Breaking Down Olympic Coverage

NBC owns the rights to all Olympic video and is planning an absolute all-out blitz to bring everything they can to you. I am going to attempt to breakdown the coverage for you here focusing on swimming. However I encourage everyone to utilize NBC's Olympics website (www.nbcolympics.com). Here you can click on "TV & Online Listings" at the top and figure out when and where you can go to watch swimming, diving, gymnastics, table tennis, taekwondo, team handball or any of the 34 sports that will be contested in Beijing (trampoline?). In all, NBC will be broadcasting more than 1,400 hours of television coverage over nine different networks (NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Universal HD, Oxygen, the NBC Olympic Basketball Channel, and the NBC Olympic Soccer Channel) as well as over 2,200 hours of online coverage.

THE ESSENTIALS: Pool Swimming dates are August 9-17; Open Water Swimming dates are August 20 & 21.

August 8: Don't miss the Opening Ceremony sure to be a spectacle unlike anything ever seen. China has had four years to try and top the Athens Opening Ceremony (and eight to try and top Sydney). NBC starting at 8 pm.

August 9 - 17: As many know by now, the International Olympic Committee and FINA, the International Governing Body for aquatic sports, have changed the schedule for these games. Since Beijing is exactly 12 hours ahead of the Eastern Time Zone and television ratings are higher for live events then those that are tape delayed the preliminary heats will be held in the evening in Beijing (to be taped for broadcast in the morning on the East Coast) and the Finals will be held in the morning there to be broadcast live for us at home. Prelims will be broadcast on NBC starting at 10 am but you can catch live coverage at nbcolympics.com starting at 6:30 am EDT.
You will be able to watch the live finals action starting at 8 pm EDT each night. The first night will get off to a quick start as Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte will swim the Final of the Men's 400 IM and Katie Hoff will compete in the Final of the Women's 400 IM. The idea of morning finals does not sit well with most of the swimming community. However the playing field for all swimmers is level, and that is the most important thing. Personally I would much rather watch Finals on NBC in HD live regardless of the time of day.

August 20 and 21: The women's Open Water race will be held on the 20th and the men's race on the 21st. Both will be broadcast live on USA during their daily coverage between 2am and 12pm EDT. Not sure exactly what time the races will begin or when they will be broadcast but I will get this information to you when it becomes available to me.
Open Water racing is an Olympic event for the first time with both the men and women competing in a 10K race. What should we watch for in these events? How about our good friend Sid Cassidy (formerly of Atlantic City Aquatic Club) who is the Race Director for both races.

August 24: The final day of Olympic competition with gold medals to be awarded in Men's Basketball, Volleyball, and Water Polo among other sports. The evening concludes on NBC with the Closing Ceremonies. The Olympic Closing Ceremonies never have the pomp and circumstance of the Opening Ceremonies. But at the conclusion the Olympic Flame is extinguished and the countdown to London 2012 begins.

US Open Starts Today

The US Open starts today in Minneapolis. Jamie Marks (2007), Bill Cregar (2007), and Christian Sprang (2005) will be in action over the course of the week. This meet will serve as the qualification meet for next summer's World University Games to be held in Belgrade, Serbia. For some reason USA Swimming does not have special page set up for this meet (or allow bonus events for that matter) but you can get real time results and see the psych sheets on USA Swimming's homepage.

NBC Olympic Widget

NBC.com has provided a widget (code that is embedded into a website to make content available without leaving that site) that I have placed at the bottom of the blog. Right now I have the "News, Photos & Videos" widget up and may mess with some of the other ones they have made available. The only place I can put it without cutting it off is at the bottom of the page. I will try to find a way to put it in a different location making it easier to access, but its staying at the bottom for the time being. The widget will be updated as nbcolympics.com updates their content.

Positive Drug Tests

Two in one week for the United States? First there was University of Missouri distance swimmer Max Jaben. Jaben, an American who holds dual citizenship, was preparing to represent Israel in Beijing but was thrown off of the Israeli Olympic Team for testing positive for the anabolic steroid boldenone. Jaben has appealed to an international sport arbitration court for a penalty less than the normal 2 year ban from competition.

Then reports (unconfirmed by USA Swimming) came out yesterday that Jessica Hardy, winner of the 100 Breaststroke and runner-up in the 50 Free at the US Olympic Team Trials, has tested positive for a banned stimulant. Swimming World Magazine has a thorough article on the situation here. As of right now, neither USA Swimming nor Hardy have officially commented on the situation. However Hardy's agent has made comments indicating there has been a positive test by his client, but that Hardy denies any wrongdoing. The reports from swimmingworldmagazine.com and the Associated Press indicate that Hardy has left the US Olympic Team training camp. One can only wonder the reasoning for these positive tests. Jaben has indicated that he has "alternative theories" for his failed test and Hardy's lawyer has expressed concerns about the possibility of Jessica's tests coming back clean for certain events at Trials, but one came back positive.

Two cases involving US Swimmers in the past decade served to bring different issues regarding illegal substances and performance enhancement to the forefront for our sport. The biggest one was the case of Jessica Foschi who tested positive for a banned substance at the age of 15. Foschi's case was examined by USA Swimming, FINA, and other International Sports Arbitration Courts. She was punished, had the punishment overturned, punished again...on and on for a number of years. Here is a link to various stories about the Foschi case from the New York Times.

