14th November 2001

International Swimming Hall of Fame

The future venue for the International Swimming Hall of Fame is still uncertain after Fort Lauderdale City Commission (its current base) announced they were considering subsidising the necessary improvements to the pool complex in order to prevent the ISHOF relocating to another city, possibly Las Vegas, Miami or Hollywood. The Fort Lauderdale pool facility where the ISHOF is based opened in 1965 and has been the scene of eight world records but ISHOF officials believe the facility is unable to hold future international events.

US Swimming honours Phelps and Bowman

USA Swimming has named Michael Phelps its Athlete of the Year as well as awarding him the Phillips 66 Performance of the Year Award for his world record time of 1:54.52 to win the 200 Butterfly at the World Championships in Fukuoka. Phelps' coach at the Noth Baltimore Aquatic Club where he trains, Bob Bowman was named the winner of the Doc Counsilman Coach of the Year Award.

Australia names team for 2002 World Short Course Championships

Australian Swimming has announced a team of 35 swimmers to contest next year's World Short Course Championships in Moscow, Russia from April 4-8. Australian selectors have named 16 women and 19 men; however, leading names Ian Thorpe, Todd Pearson, Geoff Huegill, Leisel Jones and Dyana Calub were not on the list.

Brits impressive form at Worlds continues

Britain increased its medal tally at the World Championships to five today after sprint specialist Zoe Baker claimed bronze in the Womens 50 Breaststroke. Baker's time of 31.40 was just outside the 31.23 European record mark she set in the heats and had she been able to reproduce such form, it would have been the silver medal she was wearing now instead of the bronze. Nicola Jackson provided a solid performance in her first evern major individual final to place 6th in the 200 freestyle. Jackson's time of 1:59.44 was just 0.12 outside her own British record in what was a wide open race that saw the first six places all within 1 second of each other. The experience should prove very valuable in the future for the exciting teenager from Richmond in North Yorkshire who will now have her eyes firmly set on a medal challenge in Athens come 2004. Mark Foster qualified second fastest for the Mens 50 Butterfly final tomorrow by setting a new European record of 23.66 in his semi-final. However, he will find it tough to win gold as the world record fell to Geoff Huegill in the second. semi-final with an outstanding 23.44. Foster will be hoping that he can avoid a repeat of events from earlier in the week in the 50 freestyle where he qualified 3rd fastest for the final but could only place 7th overall at the race's conclusion. Sarah Price will also have her eyes firmly set on a medal tomorrow after she qualified 5th fastest for the Womens 100 Backstroke final in 1:01.60. However, it was disappointment for Katy Sexton as she failed to progress from her semi-final following a below par swim of 1:03.14. Also going into a final in 5th place tomorrow will be Rebecca Cooke for the Womens 1500 Freestyle. Cooke recorded a comfortable qualifying time of 16:22.73 and will be hoping to reduce that significantly in order to challenge for a medal. It was agony for Nathalie Brown though as she placed 9th overall from this morning's heats despite an excellent 10 second personal best time of 16:32.29. Brown missed the final by just 0.1 second. Britain's mens 800 freestyle relay quartet of Edward Sinclair, Paul Palmer, Marc Spackman and Jamie Salter were just outside the medals in tonight's final having placed 4th in 7:15. Despite finishing one place higher than Sydney last year, the result will be disappointing to the team as their time was three seconds slower then their Olympic performance. They are left to ponder how the three medallists (Australia, Italy and USA) have all moved forward since Sydney while they have taken a step back. The fact the their corresponding female teammates have also made great strides forward since Sydney will not be lost on them either.

