Swimming Blogs - Floswimming Blogs

I made it back to the States yesterday. It was the best experience of my life, and I hope that you guys enjoyed the coverage. The next couple weeks are a pretty slow time in the swimming community. But it's not time to rest. We need to start formulating some ideas, here's where I suggest we start. Swimming is cool. So cool that NBC has stepped in and bought rights to The World Championships in Rome. Thanks to the greatest Olympic performance in history, the top end of our sport is in a pretty good place. What about the lower… more »

Parents sometimes ask Mrs. Coach what Mr. Coach looks for when he recruits a potential collegiate athlete. Talk about your loaded questions. But sometimes, depending on how manic the gleam is in those parents’ eyes, Mrs. Coach will actually tell them. 1. The Ability to Fly Solo: Mrs. Coach can still remember the day when Mr. Coach came home so excited about a visiting recruit he couldn’t stop grinning. "Are her times that good?" she asked him. "They’re very good," he replied, "but even better – she came alone." "What do you mean she came alone?" Mrs. Coach asked him,… more »

I have been thinking about how to attack this for a few days now. After the finish of the men’s 4 x 100 medley relay I didn’t know if it truly was something of incredible importance, but after listening and watching the reaction of the world towards Michael Phelps accomplishments at the Olympics I have come to realize that the subject matter is of great importance. As most sociologists will tell you it is within human nature, especially in our day and age, for the masses to try to bring down those that have separated themselves from the norm, whether… more »

After watching Michael Phelps become the 8th Wonder of the World, here's what I learned... ...It's not just the 15,000 miles. It's every .01. ...Women dig torsos. ...Actions are louder than French. ...When life fills your goggles, get new freaking goggles. ...Destiny demands courage. And pre-race rap music. ...Never stop cheering. ...Olympic Supremacy requires 12,000 calories (23 Big Macs) per day. ...Jason Lezak deserves 8 gold-painted Porsches in his driveway this Christmas. ...New pick-up line: "I once (verb-of-choice) Phelps." ...Sex symbols can have big ears. ...Not everyone can inspire, but inspiration can come from anyone. ...Thousands of Michael Phelps now… more »

Swimming finished a few days ago, but I still have a week in China. I'm going to the Great Wall in a couple days, and I've been able to check out some other events. I got to watch the final of the Men's 100 meter dash. Usain Bolt's dominating 9.69 was the first world record Mark from flotrack ever saw in person. It was an amazing experience, but it just re-affirms my belief that it's a great time to be a swim fan. Some of the swimmers are still around, but for the most part I'm going to be lucky… more »

As the Olympics wound down, I found myself getting anxious. Anxious about what was next and where we go from here. Everywhere I went, people that had no association with swimming wanted to talk some swimming. People knew that I was obsessed and wanted some insight. They wanted to talk about Phelps, of course, but they wanted to talk about Lezak too, or what happened to Brendan Hansen. Swimming exploded to the front page of major newspapers, magazines and websites that otherwise never mentioned its existence. Don't get me wrong, I love all the attention swimming is getting. However, I… more »

After being inspired by the post of Dave Korst I haved decided to post an article that I use in our team manual, give out to all new parents and have had printed in different papers. What are the things that we would ideally like children to take away form a sporting experience? Fun, accomplishment, work ethic, confidence, self-discipline, and a life-long love of fitness may be just a few. Well, there is a sport that can offer children all of those things wrapped up in one. That sport is competitive swimming! Throughout the years many people in different communities… more »

Because Mr. Coach coaches both men and women, people sometimes ask him (or Mrs. Coach if she’s standing closer) which gender he prefers to coach. Mrs. Coach thinks that, if Mr. Coach HAD to make a choice between the two, he might choose the female of the species and the reasons have nothing to do with anything sleazy. If you’ve seen one scantily clad female with overdeveloped trapezius muscles, you’ve seen them all. It’s just that when you figure you spend 95 percent of your time with an athlete in practice and not meet situations, and one of those genders… more »

Wow I don’t have a lot of words at this moment to express what we have just witnessed. Many words will be written about the last week for many years to come. I hate quoting a commercial, but Morgan Freeman said it best in a Visa commercial, “That's well ... we're going to need some new adjectives for whatever that is ...” Brendan Hansen’s statement after the relay says all that may need to be said at this moment. "Every single athlete in the world right now needs to tip their hat to Michael Phelps" Congratulations Michael for accomplishing the… more »

The last week of Olympic competition has show cased many of the great things about swimming that those who are not immersed in it may not realize. The quest for eight gold medals by Phelps has shown just how great an athlete can be; how someone can be a master of all the skills in a chosen discipline, it has shown the world how hard someone has to work to achieve that mastery and it has shown how important and special a relationship between a coach and athlete can be. The men’s 4 x 100 freestyle relay showed how exciting… more »

