I'm sorry but.....

Australia Medal count, 5 gold 4 silver 7 bronze 16 total, a very small country 20,434,176 . Canada 33,400,000 how many medals? Canada going in the wrong direction has been for years. True, but as I said, given that swimming is not a national obsession as it is in Australia, there is a decent Canadian presence in the races. I dare say that Australian ice hockey presence isn't very great. Still, it's a shame when the "powers that be" take a program in the wrong direction - it's been that way with USA Track and Field's handling of racewalking for decades. -LBJ

Geek you are right we have some pretty good curlers. Your words make me feel so much better. Canada almost rules curling. We should apply their wrist action to swimming, who knows it might be the breakthrough Canadian Swimmers need. Maybe we could also enhance our swim technique and add a heel toe action that is used in racewalking. When you take a country as small as Canada and compare to a country as huge as the US, you are not doing an appropriate comparison. Canada is doing quite well, if not exceptionally. Canada has never been a swimming powerhouse and they have their own sports they are fantastic in, such as curling. Leonard - not trying to be funny here, but is racewalking still an Olympic sport, or was it ever?

anybody else see that ziegler and hoff both missed finals in the 800 free?!?!?! :confused: what is going on with our women's team???

I swam against the Chinese national teams when I was in high school (we were an American team made up of Chinese Americans). It was 1981 and we blew them out of the water. (And we were just low ranking All-American high-school swimmers ... no future superstars out of us!) Their pools were unclean and they had just heard of pace clocks. They hire E. German coaches and 10 years later their women show up looking like men and break major sprint records. I called it dirty. Eventually evidency came out to back me up. 4 years later I watched Inke de Brujin (sp?) race and called her dirty. Too much drop in too little time. Even our own Balco-spiced American Van Dyken coudln't take her with everything she had in her system. De Bruijin is as dirty as FloJo was. Now France has four guys going sub-22 in the 50? FOUR? I heard it from one the mouth of one of the best sprint coaches in the world. "There's no way that's clean. I can out coach our comptetition's swimmers. I can't out couch drugs." Back on topic ... China has done some excellent coaching changes. Their starts and turns are top rate (better starts than most Americans minus Coughlan and those other with good SDK's) But when I see that 800 free relay, my gut tells me China's silver is dirty. Whether it's EPO, HGH, or genetic manipulation the women are coming back too hard in these middle distance events. And given the fact the the NY Times exposed China's forging of their gymnasts age to win gold shows how are they are willing to go. I love China -- the country of my heritage. I love the brilliance of its history, medicine, philosophy, and literature. I am NOT happy with its government, it's win-at-any-cost-attitude, and it's carbon footprint. Of course, I'm not happy with our goverment, it's head-in-the-sand-attitude (really, Mr. Bush? You're attending the OLYMPICS GAMES??? I have friends at war right now) ... and our carbon footprint is certainly soiled. The difference here is I can say it (or write it here) without worry of censureship or a knock on the door tonite. I hope!

Warning: I doubt this post will make sense to anyone other than Spock and if he too is confused then accept my apologies. It may also get me banned for life. But prior to banishment pleas allow Spock time to reply. Does your Father Sleep With Strangers? If so my folks often spoke fondly of your parents. Mike Gerry

When the race goes we watch it, it has been great. 7pm here in Vancouver and we watch the swimming races. 3 pm now first race starts a few minutes after 7.

Guess Soni proved you wrong. Be positive!!!

Warning: I doubt this post will make sense to anyone other than Spock and if he too is confused then accept my apologies. It may also get me banned for life. But prior to banishment pleas allow Spock time to reply. Does your Father Sleep With Strangers? If so my folks often spoke fondly of your parents. Mike Gerry Indeed, he did. Nice to hear from you Mike. Give my best to Connie!

I did say Soni was one of the few US women swimming well.... Then be pleased about it and don't complain about the rest of the team!

This is just an observation...and I am most probably wrong but... Although Michael Phelps is brilliant and the best swimmer this world has ever seen or ever will see, could it be that unconsciously him being so successfully is actually having an adverse effect on the US swim team? Why train for years and years if you know that all you will achieve is possibly a silver behind Michael? Why bother when you know he will bring home the bacon or in this case gold? Is this mind bend spilling over to the women? I am saying this because, our Aussie men inadvertently did exactly the same thing after sydney 2000. They simply did not hunger anymore. They knew they were being out swam by the Americans and what gold they could get ..well Thorpie and Hacket would get it for them. When Ian retired, we hits the pits. and there was hell to pay back here in Oz. The public wanted to know why they were pouring all this money into our swimmers if they weren't producing the goods. After the commonwealth games,where they performed humiliatingly badly, they started to slowly pull themselves together. It still isnt good but they are learning to hunger for the gold. They can because to another country without Michael Phelps..silver or bronze is good. Our women swimmers have been climbing the mountain since 2001 to get somewhere, and the men are just now starting to take a leaf out of their books. Your American women were dominant for so very long but now not only are the Aussies strong but so are swimmers from allover the globe. Eventually they will pull themselves together again and start fighting back. Your mens team, though, well, I worry that, while Michael is so dominant they will start allowing him to pick up the gold and they will just be there for the ride. If Aaron Peirsol and Leak retire..what then? Worse, what if Michael Phelps suddenly decides that he has done all he can do in swimming and retires?