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19th Dec 2002 |
UK Sport Poll: Swimming is important to the British public!
When it comes to international sporting success the British public consider only athletics and football as more important than swimming. That is the result of a recent poll conducted by UK Sport. Track and field topped the list of sports in which the British public is most eager for sporting success – knocking football off the top for the first time since polling on the topic started in February, 2000. The research (conducted in the aftermath of the Commonwealth Games in August) found that 21% of the public would most like to see our sportsmen and women achieving success in athletics, with football the next most popular sport on 18%. Swimming was the only other sport to make it into double figures, securing just under 11% of the vote, comfortably ahead of tennis in fourth place with 7%. The poll was part of UK Sport’s regular assessments of the sports in which the public would most like to see sporting success. In both previous polls, football came out as the nation’s favourite. The report also looked at where the public expected Team GB to finish in the Athens medal table in 2004. The results indicated that Britons are optimistic about the Olympic Games, with 25% expecting a top 5 finish. 43% endorsed UK Sport’s own target of a top-10 position for the British team, with just one in five opting for a top-15 result. The public also gave their views on the sports in which they would like to see Olympic medals being won, with swimming placing a clear second behind athletics. |
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17th Dec 2002 |
Foster and Baker under fire from Sweetenham 
By Craig Lord. As reported in The Times 17/12/02
Bill Sweetenham, the performance director in charge of British swimming, has banished Mark Foster and Zoe Baker from his core squad, branding the two world short-course record-holders “not worth spending any more of my time on”. Both Foster, 32, world short-course record-holder over 50 metres freestyle, and Baker, 26, 50 metres breaststroke Commonwealth Games champion, are at present training in Australia, and have been asked to pay towards the costs of sending them to the winter World Cup series in Europe. In an end-of-year review scathing in its criticism, Sweetenham cited both swimmers as examples of how not to achieve Olympic success. “Mark and Zoe should have learnt a lesson from the World Cups,” he said. “Pieter van den Hoogenband was training his butt off in Melbourne, but wins the 50 (metres) when Mark’s as fresh as a daisy. Emma Igelstrom’s working like hell and wins the 50, 100 and 200, and Zoe is fresh as a daisy and gets beaten.” "I've sat down with Mark and explained the worth of low-intensity volume training. He just says 'Bill - I don't like swimming too much'. He spends much of his time in the gym. The fact is that when he comes under pressure in a race, his skills break down. He isn't in the water long enough in training. I can't change his mind, so it's best he goes his own way. The same for Zoe."
Sweetenham did have praise for a squad of swimmers and coaches who had “delighted” him by winning 11 Commonwealth titles in Manchester in August and three golds among nine medals at the European Short-course Championships in Riesa, Germany, last week. There were titles for Stephen Parry in the 200m butterfly, Alison Sheppard in the 50m freestyle and Sarah Price in the 200m backstroke. Price, said Sweetenham, had done a great job but even she now realised that she has to do "more work on her stroke and streamlining". “From two years back to where we are now, there is no question that we (Great Britain) are the most improved nation in the world,” he said, then adding: “But who cares?” Holding up the Olympic Games as the only true prize, and taking another cryptic swipe at Foster and Baker, Sweetenham insisted: “We have a core of swimmers that are heading in the right direction. A lot of them are young and are learning the right culture from scratch. I can’t waste any more time on people heading in a different direction.” Some swimmers, though, in Sweetenham’s opinion, are succeeding: Stephen Parry and Alison Sheppard, the European champions, were “professional role models and a huge positive influence” on younger swimmers, among others. But Sweetenham’s “biggest concern is the likes of James Gibson being influenced by the way Mark and Zoe train”. Gibson led Adam Whitehead and Darren Mew, his Britain team-mates, home to a 1-2-3 triumph for England over 50 metres breaststroke at the Commonwealth Games. But Sweetenham says all three are “on the wrong recipe for podium success in Athens. They’re on low volume, high intensity, high gym work, high injury-rate training. All five are injured right now. James never puts a fortnight's training together without getting an injury. In breaststroke its technique, technique, technique. They're not in the water long enough for that to be happening."
Asked if everyone was now on 60km a week he said: "No. They're struggling with it. I'm kicking their backsides to make them do it and they're ducking for cover and the bloody coaches are ducking for cover more than the swimmers - but I ain't gonna stop." Gibson’s teammate Melanie Marshall had increase her training to 55km a week. She "had a problem accepting that I wasn't taking her to the world cups until she was on 60k. It’s not what I asked for. Its like asking for your roof painted and someone comes and paints the dunny." Those who do make it to the World Cups face a “fun time” he said; those whose starts and turns were poor in heats would “not leave the pool until they’re good — if that means staying in the pool all day between heats and finals that’s what’ll happen”. It happened to Keri-anne Payne, who in Melbourne 11 days ago became the fastest 14-year-old over 800 metres freestyle — but not before the “tears and tantrums” it took to get her turns right. Such measures had “to be done in a positive way. They’ve got to want to do it. It’s not a punishment — it’s a let’s-get-it-right mentality. British kids aren’t used to that.”
Andrei Vorontsov, a Russian coach, is to be sent out across Britain to “hunt for” talented 12 and 13-year-olds to replace a group of women breaststroke swimmers that are “worse than the pits”. Sweetenham, who arrived in autumn 2000 after Britain failed to win an Olympic medal for the first time since 1936, also decreed that those who fall short of a minimum of 60 kilometres of training a week will not be selected for the European rounds of the World Cup series in January. Payne and David Davies, 17, who won the silver medal in the 1,500 metres freestyle in Riesa, are among those on the frontline of Sweetenham’s battle of the generations. That battle will continue if the European Swimming League adopts his proposal to allow five, not two, entries per nation at their winter short-course championships in Dublin next December. Only two per nation would be allowed into finals. “It would be like five dogs with two bones,” Sweetenham said with a smile. |
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16th Dec 2002 |
Dolan announces retirement
Tom Dolan, the greatest all-around male swimmer in the history of swimming, announced his retirement today. Dolan, 27, said that concerns about his health forced the decision. Dolan held the 400m I.M. record continuously from September 1994 to August 2002 - longer than anyone else. He won gold medals in his event at both the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games, adding a silver in 2000 in the 200 I.M. he also won the 400 I.M. at both the 1994 and 1998 World Championships. This double double is a feat no other swimmer has matched. |
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6th Dec 2002 |
Rouse and Bennett on comeback trail
Two swimmers on the comeback trail - one recovering from shoulder surgery and the other emerging from a six-year retirement - made some positive strides Thursday night on Day 1 of the U.S. Open. Three-time Olympic gold medalist Jeff Rouse finished fourth in the 200m backstroke, attaining his national cut with a time of 2:05.74. And that's not too shabby considering Thursday was just his second competition since retiring from the sport in 1996. "It's a little hard to tell where I'm at right now, and that's why I'm here," the 32-year-old Rouse said. "I needed some benchmark times to start from, and that race was faster than I thought I'd go in the 200, so I'm looking forward to the 100 tomorrow night." Rouse is shooting for his Olympic Trials cut in that event Friday and is optimistic about his chances. "Every time I've swum, I've swum faster than I thought I would," Rouse said. The 200 back was won by Canada's Keith Beavers, who had the most outstanding men's performance of the night. Beavers came from behind on the second 100 to overtake another comebacker, 2000 Olympic champ and former world record-holder, Lenny Krayzelburg. Beavers finished in a fine 1:59.75, beating Krayzelburg by 0.72.
Brooke Bennett finished sixth in the 400m free Thursday night with a time of 4:19.68, an eight-second drop from her time at Summer Nationals, her first major meet since her shoulder surgery in November 2001. Bennett got her national cut in that event in the heats, which was her goal coming into the meet. She'll be shooting for the same goal in the 800m free on Saturday. "We have a long way to go," Bennett said. "But it's good to swim and get back into the groove of things. We set new goals every month, and this month it was to come here, swim, and get National cuts in the 400 and 800. I'm not going to rush and overdo it. I just want to keep getting stronger to swim at Nationals." The strongest women's performance of the night was turned in by Japan's Masami Tanaka. Swimming for Curl-Burke, Tanaka won the 100m breast in 1:08.89, well ahead of 2000 Olympic silver medalist, Kristy Kowal (1:10.14). |
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5th Dec 2002 |
US announces coaching staff for 2003
USA Swimming has announced its National Team coaches and managers for all 2003 international competitions and the National Distance Camp. It has also announced the managers list for the 2004 Olympic Games.
