mainly because TYR and Nike, etc were paying their bills. I can't wait until the 12&under State Championships to see those 10 year olds sporting their Lazers. Many of my swimmers have gone back to the old school suits, wearing the brief! And believe it or not they win State Championships. I still like to think that a lot more of it has to do with the athlete then the suit. I think American swimming will prosper as it always does after an Olympic year. Gymnastics gets the same surge. Michael Phelps did an incredible thing winning 8 golds and doing it with a lot of drama and with a lot of class. I think the support of his American team mates and probably many of his foreign competitors helped him immensely too. I don't see another swimmer able to accomplish this feat unless they can dominate as many races as Michael was able too. Spitz was fortunate that his two doubles in the Fly's and the Free's fit in great. And he got on the 3 relays. Which the USA dominated. Would Mark Spitz have won the 50 Free, if they had it?? I hope in my lifetime that I get a chance to see another swimmer get 9 golds. But I think that the excitement for me is more in watching swimmers like Brendan Hansen, Aaron Piersol, Ian Crocker, Jason Lezak, Natalie Coughlin, Dara Torres, Kara Lynn Joyce, etc, etc, continue to go through the rigors of trying to come back and win Olympic Gold or even an Olympic medal. Michael Phelps will return in 2012 but probably only win 6 or 7 golds. If he chooses to swim that many events. But who else will decide to make the commitment to come back in four years to try to get more Olympic glory is what makes this sport exciting. And then who will also come out of the ranks of our Age Group and College programs and get to the promised land called the USA Olympic Team. It was also exciting watching many of the foreign athletes compete and win Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals. Many of whom have connections to the USA. Great job Cesar Cielo, Mike Cavic, Kirsty Coventry, just to name a few. For our community (The swimming community) the sport will continue to be at the top of all of the Olympic Sports. Our swim clubs will continue to bring in those new 6, 7, & 8 year olds on our teams and hopefully their dreams of someday of being an Olympian will help to fuel them to great success in our sport. I still believe that the process and journey of the development of a young swimmer is as important as the successes that they find in the sport. I hope that many will agree that we are fortunate that most of the young men and women coming up in the ranks of our swim programs are usually great young people with great values, ethics, and most our great in the classroom. I think that those results are what makes our sport what it is. All the Olympians seem like great people very supportive of their team mates and very respectful of their competitors. We get to see all the handshakes and hugs among the middle lane swimmers in the finals and the fast heats. But I would venture to say that that all happens in the other lanes too. It is a great sport that we have and the Olympics showed what those who cream has reached the top represented our sport the way that we expect all swimmers to represent themselves. Great job to all the Olympians both past and present. Let's look forward to 2012 and that next great swimmer to go after 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 or even 9 gold medals. I think that journey to try to achieve the dream is a gold medal itself.

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Garret Clark -

You bring up a good point: it would ruin the sport if swimming becomes gimmicky. But at the same time, I can't see swimming staying in the national spotlight if it does not change. What needs to change, I don't know--it seems to be the toughest question the swim community faces.
Last night there was a poll on espn.com (I quickly looked for a link but was unsuccessful). The questions basically asked: How many nights did you watch swimming? Is Michael Phelps the best athlete in the world? Is 8 golds the most amazing sports accomplishment? All the response were overwhelmingly positive for swimming.
Then the scary question was asked: Will you follow swimming over the next four year? And the response was overwhelmingly "No."
What will it take for these people to follow swimming? Watching some of Garret's (from floswimming) interviews he has asked the same question. It doesn't have to be Phelps vs. a dolphin but "regular" swim meets just won't cut it.
As Jeff Grace mentioned earlier, there was a 50 free showdown and Jager set the world record. Why not do something like that? Get the top 8 fastest 50 freestylers and seed them like March Madness. Have 4 rounds of head-to-head races and whoever is the last man standing wins a huge cash prize.
Something like that could be perfect for TV and it wouldn't compromise the integrity of the sport. Will USA Swimming do this? I honestly don't think they are brave enough to try something like this...
So, sadly, I think swimming is going to go away until 2012 unless something drastic happens.

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He came close to cracking Friday. After winning the 200 IM, he had to turn around and swim the semifinals of the 100 butterfly. As Phelps wobbled through the mixed zone in a panting daze, he thought to himself, "Oh my gosh, I'm exhausted."

From Pat Forde on ESPN.com
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=3539324

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Jeff - with the way times are going ...some one might flat start at 46.06 next World champs..