World Championships Day 6 round up

America and Australia, the world's best two swimming nations, dominated proceedings on Day 6 of the swimming events in Fukuoka. America just edged the day however, winning three of the six gold medals up for grabs with the Australians taking two and China the remaining one. Anthony Ervin put forward his entry for 'swim of the meet' with a blistering 48.33 Championship and American record to win the Mens 100 Freestyle from lane 2. In probably the biggest upset of the competition so far, Ervin went for it from the gun recording an incredible 22.60 split at 50 metres. Hot favourite Pieter van den Hoogenband could not live with that and despite closing Ervin down in the final 25, had to settle for the silver medal in 48.43. However, the result was not without controversy as the scoreboard initially gave the result to the celebrating Dutchman before officials confirmed that Ervin had in fact touched first. The incident only adds to growing concerns over the accuracy of the electronic timing pads in Fukuoka that have been questioned on numerous occasions so far this week. The race had been expected to be another battle between Hoogenband and Thorpe in the centre lanes but Thorpe was also upstaged and had to settle for 4th place behind Sweden's Lars Frolander who added the bronze to the 100 butterfly gold he won yesterday. The American team's reputation for upsetting hot favourites in the pool grew stronger later in the session when NCAA champion Martha Bowen went one better than her silver in the 400 I.M. to take gold in the 200 distance and prevent Ukraine's Yana Klochkova from repeating her Sydney double gold act. Bowen looked shocked beyond belief when she turned round to the scoreboard to see her time of 2:11.93 placing her first. China's breaststroke world record holder Hu Qui stormed to the bronze medal from lane 1. The 'Star Spangled Banner' anthem was heard again just a few minutes later when Olympic silver medallist Aaron Piersol swam to a new championship record and gold medal swim of 1:57.13 in the Mens 200 Backstroke. Piersol pulled away on the final 50 to finish well clear of Austria's Markus Rogan and Iceland's Orn Arnasson. It was business as usual for the incredible Australian Mens 4 x 200 Freestyle squad. The quartet of Grant Hackett, Michael Klim, William Kirby and Ian Thorpe blew the field away to finish in an amazing new world record of 7:04. Italy showed great improvement from Sydney to take silver with the American's swimming a solid race in lane 4 for the bronze medal. Fifteen minutes earlier, Australian spirits had already been lifted by an excellent win in the Womens 200 Freestyle by 18 year old Giaan Rooney in 1:58.57. In one of the closest ever major championship finals, less than 1 second separated the top 6 places. However, it was China's Yu Yang (1:58.78) who held on strongest to take the silver behind Rooney with Camelia Potec snatching bronze for Romania in 1:58.85. The Womens 50 Breaststroke gave China a gold medal celebration with Xuejuan Luo powering her way down the Fukuoka pool in 30.84, an agonising 1/100th outside the world record mark. America took silver with Kristy Kowal (31.27) while European record holder Zoe Baker of Great Britain faded to bronze in 31.40 after leading in the first 25 metres. However, Baker will be very pleased with her first medal on the world stage that takes Britain's tally for the championships to five. Tomorrow's final of the Mens 50 Butterfly promises to be an excellent race following some great performances in today's semi-finals. First, Britain's Mark Foster stormed to a new European record of 23.66 just shy of Geoff Huegill's 23.60 world mark. However, Huegill was not phased and promptly lowered his world record in the second semi-final with an outstanding 23.44.

Relay row refuses to go away

Although the medals have now been officially presented to Britain, Germany and Japan for the Womens 4 x 200 Freestyle Relay at the World Championships, the dust has yet to settle on the incredible events of the past 48 hours. Giaan Rooney, one of the unfortunate members of the disqualified Australian quartet said yesterday, "As far as we're concerned we didn't cheat. We know we won the race fair and square, even if we don't have the medal to show for it", while Australian team boss Don Talbot remains furious over the issue and believes the rules on such incidents should be changed. In the American camp, national team director Dennis Pursley said on Thursday that they are likely to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over the outcome. The American team were disqualified because Cristina Teuscher left her block too early at the start of the second leg, but this isn’t confirmed by the official video, "The official video clearly shows we were in compliance with the rules," argued Pursley. He added that their complaint revolves around the timing system which failed to work several times on that day.