World Championship & Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool
Head Men’s: David Marsh
Assistant Men’s: Bob Bowman
Assistant Men’s: Eddie Reese
Assistant Men’s: Dave Salo
Head Women’s: Jack Bauerle
Assistant Women’s: Frank Busch
Assistant Women’s: Teri McKeever
Assistant Women’s: Mark Schubert
Pan American Games (pending USOC approval)
Head Men’s: Eric Hansen
Assistant Men’s: Dick Shoulberg
Assistant Men’s: Jon Urbanchek
Head Women’s: Bill Rose
Assistant Women’s: Jay Benner
Assistant Women’s: Bill Dorenkott
World University Games (pending USOC approval)
Head Men’s: Larry Liebowitz
Assistant Men’s: Dennis Dale
Assistant Men’s: Dave Ferris
Head Women’s: Jill Sterkel
Assistant Women’s: Kim Brackin
Assistant Women’s: Jean Freeman
National Distance Camp
Head Coach: Rick Shipherd
2004 Olympic Team Manager
Head Manager: Joke Schubert |
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5th Dec 2002 |
Thorpe and Coughlin named World Swimmers of the Year
Australian Ian Thorpe and American Natalie Coughlin have been named the male and female “World Swimmers of the Year” for 2002 by Swimming World and Junior Swimmer magazine. For Thorpe, 20, this marks the second time in a row and the fourth time in the last five years that he has earned the prestigious award. For Coughlin, also 20, it is her first such honor. Thorpe becomes the first swimmer ever to win this award four times. Three swimmers - the USA's Janet Evans, Hungary's Kristina Egerszegi and East Germany's Kristin Otto - were three-time winners. The two were selected by a panel of 12 of the world's most knowledgeable and distinguished swimming writers from North America, Europe, Australia, Asia, South America and Africa. In 2001, Thorpe won in a runaway, but this year he barely withstood a challenge by 17 year-old American, Michael Phelps, who actually had more impressive world rankings. The “Thorpedo” set “only” one world record in 2002, lowering his own global standard in the 400m freestyle to 3:40.08, and ranked first in the world in two events: the 200 and 400 meters. But in the year’s two biggest meets – the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England and the Pan Pacific Championships in Yokohama, Japan – he won an astonishing 11 gold medals (six individual, five relay). Phelps set a world record in the 400 meters individual medley (4:11.09) and ranked first in the 200 and 400m medleys and the 100m butterfly, and second in the 200m butterfly, another event in which he holds the world record. He also swam on the USA’s world record-setting 4x100m medley relay. At the Pan Pacs, he won two individual gold and one silver medal, plus one of each color in the relay events. Coughlin was a nearly unanimous choice over Germany’s Franziska van Almsick. The University of California student became the first woman to break the one-minute barrier for the 100 meters backstroke (59.58), ranked first in the world in three different strokes – the 100 meter freestyle, 100m backstroke and 100m butterfly – and won four individual gold medals plus a relay gold and two silver medals at the Pan Pacs. Last month she set short course world records in the 100m backstroke, 100m butterfly and 100m individual medley. Van Almsick broke her own eight year-old world record in the 200m freestyle and swam on Germany’s record-setting 4x100m freestyle relay, as she won five gold medals (two individual, three relay) at the European Championships.
The Top Three Vote-Getters
MEN
World
1. Ian Thorpe, Australia
2. Michael Phelps, USA
3. Grant Hackett, Australia
WOMEN
World
1. Natalie Coughlin, USA
2. Franziska van Almsick, Germany
3. Yana Klochkova, Ukraine
In regional voting, the honorees for 2002 are as follows:
WOMEN
Pacific Rim
1. Petria Thomas, Australia
2. Qi Hui, China
3. Luo Xuejuan, China
European
1. Franziska van Almsick, Germany
2. Yana Klochkova, Ukraine
3. Otylia Jedrejczak, Poland
American
1. Natalie Coughlin
2. Lindsay Benko
3. Diana Munz
MEN
Pacific Rim
1. Ian Thorpe, Australia
2. Kosuke Kitajima, Japan
3. Grant Hackett, Australia
European
1. Pieter van den Hoogenband, Netherlands
2. Thomas Rupprath, Germany
3. Oleg Lisogor, Ukraine
American
1. Michael Phelps
2. Aaron Peirsol
3. Ed Moses
Pacific Rim Swimmers of the Year
As male World Swimmer of the Year, Ian Thorpe is also the male Pacific Rim Swimmer of the Year. Repeating her first-time selection as female Pacific Rim Swimmer of the Year is Australia's Petria Thomas. This year, Petria, who turned 27 on Aug. 25, set a Commonwealth record in the 50 meter butterfly (long course) with her 26.66 at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, July 31. She came very close, a mere 6-hundredths of a second, from setting a second Commonwealth mark in the 100 fly with her 58.11 effort at the Pan Pacific Championships in Yokohama, Aug. 26. Her best time in the 200 fly this year was a 2:08.31, also at Pan Pacs. In short course meters competition, Petria set two Commonwealth standards this year. In the 50 fly, she turned in a 26.36 swim at the Short Course World Championships, April 5, in Moscow; more recently, she posted a 56.93 at the Telstra Australian Short Course Championships in Melbourne, Sept. 5.
European Swimmers of the Year
Two veterans turned in impressive performances at the European Championships and, as a result, were named European Swimmers of the Year, Pieter van den Hoogenband of The Netherlands and Franziska van Almsick from Germany, both 24. On the second night of competition at the European Championships in Berlin, van den Hoogenband turned in the second fastest ever 100 meter freestyle relay split. He blasted an amazing 47.12 (he owns the #1 split at 47.02) to give his Netherlands team fourth place in the 400 meter freestyle relay. In the individual 100m free, he ended up a mere 2-hundredths shy of the world mark that he set at the Sydney Olympics, with a 47.86. Along with his 47.97 semifinal swim, "Hoogie" owns the top three, and only sub-48 second, performances in the event. Pieter also posted a European record 1:44.89 in the 200 free to rank No. 2 in the world this year. That also made him the second fastest performer all-time with the fifth fastest performance. To cap off his European Championship experience, he placed fourth in the 50 free (22.34). Franziska van Almsick came into the European Championships this year after seven years of swimming in virtual obscurity. The last time she led the world in any event was in 1995. The last time she was named Swimming World's European Swimmer of the Year was in 1994. And the last time she was named World Swimmer of the Year was in 1993. She hadn't even turned in a personal best time since 1995! However, by the end of the Europeans, all of that was forgotten. Five gold medals and two world records have a way of doing that. The cornerstone of Franzi's triumphs was her world record swim in the 200 meter free (1:56.64). She bettered her previous mark of 1:56.78 set at the World Championships in Rome in 1994. However, that wasn't the only world record she set at the meet: she anchored Germany's 400 free relay (53.64) of 3:36.00, which bettered the global standard of 3:36.61 set by the USA at the Sydney Olympics. She also helped her team to a European record in the 400 medley relay with her butterfly split of 57.48, and she tied the German national record in the 100 free with her winning 54.39, tying her for seventh performer all-time. Her fifth gold came in the 800 free relay, where she posted a 1:57.90 anchor split.
American Swimmers of the Year
As female World Swimmer of the Year, Natalie Coughlin was also the unanimous choice as female American Swimmer of the Year. Phelps, who earned top American honors for men, had a career-making year in 2002. He set a world record of 4:11.09 in the 400 meter IM (long course) at the U.S. Nationals in Fort Lauderdale, erasing Tom Dolan's 4:11.76 from the Sydney Olympics, and followed that up with a 4:12.48 at Pan Pacs, the sixth fastest performance ever. He came close to setting standards in three other long course events this year, all at the long course Nationals in Fort Lauderdale in August. In the 100 butterfly, Michael turned in a 51.88, which tied him with Germany's Thomas Rupprath for second performance all-time and top time this year. He was just 7-hundredths shy of the world mark, currently held by Michael Klim. Phelps also came within 28-hundredths of his own world mark set last year in the 200 fly at the World Championships with a 1:54.86 (third performance all-time). And in the 200 IM, Phelps' 1:58.68 made him the second performer ever (third performance), coming within 52-hundredths of Jani Sievinen's 1:58.16 from the 1994 World Championships. At Pan Pacs, Phelps won the 200 and 400 IMs. He ranked No. 1 in the world this year in those two events and tied for another No. 1 world ranking in the 100 fly. |
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4th Dec 2002 |
English girls scoop BBC awards
Karen Legg and Rebecca Cooke have been awarded BBC South Sports Personality of the Year and BBC South Sports Woman of 2002 respectively, in recognition of their excellent performances at the Manchester Commonwealth Games. In addition, Jo Fargus received the BBC West Country Sportswoman of the Year Award, to add to her gold and silver medals from Manchester. The winners are chosen by BBC sport editors and journalists. |
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4th Dec 2002 |
Germany annouce strong European team
World record holder Thomas Rupprath heads a 28-strong German team to contest the 2002 European Short Course Championships in Riesa next week. Franziska Van Almsick and Sandra Volker are not in the team but new face Sarah Poewe is. The former South African swimmer has double passport eligibility. WOMEN: Dorothea BRANDT, Antje BUSCHSCHULTE, Petra DALLMANN, Jana HENKE, Nele HOFMANN, Annika MEHLHORN, Janine PIETSCH, Sarah POEWE, Anne POLESKA, Alessa RIES, Janne SCHAFER, Hannah STOCKBAUER. MEN: Carsten DEHMLOW, Johannes DIETRICH, Michael FISCHER, Jochen HANZ, Stefan HERBST, Kamil KASPROWICZ, Christian KELLER, Jens KRUPPA, Jens KUHLMANN, Stephan KUNZELMANN, Thomas LURZ, Philipp MOLLER, Thomas RUPPRATH, Torsten SPANNEBERG, Stev THELOKE, Mark WARNECKE. |
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2nd Dec 2002 |
Chinese blaze trail at Shanghai World Cup
Any thoughts that Chinese swimming was not the world force it once was were swiftly eradicated this weekend by some incredible performances as they hosted the third round of the FINA 2002/2003 World Cup in Shanghai Sunday Monday. The biggest wave was produced by Qi Hui who lowered her own World Record in the Women's 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:18.86. No other swimmer has ever broken 2:20 and Qi demolished European champion Mirna Jukic by just short of 5 seconds to add to her double win on day one that included the 100 breaststroke in 1:06.14 and 200 I.M. in a World Cup record time of 2:08.79.
