Sunday, October 31, 2010

October Swimmers of the Month

As the month of October winds down, I have another list of this month's top swimmers. Most of the performances recognized come from the Commonwealth Games and the four October stops on the World Cup.

Pacific Rim Women’s – Alicia Coutts, Australia
Alicia Coutts has been chosen to be Australia's flag bearer at the closing ceremony
Won five golds at the Commonwealth Games, including the 200 IM, in which she posted the fastest textile suit time in history (2:09.70)

Pacific Rim Men’s – Geoff Huegill, Australia

Capped off his remarkable comeback with Commonwealth gold in the 100 fly (51.69) and 400 medley relay, as well as silver in the 50 fly (23.37)

African Men’s – TIE Cameron van der Burgh, South Africa and Roland Schoeman, South Africa
van der Burgh:

Swept the 50 and 100 breast at the Commonwealth Games, with the world’s top time in the 50 (27.18) and third-fastest time in the 100 (1:00.10)

Schoeman:

Won three medals (one silver, two bronze) at the Commonwealth Games and has posted eight World Cup wins in October; holds the top short course times in the world in the 50 breast (26.09) and 50 fly (22.39)

European Women’s – Therese Alshammar, Sweden

Currently leading the World Cup standings, having posted nine wins in four stops this month; posted the world's top 50 fly short course time (25.24)

European Men’s – James Goddard, Great Britain

Won the 200 back at Commonwealth Games in 1:55.58, making him the fourth-fastest performer this year, while also winning the 200 IM (1:58.10)

American Women’s – Dana Vollmer, United States

Set four American records at the World Cup in Berlin, the 200 free (1:53.67), 100 fly (55.59) and 100 free twice (52.71-prelims; 52.50-finals); in the 100 fly, she missed the world record by a mere half second

American Men’s – Brent Hayden, Canada

Swept the sprints at the Commonwealth Games, including his 47.98 100 free, the only swim under 48 seconds this year

U.S. Men’s – Conor Dwyer

Posted blistering times at the Florida-Georgia duel meet on Friday, winning the 1,000 free (9:00.48), 200 free (1:37.77), and 500 free (4:25.46) in succession, before leading of Florida’s victorious 400 free relay in 44.88.

Special mention once again to Fran Crippen. Now laid to rest in his hometown of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, the swimming community continues to honor his many contributions to the sport. Everyone has heard the story, and we have all shed tears. For now, this blog commemorating the top performances in the month of October, is dedicated to Fran Crippen.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Delhi-Belly Drama a Predictable Outcome of Commonwealth Games

Originally posted by Braden Keith at The Swimmer's Circle.

The 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India were, by most accounts, a failure. Between last-minute completion of event venues, injuries at test events, terrorist threats, lack of security, reports of sloppy construction, and the now-infamous Delhi Belly that many athletes are reportedly still feeling the effects of well after leaving the country, the event left a lot to be desired. And as such, I’ve got a serious bone to pick with the collective international governing bodies–which I will henceforth refer to as the IGB–of the sporting world. It seems as though lately, these governing bodies have been putting so much effort into bringing the world’s backwoods and slums into the sporting fore-front that they have neglected the true nature of selecting these host cities.

I began to really get frustrated when I heard that Baku, Azerbaijan was selected as one of seven semi-finalist for the 2016 Olympic Games. While most people I know couldn’t pick out Azerbaijan on a map if you gave them 10 tries, I am quite familiar with the country, as my parents were Baku residents for 3 years.

Let me break this down for you. In Baku, 99% of the wealth is concentrated in government employees and foreigners, while much of the population lives in poverty. Traffic drives 6 cars wide on a 3-lane road, with horns seemingly connected to both the gas and brake pedals of cars. The corruption is so rampant, and the government so xenophobic, that non-citizens have to use special license plates so that the police force knows who they should pull over for traffic violations (which, in Azerbaijan, is a meaningless phrase, because any attempt to follow a traffic law will surely result in a near-death experience). Bribery is a way of life, and nobody is ashamed about it. Everyone pays off the police, because they are afraid of what will happen if they don’t. Greasing palms is the only way for business to get done. The infrastructure is effectively divided into three groups: ancient structures built in the oil boom of the early 20th century, depressive Soviet structures, and a few modern buildings built exclusively for the use of the lucrative oil companies.

Azerbaijan and their neighbors Armenia have been locked in conflict over the NKR region for at least the last century, including allegations of genocide. Baku has their own special ills referred to as “Baku-Belly” that is equally potent as the Indian version.