British medal tally grows to 4 at World Cahmpionships

Britain continued their best World Championships since 1975 by increasing their medal tally to four after day five of the eight day event. The relay quartet of Nicola Jackson (2:00.05), Janine Belton (2:00.64), Karen Legg (1:58.95) and Karen Pickering (1:59.05) were eventually awarded the gold medal today after FINA upheld the original result in which America and Australia were both disqualified from the silver and gold medal positions respectively. It was the first time since 1975 that 'God Save The Queen' has been heard at the World Championships. Lifted by the excellent relay news, Joanna Fargus then produced a great swim to take bronze in the 200 Backstroke. Fargus, coached by Ian Turner at the University of Bath, recorded a time of 2:11.05, just 1/100th outside her own British record. Tomorrow's finals will see Britain with at least two more great medal chances after both Zoe Baker and Nicola Jackson advanced from today's semi-final action. Baker, who trains in New Zealand, set a new European record of 31.23 in the morning heats and was only just outside that this evening with 31.27 ranking her second going into tomorrow's final. Fresh from her relay gold medal ceremony a few minutes earlier, Jackson swam the semi-final of the individual 200 Freestyle in 1:59.68 to progress to what looks likely to be a wide open final tomorrow with all eight girls within 1 second of each other. However, the joy of relay gold soon turned to disappointment for Karen Pickering, who could only manage 2:00.52 in her semi-final leaving her stranded in 12th place overall. This was well outside her sub 2:00 best time set in Manchester in June, a repeat of which would have given Britain two finalists in this event. 

World Championships Day 5 round up

The fifth day of swimming at the World Championships was unsurprisingly less dramatic than yesterday's drama and comedy of errors but it was not without the continuation of excellent performances that the championships have so far produced. America's Brendan Hansen made up for some of the disappointment of his compatriots women's relay disqualification by storming to victory in the Mens 200 Breaststroke in an impressive championship record time of 2:10.69. The race was extremely close with six of the field all in with a chance of gold over the last 25 metres. But it was Hansen, a student from Texas, who hung on to win ahead of the fast finishing Maxim Podoprigora from Austria (2:11.09) and Japan's Kosuke Katajima (2:11.21). Inge de Bruijn collected her second world title of the week with victory in the Womens 50 Butterfly in 25.90, just outside her world record set last year of 25.64. Sweden demonstrated their depth in the sprint butterfly events by taking both silver and bronze medals behind de Bruijn with usual freestyle specialist Therese Alshammar (26.18) getting silver and Anna-Karin Kammerling (26.45) the bronze. Sweden went one better though in the Mens 100 Butterfly as national record holder Lars Frolander added the world title to the Olympic and European crowns that he already holds. Frolander's time of 52.10 was a new championship record in a fingertip touch victory from USA's Ian Crocker (52.25) and Geoff Huegill of Australia (52.36). Like Frolander before her, Romania's Diana Mocanu added World Championship gold to her Olympic crown from last year with a powerful victory in the Womens 200 Backstroke in a time of 2:09.94. Mocanu finished half a second ahead of Russia's rapidly improving 15 year old Stanislava Komarova (2:10.43) with a fourth medal of the championships going to Britain from Joanna Fargus (2:11.05) The remaining final of today's racing was the Mens 200 I.M. and it was a delighted Masomilliano Rosolino who followed up his Olympic title last year with World gold in Japan. The Italian came home in 1:59.71 to hold off yet another American medallist, Tom Wilkens, who took silver in 2:00.75. The bronze went to Australia's Justin Norris in 2:00.91.

Gold goes to Britain - finally!