Chinese swimmers completely dominated the two day meet, winning seven of today's 17 events. Yesterday they won eight of 16. Both days featured the impressive debuts of previously unknown Chinese swimmers, mainly women (or, in some cases, pre-women). In the same race that saw Qi break the world record, 12 year-old Liu Jiao was fourth in 2:27.63, just ahead of 11 year-old Liu Xiaoyu in 2:27.93 (it is not knows if the two Liu girls are sisters). Both swims are far faster than anyone that age outside of China has ever swum. The 11 year old Lui also saw fit to pop in a 1:09 for the 100 breaststroke and 4:50 for the 400 I.M. However, teammate Zhang Tianyi, aged just 12, swam a 4:37 for the event which followed an incredible 2:09 behind Qi in the 200 I.M.
The Chinese are also quickly erasing their tag of only being good in the female events with the rise to prominence of a number of very fast teenage male swimmers. Fifteen year old Zhang Lin, led a 1-2-3 Chinese sweep of the 1500 meters with a solid 15:00.24 while one of his 13 year old team-mates, was not too far away in 15:24. Although Wu Peng, also 15, had already made a name for himself with long course swims of 4:15 (400 I.M.) and 1:56 (200 fly) in the summer, he continued his progress with a speedy 3:48 to take silver in the 400 freestyle Sunday. These are just a small sample of some of the amazing times that were produced by young previously unheard of Chinese swimmers at the meet (full results can be found on the FINA website) and they are certain to raise suspicions yet again of how the Chinese regime can produce such amazing performances at such a young age. |
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2nd Dec 2002 |
British swimmers continue good form in Shanghai
Following a number of good early season swims at the FINA World Cup meet in New York last month, British swimmers continued their promising form at the Shanghai leg December 1st/2nd. James Hickman led the way with victories in the 100 and 200 butterfly (52.20 and 1:53.72 respectively) as well as the 200 I.M. (1:58.87). Steven Parry, who was second behind Hickman in the 200 fly (1:54) added his own gold medal in the 200 backstroke (1:56.22). Canadian based world leading sprinter Alison Sheppard notched up a gold medal brace. Impressive swims of 24.46 and 54.07 in the 50 and 100 freestyles respectively. However, perhaps most pleasing in Shanghai were the performances of the talented junior swimmers Britain were blooding at the meet. Wear Valley's Chris Alderton (coached by Gary Hollywood) broke two British Junior records in one race as he set 15:23.23 for the 1500 freestyle (including an 800 split of 8:10.86) to erase the 21 year old marks of David Stacey. British Junior records were also the order of the day for Stephanie Proud and Mark Branch. Proud, coached by Kevin Renshaw at the Chester-le-Street club stormed to a bronze medal in the Women's 200 backstroke in 2:09.13. while Branch (coached by Sandy Blackwood at North Ayrshire) swam an electric 2:16.64 to place 8th in the 200 breaststroke. Exeter's 17 year old Liam Tancock was also in impressive form taking bronze in the 50 backstroke in 24.97 and 6th in the 100 distance in 54.88. Finally, Rochdale's Kerri-Anne Payne who moved to Britain from South Africa in 2001 further emphasised her exciting future by narrowly missing Sarah Hardcastle's British Junior records in the 400 and 800 freestyle swims as she powered her way to 4:09.81 and 8:32. for 6th and 4th respectively. |
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1st Dec 2002 |
World Record for Rupprath!
Germany's Thomas Rupprath set a new world record in the 50m backstroke at the German Short Course Championships in Goslar, Germany Saturday. The 25 year old swimmer recorded 23.23 during the first leg of the Men's 4x50 Medley Relay, to shave 0.08 seconds off the previous world record held by Australia's Matthew Welsh set in September at the Australian Nationals. Rupprath also broke his own European mark which he had earlier set twice on Friday in the individual 50 backstroke. |
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1st Dec 2002 |
Sweden unearths exciting sprint prospect
The next great European male sprint king may be a young Swedish athlete who made quite a name for himself at the Swedish Junior Short Course Championships last weekend. The young man's name is Jonas Tilly, 18, who swims for a team in Trelleborg. In the finals of the 100 free he raced to a Swedish junior record 49.14, then came back to lead off his club's 400 freestyle relay in an even faster and very impressive 48.74. That swim ranks him No.1 currently among European sprinters, though it is well off Jason Lezak's leading global time of 47.34 from the World Cup meet in New York. Tilly also won the 50 free in 22.60 (ranking 16th globally). The 100 free race was a close battle between Tilly and Magnus Kjellberg, who finished close behind in 49.15. Third was Malmo's Jonas Persson (49.44) while two other swimmers, Petter Stymne (49.50) and Marcus Piehl (49.61) also broke 50 seconds. Sweden looks to have some great 4x100 free relay squads for the forseeable future and Tilly, Persson and Piehl will all represent Sweden at next weekend's European Short Course Championships in Riesa, Germany. |
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1st Dec 2002 |
Scotland honours swimming greats
Fifty Scottish sporting greats have been inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame. The list that was officially announced by Jack McConnell, Scottish First Minister, at the Royal Museum in Edinburgh yesterday, includes the following swimmers: Ellen King (Warrender Baths Club, Olympic silver medallist 100m back and 100 free relay, Amsterdam 1928). Nancy Riach (Motherwell swimming community), Ian Black (Bon Accord SC Aberdeen, European gold medallist 1958, 200m butterfly), Bobby McGregor (Falkirk Otters, Olympic silver medallist 100m free Tokyo 1964), David Wilkie (Warrender Baths Club, 1972 Munich Olympics silver 200m breast; 1976 Montreal Olympics: gold 200m breast, silver 100m breast). |
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1st Dec 2002 |
Poewe German swtich confirmed
FINA have officially approved the switch of nationality to German of former South African swimmer Sarah Poewe. Poewe represented South Africa in this year's Commonwealth Games in Manchester but will be displaying a German tracksuit at the forthcoming European Short Course Championships in Riesa next week. Poewe, currently studying and swimming in America at the University of Georgia, has German eligibility through her father but has resided in South African almost all of her life. She wanted to make the switch in order to further her swimming career as she felt she was not receiving enough financial backing in South Africa. |
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28th Nov 2002 |
Myden announces retirement
Canadian swim ace Curtis Myden officially announced his retirement Tuesday. The 29 year old swimmer won three bronze medals in his best event, the individual medley, at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics. During his 10 years career, Myden also won 68 international swimming medals and 28 Canadian titles and still holds the national record in the 200 and 400 metre individual medley. He told a news conference he plans to study medicine. |
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26th Nov 2002 |
Only 3 picked for offshore squad
Britain's hopes for European and Olympic swimming gold have been pinned on just three of the country's most talented youngsters. In January, the three, will head to the Southport School on the Australian Gold Coast on a two year fast track programme, aimed at grooming them for potential success at the European Junior Championships, the Melbourne Commonwealth Games and the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. British Swimming is picking up the tab for transportation, swimming expenses and school fees. The Southport School is one of Qeensland's premier education insitutions and should ensure their academic career continues uninterrupted. Former Stockport Metro and Manchester High Performance Centre coach Dave Calleja will spearhead the boys' drive for glory.
The names have been confirmed by British Swimming as City of Cambridge swimmer Liam Wardley (coach Tim Westlake), Dean Milwain from City of Derby (coach Svetle Tomov) and Thanet Viking/Warrender member Daniel Ritchie (coach father John Ritchie and Ian Wright when with Warrender). Ritchie is part of the current World Class Potential Boys Age Group programme after his 4th place 16:23 finish in the 1500 at the National Youth Championships. Wardley did not make a final at the 2002 Nationals but was a member of the 2001/02 World Class Potential squad and won the British Junior title short course for 100 I.M. in September. Milwain is on the current World Class Potential age group programme following his victory in the Boys 15/16 200 freestyle (1:55.16) at this year's National championships.
