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...
Former Member
Alos, when will out American women beat the steriod 800 meter freestyle relay of the East Germans. It shouldn't be on the books since everyone knows they cheated.
Originally posted by Gareth Eckley
...
...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.
...
Mark Foster seems to have a following of groupies adoring him in www.swimclub.co.uk
In 1994, I watched a workout by the British team -including Mark Foster- in Vancouver, Canada, before the British team went to compete in the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada.
A British butterflyer swam butterfly for two hours non-stop.
Meanwhile, this tall and slim Foster, drops by nonchalantly, talks with a teammate, gets in the water, does a 50 free in about 50 seconds, talks with another teammate, does another 50 in about 50 seconds, and so on.
To me he was:
swim to swim, to not swim to swim...
Indeed with this mentality he cannot compete on the world stage in the 100 meter freestyle.
And his 50 meter performances in big meets are inconsistent.
Sprinters Popov, Hall and Ervin work a lot at their skill of sprinting.
Originally posted by nyswim
Swimmer,# of Olympics, total medals, breakdown
Fraser 4, 8 (4,4,0)
Biondi 3, 11 (8,2,1)
Popov 3, 9 (4,5,0)
Perkins 3, 4 (2,2,0)
Salnikov 3, 4 (4,0,0)
Wiessmuller 2,6 (5,0,1)
Dolan 2, 3 (2,1,0)
Biondi got a lot out of relays.
Compared to Perkins, Salnikov, Weismuller, Fraser, Dolan and Popov.
In 1984, Biondi, under the name Matthew Bond, went to the Olympics on the U.S. relay team of 4x100 free and no individual event.
Popov medalled individually in three Olympics.
Popov, Perkins, Fraser, Dolan, Salnikov and Weismuller, they all defended their individual wins at the Olympics with more individual wins at the Olympics.
Dawn Fraser did this the most:
.) three different Olympics, three different golds in the 100 free;
.) she was banned from participating in a fourth Olympics when she was still dominant, because she had a run in with a pushing papers Australian official.
Cynthia points out this relay business that benefits Biondi's tally of Olympic medals.
In individual sprints:
................................
1) Biondi won the 50 free and the 100 free in 1988 Olympics.
In the 1992 Olympics, Biondi got #2 in 50 free and #5 (behind #3 Stephane Caron (Fra.) who I knew when I was student in the 80s) in 100 free.
So Biondi didn't back up in 1992, the 1988.
Neither did he try to back up the 1988, after 1992.
He just quit at age 26, when it got challenging...
2) Popov won the 50 free and the 100 free in the 1992 Olympics.
Popov backed up the 1992, by winning the 50 free and the 100 free in the 1996 Olympics.
Popov tried to back up the 1992 and the 1996 Olympics, by winning silver in the 100 free in the 2000 Olympics.
Popov tries to back up the 1992 and the 1996 Olympics, by training and competing now at age 31 -which is more than 26-.
The qualifying round of the 1500 free (here and in the 400 meter I.M. there are no preliminaries, semis, finals, but there are preliminaries and finals) is surprising:
.) Vendt (U.S.) is in the final, and he is going to strike;
(he hasn't done anything yet here, so he is rested)
.) Alex. Filipets (Rus.), #4 in the 2000 Olympics, is out;
.) Craig Stevens (Aus.) is out;
.) Coman (Rom.) is out, maybe burned out by now.
Foster was not too shabby in the 50m free this time. I agree that his training precludes 100m success, but 22.20 is ok.
Anyhow, IAN CROCKER 50.98!!!!! 100 fly!!!
First 5 finishers sub-52!!
Holy smoke, sub 50 will now be aimed at...
Just for interest, anyone out there who watched this race or sees it on TV: what type of suits were these guys wearing? full-body, tank or what? Thanks
So:
Popov (Rus.) won the 50 free in 21.92.
Foster (GBR.) came in second in 50 free in 22.20.
(Looks like Sweetenham disciplined a little bit Foster, so that Foster produced this one).
Crocker (U.S.) in 50.95 and Phelps (U.S.) in 51.10, they broke the 100 fly world record.
"Cynthia points out this relay business that benefits Biondi's tally of Olympic medals." (actually she calls him Blondi the entire post)
...and her point is?
A couple of random thoughts and then I've got to get off this subject, it's driving me nuts!
1. To me relays can be hit or miss. If you screw up there are 3 other people to pick up the slack. On the other hand there are 3 other people you must depend on. Of course individual events are a better test of one's ability.
2. Why did Biondi swim on so many relays? In Free relays he was one of the top six freestylers in the US. In Medley relays he was one of the top 2 Freestylers and Butterflyers in the US.
3. Why did Popov not swim/medal in more relays? Don't have any idea.
4. 1984. Biondi was not in the top 50 US going into the Trials. He placed 4th to make the team.
5. Why did Biondi leave the sport at age 26? See #3.
How about a peace offering:
Biondi sprinter of the 1980's, Popov sprinter of the 1990's.
WHAT?!?!? Matt Biondi was NEVER KNOWN AS MATTHEW "BOND!" That is inaccurate, inconsequential, and totally within character for you, Ion. Stick to the numbers and stay on focus. Good lord...
Originally posted by nyswim
"Cynthia points out this relay business that benefits Biondi's tally of Olympic medals." (actually she calls him Blondi the entire post)
...and her point is?
A couple of random thoughts and then I've got to get off this subject, it's driving me nuts!
1. To me relays can be hit or miss. If you screw up there are 3 other people to pick up the slack. On the other hand there are 3 other people you must depend on. Of course individual events are a better test of one's ability.
2. Why did Biondi swim on so many relays? In Free relays he was one of the top six freestylers in the US. In Medley relays he was one of the top 2 Freestylers and Butterflyers in the US.
3. Why did Popov not swim/medal in more relays? Don't have any idea.
...
The point is that relay medals counting as one medal per participant, should count 1/4 medal per participant.
Originally posted by nyswim
...
4. 1984. Biondi was not in the top 50 US going into the Trials. He placed 4th to make the team.
5. Why did Biondi leave the sport at age 26? See #3.
...
Biondi left the sport at age 26, because he is not the Michael Jordan or the Pete Sampras of the sprint swimming.
Popov won the double (50 free, 100 free) in two Olympics (1992 and 1996), won a silver in the 100 free in another Olympics (2000), and here in 2003 at age 31 he won again the double (50 free, 100 free), because like I said he is the Michael Jordan or the Pete Sampras of the sprint swimming.
In sprint swimming consistency over time, Popov wins more than Biondi.
In times, Popov is faster than Biondi.
Here, Popov's 48.42 at age 31 equals Biondi's lifetime best of 48.42 at age 22.
Popov went faster than 48.42 (Biondi's best), three times.
The most recent ones were in 2000, a 48.27 and a 48.34 at age 28.