So, if you will pull out your Olympic-criteria scorecards:

Human Rights: Failure

Infrastructure: Failure

City of the World: Failure (since the Silk Road Shut Down, anyways)

Government Transparency: Failure

Traffic: Failure

Pollution: Failure

Friendly to Foreigners: Failure

Safe Water: Failure

Demonstrated Ability to Host Large Scale Events: Failure

Demonstrated Ability to Build World Class Facilities: Failure

Now, this is not to say that Baku is the worst place in the world. The history of the city makes it one of the most fascinating in the World, and I encourage anybody who gets a chance to visit there to do so and take a qualified tour of the city. But in terms of hosting a large-scale event with 12,000 athletes and 100 times that many traveling to be a part of the Olympic spectacle, Baku shouldn’t even have been accepted as an applicant.

Similarly, a city like Rio de Janiero, which won the 2016 bid, is a city that, while huge in population, has a serious crime problem. On top of that, they were not even able to muster enough internal financial support to host their 2009 Swimming World Cup event. Rio received only the fifth-highest rating amongst the semi-finalists, and wouldn’t have even been a finalist save for Doha, Qatar’s plan to hold the games in October as a result of the extreme summer heat.

The only saving grace here for the IOC is that FIFA will absorb a good portion of the costs in preparing for Brazil to host the 2014 soccer World Cup.

Beijing, China, which hosted the 2008 Games, was widely regarded as a competitive success. But this was as much a result of heavy marketing, heavy spending, and suppression of dissenters as anything else. Athletes were hampered by the traffic and heavy pollution in the city, and there a shroud of the Tibetan situation hung over the whole Games.

Obviously, there are very few (if any) perfect cities, and it brings excitement to rotate the games to different locales. But as elite athletes, there are a few basic needs: mainly, the athletes need to be safe, they need to be welcomed by the local population, and they need to have access to healthy food and water. If a city can’t provide even these basic needs, they shouldn’t be in the running.

I understand why the IOC, Commonwealth, FINA, FIBA, etc. etc. choose these cities. They are usually on the lesser-developed continents (South America, Asia, Africa), and are cities with enormous populations (Baku has 2 million people, Rio 6 million, and Delhi 12 million). They are also centers for even larger (and usually even less-developed) populations. The marketing opportunities for the IGB’s, and their sponsors, are unbelievable.

Events like the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games were designed to showcase the world’s best athletes in the world’s great cities. They have now turned into nothing more than a economic and political machine. We criticize our athletes for politicizing the games and for not participating due to the potential financial risks of an injury, but how can they help but do so when that is the example set for them?

This is not to say that only cities like New York, Tokyo, or London would make good host cities. Many smaller, and more underrated, cities, like Chicago, Damascus (if they relent on their Israeli travel restrictions), Durban, or Yokohama would also make fantastic destinations for major events.

FINA, for the most part, has nailed their World Championship host cities. Rome in 2009, and Barcelona in 2013. Shanghai (2011 host) is a more modern city than Beijing, and has significantly superior transportation infrastructure. They also have impressively low pollution for a city of that size-on par with a city like Los Angeles only at three times the population. They have also aggressively been adding green spaces and relocating industry since the 1990′s.

They got a break when Dubai pulled out of hosting, rather than limping their way to a sub-par event with little support from the citizenship. Dubai could certainly be a formidable host for another, more wide-spread event, like the Asian Games. Qatar would be a much better future option in the region, as they have already demonstrated the ability to host large scale events (the 2006 Asian Games). Doha has been a finalist for seemingly every large event that’s come up in the last few years, and it’s only a matter of time before they land a few of them.

The Commonwealth Games committee has done a significantly better job of selecting their 2014 host, Glasgow Scotland, but needs to be careful in 2018, where the two finalists bids are The Gold Coast, Australia, and Hambantota, Sri Lanka. The Gold Coast is a very well-educated, very well-educated, very beautiful city. Sri Lanka is only a year removed from a civil war, and will likely run into many of the same pitfalls that Delhi did.

Delhi already suffered a pull-out by many of the Commonwealth’s top athletes because of concerns over safety. If events like the Commonwealth Games want to remain legitimate events, they need to return to choosing host cities that can handle these events and where conditions will allow for elite, world-class performances.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

The Best Male Sprinter in the World

After Nathan Adrian's sweep of the 50 and 100 free races at Pan Pacs - both ahead of world record-holder Cesar Cielo - I proclaimed him the best sprinter in the world. Tom Wildridge of the Speed Endurance blog disagreed. He believed (and still does) that the best sprinter in the world must have won a major title that year AND be ranked first in the world in either the 50 or 100 free. I said that a balance between the 50 and 100 free was required to earn such a prestigious title, ruling out 50 free world no. 1 and European champion Fred Bousquet from such an honor, as he had not performed up to his capabilities in the 100 free. He did not really have a true best sprinter in the world.

