Phelps is going down ....

Nice article. Bowman's perspective seems to harbor a bit of frustration .... "It took me five years to get Michael from 1:46 to 1:42 and this guy has done it in 11months. That's an amazing training performance. I'd like to know how to do that. "I just said to Doug Frost , the two of us were erased in three days. It took no time, what took us 12 years together (to build). "It makes me wonder why I still want to keep doing this. Why would I take another 13-year-old and bring him through, because once he gets there, there's is nothing to shoot for. Once the suits are taken out we would never get there (to Biedermann's time). "There should be separate lists for polyurethane and textile suits, so we can start over in January. I think these records need to be kept apart."

Yes. he is never going to live that bong hit down. I misread that sentence at first: Yes. he is never going to put that bong ... down. :bolt:

Bowman is totally missing the point of racing and competition -- I find this just silly. It is NEVER just about the times -- it's about a level playing field and competing against the best swimmers at any given moment. The playing field is more even this year than last year - nobody can really argue with that. About the times -- sure they are meaningless at this meet, but times have ALWAYS been dropping and that does not cause great champions to lose their credibility. I swam faster in the 200 Free as age grouper than Mark Spitz -- just 14 years after him being the greatest swimmer in history. Does that make me a better 200 Freestyler than him ? Does that mean his world record was meaningless ?

About the times -- sure they are meaningless at this meet, but times have ALWAYS been dropping and that does not cause great champions to lose their credibility. I swam faster in the 200 Free as age grouper than Mark Spitz -- just 14 years after him being the greatest swimmer in history. Does that make me a better 200 Freestyler than him ? Does that mean his world record was meaningless ? Hoch, you're a fast guy. If the times turn out that way, I think it is fair to say that you were a better swimmer than Mark Spitz (allowing some leeway for the mustache effect). The reason we admire Spitz isn't because he was more skilled than any of us at swimming, it's because he was ahead of his time. That's why it's nice to have some consistency in the records. And until last year we pretty much had that. We were able to talk about how amazing Janet Evans was that her records still stood after a couple decades, stuff like that. It's all jumbled up now. Thorpe's 400 record could very well have been the same way, but it's been erased and even Biedermann said he couldn't have done it without a new suit.

Bowman is totally missing the point of racing and competition -- I find this just silly. It is NEVER just about the times -- it's about a level playing field and competing against the best swimmers at any given moment. The playing field is more even this year than last year - nobody can really argue with that. About the times -- sure they are meaningless at this meet, but times have ALWAYS been dropping and that does not cause great champions to lose their credibility. I swam faster in the 200 Free as age grouper than Mark Spitz -- just 14 years after him being the greatest swimmer in history. Does that make me a better 200 Freestyler than him ? Does that mean his world record was meaningless ? I agree 100% - times are period/technology specific, and just because one swims faster now than Spitz, Biondi, etc does not mean one is a "better" swimmer. Swimming is racing, pure and simple. The times are just how we keep score for any particular race. Bowman is an embarrassment and needs to shut his trap.

I wonder how many, if any, other elite level swimmers will follow suit. :) Good pun on words. You can bet that the LZR lawyers are keeping a close watch on team Speedo to devour anyone who might jump ship. Breach of contract can be very ugly.

the last 1/2 second comes from being in the lead in the Final after the last turn .... The video needs a thought balloon, starting at about 125m: "I am ahead. Come on, me. Stay focused. This race is mine. It's mine. It's mine."

Pre-race, the announcers are already discussing the difference in suits btw Phelps and Biedermann.

After the Olympics, he began working hard and showed improvement in just 4 months. One of the few people who works hard AFTER the Olympics :afraid: Fav quote of the thread Bring me back the good old days of just wondering what drugs they've been taking About the Final from last year -- the suit only makes ONE second difference, nobody has mentioned the CAP so far :bump: -- he swam the Olympic final without a cap - I think it's at least a second per ear and then another one for the hair :doh:

Wow.