2011 duel in the pool

Since this seems to be about the only place on the internet where it's acceptable to be a swimming fan, my thoughts on this meet: 2. I'm so glad to see Ricky Berens show up at a big meet. His anchor 100 was a thing of beauty. That may have been the best relay start I've ever seen. I also loved his third turn and would like to see what was going on from underwater. Seemd like half a pool length on TV, and then he was up with 1/2 body length lead.:bolt:

I just saw some of the swims and I was really impressed by Hansen.He looks more muscular than before.Swimming down Gyurta in the 200 was really impressive.Gyurta did the same to him at the 2004 Olympics and is really known for his finish so that must have been sweet.I think Hansen probably realized that the timing couldn't be better for him. IMO, if the US gets a guy who can do a sub-59 *** leg in the medley, I think the relay is sewn up. The US surely needs it, if not for the magic of Phelps, it would have been lights out in Shanghai. One other thing: Shanteau hasn't looked good a while now. I'm a little concerned.

12.5 meters of coverage for both the men's and women's 800??? Shame on you, NBC. Is it really too much to ask for 10 minutes of coverage for each of these events? What does that equate to -- one crummy 1st round game of Wimbledon? An inning from one of the godawful number of pro baseball games? Shame on NBC? Kudos, it kept viewers from turning the channel

Anyone notice on the underwater footage of the 2011 D I T P relays the water looked cloudy? I encountered the same problem at that pool on relays at 2009 SC Nats The tiny bubbles from fierce swimming and kicking seem to linger longer than in any pool I've ever encountered, making the water milky which made it hard for me to see the walls and gauge my turns.

Shame on NBC? Kudos, it kept viewers from turning the channel I don’t know… Cheering on Lotte Friis as she flirted with the world record in the 800 was one of the more exciting and impressive swims at the meet Saturday. But that’s from a swimmer’s perspective; the general public may get bored with such things. They definitely spent some $$$ to dress that place up (back drop over diving well, stands over one end of 50m pool, lane covers on end lanes, lighting. Big production. Also, the 2 new scoreboards built for the event and the new starting block tops with the track wedge. They also reversed the lanes, putting lane 1 on the left instead of the right (another concession to the TV crowd).

Since this seems to be about the only place on the internet where it's acceptable to be a swimming fan, my thoughts on this meet: 1. What exactly is wrong with the Europeans? They probably were a weaker team but they were clearly capable of more then they produced. Almost universally they swam slower than the did at Euro SC just a couple of weeks ago. Friis, Joensen, the women's 4x100 team and Simmons showed up to race, the rest mostly seemed like they hardly could be bothered. Get the Germans, French, Italians and Russians to commit in force, get them excited and lets make this a real competition. 2. I'm so glad to see Ricky Berens show up at a big meet. His anchor 100 was a thing of beauty. That may have been the best relay start I've ever seen. 3. Grevers is awesome. 4. Caitlin Leverenz in the 200 IM was probably the swim of the meet for me. Her breaststroke leg was just sick. She needs to work on her free and I could easily see a medal for her in London. 5. Missy Franklin made a lot of mistakes and still rocked. Two 51.3 splits in one meet. What's scary is that she still has so much upside potential with her starts and turns. I could see her easily cracking 53 individually next year if she can get some good long course training in. 6. Otteson's interview cracked me up, finally a European with some fire. Simmons seemed pretty cool as well. 7. The US needs help in the 200 fly, 2 American records was a huge surprise to me. 8. Cseh has the weirdest fly in the world. That should not work. Those bug-eyed goggles and perma-shaved head add to his alien vibe. Just a strange dude in the water. 9. Bence Biczo is the most fun name to say in the world, but it needs to be said is a really bad Italian accent for some reason (I know he's Hungarian). 10. I hope to God Clary's OK.