Great Britain have been awarded the gold medal in the Womens 4 x 200 Freestyle Relay after FINA's Jury of Appeal met this morning to deliberate over the protests made after the farcical events of yesterday. FINA's press release on the matter reads as follows: FINA PRESS INFORMATION No 18 FINA JURY OF APPEAL DECISION ON WOMENS 4x200 FREESTYLE RESULTS The FINA Jury of Appeal met today, 26 July 2001 in Fukuoka (JPN), to study the protest of Australian Swimming Inc., Amateur Swimming Federation of Great Britain and Japan Swimming Federation with regard to the results of the Women’s Final 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay held on 25 July 2001. 1. The Jury of Appeal decided unanimously that the Australian team who participated in this event be disqualified due to the clear violation of the FINA Rule SW 10.11 by their swimmers jumping into the pool before all teams had completed the race. 2. The Jury of Appeal also decided unanimously to uphold the protest submitted by the Amateur Swimming Federation of Great Britain and Japan Swimming Federation concerning the final result of the relay. The Jury of Appeal found that the time system worked perfectly during this race. The announced tolerance on judging for the relay take-off is 0.03. The tolerance recorded on the automatic equipment for the USA team was 0.06. Consequently the Jury of Appeal rule that the USA team is disqualified. The final standing of the 4 x 200m relay shall be as follows: 1st place: GBR Gold Medal, 2nd place: GER Silver Medal, 3rd place: JPN Bronze Medal, 4th place: CAN, 5th place: ESP, 6th place ITA, DQ AUS, DQ USA. The FINA Jury of Appeal

FINA Press Release regarding relay protests

The FINA Jury of Appeal will meet on Thursday (July 26) at 9:30am to decide about the appeals made by the National Teams of Australia, Great Britain and Japan concerning the women's 4x200m free relay. Therefore, the final decision will be announced as soon as possible and the medal ceremony will take place in the afternoon.

British women grab another medal - but which colour?

The swimming events in Fukuoka were thrown into confusion at the conclusion of the fourth day's racing following an amazing turn of events in the final event of the day, the Womens 4 x 200 Freestyle Relay. Australia touched home first in the second fastest time ever for the distance followed closely by USA and then the British team of Nicola Jackson, Janine Belton, Karen Legg and Karen Pickering two seconds back in the bronze medal position. However, then came the announcement that the USA quartet had been disqualified for a takeover infringement moving Britain up to silver. Stunningly, it was then announced that Australia had also been disqualified after their team jumped in the pool to celebrate the win at the end but before all the other teams had completed the course. The British team and its supporters jumped with delight as they were then moved up to the gold medal position having broken the British record by five seconds on the day to come home in 7:58.65. The drama was not over however, as America appealed the result, were successful in the appeal and were reinstated as world champions. Further appeals have now been lodged by both Britain and Australia and the final outcome for the result will now not be known until tomorrow.  

World Championships Day 4 round up

The world had waited almost one year since Sydney 2000 for the rematch of Ian Thorpe and Pieter van den Hoogenband in the Mens 200 Freestyle and the two superstars put on a show well worthy of the wait. The two tracked each other stroke for stroke over the first 150 metres and built up a huge lead over the rest of the field. However, on the last length the Australian teenager found an incredible turn of speed to take 3 metres out of Hoogenband and come home for gold in yet another world record time of 1:44.06. Hoogenband looked bemused at what had just happened to him but was gracious in defeat holding Thorpe's arm aloft at the end. His time was 1:45.81 with American Klete Keller setting a personal best of 1:47.10 to take bronze. Inge de Bruijn continued where she left off in Sydney by winning the Womens 100 Freestyle on the fourth day of competition in Fukuoka. Her time of 54.18 was a new championship record and a long way clear of Germany's Katrin Meissner in second and Sandra Volker third. American Randall Bal made up for missing out on a medal in the Mens 100 Backstroke by taking the gold in the shorter sprint event. His time of 25.34 edged out Germany's Thomas Rupprath (25.44) and 100 metre champion Matt Welsh (25.49). The Womens 200 Breaststroke went to Olympic champion Agnes Kovacs from Hungary in a new championship record of 2:24.90 beating off the double Chinese challenge of Hui Qi taking silver (2:25.09) and Xuejuan Luo who won bronze (2:25.29).

Smith takes bronze as Thorpe smashes World Record!

