Alternatives to the FS 3

I realize I may have expressed my opinions about how unnecessary the Speedo FS 3 is but I never provided an alternative, so here we go:

My personal choice at the moment would probably consist of the Arena Cobra goggles, mirrored preferably, with either a TYR or or Arena 3D seamless racing cap. Although this not cheap, it's a good deal cheaper than the FS 3 system.










At the moment I feel that the BlueSeventy neroTX is probably the best value for money and really is a great suit. BlueSeventy has also said they will be releasing a new Nero series in 2012. Additionally you could use the old Speedo LZR Elite which is also a very good suit and is about half the price of the new Fast Skin 3.

New Speedo FS3

The new Speedo FastSkin 3 is here. Yay, I'm sure everyone is very amped. Don't get to excited because all it really is, is a swim suit with some cool racing stripes on it and a cap and goggles that supposedly 'fuse' together to make you look like a space explorer.

Maybe the entire set do work together to create a more streamlined, energy efficient figure in the water but the truth is, unless you are Michael Phelps, you will not feel it.

The FastSkin 3 system was designed by and for the most elite of athletes and with prices for the entire set at about $575 (R4000) for men and about $800 (R5650) for women, it looks like the FS3 will remain a tool of the elite.

If you are on the verge of making your national team then sure; it may help you but otherwise it seems like an extravagant amount of money to spend on an astronaut costume.

Yakult

So Yakult is one of swimmings biggest financial sponsors. Their logos and signs appear all over the international swimming scene, so I'm sure there are of few of you out there, assuminfg you're not from Japan, who are wondering what exactly Yakult is.
Well, simply put, it's a drinking yogurt. I assume it is pretty good for you, it's got loads of pro-biotics and stuff.
Basically, International Swimmings biggest sponsor is old milk...

Someone needs to lift their game.

Speedo Fastskin3

The Speedo FastSkin3 is being launched at the beginning of December 2011.
There is a lot of hype surrounding the release of this new suit and we can only hope that it doesn’t disappoint.
It is also probably the suit that many athletes will be using at the 2012 olympics, including Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Rebecca Soni and the rest of the American and Australian Swim teams.

Jame Magnussen

James Magnussen was relatively unknown on the international swimming scene until he suddenly appeared at the 2011 World Champs in Shanghai and won gold medals in 100 free individual even as well as the relay.

He started off by swimming an insanely fast first leg of the mens’ 4x100m freestyle relay, which Australia eventually won. He went out blisteringly fast and made everyone, including Phelps, look fairly silly. Everyone except for South Africa’s Graeme Moore who went out with Magnussen and touched in second.

Magnussen, at the mere age of 20, qualified first for the finals in a time of 47.90 and then continued his winning form and finished in a time of 47.63 to take the gold medal. Brent Hayden (CAN) followed in second with a time of 47.95 and William Meynard (FRA) was third, coming in on 48.00 and was just able to nudge Cesar Cielo Filho (BRA) out of medal contention by 0.01 seconds.

Despite Australia’s long history of dominant swimmers, this was the first time an Australian had been crowned as the 100m freestyle World Champ.

This is definitely one to look out for at London 2012.

FINA/Arena World Cup

The FINA/Arena World Cup is a competition which consists of a series of meets in various of locations around the world. The first meet, which was this weekend (7-8 Oct) was held in Dubai (UAE) and from there it moves to Stockholm (SWE) then to Moscow (RUS), Berlin (GER), Singapore (SIN), Beijing (CHN) and finally to Tokyo (JPN). Swimmers accumulate points for each performance and at the end of the series, the swimmer with the most points takes home a fairly large sum of cash.

At the moment Chad Le Clos (RSA) is sitting on top of the table with 25 points and is 5 points clear of Marco Koch (GER) who is currently second in the rankings.

Chad had an impressive meet and took home 3 golds on the first day for the 100 & 400 IM and 200 fly and then backed up this performance by winning 3 golds on the following day. Like a boss.

