YYYYYYEEEEEESSSSSS!!!!

Finally. Just plain finally. To finally have a World Championship in this city is amazing. For it to be the Phillies who have brought that World Championship here is a dream come true.

There will be no practice on Friday. If you go to the parade or not, enjoy the day. We'll see you at the meet on Saturday.

Dr. Alan Goldberg's Website

Hopefully everyone got as much out of the presentation by Dr. Goldberg yesterday as the coaching staff. I am sure many of you would like to follow up with his website check out all of the stuff he has under "Free Online Resources". If you like what you see there are plenty of great products he has available for purchase.

The website is: www.competitivedge.com

Back...

Yeah, so with everything that has been going on over the last two months I kind of completely forgot about this blog. It was not until last night when I went online to read my mother-in-law's blog regarding her work in Haiti that the light bulb went off in my head. So I took a brief moment today to change the name of the blog, the banner, and a couple of the links. Don't expect much out of this blog for the next month of so. We are really working hard to get everything on track for the team and this is something that has to take a backseat to those efforts.

But we will be back posting very soon...until then GO PHILS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Live Michael Phelps Chat from Chicago 2016 Committee

Some of you may know that Chicago is one of the finalists to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. Having been in the city this past weekend I think it would do very well hosting the Games with its biggest bonus being the large number of knowledgeable and enthusiastic sports fans in the city. You would not believe the hospitality shown to us (dressed in complete Phillies garb) by Cubs fans over the course of the weekend. This is a city that will truly embrace the events of the Summer Olympics as well as the ideals of the Games.

Today the Committee working to bring the 2016 Summer Olympics to Chicago will host a live video web chat with Michael Phelps. Phelps will talk about his historic campaign in Beijing as well as his support for the Chicago 2016 bid. The chat will begin at 6pm Eastern Time but the chat room will open early for people to talk about Chicago's Summer Olympic bid.

To access the live chat and for more information go here: www.chicago2016channel.com.

For more information on the Chicago 2016 bid visit the official website.

This Blog Will Be A Changin'

This blog will be undergoing some changes over the next couple of weeks for obvious reasons. Don't get used to the current name because that will go away once we settle everything with the team.

Be excited! The changes coming for the team are exactly what we need to advance this program now and ten years from now.

FINAL Team Tryout

We will have one final team tryout on Wednesday, September 3rd at 6 pm. YOU MUST REGISTER FOR THIS TRYOUT BY EMAILING msprang@gcit.org.

Some of our practice groups are at or beyond capacity and, thus, have been closed for further registrations. We are trying to come up with a way to accommodate all interested swimmers, however that may not be possible.

We will have more information on the situation at the tryout on the 3rd.

Tonight's Events

Here is what is on tap for tonight, the last night of pool swimming for the Beijing Games:

10:03 pm: Women's 50 Free Final. Dara Torres is the top seed in the race that does not look to be a fast one, judging by the preliminary and semi-final heats. Torres is going to have to swim the perfect race to bring home a medal, let alone the gold. Tonight's race will feature five of the seven fastest women ever in this event, including World Record Holder Libby Trickett and 100 Free Champion Britta Steffen.

10:09 pm: Men's 1500 Free Final. The big story in this race will be top seed and World Record Holder Grant Hackett going for his third straight Olympic victory. Hackett will be pushed from Lane 5 by Canadian Record Holder, 19 year-old Ryan Cochrane as well as American Larsen Jensen, the Silver Medalist from Athens.

10:40 pm: Women's 400 Medley Relay Final. This will be largely a three team race with Great Britain and the United States chasing Australia. The US should get out to a lead on the backstroke leg with World Record Holder Natalie Coughlin. Australia should come back with World Record Holder Leisel Jones, but how much is to be seen. There is no telling how losing the 200 Breast to Rebecca Soni (the New Jersey native who will swim the breaststroke leg for the United States) as well as her World Record in the race will affect her. Jones and Soni will each turn the race over to medalists from the 100 Fly: Christine Magnuson for the United States and Jessicah Schipper for Australia. This race will likely come down to Dara Torres vs. Libby Trickett on the freestyle leg. A lot of this will depend on how each woman can recover from the 50 Free final not 40 minutes prior to the start of the Medley Relay. You may say "it is only a 50", but research has shown the shorter a race is, the more warmdown time is necessary to recover.

10:58 pm: Men's 400 Medley Relay Final. I hope everyone has an appreciation for how close this race is going to be. The United States should get out to a lead of about .50 with Aaron Piersol on the backstroke leg. That lead should seemingly be extended with Brendan Hansen swimming the breaststroke leg. However Hansen has not raced since the 100 Breaststroke Final on Monday morning while Australian Brenton Rickard finished 2nd in the 200 Breaststroke Final on Friday morning (remember, it is Sunday morning in Beijing now). This leads to Michael Phelps swimming the Butterfly leg, his 17th race of these Olympics. He will be up against the Bronze Medalist from the 100 Fly, Andrew Lauterstein. Phelps will turn things over to the hero of the 400 Free Relay, Jason Lezak and the Australians will turn to 100 Free World Record Holder Eamon Sullivan. Lezak should dive into the pool with about a body length lead on Sullivan and if he swims like he did in the 100 Free Final (let alone the anchor leg of the 400 Free Relay) he should be able to hold off Sullivan.

If Phelps is going win his 8th Gold Medal of these Games he is going to have to dig deep to pull out one more spectacular performance. At the same time he is going to need his teammate to have similarly spectacular performances. This is our sport at its absolute finest: largely individual in its nature but no one can achieve all of their goals without their teammates.

I'm not an Angels fan, but I figured a little rally monkey action is appropriate for all four events and all of the swimmers representing the United States tonight. So, just for tonight, join me in believing in the power of the rally monkey!

One for the Ages

Put the conspiracy theory down, Phelps won the race. I have looked all over the internet for someone to wave the flag of conspiracy (and frankly I am shocked that Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post has not). I figured there would be plenty of people out there who were certain their eyes could see the difference of one one-hundredth of a second better than an expertly calibrated electronic timing system. But it seems the only people not convinced of Phelps' victory were the Serbian Olympic officials and journalists (the following quotes are from Pat Forde's espn.com article. Forde, by the way, has done an excellent job covering the swimming events in Beijing):

"I thought Cavic won," fumed Serbian journalist Dejan Stevovic of Sportski Zurnal. "It was obvious."

"But he doesn't have $50 million in sponsors, like that guy," grumbled another Serb.

So today's lesson: be gracious in defeat. I know and appreciate that no one wants to lose. But it does happen to everyone, even Michael Phelps (just not in Beijing). The entire world was not out to get Milorad Cavic. But, judging by the comments from the Serbian journalists, they certainly think that way. Cavic, to his credit was the gracious one. He said he was "stoked" with the results and seemingly proud of the fact he has an Olympic Silver Medal to his name. Its a shame the Serbian journalists, so sure they saw Cavic sneak in for the victory from their vantage point at least 30 feet from the finish, cannot join Cavic on the high road.

