Browsing Category 2012 Olympics

All 2012 Olympic Games and Trials.

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Fastest 100 Freestyle at the Olympics

Posted on August 7, 2012 by swimmerjoe

picture by ibtimes.com

Racing Against History

By KEVIN QUEALY and GRAHAM ROBERTS – NY Times

Nathan Adrian’s 100-meter freestyle won gold. But how would he do against every medalist in this event – ever!

One (imaginary) race with every medalist ever

Based on the athletes’ average speeds, if every Olympic medalist ever raced each other, France’s Alain Bernard (from the 2008 Games) would win, with a wide distribution of Olympians behind him, including Wednesday’s winner, Nathan Adrian. Below, where each swimmer would be when Bernard finishes his race.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/08/01/sports/olympics/racing-against-history.html

Notable winners of the 100-meter freestyle

Hungarian Olympic Committee

Alfréd Hajós

Hungary

Hungary’s first Olympic gold medalist, Hajós swam in 55-degree open water, in the Bay of Zea outside Piraeus, Greece. He also won the 1,200-meter swim.

1896, Athens

1:22.2

I.O.C.

Johnny Weissmuller

United States

The first swimmer to break a minute in the Olympics. Later went on to play Tarzan in “Tarzan the Ape Man,” which made him internationally famous.

1924, Paris	59.0	OR
1928, Amsterdam	58.6	OR

Associated Press

Mark Spitz

United States

Won seven gold medals in the 1972 Games in Munich; nearly withdrew from the 100-meter event because he wasn’t sure if he would win. (He did, setting a world record.)

1968, Mexico City	53.0
1972, Munich	51.22	WR

Lyndon Mechielsen/Associated Press

Alexander Popov

Russia

One of only three athletes with three medals in this event; the first person in 68 years to win back-to-back golds after Weismuller did it in 1928.

1992, Barcelona	49.02
1996, Atlanta	48.74
2000, Sydney	48.69

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Sun Yang – A Golden Performance and Teaching Moment

Posted on August 4, 2012 by swimmerjoe

by SwimmerJoe

All snapshot pictures are from the NBC Online telecast at http://www.nbcolympics.com/liveextra/

China’s Sun Yang blew away his world record again. A catchup stroke swim that was quite amazing and his being in top form at the 2012 Olympics must feel like none other. So, how did he do that?

Sun Yang’s coach, Aussie coach Denis Cotterell, is the master of middle and distance freestyle which helped him hone his athletic ability to greatness. Yang is the master of the underwater high elbow catch, which you can see in the pictures below.

Check out the elbow riding high in the water, hand almost perpendicular to the surface.

Here is a look at it from the front, fingertips down, high elbow, resting arm up front.

I thought this one above and the one below were an incredible shot of his form. It shows the huge paddle Yang creates.

I’ve seen a few people that look this good underwater over the years, including Dara Torres, Troy Dalbey and Matt Cetlinski. All are incredible, but not many are this distinct. The power that his perpendicular portion (from elbow to fingertip) creates is quite efficient in Yang’s mile. Why do you think it looks so easy? He is pulling some serious water! Many people can do this for a 100, 200 or even a 400, but over an entire mile? Now that’s a model to follow!

Additionally, when Sun Yang got together with Coterell, they made magic. Coterell, who also coached world record holder Grant Hackett and Daniel Kowalski and others, was the major turning point. Truly they make a great pair.

The ability to not allow his stroke to break down after becoming fatigued is a testament to his form, his training, and his coach knowing exactly what to do! Congrats! Next time I bet he goes under 14:30 in the mile.

See below… Enough said, see you in Rio.

All pictures are from the NBC Online telecast at http://www.nbcolympics.com/liveextra/

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Believe in the Impossible

Posted on July 16, 2012 by swimmerjoe

Guest post By Bess Auer….Thanks Bess and so true! SwimmerJoe

As I am watching the Tour de France and gearing up for the London Olympics, I am saddened to see the Twitter and Blogosphere light up with doping allegations. Current Tour leader Bradley Wiggins is dominating the race, putting in the ride of a lifetime and eclipsing his main rival, Cadel Evans, last year’s winner. Well, this can’t be possible! Wiggins must be cheating!

