PHOENIX, Arizona, October 10. THE Big Ten jumped into the fray today in Class of 2013 recruiting as Wisconsin claimed the services of five-star butterfly specialist Dana Grindall.
Grindall, who t...
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Wisconsin Gets on Board With Five-Star Recruit Dana Grindall
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LSU Women Claim Southeastern Conference Opener Over Vanderbilt
NASHVILLE, Tennessee, October 10. LSU Women's Swimming (2-0, 1-0 SEC) defeated Vanderbilt (0-0, 0-1 SEC) by a score of 181-80 in the Lady Tiger's first conference and second road meet of the season.
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Alex Meyer's State of Open Water Swimming (Part 2 of 2)
Yesterday, 2012 American open water Olympian Alex Meyer brought us part 1 of his questions that he took into the US Aquatics Sports convention in Greensboro, North Carolina last month. In part 1, that you can read here, Alex talked about water temperatures, National Team guidance, and the cost to athletes of attending the world's premier open water competition series.
4. @AlexMeyerSwims: Advocate for change and fairness in the APA selection criteria for open water athletes, allowing for more than two athletes to receive it. Because of the celebrity of a select few of our top athletes, there’s a misconception that pro swimmers make a lot of money when the reality is that most National Team athletes do not. Many post-grads rely heavily on the USAS’s Athlete Partnership Agreement (APA) or “stipend” just to get by so that they can continue to train. It’s been a lifeline for me, as it is the vast majority of my income. Compared to other sports’ National Governing Bodies in the US and other swimming federations around the world, the APA is pretty generous. Professional athletes who have either relinquished or exhausted their NCAA eligibility receive $3000/month in exchange for a couple promotional appearances for USAS per year. Athletes who wish to retain amateur status receive a reduced but substantial amount.
In order to qualify for the APA in an Olympic pool event, you have to be on the National Team (top 6 at Nationals) and have a top-16 world ranking. In the 10k, since time is not a reliable or meaningful standard for one’s performance, it’s more complicated. First, you have to be on the National Team by placing in the top 6 at 10k Nationals. Depending on the year, you then have to place top 16 in the 10k at the major international competition (world championships, pan pacific championships, etc.) of the summer. Since we can only enter two athletes in the 10k at these competitions, there can never be more than two 10k athletes per gender that receive the APA, while it’s possible for up to six athletes in any Olympic pool event to receive it.
I proposed that this qualification criteria be changed to make it more fair for open water athletes, and the National Team Director and Managers were very receptive to the idea. I’m working on putting something in writing as a suggestion for the new criteria that would take effect next year.
5. @AlexMeyerSwims: Collaborate with others to discuss and propose a USA Swimming Open Water Grand Prix Series in the US to promote the sport to USAS athletes. One of the things I brought up to the open water steering committee, but mostly to the open water development committee is the idea of a domestic open water series in the US. Think about the detailed hierarchical structure and well-defined measures of success and improvement in the pool events that we have in our country. There is a clear path of development through the ranks, which is part of why we are the best swimming country in the world. But there is almost none of that in open water. We have a pretty competitive national championship, but other than that there are hardly any races for kids to go to. I understand that open water is a new event, but the fact is that the 10k is a medal event at the Olympics and we need to do a much better job of promoting this event (I hesitate to call it a different sport) if we want to be successful and be as dominant internationally in the open water as we are in the pool.
We need a series here in the US both from a developmental perspective, but also to provide opportunity for our national teamers and potential national teamers to race and get better. I would like to see USAS create an OW Grand Prix series just like the one in the pool. Ideally, 2-3 of the OW Grand Prix events could coincide with pre-existing, well-attended pool Grand Prix meets, occurring the Sunday after a Thursday-Saturday pool meet. This would be an easy and fun way to generate interest and enthusiasm about open water, and help to narrow that perceived gap between the pool and open water that honestly doesn't really exist in the first place. It would be easy for some of the swimmers to stay an extra night and try out some open water races.
Everyone on the development committee was in favor of this idea, so I hope that USAS will finally start to take some real steps towards making this happen in the near future.
6. @AlexMeyerSwims: Offer my opinion on a new Olympic selection process for Rio 2016. The selection process for the 2012 Olympics was long and drawn out, complicated, and made it hard for the top countries to qualify two swimmers, and overall made the Olympic race less competitive. Basically, the top 10 finishers in the 10k at the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai automatically qualified. This past June in Portugal, countries who hadn’t yet qualified an athlete in an event (men, women, or both) could send two swimmers for the chance to qualify one of them. This process was less than ideal for a few reasons:
a. Making the Olympic Team a year ahead of time sucks. I may be a perfect example of why you shouldn’t select an Olympic Team a year before the actual Olympics. It’s a disadvantage to younger athletes who are improving at a much faster rate. As in my case, injuries and other obstacles can happen that negatively affect performance. I broke my collar bone in a bicycle accident in January and I know that if I hadn’t already qualified by then, I would not have qualified in June and we would have sent another male to swim the 10k that would placed higher than 10th. Also, by the time I actually got to London the excitement of making the Olympic Team was far gone and I was emotionally exhausted from having my life consumed by the Olympic mania for the past year. This was compounded by the fact that Haley and I saw the rest of the swimmers for only a few days the entire summer since we had different training needs, but that’s an entirely different issue. Of the six medals awarded at the Olympics in the 10k, only two of them were 2011 qualifiers, who were supposed to be the better athletes favored to win most or all of the medals.
