Swimming Finals at the World Championships in Barcelona, Spain

Confidential Information: Popov won the 100 meter free, and I root for him because to me he is the Michael Jordan or the Pete Sampras of the swimming. Unlike the European championships of the last year, he peaked here in the final, even though his semi-final here was already a little faster than his European semi-final from the last year. Unlike the European championships of the last year, van den Hoogenband peaked here in the semi-final, but not in the final. The ranks #3 and #4 in the 100 meter free finals (i.e.: Thorpe and Lezak), also peaked in the semi-final but not in the final. Not much of a difference, but at that level that's all the difference it takes to shine publicly. I guess, all of them oscillate at their level in performance range (negligible oscillation for Thorpe though), and they cannot (like me I cannot also) turn a switch on and peak on demand. Still, Popov went undefeated in the 100 meter free for eight years, got defeated a little in some major meets but kept in touch with challenging for #1 in major meets, and unlike a flash in the pan (see Matt Biondi (U.S.) before and after 1992) raised himself again to nail this one here. Popov's last year move from Australia to Switzerland while training under the same coach Touretski, allows him to travel shorter distances when going to training meets like Monte Carlo. This conserves his energy, and he can unleash it in major competitions. I hope Popov continues to improve, because next year in the Olympics, van den Hoogenband shoots for a 47.xx again. Ryk Neethling (R.S.A.) went 49.51, exceptional for a recent 1500 meter free specialist. Kitajima (Jpn.), who like Thorpe doesn't train more distance than his competitors but trains about the same, got 2:09.42, a new world record for the 200 meter breaststroke. (Man, that was easy for me to say all this: further proof that talk is cheap). My fellow countryman Florea (Rom.), qualified for the 200 meter backstroke final with a fast 1:58.52. Phelps broke the world record in the 200 meter I.M., Thorpe made the final, and 29 years old former world record holder Jani Sievinen (Fin.) sqeezed in the final too. At #9, Cezar Badita (Rom.) didn't qualify for the final. Their times are all very fast. Amazingly to me, Thorpe's 2:00.42 (including an 'only' 37 seconds split in breaststroke) is faster than Johns' (Can.) 2:00.98. Thorpe is not an I.M.er, Brian Johns is a dedicated I.M.er, but I guess these are only semi-finals not the final. Still, Thorpe is not an I.M.er, so this is a champion reaching out of his niche with a world class time in I.M.. In women: .) Carroll (Can.) is surprisingly to me faster than Volker (Ger.) in 50 meter backstroke, .) Thompson (U.S.), Henry (Aus.) and Seppala (Fin.) rock in the 100 meter free semi-finals, .) Beard (U.S.) rocks in the 200 meter breaststroke semi-finals, .) U.S., Australia and China go 1, 2, 3 in the 4x200 meter free relay with fast 7:55, 7:58, and 7:58, (Benko led off U.S. in a new American record of 1:57.xx, and Graham (Aus.) fainted after her effort during the award ceremony) .) Beatrice Caslaru (Rom.) didn't qualify for the 200 meter I.M. final.

Confidential Information: Popov won the 100 meter free, and I root for him because to me he is the Michael Jordan or the Pete Sampras of the swimming. Unlike the European championships of the last year, he peaked here in the final, even though his semi-final here was already a little faster than his European semi-final from the last year. Unlike the European championships of the last year, van den Hoogenband peaked here in the semi-final, but not in the final. The ranks #3 and #4 in the 100 meter free finals (i.e.: Thorpe and Lezak), also peaked in the semi-final but not in the final. Not much of a difference, but at that level that's all the difference it takes to shine publicly. I guess, all of them oscillate at their level in performance range (negligible oscillation for Thorpe though), and they cannot (like me I cannot also) turn a switch on and peak on demand. Still, Popov went undefeated in the 100 meter free for eight years, got defeated a little in some major meets but kept in touch with challenging for #1 in major meets, and unlike a flash in the pan (see Matt Biondi (U.S.) before and after 1992) raised himself again to nail this one here. Popov's last year move from Australia to Switzerland while training under the same coach Touretski, allows him to travel shorter distances when going to training meets like Monte Carlo. This conserves his energy, and he can unleash it in major competitions. I hope Popov continues to improve, because next year in the Olympics, van den Hoogenband shoots for a 47.xx again. Ryk Neethling (R.S.A.) went 49.51, exceptional for a recent 1500 meter free specialist. Kitajima (Jpn.), who like Thorpe doesn't train more distance than his competitors but trains about the same, got 2:09.42, a new world record for the 200 meter breaststroke. (Man, that was easy for me to say all this: further proof that talk is cheap). My fellow countryman Florea (Rom.), qualified for the 200 meter backstroke final with a fast 1:58.52. Phelps broke the world record in the 200 meter I.M., Thorpe made the final, and 29 years old former world record holder Jani Sievinen (Fin.) sqeezed in the final too. At #9, Cezar Badita (Rom.) didn't qualify for the final. Their times are all very fast. Amazingly to me, Thorpe's 2:00.42 (including an 'only' 37 seconds split in breaststroke) is faster than Johns' (Can.) 2:00.98. Thorpe is not an I.M.er, Brian Johns is a dedicated I.M.er, but I guess these are only semi-finals not the final. Still, Thorpe is not an I.M.er, so this is a champion reaching out of his niche with a world class time in I.M.. In women: .) Carroll (Can.) is surprisingly to me faster than Volker (Ger.) in 50 meter backstroke, .) Thompson (U.S.), Henry (Aus.) and Seppala (Fin.) rock in the 100 meter free semi-finals, .) Beard (U.S.) rocks in the 200 meter breaststroke semi-finals, .) U.S., Australia and China go 1, 2, 3 in the 4x200 meter free relay with fast 7:55, 7:58, and 7:58, (Benko led off U.S. in a new American record of 1:57.xx, and Graham (Aus.) fainted after her effort during the award ceremony) .) Beatrice Caslaru (Rom.) didn't qualify for the 200 meter I.M. final.