EAMON Sullivan breaks 50 LCM FREE WR again in 21.28

Was searching for reaction to Sullivan's WR, and found this forum. So I thought I'd register to give my thoughts on this topic. I'm surprised that people whom have talked about the reasons why he has improved his times have talked about drugs, but not the fact that he has had 3 hip replacements and numerous shoulder injuries over his career. These setbacks would have severely limited his ability to train at 100%, and it is only recently (the last year or two) that his coach has developed a training regimen that allows him to train almost flat out, albeit in shorter bursts, without completely breaking down. If people don't know the full story, they shouldn't comment. There's some further details in this article: Fragile Sullivan 'in bubble wrap' By Nicole Jeffery March 10, 2008 EAMON Sullivan's coach is putting him in cotton wool, covered by bubble wrap, as you read this. Sullivan may be the fastest man in history, courtesy of his world 50m freestyle record three weeks ago, but he is also one of the most accident and injury-prone. He has had three hip operations, ankle surgery, a succession of shoulder injuries and 19 cortisone injections. He tore a ligament off the bone in his middle finger, in one race last year, and had a wrist scare after a collision in the pool on the morning he set the world record in Sydney. Coach Grant Stoelwinder will take no chances with the fast, but fragile, sprinter as they count down to the Olympic selection trials in Sydney in two weeks. Sullivan completed his preparation for the trials on Sunday when he contested the Western Australian sprint championships in Perth, setting his fourth sub-49sec 100m time in three weeks. He warmed up with a 22.27sec 50m, some three-quarters of a second outside the lightning pace he showed in Sydney, but much of that was lost on the dive. The starting blocks at Challenge Stadium don't offer much grip and Sullivan misjudged his start. He returned an hour later and clocked 48.92sec in the 100m. Sullivan plunged back into hard work for two weeks after his Sydney pyrotechnics, before beginning to taper off last week. But his body is still adjusting to the change in workload, a process swimmers call "adaptation", during which they feel sluggish and uncoordinated. Stoelwinder said Sunday's racing was designed to "activate" Sullivan's fast-twitch fibres. He did not have the easy speed to take the 100m out aggressively, but he was impressively strong over the second lap as he practised the race pacing which brought him the 48.11sec national record last month. After that race, Sullivan vowed to practise that rhythm until it was tattooed on his eyelids, so he could reproduce it on demand. Stoelwinder said they would look to challenge the 48-second mark at the Olympic trials. Only two men have breached that barrier - world record-holder Pieter van den Hoogenband (47.84sec) and Sweden's Stefan Nystrand (47.91sec). The coach is confident that Sullivan is on target. "From now he will just have lots of rest - he has a day off and then we will really drop down his taper and I'm wrapping him in cotton wool. And bubble wrap." Sullivan has had to make adjustments since he shocked the world by lowering Alex Popov's seven-year-old 50m world record. Popov commented last year that the difference between Sullivan's then personal best time of 22.0sec and 22.5sec was "the difference between a Holden and a Ferrari". The Perth sprinter now attracts Ferrari-style attention when he turns up to competition in his home town. At a club meet a week ago, he was mobbed by children on his way to and from the starting blocks. He needed help from an official to make his way through the excited youngsters demanding autographs. "Life has changed a bit for Eamon," Stoelwinder confirmed. But he is confident that the swimmer has not lost focus, given that he has yet to qualify for the Olympic team. "He's so switched on and he feels strong and he's holding the water really well," the coach said. "He's matured into this athlete who's really taking control of what he's doing. He's a man on a mission."

Was searching for reaction to Sullivan's WR, and found this forum. So I thought I'd register to give my thoughts on this topic. I'm surprised that people whom have talked about the reasons why he has improved his times have talked about drugs, but not the fact that he has had 3 hip replacements and numerous shoulder injuries over his career. These setbacks would have severely limited his ability to train at 100%, and it is only recently (the last year or two) that his coach has developed a training regimen that allows him to train almost flat out, albeit in shorter bursts, without completely breaking down. If people don't know the full story, they shouldn't comment. There's some further details in this article: Fragile Sullivan 'in bubble wrap' By Nicole Jeffery March 10, 2008 EAMON Sullivan's coach is putting him in cotton wool, covered by bubble wrap, as you read this. Sullivan may be the fastest man in history, courtesy of his world 50m freestyle record three weeks ago, but he is also one of the most accident and injury-prone. He has had three hip operations, ankle surgery, a succession of shoulder injuries and 19 cortisone injections. He tore a ligament off the bone in his middle finger, in one race last year, and had a wrist scare after a collision in the pool on the morning he set the world record in Sydney. Coach Grant Stoelwinder will take no chances with the fast, but fragile, sprinter as they count down to the Olympic selection trials in Sydney in two weeks. Sullivan completed his preparation for the trials on Sunday when he contested the Western Australian sprint championships in Perth, setting his fourth sub-49sec 100m time in three weeks. He warmed up with a 22.27sec 50m, some three-quarters of a second outside the lightning pace he showed in Sydney, but much of that was lost on the dive. The starting blocks at Challenge Stadium don't offer much grip and Sullivan misjudged his start. He returned an hour later and clocked 48.92sec in the 100m. Sullivan plunged back into hard work for two weeks after his Sydney pyrotechnics, before beginning to taper off last week. But his body is still adjusting to the change in workload, a process swimmers call "adaptation", during which they feel sluggish and uncoordinated. Stoelwinder said Sunday's racing was designed to "activate" Sullivan's fast-twitch fibres. He did not have the easy speed to take the 100m out aggressively, but he was impressively strong over the second lap as he practised the race pacing which brought him the 48.11sec national record last month. After that race, Sullivan vowed to practise that rhythm until it was tattooed on his eyelids, so he could reproduce it on demand. Stoelwinder said they would look to challenge the 48-second mark at the Olympic trials. Only two men have breached that barrier - world record-holder Pieter van den Hoogenband (47.84sec) and Sweden's Stefan Nystrand (47.91sec). The coach is confident that Sullivan is on target. "From now he will just have lots of rest - he has a day off and then we will really drop down his taper and I'm wrapping him in cotton wool. And bubble wrap." Sullivan has had to make adjustments since he shocked the world by lowering Alex Popov's seven-year-old 50m world record. Popov commented last year that the difference between Sullivan's then personal best time of 22.0sec and 22.5sec was "the difference between a Holden and a Ferrari". The Perth sprinter now attracts Ferrari-style attention when he turns up to competition in his home town. At a club meet a week ago, he was mobbed by children on his way to and from the starting blocks. He needed help from an official to make his way through the excited youngsters demanding autographs. "Life has changed a bit for Eamon," Stoelwinder confirmed. But he is confident that the swimmer has not lost focus, given that he has yet to qualify for the Olympic team. "He's so switched on and he feels strong and he's holding the water really well," the coach said. "He's matured into this athlete who's really taking control of what he's doing. He's a man on a mission."