b. It’s hard for a country to qualify two swimmers. The only way this could happen is if both athletes were top 10 in Shanghai. Only the Russian men and German men doubled up in the event. This is unfair to the athletes from the most competitive countries who placed just outside the top 10 when a teammate was top 10, since then that country would no longer have a second chance at qualifying a second individual. The result of “knocking out” so many of the top athletes is a more globally represented but less competitive field at the Olympics. If a country only qualified one athlete in a particular race in Shanghai, they should have been able to send another to Portugal for a chance at qualifying a second athlete. Yes, the Olympics is about global inclusiveness, but it’s also about the best athletes in the world. The latter should take precedence with an already small field of only 25 athletes.
c. “Continental Champions” could not be a second athlete from a given country. At the second qualifier in June, the top 10 athletes (one per country) were selected for the Olympics. Then, five more “continental champions” were selected as long as they were not the second qualifier from a particular country. This is wrong, and again leads to a less competitive Olympic race.
d. The conditions in Shangai were not ideal as a selection race for London. FINA selected athletes in warm, choppy, salt water, to compete in a race in cold, flat, fresh water a year later. I don’t think I need to explain why this makes very little sense.
This issue was only briefly discussed at convention primarily because it’s not the right time to bring it up to FINA. Many FINA members’ terms end this year, so it makes more sense to start to work at this once new people are in place. A new process that I would propose would be having one selection event at the Olympic venue in spring/early summer of 2016. This event would also serve as the test event for the Olympics. Each country can enter up to two athletes. The top 20 finishers are selected, and then the five continental champions (who could be the second qualifier for their country if it happened to turn out that way). This process is simple, fair, and overall better than the current process from my perspective as an athlete.
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Midweek Update: Cal Men Top Pacific; LSU Women Get SEC Win
Cal Men 141, Pacific Men 107 (Last 5 events exhibitioned) – Cal Men top Pacific in Pink Out Spectacular with Help of Freshmen
The men of Cal and their counterparts from Pacific teamed up Wednesday afternoon for their first annual “Pink-Out meet” to support breast cancer awareness. Read all about the teams' efforts, including a $20,000 donation to the Edith Sanford Foundation. Read all about those activities here.
Though there was a bigger goal for this meet, there was still some good swimming that went on at the Spieker Aquatics Center.
That included a great early-season mark of 9:28.85 from sophomore Adam Hinshaw to top the 1000 free. With the team, for the most part, looking very worn down, that's still the #5 time in the country early on this season for Hinshaw. New Cal distance coach Yuri Suguiyama only just recently got to Berkeley, and in this his first meet the Cal distance group already looks strong.
Among other stars for Cal was freshman Josh Prenot. He showed off his versatility by running away with the 200 breaststroke in 2:00.08, the 400 IM in 3:56.61, finishing 2nd in the 100 back in 50.47, and putting up a 21.86 on the butterfly leg of the “B” 200 medley that out-split his A-relay counterpart.
Sophomore Will Hamilton has no intention to wait until the end of the season this year to explode onto the scene. He swam a 1:48 200 fly, an even where he is the defending NCAA Champion, and also won the 500 free in a 4:36.14.
In all, three freshmen earned their first victories (in a traditional meet) of their careers: Prenot, Jacob Pebley (200 back), and Nick Dillinger (50 free).
The highlight of the meet for Pacific was junior Oliver Simkovic, who swam a 1:50.92 to finish 2nd in the 200 backstroke. That's roughly two seconds faster than he started his season last year.
The Cal men are back in about three weeks as they welcome in Wisconsin on November 3rd.
Full meet results available here.
LSU Women 181, Vanderbilt 80 – Mann Breaks Two Vandy School Records in Loss
The LSU women may have lost their star after last season, but don't look like they've missed a beat headed into the new season. They got their SEC season underway with a 181-80 thumping of Vanderbilt on the road in Nashville Wednesday.
Sophomore Amber Carter took a pair of individual victories. The first came in the 100 free, where she won by better than a second in 51.61, and the second, and really impressive, victory was in the 100 fly, where she swam a 55.59. There's only a single non Cal-Bear who has been faster than that this season. She's already looking in fantastic early form, and could develop into the new star of this team.
Freshman Megan Cox also picked up a strong win for the LSU women, with a 1:52.85 in the 200 free. With a swim like that already, she'll likely be a big part of LSU's 800 free relay at the SEC Championships this season.
The Vanderbilt women, though outgunned in this meet, do have some impressive young talent. Freshman Jennifer Mann swept the breaststroke races with a 1:03.09 in the 100 and a 2:15.03 in the 200, both of which are new Vanderbilt School Records. Chrissy Oberg took the 200 back in 2:01.95, as well.