After Brent Hayden won the Commonwealth Games in 47.98, the top time in the world, Tom named Hayden the world's best sprinter. At the time, I agreed. He appeared to have the best balance of 50 and 100 free for the year. In a comment, I wrote, "Right now, no one can argue that Hayden is the best sprinter in the world, and he will leave Commonwealth Games the best sprinter in the world as long as he does two things in the 50: 1) breaks 22, and 2) wins a medal. Both seem near assured."

As it would turn out, Hayden did win gold but did not break 22, his winning time 22.01. Thus, the choice for world's best sprinter becomes less clear. To find a clear winner, I decided to add up long course best times this year for 13 of the world's premier sprinters. This is what I found.

1. Nathan Adrian, USA 21.55 + 48.15 = 69.70
2. Brent Hayden, Canada 21.89 + 47.98 = 69.87
3. Cesar Cielo, Brazil 21.55 + 48.48 = 70.03
4. Fabien Gilot, France 21.75 + 48.47 = 70.22
5. Alain Bernard, France 21.99 + 48.32 = 70.31
6. Stefan Nystrand, Sweden 21.69 + 48.82 = 70.51
7. Andrey Grechin, Russia 21.98 + 48.59 = 70.57
8. Eamon Sullivan, Australia 22.09 + 48.52 = 70.61
9. Fred Bousquet, France 21.36 + 49.34 = 70.70
9. Simon Burnett, Great Britain 22.16 + 48.54 = 70.70
11. Jason Lezak, USA 22.27 + 48.47 = 70.74
12. Evgeny Lagunov, Russia 22.54 + 48.23 = 70.77
13. Michael Phelps, USA 23.43 + 48.15 = 71.58

If I use Tom's criteria that the best sprinter in the world must have won a major title in either the 50 or 100 free this year, the list narrows itself out.

1. Nathan Adrian, USA 21.55 + 48.15 = 69.70
2. Brent Hayden, Canada 21.89 + 47.98 = 69.87
3. Alain Bernard, France 21.99 + 48.32 = 70.31
4. Fred Bousquet, France 21.36 + 49.34 = 70.70

It is a tight call, but to me the choice is clear. Based on his incredible world ranking and regional superiority in both the 50 and 100 free, Nathan Adrian remains the best sprinter in the world for 2010.

Commonwealth Games Wrap-Up

The swimming portion of the Commonwealth Games finished up this morning (my time) in Delhi. I spent the week in school, and in my few minutes of free time, I would rush to update the Swimming World Virtual Meet, which compares results of the European Championships, Pan Pacs, and these Commonwealth Games. Though the meet was for the most part slow and relatively uneventful, a few storylines did emerge in the meet's final days, which I would like to shed some light on.

On Friday in their 50 free semi-final, Roland Schoeman and Simon Burnett both false started after a spectator screamed and the starter told the athletes to stand. However, officials permitted both to swim, and both made it into the final. Afterwards, the always-outspoken Schoeman claimed, "It's unacceptable to be at a professional event like this and have people going on like monkeys." Australian media picked up the quote and saw racial undertones, and many proceeded to alienate Schoeman. Since that semi-final, Schoeman has been attacked all across the web, including his Twitter account. On a live blog during today's finals, a Herald Sun reporter in Delhi noted, "Mr Schoeman, he of the 'monkey' comment, goes in Lane 2 here. Shouldn't really be here but anyway..." A commenter named Tim remarked, "at least the arrogant cheat didnt win it," to which the reporter replied, "Indeed, but shouldn't even have silver."

This is horrible treatment of a world class athlete who merely wished to express the complete unprofessionality of the situation in Delhi, which began with two days in the Athlete Village without air conditioning. Quiet for the start isn't much to ask for; at every level I have swam (club, high school, even summer league), starters always have to remind spectators to remain quiet during the start of races. It is not much to ask for. While Schoeman's quote can be interpreted as offensive, he was frustrated with the situation he should not have had to deal with. I support Roland, even as the uninformed continue to insult him.