As I sit here on my couch in Vancouver watching the night’s second telecast of Olympic swimming (yes I know I have now admitted that I have no life) I can’t help but think the North American media has forgotten someone. Just to explain the typical night up here, the CBC (Canadian Broadcast Company) telecast is live (7:00 pm PST), that is unless there are Canadian swimmers in the semi finals than they telecast men’s gymnastics, but they at least they have live streaming of the events on their website. Then about three hours later the NBC telecast comes on.… more »

Of the 13 gold medals that the United States has claimed thus far in Beijing, ten of them hang around the neck of swimmers. Three of those were earned in today's finals session, as the US claimed three out of four championship races. Oh yeah, all three victories came in world record time. The first gold of the day was passed out Rebecca Soni who took down the breaststroke star from down-under in world record style ( 2:20.22 ) giving the American women their second gold of these games. Both girls were ahead of the WR line at the 150… more »

No, I'm not in Beijing like my "friend" Garrett. I'm at home, just like most of you, watching the NBC telecast. Still, Garrett has only made his way into one session, so I decided I would recap last night's finals because essentially we saw the same thing. The only difference was that I had Rowdy and Dan Hicks and he had no idea what anyone was saying. The lead story was the big win by Alain Bernard. Bernard had it tough for a few days, weathering the media storm surrounding his comments and his last second loss to Jason Lezak.… more »

Do you think if I told the Chinese people guarding the gate to the Aqua Cube that I was from FINA and I had to re-measure the pool I could get on deck? Just kidding, but seriously. We just watched 11 swimmers (8 individuals plus 3 from the 4x200 relay) beat the world record line to the wall. 11. Its really tough for me to explain this to the non-swimmers I'm traveling with. Alain Bernard got this morning's party started by swimming the fastest time ever in the first semi-final heat of the 100 Free (47.20). But Eamon Sullivan made… more »

Well this morning's prelims brought both joy and misery. Joy in seeing that I was right and that Daniel Gyurta was in top form for the 200 breaststroke. Misery in seeing Alexander Dale Oen miss the semi-final. Still, I can't be mad at myself, most would have picked him after his great 100 earlier in the meet. It looks like I've also severely underestimated Laszlo Cseh, who has a strong chance for the silver medal in the 200 fly. I didn't get to watch prelims to get a feel for how others swam (Audrey Lecroix, for example) so I don't… more »

Wow, we are at the final day of predictions and I am not Michael Phelps and feel fatigue, therefore I am going straight into my picks. Olympic Games – Day 8 – Swimming Women’s 50 Free Libby TrickettCate CampbellMarleen Veldhuis Trickett showed earlier in the meet in the 100 butterfly that she is ready to race and ready to win. She is coming into the games ranked number one in the world in the 50 and she split 52.34 in the 4 x 100 freestyle relay. Campbell is coming into the meet ranked number three in the world and is… more »

3 gold medals, 3 world records. Surprised? I bet Bob Bowman's not, and I bet if you asked him how rested Michael Phelps was at US Olympic Trials he would just grin. If you haven't realized yet, Michael Phelps is going to win 8 gold medals. Final session #3 breakdown: Phelps looked like looked like a man among boys in the 200 freestyle. Leisol Jones and Natalie Coughlin proved that finishing ahead of that world record line isn't as important as finishing ahead of everyone in the pool. And Aaron Peirsol proved, once again, that he is the best backstroker… more »

We are in the process of deciding how this little contest will be scored, whatever we decide it is close after the first two days. I can’t say enough about what we have seen at the games so far, it is amazing and just when you don’t think anything can top an event all of a sudden some one finds a way to do something amazing! Olympic Games – Day 7 – Swimming Women’s 200 Backstroke 1. Kirsty Coventry 2. Margret Hoelzer 3. Elizabeth Beisel Coventry has surprised me in the last two days. With amazing swims so far in… more »

I was going to try and come up with something original to say about Jason Lezak in this space, but I couldn't. Day 7 Picks: 200 Backstroke Women: 1. Kirsty Coventry 2. Elizabeth Beisel 3. Margaret Hoelzer Rationale: Coventry looks like a complete no brainer after her world record 100 back and 4:29 400 IM. To make things interesting, I'm going out on a limb and predicting she will be 2:04 here. Beisel has shaken off her first Olympic swim at age 15 and is ready to sneak onto the medal stand. Hoelzer also looks strong but is a little… more »

