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...
Phelps lost for the first time in 4+ years, he's pissed - he knows he didn't train enough, the suits tech has caught up and surpassed the LZR and he got beat by a guy who wasn't very much on the radar - Biedermann swam a huge race, immense from start to finish - did the suit give him the extra 1.22 sec - maybe, more than likely. If they were to have raced in LZRs it could very well (likely?) have been a different result.
These statements are not exactly true. In November 2007 at the US Nationals at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Phelps lost for the first time to Ryan Lochte in the 200 IM (1:40.08 to 1:41.32) and he set the American Record in the process. In August of 2006, Phelps was defeated by Aaron Peirsol in the 200 Back (1:56.36 to 1:57.09) at the US Nationals/Selection meet for the Pan Pacific Championships. Then at the 2006 Pan Pacific Championships in the final of the 200 Meter Back, he was defeated again (1:54.44 to 1:56.81) so this statement as its written is not correct. These 3 races along with the one yesterday proves he has lost by over a second to competitors in the past.
Your statement about Biedermann not being much on the rader is completely false. Last November in a World Cup meet in Berlin he broke a World Record of Ian Thorpe in the 200 Free. I provided a link to that swim in the other thread. He broke the record by .37 (1:40.83 to 1:41.10) and no one except Ian Thorpe has gone in the 1:41 range. In 2007, he went a 1:42.39 in the 200 SCM Free. In comparison, swimmers like Park went 1:42.22, Hayden went 1:42.35, and Magnini went 1:42.54 as there SCM best times. Phelps went 1:42.78 in 2006 for comparison. So he put the world on notice last November that he was a guy to watch. Anybody that breaks an Ian Thorpe WR, has to be noticed.
This year he did the same thing in the LCM format before this meet started with two outstanding swims in the 200 LCM Free. On 6-14-09, he went 1:44.88 at Mare Nostrum in Monte Carlo. On 6-28-09, he went 1:44.71 at the German Nationals in Berlin, which is the exact time that Ian Thorpe did when he won the 200 Free at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Those times were the fastest in the world until Phelps went 1:44.23 at Indy earlier this month so the difference here is less than a half second.
When everyone saw what Biedermann did in the 400 Free and how he raced the second half of that race, everyone knew that Phelps was in big trouble. He did take a 6 month break, then got suspended for 3 months after that, did not swim in a competitive meet for 9 months and these are additional factors in his swimming that people don't want to talk about but just want to focus on the suits.
Phelps lost for the first time in 4+ years, he's pissed - he knows he didn't train enough, the suits tech has caught up and surpassed the LZR and he got beat by a guy who wasn't very much on the radar - Biedermann swam a huge race, immense from start to finish - did the suit give him the extra 1.22 sec - maybe, more than likely. If they were to have raced in LZRs it could very well (likely?) have been a different result.
These statements are not exactly true. In November 2007 at the US Nationals at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Phelps lost for the first time to Ryan Lochte in the 200 IM (1:40.08 to 1:41.32) and he set the American Record in the process. In August of 2006, Phelps was defeated by Aaron Peirsol in the 200 Back (1:56.36 to 1:57.09) at the US Nationals/Selection meet for the Pan Pacific Championships. Then at the 2006 Pan Pacific Championships in the final of the 200 Meter Back, he was defeated again (1:54.44 to 1:56.81) so this statement as its written is not correct. These 3 races along with the one yesterday proves he has lost by over a second to competitors in the past.
Your statement about Biedermann not being much on the rader is completely false. Last November in a World Cup meet in Berlin he broke a World Record of Ian Thorpe in the 200 Free. I provided a link to that swim in the other thread. He broke the record by .37 (1:40.83 to 1:41.10) and no one except Ian Thorpe has gone in the 1:41 range. In 2007, he went a 1:42.39 in the 200 SCM Free. In comparison, swimmers like Park went 1:42.22, Hayden went 1:42.35, and Magnini went 1:42.54 as there SCM best times. Phelps went 1:42.78 in 2006 for comparison. So he put the world on notice last November that he was a guy to watch. Anybody that breaks an Ian Thorpe WR, has to be noticed.
This year he did the same thing in the LCM format before this meet started with two outstanding swims in the 200 LCM Free. On 6-14-09, he went 1:44.88 at Mare Nostrum in Monte Carlo. On 6-28-09, he went 1:44.71 at the German Nationals in Berlin, which is the exact time that Ian Thorpe did when he won the 200 Free at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Those times were the fastest in the world until Phelps went 1:44.23 at Indy earlier this month so the difference here is less than a half second.
When everyone saw what Biedermann did in the 400 Free and how he raced the second half of that race, everyone knew that Phelps was in big trouble. He did take a 6 month break, then got suspended for 3 months after that, did not swim in a competitive meet for 9 months and these are additional factors in his swimming that people don't want to talk about but just want to focus on the suits.
