Swimming Blogs - Brett Hawke

The swimming community gets it: Craig Lord does not approve of the new swim suit technology. He's beaten that poor horse to the point of breaking Barbaro's other legs. Time to give a rest, Craig. It is not all about the suits. Your latest article, "Why Ruin Rome With A(nother) Lie?" called out one of my athletes in particular in a manner that borders on defamation of character. You claimed, several times over, that Fred Bousquet was not capable of breaking the 21 second barrier without the suit. You are 100% confident that the suit is the reason he went as fast as he did. You are sure that Fred is not as fast as he is without the suit. However, Alain Bernard wore the same suit. He didn't break 21 seconds. The Jaked you hate so much was worn by several athletes at the Olympic games, yet none of them broke 21 seconds. I knew before we left for France that Fred was capable of breaking 21 seconds, regardless of the suit he chose to wear. While you move forward attacking this new generation of suits, make sure you are aiming in the right direction. Attacking the athletes is shooting yourself in the foot.

Whether you intended to or not, your article took away from Fred the hard work that he has put-in the last year. You have discredited my coaching, Coach Quick's coaching, and the ability of my athletes because of your own hatred of a swimming suit. Craig, you have speculated and surmounted outrages quotes to point out your own personal view in a format that was once considered news. In doing so, you may see yourself as a martyr for the "purity of the sport", but sacrificing my athletes and the work I've put into coaching them along the way is unacceptable.

This is an exciting time for swimming. Rather than embrace the amazing racing that is going
on, you chose to dwell on the suits. Fine, but when you start attacking the athletes how is that helping the sport? Must I remind you that Fred was the first man to break 19 seconds in a yard pool? Remember the suit he wore then? Remember how much he obliterated 19 seconds by? It wasn't the suit then. The truth is, Fred has always had the talent to do amazing things. He is in the best shape of his life and he is smart enough to swim in the best suit he can find. And you don't think he's capable of swimming like he has? Did you watch the 50 freestyle in Charlotte? Cullen Jones was wearing one of the suits you hate. Half of the final heat was wearing the exact same suit at Fred. Fred beat the field by over half a second in the fifty. That was not the suit Craig. Its was Fred.

Should Michael Jordan have played out his career in Chuck Taylors? Should Usain Bolt sprint in flat shoes even while everyone else in the race wears spikes? According to your way of thinking, which has been made VERY evident on Swimnews.com, Jordan was only great because of his shoes. Just like Fred is only great because of his suit. And while you haven't had the guts to come out and say it yet: Why don't you just admit that the only reason Michael Phelps won eight gold medals and broke all those world records was because of the suit he wore doing so. According to your comments, it couldn't have been because of coach Bowman. It couldn't have been because of all the work he put in. And it surely wasn't about how amazing Phelps is as an athlete. Its about the suit, isn't it Craig? I have a hard time believing that. The swimming world has a hard time believing that. And you know they do. That is why you haven't attacked Phelps. No no. That guy is off limits. But my French athlete, coached by an Australian at Auburn, he pretty much deserves to be attacked. Nobody likes French people at Auburn, do they Craig? So you took the green light to destroy everything he has accomplished.

I'm not sure why you think you have an obligation to write about non-american athletes the way you do. But you are done comparing my athletes to cheaters from thirty years ago. Write what you like, you have the right. But when you choose to drag my athletes through the mud because of the suits on their bodies or the caps on their heads, I will personally address it.

In the meantime, my athletes will keep training, eating and breathing swimming while you sit behind a computer and try to write about it. My swimmers will get faster and stronger while you sip your diet coke and figure out ways to take away their accomplishments. And one day, when that loose screw in your head tightens up, I hope it will occur to you that the things you wrote about Fred Bousquet and so many other athletes, weren't only false, but hurtful and wrong. Not only that, but you've done more to hurt swimming than help it. It is not all about the suit. It is time for you to stop discrediting everything that goes into developing phenomenal athletes because of your hatred of sewn together fabric.