Sunday, December 13, 2009

Michael Phelps Up For The Challenge After Easing Through

Michael Phelps qualified second in the 200 meters butterfly heats at the world championships on Tuesday, conserving his energy for one of the biggest challenges of his career.
The American, who won a record eight gold medals at last year's Beijing Olympics, eased into the semi-finals later in a time of 1 minute 54.35.
Poland's Pawel Korzeniowski was quickest in the heats but Phelps was unperturbed as he gears up for a battle with Germany's Paul Biedermann in the 200 freestyle final, also in Tuesday's late session.
Biedermann broke Ian Thorpe's long-standing world record to take gold in the 400 freestyle Sunday.
"He is swimming really well. He is probably having the best meet so far so being able to race him head-to-head, it's going to be fun tonight," Phelps told reporters.
"I never back down from challenges, I love challenges."
Biedermann has made staggering progress in the last year following the introduction of modern non-textile suits, which are due to be banned from 2010 after prompting a raft of world records and hitting swimming's credibility.
Phelps, back from a six month layoff that included a three-month ban for being photographed inhaling from a pipe used for smoking marijuana, won his heat in the 200 butterfly.
"I just wanted to win my heat, that's all I wanted to do this morning. The biggest thing about that event is just getting into the finals," said the 24-year-old, who has already picked up one gold in Rome in the U.S. 4x100 freestyle relay team. After 11 world records in the first two days at the venue for the 1960 Rome Olympics, Tuesday's heats were more subdued with crowd favorite Federica Pellegrini only qualifying sixth for the 200 freestyle semi later.
The Olympic 200 champion smashed the 400 world record to win gold Sunday.
South Africa's Cameron van der Burgh did break the championship record in the 50 breaststroke heats, clocking 26.92 seconds before a sparse crowd at the open-air pool.
Tunisia's 1,500 Olympic champion Oussama Mellouli was fastest in the men's 800 freestyle heats. (Additional reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Nigel Hunt)