400 IM Champions

So at the 14th FINA world champs, we know that Ryan Lochte beat Phelps in the 400 IM final to win gold. Is it possible that This is signaling a new era in swimming? An era where Phelps is obsolete? Maybe not

Sure Phelps said he was unprepared for the meet but seriously, It’s world champs! No one goes to world champs ‘unprepared’

So we know we Lochte won the 400 IM and most people know that he went to and still currently trains at the University of Florida.
What many people don’t know is that the winner of the women's 400IM, Elizabeth Beisel is also a Gator. Beisel swam a convincing time of 4:31.78 and was able to finish 2 seconds clear of Hannah Miley (GBR) and Stephanie Rice (AUS).

I think it’s safe to say, if you want to be a 400 IM specialist & world champ, you need to make a plan and get to UF and train with Gators coaches Gregg Troy & Martin Wilby

Sorry Guys

Sorry for not posting in a while, I have been busy with exams, swimming and winning and unfortunately blogging hasn’t been high on the list of priorities. I will hopefully be posting a comparison between Lochte & Phelps and discussing who is the new king of the pool. I will also look ahead to the 2012 olympics and, based on performances of the FINA world champs, make suggestions as to what we can expect and who to look out for.

Ryan Locthe.

Frederica Pellegrini

Shanghai - Day 3

Day 3 at 14th FINA champioships and as expected China continue to dominate the diving, winning their sixth gold medal of the competition.
Kerri-Anne Payne of Great Britain won the women’s 10km open water swim in a time of 2 hours 1 minute and 58 seconds.
The Russian women showed their class as they took first place in several of the synchronized swimming.

Shanghai - Day 1

The opening ceremony of the FINA world championships was incredible and the chinese were able to showcase their class both in and out of the pool.
The performances of the opening ceremony had a resemblance to that of the 2008 olympics and with this event set to be successful, it puts London under a lot of pressure to live up to the expectations set in place by the chinese.
In the pool, the chinese women dominated the 3m synchronized diving and took the first gold medal of the tournament, with Canada finishing second and Australia taking the bronze.
The Chinese men also qualified in first position for the 10m platform synchronized diving.

Furosemide

Furosemide, the substance the brazilian team was busted for, is given to race horses to stop them bleeding through the nose so this is no mild drug which they may have found in some flu medicine. It is more commonly used to treat heart disease or edema so unless these elite athletes, who are in their physical prime, are suffering from heart complications then we can assume it is being used as a masking drug and is hiding something slightly more effective. Whatever it is they’re hiding, it must be potent and I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on some of that.

Brazil team Tests Positive

Ahead of the 14th FINA world champs, all athletes go through routine drug and doping tests. Several members of the brazilian swimming team have tested positive for the drug Furosemide.
Swimmers Nicholas Santos, Henrique Barbosa, Vinicius Waked and international superstar and arguably the world’s greatest freestyle sprinter Cesar Cielo Filho tested positive for the banned substance.
An appeal has already been made by FINA but this is slightly premature as the athletes have not yet been suspended and CAS is yet to make a decision about the athletes’ suspension.

Stephanie Rice

Just another reason to start swimming

2011 FINA World Champs

The 14th bi-annual FINA world champs will be taking place in Shanghai from saturday 16 - 31 July. This championship will not only be a serious competition in itself but will serve as a good indicator for what to expect for the 2012 Olympic games. After a poor performance by Michael Phelps at the Michigan Grand Prix, where he finished fourth in the 200m Fly, he will be looking to prove a point before the olympics.

