Very creative! (and no, you can never get too much Gangnam Style)

Canyons Gangnam Style from Canyons Aquatic Club on Vimeo.

Germany's Steffen Deibler ready for the men's 50 butterfly at the FINA / Arena World Cup leg in Berlin, Germany. So I guess this is when he is shaven ? :-P

(Deibler was second in 22.83 behind Matthew Targett (AUS) in 22.30, see result list here)

One Australian Olympian announced his retirement today while one French Olympian posted sometimes that may delay her retirement. This is SwimSwam News for Monday October 29^th.

Woohoo … It is ready, the IMG / Trans World Sport feature on Pál Joensen from last August, also featuring the Faroese prime minister, our federation president, his now former coach Jón Bjarnason, hardcore open water swimmer Cecilia Wigant Eysturdal, and the memory of Alexander Dale Oen ! :-)

Norways national head coach Petter Løvberg has selected the following 7 swimmers for the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Chartres, France, 22 – 25 November 2012.

• Aleksander Hetland, Bærumsvømmerne
• Lavrans Solli, Bergens Svømme Club
• Ingvild Snildal, Asker SK
• Cecilie Waage Johannessen, Bergens Svømme Club
• Monica Waage Johannessen, Bergens Svømme Club
• Veronica Bjørlykke, Aalesund SLK
• Henriette Brekke, Stavanger Svømme Club

Sara Nordenstam was also selected, but is focusing on training for the World Short Course Swimming Championships in Istanbul in December.

Source: svomming.no via simma.nu/no

Arizona's roster has been shaken up quite a bit this year, but the changes could well help them.

Key additions: Bonnie Brandon (back), Leticia Lelli (free), Taylor Schick (free), Emma Schoettmer (breast/IM), Megan Lafferty (fly/free), Alana Pazevic (fly/free), Deborah Roth (back/free)

Key losses: Alyssa Anderson (36 NCAA points), Emma Darlington (6 NCAA points), Sarah Denninghoff (free/back), Grace Kittle (5 NCAA points), Ainsley Oliver (diving), Aubrey Peacock (back/fly), Lindsay Seeman (distance free/IM), Hallie Stupp (back/fly)

Sprint Group: Led by sprinter star Margo Geer, Arizona's practically guaranteed top-3 individual finishes in both the 50 and 100. Their 200 free relay team of Geer, Flederbach, Darlington, and Peacock earned a strong third place finish at NCAAs last year but lose some key members of their sprint group. Sarah Denninghoff and Aubrey Peacock both transferred out. Denninghoff had bests of 22.71 and 48.59, but much faster relay splits. Peacock had flat-start bests of 22.79 and 50.07 but she’s three-times split 22.0 or better on relay anchors at NCAA’s. Still, Geer's huge 21.69 flat start gives them a lot of room to work with, and incomer Taylor Schick, who comes in with a 22.7 and 49.6 will look to step up on the sprint relays.

The Wildcats only lose Alyssa Anderson off the 400 free. The other three, Geer, Flederbach and Monica Drake all return.

Back: The loss of Aubrey Peacock and Sarah Denninghoff will hurt the Wildcats, but they'll turn to incomer Bonnie Brandon as well as returner Lauren Smart. Brandon was 4th at Olympic Trials in the 200 back and 5th in the 100. Brandon's 53.4 doesn't quite compare to Denninghoff's 4th place 51.3, but Smart has been sub-52 before and could easily improve upon her 10th place finish from last year. Brandon's best of 1:53 and Smart's best of 1:54 both have NCAA scoring potential.

Breast: Ellyn Baumgardner returns for a senior year after a hugely successful summer, finishing fourth at trials and qualifying for the short course world's team. She'll be joined by Chelsey Salli and freshman Emma Schoettner, whose season has gotten off to a great start, to comprise a very powerful breaststroke group. Schoettner's 200 will be a strong addition to a breaststroke group that is usually stronger in the shorter distances–she's already been 2:13 this season.

Medley Relays: Losing backstroker Denninghoff serves a blow to the medley relays, but when you've got Baumgardner, Smart, and Geer on the back end of it, it can only be so hard to recover. They'll look to someone to fill Denninghoff's shoes, or perhaps will move Smart to the backstroke leg and look for a different flyer.