For a swimming fan the last two days have been heaven. The Olympics has been everything that we could ask for, incredible swims, upsets and the quest for eight gold medals continues. The 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay was certainly the greatest race I have ever watched (and I know from reading responses on this site many agree). I am reminded of great races in the past where athletes and coaches have shown incredible emotion. There are two that come to mind. For me the race that epitomizes this was in 1992 when Mark Tweksbury out touched Jeff Rouse… more »

Every day, Mr. Coach shows his gratitude to the athletes in his life by swimming the living snot out of them. Fortunately for him, they’re a lot kinder when they show him their gratitude. Often, at season’s end, they show their gratitude with restaurant gift certificates (and free babysitting, always clutch). Once it was tickets for him and Mrs. Coach to see a Broadway touring production of "Les Miserables" (if there was a subliminal message with that one, they’re ignoring it). Even after they graduate, Mr. Coach’s swimmers keep expressing gratitude for his having swum the living snot out of… more »

So I really don’t know if I am writing this at the best time, because I really don’t believe what I am seeing. I mean last night seeing 4:03.84 and then 4:29.45 and not only one, but two girls at 4:29. Than tonight Hoff being touched out be seven one hundredths of a second and Jason Lezak splitting 46.06, not only swimming the greatest 100 of all time, but keeping the Phelps dream alive. Not only that, but my fellow countryman Brent Hayden showing that he is healthy enough to go 47.56 on the lead off!! I am still shaking!!… more »

About 5 days before the Olympics started hundreds of local scalpers were thrown in jail. So all the Chinese scalpers who bought out tickets are scared to slang. Notice the empty seats in any of the coverage? Swimming is the toughest event to score tickets to, yet there're still empty sections during finals at the aqua cube. The biggest problem with not having tickets is that you can't get within a half a mile of the Olympic facilities. We're talking 3 layers of security including full body search and ticket scan. I'm all for safety but there is something to… more »

Hey, remember that time I picked Helge Meeuw to win silver in the 100 backstroke? I was feeling pretty good about it. After all, Helge was the second seed in the meet. He was a German guy with a name Dan Hicks was sure to struggle with. Fast forward to today. On the first day I had purposely shielded myself from prelim results. When i had to wait until 4:30 pm eastern to watch them, I decided I would just satisfy my curiousity from then on in the morning. I was giddily scanning through results after breakfast to find the… more »

So much for World Records being a rarity in Olympic finals. The previous World marks weren't just broken in the 400 IMs they were shattered and I believe that was the fastest heat of 400 freestyles in history. In the first Olympic swimming final of these Beijing games, Michael Phelps answered that taper question he dodged in Palo Alto at the Olympic Training Trip. He and his coach Bob Bowman obviously took a lot away from the 2004 run and proved it at the World Championships last spring in Melbourne. Granted it has only been one event, but I just… more »

Now that I've had the chance to watch some prelims, I am ready for those day 5 picks. I already feel vindicated in my pick of Alexander Dale Oen. Even if he does not gold medal, I think few would have even picked him to go 59.4 and lead qualifiers. While I wait anxiously to watch those live morning finals tonight and see who's at their best at 10 am, I start back with the breaststrokers. Men's 200 Breaststroke 1. Kosuke Kitajima 2. Alexander Dale Oen 3. Daniel Gyurta Rationale: Kitajima has shown his mettle on the Olympic stage and… more »

Well it has all started and I can tell because I didn’t get up until about one in the afternoon today because I stayed up until 4:30 am watching swimming and it was worth it. The finals tonight should be unreal (of course I didn’t look at the results to help me with my picks like someone else I know will)! Well I have had about four cups of coffee so hopefully I will be coherent in this piece and have all of my top three picks actually competing in their respective races. Olympic Game - Day 5 - Swimming… more »

Well another day another set of predictions. I have just watched half an hour of the opening ceremonies, I am just not an opening ceremony type of guy, plus it was another beautiful day in Whistler. What I did catch though was the athletes entering the stadium. Now I know in close races DeSantis has been going with the name that would be funniest to hear Rowdy try to pronounce, but after listening to commentators try to pronounce the names of the flag bearers from Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone and Vanuatu I can’t take much more and hope that all… more »

I'm doubling up today because we are very far behind. Its likely that half my picks will take place after preliminaries have begun in Beijing. Some people will cry foul- "You have to make all your picks before the games start!" they'll say. Well to them, I really have no defense. My picks won't be done before the start. and if you don't think I'm going to take full advantage of the first few days of results to make my picks then you don't know me at all. Day 4 Quebec Quietin' Picks: Women's 200 Free: 1. Federica Pellegrini 2.… more »