However, British Swimming's original plan was to send six teenage boys to the school not three. Whether other swimmers were offered the golden opportunity and turned it down is not yet known. Alternatively, the squad could be increased to six in the months and years ahead. The original plan also indicated two senior males would be part of the training squad and work as housemasters at the school. For the time being however, this will just be one senior, David Carry from Aberdeen (coach Eileen Adams). |
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24th Nov 2002 |
American female freestyle future in good hands
Before this weekend, no American high school girl had ever broken 49 seconds in the 100 yards freestyle. Then, in the space of 24 hours, three different girls accomplished the feat in three separate meets. Rhi Jeffrey, a senior at Atlantic High touched in 48.73, while swimming at the Florida 2A state championships at the International Swimming Hall of Fame Aquatic Complex in Fort Lauderdale. Her time broke the record that Christina Swindle of Gulliver Prep had set only 24 hours earlier at the Class A state meet. Swindle, in turn, had destroyed her own national interscholastic record of 49.33 that had stood for two years. However, Jeffrey's time was 14/100ths of a second short of the national record that Kara-Lynn Joyce set Sunday at the Michigan state high school championships. Not to be out done, Jeffrey turned in a highly impressive 200 yard freestyle as well. She swam 1:45.59 to erase Sippy Woodhead's 1982 American high school record of 1:45.98. Woodhead won the silver medal for 200 freestyle at the 1984 Olympics and set 27 national and 7 world records during her career. |
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24th Nov 2002 |
Spain annouces European Short Course team
The Spanish Swimming Federation have announced their team for the European Short Course Championships (12-15 December). However, backstroke specialist Nina Jivanevskaia is not in the team, instead deciding to concentrate on next July's World Champinoships in Barcelona. Full team: WOMEN: Melisa Caballero, Paula Carballido, Mireia Garcia, Laura Roca, Tatiana Rouba, Angela San Juan, Erika Villaecija, Roser Vives. MEN: Eduard Lorente, Javier Nunez, Jordi Pau, Jorge Sanchez, Olaf Wildeboer. |
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24th Nov 2002 |
Hoogenband claims top male performance at New York World Cup
Although somewhat overshadowed by Natalie CVoughlin's world record exploits, Dutch Olympic champion Pieter van den Hoogenband won the men's top performance at FINA New York World Cup meet, with his victory in the 200 freestyle in 1:43.54 (997 points). With this time, van den Hoogenband, the last swimmer to beat Ian Thorpe over 200 freestyle, set the fastest time ever recorded in the United States. "I've never lost a 200 free race in this pool dating back to 1998, and I wasn't going to tonight," said van den Hoogenband. "I just wanted to go out as hard as I could and get under 1:44, and I did just that." |
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24th Nov 2002 |
Amazing Coughlin claims two more World Records!
One world record would be impressive. Two would be a great performance. But three world records in just two days of swimming is unprecedented. Natalie Coughlin was nothing short of phenomenal in two days of swimming at the FINA World Cup, breaking three world and four American records. During the second day of the New York meet she added two more to the one she set Friday. The 20 year old Californinan swimmer broke the world mark in the 100 I.M. finishing in 58.80 seconds to eclipse the 1999 time of Jenny Thompson (59.30). Just a few minutes earlier, Coughlin had broken the World Record for the 100 backstroke touching home in 56.71 seconds, and shaving 0.37 off her own previous best of 57.08. This was the first ever swim under 57 seconds and no other swimmer has ever broken 58! Coughlin won the event by 3 seconds from fellow America Haley Cope. For good measure, Coughlin also won the 50 and 200 backstrokes at the meet in 27.08 (American record) and 2:05 respectively and her world record performances won her female swimmer of the meet. “The first meet I ever swam here was one of the worst of my life. But the last two have been two of the best, so I don’t know what it is. I didn’t expect that time at all,” Coughlin said. She now holds four short course world records, as well as one long course. Earlier this year, Coughlin became the first woman ever to break the minute barrier for 100 backstroke long course when she set a new World Record of 59.58 at the American National Championships.
Amanda Beard set an American record in the 200m breaststroke, winning the event in 2:21.42. She broke Kristy Kowal’s former record, set in 2000. “I was surprised to break it at this meet and not other meets,” Beard said. “It really gets me going for my training for other events. It was a nice way to end the meet.” Michael Phelps got his first win of the meet in the 200m I.M. with a time of 1:57.12. At the end of the race, Phelps out-touched James Hickman by 5/100ths of a second. “I’ve been looking for my first win all week, so I’m happy I finally got that,” the 17-year-old said. “Mainly, what’s happened this weekend lets me know where I’m at in my training. This year, the competition is stiff. Last year’s meet didn’t have people like Pieter van den Hoogenband, James Hickman and Thomas Rupprath.” Jenny Thompson, who is in her second year of medical school at Columbia, won the 100m free in 53.59 and also added a second-place finish in the 50m fly. On the first day of competition, she lowered her own American record in the 50m free. |
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23rd Nov 2002 |
World Record for Coughlin!
Despite being in the middle of heavy training, American superstar Natalie Coughlin has broken the 100m butterfly World Short Course Record at the FINA World Cup meet in New York with a time of 56.34. Slovakia's Martina Moravcova set the old mark of 56.55 in Berlin this year. "I had a great swim," said the 20-year-old Coughlin. "I couldn't be happier." In other highlights Britain's Alison Sheppard won the 50 freestyle in 24.49 ahead of American come back girl Jenny Thompson (24.52), while her team mate James Hickman was delighted with his win in the the 200 butterfly in 1:53.18 ahead of Germany's Thomas Rupprath (1:53.47) and American wonder boy Michael Phelps (1:54.18). |
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21st Nov 2002 |
Klim injuries not over: could miss World Championships
World record holder Michael Klim's participation in next year's World Championships has been cast into doubt as he could be forced out of the Australina National Championships in Sydney in March, which double as the World Championships selection trials. Klim has still not fully recovered from shoulder surgery he underwent a number of weeks ago, after his return to competition at the Australina Short Course Nationals in September. Klim says he could not have avoided the surgery and hopes it will benefit him in the future. "I'm very confident I can be swimming better than I have been before because it's been something that's been holding me back," he said. Klim, 25, holds the 100m fly world record of 51.81 which he set in Canberra in 1999, and he's a member of both the freestyle world record relays (3:13.67 and 7:04.66). |
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21st Nov 2002 |
Thorpe set to become gay icon
Olympic swimming superstar Ian Thorpe is set to become a gay hero after rebutting rumours he is homosexual but saying he was flattered by the tag, a leading gay activist said on Monday. Thorpe, 20, said late on Sunday he believed people had labelled him homosexual because he was articulate, had an interest in fashion and did not resemble the stereotype of the macho Aussie bloke. "You know I'm a little bit different to what most people would consider being an Australian male," said the Olympic gold medallist and multi-world record holder. "That doesn't make me gay." But he added: "It's the most flattering thing that anyone can ever say because if someone wants to label you or claim you as part of a minority group, it means you must have some strength in your character or in what you do." Marcus O'Donnell, editor of the gay newspaper Sydney Star Observer, said Thorpe's straightforward response to the rumours would win him even more gay fans than he has already. "There have been a lot of rumours and a lot of speculation about Thorpie and really he has hit the nail on the head - it's because he doesn't measure up to the typical macho Aussie sporting hero," O'Donnell said. He said speculation about sporting personalities' sexuality was common because there was a lack of gay sporting role models, apart from a prominent Sydney rugby league player, Ian Roberts. "So when someone new comes along and he has some of what we read as the tell-tale signs - and he doesn't have a girlfriend - then it's natural to start speculating." But he believed the "Ian Thorpe phenomenon" was a telling sign that old stereotypes were breaking down. "It's perfectly cool now to be straight and have an interest in Armani fashion or pearl jewellery or Kylie Minogue, and why shouldn't it be?" he said. "It's great that Thorpe is now confident enough to address these rumours head on, and to do it in such a straightforward way. It could make him even more of a gay icon than he already is." Thorpe said that he believed people were too quick to make such judgments, resulting in a huge number of male celebrities and athletes having the same sexuality "question mark" hanging over their heads. He believed the rumours began because he was in the limelight and perceived as different. "I think it's because when I speak at engagements I try to speak as well as what I possibly can," he said. "I try to be articulate... I don't try and sound macho (with an) Australian accent just for the sake of having it. I have an interest in fashion, I have interests in things most people don't classify as being the macho male thing." |
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20th Nov 2002 |
New York World Cup preview
The second, and only U.S. stop of the 2002-03 FINA World Cup series will take place Friday and Saturday at the Nassau County Aquatic Center in East Meadow, N.Y. A star-studded international field of approximately 200 swimmers will be on hand to compete for more than $60,000 in prize money. In addition to money for medal performances, FINA also awards monetary prizes for world records and overall prizes for top performances in the entire series. At this meet last year, U.S. swimmer Natalie Coughlin broke two world records in winning the 100m and 200m back and returns this year to defend her titles. Coughlin won't be the only world record-holder in attendance, though. With two individual and one relay long course world marks to his credit, Michael Phelps is slated to compete in six events, including the 100 and 200 IMs along with the event that put him on the map, the 200 fly. The men's breaststroke boasts one of the finest fields in the world with three world record-holders competing. American Ed Moses holds the 100m and 200m breast short course world records, and the American record in the 50m breast. He'll be facing off with the man who holds the 50m world record (in both long course and short course) in Ukraine's Oleg Lisogor. Also in the field is 100m breast long course world record-holder Roman Sloudnov of Russia. Moses and Sloudnov finished 2-3 in the 100m breast at the 2000 Olympic Games. American Lindsay Benko owns the 200m free short course world record after winning the event at the 2002 Short Course World Championships. She'll face stiff competition in Slovakian Olympian Martina Moravcova, who was the overall winner last year in FINA's World Cup series. Moravcova won four events at this meet last year. Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands is the long course world record-holder in the 100m free. The double gold medalist from Sydney has been one of the few swimmers in the world to beat Ian Thorpe in a head-to-head race (Thorpe will not compete in New York). American Jason Lezak enters the meet with a faster seed time, making this race one of the marquee match-ups of the weekend. Sweden is sending its sprint superstars Therese Alshammar, Anna-Karin Kammerling and Josefin Lillhage. Alshammar holds the short course world record in both the 50m and 100m free. She'll face off against American superstar and 10-time Olympic gold medalist Jenny Thompson. Kammerling holds the short course world record in the 50m fly, another strong event for Thompson. Coughlin has also established herself as one of the world's best sprinters and can compete for the win in the 100m free and both butterflys. A versatile swimmer, Coughlin could enter about any event in the meet and contend for the win, so it will be interesting to see which races she chooses. Moravcova holds the world record in the short course 100m fly, while Thompson holds the American mark. The women's breaststroke field should be as competitive as the men's, featuring Australia's Brooke Hanson, Great Britain's Zoe Baker, Sweden's Emma Igelstrom and American Amanda Beard. All four consistently rank in the top 10 in the world. Igelstrom holds the short course world record in the 50m and 100m breast, while Baker is the current world record-holder in the long course 50m breast. |