Never Again in Our Lifetime...

Michael Phelps is now 5 for 5 for 5: 5 Gold Medals in 5 World Record Times in 5 events. I have been racking my brain to try and come up with the historical significance for what Phelps is doing but there really is no comparison. There certainly is no comparison between what Phelps is doing and what Mark Spitz did in 1972 for two reasons. First, Spitz did not have to swim semi-finals in his events that were 200 meters or shorter as Phelps does. So Spitz swam six fewer races in 1972 than Phelps will in Beijing. But far beyond that is the level of competition Phelps must compete against in 2008. Back in 1972 the number of swimmers outside of the United States who had access to top level funding and coaching to make their Olympic Dreams come true was pretty much limited to the Australians and the Communist Nations (Soviet Union, East Germany, etc.). Only ten countries came home with medals from the swimming events at the 1972 Munich Games: United States, Australia, Canada, East Germany, West Germany, Soviet Union, Hungary, Italy, Japan, and Sweden. So far in Beijing 13 different countries take home medals, including South Korea (first ever swimming medal).

It really does not seem like anything can stop Phelps: not any other swimmer, not leaking goggles, and certainly not the enormous pressure that is riding on this shoulders right now. We all know that Finals heats are being contested in the morning so that NBC can broadcast Phelps' historic quest live in the United States. Every time Phelps swims, wins, and sets a record I get a "Breaking News Alert" email from CBS Sportsline. The only time I usually get these emails is when a major league pitcher has a no-hitter going into the latter part of a game or there is a major trade in the MLB, NFL, NHL, or NBA. Phelps' quest is the top story on every major news network and every local news channel; it is front page news on newspapers throughout the world.

However the most telling sign of the magnitude of Phelps' quest is that yesterday Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and the rest of the USA Basketball team were at the Water Cube to watch him swim. Can you possibly imagine that? They may be members of Team USA and wear the same uniform to the medal ceremony as the rest of the the swimmers...but to come to the venue specifically to watch Phelps swim...and not having a child or other relative competing in that meet? These guys are multi-multi millionaires...Kobe Bryant may be one of the most recognizable athletes in the world. Yet they were at the venue last night, there to see history in the making.

Phelps is now more than halfway through his quest for eight Gold Medals. The stiffest test left will be the 100 Butterfly. Phelps, to my knowledge, has not been beaten in this race since the 2004 Olympic Trials. The person who beat him there, Ian Crocker, set the current World Record in the race and will swim the event in Beijing. Crocker will give Phelps a run for his money (actually Speedo's money) in that race. (READ: its going to be tough for Ryan Lochte to beat Phelps in the 200 IM considering he has the final of the 200 Backstroke less than an hour before the IM Final. That's why I consider the 100 Fly Phelps' toughest race left).

This is something that we may never witness again. I would be surprised if Phelps would attempt this event program in London four years from now and surprised if someone else approaches this level in my lifetime. You do not usually get the chance to witness a once in a lifetime event and actually know how historically significant that event is. Make sure you, your friends, your children...everyone...has the chance to watch these last couple of races.

Live Blogging

Because I can...

Men's 200 Free
That looked real easy, at least to me it did. I really wasn't paying attention to Phelps at all because I just knew he was going to win going away and probably break the World Record. I was completely focused on Peter Vanderkaay. I was ecstatic when he finished third for the Bronze medal. So Phelps is 3 for 3 for 3: 3 events, 3 Gold Medals, 3 World Records. Amazing.

Women's 100 Back
I love the way Coughlin has been swimming lately: go all out, try to catch me. They almost did in this race, but almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Awesome to see Margaret Hoelzer finish third for the Bronze Medal.

Men's 100 Back
OK, the US is officially on fire right now. Piersol and Greevers go 1-2...anyone else thinking there is a carryover effect going on from the 400 Free relay last night? Piersol's finish was awesome and he pulled away from the field in the last 10 meters. He's going to be tough to beat in the 200 Back later on this week.

Women's 100 Breaststroke
Liesel Jones is awesome...but Rebecca Soni (from New Brunswick, NJ and Scarlet Aquatic Club) really closed the gap in the last 25 meters for the Silver Medal. Soni is really going to be a force to reckon with in the 200 Breast later this week.
So this makes four events, and the US has captured 3 Gold, 2 Silver, and 2 Bronze as well as 2 World Records. AWESOME!!

Men's 400 Free Relay Redux

So I've watched this race about 30 times in the last 12 hours at nbcolympics.com. If you haven't seen it again go HERE. You need to download Microsoft Silverlight but its completely worth it.

I think the most exciting thing about the race is the excitement Dan Hicks showed in his call of the last five meters of the race. I can only imagine Hicks and Rowdy Gaines jumping up and down and hugging each other after the race. READ: this is not homerism. Hicks and Gaines are the announcers for the United States broadcast of the swimming events. Their job is to report what is going on in the pool but to make it exciting for the viewers in the United States. Their call of that race was no different than Harry Kalas getting excited about a Chase Utley home run or Merrill Reese "going crazy" after David Akers hits a game winning field goal for the Eagles.

Jason Lezak was beyond amazing on the end of that relay. First off, his start was as good as it can be. Looking at the meet results, his reaction time was .04, that's about as close to false starting as you can get. But when it comes to relay starts, coming as close as possible to false starting makes it a great relay start. Lezak swam the perfect race, getting on the lane line and letting Bernard carry him through the first 50. Its pretty obvious that Bernard over swam the first 25 and Lezak really started to catch him going into the flags at the turn. But check out the underwater video at the finish: Bernard's hips are really flying out of his line. This is a clear sign that he was completely out of gas and trying to do everything he could to miracle his body to that wall. Lezak's split was an unreal 46.06, the fastest 100 freestyle relay split ever by .63. Bernard's relay split was a almost-as-fast 46.73, the fourth fastest 100 freestyle relay split of all time.

Olympic Finals II

I was completely content with not posting anything today, but Jason Lezak's anchor leg just changed all of that. First off, he had one of the best relay starts I have ever seen. He also seemed to keep things under control, not over swimming the first 50. Jason knew he had 100 meters to catch Bernard and he used every one of them to do it.

Its a shame Dan Hicks and Rowdy Gaines decided to focus on the relay win keeping Michael Phelps' quest for eight Gold Medals alive. Yeah, I know that is the story of the Games and the primary reason they are swimming the Finals in the AM in Beijing. But Mark Schubert, the United States National Team Head Coach and Director, has made it a priority to put ALL of the US relays on top. The United States has not won this particular relay since the 1996 Atlanta Games and getting it back was a huge priority this time around. OK...Dan Hicks just mentioned the fact that the US really wanted this relay back...somewhat redeeming himself.

