Swimming Finals at the World Championships in Barcelona, Spain

I saw Phelps swim the 100m Fly and the 200 IM last night. What can I say, he was amazing. I have noticed that the fastest Flyers have a "Wide Entry", definitely outside the shoulders and wider than what used to be taught. I can see that this allows them to quickly start the Catch, and they seem to be doing the pull timing of "Front end fly". I like the recent rule change on Breaststroke, it has become so much faster now that the head can be underwater on the Glide phase. The televised coverage on " Eurosport" has been excellent. The great underwater shots have really allowed me to see how the best swimmers are swimming. I want to see what Popov is doing underwater on his start. He must be dolphin kicking as he has the best start in his events. I love watching my hero Popov swim. The "Gallop" in his stroke which he and Phelps have in free is great to see. I think that this cames from a 'shoulder shrug' initiated arm recovery, which is fast in the first phase and is allowed to slow down in the 2nd phase to have the benefits of a soft entry. The British swimmers still have a long way to go. I DISMISS 50m events, for these ELITE swimmers it is the same as the 25m events in some master meets. Not for serious swimmers and really for 'newbies' and the really old. I agree with Ion that Mark Foster is a " Poseur". Here in the UK, he bills himself as the "fastest human in the water!" despite never having beaten Popov or Hoogie in any event. He only swims about 6 to 7 hours a week, it is no wonder that he is incapable of swimming the 100m free. Bill Sweetenham, ( UK swim director) has done a lot of good here in the UK, however, he is working against a "Culture of mediocrity" which has been ingrained here for far too long. The inability of the British swimmers to perform in 100m events and longer distance is embarassing. The 4 by 200m freestyle relay is the true test of a swim programme and the British mens team is not competitive. We are quite good at Breaststroke though. The 800m free contrasted the "exquisite technique" of Hackett with the "lousy technique" of Smith (UK). Yes, Smith trains hard, but he has a splashy stroke and "lifts his head up to breath". How has he been allowed to swim that way for so long, he stands no chance of beating the rest of the world with the worst freestyle technique of any in the pool. I find it impossible to say who is the "best swimmer", like comparing apples to oranges. I am amazed by all that they can do. I think that the US are having a great meet, as are Australia. I have been impressed with some of the European and Eastern Europe swimmers. The Japanese must have a great program there. Canada is struggling with practically no funding but is doing OK when you consider that fact. How "clean"(free of drugs) do you think this meet is ? The rest of the meet will be great, the 400 Im and the 1500m are the events i am most looking forward to. Hackett has said that he has improved his turns and can take 6 seconds off his 1500m world record. Can't wait to see him do it.

I saw Phelps swim the 100m Fly and the 200 IM last night. What can I say, he was amazing. I have noticed that the fastest Flyers have a "Wide Entry", definitely outside the shoulders and wider than what used to be taught. I can see that this allows them to quickly start the Catch, and they seem to be doing the pull timing of "Front end fly". I like the recent rule change on Breaststroke, it has become so much faster now that the head can be underwater on the Glide phase. The televised coverage on " Eurosport" has been excellent. The great underwater shots have really allowed me to see how the best swimmers are swimming. I want to see what Popov is doing underwater on his start. He must be dolphin kicking as he has the best start in his events. I love watching my hero Popov swim. The "Gallop" in his stroke which he and Phelps have in free is great to see. I think that this cames from a 'shoulder shrug' initiated arm recovery, which is fast in the first phase and is allowed to slow down in the 2nd phase to have the benefits of a soft entry. The British swimmers still have a long way to go. I DISMISS 50m events, for these ELITE swimmers it is the same as the 25m events in some master meets. Not for serious swimmers and really for 'newbies' and the really old. I agree with Ion that Mark Foster is a " Poseur". Here in the UK, he bills himself as the "fastest human in the water!" despite never having beaten Popov or Hoogie in any event. He only swims about 6 to 7 hours a week, it is no wonder that he is incapable of swimming the 100m free. Bill Sweetenham, ( UK swim director) has done a lot of good here in the UK, however, he is working against a "Culture of mediocrity" which has been ingrained here for far too long. The inability of the British swimmers to perform in 100m events and longer distance is embarassing. The 4 by 200m freestyle relay is the true test of a swim programme and the British mens team is not competitive. We are quite good at Breaststroke though. The 800m free contrasted the "exquisite technique" of Hackett with the "lousy technique" of Smith (UK). Yes, Smith trains hard, but he has a splashy stroke and "lifts his head up to breath". How has he been allowed to swim that way for so long, he stands no chance of beating the rest of the world with the worst freestyle technique of any in the pool. I find it impossible to say who is the "best swimmer", like comparing apples to oranges. I am amazed by all that they can do. I think that the US are having a great meet, as are Australia. I have been impressed with some of the European and Eastern Europe swimmers. The Japanese must have a great program there. Canada is struggling with practically no funding but is doing OK when you consider that fact. How "clean"(free of drugs) do you think this meet is ? The rest of the meet will be great, the 400 Im and the 1500m are the events i am most looking forward to. Hackett has said that he has improved his turns and can take 6 seconds off his 1500m world record. Can't wait to see him do it.