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20th Nov 2002 |
Van Almsick not competing at European Short Course
European champion and world record holder Franziska Van Almsick will not take part in the forthcoming German Short Course Nationals or the European Short Course Championships. The German swimming star has not entered the German championships (Goslar, November 29-December 1) which double up as selection trials for the Europeans in Riesa two weeks later. Van Almsick's manager, Regine Eichhorn, gave notice Tuesday that she had not registered her swimmer for the nationals but did not provide any reason for the lack of entry. Meanwhile Germany's national performance director Ralf Beckmann informed that Anna Poleska will be the only swimmer who can still qualify for the European's despite not contesting the Nationals. As Poleska is at college in America she has been given the opportunity to qualify for the European's this weekend at the American leg of the Fina World Cup in New York. |
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20th Nov 2002 |
EPO tests to be conducted on World Record breakers
Swimmers who clock world record times will automatically be tested for banned endurance enhancer EPO (erythropoietin), the sport's world governing body FINA announced Tuesday. FINA has amended article 6.2 of its regulations so that any world record will now only become official if the swimmer concerned tests negative for EPO. Two EPO tests were developed in advance of the 2000 Olympics: a blood test by Australian researchers and a urine test by French Scientists. The two tests were used together in Sydney, though they were not utilized at the 2002 European Championships or Asian Games. FINA's action comes after the American Swimming Coaches Association suggested to Dale Neuburger, a FINA Vice President, that he push for mandatory EPO tests for all world record setters in swimming. EPO stimulates red blood cell production and is normally produced in the kidney and liver. Using an artificial form of EPO allows athletes to boost oxygen production allowing muscles to work harder and for longer. Track and field athletes, particularly distance runners, have long been thought to be using EPO, and several have tested positive for the substance. At this year's Winter Olympics in Salt lake City, a number of cross country skiers tested positive for darbopoetin, an EPO-derivative. As a result, some of their medals, though not all, were rescinded. FINA announced it will test all world record setters, taking a urine sample, within 24 hours of their feat and sending it to an IOC-accredited laboratory. The record performance will become official only if the test proves negative. Presumably a positive test will result in sanctions under FINA rules. |
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20th Nov 2002 |
IOC drug chief dies
Prince Alexandre de Merode, the controversial head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Medical Commission and an IOC member since 1964, died today at the age of 68. The IOC released the following statement: "It was with great sadness that the International Olympic Committee learned this morning of the death of Prince Alexandre de Merode, an IOC Member since 1964. The IOC expresses its deepest sympathy to the Prince de Merode's family." From Havana, Cuba, which he currently is visiting, IOC President Jacques Rogge, a fellow Belgian, immediately declared: "The Olympic Movement has lost an exceptional man. Through his charisma and his convictions, the Prince de Merode was a fervent defender of Olympic values throughout his life. He was, in particular, one of the pioneers in the fight against doping, creating the IOC Medical Commission in 1967. His ideas and energy helped to begin an unceasing fight against doping and any activity damaging the integrity of sport. We have all lost a remarkable colleague, a humanist at the service of sport." Not everyone shared that assessment. Critics cited his reluctance to extend drug testing to new performance enhancing substances; his opposition to developing new and more sensitive testing protocols; his opposition to stiff penalties for athletes found to have tested positive for performance enhancing drugs; and the mysterious disappearance from under his control of alleged positive test results from a number of high-profile athletes. Born in 1934 in Etterbek (Belgium), de Merode began his career as President of the Belgian Supreme Council for Physical Education, Sport and Outdoor Life. He then went on to head the Anti-Doping Commission of the Belgian Ministry of Public Health (French Community), before becoming an administrator within the Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee. In the IOC, he was a close confidant of President Juan Antonio samaranch, a member of the Executive Board from 1980 to 1990, Vice-President from 1986 to 1990 and from 1994 to 1998, and Chairman of the Medical Commission from 1967 onwards. In 1999, the Prince de Merode was appointed a member of the IOC 2000 Reform Commission. |
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19th Nov 2002 |
British and Scottish teams head for New York
World record holders Zoe Baker and Mark Foster head up an eleven strong Great Britain team to contest the next leg of the FINA World Wup in New York this week (Novermber 22-23). National Performance Director, Australian Bill Sweetenham considers this leg a part of the winter training schedule: "This is a great chance to have tough competition under heavy training conditions," he said. Foster, who is looking forward to race at high level added: "That's the start of the season for me... My plan is to swim fast in January at the European legs of the World Cup as I'm not in tip top racing condition right now." Great Britain swimmers attending the New York leg are: WOMEN: Zoe Baker, Janine Belton, Rosalind Brett, Nicola Jackson, Melanie Marshall, Alison Sheppard. MEN: Mark Foster, James Gibson, James Hickman, Matthew Kidd, Graeme Smith. Joining the GB squad in America's largest city will be a small team of Scotland's most promising swimmers: Joel Roberts, Lauren Greenshields (both City of Edinburgh), Darren Ward, Craig Houston and Chris Wilson (all Stirling). They will be led by Scottish National Coach Chris Martin and assisted by Eileen Adams (City of Aberdeen) and Graham Wardell (Ren96). |
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18th Nov 2002 |
Cope, Meolans and Klochkova stars of first World Cup leg
Haley Cope (USA) and José Martin Meolans of Argentina claimed the awards for top performances at the season's first leg of the World Cup circuit in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. The American won the women's 50m backstroke in 27.21, the 3rd fastest performance of all time and scoring 999 points. South American Meolans took gold in the men's 50m freestyle (21.53) gaining 984 points during the meet's final day on Sunday. Somewhat surprisingly, favourites European champion Bartosz Kizierowski placed only 4th (22.03) while Olympic champion Pieter van den Hoogenband of the Netherlands was 5th in 22.06. The meet's leading medal winner was two time Olympic champion Yana Klochkova of the Ukraine taking four gold and two bronzes. |
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18th Nov 2002 |
Thomas aiming for Athens
Australia's World champion Petria Thomas has announced she plans to continue competing until the 2004 Games in Athens. Thomas, 27, who this year won five gold medals at the Commonwealth Games and three golds at the Pan Pacific Championships in Japan, made the announcement late saturday in Australian newspaper The Sun Herald: "I've cleared my mind on my future," said Thomas. "I needed a bit of time away and it's been nice to have a break from the pressure of training two or three times a day." Thomas noted that she plans to win the Olympic gold in the 200m butterfly after having won a silver medal in the 200m fly at 1996 Olympics, a bronze in the same event in Sydney and again a silver at the 1998 Perth World championships. |
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14th Nov 2002 |
Italian team for European Short Course announced
Italy has selected its team for the European Short Course Championships in Riesa, Germany next month. The following selected swimmers will attend a training camp from 1-10 December before the start of the meet. WOMEN: Federica Biscia, Chiara Boggiatto, Alessandra Cappa, Sara Farina, Francesca Segat. MEN: Emiliano Brembilla, Alessio Boggiatto, Davide Cassol, Domenico Fioravanti, Christian Galenda, Christian Minotti, Matteo Pellicciari, Davide Rummolo, Michele Scarica, Lorenzo Vismara. HEAD COACH: Alberto Castagnetti. |
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13th Nov 2002 |
Dutch team for European Short Course announced
European record holders Johan Kenkhuis and Mark Veens will lead a 13 strong Dutch team to contest the 2002 European Short Course Championships in the German city of Riesa next month. Olympic champions Pieter Van den Hoogenband and Inge de Bruijn are not team. Full squad: WOMEN: Madelen Baans, Inge Dekker, Chantal Groot, Annabel Kosten, Suze Valen, Marleen Veldhuis. MEN: Stefan Aartsen, Jeroen van den Berkt, Gijs Damen, Ewout Holst, Johan Kenkhuis, Bastiaan Tamminga, Mark Veens. |
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12th Nov 2002 |
Popov ready to move on
Russia's most famous swimmer, Alexander Popov, is all set to leave his Australian base early in the New Year after receiving an offer to set up a homeoutside Berne in Switzerland with his wife and two boys. The news comes after he returned to Canberra on Sunday after spending three weeks in Europe with his long-time coach Gennadi Touretski. Popov, who turns thirty-one next Saturday, has already made it known that he intends to swim at the World Championships in Barcelona next year and finish his glittering career at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
The 1992 and 1996 double Olympic champion is finding it increasingly difficult to manage his role with the IOC and maintain his training program in Australia. "The travel is a big problem for him especially now that he has many official commitments both in Russia and with the IOC in Europe", his coach Touretski said. "For me, I am quite happy here but for him (Popov) it would be much better in Europe," he added.
