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