Graeme Smith won Britain's second medal of the World Championships today by taking bronze in the Mens 800 Freestyle. Smith's time of 7:51.12 smashed his own British record from the heats by over 5 seconds. The swim represents an excellent return to form on the world stage for Scottish born Smith who has struggled in recent years to find the kind of performance that won him a bronze medal in the 1500 freestyle at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. The swim also sets Smith up very nicely for the 1500 later this week where he will be looking to add to his medal collection. However, it was Australian superstar Ian Thorpe who took the headlines once again by taking gold in yet another world record time, the 15th world mark of his career. Thorpe's time was an incredible 7:39.16 including an amazing final 100 metres of 52. to knock 2 seconds off the previous world record he himself had set at the Australian Trials earlier this year. The gold and silver result was a repeat of the 400 freestyle on Monday as Thorpe pulled away from teammate Grant Hackett in the final part of the race after sitting on Hackett's shoulder over the first 700 metres. Hackett was also inside the old world record with 7:40.34.

Mixed fortunes for Brits on day 3 of Worlds

Despite rejoicing at claiming their second medal (two more than the total from Sydney) of the World Championships today when Graeme Smith won bronze in the 800 freestyle, it was not smiles all round as other British team members failed to shine. Paul Palmer will be bitterly disappointed after failing to reach the final of the Mens 200 Freestyle. His semi-final time of 1:49.34 was not fast enough and also significantly outside some of the domestic performances he has already produced this season that would have easily ensured a final position. Palmer was 5th in the 200 freestyle at the Olympics last year.   Sprint backstroke specialist Neil Willey also missed the final of his favoured 50 metre event following a semi-final time of 25.98. Willey had earlier won a swim-off in 26.13 to make the semi-final after a sluggish below par heat swim of 26.33. His pesonal best and British record time of 25.90 from earlier this year would have placed Willey 5th for tomorrow's final.   Darren Mew finished a credible 7th place in his first major championship final of the Mens 100 Breaststroke. However, Mew will be slightly disappointed with his time of 1:01.92 as this was almost half a second slower than his semi-final performance and outside his target of breaking the British record of 1:01.33 held by Nick Gillingham. The drop off may have been the result of attacking the race too much on the first length as Mew turned in second under world record pace at the 50 metre mark in 28.24 but could not maintain this form in the closing stages. However, perhaps the biggest disappointment of all came in the Womens 200 Breaststroke semi-final where Jaime King finished way off the pace in 2:34.68 , a full 3 seconds slower than her heat time and over 6 seconds outside her British record set earlier this year in Manchester. Like Palmer and Willey before her, had King been able to reproduce her season's best form she would have secured a final position. With three Olympic Games behind her, reasons for such under achievement cannot be laid at the door of experience.

World Championships Day 3 round up

The United States of America avenged some of their disappointments from the previous two days by winning five medals, including two golds, on day 3 of the swimming events in Fukuoka. In an era where youth seems to be gaining the edge over experience it was teenage wonderkid Michael Phelps who led the way by winning gold in the Mens 200 Butterfly, breaking his own world record in the process with a time of 1:54.58. Reigning Olympic champion Tom Malchow made it a 1-2 finish for the Americans when taking silver in 1:55.28 with Anatoli Poliakov of Russia third in 1:55.68. America won their second gold medal of the session when Haley Cope snatched the Womens 50 Backstroke title in an incredibly tight finish across the eight lanes. Cope's time of 28.51 was only 2/100ths ahead of German Anjte Buschulte who edged Cope's countrywoman Natalie Coughlin into the bronze medal position by a further 1/100th. It was Russia's turn for glory in the Mens 100 Breaststroke with Roman Sloudnov coming home to take gold in 1:00.16, just outside his 59.94 world record semi-final swim. The same three swimmers made the podium who did so in Sydney, albeit in a different order. The Olympic champion Domenico Fioravanti of Italy had to be content with silver this time in 1:00.47 while American Ed Moses took bronze in 1:00.61.

World Silver for Britain in Womens 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay!