So was this the greatest relay race in Olympic History? I think we need to wait a little while to make that determination. But I think its safe to say its in the top three along with the US victory in the 2004 Men's 800 Meter Free Relay and the 1984 Men's 800 Freestyle Relay. The latter was an amazing race as Bruce Hayes caught World Record Holder Michael Gross from behind to give the USA the Gold Medal.

Awesome

If you watched the Opening Ceremonies last night you probably saw the young Chinese boy who walked out with Chinese Flag Bearer Yao Ming. This six year old boy was in school on May 12th when a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck. Two-thirds of his classmates were killed in the quake and he was buried under a pile of rubble. However this boy was able to climb out from underneath the rubble and pull two of his classmates to safety. When asked why he went back to get his classmates he said, "I am the hall monitor. It is my job." Wow...I mean WOW. A six year old boy can put his own safety aside to help others in a dire time of need. I'd like to think I would do the same thing if presented with the same situation and not throwing people out of the way like I was George Costanza.

Olympic Prelims I Recap

Don't count on a recap of every swimming session from me, I'm just telling you that now. After tryouts on Monday and Tuesday Tjitske and I will be taking some much needed R&R with the rest of the family at the Shore. We don't get the greatest internet signal down there, so it all depends on how the wind blows I guess.

However, while I'm here.......

Tonight you will have the chance to see Finals I (can't say Day 1 Finals because its Day 2 in Beijing). The swimming gets started at 10 am in Beijing, 10 pm for those of us in the E.D.T.

Order of Events:
Men's 400 IM Final - Michael Phelps set the Olympic Record with his preliminary swim. Pretty quick considering he seemed to shut things down about halfway through the race. Of course Phelps main competition will come from Ryan Lochte, who cruised to a 4:10 this morning.
Women's 100 Fly Semi-Final (2 Heats) - Both Americans, Elaine Breeden and Christine Magnuson, are in Heat 1. Remember, the top 8 swimmers total from both heats will make it back to tomorrow's Final.

Men's 400 Free Final - Larsen Jensen set the American Record with his preliminary swim and is seeded 1st for tonight's Final. Peter Vanderkaay will be seeded 6th. This is going to be a very, very close race as the difference between the top six finalists this year is .63.

Women's 400 IM Final - Elizabeth Beisel continued on a path toward an Olympic Medal putting up the fastest time in the preliminary heats with World Record Holder Katie Hoff coming in second. Australian Stephanie Rice will be seeded fourth tonight. Hoff, Rice, and Beisel are the three fastest ever in this event. The difference in this race will be the breaststroke where you can look for Hoff and Rice to try to put some distance on the field.

Men's 100 Breast Semi-Final (2 Heats) - Americans Brendan Hansen and Mark Gangloff both advanced to the Semi-Finals. Hansen is the World Record Holder in the race and has the fastest time in the world this year.

Women's 400 Free Relay Final - The US's chances were greatly hurt by the Jessica Hardy situation but definitely has the sprinters with experience to fill in the gaps. I still think the Dutch are the team to beat here with the Australians and Chinese fighting it out with the US for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place.

I had some predictions written into this post but decided to take them out. This is because every time I try to predict something it becomes a curse to those I predict good fortune for. Carnac the Magnificent I am not. So there will be no predictions for this meet.

One More Thing...
Hey, check out the blog of Robin and Mark Vanderkaay, Peter's parents. They are in China and are writing about their experiences here.

The 2007-2008 Season Finally Closes Out

Back home this morning from Juniors. The girls finished off the meet as they started with two more best times and two more team records. Hayley dropped 8 seconds off of her best time in the 1500 for a 16:56, good for 11th place in the event. Emily then finished 10th in the 200 IM and set new 17-18 and Open Team Records with a time of 2:20.39, under the 2008 Olympic Trials standard. So for the meet they swam 13 events, produced 12 best times, established 16 new Team Records and reached three time standards for next June's World Championship Trials Meet...

Chelsea finished second last night at the Zone Meet in the 100 Backstroke. The Middle Atlantic Team is swimming very well, safely in third place right now. If the team stays there it will be its highest finish at a Summer Zone Meet in a number of years...

And with that, the 2007-2008 season comes to a close, and not a moment too soon as the 2008-2009 season gets underway in less than a month!

Olympic Update

I've been so immersed in what is going on here in Minneapolis that I haven't even thought about the fact that the Olympic (technically) have started already. I watched a couple of clips from the Opening Ceremonies online and it looks amazing...be sure to tune in to NBC tonight to watch.

The swimming gets started tomorrow with preliminaries beginning at 6:30 am Eastern Time. Finals will be televised live in the United States throughout the meet and will begin at 10 pm Eastern Time. I know this is rather late for some of the younger swimmers out there, but it is of the utmost importance that every young swimmer gets the chance to watch this meet. I strongly advocate doing what you can to make sure your younger swimmers can watch the events, and in today's hi-tech world that should not be hard at all as you can watch the races archived on nbcolympics.com...just go to the Olympic Widget at the bottom of the page, select swimming, and click on video.

SWIMMING WORLD MAGAZINE ONLINE...ONE STOP OLYMPIC HEADQUARTERS
Swimming World Magazine online will have complete coverage of the Olympics at their website. Click (and bookmark) here for results, pictures, interviews...everything except video from the actual races (NBC television and online are the only places you can find that stuff).

GO USA!!!

Eastern Zone All-Star Meet

Chelsea Martin, Alaura Walz, and Delaney Walz are all representing Middle Atlantic at the Eastern Zone All-Star Meet in Rockville, MD. Chelsea finished 7th in the 800 Free on Wednesday night. Then last night she took home 2nd place in the 200 Backstroke with a personal best time of 2:26.46. She is also seeded 2nd tonight in the 100 Back. Alaura swam a personal best time in the 200 Free by a second for a 2:17.54.

You can follow the real time meet results here.

Junior Nationals Update - Friday Morning

Five great swims from Hayley and Emily on Thursday. Emily swam both of her races first. She dropped a second off of her best time in the 100 Backstroke (lowering her 17-18 and Open Team Records in the process). Then she won her heat going away in the 400 Free with a 4:25.11, her best time by a second and a half. Hayley dropped three seconds in the 400 Free for a 4:21.43. That time qualified her 16th for Finals at night. She also dropped a second in her 100 Fly for a 1:04.47, breaking Kelly O'Hara's four year old 17-18 and Open Team Records.

Hayley swam even faster at night in the 400 Free, finishing third in the consolation heat with a 4:18.74. This time established new 17-18 and Open Team Records by almost two seconds and is one second under the former Olympic Trials standard.

This morning Emily swam the 200 IM. She dropped two seconds off of her best time (and the 17-18 and Open Team Records) for a 2:20.78. She will be seeded 10th at Finals tonight. Hayley has her final swim of the meet this afternoon in the 1500 Free. Coming in to the meet she was seeded 14th and has a great shot to finish in the Top 8 and get onto the medal podium.

Overall its been a great meet as the two girls have combined to break 14 team records thus far with two races to go.