The second case is that of Kicker Vencill. A sprinter, Vencill was training toward the 2004 Olympic Trials when, in 2003, he tested positive for a banned substance and was banned from competition for four years. Vencill appealed his suspension and was able to prove the banned substance was due to a supply of contaminated vitamins he had purchased. Regardless of the fact that he did not knowingly ingest the banned substance, he was still responsible for it and was given a two year suspension, ending his chances of realizing his Olympic dreams. Vencill sued the company that produced the contaminated vitamins and in 2005 was awarded a $500,000 settlement. Here is a link to Kicker's "20 Question Tuesday" interview from usaswimming.com.

I'd like to say only time will tell what the truth behind the Hardy and Jaben situations is. But when it comes to illegal substances and performances enhancers in sport the truth rarely comes out. For every athlete like Andy Pettite who gets caught and comes clean there are many, many Floyd Landis' who get caught red handed and still profess their innocence regardless of the evidence against them. Unfortunately there are the situations like that of Kicker Vencill, innocent and hard-working athletes who are thrown in with the rest of the cheaters through no fault of their own. Even more unfortunate is the fact that very few positive drug tests reported in the news turn out to be incorrect, but it does happen. I guess time will really only tell which of these four categories Hardy and Jaben fall into.

Root For...That 15 Year Old

I would imagine that most people watching the Olympic Trials said the same thing during the Women's 400 IM "Who is that 15 year old" and, during the 200 Back, "That 15 year old might make it in this event, too". Elizabeth Beisel, that 15 year old, has been on the National and International scene since she finished 15th at the 2004 US Open as a 12 year old. I first saw Elizabeth swim at GCIT in 2003 as a member of the New England Zone Team. Elizabeth was the 10 and under age group High Point winner and established a new National Age Group Record in the 500 Free.

It has been fun to watch Beisel's progression over the last four years and there is no telling how far she will reach. Just in the last year she has dropped 12 seconds in the 400 IM and five seconds in the 200 Backstroke. Keep an eye on her splits in the 200 Back: she usually negative splits the race (second half is faster than the first half) and has one of the best final 50s I have ever seen. She used this fast final 50 in Omaha to power past Hayley McGregory for the second spot behind Margaret Hoelzer in Beijing. And, for the record, she turns 16 during the Olympics.

Root for...Elizabeth Beisel...USA!

Update on Team Tryouts

We will still hold team tryouts on July 22nd from 11am to 1pm. Tryouts that were originally scheduled for July 29th and July 31st have been postponed until August.

NEW TEAM MEMBER TRYOUTS

Tryouts are necessary for most new team members for the purposes of group placement. We will hold new swimmer tryouts on following dates:

TUESDAY, JULY 22ND 11AM TO 1PM

TUESDAY, JULY 29TH 6PM TO 7:30PM

THURSDAY, JULY 31ST 5:30PM TO 7PM

Swimmers should come prepared to get into the water and the tryouts typically last about five minutes. If you have any questions or need to schedule a different tryout time please call 856-468-1445 x. 2304.

The GCIT Aquatics Center will be closed during the month of August. New swimmers should call the team hotline to schedule a tryout during the first week of September. THE ONLY REASON A SWIMMER WOULD NOT QUALIFY FOR THE TEAM IS IF THEY CAN NOT MEET THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MINI GROUP OR IF THE GROUPS ARE FULL.

Root For Team USA

I had the idea to try and introduce you to some of the members of Team USA in the weeks leading up to the Beijing Games. Most know of the Michael Phelps' and Katie Hoff's; we will be inundated more and more about the household names on the team leading up to the start of the swimming competition in Beijing. But there are a number of team members many people don't know very well.

FIRST UP: ERIC SHANTEAU, (Click on the name for a link to his USA Swimming Bio)
Shanteau earned a spot on the 2008 Olympic Team by finishing second to teammate Scott Spann in the 200 Breaststroke. This event served as one of the big surprises of the meet as Spann and Shanteau outdistanced defending World Champion and former World Record Holder Brendan Hansen for spots on the team.
Shanteau graduated from Auburn University in 2006 where he was an 11-time All-American and a member of four straight NCAA Championship teams. He finished third in both the 200 and 400 IMs at the 2004 Trials in Long Beach, CA narrowly missing a spot on the Olympic Team.
Shanteau moved to Austin, Texas after graduating to train with TXLA. He finished 4th in the 100 Breaststroke earlier in the meet before securing his spot on the team with the 2nd place finish in the 200 Breaststroke. Shanteau also finished 3rd in the 200 IM a day later.
This is all well and good, but read this article from ESPN.com for another reason to root for Eric Shanteau in Beijing.

2008-2009 Swim Team Registration

Registration information for the 2008-2009 swim season, which begins on Monday, September 8th, has been sent to all current team families. Registration and deposits for all current team members in good standing are due by July 30th. We will take registration and deposits for new team members during this time period, but they will not be placed on the team until July 31st. Once the caps on the groups are reached that group will be closed to further registrations, regardless of how long you have been a member of the team...SO GET YOUR REGISTRATION AND DEPOSITS IN ASAP, DON'T WAIT UNTIL JULY 30TH!!!

Anyone wishing to get information on our team for the 2008-2009 season should call or email me directly: 856-468-1445 x. 2304 or msprang@gcit.org.