Great Britain won its first medal of the 2001 World Championships today when the Womens 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay team tied with the USA for second place behind gold medal winners Germany. The successful quartet of Alison Sheppard (56.15), Melanie Marshall (55.22), Ros Brett (54.76) and Karen Pickering (54.67) were delighted with the result of 3:40.80 despite it being just outside the British record set in Sydney last year. The medal was secured following an awesome final leg by the experienced Pickering that saw her dive in placed 4th about 2 metres behind the American and Swedish teams. Remaining strong in the final 25 metres Pickering overhauled the Swedes and caught the American girl to collect the first World Championship medal by British females since 1986. It was mixed results for other British performances on the second day of competition. Rebecca Cooke finished a highly credible 6th with 8:36.67 in the Womens 800 Freestyle, her first ever major championship final and can now look forward with good expectations for her favourite event, the 1500 freestyle later in the week. Darren Mew was delighted to qualify for the Mens 100 Breaststroke final with a personal best time of 1:01.47 and will be looking to eclipse Nick Gillingham's British record of 1:01.33 in tomorrow's race. However, it was disappointment once again in the long course arena for world short course record holder Mark Foster in the 50 Freestyle final. Foster swam a dreadful race including swallowing water on a breath to finish tied 7th in 22.44, way outside his semi-final time of 22.19. Sarah Price failed to progress from the semi-finals of the 50 Backstroke, her time of 29.57 placing 16th overall and just outside her personal best.

Sloudnov lowers world record again!

Russian swimming star Roman Sloudnov lowered his own 100 breaststroke world record today in the semi-finals of the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. Sloudnov, who became the first ever swimmer to break one minute for the event just three weeks ago at the Russian nationals, went under again today to reduce the new mark by 3/100ths to 59.94. The swim makes him the clear favourite for Tuesday's final but he will face stiff competition from Italian Olympic champion Dominico Fioravanti, American Ed Moses and the home nation's Kosuke Katajima.

World Championship Day 2 results round up

Results round up from finals on the second day of the World Championships Monday: MEN: 50 Free 1, Anthony Ervin USA 22.09; 2, Pieter van den Hoogenband NED 22.16; 3,Tomohiro Yamanoi JPN and Roland Shoeman RSA 22.18; 100 Back 1, Matt Welsh AUS 54.31 (Championship Record); 2, Orn Arnarson ISL 54.75; 3, Steffen Driesen GER 54.91; WOMEN: 200 Fly 1, Petria Thomas AUS 2:06.73 (Championship Record); 2, Annika Mehlhorn GER 2:06.97 (European Record); 3, Kaitlin Sandeno USA 2:08.53; 100 Breast 1, Xue Juan Luo CHN 1:07.18 (Championship Record); 2, Leisel Jones AUS 1:07.96; 3, Agnes Kovacs HUN 1:08.50; 800 Free 1,Hannah Stockbauer GER 8:24.66; 2,Diana Munz USA 8:28.84; 3, Kaitlin Sandeno USA 8:31.45; 4x100 Free 1, GER 3:39.58 (European Record); 2, USA and GBR 3:40.80.

FINA not testing for EPO at World Championships

FINA have decided against testing for erythropoetin (EPO) at the current World Championships in Japan. The test introduced at last year's Olympics to detect EPO in an athlete requires a blood and urine sample to be taken. However, FINA will only carry out standard urine tests at the competition in Fukuoka this month. A urine only test for EPO is not expected to be introduced until late this year. The controversial move has brought criticism from both coaches and swimmers and could be seen as FINA going soft on drugs in order to avoid a similar debacle to that which occurred at the last World Championships in Perth, Australia in 1998 where four Chinese swimmers tested positive and another was found with vials of human growth hormone in her bag. EPO is presently one of the most commonly abused performance enhancing drugs in modern sport, especially in endurance events. It increases the body's red blood cell count and the oxygen carrying capacity of blood in a similar fashion to the adaptations created by training at altitude.