Junior Nationals Update

Both Hayley and Emily are swimming very well thus far. Emily went a 2:16.07 to finish 10th in the 200 Backstroke. Her time established new 17-18 and Open Team Records in the event. Hayley had a great swim dropping three seconds off of her previous best time (done at the Summer Solstice in June) in the 200 Fly for a 2:17.43. The time was good enough to break both the 17-18 and Open Team Records in the event.

Today Hayley shaved a second off of her best time in the 200 Free for a 2:06.52. Emily swam a faster preliminary 400 IM than she ever has before for a 4:57.95.

Tomorrow both girls will compete in the 400 Free. Emily will also swim the 100 Back and Hayley will also swim the 100 Fly.

Team Tryouts

Team tryouts for group placement purposes will take place as follows:

Monday, August 11th: 6pm to 7pm

Tuesday, August 12th: 1pm to 2pm

If you can not make it to these tryouts please call 856-468-1445 x. 2304 to arrange a separate tryout date and time.

Junior Nationals

I'll be blogging from Minneapolis this week as I am at Junior Nationals. Hayley Edwards and Emily Creran are here representing GCIT. Hayley got the ball rolling this evening in the 800 Freestyle: she dropped seven seconds for a 8:54.38. The time is a second under the Senior National qualifying time (Hayley also has the 1500 Free cut) and was good for a 12th place finish in the race.

You can follow live results for the meet here.

Great Showing at Tri-County Champs

GCIT swimmers had a great showing this weekend at the Tri-County Championship Meet. We had 8 individual winners, two swimmers who were double winners, and one new meet record.

• Brittany O'Brien (11-12 Girls 100 IM and 50 Fly)
• Emily Shenk (11-12 Girls 50 Free...touching out Brittany Bayes for a 1-2 GCIT finish)
• Julia Costa (9-10 Girls 50 Free)
• Jamie Noonan (15-18 Girls 100 Free)
• Marissa Moskalow (11-12 Girls 50 Breast...only one of a handful of swimmers who won events despite being at the bottom of their age group)
• Brendan McHugh (15-18 Boys 100 Free and 100 Breast)

Brendan, in winning the 100 Breast, established a new league record of 1:03.64 obliterating the previous record by a second and a half.

Free Swimming World Magazine Download!

Swimming World Magazine is making the online version of their Olympic Preview Issue free for everyone! All you have to do is click on the link at the bottom of this post to gain access to the page. The issue contains full page previews of every event, including all of the relays and the two 10K Open Water races. There are many names (especially those from other countries) you may not be familiar with...this is what you need to get ready for the competition in Beijing!

Click here to access the special issue.

Also, do not forget you can subscribe to Swimming World Magazine through our exclusive team partnership. If you go to our website (www.gcitswimming.org) and click on the magazine cover link you will be redirected to the Swimming World Magazine subscription site.

Best of Luck

Just a note to all current and future GCIT Swimming members...best of luck this weekend at the 52nd Annual Tri-County Championship Meet! Swim fast, have fun, and put a good ending on your summer swimming season.

Root For...Gil Stovall

Name: Gil Stovall
Age: 22
College/Club: Georgia/Athens Bulldogs
Hometown: Memphis, Tennessee

Gil Stovall has not just "burst onto the scene" but has been steadily improving over the last four years. This improvement culminated (thus far) in a second place finish in the 200 Butterfly at the Olympic Trials last month. It is tough for any male butterflier to get their due these days since Michael Phelps dominates the 100 and 200 fly, and pretty much has for the last eight years. However Stovall's time of 1:53.86 not only made him the second fastest American in history in that event but also is the second fastest time in the world this year. Stovall is most definitely a medal contender in the race and someone to get behind when the swimming events begin on August 9th.

As has been written here in the past, Stovall is one of the best swimmers when it comes to the last 50 of the 200 fly. At Trials Stovall swam the last 50 of the race in 29.86, over a second faster than everyone in the pool not named Phelps. He used an awesome final turn and breakout to power past the rest of the field and earn the coveted Olympic Team berth.

Take the time to read this great article about Gil and his younger brother Brooks from commercialappeal.com. Each and every one of us can look back on our lives and see times when things were really tough, even if they were completely out of our control. But a true champion is able to stay focused on their goals and continue to strive toward greatness. This story has a happy ending so far and still has the ability to get even better in a couple of weeks.

Root for...Gil Stovall...USA!

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.

Vendt Cruises to a 14:50

Erik Vendt looked great cruising in to a 14:50 in the 1500 Free. He will be the top seed in tomorrow's Final, a full 12 seconds ahead of Chad La Tourette. I first saw La Tourette swim at the World Championship Trials in 2005 where he was named Rookie of the Meet. Chad is definitely the future of distance swimming in the United States. I fully expect Larsen Jensen to be much faster than the 15:11 he put up today. He looked very comfortable today as did Peter Vanderkaay who will definitely be faster than the 15:06 he put up.

DO NOT miss the final of this race tomorrow night. It will be the perfect ending to what has been the best swim meet in history. I guarantee a great race for first and second place and a new American Record will be set. I would not be surprised at all if the World Record received a serious challenge.

An Interesting Current

Watching the preliminary heats of the Women's 50 Free it was interesting to see that Lanes 7 and 8 were consistently faster than lanes 1 and 2 and often the fastest lanes in the pool. I noticed the same thing in Long Beach for the 50 Frees at the 2004 Trials. Of the 10 women that swam their 50 Free out of Lane 1, only two improved their seed time. On the other side of the coin, only two of the 10 women who swam their 50 Free out of Lane 8 DID NOT do best times, and one of those ladies only went up .04.

Even more interesting is the placing of the last four women to swim out of Lane 8 in the event:

• Anne Marie May of UC-Santa Barbara came into the meet seeded 32nd with a time of 25.95. Swimming out of Lane 8 in Heat 9 she finished with a time of 25.52 and is seeded 12th in tonight's semi-final.
• Sara Smith from Virginia Tech finished in 11th place with a time of 25.49 swimming out of Lane 8 in Heat 10. She came into the meet seeded 24th with a time of 25.79.
• 100 Fly Champ Christine Magnuson entered the meet seeded 23rd with a time of 25.78. She swam her 50 out of Lane 8 in Heat 11 and finished with a time of 25.41 and is seeded 8th tonight.
• Anne-marie Botek, swimming for the Athens Bulldogs Swim Club, was seeded 22nd with a time of 25.78. Swimming out of Lane 8 in the 12th and final heat Botek went a 25.46 and is seeded 10th this evening.

The last three women to swim out of Lane 1 (Karlee Bispo, Anna Poteete, Andrea Hupman) dropped from 19th, 20th and 21st to 42nd, 32nd and 58th, respectively.