Beijing 2008 Men’s Results

Men's 50m Freestyle
Cesar Cielo Filho

Amaury Leveaux

Alain Bernard

Men's 100m Backstroke
Aaron Peirsol

Matt Grevers

Arkady Vyatchanin

Men's 100m Breaststroke
Kosuke Kitajima

Alexander Dale Oen

Hugues Duboscq

Men's 100m Butterfly
Michael Phelps

Milorad Cavic

Andrew Lauterstein

Men's 100m Freestyle
Alain Bernard

Eamon Sullivan

Jason Lezak

Cesar Cielo Filho

Men's 200m Backstroke
Ryan Lochte

Aaron Peirsol

Arkady Vyatchanin

Men's 200m Breaststroke
Kosuke Kitajima

Brenton Rickard

Hugues Duboscq

Men's 200m Butterfly
Michael Phelps

Laszlo Cseh

Takeshi Matsuda

Men's 200m Freestyle
Michael Phelps

Park Taehwan

Peter Vanderkaay


Men’s 200m IM
Michael Phelps

Laszlo Cseh

Ryan Lochte

Men's 400m Freestyle
Park Taehwan

Zhang Lin

Larsen Jensen

Men's 400m Individual Medley
Michael Phelps

Laszlo Cseh

Ryan Lochte

Men's 4x100m Freestyle Relay
USA

France

Australia

Men's 4x100m Medley Relay
USA

Australia

Japan

Men's 4x200m Freestyle Relay
USA

Russia

Australia

Men's 1,500m Freestyle
Oussama Mellouli

Grant Hackett

Ryan Cochrane

Men's 10k Marathon
Maarten van der Weijden

David Davies

Thomas Lurz

London Olympics 2012

The 2012 London Games is fast approaching and as the tension builds, questions start to arise as to what we can expect and from whom. We can expect big things from the big names such as Phelps in the 200’s and 400’s and of course Cielo Filho in the 50m and 100m freestyle.
There are however athletes who will have a point to prove or score to settle from previous encounters. The mens’ 100m fly will be a race to watch as Cavic can be expected to make an attempt at the gold medal. The french swim team also has a point to prove and regain their status as the international powerhouse in the sprint events, not only in the individual events but also the relays.

This was a major spectacle at 2008 olympics, with the american team causing a huge upset by beating the french in the 4x 100m mens’ freestyle relay.




The American relay team is obviously the favourite for both the freestyle and medley relays but we can expect valiant efforts from the Japanese and Brazilian teams who may just cause an upset and take gold in the relay events.
We can look to the British womens’ team for big things in both the individual and relay events and they will be expected to perform on home turf.

Another highlight is the new aquatics center which is being built and showcases the latest design features and will be sure to impress not only architects & engineers but all the spectators who are lucky enough to watch the swimming as well as the viewers at home.

Ryan Lochte’s Lifting Sets

Hungarian Potential

Laszlo Cseh Vs Chad Le Clos

Chad Le Clos
12 April 1992
188cm
77kg
Seagulls SC












Laszlo Cseh
03 December 1985
188cm
82kg
Kobanya SC




Both Chad & Cseh are 400IM & 200 fly specialists and swim around a 1:52 for a 200 fly shortcourse. Laszlo Cseh is most famous for his triple silver at the beijing olympics, where he finished second only to Michael Phelps in the 200 fly and 200 and 400 IM. Chad made his big entrance at the 2010 FINA world shortcourse champs in Dubai where he beat Cseh to win the mens’ 200 fly in what was a shock finish.
Big things can be expected from both these athletes at the coming up London Olympics.

Mare Nostrum Mens’ Sprint Results

50m Freestyle:
1. SCHOEMAN Roland RSA 22.85
2. KOZMA Dominik HUN 22.98
3. GRANDJEAN Yoris BEL 22.99
4. VAN DOOREN Erik SUI 23.02
5. AERENTS Jasper BEL 23.08

50m Breastroke:
1. TATEISHI Ryo JPN 28.47
2. FELDWEHR Hendrik GER 28.49
3. PEREZ DORTONA Giacomo FRA 28.69
4. HETLAND Aleksander NOR 28.72
5. SCHWEITZER Martin SUI 28.74

