Men's NCAAs 2009

My answer to that is yes. That does not make me jealous, a hater, a protectionist or anything else other than someone that loves college and Olympic swimming and wants the US to dominate... Paul...my apologies. I misunderstood your posts as someone who didn't like how AU and Zona built their programs.

A few of these non-american swimmers may be displaced if the current downturn in the economy makes it less feasible for some top swimmers to finance their swimming by turning professional. Not that there's huge numbers, but it might make a difference. I must confess, purely as a spectator sport, I have found the level of NCAA champs more compelling the last few years, partly due to the outside swimmers. Not germane to the topic, but I agree this is one of the top meets in the world. By the way, even though, as a foreigner I have embraced metric, I think the US Open yards records should be called World records...because they are. By the way, I still think the biggest improvement to the NCAA champs would be to huck the divers right out of the meet. Let the best swim team win.

I just went to the Jaked website and they sure seem to be available for order. Obviously I didn't go through the entire process. It's possible it would have told me they can't ship to the U.S. It really seems like you're making up reasons (or excuses) for why Auburn won--or why Texas lost. What's next? Auburn's a quieter town than Austin so their swimmers get better sleep at night?

Tell me your thoughts on the rest of my comments. Do care if kids aren't on campus the whole year and not sitting in classes as the rest of the domestic athletes are required ..... and aren't even swimming in some of the dual meets in the Fall and then show up for the last months of the season and go to "The Show" as if they were a "team". Yes, I think they should be full-time students who are physically on campus to be on the roster. I don't really have a problem with kids starting after winter break, though.

Mr. Stevenson, Your thought's on some of the coaching comments and results of the new suit technology that several swimmers used at NCAAs. The Jagged Edge Of Jaked Results www.swimnews.com/.../6766 Everyone gets one..... or no one gets one. Wasn't that the rule last year? I have never seen or heard of one of these suits, but substitute the word "LZR" and "Jaked" and this is a recycled article from early 2008, right? Many of the exact same phrases were used. The state of swimming is in flux WRT these types of suits. If it isn't against the rules, what are we supposed to do? FINA seems to be moving to standardize things and slow the approval process. To the extent that fault should be assigned, I believe the blame lies with FINA. Hopefully things will be cleared up by this time next year. I also do think there is a tendency right now to assign all credit/blame to suits, regardless of any other factors (including other forms of cheating. Amazing how nobody hears about doping in swimming anymore.)

Mr. Stevenson, Your thought's on some of the coaching comments and results of the new suit technology that several swimmers used at NCAAs. The Jagged Edge Of Jaked Results www.swimnews.com/.../6766 Everyone gets one..... or no one gets one. Wasn't that the rule last year?

I have a dumb question about Jaked. Does it rhyme with "baked," "naked," or "jacked?"

Last year the Lazer was banned because not all the schools had equal access to the suit. This year a new suit pops up with new technology in the manufacturing and not eveyone has access to it. Does this not hit an ethical chord with any of you? This from the guy who wore a TYR "wetsuit" to SCY Nats in Austin when no other masters swimmer had access to it and it was not available for purchase?

Do care if kids aren't on campus the whole year and not sitting in classes as the rest of the domestic athletes are required ..... and aren't even swimming in some of the dual meets in the Fall and then show up for the last months of the season and go to "The Show" as if they were a "team". I have no idea how widespread this practice is among foreign swimmers, and of course it is bad behavior. I am naturally against anything in "college athletics" that overemphasizes the second word and trivializes the first. (Though I suspect our objections have different sources, since you seem to be protecting the "team" aspect of the college team and I would guard the "college" aspect.) But is this behavior specific to foreign athletes? No way. Plenty of similar stories of US athletes behaving this way, especially in the "big" revenue sports. And back to swimming: when I was in college, during an Olympic year I remember one (US) swimmer who barely attended classes and did no homework until NCAAs, then promptly dropped all her classes and went home to train until Olympic Trials. Equally bad behavior in my book, though completely legal by NCAA rules. College coaches in general (not just in swimming) have incentives to downplay the college education of their charges. Even here at U of Richmond -- a selective liberal arts school that is not in the business of big-time athletics -- I hear whispers, true or not, about how athletes are "encouraged" by their coaches or peers to avoid "hard" majors, or classes that are taught at inconvenient times (wrt training). I don't respect coaches who act that way...but it can be understandable if their job security depends almost entirely on their athletic success. It is up to the institution as a whole to create an environment where such behavior is not tolerated, and that should include rewarding coaches for academic performance. The "requirement" that domestic athletes attend classes...if that's an NCAA rule, it is one that has been instituted after I attended college. The only such rules I have ever heard of have been specific to teams or universities. (For example, a previous football coach at UR would randomly send someone to check that his athletes are in class and are sitting in one of the front rows. I don't think he had any foreigners on his team, but if he did I very much doubt he would have made an exception for them.) In this respect, swimming is fortunate because it isn't a high-profile, revenue-generating sport (where temptations are greater). Swimmers on the whole also tend to be pretty disciplined about their studies, though there are obviously exceptions.

I have never seen or heard of one of these suits I remember seeing them at the Olympics last summer. Not sure if it was the same suit as Auburn wore at NCAAs or if this is a new version. Here's a picture of Federica Pellegrini from Beijing: www.exposay.com/.../