What does this mean? Well to me it means there was a current in this pool which favored the swimmers in Lane 8 and was a disadvantage to the swimmers in Lane 1. Because of the Earth's rotation and gravitational pull it is pretty much impossible to eliminate a pool's current. A pool current usually evens out for races 100 meters and longer because the current will work for you and against you on alternate laps. But the one lap 50 Free does not work this way. The swimmers in Lane 1 were unfortunate to have the current working against them in the race today. It will be interesting to see if the current is reversed this evening and the swimmers on the other side of the pool have the advantage.

Men's 100 Fly

Phelps and Crocker again. The two guys who have dominated the 100 Fly on the international level for the last six years will duke it out for the victory at Trials tomorrow. But watch out for Gil Stovall, he closes as well as anyone I have seen in a very long time.

Hey, what about Chris Brady? Our friend from Team Delaware took second in heat one of the semi-final to Michael Phelps out of lane one. Brady now swims with Phelps and Club Wolverine/University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and will be the fifth seed in tomorrow's final.

41...FORTY ONE

Does it matter? Evidently not when it comes to qualifying for the US Olympic Team in the Women's 100 Freestyle. Dara Torres just won the race to qualify for her fifth Olympic Team. Yeah, that's a record.

Live Blogging...Sort Of

So as of now we have two new World Records with Piersol tying Lochte's record in the 200 Back and Phelps shaving a couple of tenths off of his WR in the 200 IM. Liz Beisel flirted with the American Record in the 200 Back while Margaret Hoelzer looked like she was in the cruise control to finish second in the heat. Going to be a great race tomorrow.

Ryan Lochte was great tonight. Eventhough he finished second in both of his races, he pushed the winner to the World Record in both the 200 Back and the 200 IM.

Cullen Jones Breaks American Record!!!

I can't end the posting for now on a down note. So let's go with a big congratulations to New Jersey native Cullen Jones who broke the American Record in the Men's 50 Free today with a time of 21.59. Going through the results of the race I think its safe to say that this is the deepest and fastest 50 Free field in history. Case in point: in 2004 Sabir Muhammad was the 16th and final qualifier for semi-finals with a time of 23.24...which would have put him in a tie for 57th place this morning.

Jones broke the former American and Meet Record of 21.76 held by Gary Hall, who finished third in the preliminary heats. Ben Wildman-Tobriner will be the second seed for tonight's semi-finals. Jones and Wildman-Tobriner both made the team last night as members of the 400 Freestyle Relay. I'm sure Jones has some extra motivation for the 50 being that he finished third behind Jason Lezak and Garrett Weber-Gale in the Final of the 100 Free last night, just missing a spot in the 100 Free at the Games.

Hansen Misses Team

Sorry for the lack of a wrap-up last night. Immediately after Finals ended Tjitske and I were in the car for the four hour trip to Virginia. Well as you all know now, Haverford's Brendan Hansen failed to qualify for the Olympic Team in the 200 Breaststroke last night. Hansen was in control of the race until the last 25 meters when three swimmers, including eventual winner Scott Spann, caught and passed Hansen. Spann's time of 2:09.97 makes him only the second American in history under 2:10. Spann is hitting his stride right now and I see him going even faster in Beijing. Also a big congratulations goes out to Eric Shanteau who finished second in the race to punch his ticekt to the Games. Shanteau trains with Brendan at Texas and will now be his teammate in Beijing.

Credit must be given to Hansen for handling the situation with the utmost class. Instead of making excuses which could take away from the accomplishments of his teammates Spann and Shanteau, Hansen congratulated his teammates and was genuine about it. Instead of talking about what he did wrong to lose the race he spoke of how he left everything in the pool. Rowdy Gaines made an excellent point last night by saying Brendan can now concentrate solely on the 100 Breast and I would not be surprised at all if he wins his first individual Gold Medal and break his own World Record.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th everyone! Please enjoy a safe and healthy weekend. The festivities got going a day early in Philadelphia when The Guy Who Plays Ben Franklin actually married The Woman Who Plays Betsy Ross on the steps of Independence Hall. Yeah, you can rest easier this evening knowing that happened. Tjitske and I are in Harrisonburg, Virginia visiting my brother Ryan and his wife.

I Almost Forgot

Ian Clark from Suburban Swim Center will swim in the semi-final heat of the Men's 200 Backstroke tonight. As has been written here before, Ian has trained with our National group a few times this year in preparation for Trials. Keep an eye on him in Heat 2, Lane 1.

Not Much to Say

We are running triple practices today and I didn't have time to get away from the office to get to a location I could watch online. I did catch some of the live results from Omega Timing's Website, at least enough to see the results from most of the Women's 200 Breast and Men's 200 IM.

GCIT Swimmers Bill Cregar and Mike Joyce swam lifetime bests in the 200 IM today. Mike went 3 for 3 in best times (including his 200 Fly time trial on Tuesday) and Bill went 2 for 2 at this meet. That is pretty impressive for two Trials Rookies swimming an early season taper meet (normally they wouldn't shave and taper until the beginning of August).

I think this is the point in the meet where the Champions pull away from the rest of the pack. Normally a swim meet will last up to four days. Trials is now into Day 5 with three more to go. This does not even consider the fact that most swimmers arrived in Omaha one week ago or earlier. That's one week of sleeping in a hotel, eating out, and trying to make the US Olympic Team. Natalie Coughlin proved she is still up to the task by establishing a new Meet Record in the Women's 100 Free this morning. She'll be the top seed in tonight's semi-final. Swimming next to her will be 41 year-old Dara Torres.

DAY 5 FINALS WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

• The session begins tonight with the Men's 200 Breast Final. Brendan Hansen goes for the double in the breaststroke events. I expect these gentlemen to get the night off to an exciting start as they all could be legitimate medal contenders in Beijing.
• Ryan Lochte has a rough double tonight (and presumably tomorrow night) as we swims the semi-finals of the 200 IM and 200 Back. Ryan's the World Record Holder in the 200 Back but is the third fastest seed for tonight. I didn't see the race but I assume he went into cruise control about halfway through the race.
• The Women's 200 Fly includes two recent high school graduates: Kathleen Hersey from Atlanta and Leah Gingrich from the West Shore YMCA in Harrisburg, PA. Outside of the coaches and families of the eventual first and second place finishers, the happiest person in the building after this race will be University of Texas coach Kim Brackin who will welcome both of these ladies as freshman next year. Keep an eye on Kim Vandenberg in Lane 6 tonight. She won the Silver Medal in this event at last year's World Championships. Vandenberg does not usually take her races out very fast, but will be closing quickly over the last 100 meters.
• Is Jason Lezak ready to break the World Record in the 100 Free? Could this race present a similar situation to the Men's 100 Back where Randall Bal just missed the World Record in the semi-final only to finish 4th in the Final and miss qualifying for the team? Remember this event is about more than first and second place: the top four finishers will automatically qualify for the Team as members of the 400 Free Relay and the next two finishers stand a good chance of making the team as well. New Jersey's Cullen Jones will attempt to snag one of these coveted spots in tonight's final.
• Amanda Beard's quest to make her fourth Olympic Team is down to the Women's 200 Breaststroke. She's the third seed in tonight's semi-final and will swim in Heat 2 next to New Jersey native Rebecca Soni.
• If you want to see Michael Phelps swim tonight you will have to wait until the last event of the evening. He's the second seed in the Men's 200 IM semi-final.

