Swimming Finals at the World Championships in Barcelona, Spain
Former Member
The finals of the first day, show:
.) in the men 400 meter free final, Thorpe (Aus.) went 3:42.58 for #1, Hackett (Aus.) went 3:45.17 for #2, and Coman (Rom.) went 3:46.8x for #3;
Coman -who is my fellow countryman, and I was telling you about him for years-, defeated Rossolini (Ita.) of the 2000 Olympics fame, Keller (U.S.) and Carvin (U.S.);
.) in the women 400 meter free final, Simona Paduraru (Rom.) finished #7, with a fast time;
.) in the 4x100 men free relay, Russia won;
the fastest split was by Frenchman Frederic Bousquet at 47.03 -which is the second fastest split in history-, and fast splits (in the 47s) were recorded by Alex. Popov (Rus.) and Jason Lezak (U.S.);
.) in the 4x100 women free relay, U.S. won, anchored by an ace 53.xx from Jenny Thompson (U.S.).
He! he! he! :D ho! ho! ho!
I post this, ahead of www.swiminfo.com and www.swimnews.com who are sandbagging...
Parents
Former Member
A comment and a question:
1) Thank God I am not a breaststroker! This frimpin' stroke is too darn technical! I'm not talking about fine points to swim it well (I'm completely down with that); I'm talking about all ticky-tack rules to swim it legally! Here we are, in the midst of World Championships, debating whether the guy who just set the World Record should have been DQ'ed. Not only that, look at the results from prelims, semis and finals, and count how many of the finest breaststrokers in the world got DQ'ed! At this level of competition, you have to ask yourself is it the athlete, or is it the rules that are messed up. Calling pass interference in the NFL is more cut and dried than this.
2) For those who follow the women's 200 free closely, can you verify my impression that the finals, from 1st to 8th, was one of the best races in the past 20 years or so. Call me crazy, but the women's 200 free has struck me as having gone stagnant since the days of Sippy Woodhead vs. the East Germans. If memory serves, her WR was about 1:58.something. Aside from Franze busting off a 1:56 every decade or so (and usually at a second rate meet), hardly anyone ever swims under 1:59. Just to make sure I'm not smokin' dope on this issue, I checked the results from the Sydney Olympics. Sure enough, a flyer won the race, and was the only woman under 1:59, with 2nd and 3rd going to a couple of folks who have been around for a while. Don't get me wrong; Claudia Poll's performance in 2000 was an amazing testament to her talent and her longevity in the race. But, none of the medal winners at Sydney were exactly what you would call fresh blood in the event. Now, finally, we have 4 swimmers doing 1:58's, hurrah! I'm thrilled to see it, even if the American ended up one place out of the medals! (One caveat: in criticizing the field in the women's 200 free for the last 23 years, I am acknowledging that I am in no way qualified to even so much as wipe the excess water off of the top of their starting blocks. These women are all incredible athletes, and make me look like the carping, mediocre slacker which I am in fact.)
What do y'all think?
Matt
A comment and a question:
1) Thank God I am not a breaststroker! This frimpin' stroke is too darn technical! I'm not talking about fine points to swim it well (I'm completely down with that); I'm talking about all ticky-tack rules to swim it legally! Here we are, in the midst of World Championships, debating whether the guy who just set the World Record should have been DQ'ed. Not only that, look at the results from prelims, semis and finals, and count how many of the finest breaststrokers in the world got DQ'ed! At this level of competition, you have to ask yourself is it the athlete, or is it the rules that are messed up. Calling pass interference in the NFL is more cut and dried than this.
2) For those who follow the women's 200 free closely, can you verify my impression that the finals, from 1st to 8th, was one of the best races in the past 20 years or so. Call me crazy, but the women's 200 free has struck me as having gone stagnant since the days of Sippy Woodhead vs. the East Germans. If memory serves, her WR was about 1:58.something. Aside from Franze busting off a 1:56 every decade or so (and usually at a second rate meet), hardly anyone ever swims under 1:59. Just to make sure I'm not smokin' dope on this issue, I checked the results from the Sydney Olympics. Sure enough, a flyer won the race, and was the only woman under 1:59, with 2nd and 3rd going to a couple of folks who have been around for a while. Don't get me wrong; Claudia Poll's performance in 2000 was an amazing testament to her talent and her longevity in the race. But, none of the medal winners at Sydney were exactly what you would call fresh blood in the event. Now, finally, we have 4 swimmers doing 1:58's, hurrah! I'm thrilled to see it, even if the American ended up one place out of the medals! (One caveat: in criticizing the field in the women's 200 free for the last 23 years, I am acknowledging that I am in no way qualified to even so much as wipe the excess water off of the top of their starting blocks. These women are all incredible athletes, and make me look like the carping, mediocre slacker which I am in fact.)
What do y'all think?
Matt