:)

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Reswim and Jeff -

You guys talking about those events reminds me of when baseball used to have all those weird events or like in track when a guy races a horse. For me it is just an obvious publicity grab that goes against the true heart of the sport. In Boston we have a term for Redsox fans who couldn't name a player on the team "Pink hats" (named for the pink hats marketed stylishly for casual fans). Those events you guys are alluding to just bring in the "pink hats." People should watch and come to swim meets for the right reasons - the heart and soul that goes into the sport - not for some circus type grab. Swim seems to be going in the right direction now - my opinion is why not let it keep moving. Would you really take track as serious if they started doing wheel barrel races?

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Did anyone else notice that during the national anthem, Phelps always was cupping his Pec? I know kinda weird I noticed, but I did, was I the only one?

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I would agree that Janet Evans is the queen of distance freestyle but i think her reign has lasted long enough. Adlington is definately next in line.

Anyway im not American but i was wondering from an American point of view did the US swim team (Minus Phelps for obvious reasons) perform poorly. I mean especially the women (soni was incredible and Natalie was good and Beisel did well for being so young) but apart from that the US womens team seemed a bit average. When im writing this the USA overall only have 19 golds. Just curious for an american point of view?

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agreed Reswim. At the Oklahoma Pro-Am they have the 50 free shootout. its really fun to watch, especially when you have olympians like crocker, weber-gale, and neil walker. things like that are what needs to be televised in orrder to keep this interest around the sport

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Ok I wouldnt say she is the greatest distance swimmer just yet there anonymous coward. I would definitely put Hackett in that category for men and for women Janet Evans

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Ehh- Adlingtons 800 free was one of the greatest swims EVER. It wasnt that exciting because no one could get near her including the world record line. Rebecca Adlington the Greatest distnace freestyler ever!

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Reswim - very valid points - those events need to be done and the swimming world not just USA swimming needs to explore new possibilities.

You should not get heat over that comment - the prelims of an event is not the most exciting thing in the world and I don't think anyone can debate that.
It is interesting as we have discussed before on this site about other events (athletes of different sports competing against each other) some of these type of events have been tried before, mind you not after having such a spotlight on the sport.
I think it was in the late 80s there was a 50 free show down with a round robin and all and it was where Jager actually set the world record which stood for sooo long I believe it was 21.87 or .76 - it was a great event.
I would like to know what type of ratings these types of events got to see what the actual interest was.

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Michael Phelps is definitely in the national spotlight and everyone is talking about him (examples: 1. I watched his 100 fly at a bar and I was wearing a swimming shirt. I had at least a dozen people come up to me and start talking about Phelps. They rattled off all these stats that only a true swimming fan would know--it was crazy. 2. The next morning I went to breakfast and there was a table of four cops sitting next to me. 3 of the 4 were trying to explain how amazing the finish was to the other guy who missed the race. It was pretty amusing watching a cop try and demonstrate Phelps's half-stroke in the air.)...

With that being said, swimming needs A LOT of help to stay in the mainstream. I know I'll get a lot of heat for this comment, but swim meets are boring. The non-swimmer doesn't want to sit through 7 heats of the women's 200 breast or they don't understand the amount of training required to bust out a solid mile. People have short attention spans. They need something quick, fast, and exciting or else they lose interest....
I think USA Swimming needs to be creative and make new events (a tournament style 50 free showdown, Phelps in a 100 fly vs. a two women relay team in a 100 free, Phelps vs. Lochte in a 50m kick) that can be shown on TV and people will watch.... Something needs to be done or else swimming will be off the radar until 2012.

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100 fly was awesome! But I am going to put Lezak ahead just because just as much was on the line and I think it will a long time before we see anyone go 46.06 or better.

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Anonymous Coward - I don't know if you have followed the games...but after like swim number 8 by Phelps...those were all the swims of the games. Is there any doubt that he would have smashed the World Record in the 100 fly if it wasn't on day 6-7 ? Come on... on those days can you even really call his swims "tapered?"
Congrats to Adlington. Amazing swim but come on...think about it... you are a swimmer...17 races in 8 days with the pressure of the swim world on you, bulleye on your back (hell Cavic dropped the 100 free semis to prepare for the fly) there is no doubt that the 100 fly was the swim of the meet.

I think the only other reasonable inclusion is Jason's relay swim.

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someone with michael's talent that's born in a country other than the US would never have the chance to break this record and accomplish this feat. This past week was great for Michael, but what an opportunity to recognize how strong the US Men's team is. Never would have been possible without many great swims from many other great swimmers.

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the only reason it was a GOOD swim is because she smacked janet evans' record which was the oldest one. but come on the women's 800 free isnt exactly the most exciting race

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yes i think phelps was amazing the whole way through 8 gold medals is insane he is the greatest olympian ever- but the individual swim of the games was Adlingtons 800 free.

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Also, look at what will happen in 4 or 8 years when Phelps is still good but a newer, younger swim comes along and tries to dethrone him. That will be quite the storyline. Phelps has given the sport a person to cheer for and possibly in a few years a person to cheer against.