2009 FINA/ARENA Swimming World Cup 2009 Series

Weekend wrap: Phelps, swimsuits and really fast times Sixteen world records were broken at the Berlin edition of the FINA/ARENA World Cup, which was itself a record for a single World Cup meet. Michael Phelps was unable to win a gold medal in both Stockholm and Berlin, his first meets of the season. We break down the weekend's action and take a look at Phelps' career times. He did better than you think. By Jason Devaney, Universal Sports | Posted: Nov 16, 11:26a ET | Updated: Nov 17, 11:26a ET Arkady Vyatchanin set a world record over the weekend. Who? Arkady Vyatchanin, a little-known Russian swimmer who has two Olympic bronze medals to his name. Shiho Sakai also set a world record -- actually, she set two. For those of you not familiar (this writer included), Sakai is an 18-year-old Japanese swimmer who, before her performances in Berlin Saturday and Sunday, set the 100m backstroke short-course world record at the Japan Open earlier this year. American Jessica Hardy, who returned to competition in August after a one-year doping suspension, has broken the women's 50m breaststroke short-course world record at each of the four FINA/ARENA World Cup meets thus far. She'll have a chance to make it five for five in Singapore next weekend. And, let's not forget about Paul Biedermann, the German swimmer who beat Michael Phelps at the 2009 World Championships in the 200m freestyle. He smashed his personal bests -- and the world records -- in the 200m and 400m freestyle at those championships, and the German did the same in Berlin over the weekend in the short-course meet. What's the common theme here? The swimsuits, of course. All of the aforementioned swimmers (minus Phelps) wear high-tech suits, attire that will be illegal for use in FINA-sanctioned meets starting Jan. 1. USA Swimming has already banned them from its meets. The swimsuits issue has been discussed, written about and dissected for months. Should there be some type of notation in the swimming books regarding world records set this year? These suits, such as the Arena X-Glide, are completely covered in polyurethane. That means they essentially float in the water, which allows the athlete to glide across the surface and cut through the water like a torpedo fired from a submarine. World records have fallen by two, three, five, seven seconds and more since the start of 2008, when Speedo introduced the LZR, the first of these new generation suits. The LZR has polyurethane panels and is not completely covered in the substance, unlike this year's versions made by other suit makers. It's a shame that aqua legends such as Grant Hackett, whose freestyle records were obliterated by Biedermann, are now just names in the past. Ten world records were broken on Sunday, and six fell on Saturday. As a FINA press release stated, it was "a record of world records." Never before had so many global marks fallen at one World Cup meet. One side of the aisle thinks the 2009 suit fiasco has made a mockery of the sport. There absolutely should be asterisks next to all these records, people say, and some even think that they should be thrown out. The other school of thought is that despite the negative publicity, it's still publicity. Swimming has always been an every-four-years sport; after the Olympics are over, there is little interest in who wins the 200m butterfly at a World Cup meet in Berlin. The success of Michael Phelps has made a tremendous impact on this, and so have the suits. This increase in attention is great for the sport. Swimmers are becoming more mainstream athletes, and many have sponsors now. Phelps made his 2009-10 season debut last week in Stockholm, and then swam in Berlin. His results were not very Phelpsian: two silver medals, one bronze and a fifth-place finish. He failed to qualify for the finals in the 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke (DQd for staying under water too long), 100m butterfly and the 200m freestyle. Is he hurt? Tired? Out of shape? Beat up from long practices under coach Bob Bowman? Actually, it might be something else: his suit. Phelps wore a jammer, a knees-to-waist outfit that will be the standard for men under the new FINA regulations. It was your basic, run-of-the-mill swimsuit. There was no polyurethane involved, and there were no air pockets in the material. Here's a breakdown of Phelps' times at both meets last week, compared to his personal bests in the events for both short-course (SCM) and long-course (LCM): Stockholm 100m IM: Third, 52.14; personal best: 53.21 (SCM). 200m IM: Second, 1:53.93; personal bests: 1:54.85 (SCM), 1:54.23 (LCM). 100m freestyle: Did not medal, 47.77; personal bests: 49.97 (SCM), 47.51 (LCM). 100m backstroke: DQd. 100m butterfly: Did not medal, 51.06; personal bests: 53.82 (SCM), 49.82 (LCM). Berlin 200m butterfly: Fifth, 1:52.26; personal bests: 1:52.27 (SCM), 1:51.51 (LCM). 200m IM: Second, 1:53.70; personal bests: 1:53.93 (SCM), 1:54.23 (LCM). 200m freestyle: Did not medal, 1:44.07; personal bests: 1:42.78 (SCM), 1:42.96 (LCM). *Note: Information provided by USA Swimming. A few things are clear after looking at these numbers. Phelps actually set personal-best times (short course) in every event except for the 200m freestyle, a fact that doesn't hold all that much water because Phelps rarely swims in short-course meets. But his times still improved. Phelps also twice swam the 200m IM faster than his long-course standard. His 100m freestyle result in Stockholm was almost faster than his best long-course time in that event too. For a guy who said he's out of shape, for a guy with a scruffy beard and for a guy wearing an old-school swimsuit, I'd say those times are pretty good. Next on Phelps' schedule is the Duel in the Pool, a showcase that will pit the top U.S. swimmers against a combined team of Great Britain, Germany and Italy. The short-course event takes place Dec. 18-19 in Manchester, England. The DIP is not an official FINA event, so there's no doubt that the swimmers -- excluding Phelps and perhaps a few others -- will wear their space-age swimsuits to gain a competitive advantage. Which means that this current world-record assault is likely to continue.