After finishing up in Delhi with a silver medal in the 100 breast and bronze in the 200 breast, Aussie Christian Sprenger showed uncertainty about his future. Some reports claimed that Sprenger was considering retirement, while most gave this quote: "My ideas about the 200 are crowded, but for the moment that was the last long course 200 of my career." Indeed, Sprenger has struggled so much with the knowledge that he will never again approach his 200 breast world record that he intends to abandon it to focus on the 100 distance. With the return to textile suits, many talked about the mental games the transition have played on the athletes, but no one expected an athlete to switch events! Sprenger has shown much success already with his new 100 focus, winning silvers at both Pan Pacs (behind Kosuke Kitajima) and Commonwealth Games (behind Cameron van der Burgh). Still, he has potential in the 200, and it will be odd to see him avoiding the event. However, Sprenger did remark, "But Libby's (Trickett) coming back from retirement so you can never say never."

Back here in the U.S., Alabama defeated the Auburn men in the pool today in Tuscaloosa, 133-110. What does this have to do with Commonwealth Games? In reality, Auburn's best sprinter (and arguably best swimmer), England's Adam Brown, is in Delhi right now, where he competed in the finals of both the 50 free and 100 free. In addition to Brown's absence, senior Kohlton Norys swam only on Auburn's losing 800 free relay. Aside from those two, Auburn was nearly full strength. Past contributors such as Jared White and Adam Klein could not muster enough strength to win what in the past would have been an easy team. In Auburn's signature events, Alabama freshman Vlad Caciuc and BJ Hornikel defeated the best Auburn could offer in the 50 and 100 free, respectively. Although this is way to early in the season to mean anything, this does not bode well for Auburn's rebound following 2010's disappointing sixth-place finish at NCAA's. If Auburn cannot beat Alabama, clearly they will not be challenging the likes of Cal for the championship this March. Their 14-straight SEC title streak could be coming to an end, with the likes of Florida, Georgia, and Alabama looming as threats. I started a College Swimming thread on the topic, so check it out.

Back to the action in India. Australia's Alicia Coutts and Canada's Brent Hayden emerged from Delhi as the top swimmers of the meet, while England's Liam Tancock and James Goddard, Australia's Leisel Jones, and South Africa's Cameron van der Burgh also put forth top performances. However, no one could surpass Geoff Huegill as the top story of the meet. For two years, many have commented on Huegill's amazing comeback to the sport, losing 40kg in hopes of representing Australia in the 50 fly in Delhi and winning a medal. Huegill completed this run on Tuesday, finishing just behind Kenya's Jason Dunford, finishing just 0.02 shy of a fairytale ending to that comeback.

However, Huegill had another comeback going, and this one has just begun. After qualifying for the Australian team for Delhi in the 50 fly in March, Huegill looked towards the 100 fly. At the Olympics in Sydney, he won bronze in the 100 fly, after posting the fastest time of the meet in the semi-final (51.96). That time remained his lifetime best for the long haul. In 2004, he finished eighth in the 100 fly. In his comeback up until May, the 100 fly had been his secondary event, until he and his coach began experimenting in the longer event, with the possibility of staying around until the 2012 games to race the 100 fly. A strong showing throughout the summer in the 100 fly got Huegill comfortable with the event, and he finished fifth in the event at Pan Pacs, posting a 52.32, his fastest time in nine years. He also split a stellar 51.45 on the medley relay. Although he only finished fifth in the event at Australian Nationals in March, he finished ahead of any other Aussie at Pan Pacs, giving him the opportunity to take up the event for Delhi.

Entering the event at the Commonwealth Games, many considered Dunford the favorite to double up and add the 100 fly win to his win in the 50, especially after Olympic bronze medalist Andrew Lauterstein withdrew from the event with "Delhi Belly." Dunford went out faster than Huegill, but the man known affectionately as "Skippy" came off the wall with the lead and extended it going into the wall. Huegill won in 51.69, tying USA's Tyler McGill as the second fastest swimmer in the world this year. Moreover, ten years after the fact, he beat his best time of 51.96 from the semi-final in Sydney. Afterwards, he committed to a run at the London Olympics in the event, where he will chase the man who has owned the 100 fly for the past four years, Michael Phelps. 51.69 won't medal in London. But Skippy has a chance to do much better and challenge the new generation of butterflyers two years down the line. What began simply as a crusade for better health has become much, much more. Watch that inspiring race here.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games get underway today in Delhi, India, with the swimming competition beginning tomorrow (tonight in the United States). Full recaps of each race will be immediately available on SwimmingWorld.com, and I will try to keep up with the Swimming World Virtual Meet throughout the week. For those of you who don't remember, I started the Virtual Meet during Pan Pacs and the European Championships to determine who would have won the world title and made the final in each World Championship event.