Touretski indicated he has several consultancy projects to consider and that since his forced departure from the Australian Institute of Sport in July there have been little opportunities on offer Down Under. Either way, Australia will lose one of the best swimming resources to grace her shores. Touretski was originally offered a coaching position at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra after the 1992 Olympics and the 20-year-old Popov joined him soon after. The largely unheralded Popov had just beaten two of the great American freestyle sprinters in Barcelona, reigning Olympic champions and world record-holders Matt Biondi and Tom Jager, to claim the 50 and 100m freestyle golden double. Popov still holds the world marks for the 50 free (long course) and 100 free (short course). |
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11th Nov 2002 |
French team for European Short Course announced
The French Swimming Federation (FFN) have announced a 36 strong team for the European Short Course Championships which are to be held in Riesa, Germany December 12-15. WOMEN: Anne Amardeilh, Esther Baron, Diane Bui-Duyet, Sophie De Ronchi, Solenne Figues, Anne-Sophie Le Paranthoen, Delphine Leprest, Laure Manaudou, Malia Metella, Aurore Mongel, Marion Perrotin. MEN: Romain Barnier, Yohan Bernard, Germain Cayette, Sylvain Cros, Tony De Pellegrini, Hugues Duboscq, Simon Dufour, Frédéric Dutillieux, Joanes Hedel, Pierre Henri, Cristophe Lebon, Xavier Marchand, Pierre Roger, Nicolas Rostoucher, Julien Sicot. |
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10th Nov 2002 |
Omega sign new contract with USA Swimming
Swiss watchmaker Omega has signed a new contract with USA Swimming until 2006. "With Omega’s long history with the sport of swimming and the Olympic Games, coupled with the fact that FINA has selected Omega as their official timer, we felt as though this was a natural fit for USA Swimming," said Chief Marketing Officer Rod Davis. Omega and FINA have work together since the 1973 World Championships in Belgrade. |
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4th Nov 2002 |
New York selected as US Olympic bid city
The city of New York has been selected as the US candidate for the 2012 Summer Olympics. New York held off the challenge of San Francisco to head up the American campaign that will conclude with the IOC's decision in 2005. The main competition for the 2012 Games is expected to come from Paris, Madrid, Moscow and possibly London. If New York is successful, the swimming events will take place in the Astoria Olympic Pools which include three new pools, one for swimming and synchronized swimming, one for diving and one for warm-ups. |
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4th Nov 2002 |
Brits excel in US College meets
British US college based swimmers were in good form at various dual meets over the weekend. Matt Kidd, the British record holder for 100m freestyle won the 50 yard free in 20.94 as his Auburn Tigers team easily defeated Arizone State. City of Leeds swimmer Emma Dutton got her third stateside year off to a great start for Florida State against Georgie Tech. Dutton posted good early season times to win both the 200y I.M. (2:07.11) and 200y breaststroke (2:20.58). Jenny Lyes and Lisa How make up a trio of Brits on the Florida State women's team and both proved they were good acquisitions with Lyes taking victory in the 50y free (24.08) and How capturing the 200y butterfly win (2:05.27). |
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3rd Nov 2002 |
London urged to launch Olympic bid
London has been urged to bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics in the next three years, rather than delay a campaign, in a report commissioned to look at the costs and benefits of staging sport's most prestigious event. The report, undertaken on behalf of the government, London mayor Ken Livingstone and national Olympic officials, detailed the probable costs of bidding and staging the Games in the deprived eastern part of the capital. "Bidding for and staging the Olympics in London in 2012...would produce a net surplus in the order of 79 million pounds. The cost of bidding is 13 million pounds," it said on Friday.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will decide on the venue of the 2012 Games in 2005. The campaign is expected to be a battle between major European cities such as Madrid, Moscow and Paris and a U.S. city -- New York or San Francisco. Highlighting the advantages of regenerating the Stratford/Lower Lee Valley area, the report advised against London postponing a bid. "In view of the priority and expectation for regeneration in the area, we think it would be very unattractive politically (to postpone a bid)," it said. "If all levels of government and other agencies are committed to a common proposal, the potential advantages of a 2012 Games centred on the Lower Lee Valley can be developed into a world-beating bid."
Britain, which last staged the Games in London in 1948, will decide by mid-January whether to bid. Candidates must tell the IOC of their intention to run by the middle of next year. London and British Olympic officials are keen to take this chance to go for the Games. If a European city wins the 2012 campaign, it would be very difficult for another city from the continent to get the event before 2024. "It has to be now," Britain's International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Craig Reedie said. Livingstone told a news conference it would be "madness" for the city not to bid, given the benefits for the capital. "If it plays its cards right, there would be great benefits for the city and the whole UK economy," he said.
A successful bid, however, needs the support of British Prime Minister Tony Blair who has yet to give the go-ahead. Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, whose portfolio covers sport, and sports minister Richard Caborn are in the middle of visiting the previous Olympic cities of Barcelona, Sydney, Munich and Moscow to assess the legacy of hosting the event. "I will be entering into discussions with other cabinet colleagues about the implications of the bid for the country as a whole in mid-November," Jowell said. "The government intends to hold a debate in parliament...In mid-January 2003 the government will announce its decision on whether or not to support a bid."
Britain has struggled with its image in world sport after being forced to pull out of staging the 2005 world athletics championships because of problems building a stadium in London. Its delayed plans to rebuild London's famous Wembley stadium was also a public relations nightmare. This year's successful Commonwealth Games in Manchester helped repair its battered image. But the city will have a real fight on its hands to beat Paris if the French capital decides to bid and Toronto could still join the race. Both cities launched strong campaigns for the 2008 Games which were awarded to Beijing last year.
The next Summer Games take place in Athens in 2004. Interestingly the report said London could cope with the challenge of transport, the capital's biggest headache. In addition to the thousands of athletes and officials attending the games, nearly half a million spectators a day would travel to events in and around London, it said. "Transport will need to be managed to an unprecedented degree," the report said. "However if an Olympic Transport Agency is set up with sufficient powers for it to effectively allocate demand to capacity, the projected flows can be accommodated without delays and without unacceptable disruption to normal travel in London." |
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1st Nov 2002 |
Thorpe eyes Melbourne 50
Ian Thorpe has confirmed that he will race in the 50m freestyle in the FINA Swimming World Cup in Melbourne in December. That will pit the Australian against Dutch rival Pieter van den Hoogenband, British world record holder Mark Foster and European champion Bartosz Kizierowski. Thorpe is the reigning world champion and world record holder for the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle but has never raced over 50m in international competition. Van den Hoogenband, who holds the 100m world record, upset the Australian in the 200m freestyle at the Sydney Olympics and remains the last man to beat Thorpe at that distance. "The reason I am only doing one event is because at this stage I think it's more important to be doing training than racing. Being able to do a 50 is an important part of what I'm doing but I doubt I'll be doing too many of them at major competitions," said Thorpe, who recently began training with his new coach Tracey Menzies. "I wouldn't say I'll be able to race at my best but I think I should be in pretty good condition," he added. Van den Hoogenband is returning to top form, having taken a break after the Olympics. The Dutchman set two European records to win the 100 and 200m freestyle at the European long course championships in August but missed a medal in the 50, which was unexpectedly won by Kizierowski. The fifth leg of the Swimming World Cup will be held in Melbourne from 6-8 December. |
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31st Oct 2002 |
Barcelona impresses Larfaoui
FINA President, Mustapha Larfaoui, is very optimistic about the success of the next year's World Championhsips in Barcelona, Spain (July 13-27, 2003). "Barcelona has all the conditions to offer a global aquatic show which will be a landmark in the history of the World Championships", Larfaoui said. The chariman was also impressed by the project to install a temporary 50m pool inside the Palau Sant Jordi: "It’s a fantastic scenario that will raise the quality and impact of the aquatic competitions". |
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31st Oct 2002 |
World Cup excitement returns
The excitement of the FINA Swimming World Cup will start again in Rio on November 15. The series comprises seven meets on four continents and is set to provide some first class performances. After a 2001/2002 edition in which 21 World Records (WR) were set, an unprecedented number in the history of the FINA Swimming World Cup expectations for the coming series are high. Following last year's success, the same competition formula will be used in establishing the final ranking and the overall winners of the World Cup: a FINA Points Table will convert the performances of the swimmers into points. Further, only the swims achieved during the finals will be considered and each athlete will be ranked only once, even if he/she competed in several races. Finally, the swimmers must participate in at least one meet in each zone (Americas, Asia/Oceania, Europe) in order to be eligible for the final ranking. This system proved a hit with the swimmers’ last year with highly positive feedback received. The total amount of US$ 660,000 in prize money (which includes a provision of US$ 40,000 for a World Record) is also good motivation for the competitors! Rio de Janeiro in Brazil will welcome the participants for this first meet. New York (USA), Shanghai (CHN), Melbourne (AUS), Paris (FRA), Stockholm (SWE) and Berlin (GER) complete the 2002/2003 edition that will be concluded on January 26, 2003 in the German capital. |
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30th Oct 2002 |
Record Rocks!