World Championships Day 1 results round up

Only three swimming gold medals were decided on the first day of swimming events at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan on Sunday. The Australian 400 freestyle relay quartet won the gold in a championship record time of 3:14.10. The Netherlands finished second with 3:14.56 ahead of the USA team who finished in 3:15.29. However, the Americans were disqualified for fielding an unnamed swimmer in the final, giving the bronze to Germany. Ukraine's Yana Klochkova won the women's 400 Individual Medley in 4:36.98 with American Martha Bowen taking silver in 4:39.06 and Romania's Beatrice Caslaru the bronze in 4:39.33. However, the highlight of the day was Ian Thorpe's world record performance of 3:40.17 to win the mens 400 Freestyle ahead of Australian compatriot Grant Hackett who secured silver in a personal best of 3:42.51 with bronze going to Italy's Emiliano Brembilla in 3:45.11 The time by Thorpe was all the more incredible as he appeared to control the first 250 metres of the race and was consistently well behind world record pace throughout. However, an amazing last 100 split of 53.72 brought the teenage star home to his 14th career world record time and a standing ovation from the 10000 capacity crowd. Thorpe returned to the pool shortly after to grab his second gold from two swims as part of the aforementioned 4 x 100 freestyle winning team. Thorpe's split of 47.87 was only bettered by Flying Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband's fastest ever relay split time of 47.02.

Montreal wins vote to host 2005 World Championships

The Canadian city of Montreal has won the vote to host the 2005 World Swimming Championships by beating off competition from Long Beach and Melbourne in a tight vote by FINA bureau members at the current World Championships in Japan. The 2003 event will be held in Barcelona, Spain.

World Cup tour cut down

FINA have decided to reduce the schedule of cities on the Short Course World Cup tour from 10 to 6. Edmonton, Imperia, Manchester and Paris have now been dropped from the 2001/2002 circuit.

City of Coventry swimmer heads for World Championships

Coventry University student, Michael Williamson, will face his greatest challenge yet at the World Championships in Japan on 21 July 2001. Michael is one of four members of the Irish national swimming team who are flying out to Fukuoka on Saturday, he will undergo an intensive week of training before competing in the World Championship the following weekend. Michael competes in the 200m breaststroke. Michael is in the final year at Coventry University. He decided to leave his home town of Lisburn, Co. Antrim to study at Coventry University because of the course content and the swimming programme available at the City of Coventry Swimming Club. Michael was eligible for the University's Sports Scholarship Programme and during his time with the club, has made dramatic improvements. Michael said: "My aim for the World Championships is to make the semi-final and then see what happens? I hope to make the squad for Ireland in the World Universities Games in Beijing in August this year. I might come head-to-head with my training partner and fellow student Adam Whitehead who hopes to be included in the British team. I am really pleased with the way my training has progressed in Coventry and I will stay here after I have completed my degree next summer. I am confident that this is where I need to be to continue to make progress." (by Kate Beales)

Austrian World Championships team announced

Austria has announced its team to compete at the World Championships next week. Eight swimmers have been selected including former European Champion Vera Lischka and triple European Junior Champion sensation Mirna Jukic. WOMEN: Judith Draxler, Elvira Fischer, Mirna Jukic, Vera Lischka, Petra Zahrl. MEN: Maxim Podoprigora, Markus Rogan, Patrick Schmollinger.

Beijing wins vote to host 2008 Olympics

The Chinese city of Beijing has been awarded the right to host the 2008 Olympic Games following the vote at the IOC Congress in Moscow yesterday. Widely tipped to win, Beijing beat off competition from Toronto, Paris, Istanbul and Osaka in the second round of voting. Concerns had been raised in many quarters that China should not be awarded the Games because of its poor human rights record but according to former Olympic swimmer and IOC Vice-President Dick Pound, "The human rights problems remain an issue but it is more of a challenge and an opportunity for the Olympic movement to make a contribution to some of its own goals, to put sport at the service of mankind everywhere and maybe bring about some change"

Swimmers pull out of World Championships

Germany's Mitja Zastrow has withdrawn from the World Championships that begin next week in Japan due to a fracture of the hand caused from falling down a stairway. His position will not be replaced. Meanwhile, the South African team have removed Ryk Neethling, Charlene Wittstock and Olympic medallist Terence Parkin from the squad to compete in Fukuoka due to concerns over their lack of adequate preparation for the Championships.

