2009 ROMA 2009 :13th FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Something Cavic said after the race was interesting, he said that at the 50 he saw how close Phelps was to him and knew he was going to lose. He was almost .7 seconds in front of Phelps. 1. In a 100M race against the best swimmer in the world, how can anyone expect to have an insurmountable lead at the 50? You have to be able swim the whole race hard. 2. I think that Cavic's loss in the Olympics had to be on his mind every day since then, causing him to make some rash comments earlier this week. 3. If Cavic feels that he needs more than .7 seconds lead at the 50 to beat Phelps and swims the second 50 of the 100 fly waiting and expecting Phelps to sprint by him at the end, he is NEVER going to beat Phelps. 4. Cavic has better speed than Phelps but until he can hold that speed until the end, Phelps will have his number. :2cents: Cavic reminds me of Crocker with that initial sheer speed. Phelps' power and endurance for the last 5-10 meters never ceases to amaze.

Well, they got more work to do. They almost have their 800 relay straighten out. Now, they need to get their 400 relays in gear.

Looks like her given name is Magdalena and her nickname is Marleen: en.wikipedia.org/.../Marleen_Veldhuis Thanks. :) Should have thought to Wiki it.

Our girls don't make final in the 400 medley relay swimming our second tier swimmers-that is just great. Man, Soni has got to be just pissed. Her meet sure turned upside down. The coaches have to feel awful. With the consistant level of the other teams I think we needed more fire power. Little bit of an ego trip for us. Those days in international swimming are gone. Carlson went a high 1:06 where as Soni alone would have picked us up 1 1/2 seconds which have done the trick easily. To bad. It really pisses me off when the coaches underestimate the competition. there is really no reason for this to happen. The USA team didn't final at the World Championships! I feel like shouting that to the entire coaching staff.

What a great meet for the world to see our sport. I wonder if this will bring more to our teams this fall like the Olympics did ?

The speed work that Phelps did in the last 6 months really benefited his 100 fly. Now, if the meet was a few months later, He might have had the endurance to meet Biedermann. He was really struggling in the 400 at Santa Clara. Distance swimmer Ryan Cochrane almost got him. He is still far ahead of everyone in the 400 IM. Good job to Tyler Clary on his silver medal finish. Lazlo must be getting sick of getting beat by American. What happened to the Brazilian guy? I think that maybe he didn't have the training for this meet. I remember him saying at Charlotte that he was out of the water for a while for some injury. I am so bummed that Biesel didn't medal in the 400 IM. Gosh, Rice and Coventry have totally lost their stanglehold on the IMs. Plus, if Kukors is still on fire without the suits, maybe she could be a major threat in the 400 IM as well.

"Lazlo must be getting sick of getting beat by American." Well, he did get sick...on the way to Rome from Hungary. They rushed with him to a hospital straight from the airport...40 Celsius fever, Diarrhea,etc. He got infusions and stuff. It was questionable if he can compete in Rome at all. He skipped 200 Butterfly to rest more. In Beijing he almost beat Phelps on 200 Butterfly. 5 meters more and Cseh would have got the Gold. Oh well, there is always another Olypics and WC... I was wondering why he pulled out of the 200 fly. I'm glad he recovered in time for his other events. Thanks for the info!

"Lazlo must be getting sick of getting beat by American." Well, he did get sick...on the way to Rome from Hungary. They rushed with him to a hospital straight from the airport...40 Celsius fever, Diarrhea,etc. He got infusions and stuff. It was questionable if he can compete in Rome at all. He skipped 200 Butterfly to rest more. In Beijing he almost beat Phelps on 200 Butterfly. 5 meters more and Cseh would have got the Gold. Oh well, there is always another Olypics and WC... Well, Lochte got sick before the 400 IM in Beijing and had to do the 200 IM 20 minutes after winning the 200 back gold. Now, they just need to compete against each other without the sickness and time management issues. I was wondering why he was swimming so Lazlo in the IMs and skipped the 2-fly.

I'm just so relieved that Soni's 50 breaststroke wasn't "worthless." ;)

I think the 400IM will come down to Hosszu and Coventry. The Hungarian girl was my firm favorite but after Coventry's 200 back I'll make Hosszu my slight favorite. I think Rice, Miley, and Beisel will battle for the bronze. Rice had a good 200IM but struggled a bit in the 200 and may be a bit discouraged but she'll be back. I think Lochte will have a battle on his hands with Cseh. I think if Lochte swims it smartly and just stays with him the first 200 he can make his move on the ***. Cseh set a good pb in the 200IM so expect him to faster than Beijing. The 1500 will come down to a battle between Zhang and Ous again. I think Cochrane takes the bronze again. Steffen who always paces the heats well should win the 50. Peirsol will be chasing down the WR time he set at Indy on the lead-off of the relay assuming they don't botch the prelims like women's medley.