Distance Free: Bonnie Brandon will be huge for Arizona here. She was the #2 recruit in her class and has the potential for a pair of top-5 finishes in the distance freestyles this year, coming in with best times of 4:38 and 16:02. Alyssa Anderson's 4:34 will certainly be missed but there's plenty of young talent to contend with.

800 free relay: Only Drake and Geer return from this relay, and losing Anderson and Denninghoff will be tough for the wildcats. Bonnie Branon is a 1:46 freestyler so she'll definitely be in good position for a spot here.

IM: Some of Arizona's IM speed transferred out, but freshmen Bonnie Brandon and Emma Schoettner have already shown strength there. They can only go up in these events, after failing to score any points in the 200 and failing to qualify for NCAAs in the 400 in 2012.

Fly: Led by Lauren Smart whose 53.0 was 23rd at NCAAs last year, this will be a strong group. Smart's best is a 52.60, and she'll be looking to better not only her performance from last year but lower her career-best mark in her final year. In the 200 it was really only Alyssa Anderson, and her loss will create a gap for them to fill.

Diving: Samantha Pickens, 3rd at NCAAs in the 3m springboard and 4th in the 1m, will be a huge asset for them here.

2012-2013 Outlook: Led by Coach Eric Hansen, who now has a year under his belt, the Wildcats have the ability to be a real force this year. They pulled off a top 5 finish at NCAAs last year with some of their best swimmers not quite in top form. Certainly the loss of points from Anderson's graduation will be difficult to bounce back from, but the talent is definitely there.

We here at SwimSwam like to keep you all updated on all the hot stories both in and out of the water.  In the spirit of Halloween, it appears that Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, and Natalie Coughlin have decided to hand out something besides candy to the Trick-Or-Treaters that just happen to visit their homes this year.

“I think I'm just going to give out all of these medals,” stated a very casual Michael Phelps. “Sure I worked hard for them all, but who really needs them anymore?”

Phelps has managed to haul in an incredible 71 total medals from the Olympics, World Championships, and Pan Pac Championships over the years. When asked how he imagines people will react to such a strange “treat” Phelps told us that he wasn't even going to be handing out the medals personally.

“I'm just going to put them all in a bowl with a sign that says, ‘Please take one,' written on it.” -Michael Phelps

“No I won't be home. I'm going to a party at a friend's house that night. I'm just going to put them all in a punch bowl with a sign that says, ‘Please take one,' written on it,” began Phelps. “Do I think that the kids are going to abide by the code of the sign? No, probably not. I image the Olympic medals will go first, than kids will be disappointed that only the World Champs ones are left, but hey, they're solid gold so why not take them, you know?”

When asked what Phelps planned to dress up as for his friend's party he shrugged and said, “Probably the ‘Gangnam Style' guy.”

When Natalie Coughlin heard that Phelp's planned to hand out all of his medals, she too thought that it was a pretty good idea.

“It makes perfect sense to me,” began Couglin. “I have like forty-eight medals from all of those meets. It's just too much. When would I wear them? They don't go with anything that I own. They just take up space.”

She continued, “I guess I'll keep one of the Olympic golds…I mean, people are always asking if they can hold one. That's the thing, they want to hold ONE. Not like, fifty.”

When we asked Coughlin what she planned to do if she ran out of medals she stated that she would probably make her husband run out to the closest Walgreens to buy a bag filled with whatever kind of international swimming medals they had left.

Ryan Lochte is also on board with handing out his medals, stating that he is more of a wrist watch guy.

“Yea, I thought this would be something cool to do for the kids, jeah? Also, I will be greeting Trick-Or-Treaters, and their mom's, without wearing a shirt.”

Lochte continued by saying that being shirtless was to raise awareness for those in the face of danger from Hurricane Sandy. When we told him that didn't make sense he just smiled and said, “My 90210 episode is going to air on November 5!”

Other swimmers aren't quite ready to part with their hardware yet.

“I only have sixteen total medals right now, but I'm sure in a few years I'll have some more to dish out to the kidos in my neighborhood,” said Olympic Gold Medalist Matt Grevers.

“I mean, I'll hand out some of the medals that I won when I was a kid. Do people want those?”

Meanwhile, Missy Franklin intends to keep all five of her Olympic Medals and wear them while Trick-Or-Treating as someone who eerily resembles Missy Franklin.

