I don't know anything about the politics and reasons behind this move. I do know that I first saw Garrett in person at Austin covering our SCY Nationals. It surprised me a little that floswimming and Garrett cared enough to be there. He captured some great interviews and racing. I was amazed by the coverage he put together this year at Clovis. Flo had every heat in every age group uploaded within hours, all free, all downloadable, with knowledgeable commentary delivered on the spot in the hot sun on some very long days. All for us, a bunch of flabby, tech suit wearing, hyper-competitive, blogging, vanity-shot-posting, non-former-elite-and-taking-it-all-too-seriously masters. How cool was that? I got a chance to shake his hand and thank him for all his hard work at Clovis, and I'm glad I did.
I also know that flo has, hands down, the best internet platform of any swimming site I visit, including this one. The videos are easily accessible, generally work perfectly, and the site just seems so streamlined and fresh compared to the other clunkier sites.
I wish there was something USMS could offer to do for Garrett, but I'm sure he will be on to bigger and better swimming related things. His interviews were consistently interesting. I loved when he would be in the reporter's pool, with everyone bellowing inane questions at some poor dripping swimmer who had just emerged from the pool. He always asked the swimming related question you wanted the answer to.
Watching the Mark Floreani interview and reading some of the posts about his style did nothing to endear him to me. I'll keep an eye on the flo site, but I hope another outlet can pick up on flo's strengths and content, and that Garrett, Chris DeSantis, and the others who are moving on end up in a good place.
I loved when he would be in the reporter's pool, with everyone bellowing inane questions at some poor dripping swimmer who had just emerged from the pool. He always asked the swimming related question you wanted the answer to.
Great point, Bill. I remember many interviews where the swimmers looked totally bored by answering the same inane questions, then their eyes would light up when Garrett actually asked something that would resonate with a swimmer.