As usual, I have predicted out the meet:

Men:
50 Free
1. Ashley Callus, Australia
2. Brent Hayden, Canada
3. Eamon Sullivan, Australia

100 Free
1. Brent Hayden, Canada
2. Eamon Sullivan, Australia
3. Kyle Richardson, Australia

200 Free
1. Thomas Fraser-Holmes, Australia
2. Kenrick Monk, Australia
3. Jean Basson, South Africa

400 Free
1. Ryan Cochrane, Canada
2. Robert Hurley, Australia
3. Robbie Renwick, Scotland

1,500 Free
1. Ryan Cochrane, Canada
2. Robert Hurley, Australia
3. Herman Heerden, South Africa

50 Back
1. Liam Tancock, England
2. Ashley Delaney, Australia
3. Daniel Arnamnart, Australia

100 Back
1. Liam Tancock, England
2. Ashley Delaney, Australia
3. Hayden Stoeckel, Australia

200 Back
1. James Goddard, England
2. Ashley Delaney, Australia
3. Chris Walker-Hebborn, England

50 Breast
1. Cameron van der Burgh, South Africa
2. Brenton Rickard, Australia
3. Scott Dickens, Canada

100 Breast
1. Brenton Rickard, Australia
2. Christian Sprenger, Australia
3. Cameron van der Burgh, South Africa

200 Breast
1. Brenton Rickard, Australia
2. Michael Jamieson, Scotland
3. Neil Versfeld, South Africa

50 Fly
1. Geoff Huegill, Australia
2. Roland Schoeman, South Africa
3. Andrew Lauterstein, Australia

100 Fly
1. Andrew Lauterstein, Australia
2. Geoff Huegill, Australia
3. Michael Rock, England

200 Fly
1. Nick D’arcy, Australia
2. Michael Rock, England
3. Chad Le Clos, South Africa

200 IM
1. James Goddard, England
2. Darian Townsend, South Africa
3. Leith Brodie, Australia

400 IM
1. Thomas Fraser-Holmes, Australia
2. Roberto Pavoni, England
3. Riaan Schoeman, South Africa

4x100 Free Relay
1. Australia
2. South Africa
3. Canada

4x200 Free Relay
1. Australia
2. Canada
3. South Africa

4x100 Medley Relay
1. Australia
2. South Africa
3. Canada

Women:
50 Free
1. Francesca Halsall, England
2. Victoria Poon, Canada
3. Yolane Kukla, Australia

100 Free
1. Francesca Halsall, England
2. Emily Seebohm, Australia
3. Yolane Kukla, Australia

200 Free
1. Blair Evans, Australia
2. Rebecca Adlington, England
3. Kylie Palmer, Australia

400 Free
1. Rebecca Adlington, England
2. Kylie Palmer, Australia
3. Katie Goldman, Australia

800 Free
1. Rebecca Adlington, England
2. Katie Goldman, Australia
3. Wendy Trott, South Africa

50 Back
1. Emily Seebohm, Australia
2. Sophie Edington, Australia
3. Grace Loh, Australia

100 Back
1. Emily Seebohm, Australia
2. Gemma Spofforth, England
3. Elizabeth Simmonds, England

200 Back
1. Elizabeth Simmonds, England
2. Belinda Hocking, Australia
3. Meagen Nay, Australia

50 Breast
1. Leisel Jones, Australia
2. Leiston Pickett, Australia
3. Sarah Katsoulis, Australia

100 Breast
1. Leisel Jones, Australia
2. Sarah Katsoulis, Australia
3. Annamay Pierse, Canada

200 Breast
1. Annamay Pierse, Canada
2. Leisel Jones, Australia
3. Sarah Katsoulis, Australia

50 Fly
1. Marieke Guehrer, Australia
2. Yolane Kukla, Australia
3. Emily Seebohm, Australia

100 Fly
1. Francesca Halsall, England
2. Alicia Coutts, Australia
3. Felicity Galvez, Australia

200 Fly
1. Jessicah Schipper, Australia
2. Ellen Gandy, England
3. Samantha Hamill, Australia

200 IM
1. Emily Seebohm, Australia
2. Hannah Miley, Scotland
3. Julia Wilkinson, Canada

400 IM
1. Hannah Miley, Scotland
2. Samantha Hamill, Australia
3. Natalie Wiegersma, New Zealand

4x100 Free Relay
1. Australia
2. England
3. Canada

4x200 Free Relay
1. Australia
2. England
3. New Zealand

4x100 Medley Relay
1. Australia
2. England
3. Canada