50 Backstroke:
1. KOGA Junya JPN 26.12
2. BORISOV Vitaly RUS 26.33
3. LACOURT Camille FRA 26.34
4. IRIE Ryosuke JPN 26.67
5. VANLUCHENE Emmanuel BEL 26.79

50m Butterfly:
1. MANAUDOU Florent FRA 24.22
2. FUJII T akura JPN 24.31
3. SCHOEMAN Roland RSA 24.44
4. TARGETT Matt AUS 24.46
5. GOVOROV Andrey UKR 24.47

Mare Nostrom Womens’ Sprints Results

50m Butterfly:
1. ALSHAMMAR Therese SWE 26.58
2. DEKKER Inge NED 26.71
3KATO Yuka JPN 27.48

50m Backstroke:
1. ZUEVA Anastasia RUS 28.56
2. TERAKAWA Aya JPN 29.27
3. NESTEROVA Margarita RUS 29.48

50m Breaststroke:
1. BADILLO DIAZ Concepcion ESP 32.42
2. SPAHN Stéphanie SUI 32.50
3. RUHNAU Caroline GER 32.60

50m Freestyle:
1. DEKKER Inge NED 25.68
2. ALSHAMMAR Therese SWE 25.72
3. RAGNARSDOTTIR Ragnheidur ISL 25.92

Butterfly Drill Set

Swimming butterfly is very different to that of freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke which all revolve around swimming from the core but the motion of fly is very different and relies mostly on leg strength and endurance and the position of your body in the water. Here is a basic drill set which should improve your stroke and help you maintain through those longer sets.

6 x 50m’s fly kick on your back with hands across shoulders
4 x 50m’s body dolphin drill - push off in a streamline position, keeping your hands together in front of you, focus on pushing your chest down and allowing your legs to follow the motion sort of like a wave.
6 x 50m’s fly kick on your back with hands across shoulders
4 x 50m’s skipping stone drill - from a streamline position, pull yourself through the water as you normally would but stop your stroke cycle as your hands exit the water behind you, dive back down and bring your hands forward under the water.
6 x 50m’s fly kick on your back with hands across shoulders
4 x 50m’s alternating arm drill - start off with two normal strokes, straight into 2 strokes with your left arm only and right arm in front and then alternate arms. focus on pulling deep and touching your hip as your arm exits the water.
24 x 25m’s fly - 8 on 40s, 8 0n 35s and 8 on 30s.

The Paul Biedermann Profile

Paul Biedermann

Born : 7 August 1986

Nationality: German

Height : 1.93m

Weight : 93kgEvents : 200m & 400m freestyle

Records : 4 world records

(200m free LC - 1:42.00)

(400m free LC - 3:40.07)

(200m free SC - 1:39.37)

(400m free SC - 3:32.77)

Paul Biedermann will always be known as the man who ended Michael Phelps’s stint at the top in the same way that Phelps preceded Thorpe. Biedermann is the current world record holder for the 200m & 400m freestyle and managed to destroy Phelps in the 200m free at Rome in 2009. Loyalist Phelps supporters claimed that the new Arena polyurethane swimsuit was the only reason that Biedermann won but later in an interview Phelps himself said that he was beaten by the swimmer not the suit.

Speedo LZR

The FINA approved Speedo LZR jammer is no where near as remarkable as its’ predecessor but neither are the Arena, TYR or blueseventy jammers and this is more due to the strict regulations put in place by FINA than the manufacturers choice.

The LZR features compression panels as well as hydro-dynamic ergonomic fit and is Michael Phelps’ race wear of choice.

As usual you can’t go wrong with Speedo and the new LZR is a good buy for any competitor.