City of Liverpool & Everton swimmer Michael Rock set a new British junior record in the 100m butterfly at the weekend. The 15 year old clocked a time of 56.67 (subject to ratification) at the English Schools Divisional Championships in Sheffield, beating the previous mark of 56.90 set by Daniel Coombs in 1994. |
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30th Oct 2002 |
Couple ordered to stay clear of Thorpe
Olympic champion swimmer Ian Thorpe has taken out restraining orders against two Sydney people who he believes are a threat to his safety. Ray Hopkins and Taylor Martin have been prevented from coming within 20m of Thorpe or the pool where he trains. The pair had earlier been charged with stalking Thorpe in February, after a number of notes appeared on his car's windscreen while he trained at Sutherland pool in Sydney. In a brief statement, Thorpe said the events had been very distressing for him and his family and that he wanted to put the matter behind him and concentrate on his swimming career. "At a time when all of us have our families' and our own security uppermost on our minds, none of us can be too careful," Thorpe said. |
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30th Oct 2002 |
Devitt appointed for second time
John Devitt has been appointed as Chairman of the Australian Swimming Inc. board for the second time. The board, which will be in charge for two years, includes also Olympic gold medallists Kieren Perkins and Michelle Ford. |
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28th Oct 2002 |
Pool stars lead the open water way!
Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Chris Thompson and and 400 & 800 freestyle Olympic champion Brooke Bennett turned their hands to open water swimming last week to win the Tiburon Mile race in California. This race, founded in 1999, runs a nautical mile in the San Francisco Bay. American Thompson won the men's race in 21:07 ahead of Olympic 200 butterfly champion Tom Malchow (21:14) and Olympic medallist Chad Carvin (21:19). Russian marathon swimmers Evgueni Bezroutchenko placed 5th (21:22) with teammate Alexei Akatiev a disappointing 43rd (32:47). Bennett, having recently recovered from shoulder surgery, streaked to glory in the women's event (22:35) with Lauren Costella placed 2nd (22:47) and Jessica Foschi from Washington 3rd (23:14). Both winners received prize money of $10000 for their efforts. |
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28th Oct 2002 |
Becue turns to coaching
Belgian swimming ace Brigitte Becue, is back in the sport five months after she ended her career but this time its as a coach rather than a swimmer. Becue has agreed terms with two teams in her native country: Krekelzwemmers Izegem and SOS in Gent. "I am happy to be back. I am not going to jump into a pool, that's for sure, but I'll try to help young people." said the former breaststroke star. "You can't make a living of it in Belgium, there is far too less money in swimming in Belgium to make a full-time job of it, but it is very nice to help people. Swimming is an important part of me and my life and that did not end when I retired from swimming. I am already preparing myself to be ready for the job. During my active career, I took some coaching courses which, combined with my international experience I hope will help me add value to the two clubs." |
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24th Oct 2002 |
Van Almsick set to continue
German world record holder Franziska van Almsick has again confirmed that she plans to continue competing until at least the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. The swimmer made the announcement last Saturday on German television stating: "I want to go to Athens… I want to reach more than the final [in the 200m free]". Van Almsick, 24, won five gold medals at this year's European championships in Berlin and set the 200m freestyle world record in 1:56.64 "I stil do not believe it. It was simply the best race that I have ever swum" |
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24th Oct 2002 |
Former head of East German sport dies
The former head of East German (GDR) sports, Manfred Ewald has died after developing pneumonia recently at the age of 76. Ewald led the GDR sports federation from 1961 to 1988 and the GDR Olympic Committee from 1973 until 1990. He was found guilty of setting up the doping policy from the 1970s in order to promote communism through sporting success. East Germany went from 20 gold medals at the 1972 Olympic Games to 40 in 1976 and won 11 of 13 events in women's swimming at both the 1976 and 1980 Olympics. His death comes shortly after the German government approved a compensation fund of 2 million euros to help sporting victims of the former GDR doping programme. |
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23rd Oct 2002 |
Stars head to Melbourne World Cup
Olympic champions Pieter van den Hoogenband and Massimiliano Rosolino are set to headline the Melbourne leg of the FINA World Cup competition (December 6-8) the Australian swimming federation announced Monday. Van den Hoogenband is the world record holder in the 100m freestyle while Rosolino, holds the European mark in the 400m freestyle. Organisers also said that other European stars including Swedish world short course champions Therese Alshammar and Emma Igelstrom, and the 200m butterfly world record holder Otylia JedrzeczakK of Poland will attend the event. |
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21st Oct 2002 |
Thorpe releases first book
Triple world record holder Ian Thorpe will launch his first book this week: ' Live Your Dreams', a magazine-style, motivational manual aimed at primary-school pupils. Thorpe said he has written a book which tells his story, to share the motivation that has driven him to his incredible successes, "I was originally approached to make a book about swimming, but I thought, 'Not everyone wants to swim', then I decided to make it broader," The Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported Thorpe as saying. Thorpe, who has just arrived back in Sydney after an off-season holiday to Asia and Europe, will begin training seriously again for the Australian swimming championships in March once the book has been released. |
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16th Sept 2002 |
China putting house in order
China swears it is emerging from its drug cloud although two positive doping tests by swimmers this year has dented progress it has made to clean up its act. World swimming body FINA said Ying Shan, a member of China's world record-setting 4x100m freestyle team from 1997, and her compatriot Jiawei Zhou both tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid clenbuterol in January. And in the first major event since Beijing was awarded the 2008 Olympics, at least 10 athletes reportedly failed drug tests at China's National Games in November last year.
Despite the setbacks, China says it has been actively cracking down on drug cheats in recent years in a bid to clean up its image. Blood tests for detecting the banned endurance-boosting drug EPO had been adopted for the first time at the National Games. During the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Chinese authorities prevented track coach Ma Junren and his athletes from participating due to suspicions about doping. And at the World University Games in Beijing last year, mirrors were installed around toilets at doping control stations to ensure athletes did not tamper with urine tests.
China goes into the Asian Games in Busan starting September 29 knowing that the sports world will be watching it closely. Another doping scandal at a major event will be a major embarrassment with the countdown to the 2008 Olympics well underway. Although China got through the Sydney Olympics without major dramas, 40 athletes and officials were axed from their squad after seven rowers failed drug tests in the lead up to those Games. In the South Korean port city of Busan, their swimming team will come under closest scrutiny after years of dubious doping records, although China's track and field competitors, rowers and weightlifters also have a tainted history.
The country won four swimming gold at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and then took 12 of the 16 women's titles at the 1994 World Championships in Rome. However, their next major competition saw them fall to earth with a thud. Improved testing methods at the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima resulted in 11 Chinese athletes testing positive for the steroid dihydrotestosterone. Seven swimmers were among them, and the squad was so decimated that China won only one swimming gold at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. The decline was only temporary and by 1998 China's women were rising back to the top -- until four more positive tests and the discovery of Human Growth Hormone in a leading swimmer's luggage before the world championships in Perth, Australia. The scandals prompted Chinese sports officials to crack down on sports doping amongst coaches and athletes.
Speaking on the eve of the 2002 National Spring Swimming Championships in April, Li Hua, chairman of the Chinese Swimming Association, insisted progress was being made. "We have experienced a recovering year of 2001 and made some brilliant results at the world events," he told state press. "But we need to always have anti-doping in mind and stamp out the problem." According to Li, about 900 urine tests were conducted last year by CSA and world swimming governing body FINA -- 529 outside of competition. Just three were found to be positive. "It was a year to produce the strongest blow to the use of performance enhancing drugs in swimming in China. It showed our resolve to crack down the doping issue." |
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16th Sept 2002 |
Reasons for Thorpe's split emerge
By Cameron Bell from Australia's Sunday Telegraph (15/9/02). Australian swimming's high-performance director Greg Hodge has attacked Doug Frost's coaching methods, claiming Ian Thorpe is the sixth national swimmer to leave the ageing mentor since the Sydney Olympics. Few people have backed Thorpe's decision last week to drop Frost, his lifelong coach, in favour of 29-year-old Tracey Menzies. But details emerged yesterday of the reasons why the superstar swimmer sought a new direction. Since Sydney 2000, six Australian swim team athletes have left Frost, prompting Hodge to claim Thorpe's former mentor needed to take a serious look at where he was heading. Thorpe contemplated a move away from Frost up to a year ago but loyalty held him back until finally making the break last week.
"Doug's lost six national team athletes since the Olympics," Hodge told The Sunday Telegraph exclusively yesterday. "I don't mean athletes who have retired, I mean athletes who are now swimming in other programs. It's common for athletes, even with long-term relationships, to leave their coaches for whatever reason, but when a coach loses that number of athletes he needs to take stock of what he's doing and address it. The reality of so many athletes leaving Doug is that it has affected Ian because he has been there through that period. During that period, Tracey has been a great emotional support for him. Without her, I think Ian probably would have quit the sport after the Olympics."
Some of the swimmers who have left Frost's program include Simon Cowley, Kirsten Thompson and Craig Stevens. While Dick Caine said he was worried about Thorpe falling apart in six to 12 months without the discipline of Frost, those close to the world's greatest swimmer say Thorpe would have fallen apart had he stayed with Frost. Hodge said talk that Thorpe had dumped Frost to gain more control over his swimming career was "nonsense". "The idea of one of our greatest ever athletes taking on a new young coach with fresh ideas is something some of these old coaches are having trouble coming to terms with. Ian totally respects Tracey and for anybody to think he would be doing this so he would get more control is a nonsense. He's not that sort of a person – he respects people who can support him and help him. Ian is his own motivator but he has publicly stated he needs someone with Tracey's eye for technique and creative fresh ideas for coaching to take him in a new direction. He will not be coaching himself and he will not be driving the program." Many people have credited Frost for moulding Thorpe from an eight-year-old beginner into a superstar but Hodge said they had overstated Frost's role in Thorpe's rise to the top. |
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16th Sept 2002 |
Sweetenham imposes tough new regime for GB swimmers
By Craig Lord from The Times (16/9/02). Christmas has been cancelled for Britain’s swimmers. Instead, they will endure a boot-camp regime designed to reverse a decline in performance that saw the Olympic team return from Sydney without a medal for the first time in 36 years.
