Author: swimScoop

U.S. Olympic Swim Trial Tickets Go On Sale Today

Tickets for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Swim Team Trials go on sale today.

Event information

Dates: June 29 to July 6, 2008

Site: Qwest Center Omaha

Tickets: All-session packages of $475, $375 and $275 (for 15 sessions)

Sales start: 10 a.m. today

Outlets: Qwest Center and TicketMaster at (402) 422-1212 or ticketmaster.com

Note: Cash or Visa credit/debit cards only

From Omaha.com…

The Qwest Center is expected to have about 12,500 around a temporary above-ground pool on the arena floor. More than 9,000 seats will be made immediately available to the public, but can only be purchased on an all-session basis.

Rowdy Gaines said you only have to look at the heavily-decorated Phelps for a reason to go get tickets.

“I’m bringing my wife and all four of my daughters, because I want them to be able to tell their children and their grandchildren that they saw the great Michael Phelps swim,” said Gaines, the former Olympic gold medalist who heads the USA Swimming foundation and is an NBC television commentator. “For that reason alone, it’s worth the price of a ticket. Trust me. Because an athlete like this comes along once every generation.”

Read the whole article… 

Libby Lenton Hires Lawyer to Appeal WR Decision

Libby Lenton has retained a lawyer to appeal FINA’s decsions not to ratify her record-breaking 100m freestyle swim.  Lenton clocked a 52.99 in the Duel in the Pool exhibition meet between the US and Australian national teams in Melbourne.  This broke Britta Steffen’s current world standard of 53.30.

FINA refused to ratify the time as a world record because Lenton’s swim was a lead-off in a 4 x 100 mixed relay, which isn’t an event recognized by the governing body.

Lenton has retained the services of Tony O’Reilly, the same lawyer currently representing Ian Thrope in his battle to clear his name after a failed dope test.

Michael Phelps Headlines the Eric Namesnik Memorial Meet

Micheal Phelps will compete at the Eric Namesnik Memorial Meeting in Michigan this weekend.  The meet starts on Thursday at Phelps’ hometown pool in Michigan.  From the The Ann Arbor News…

The six-time Olympic gold medalist headlines an international field of swimmers at the Eric Namesnik Memorial Grand Prix, which begins Thursday and concludes Sunday. The meet will be held at the University of Michigan’s Canham Natatorium, where Phelps trains with Club Wolverine.

“It’s a star-studded event, with so many good athletes competing,” said meet manager Fernando Canales, the Michigan men’s swim team assistant coach. “Of course, Michael is the top Olympic athlete in the world.”

Read the full article…

Aussies Start Preparing for Morning Finals

Australian Swimming will start preparing for the Beijing Olympic format this weekend.  Several top-flight swimmers will compete at a Grand Prix meet in Brisbane which will have morning finals, like next year’s Olympics.  From the International Herald Tribune…

Lenton, Leisel Jones, who won the 100 and 200 breaststroke titles at Melbourne, and Jessica Schipper, second in the 100 butterfly to Lenton at the world titles, are entered in a Grand Prix meet beginning Friday at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre.

The three-day program will have 6 p.m. Friday qualifying ahead of 10 a.m. finals Saturday, followed by the same program Saturday evening and Sunday morning — the first time the format has been used in Australia.

Read the full article… 

Amanda Beard Nude in Playboy?

Apparently, you can expect to see Amanda Beard nude in Playboy Magazine next month. More details will be revealed (pardon the pun) after Amanda’s sponsors have been notified, but she has agreed to “grace the cover” of the July issue.

Playboy’s site is advertising that next month, “Amanda Beard, the record-breaking swimmer loses her swimsuit for a mouth-watering layout.”


Amanda recently posed for FHM Magazine, who voted the 74th sexiest woman alive. The swimming world seems fairly well divided about the issue. Some think that she is not setting a good example for the kids that attend her swim clinics. Others feel that if Amanda Beard wants to pose nude, it’s her prerogative.

Laure Manaudou Splits with Coach

First Leisel Jones leaves her coach and now Laure Manaudou.  According to reports in France today, Manaudou is splitting with her long-time coach, Philppe Lucas, to live in Italy with her boyfriend.

Here’s an exerpt from Craig Lord’s commentary on SwimNews.com:

The unthinkable has happened: Laure Manaudou has left her coach Philippe Lucas for a life in Italy with boyfriend Luca Marin. Is this the beginning of the end of the Olympic champion’s career?

Just 15 months out from the Olympic Games in Beijing, the Manaudou-Lucas era is over, according to Pascal Glo of L’Équipe in a report second in France today only to the election of Nicolas Sarkozy as the new President of Gaul.

The relationship has lasted since 2001 and Lucas has taken a talented swimmer to national hero and to the door of the pantheon of greats. Now, she is reported to have taken up residence with Marin in Turin.

Read the full article

Alexandrov’s NCAA Swim Recognized as an American Record

Mike Alexandrov’s 100m breaststroke swim at the NCAA Championships has been ratified by US Swimming as an official American record.

Although Alexandrov’s time of 51.56 beat the existing record by .3 seconds, there were questions as to whether he qualified to hold a US record, given that he competes for Bulgaria on the international stage. Alexandrov has lived in the US since the age of 8 and acquired duel-citizenship last September.

Oussama Mellouli May Lose Title

Ousamma Mellouli may be stripped of the 800m freestyle gold medal he won at last month’s World Championships in Melbourne. 

Mellouli, who attends the University of Southern Calafornia, admitted to taking an Adderall tablet last December to help stay awake during a late-night study session.  Soon after, he travelled to compete at the US Open Chamionships, where he tested positive for an illegal amount of amphetamines.

The Tunisan Swimming Federation knew of the positive test prior to the World Championships, but chose to accept his explanation and issue a warning.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport will now determine Mellouli’s fate.  He may have all other accolades from the past 6 months erased, plus face a 2-year suspension, which would mean that he would miss the Olympic Games in Beijing next year.

Recommendation: If you haven’t already listed to Kicker Vencil’s interview on Timed Finals, you should.  Kicker was suspended from swimming for 2 years in 2003 after a dietary supplement caused him to fail a drug test.  He has great advice for any athlete who is subject to drug testing. Listen here.

Morning Test For Dolphins As Hackett Battles On – SwimNews.com

The Australian grand prix at Brisbane from May 18-20 will offer the Dolphins their first taste of morning finals in preparation for the topsy-turvy world of Beijing 2008, one dictated by the IOC’s favouring of the US-TV dollar over the interests of the sport of swimming and its athletes.

Among those in action in Brisbane and on Europe’s Mare Nostrum Tour in May will be Grant Hackett, whose refusal to bow to the barriers life has recently thrown in his path does him great credit. Whether it will do his career any good long-term remains to be seen… read more

Source: SwimNews.com

Ian Thorpe Buys More Time in Drug Charges

Ian Thorpe has been granted more time to formulate his response to doping allegations.  

Thorpe and his lawyers had originally been give a late April deadline to provide an explanation for high readings of testosterone and luteinising hormone (LH) from a urine sample given last year.  However, the retired swimmer has been given an indefinite extension to submit this explanation to the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA)

Thorpe’s legal team are expected to present an unprecedented amount of detail to question the validity of current testing methods.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald,

“Medical experts have been asked to provide affidavits to support Thorpe’s claim that his testosterone ratio was naturally occurring. They have also provided written evidence that LH levels are unpredictable; that it is secreted by the body in spurts, and amounts fluctuate so wildly in individuals that recorded levels are meaningless.”