Nathan Adrian VS Cesar Cielo Filho

Nathan Adrian		Cesar Cielo Filho
December 7 1988	D.O.B	January 10 1987
198cm	Height	195cm
100kg	Weight	80kg
UC Berkeley	College Team	Auburn
21.46s	50m Free	20.91
48.00s	100m free	46.91

Nathan Adrian may seem to be on the back foot when compared to Cielo Filho but in head to head encounters, such as at the 2010 Pan Pacific when Adrian won both the 100m and 50m freestyle. Adrian caused a major upset, finishing in a time of 21.55s, beating Cielo Filho’s 21.57s.

Gym For Swimmers

When doing sport specific gym training, it would be best to consult a personal trainer, physician or bio-kineticist but as this is not an option for all of us, here are some simple rules to follow:
When working out in the gym, it is important to work the muscles in the way they were originally designed to be used. This means you should avoid muscle isolating machines and workout using variations of 6 basic movements which are the squat, deadlift, lunge, push, pull and twist. These movements will ensure that the muscles are used in the correct way and hopefully result in faster times in the pool.
We will look at each movement in depth throughout the next few days.

Eric ‘The Eel’ Moussambani

Eric is a boss.

The Cavic-Phelps Controversy

The mens' 100m Fly of the 2008 beijing olympics will always be remembered for two particular reasons; the hype building up to the event and the spectacular way in which it ended.

Add caption

Milorad Cavic was all talk going into the event, trash talking back and forth had become common place between the two athletes and the amount of tension and hype building up to that single event was unquantifiable.

Secondly the manner in which the race ended was almost unimaginable, Cavic went out blisteringly quick and it looked as if he had the victory in the bag up until the final few centimeters where Phelps seemed to defy what was humanly possible and managed to snatch the win right out of Milorad’s clutches.
The end result was a motivating story for aspiring swimmers and a race that will be remembered for years to come.

Front Quadrant Swimming

The idea behind front quadrant swimming is to maximize efficiency through the water and get the most out of each stroke. The most efficient body shape in swimming is the streamline position.

 

 In order to move more effectively and dispense less energy, we try to maintain this streamline position for as long as possible through the stroke cycle, to do this we delay the backward movement of the pulling arm and allow the other arm to catch up. This results in a more energy efficient movement and allows us as swimmers to go faster. 

Peptopro

Peptopro is a revolutionary type of sports nutrition derived from casein. The pre-digested milk protein differs from conventional protein in size. Regular, intact proteins must be processed before they are able to be absorbed into the blood and muscles where as peptopro, containing tiny protein fragments, is predigested and so is rapidly absorbed into the blood stream more efficiently and is readily available for fatigued muscles.

Peptopro assists in rapidly improving recovery rate and delaying fatigue but unfortunately it is relatively expensive and the taste is fairly unpleasant.

The Michael Phelps Profile

• Born : 30 July 1985
• Height: 6' 4''
• Weight: 88kg
• Foot size: 14 
• Arm Span: 6' 7''
• Team: North Baltimore AC
• World records: 39
• Olympic records: 14 gold; 2 bronze 
• Has a bulldog named Herman.

BlueSeventy Nero TX Jammer

The Nero TX jammer from Blueseventy is at the top of the list of FINA approved race wear. The nero TX has both drag reducing and compression capabilities.
The entire neroTX range is made from blueseventy's TX diaphanous fabric which is water repellent and compressive. The nature of the fabric helps to compress muscle, streamlining the body shape and delaying muscle fatigue.
The nero also features ultrasonically welded seams which significantly reduce drag.
Speaking from personal experience I can say that, if looked after properly, the nero will outlast all other racing suits and at a competitive price the neroTX is great investment.

UC Berkeley

After 31 long years the University of California Berkeley managed to hold off last years champions, Texas, to win the NCAA division I swimming & diving championship.
Nathan Adrian lead the charge for Cal, winning both the 100 & 50 yard freestyle and setting a new American record of 18.66s.

The race for the title came down to the 400 yard freestyle relay on the final day. California's winning team consisted of South African Graeme Moore, Tom Shields, Josh Daniels and freestyle sensation Nathan Adrian.