I don’t blame the doubters, as we’ve seen too many athletes, ranging from cyclists to baseball players, get caught. However, it is not the fact that cheaters exist that bother me, as they seem to get caught eventually. What bothers me is what these charlatans have robbed from us, the sports lovers, the dreamers, the wishers. These cheaters have stolen our willingness to believe in the impossible, our belief in athletic superiority.

When we see a man win the Tour de France seven times, well then, he must be doping. There is simply no other explanation because humans can’t be capable of surpassing normal human boundaries. Forget the fact that he fought back from the very edge of death, experiencing pain far worse than cycling up an 14% grade mountainside. The mountain only lasts a few hours, but surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, lasts for months on end. Seven times? Incredible! Impossible! A human can’t do that!

After we lose our belief in the incredible (Seven times? Impossible!), we also begin to doubt those sports performances that are well within the realm of normal human ability, such as Wiggins in the Tour this year. (He’s good but not particularly extraordinary.)

Growing up I believed in the impossible. Nadia Comaneci scoring a perfect 10 seven times (Seven times? Impossible!) and the1980 Miracle on Ice (Unthinkable!). Throughout modern history there are many superhuman performances: Jesse Owens debunking the Nazi’s Aryan Myth by winning 4 gold medals in the Berlin Olympics. Roger Banister breaking the 4 minute barrier. Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points in a single NBA game. Michael Phelps winning 8 gold medals. (Inconceivable!)

Cheaters, I refuse to allow you to take away my willingness to believe in the impossible. I want to watch the Olympics this year and be amazed as the human body reaches incredible new heights. We may not truly be able to fly, but as I watch videos of Bob Beamon’s world record 29+ foot jump, I feel like maybe we can. Believe.

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Lake Highland, UM grad Brittany Viola makes U.S. Olympic diving team

Posted on June 24, 2012 by swimmerjoe

By Austin Lyon, Orlando Sentinel, 6:17 p.m. EDT, June 24, 2012

Brittany Viola first dreamed of being an Olympian when she watched the United States women’s gymnastics team win a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics.

Sixteen years later, Viola’s Olympic vision became a reality Sunday.

Viola, an Orlando Lake Highland Prep and University of Miami grad, earned a trip to London by taking first place in the 10-meter platform competition at the U.S. Olympic Diving Trials in Federal Way, Wash.

The 25-year old daughter of former major-league pitcher Frank Viola narrowly missed making the Olympic team in 2004 and ’08. Viola and runner-up Katherine Bell, who finished 57 points behind, advanced to the London Games.

The women’s 10-meter platform Olympic competition will take place Aug. 8-9.

As a 17-year old in the 2004 trials, Viola was five points behind Laura Wilkinson going into the final dive, but she couldn’t outduel the former Olympic gold medalist. That year, only the winner of the trials advanced.

Viola finished fourth in the 2008 trials.

Viola, the favorite entering the competition, led by 30 points going into the finals and extended that advantage with strong scores on her first two of five dives.

Viola, who wore headphones and lip-synced songs between dives, started crying almost immediately after her final dive.

She finished 10^t^h at the world championships last year.

Viola, who was a gymnast through middle school, started diving at 13. She won two NCAA championships at Miami.

More to come . . .

aulyon@tribune.com

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It Is Time, Athletes – Are You Ready?

Posted on June 24, 2012 by swimmerjoe

“If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’”
- from Rudyard Kipling’s “If”

If… and that’s the key word that sums up these Olympic Trials.
If I can swim the perfect swim…
If my coach and I timed my taper correctly…
If I can remember the finer tips my coach told me…
If my body’s muscle memory will perform…
If I can force my nerves to channel into my adrenaline…
If I can outpace the entire pool…
If I hear nothing but voices in my head…
If I can finish in the Top 2…
If I can shock the world!

And it’s that last “If” that excites me the most! The US Olympic Trials, aka the fastest meet in the world, always seems to have a surprise or two! All eyes are on Lochte and Phelps, Franklin and Soni, expecting big things from them.

But it’s the moment of the lifetime for those lesser know swimmers who may just rise to the occasion, hit all the “If’s” perfectly, and find themselves in the Top 2 and headed to London!

I can’t wait to see who will be that first athlete; the one who is not really in the running this year, to rise up and put the swimming world on notice.