Funny

I received an email just now from someone unrelated to our team which just said, "You write well for a swim coach." All I could think of was Gunnery Sergeant Hartman yelling, "You think you're Mickey Spillane? You think you're some kind of writer?"

Day 4 Finals

What did we learn tonight?
1) We learned that old is nothing more than a figure of speech. 32 year-old Jason Lezak became the third American in history to break the 48 second barrier in the 100 Free and reclaimed his American Record in the process. Lezak's 47.58 is just .08 away from the current World Record. The 100 Free Final is going to be exciting as six out of the eight swimmers in the race will have their ticket punched for Beijing. Ryan Lochte has scratched from the finals even though he was seeded fifth. Lochte is swimming the 200 IM and the 200 Back tomorrow, he holds the World Record in the latter. Swimming both of those semi-final races tomorrow night is going to be tough enough, and adding a 100 Free in between them would not provide for enough warmdown time before the 200 Back.

2) We learned that Katie Hoff is the best female swimmer in this country and quite possibly the entire world. Going back-to-back in the 200 Free and 200 IM was tough. Winning both was even tougher. Winning both in American Record times is something really special. When all is said and done Hoff could very well be known as the greatest female swimmer of all time. What she does in Beijing will go a long way to determining that.

3) We learned that sticking the finish is important. Take another look online at the finish in the Women's 200 IM. It seems as if Ariana Kukors took an extra stroke at the wall which allowed Natalie Coughlin to sneak into the second place spot, .08 ahead of Kukors.

4) We learned that heartbreak is as much of a part of this meet as triumph. There was Davis Tarwater finishing 3rd in the 200 Fly, Kukors in the 200 IM, and Kaitlin Sandeno calling it a career after the final of the 200 IM. Sandeno is a two time Olympian and a multiple medal winner, including a gold medal and World Record in the 800 Free Relay in Athens. If you get the chance take a look at her interview with Andrea Kramer after the 200 IM at nbcolympics.com. Sandeno was very classy in acknowledging her swimming career is over.

5) We learned the fundamental disciplines taught at an early age can come in to play on the biggest stage. Coughlin took second in the 200 IM because she didn't breathe inside the flags on the finish and because she got on her side as she hit the wall. Gil Stovall finished the 200 Fly with a great kick (closing in 29) and with an amazing breakout off of the last turn. A strong kick, good turns, strong and fast breakouts off of each wall, not breathing on the finish and getting on your side as you hit the wall. These disciplines all come into play every single race. Hats off to Coughlin and Stovall for their performances tonight.

Tomorrow:
Jamie Marks (200 Breast), Bill Cregar (200 IM), and Mike Joyce (200 IM) are all in action during tomorrow morning's prelims. The top 16 in each event will make it back to the semi-final heat tomorrow night. I'm guessing its going to take a sub 2:03 performance to make the semi-final in the 200 IM. Bill is seeded 44th with a 2:06.0 and Mike is seeded 72nd with a 2:06.88.

Day 4 Prelims

Hats off to the competitors in the Men's 100 Free this morning as it doesn't seem like anyone held anything back. Jason Lezak broke his own American Record swimming out of Heat 13 only to see it broken by Garrett Weber-Gale in the very next heat. I am sure everyone in the Qwest Center expected the record to be broken yet again in the 15th and final heat but Michael Phelps came up a few tenths short. Weber-Gale and Phelps became the first American men ever under 48.00 in the 100 Free. As I predicted last night, Phelps has scratched this race for tonight. Going 47.9 in prelims virtually assures he will be on the relay in Beijing, unless three other guys go about 47.7 flat start between now and then...but I doubt that will happen. Phelps is scheduled to swim the Final of the 200 Fly tonight just minutes after the semi-final of the 100 Free. If you want to see the Men's 100 Free semi-final you will have to tune in online to nbcolympics.com as it is the first event and not likely to be broadcast on USA. That's a shame because Weber-Gale is swimming really well right now and could challenge the World Record of 47.50 tonight or in the Final tomorrow night.

Keep an eye on Alex Righi in Heat 2, Lane 6 of the 100 Free semi-final. He finished 2nd in the 50 and 100 Free at NCAAs in March representing Yale University. This is further proof that fast swimmers can come from anywhere, not just Auburn or Texas. Its all about finding the right mix of academics, training, and atmosphere for you. I'll be rooting for Alex to make it to the Final Heat.

Fearless Prediction for Tonight: Say goodbye to the Women's 200 IM American Record...I'm just not sure who is going to wind up with it when it is all said and done. Katie Hoff did her lifetime best in the semi-final last night and still looks like she has more time to drop. Natalie Coughlin has yet to put a full effort into the entire IM, saving her energy for other races. Put a gun to my head and I'll pick Coughlin, but can you really bet against Hoff under any circumstances? Don't be surprised if both Women finish under the current American Record (Coughlin's 2:09.77). Also the World Record of 2:08.92, set by Australia's Stephanie Rice in March, is in serious trouble. Going head-to-head these two could very well push each other to around 2:08.7 tonight. Should be a great race.

I'll also be rooting for Davis Tarwater to finish first or second in the 200 Fly. Davis is a real good guy and has been working towards this race tonight for the past four years. I expect Phelps to win the race and for Tarwater and Gill Stovall to duke it out to the wire for the second spot on the team. Stovall and Tarwater won three out of the last four NCAA 200 Fly Titles, with Stovall winning this past year and breaking the 17 year-old meet record. Look for Tarwater to be out fast over the first 100 meters and for Stovall to close quickly on the last 50.

In the Women's 200 Fly semi-final watch for Germantown Academy's Teresa Crippen in Heat 1 Lane 3, Penn State University and Suburban Swim Center's Kelly Nelson in Heat 1 Lane 8, and West Shore YMCA's (Harrisburg, PA) Leah Gingrich in Heat 2, Lane 2.

Day 3 Finals

A couple of surprises tonight: no Lochte in the Men's 100 Back, no Hayley McGregory in the Women's 100 Back...just goes to show you that those sprint races (100s and the 50 free) are hotly contested events where hundreths of a second can mean the difference between the shot at an Olympic Gold Medal and watching the event on TV with the rest of us. Lochte won't be watching on TV, but McGregory will miss out on making the team in her best event.

Two World Records in the Women's and Men's 100 Backstrokes brings the total number of World Records for this meet to 6 (I am counting the three times the Women's mark was broken the last two days separately). The total number of World Records broken this year was 20 going into this meet. Heading into the meet I figured that number would increase by 50% after Trials. I now think that number might be closer to 60% or 70%.

