I am really in an inflammatory mood and am going to say a couple of things on my mind.
First, regarding Speedo's sponsorship of Phelps three words come to mind that they might consider using in their next media blitz for selling suits to worshipers of the sport: Loser, poor sport and quitter.
Loser: in my mind, Phelps finished second in the 200 free but the average Joe sixpack will call that a loss. Hence, loser.
Poor Sport: it's been mentioned already in another thread that Phelps wouldn't even look at Biedermann after his loss. And we vilified Kitajima for his behavior? Hmmm.
Quitter: Bowman says he shouldn't swim until the suits are banned and Phelps says Bowman knows best. It's great to stick by your sponsor but shouldn't good ethical values trump your coaches view on occasion?
Second, regarding the 'great coaches' opinions: Schubert wants to place an asterisk by all records with the new suits. Bowman says it's all right to go back to 2007, before the LZR was introduced.
Doesn't that mean that all Phelps medals at Beijing are invalid? Or, at least, should have a star by the listing? How does Mark Spitz feel about that? What about Ian Thrope's comment that Phelps could never beat Spitz' record? Since Phelps is the Speedo poster boy for the LZR and, as noted elsewhere in the Forums, beat Crocker's record in a full body suit shouldn't he be ashamed?
My opinion of the whole lot has dropped tangibly. Personally, I'm ashamed to have cheered for Phelps during his career. He embarasses me...
People are being way too hard on Phelps. He just suffered a stunning defeat from a competitor who dropped four seconds in one year. Going from 1:46.00 (Olympics - 5th place) to the fastest the world has ever known by a full second (1:42.0) is...unbelievable. Biedermann is not a 17 year old who is still growing. He is a grown man at 23. 4% improvements (Biedermann's rough percentage improvement) are not in the cards for most 23 year old men.
Furthermore, the nature of this defeat forces Phelps to completely re-evaluate every aspect of his race, and subsequently his training. Biedermann had an unbelievable final lap (25.7 to Phelps' 26.5), normally the strongest point of Phelps' race. If Phelps cannot depend on his final lap to catch and outlast his rivals, he can only hope to get so far ahead that Biedermann cannot catch him. Except...Biedermann beat Phelps on the opening 50 meters too, and then beat him quite badly in the final 50 meters. Bidermann's defeat of Phelps was total, and Phelps really has no place to go, strategically, to win. He just has to somehow pray he is capable of a 1:41, hope Bidermann doesn't improve significantly, or, more likely, hope that Biedermann's race was a product almost solely of the suit, which Biedermann will not be allowed to wear in 2010.
The knowledge of a loss that is probably attributable to a suit that Phelps was not wearing is a bitter defeat indeed. Yes, it would have been nice to see Phelps be more congratulatory after the race, but he is human like everyone else.
People are being way too hard on Phelps. He just suffered a stunning defeat from a competitor who dropped four seconds in one year. Going from 1:46.00 (Olympics - 5th place) to the fastest the world has ever known by a full second (1:42.0) is...unbelievable. Biedermann is not a 17 year old who is still growing. He is a grown man at 23. 4% improvements (Biedermann's rough percentage improvement) are not in the cards for most 23 year old men.
Furthermore, the nature of this defeat forces Phelps to completely re-evaluate every aspect of his race, and subsequently his training. Biedermann had an unbelievable final lap (25.7 to Phelps' 26.5), normally the strongest point of Phelps' race. If Phelps cannot depend on his final lap to catch and outlast his rivals, he can only hope to get so far ahead that Biedermann cannot catch him. Except...Biedermann beat Phelps on the opening 50 meters too, and then beat him quite badly in the final 50 meters. Bidermann's defeat of Phelps was total, and Phelps really has no place to go, strategically, to win. He just has to somehow pray he is capable of a 1:41, hope Bidermann doesn't improve significantly, or, more likely, hope that Biedermann's race was a product almost solely of the suit, which Biedermann will not be allowed to wear in 2010.
The knowledge of a loss that is probably attributable to a suit that Phelps was not wearing is a bitter defeat indeed. Yes, it would have been nice to see Phelps be more congratulatory after the race, but he is human like everyone else.