Maybe it will be a swimmer from Florida, seeing as we have 111 athletes competing in Omaha this week. We know Ryan Lochte will be in the Olympics, but what about Becca Mann (CAT) in the 800 Freestyle who is seeded 10th, Carlos Omana (MAC) in the 400 IM who is seeded 16th, Melanie Margalis (SPA) in the 400 IM who is seeded 23rd, or even Molly Dubrasky (GCST) in the 100 Butterfly who is seeded 114th? Impossible, you say? Nope… it’s just a matter of “If” and possibly of “when.”

We know there will be one, maybe even two. It will be those whose adrenaline and will can give them the added speed to get in the finals and then….actually have a shot!

We shall see…who do you think it will be?

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Swimming Olympic Trials Heat and Psych Sheet NOW up

Posted on June 20, 2012 by swimmerjoe

2012 Olympic Trials Heat Sheet

Day 1

2012 Olympic Trials Psych Sheet

Psych OT

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Jorgensen Jets to Banyoles World Cup Victory

Posted on June 17, 2012 by swimmerjoe

via triathlon.org, by Erin Greene on 17/06/12 at 4:26 pm

The elite women were met with clear blue skies and rising temperatures at the 2012 Banyoles ITU Triathlon World Cup. A race brimming with athletes heading to London, triathlon newcomer Gwen Jorgensen (USA) gave her competition reason to fear her presence in England with a win in Spain on Sunday.

“It was a really great course,” Jorgensen said. “Those girls really made me work. There are some really good runners out there and when Erin took it out, I really tried to keep the distance.”

From the start, amphibious Lucy Hall (GBR) and Banyoles local Carolina Routier (ESP) wasted no time in creating a 20-meter distance on the two-lap swim. Routier swam on Hall´s hip throughout the swim, exiting to cheers from her compatriots.

Together, the young athletes headed out on the bike with a minute lead over favorites Andrea Hewitt (NZL) and Erin Densham (AUS). While they were expected to reign in the two runaways, the opposite actually happened.

Hall and Routier continued hammering out even splits, while the chase pack failed to find a rhythm. After trailing nearly a minute and a half behind on the first lap, the main group started to slowly chip away an average of ten seconds per lap. By the fourth lap, they pulled within a minute of the two leaders.

However, the group lost nearly 40 seconds on the final two laps. After a bike and swim that saw little change, the Hall and Routier left with a vengeance to take advantage of their lead.

Unfortunately for them, even one minute and 40 seconds wasn´t enough to secure a podium position. The pair was quickly overtaken by a swift Densham. The Aussie pulled even with Routier on the first lap and trailed Hall by just 14 seconds.

By midway through the second of three run laps, Hall was nowhere to been seen, while the Spaniard had fallen out of contention. Meanwhile, Densham continued ahead, while teammate Ashleigh Gentle and Jorgensen pulled up third. Hewitt trailed close behind.

“I knew I had to dig deep from the start of the run, with so many good runners around me,” Gentle said. “I was really happy with the way I came home today because I was worried when I started to feel a bit flat around the mid section of the run, but I managed to pick it up.”

On the final lap, Densham owned a nine-second lead over Jorgensen. Her lead, however, was soon destroyed. With a final surge, Jorgensen overtook a fatiguing Densham early on in the final lap. Jorgensen ran comfortably and confidently ahead.

She breezed over the finish line 16 seconds ahead of the competition to claim her second world cup title. Densham cruised into second, while her teammate Gentle gave Australia a two-three finish with bronze.

“I basically just went out here to have a hit,” Densham said. “To come away with second today, I actually did a lot better than I thought I would. I´m really happy where I´m at going into London.”

Elite Women

1.	Gwen Jorgensen	USA	01:59:39
2.	Erin Densham	AUS	01:59:55
3.	Ashleigh Gentle	AUS	02:00:02
4.	Andrea Hewitt	NZL	02:00:35
5.	Lois Rosindale	GBR	02:01:10
6.	Arina Shulgina	RUS	02:01:27
7.	Elena Danilova	RUS	02:01:38
8.	Felicity Sheedy-Ryan	AUS	02:01:48
9.	Anna Burova	RUS	02:02:07
10.	Tamsyn Moana-Veale	AUS	02:02:12

View Full Results >>

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Swimmers Compete in Olympic Qualifying Tuneup

Posted on May 29, 2012 by swimmerjoe

by Jeff Metcalfe on May. 28, 2012, under Arizona Republic Sports

There were autographs to sign and small checks to collect for elite swimmers at the low-key Arizona Invitational.