Ok. So I've let the accusations of being an Aussie-hater simmer now for a couple of days. I wanted to draft a crafty rebuttal, but in all honesty I can't. The truth is, I do hate the Aussies. I think that hate really dawned as I watched Michael Klim play air guitar in Sydney. It grew when Ian Thorpe became the only swimmer a typical American could name. Then, ever so quickly the Aussie men fell off as a rival, partly due to Thorpe's early retirement. Sure, the women have been routinely beating the US in the past few years,… more »

Floswimming arrived in Beijing last night (8/07/08). I'm here with Mark from flotrack and Martin from flowrestling and with these 2 guys I know we're going to get some great stuff to show you. We're here for 20 days and as of now we have no media credentials, no event tickets, and no set plan... It's going to be an adventure. The content we'd get with those perks would probably be pretty limited anyway, so the goal for the next 18 days is to let you know what the atmosphere is like around Beijing during these Olympics. You can't get… more »

Always good to learn something new every day and yesterday I learned that I know nothing about the origins of mediocre rock bands. Now as I said in my first post I am on holidays and wanting to be refreshed to write this article I went to a lake in Whistler and took some time to relax on the beach while reading some Hunter S Thompson. So if I go on rambling about Nixon and input some Orwell and Huxley references you will know why. Seriously though after taking that time to relax I have come back to my computer… more »

Looks like I really stirred things up with round one. I'm sorry if some of my rationale's came off a bit cavalier. To be honest, I decided this time around that I would make a few emotional picks even though my rational strategy worked last time. Jeff, the quality of your Canadian support rings true. I was so scared that I tried to anticipate your moves by hunting down Jeff Rouse to counteract the possibility of Mark Tewksbury posting for you. Unfortunately, Rouse was unavailable. Day 2 picks! Women's 100 fly: 1. Libby Trickett 2. Jessica Schipper 3. Jemma Lowe… more »

Wow, what does a little Canadian guy got to do to get some love around here! DeSantis has eighteen replies to my six and one of those was to tell me that DeSantis was a legend! As long as the J Wilkinson may be the one and only Julia Wilkinson, who is the only person who can out talk Annamay Pierse and is going to kick some a$$ at the games I am happy (but if not I have to find a way to build my fan base). If I am reading this right Mr DeSantis appears to be playing… more »

They exited the pool, all seven of them, their perfectly-honed bodies glistening under hot white lights burning at the Omaha Qwest Center. For two women, Herculean smiles radiated larger than John Naber's forehead. The only meet where two contestants always finish first. New lives, conjured in seconds and tenths. Cameras flashed. Video rolled. A wild finish -- three women, two spots, one team. Afterwards, each warrior limped through the tunnel to the warm down pool, contemplating those one hundred and thirty-some seconds. Some were ecstatic. A few were heartbroken. As the arena's pulse relaxed, a few keen observers noticed that… more »

Theres a few things you should know about Jeff and I before you read my prediction. Jeff is a very successful coach, I am just getting started. Jeff is from Canada, and I am former citizen of the Kingdom of Denmark but now just an American. Jeff's favorite swimmer is Victor Davis, and mine is Mike Barrowman. The last is what really puts us at odds. You see, Victor Davis and Mike Barrowman just missed overlapping each other. Victor was a better 100 breaststroker, and Barrowman better at the 200. This puts us naturally at odds. When Jeff approached me… more »

A few weeks ago I sat down and planned out my vacation. After coaching for eleven months I had three weeks to relax and not think about swimming. That was of course if I wasn’t a swimming geek. So instead of taking the time to catch up on my reading or simply enjoy the weather and sit on the beach I decided to challenge fellow blogger Chris DeSantis to a battle of the minds; which one of use swimming geeks (sorry Chris making an assumption) could predict the Olympic medalists with the most accuracy? DeSantis accepted the challenge and now… more »

How do you outperform the best swim of your life? Thats the question that has been looming over many of America's Olympians in the past few weeks. With the exception of a privileged few, most athletes who qualified for Beijing did so with the swim of their career. It was the closest to a perfect race they have ever been. Just one month later, they have the chance to create an indelible legacy through Olympic glory. Only the most ardent swimming fans will remember the two who qualified, far more will recall the best from Beijing. One such swimmer is… more »

One of the risks of being a swimmer in a swim-coach family is that your coaching parent is friends with the officials. Now most people might say, "Oh, but that’s great! Officials are the most powerful people at a swim meet! Knowing the officials must be a definite plus!" You would think. But Mrs. Coach vividly remembers the first time her son, Little Mr. Coach, swam a 100 IM. Now, mind you, Little Mr. Coach was only six years old at the time so Mr. and Mrs. Coach’s expectations were not high. But he and all his 8 & Under… more »