With World Records Falling, No Leeway for Phelps

ROME — Michael Phelps was answering a question Monday night when the roar of the crowd at the Foro Italico drowned out his voice. Phelps turned to the television screen that was showing the second semifinal of the men’s 200-meter freestyle at the world championships and a cloud scudded across his face. His expression darkened.
Paul Biedermann, the German who broke the world record held by Ian Thorpe in the 400 freestyle on Sunday, had eclipsed Phelps’s two-year-old meet record in the 200, with a time of 1 minute 43.65 seconds. Biedermann and the second-place finisher, Danila Izotov of Russia, each swam faster than Phelps had in the first heat, which he won in 1:45.23.
“What’d he go?” Phelps asked.
A German reporter relayed Biedermann’s time.
“A 1:43?” Phelps asked.
His jaw tightened. In the 200 freestyle final at the Beijing Olympics last year, Phelps lowered his world record to 1:42.96; Biedermann finished fifth in 1:46.00. “He’s dropped a lot of time,” Phelps said edgily. “He’s having a good meet, a good year. Tomorrow’s going to be a good race.”
With that, Phelps left, but this question lingered: Could Phelps lose in Tuesday’s final?
“Yeah,” his coach, Bob Bowman, said. “He could always lose. I’ve seen Michael lose.”
Not on this stage, and certainly not since 2007. But the first two days of this competition have proved that no world record is safe, nor is any world record-holder.
“If Michael’s at his best, he’ll probably win,” Bowman said. “But he has to be at his best. There’s no leeway.”
Phelps, 24, is a 14-time Olympic champion and the successor to Mark Spitz. But he is wearing Speedo’s LZR Racer, which some people say is the swimming equivalent of a jockey racing with extra weight.
Since it was introduced last year, the suit has been superseded by the rubberized models of other manufacturers like Arena, which sponsors Biedermann. These polyurethane suits have the power of Superman’s cape, giving those who wear them the confidence to soar.
“If we walk out there tomorrow with Biedermann in a brief and Michael in a brief, what do you think is going to happen?” Bowman said. He shrugged. “We don’t know. Maybe Biedermann will beat him. But a year ago, he wouldn’t have, right?”
A year ago, it would have been hard to imagine the American Aaron Peirsol failing to advance to the final in the 100 backstroke, an event in which he has held the world record for all but one week since 2004.
Peirsol, who became the first to swim the event in under 52 seconds this month at the United States championships, finished fourth in his semifinal in 53.22.
“It’s my own fault,” Peirsol said, adding, “I completely misjudged my race. I just completely thought I was in a place that I wasn’t in.”
Stephanie Rice of Australia could be forgiven for wondering if she missed the pool on her dive and instead found Alice’s rabbit hole. Rice put together a marvelous swim in the final of the 200 individual medley, bettering her winning time from Beijing by more than a second. But she was soundly beaten by Ariana Kukors of the United States, who was not on the 2008 Olympic team.
Kukors’s win in 2:06.15 improved on her day-old world record of 2:07.03, which had bettered Rice’s year-old mark of 2:08.45. That is 11 world records in 16 events.
Four others were broken Monday: Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden in the final of the 100 butterfly (56.06), the American Rebecca Soni in the semifinals of the 100 breaststroke (1:04.84), Anastasia Zueva of Russia in the semifinals of the 100 backstroke (58.48) and Brenton Rickard of Australia in the final of the men’s 100 breaststroke (58.58).
How topsy-turvy are the times? Hugues Duboscq of France swam the 100 breast faster than the record that Rickard surpassed in finishing second. Dana Vollmer lowered the United States record in the 100 butterfly with a 56.94, becoming the first American woman under 57 seconds, and tied for fifth. Sjostrom, who did not break 59 seconds in Beijing, nearly broke 56 seconds here, coming from seventh at the turn to win.
Kukors did not even qualify to swim the 200 I.M. here, placing third at the United States nationals three weeks ago in Indianapolis.
She was entered only because Elizabeth Pelton, the runner-up at nationals, bowed out of the event because the final was the same day as the heats and semifinals of the 100 backstroke (Pelton placed 13th in the semifinals).
“Liz gave me the opportunity, and I made the most of it,” Kukors said.
She had been laid low by the flu in the weeks leading to the nationals, at one point becoming severely dehydrated, so she expected to swim faster here. But four seconds faster than her best time? Actually, yes.
“The goal all year was 2:06,” said Kukors’s coach, Sean Hutchison. “We split it out and said, O.K., you can do it.”
Before the meet is through, Kukors hopes to repay the debt she owes Pelton. “She told me she was going to take me out to dinner,” Pelton said.
Where will they go? “I don’t really care,” she said, “as long as I get gelato at the end.”