That's all for now, until next time SwimSwamFans!

Follow Jesse Kubanet on Twitter here.

Jesse Kubanet, swimswam contributor

Contributor, Jesse Kubanet, started swimming when he was young, because he was heavy and needed to lose weight. Years later, he joined his high school swim team and fell in love with wearing Speedos. He is currently a Junior on the swim team at Wheeling Jesuit University. He will be away from the team this fall, to spend a semester in Chicago participating in the Second City’s semester long Comedy Studies Program. He loves swimming and would love to party with Anders Holm from Workaholics. After college, his dream is to become a comedy writer, especially for Conan O’brien.

Oldie but goodie, featuring Ian Thorpe and a seal

Adidas ‘Swimming' from Filmgraphics Entertainment on Vimeo.

A Florida swimming coach who was reportedly shot to death by his girlfriend's son is being remembered as a mentor, role model, and inspiration. See wtsp.com

“[Kelley Allen] was the best coach I have ever had,” student Ally Strasen wrote to 10 News. “He believed in me and all of his swimmers even when no one else did. He was so determined – he lived for us. He lived at the pool. Even when he had blood clots in his leg and he was told to stay off his feet, he was pacing up and down the pool, encouraging us to swim faster, stronger.”

Northern Arena backstroke swimming: Wide sweep technique drill with Dean Kent, 3-time New Zealand Olympian

As more-and-more of the top Canadian swimmers head south of the border for college, Swimming Canada won one battle against the mighty lure of the NCAA yesterday, as Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson has decided to stay home and swim for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds next season.

Seltenreich-Hodgson made at least two trips stateside, visiting both Indiana and Georgia. Not a surprise, as those are two of the most popular destinations for Canadian women on the American college circuit. Among the Hoosiers hailing from Canada are Brenna MacLean, Brooklyn Snodgrass, and Bronwyn Pasloski. Georgia just got in on this game last year, when they grabbed two big freshman Brittany MacLean and Chantal van Landeghem.

Instead, Seltenreich-Hodgson will head west from her native Ottawa, where she swims for the Greater Ottawa Kingfish, to Vancouver and swim for UBC.

She had a phenomenal summer in long course, breaking-out in events ranging from the 50 free to the 400 IM. That included a 26.31 and a 57.00 in the 50 and 100 freestyles, and a 1:03.8 in the 100 back.

Her greatest promise, however, is as a future Olympian in the IM's (she already qualified for Junior National teams that were sent to Jr. Pan Pacs and the Mare Nostrum series). Her bests in those races long course are 2:12.93 and 4:43.80.

She is the third-fastest Canadian in history in the 200 IM, ranks 30th in the world this year, and seems to only be getting better. That's what really stood out about her season: she just kept getting faster. She was a 2:14.3 at Trials in March, then a 2:13.9 at the French stop of the Mare Nostrum in June, then a full second better at Jr. Pan Pacs in August in 2:12.93. She actually won that race ahead of top American swimmers like Celina Li (Cal) and Kaitlyn Jones (Virginia).

All of that led to almost three seconds in drops from the 2:15.6 that she went in 2011 at Junior Worlds.

The Thunderbirds are stacked with many of Canada's top young swimmers, including Coleman Allen and Luke Peddie on the men's side, both of whom will swim at the World Short Course Championshisp in December; plus Savannah King, Tera van Beilen, and Heather MacLean on the women's side, who were all Olympians. They are also the team of the three youngest sisters in the Pierse family.

Their close connection with the Vancouver Dolphins program is what allows them to attract so much top talent. The top club program in that country will be thrilled to get their hands on a swimmer who has already shown so much potential.

USA's Anthony Ervin after winning the men's 100 freestyle at the FINA / Arena Swimming World Cup 2012 meet in Berlin, Germany. His time was 46.71, ahead of Australia's Tommaso D'Orsogna in 46.99 and South Africa's Darian Townsend in 47.02, see result list here.

The Brits, like most of Europe, are choosing to send much more loaded squads to the World Championships than are their overseas counterparts.

This lineup includes 16 Olympians, among them Michael Jamieson, who was a surprise silver medalist at the Olympics in the 200 breaststroke, and truly the Olympic highlight for the British team.