Tomorrow morning's prelims will consist of the Men's 100 Free, the Women's 200 Fly, and the Men's 200 Breast. Michael Phelps is entered in the 100 Free and I would imagine he will swim that race in prelims but might scratch after that. This would be an event he would be hard pressed to win gold in Beijing and I think he's entered specifically for relay consideration. This event will, however, show us the new faces of American sprinting. Garrett Weber-Gale, David Walters, and New Jersey native Cullen Jones will battle it out with veterans Phelps, Lezak, and 32 year old Neil Walker. Keep an eye on Nathan Adrian who is swimming Unattached. He trains with the Race Club and coach Mike Bottom. Adrian is only 19 years old but has a world of talent and trains with the best sprinters and best sprint coach in the world. Adrian has been getting faster every time he has swum in the last year. He might be better suited for the 50 Free but, remember, we are looking for the top 6 finishers in this race to make the team.

Day 3 Prelims

Women's 200 Free
There was no big surprise in the fact that Natalie Coughlin decided to scratch the 200 Free this morning. She has the finals of the 100 Back tonight, in what will be a great race with Hayley McGregory, and she was the top seed in the 200 IM later on in prelims today. Katie Hoff cruised home to take the top spot with a 1:57. In a minor surprise, one half of the of the relay members from the 2004 Gold Medal winning 800 Free Relay Team (Kaitlin Sandeno and Carly Piper) did not make it to the semi-finals. Tonight's semi-final heats will be very important because the top six finishers in tomorrow night's final will most likely be added to the Olympic Team. However you can not be considered for the team if you do not reach the final heat. Keep an eye on Heat 1 Lane 7 as Katie Riefenstahl from Germantown Academy will be racing for a spot in that coveted final heat.

Men's 200 Fly
Lending credence to the thought that training with the best will force you to elevate your effort in practice every day (and, in turn, make you a better swimmer) six of the 16 swimmers in tonight's semi-final of the Men's 200 Fly train at the University of Michigan and either represent the University or Club Wolverine. The world record in this event is held by Michael Phelps. Also, the top two seeds in heat one tonight, Gill Stoval and Mark Dylla, train together at the University of Georgia. Those two finished first and second, respectively, in the 200 yard Fly at NCAA's this past March.

Women's 200 IM
Well we didn't quite get the show I was hoping for in the last three heats as it seemed all three women mentioned in the previous post just did enough to make it to the semi-final heat. Natalie Coughlin was under World and American Record pace at the 50, 100, and 150 splits (and was actually behind Ariana Kukors at the 150) and she was obviously cruising the backstroke and freestyle legs. Coughlin has the 100 backstroke final tonight and is surely focused on that race. She will probably again do enough to make the final heat in the 200 IM when she swim it this evening.
This event is stocked with some of the greatest female swimmers of this decade: Coughlin, Hoff, Sandeno, Amanda Beard, and Whitney Myers. Any of these women plus several others who also will compete in the semi-final heats tonight would be legitimate 200 IM medal contenders in Beijing. But only two will get the chance to represent the USA in August.

TONIGHT:

• Katie Riefenstahl has a tough double right out of the gate as she will swim the semi-final of the 200 Free and then have to recover quickly for the Final of the 100 Back about 15 minutes later.
• A second Phelps-Lochte duel will not occur in the 200 Free Final as Ryan has scratched the event to concentrate on the 100 back final. Lochte was surely swimming the event to put up a fast time and get himself eligible for the 800 Free Relay in Beijing. Look for Phelps to challenge his own World Record in the event but possibly shut it down on the last 50 to save up for the 200 Fly semi-final later on.
• The Women's 100 Back Final is sure to be a treat with McGregory and Coughlin dueling for the win and the World Record. We could possibly see two Women under 58 seconds. Coughlin's current World Record is 59.03.
• The Men's 100 Back Final is going to be an all out battle for 53 seconds. Defending Olympic Champion and World Record Holder Aaron Peirsol will face some tough competition from the entire field which features top seed Randall Bal (Lane 4), a rested Ryan Lochte (Lane 6), multiple NCAA Champion Matt Grevers (Lane 3), 2008 NCAA 100 yard Back Champion Ben Hessen (Lane 1...watch him underwater off of the start), and 2008 NCAA 200 yard Back Champion Pat Schirk from Penn State (Lane 8). This race happens so quickly and the field is so closely bunched one slip off of the start or bad turn could cost someone a trip to China.
• New Jersey's own Rebecca Soni goes for the victory and a spot on the Olympic Team in the Women's 100 Breaststroke. She grew up swimming for Scarlet Aquatic Club in New Brunswick, NJ.

Unfortunately not every race at night is being shown on live TV. But you can go to NBCOlympics.com and watch all of the night's action including semi-final heats, interviews, and the very, very cool medal ceremonies.

One last thought....
Last night I exited the Qwest Center to a huge crowd surrounding Ryan Lochte who was signing autographs and posing for pictures. Lochte stayed for at least 20 minutes before heading off to dinner with his coach, Florida's Greg Troy. This is a guy who swam two events at Finals last night and is entered in more races this week than any other swimmer. Yet he took the time (and his coach allowed him to take the time) to sign autographs and pose for pictures with the fans. I would not fault Lochte, or any swimmer for that matter, if they ducked out the back door to avoid the crowd, get to dinner, and rest up for the next day. This is the biggest meet of their lives and many of these swimmers have a lot of endorsement money riding on their performance this week. But Lochte stayed for every picture and greeted all of the fans with a big smile and a lot of enthusiasm. This says an awful lot about the character and appreciation for this sport Lochte and Coach Troy have.

Back Home

My travels home started at 4:45 this morning central time when the taxi picked me up from my Omaha hotel. It was the complete polar opposite of my travel to Omaha over the weekend, down to the size of the seats on the plane. I even arrived home 25 minutes earlier than scheduled.

Olympic Trials was another amazing experience. I was in Long Beach in 2004 but only as a spectator, and the highlight of that meet was as much a side trip to Las Vegas as it was the meet itself. Being at the meet as a coach, gaining access to the pool deck and getting the chance to speak with some of the greatest coaches EVER made this a great experience. I will be the first to admit that I was not really happy to come home today as I felt the meet was just picking up steam last evening. However I am very happy to be getting back to the rest of the team as we prepare for Senior Champs, Sectionals, Junior Olympics, Junior Nationals, and Zones. Being at Trials for the past few days has given me a burst of energy and excitement I aim to pass along to the swimmers as we prepare for the end of the season. I hope each of you are gaining the same level of excitement as you watch Trials at home.

Two days into the meet and there is already four or five viable arguments as to what the "Race of the Meet" is at this point. One could easily push for the Phelps-Lochte duel in the final of the Men's 400 IM; the four way race and photo finish in the Men's 400 Free; two women under the American Record and one under the World Record in the 400 IM...but the most exciting portion of the meet for me was the back-to-back World Records in the preliminary heats of the Women's 100 Back. Hayley McGregory broke Natalie Coughlin's World Record in the second to last preliminary heat, with Coughlin standing over her lane ready to jump in the water for the final heat. After McGregory hit the wall I turned to the person next to me and said, "What's the World Record for shortest amount of time to hold a World Record?" Sure enough, Coughlin reclaimed her Record in the very next heat. Both women were a bit slower at night, possibly just looking to make the final heat and not be as concerned with their time. However that race could see two women breaking the 59 second barrier for the first time this evening.