Phelps Is Feeling Heat From All Around

ROME, July 27 -- With another unfathomable number of world records -- five Monday night -- falling at the swimming world championships, and surprises lurking in every heat, it was easy to be distracted from one of the most engrossing story lines here, one not to be missed: Michael Phelps is under assault.
The man at the sport's epicenter is feeling the heat from fast-charging men in superfast speedsuits, even in individual events he is accustomed to dominating. A day after Phelps claimed his first gold medal here despite swimming an unsensational leg in the 400-meter freestyle relay, and moments after winning his 200 freestyle semifinal heat Monday night, Phelps was giving an interview when he heard the meet announcer bellow, "championships record!"
He spun toward a nearby television screen.
Phelps, who is seeking six gold medals here, turned just in time to see German Paul Biedermann celebrating the 200 freestyle championship record he had just broken -- a record Phelps had previously held -- in the other semifinal heat.
"What did he go?" Phelps, officially distracted, asked eagerly. "He go 1:43?"
The answer was 1 minute 43.65 seconds, or .21 of a second faster than Phelps's 2007 record and 1.58 better than Phelps had swum in his heat.
"He just dropped a lot of time," Phelps volunteered, almost talking to himself. "You usually don't see a six-second drop in the 400 free in a year. In the 200 free, he dropped about three seconds in a year. . . . It will get me more excited, more ready for tomorrow. I'm going to have to, I guess, really prepare myself."
He probably is guessing right. No one thought Biedermann would break Ian Thorpe's seven-year-old record in the 400 free Sunday night, and he did that. Who knows what Biedermann has in store for the 200 free in his Arena X-Glide speedsuit?
And it's not just the 200 free in which Phelps will have his hands full. Serbian Milorad Cavic made it clear he has been gunning for Phelps since the Olympics last year in Beijing when Phelps out-touched him at the wall to win the 100 butterfly .
After winning the 50 fly final Monday in a championship-record 22.67, Cavic told reporters he would be thrilled to win the 100 fly this week, even if he were wearing a technologically more advanced suit than Phelps, who because of his Speedo contract is still wearing the LZR, a 2008-model suit that many consider outmoded.
Cavic charged that technology had cost him last year's Olympic gold; he alleged he lost the medal on a timing error, saying he didn't press hard enough on the touch pad with his initial touch.
"That," he said, "is the story."
Added Cavic, "Because of what happened, I did return to swimming with a desire I probably would not have had if I had won the Olympic gold."
The 100 fly final takes place Saturday.
Phelps's coach, Bob Bowman, said Phelps should win the 200 free Tuesday. Maybe.
"He has to be at his best," Bowman said. "There is no leeway."
And problematic for Phelps: He isn't feeling so great about his freestyle stroke these days. On Monday morning, he announced that he was ditching the "straight-armed" stroke that he experimented with in sprint races this summer, saying "we tried something and it didn't work." The straight-armed approach was supposed to provide more power over short distances, but Phelps never got comfortable with it.
In the relay Sunday, Bowman said, Phelps seemed to be doing a cross between his old freestyle and the new one. His leg was slower than he swam last year in Beijing.
Phelps added that his freestyle stroke "was kind of off," perhaps because of his attempts to manage both.
At least Phelps has time to get himself ready for his final five events, the 100 and 200 fly and the 200 free, along with two more relays.
Bowman, Phelps's longtime coach, seemed privately satisfied that Biedermann had pushed his emotional star's buttons with his out-of-the-blue performances. Last year his time in the 200 free, 3:47.69, ranked 21st in the world. His time in the 200, 1:46.00, was ninth best. Phelps and Bowman discussed their joint shock Sunday at Biedermann's world-record swim, and the sad fact that the legendary Thorpe had been, finally, wiped from the record books.
"I think some people are going to bring the heat tomorrow night," Bowman said. One of them, he said, "is M.P."


Source

Vick cleared to return to NFL...Speed at the pool...Nash to finish...

NEW YORK (AP) Michael Vick has been conditionally reinstated by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Vick can participate without delay in preseason practices, workouts and meetings and can play in the final two preseason games if he can find a team that will sign him.

ROME (AP) Ariana Kukors of the USA closed out another speedy night at the pool by breaking her 24-hour-old world record in the 200-meter individual medley. Five more world records were set on Day 2 of the world championships, the last with high-tech bodysuits.

ROME (AP) Michael Phelps has advanced to the final of his first individual event at the world swimming championships, but he may have tough competition in the 200-meter freestyle. Phelps was the third-fastest qualifier in the preliminaries.

PHOENIX (AP) Steve Nash says it will be a pleasure to finish his career as a member of the Phoenix Suns. The 35-year-old veteran has agreed to a two-year, $22 million contract after considering leaving the team.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) The Minnesota Timberwolves have picked up guards Damien Wilkins and Chucky Atkins in a trade with Oklahoma City. The Thunder will get veteran Etan (ee-TAHN') Thomas and two of the Timberwolves four second-round draft picks in return.