Bill Sweetenham, their tough-talking Australian coach, told swimmers to rest up for a fortnight before the start of “the most difficult regime they have ever seen”. This will involve being made to sleep on the floor to simulate the uncomfortable conditions of Olympic villages; ditching hi-tech “skin suits” in favour of heavier, nylon numbers; and swimming at least 60 km a week, every week. Anyone who objects will have their funding stopped.
So from October 1 life will get harder for the swimmers, but it was their British coaches who bore the brunt of Sweetenham’s spleen yesterday in an acrimonious meeting after the British Championships in Cambridge. Sweetenham’s success rate in the pool makes him one of the hottest properties in swimming. “Britain is coming from so far behind that it simply cannot afford to rest if it wants medals in Athens,” he said. “Those medals will be won in the next eight months, not in 2004, and the next four months are critical. It’s going to hurt like hell and I’m going to be in their faces like no one ever has. I have to take them to breaking point now so that I know their limits. Now, not in Athens; that will be too late.”
Sweetenham was brought here in October 2000 by British Swimming, the sport’s national federation, and UK Sport to turn around the national team’s fortunes. Things were looking up last month at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester when England swimmers won ten gold medals. But after being disappointed with performances at the British Championships, which ended last night, Sweetenham called coaches to an extraordinary meeting at which he accused them of “self-satisfaction and complacency”. After praising those involved with the Manchester success, he said: “Look, I’m not going to applaud mediocrity. I’ve so far shown my sweetest side, but I have to cut those days out now. What I’ve seen here has been an abysmal failure. You just have to look at the press quotes from your swimmers: they’ve all taken a rest after the Commonwealth Games when I asked them not to. I blame you, the coaches.”
He went on to reveal a catalogue of measures designed to “upset you very much indeed”. E-mails had been sent out this week to three swimming programmes advising them that their lottery funding had been withdrawn because they had failed to submit their swimmers to “test sets”, in which sports scientists test what kind of training best suits certain swimmers. He warned coaches: “If anyone tries to circumvent my plans by going round the back door of lottery funding when their UK money has been withdrawn, there will be bloodshed. Get that clear.” His comment was aimed at Scotland and Wales, whose funding he does not control.
An American coach will be imported next month to take charge of the British sprint programme because “there is not one coach here who is capable of running a sprint programme. You’ve all been terrific failures.” The youth programme, too, had been a “massive flop, an abysmal failure”. Money and facilities were part of the problem, but Sweetenham challenged coaches who “complain that this aspect or that aspect doesn’t suit their programme when their programme has produced jack-shit. I’m telling you, its time to sit up and listen.”
To make the challenge all the harder, Sweetenham will invite foreign teams to race at the British Championships in future to “make British swimmers fight for places in finals”. He said: “I expect those I call to go on racing tours to be there, to do the things I ask. They are going to have to log their 60k in water with me and race in the same week. That goes for Christmas week. There can be no rest. That’s why they should rest now, so they don’t burn out later, and if it’s decided that anyone is a negative influence on a training camp, then they will not be selected and their funding will be at risk.”
After the stick came the carrot. Those swimmers in the top eight in the world at the end of this year will be rewarded by an increase in funding of some 30 per cent, about £5,000, while those who match or improve on the standard they achieved at the Commonwealth Games would earn a bonus of £2,500 for their club and coach.
In an acrimonious exchange with the former head coach to Britain, Terry Denison, Sweetenham rejected the idea that the pool in Cambridge was the cause of poor performances. Denison noted problems, from shallow water to lack of car parking for his team’s minibus. Sweetenham preferred to call these “excuses”. “Only in Britain could you come to a meeting where you criticise people, you ask them to change their ways and lay out a programme that is absolutely necessary if Britain wants to succeed in the pool, and someone says, ‘We’ve got nowhere to park our minibus’. Bloody hell.” |
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14th Sept 2002 |
Cooke opts out of European Short Course Championships
By Craig Lord from The Times (14/9/02). Retaining a British short-course title for a fourth successive time by an indecent margin of 13 seconds over 800 metres freestyle is the kind of platform that many coaches dream of from which to launch a bid for a European title. Not for Stephen Hill, Rebecca Cooke’s Australian coach, who in Cambridge yesterday noted his pupil’s time of 8min 27.66sec and then shook his head. “No, she won’t be going to the European Short-course Championships in December — there’s no point,” Hill said. “The aim is a medal at the Long-course World Championships and her training is geared to that.”
How the world has changed for Cooke since she moved from a wavy 25-metre pool with no starting blocks in Berkshire to Glasgow’s Olympic facility at Toll Cross with Hill more than a year ago. She returned south to represent England at the Commonwealth Games and won two titles, over 400 and 800 metres. Cooke, 19, was 6 sec outside her best yesterday but 13 sec ahead of Keri-Anne Payne, the next best that Great Britain will have to offer at the European event in Riesa, Saxony. The Rochdale swimmer need feel no shame — she is just 15 and a great prospect. Cooke said she was “as happy to go as not” to Riesa, so Hill’s decision did not disappoint. The fact is, under the plans of Bill Sweetenham, the national performance director, neither those who do go to Riesa nor those who do not will get any rest from training this year: racing this winter will be subsidiary. |
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14th Sept 2002 |
Elite squad of GB swimmers to train in Australia
By Craig Lord from The Times (14/9/02). An elite squad of eight British swimmers — two seniors and six juniors — could be living, training and going to school on the Gold Coast by the start of the Australian academic year in January if Bill Sweetenham’s plans to escape the high cost of poor facilities and even worse weather at home are approved next week. Warmth and cheap facilities form an important part of the appeal to send a pioneering team of male swimmers Down Under. Females will not be considered at this stage because of issues related to pastoral care. On September 25, the plan goes before UK Sport, the agency charged by the Government with providing support for high-performance sport at national level. Next month Dave Calleja, the coach whose Manchester Aquatics swimmers won a medal in every race they entered at the Commonwealth Games, is expected to fly to the Gold Coast with John Atkinson, head of Britain’s youth programme, and Nora O’Brien, team manager, to test the waters.
Sweetenham is in final talks with The Southport School — although “a couple of other venues are also interested” — to secure the best balance of school, swimming and pastoral care at the right price before parents, swimmers and coaches are asked to consider selection. Among the generation likely to benefit from the move are Cardiff’s David Davies, 17, who established five Welsh records at the British short-course championships in Cambridge, and Liam Tancock, of Exeter, a British junior record holder. Candidates will be chosen from the 98 junior swimmers who are funded through the World Class Potential programme run by Atkinson.
Sweetenham said that the school offers “a 12-lane, 50-metre outdoor pool, a gym within 15 metres and a 25-metre pool right on the river — it’s right at the heart of the Gold Coast, there’s 12 months of summer and the lifestyle is very good”. He is being helped by advisers from the English Institute of Sport on the final choice of venue for swimming’s equivalent of the cricket academy established in Melbourne. While the group of pioneers will live permanently on the Gold Coast, returning to Britain two or three times a year for competition, the rest of the British team will join the Australian base for shorter periods of several weeks at a time to give them optimum training facilities and help with long-term acclimatisation to a time zone that will host the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006 and the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008. |
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14th Sept 2002 |
Protests over Glasgow pool closure
A Glasgow teenager has been found guilty of spraying a water pistol filled with urine at a line of police officers during a swimming pool protest, the Daily Record reported Friday. It happened during a demonstration against the closure of Glasgow’s Govanhill swimming pool. Protests began in August 2001, ever since the city council sanctioned the closure of the Victorian-era pool due to high upgrade costs, without consulting the local community. In February this year, Scottish authorities also decided to close the Eyemouth Swimming Pool in East Lothian which is considered a national centre of excellence for safety training. |
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13th Sept 2002 |
Thorpe splits with long time coach Frost
Australia's Ian Thorpe officially announced Thursday what many had been expecting: that he has replaced Doug Frost with his assistant coach, Tracey Menzies. "I wasn't enjoying myself training as much as I should be... I decided I either had to make the change or to walk away from the sport. At the end of the day I decided that Tracey was the best coach for myself," Thorpe said. Meanwhile, the 19-year-old swimmer's decision hasn't come without criticism. "I'd hate to think that Ian is getting a little too big for his boots. Because, you know, you can fall into that path when you've achieved so much," said former Australain Olympic champion Dawn Fraser. In addition, Don Talbot, the former Australian Head Coach is also worried about Thorpe's future, considering it a big risk the replacing of a respected coaching expert as Frost with a young coach. "It's a big call and maybe he doesn't know what he's doing... She's [Menzies] getting into a learning curve that she's never experienced before, she's a very capable coach but, at the international level, she's had no experience with a swimmer of that calibre," Talbot told reporters. |
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10th Sept 2002 |
Jackson's future in doubt
By Craig Lord from The Times (10/9/02). The absence of Nicola Jackson, one of the brightest prospects in British swimmin | | | | |