The exact scenario that unfolded in the Women's 100 Back could present itself again during today's preliminary heats of the Women's 200 IM with Coughlin again a part of the festivities. She broke Kaite Hoff's American Record a few weeks ago at a meet in Los Angeles and is the top seed today. It would not surprise me whatsoever if Whitney Myers breaks the American Record in Heat 13, Hoff breaks that record in Heat 14, and Coughlin again reclaims her American Record in the final heat. The shame of it all is that one of these three amazing swimmers will not swim the 200 IM in Beijing when all three are definite medal contenders.

Oh, and Michael Phelps swims the 200 Fly today to begin his quest to make the Olympic Team for the third time in this event (he was a 15 year old on the 2000 Olympic Team).

Day 1 Prelims

The first session of the meet went a long way toward setting the tone. The energy was definitely flowing through the crowd, the athlete/coaches section, and through the swimmers in the pool. Usually a preliminary session is low key, especially on the first day and this session was definitely that in some parts. But the crowd is ready to burst at any second, and they showed it when Elizabeth Beisel was under world record pace at the 200 meter mark in the 400 IM and when stars like Phelps, Hoff, and Vendt were in the pool. Tonight there is the potential for three World Records (both the men's and women's 400 IM and the men's 100 Breaststroke) and possibly two American Records (women's 100 Fly and men's 400 Free). Be sure to tune in to NBC at 8pm tonight!

GCIT Swimmers fared excellent today. Mike Joyce started things off with a 2 second drop in the 400 IM (4:27.34) to finish 31st. A few heats later Billy Cregar dropped a couple of seconds from his best 400 IM (4:22.52) time for a 15th place finish. Christian Sprang dropped nearly 3 seconds from his best time in the 400 Free (3:53.96) for a 12th place finish. Finally Jamie Marks posted her best time in three years in the 400 IM (4:54.21) for a 47th place finish.

What To Watch For Tonight:
1) Katie Hoff's turnover in the breaststroke leg of the 400 IM. Its simply amazing how fast her arms are moving.
2) Erik Vendt on the last 100 of the 400 Freestyle. Erik is the fastest 1500 swimmer in the world right now and will have a lot of energy at the end of that race.
3) Alicia Aemissenger from Germantown Academy is seeded 6th in the Final of the 400 IM tonight. Look for her in lane 7 in that race tonight.
4) Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte in the first of a number of match-ups between the world's #1 and #2 in a particular event this week. Both Phelps and Lochte put up fast times this morning and were completely cruising on the freestyle leg of the race. They both will be A LOT faster this evening.

Some More Pics and Info on Tomorrow's Prelim Session

I sat staring at the computer screen for about five minutes trying to think of an adjective to describe the competition facility at the Qwest Center. I finally decided on the generic title for this post because no one word can correctly describe the set-up created by USA Swimming, the Qwest Center, and the Omaha Sports Commission. I first walked through the warm-up pool area. I'll admit here that it is not really anything special. But its a warm-up pool so its functionality is all that matters (anyone who has been in the warm-up pool at the Indianapolis Natatorium will agree with this statement). Just past the warm-up area is a quick jump up a flight of stairs to the main competition area. Now before I walked in I had an idea of what to expect...and was completely blown away by what I saw. The one thing that pictures can not do justice for is how close the spectators will be to the pool. Also the venue is not as big as the Wachovia Center or the Spectrum for that matter: there is less seating and the roof is not nearly as high. This will leave less room for the noise of the crowd to travel and will most definitely make for an incredibly loud meet.
The pool, of course, is the focal point of it all. I have never experienced a pool surrounded by 12,000 seats and that unfamiliarity leads to my astonishment. However there is something else about this temporary facility that goes beyond anything I have ever seen before and anything I could have imagined before walking into the main portion of the facility. I can only hope NBC gives the television views an adequate picture of what we will see live in the arena.

The order of events tomorrow is: Men's 400 IM (Mike Joyce, Heat 3 Lane 2 and Bill Cregar, Heat 5 Lane 1), Women's 100 Fly, Men's 400 Free (Christian Sprang, Heat 6 Lane 4), Women's 400 IM (Jamie Marks, Heat 7 Lane 1) and the Men's 100 Breast. Prelims start at 12 pm Eastern Time.

A Couple of Photos

I thought I'd pass along a couple of photos I took at the venue today. There are only two because I just wasn't in a picture taking kind of mood. I have to go back over for a meeting a little later and I will be sure to get some pictures of the pool itself.

The damage to the building was most definitely worse than I had expected. There is a team of workers trying to put things back together but they would probably be better served by just covering it with a tarp for now. When I was checking in the woman at the front desk said this was the worst storm she has experienced since moving to Omaha. When I asked her how long she has been in Omaha she replied "Forty years". Yikes. We have been told its all systems go for the meet. The pool has been up and running all day and I am sure its just as fast today as it was yesterday.

Live Video From Prelims

NBCOlympics.com will be broadcasting the preliminary heats from Trials all week. Olympic Gold Medalist Josh Davis will be providing the color commentary each day. Prelims start at 11 am Central Time each day (12 pm Eastern Time). You can get a full listing of the start times for the online webcasts here.

Trying to Catch a Break (In the Weather)

Back at Philadelphia International Airport hoping to get on a flight to Omaha. The storms out there pretty much shut down the city, I couldn't even get through to my hotel out there because the phone lines were down all night. I heard reports that most of the city was without electricity leaving the hotels without any light or air conditioning. One hotel I know of issued flashlights to guests checking in last night.

This picture is from swimmingworldmagazine.com showing some of the damage done to the roof of the Qwest Center. You can see the rest of the article here. No word yet on any delays for the meet. I must say that seeing the pictures as well as the reports on Headline News on TV here in the terminal is kind of surreal. The damage is a lot worse than I had expected.

Alright, they are about to start boarding the plane. Off to Milwaukee and then (hopefully) Omaha.

Trials Info: One Stop Shopping

If you are looking for a place to find as much Trials information as possible without having to go to more than one sight...well, you come here of course. But if you are willing to open two internet windows in your browser at once, make it Swimmingworldmagzine.com's Olympic Trials Page. I am sure Jason Marsteller and the rest of the Swimming World crew will provide great insight and great photos from the event. Be sure to bookmark that page for easy access throughout the week.


Ominous, Part II
Just got a text message from Christian. Apparently a serious storm ripped through the Omaha area late this afternoon, possibly damaging the roof of the Qwest Center. Regardless of any damage caused or not caused, the pool was closed for the rest of the day. I'm sure Philadelphia sports fans read this and remember March 1, 1968.