Michael Phelps continues to pile up medals, but his high-tech swimsuit's days are numbered

With science and technology advancing athletic performance across all sports, swimming's Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) governing body has decided to limit the amount and type of materials that can be used to make the fancy swimsuits worn by elite swimmers such as Michael Phelps.

The new rules won't affect the FINA World Championships taking place this week at the Foro Italico in Rome, where six new world records have already been set by swimmers in suits made from materials such as polyurethane, and Phelps has already won a gold metal. (Phelps won eight gold medals at the Summer Olympics in Beijing last year.)

Such attire—more like a wetsuit than a swimsuit—is believed to have contributed to the 108 world records set last year and nearly 30 so far this year, the Associated Press reports.

FINA has for several months been reviewing procedures for swimwear approval, namely in the areas of the swimsuits' material, thickness, use, shape and availability. The organization voted overwhelmingly last week to limit swimsuit coverage to between the waist and knees for men, and not beyond the shoulders or below the knees for women, according to the AP. The new rule also says suits must be made from textiles (as opposed to titanium alloys and other composites) although FINA has yet to provide a more complete definition of this.

Speedo, one of the most prominent swimsuit companies, makes body-hugging apparel that mimics shark skin, alternating between something like the rough dermal denticles found around the fish's nose and smoother derma located farther back on its body, according to a 2004 Scientific American article examining the technology behind these swimsuits. Some Speedo suits also feature titanium-silicon scales on the inner forearm that grip the water better on down strokes, as well as rubber bumps across the chest to help reduce resistance. TYR Sport, Inc. and Nike are two other companies that make high-tech swimwear.

Michael Phelps: Turning back the page


ROME --The Great Stroke Experiment is over.
By mutual decision, Michael Phelps and his coach, Bob Bowman, are putting that relatively new windmill, straight-arm stroke -- designed for sprinting -- right back on the shelf.
"It actually was [mutual]. It's funny, as often happens, he came out and said the same thing," Bowman said this morning at the World Championships. "He said, 'I don't think this is working.' I said, 'You're right.' Experiment failed. Next."
Phelps told Bowman that on Sunday night, almost immediately after his opening leg in the winning 400-meter freestyle relay.
"It's as much my fault as his that he didn't go better," Bowman said.
Said Phelps after the morning prelims of the 200 freestyle, in which he had the second-fastest time: "We tried something, and it didn't work. We weren't 100% confident, or comfortable, with it. So now I guess it's back to the old stroke. My old stroke was kind off a little bit, but I felt better this morning and felt smooth this morning."
Bowman broke down the problem with the stroke on Sunday night after the relay.
"When I look at it, I see this kind-of stroke," he said. "He's not really doing this new stroke. He's not really doing the old stroke. I'd say we're going back to the old stroke. It's the last time he's doing that."
-- Lisa Dillman

Fall of 400m freestyle record shocks Phelps

Rome, Italy - Amid the six World record spree at the World Championships on Sunday, the fall of Ian Thorpe's 400m freestyle World mark stood out for US superstar Michael Phelps.

"I still can't believe the men's 400m free record got broken," Phelps said on Monday, after cruising into the semi-finals of the 200m free style.

"I thought that was the best record on the book. That was crazy to see that go - but people are swimming fast. You usually don't see that in a post-Olympic year but somehow they're doing it."

Germany's Paul Biedermann, wearing a polyurethane suit that is due to be banned from 2010, shaved one-hundredth of a second off Thorpe's seven-year-old record and admitted he was shocked himself."I expected someone to break the world record. I didn't expect it to be me," Biedermann said. "This suit makes me really fast. Honestly, I think it takes off two seconds in the 400."

Despite the controversy surrounding the suits, Phelps said the record extravaganza wasn't all bad.

"It's good for the sport, makes it more exciting," he said. - AFP