Weekend wrap: Phelps, swimsuits and really fast times Sixteen world records were broken at the Berlin edition of the FINA/ARENA World Cup, which was itself a record for a single World Cup meet. Michael Phelps was unable to win a gold medal in both Stockholm and Berlin, his first meets of the season. We break down the weekend's action and take a look at Phelps' career times. He did better than you think. By Jason Devaney, Universal Sports | Posted: Nov 16, 11:26a ET | Updated: Nov 17, 11:26a ET Arkady Vyatchanin set a world record over the weekend. Who? Arkady Vyatchanin, a little-known Russian swimmer who has two Olympic bronze medals to his name. Shiho Sakai also set a world record -- actually, she set two. For those of you not familiar (this writer included), Sakai is an 18-year-old Japanese swimmer who, before her performances in Berlin Saturday and Sunday, set the 100m backstroke short-course world record at the Japan Open earlier this year. American Jessica Hardy, who returned to competition in August after a one-year doping suspension, has broken the women's 50m breaststroke short-course world record at each of the four FINA/ARENA World Cup meets thus far. She'll have a chance to make it five for five in Singapore next weekend. And, let's not forget about Paul Biedermann, the German swimmer who beat Michael Phelps at the 2009 World Championships in the 200m freestyle. He smashed his personal bests -- and the world records -- in the 200m and 400m freestyle at those championships, and the German did the same in Berlin over the weekend in the short-course meet. What's the common theme here? The swimsuits, of course. All of the aforementioned swimmers (minus Phelps) wear high-tech suits, attire that will be illegal for use in FINA-sanctioned meets starting Jan. 1. USA Swimming has already banned them from its meets. The swimsuits issue has been discussed, written about and dissected for months. Should there be some type of notation in the swimming books regarding world records set this year? These suits, such as the Arena X-Glide, are completely covered in polyurethane. That means they essentially float in the water, which allows the athlete to glide across the surface and cut through the water like a torpedo fired from a submarine. World records have fallen by two, three, five, seven seconds and more since the start of 2008, when Speedo introduced the LZR, the first of these new generation suits. The LZR has polyurethane panels and is not completely covered in the substance, unlike this year's versions made by other suit makers. It's a shame that aqua legends such as Grant Hackett, whose freestyle records were obliterated by Biedermann, are now just names in the past. Ten world records were broken on Sunday, and six fell on Saturday. As a FINA press release stated, it was "a record of world records." Never before had so many global marks fallen at one World Cup meet. One side of the aisle thinks the 2009 suit fiasco has made a mockery of the sport. There absolutely should be asterisks next to all these records, people say, and some even think that they should be thrown out. The other school of thought is that despite the negative publicity, it's still publicity. Swimming has always been an every-four-years sport; after the Olympics are over, there is little interest in who wins the 200m butterfly at a World Cup meet in Berlin. The success of Michael Phelps has made a tremendous impact on this, and so have the suits. This increase in attention is great for the sport. Swimmers are becoming more mainstream athletes, and many have sponsors now. Phelps made his 2009-10 season debut last week in Stockholm, and then swam in Berlin. His results were not very Phelpsian: two silver medals, one bronze and a fifth-place finish. He failed to qualify for the finals in the 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke (DQd for staying under water too long), 100m butterfly and the 200m freestyle. Is he hurt? Tired? Out of shape? Beat up from long practices under coach Bob Bowman? Actually, it might be something else: his suit. Phelps wore a jammer, a knees-to-waist outfit that will be the standard for men under the new FINA regulations. It was your basic, run-of-the-mill swimsuit. There was no polyurethane involved, and there were no air pockets in the material. Here's a breakdown of Phelps' times at both meets last week, compared to his personal bests in the events for both short-course (SCM) and long-course (LCM): Stockholm 100m IM: Third, 52.14; personal best: 53.21 (SCM). 200m IM: Second, 1:53.93; personal bests: 1:54.85 (SCM), 1:54.23 (LCM). 100m freestyle: Did not medal, 47.77; personal bests: 49.97 (SCM), 47.51 (LCM). 100m backstroke: DQd. 100m butterfly: Did not medal, 51.06; personal bests: 53.82 (SCM), 49.82 (LCM). Berlin 200m butterfly: Fifth, 1:52.26; personal bests: 1:52.27 (SCM), 1:51.51 (LCM). 200m IM: Second, 1:53.70; personal bests: 1:53.93 (SCM), 1:54.23 (LCM). 200m freestyle: Did not medal, 1:44.07; personal bests: 1:42.78 (SCM), 1:42.96 (LCM). *Note: Information provided by USA Swimming. A few things are clear after looking at these numbers. Phelps actually set personal-best times (short course) in every event except for the 200m freestyle, a fact that doesn't hold all that much water because Phelps rarely swims in short-course meets. But his times still improved. Phelps also twice swam the 200m IM faster than his long-course standard. His 100m freestyle result in Stockholm was almost faster than his best long-course time in that event too. For a guy who said he's out of shape, for a guy with a scruffy beard and for a guy wearing an old-school swimsuit, I'd say those times are pretty good. Next on Phelps' schedule is the Duel in the Pool, a showcase that will pit the top U.S. swimmers against a combined team of Great Britain, Germany and Italy. The short-course event takes place Dec. 18-19 in Manchester, England. The DIP is not an official FINA event, so there's no doubt that the swimmers -- excluding Phelps and perhaps a few others -- will wear their space-age swimsuits to gain a competitive advantage. Which means that this current world-record assault is likely to continue.