Full meet results available here.
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Great Day for Trojans Gets Better; Five-Star Recruit Steven Stumph Pledges
PHOENIX, Arizona, October 10. A great day for the Trojans, which featured Swimming World six-star recruit Chelsea Chenault choosing to attend Southern California for college, got even better when fiv...
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Quaker Valley, Moon Area approve wrestling co-op - Timesonline.com
Quaker Valley, Moon Area approve wrestling co-op Timesonline.com Moon Area School Board members approved the deal last month, but Quaker Valley spokeswoman Tina Vojtko said the agreement still must be approved by the WPIAL and the PIAA before students can participate. If the co-op is approved, Quaker Valley middle ... |
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Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau is swimming in dough thanks to extreme races - Pocono Record
Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau is swimming in dough thanks to extreme races Pocono Record They'll continue to target New York and Philadelphia markets and try to convince more corporations to hold team building activities in the Poconos. The bureau will also try to lure more schools to the area. "We want people to know that the Poconos is ... |
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Murphy's Path to London Decades in the Making - Harvard Crimson
Murphy's Path to London Decades in the Making Harvard Crimson A baseball and football star in high school, a three-time club boxing national champion in college, Murphy ultimately chose to pursue a career as a swimming coach, a decision that would take him from West Chester, Pa., to Harvard and ultimately to London. |
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The Morning Swim Show, Oct. 11, 2012: Queens University Swimming on the Rise Under Direction of Jeff Dugdale
PHOENIX, Arizona, October 11. QUEENS University is quickly making a name for itself in Division II collegiate swimming, and head coach Jeff Dugdale talks about the strategies to bring the team into ...
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District 3-AAA Boys Soccer: Carlisle takes down Dallastown in rematch of season opener
DALLASTOWN — The last time Carlisle and Dallastown met, two teams that were heavy on upperclassmen but low on playoff experience faced off in Mechanicsburg’s season-opening tournament.
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Jack Conger Makes Verbal Commitment to Texas Longhorns
PHOENIX, Arizona, October 23. THE Texas Longhorns secured one of the biggest recruiting commitments of the season today, as Jack Conger made the call to coach Eddie Reese that he will be locating from...
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Young Tae Seo, California's Top High School Senior, Set to Become Florida Gator
PHOENIX, Arizona, October 24. YOUNG Tae Seo, believed by many to be the Second Coming of Michael Phelps after posting jaw-dropping times in the 200 fly at 14 years old, verbally committed to attend th...
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COLLINS COLUMN: Pazzaglia stands out in time of questionable coaches - Scranton Times-Tribune
 Scranton Times-Tribune | COLLINS COLUMN: Pazzaglia stands out in time of questionable coaches Scranton Times-Tribune Just like it didn't make Jeff Kovaleski, the former president of District 11 American Legion Baseball, a bad guy when he reported a fake box score for a game that was never played to The Times-Tribune back in July. He came up ... Those 50 years he ... |
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The Morning Swim Show, Oct. 24, 2012: USC Fulfilled Requirements on Steven Stumph's Wishlist
PHOENIX, Arizona, October 24. STEVEN Stumph, the top high school breaststroker last season, joins today's edition of The Morning Swim Show to talk about choosing the University of Southern Californi...
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Streamlined News: Conger Commits; LEN Names Top Europeans; Florida on Top of College Coaches Poll
PHOENIX, Arizona, October 24. LATE last night Swimming World reported that Jack Conger made his verbal commitment to attend the University of Texas next fall, giving the Longhorns one of the top rec...
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Ranomi Kromowidjojo and Yannick Agnel Top Swimmers for 2012 LEN Awards
LEN OFFICE, Luxembourg, October 24. SWIMMERS Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) and Yannick Agnel (FRA), Divers Ilya Zakharov (RUS) and Tania Cagnotto (ITA), Open Water Swimmers Eva Risztov (HUN) and Thomas Lu...
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Big 33 Football Classic: Pennsylvania to meet Maryland in 2013 Big 33 game
The Big 33 Scholarship Foundation announced Wednesday the signing of a five-year agreement to pit Pennsylvania’s best high school football players against the best from Maryland.
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Passages: FAST Masters Coach Richard Stetson Nesbit
FORT WORTH, Texas, October 24. LONG-time Forth Worth Area Swim Team (FAST) Masters Coach Richard Stetson Nesbit passed peacefully in his sleep on Friday, Oct. 19, 2012. He was an accomplished swimmer,...
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Golden Gate Swim
4 crossings under the Golden Gate Bridge, fly-back-breast-crawl, for the Wounded Warrior Project. Impressive.
Golden Gate Swim from Oct28 Productions on Vimeo.
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Missy Franklin’s Sherpa
Footage from the upcoming feature documentary “Touch the Wall” featuring Missy Franklin. This footage was shot at the Franklin house 10.21.12. Go to touchthewall.com for more.
Missy Franklin's Sherpa from Christo Brock on Vimeo.
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