Also on the squad is Fran Halsall, the owner of 4 World Short Course medals already from 2008; her 2010 meet was cut-off by ankle surgery. In the IM group, Hannah Miley will lead the way, but she's going to be joined by a big sleeper of this squad: Sophie Allen. Alllen has already broken the English Record in the 200 IM in short course this year, with a 2:08.78 (remembering that Miley is Scottish). That could be a race where the Brits see two swimmers into the final, at least.

Other big names include Olympic finalist Robbie Renwick, junior breaststroke phenom Craig Benson, and the next in line for Britain's backstroking throne Georgia Davies and Georgia Hohmann.

The biggest names missing from the list is Olympic medalist Rebecca Adlington, who has taken time after the Olympics to explore other interests after months of intense media focus. 

This could be a very good team; though overall they didn't earn as many finals and medals as they probably would have liked in front of a home crowd a few months ago, the talent is deep.

• Craig Benson – Warrender Baths
• Daniel Fogg – British Gas ITC Loughborough
• Michael Jamieson – British Gas ITC Bath
• Matthew Johnson – City of Sheffield
• Ieuan Lloyd – City of Cardiff
• Roberto Pavoni – British Gas ITC Loughborough
• Robbie Renwick – City of Glasgow
• Chris Walker-Hebborn – British Gas ITC Bath
• Andrew Willis – British Gas ITC Bath
• Sophie Allen – British Gas ITC Stockport
• Jazmin Carlin – British Gas ITC Swansea
• Georgia Davies – British Gas ITC Swansea
• Eleanor Faulkner – City of Sheffield
• Francesca Halsall – British Gas ITC Loughborough
• Georgia Hohmann – Nova Centurion
• Jemma Lowe – British Gas ITC Swansea
• Hannah Miley – Garioch
• Elizabeth Simmonds – British Gas ITC Bath
• Rebecca Turner – City of Sheffield

The Harvard swim teams, both the men's and the women's programs, are on a roll. Tim Murphy, the head coach of the men, has made sure that they've kept one of their greatest ever in the fold, as he has hired Alex Meyer as an assistant coach.

Meyer was an open water Olympian who represented the United States in London in 2012 in the 10km swim. That made him only the 6th Harvard swimmer to represent the U.S. in swimming at the Olympics, and the first since David Berkoff in 1992. Thanks to their success together, Murphy was brought along as the head coach of the U.S. Open Water team.

Though there's no open water swimming in NCAA swimming, the 2010 graduate did big things in the pool as well. He earned All-American status as a senior by placing 14th in the 1,650 freestyle at the NCAA Championships; he also swept the 500, 1000, and 1650 at that year's Ivy League Championships to earn the high-point award.

Meyer joins Kevin Tyrrell as assistants on the Harvard men's team. He plans to continue training with the team toward the 2013 World Championships and beyond.

He has recently become a central figure in the lingering battle over the death of his good friend Fran Crippen, having been the most outspoken critic of recent attempts by FINA to make open water swimming safer. Crippen died during an open water race just over two years ago, with one of the leading causes believed to be the extreme temperatures of the event in the UAE.

Alex Meyer's State of Open Water Swimming:
Part 1 | Part 2

SwimSwam's 2012 FINA World Cup Series coverage is brought to you by Arena USA.

The 2012 NCAA Championship Swimmer of the Meet, started off his senior season on the World Cup Series. In this interview with Garrett McCaffrey, Tom Shields talks about how the experience sharpened his racing skills. He also talks about his approach to his senior season with the Cal Bears. He's already got 4 individual NCAA championships and 2 team titles and he says the Cal men are in a better spot this fall than ever before.

Follow Tom Shields, aka Beefy T Shields, on Twitter here. 

Host Garrett McCaffrey is a Division I swimmer who spent 4 years covering the sport as a journalist.  His talents in front of and behind the camera brought the swimming community such fan favorites as Split Time, McCaffreyCap, the Morning Swim Show, and numerous swim meet broadcasts. Garrett now coaches club swimming and competes as a masters swimmer. Through posting training videos, interviews and races online, Garrett has created a readily available community for swimming fans to have a dialogue and learn from the best in the sport. Garrett hosts SwimSwam News, SwimSwam Interviews, and SwimSwam Event Recaps.