Big names line up for European All-Stars

Various big names have been confirmed as part of the European All-Stars team to compete at the Goodwill Games starting in Brisbane, Australia on August 29th. Dutch Olympic champions Pieter van den Hoogenband and Inge de Bruijn will be joined by Germany's Stev Theloke and Sweden's Olympic gold medal winner Lars Frolander for the men's team, while Ukrainian dual Olympic gold medallist Yana Klochkova, Slovakia's Martina Moravcova and Romania's Beatrice Caslaru will form part of the women's squad. The remaining members of the team will be named after the forthcoming World Championships.

Goddard the star at European Junior Championships

Stockport Metro's James Goddard was the star of the European Junior Championships that concluded in Malta today. Goddard, who is coached by Sean Kelly, won the gold medal in the 200 and 400 I.M. events with stunning Championship record times of 2:02.66 and 4:19.30 respectively. The latter was also a British senior record for the exciting 18 year old who erased Simon Militis's mark from earlier this year. British medal expectations were lower this year than in various previous years due to a much smaller team but were boosted by the addition of an excellent bronze medal performance from City of Leeds swimmer Julia Preston in the 400 I.M. The Terry Denison coached 15 year old smashed her personal best to reach the medal dais with 4:51.80 and also placed 5th in the 200 I.M. Prescott's David O'Brien was unlucky to miss out on a medal after finishing 4th in the 200 backstroke (and 7th, 100 backstroke) while other British finalists included Mark Lewis (5th, 200 butterfly), Robert Lee (8th, 50 breaststroke) and Claire Johnson (5th, 400 freestyle), Richard Bryant (8th, 200 freestyle; 6th, 400 freestyle), Ross Hughes (6th, 1500 freestyle), Matthew Bowe (5th, 50 backstroke), Nathan Oxford (8th, 50 backstroke), Vicky Cook (6th, 50 freestyle; 5th, 100 freestyle).

Swimsuit row rumbles on

Despite signing a new kit deal with the Italian firm Diana, the Amateur Swimming Federation of Great Britain has still not resolved the row that dogged preparations for last year's Olympic Games with swimmers refusing to wear official team outfits for their events. British swimmers heading for this year's World Championships later this month have rejected an offer to share in any profits made from the new Diana suit because it affects their freedom of choice on swimsuits that are now classed technical as technical equipment. With 20 of the squad signed up to Speedo, 4 to Arena, 1 to Adidas and the remaining 2 asking for Speedo suits, it is not likely that Diana apparel among the British squad will be evident during races in Japan. However, the swimmers must remove all non-Diana visible brand names from their racing suits and wear Diana kit during warm-ups and swim-downs.

Russian World Championship team

Following the conclusion of the National Championships in Moscow, the team to represent Russia at the forthcoming World Championships has been announced. Twenty-six swimmers have been selected for the trip to Fukuoka, including sub-60 breaststroke sensation Roman Sloudnov but excluding former Olympic champions Denis Pankratov, who failed to reach the required time in the 50m backstroke. MEN: Vladislav Aminov, Alexei Butsenin, Dmitry Chernyshov, Alexei Filipets, Stepan Ganzei, Leonid Khokhlov, Dmitry Komornikov, Maxim Korshunov, Vladislav Kulikov, Arseny Malyarov, Igor Marchenko, Anatoly Polyakov, Alexander Popov, Roman Sludnov. WOMEN: Olga Bakaldina, Irina Bespalova, Yelena Bogomazova, Olga Bogoslovenko, Nadezhda Chemezova, Yekaterina Kibalo, Stanislava Komarova, Alexandra Malanina, Natalya Sutyagina, Irina Ufimtseva, Inna Yaitskaya, Oxana Veryovka.