As seen on Swiminfo today.......so much for citizenship eh?! And we complain about masters "superteams"!
Draganja Changing Allegiances to Qatar
ZAGREB, Croatia, December 7. WHILE South Africa’s Roland Schoeman has spurned an offer to switch his allegiance to Qatar, the same cannot be said for Croatian Duje Draganja. The sprint sensation, a 24-year-old, recently accepted a lucrative offer to swim for the Middle Eastern nation, which has been chasing high-profile athletes by offering significant sums of money.
Before accepting the offer from Qatar, which is believed to be at least $1 million, Draganja gave Croatian swimming officials the opportunity to keep him swimming under his homeland’s flag. Ultimately, though, the Arab nation won out and Draganja is expected to race for Qatar at next year’s World Short Course Championships in Shanghai, China.
That would be an interesting relay, wouldn't it Patrick? But I did notice that all the reports were about sprint freestylers, which makes it more intriguing.
I sincerely hope that this fires up the USA to, in the paraphrased words of John Smith, "bring the relay back." With for guys that can go in the 48.1-48.9 range, that's one heck of a relay.
But the US needs to be pumped and ready to take on the challengers. Because there are now two in that relay (S. Africa and Qatar), if everything goes Qatar's way.
It's funny that no one's trying to challenge in the other relays. Heck, that 800 free relay is still up for grabs. Why hasn't Britain tried to get three more swimmers to match Simon Burnett? Maybe they're more tactful than that.
That would be an interesting relay, wouldn't it Patrick? But I did notice that all the reports were about sprint freestylers, which makes it more intriguing.
I sincerely hope that this fires up the USA to, in the paraphrased words of John Smith, "bring the relay back." With for guys that can go in the 48.1-48.9 range, that's one heck of a relay.
But the US needs to be pumped and ready to take on the challengers. Because there are now two in that relay (S. Africa and Qatar), if everything goes Qatar's way.
It's funny that no one's trying to challenge in the other relays. Heck, that 800 free relay is still up for grabs. Why hasn't Britain tried to get three more swimmers to match Simon Burnett? Maybe they're more tactful than that.