But just beneath the surface lurks the extreme highs and low soon to come. First at the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials, beginning in four weeks in Omaha, Neb., and for those who succeed there at the London Olympics, July 27-Aug. 12.

“The U.S. trials is such an action-packed meet, and there is so much pressure involved,” said South African sprinter Roland Schoeman, already qualified for his fourth Olympics. “I’m just glad we don’t have that pressure, because going to the Olympics is enough pressure for us. It’s a challenge to see what these guys (Americans) go through. You’ve got to be one of the best on any given day, and that’s hard. We train our lifetime for one opportunity, and those 48 seconds can make or break your career.”

Schoeman, training at Phoenix Swim Club since last August, won the 100-meter freestyle super final Monday night at in 49.161 seconds. It’ll take a time perhaps under 48 seconds to finish in the top two at the U.S. trials and qualify for London. The top six in the U.S. 100 free are candidates for the 4×100 relay, which is among Nick Brunelli’s goals.

The 30-year-old Brunelli was back at Mona Plummer Aquatic Center, where he was a multiple All-America for Arizona State from 2001 to 2004, to prepare for his final try at becoming an Olympian. He and his wife Jennifer will become parents of twin boys in October.

“There are so many great memories here,” said Brunelli, third in the 100 free and in the 50 free on Saturday. “It’s always good to come back. I really love this pool. In a twisted way, it’s kind of some closure. I don’t know if I’ll be back swimming in this pool again. Maybe in a masters meet years down the road. It’s nice to race Roland,” a rival at the University of Arizona when Brunelli was at ASU.

There are 50 swimmers from Tucson Ford Dealers Aquatics and UA qualified for the trials, June 25-July 2 in Omaha, Neb. Headliners include Amanda Beard, trying to make her fifth Olympic team, and Matt Grevers, 2008 Olympic silver medalist in the 100 backstroke.

Grevers won the 100 back at the Arizona Invitational on Sunday but opted not to stay for Monday finals. Beard, 30, did swim in a 200 breaststroke final that included a swimmer half her age and won by more than eight seconds in 2:27.331.

“This was a fun chance for me to stay in Arizona with everyone that I love and do a good training meet,” Beard said. “I’m in the perfect spot for the next month of training. I’m very happy with where I am. To make the U.S. team, you have to be out of your mind fast. I predict you’re going to have to go 2:23 to make the team in that race.”

Others open winners Monday were Kate Flederbach in the women’s 100 free super final, Alyssa Anderson and Darian Townsend in the 200 IM, Maggie Meyer and Ellis Miller in the 200 back and Carl Mickelson in the men’s 200 breast.

Anderson finished with four firsts while South African Townsend had three wins.

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Contador loses his Tour de France title

Posted on February 6, 2012 by swimmerjoe

via USA Today

The Associated Press reports that Alberto Contador was stripped of his 2010 Tour de France title Monday and banned for two years.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport suspended the three-time Tour champion after rejecting his claim that his positive test for clenbuterol was caused by eating contaminated meat.

The three-man CAS panel upheld appeals by the International Cycling Union and World Anti-Doping Agency, which challenged a Spanish cycling tribunal’s decision last year to exonerate Contador.

“The presence of clenbuterol was more likely caused by the ingestion of a contaminated food supplement,” CAS said in its ruling in Lausanne, Switzerland.

CAS backdated Contador’s ban and he is eligible to return to competition on Aug. 6. That ban means Contador will miss the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the London Olympics, but he would be eligible to ride in the Spanish Vuelta, which begins Aug. 18.

Contador becomes only the second Tour de France champion to be disqualified and stripped of victory for doping. The first was Floyd Landis, the American who lost his 2006 title after testing positive for testosterone.

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Try Florida Swim Network

Posted on February 5, 2012 by swimmerjoe

The link is here: http://FloridaSwimNetwork.com

They have live streaming for swimming, on demand replays, shows, specials, a great 2012 Olympic Hopefuls section, on and on! Give them a try!

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