Comeback Update: Thorpe Bombs

By placing 21st and 12th in the 100 and 200 meters freestyle respectively, Ian Thorpe's campaign for an Olympic berth has officially ended. I cannot believe that I am going to say this but it is best to take reality as it is. 

We will not see the legendary Thorpedo in the London Games compete against swimmers who have idolized him growing up. 

There will be no Australian relay where Thorpe will either lead or anchor the team to victory.

There won't be a Phelps-Thorpe Showdown Part II in the 200 freestyle.   

At least, not this year anyway.

While Thorpe has expressed disappointment in failing to earn a spot on the Australian Olympic Team, he does, however, insist that his second stint in professional swimming is not yet over. The swimming legend is focused on making the the Rio de Janeiro Olympic team in 2016. But before that, he is eyeing a spot to compete in the 2013 Barcelona World Championships and the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. 

Even though you did not make the Olympic team, you deserve a warm congratulations for your efforts, Mr. Thorpe. Getting yourself out of retirement and preparing for an Olympic bid with less than a year of training shows just how much guts you have. That alone makes you really a legend. Congratulations!

Take your mark!

5 Things Varsity Swimmers Need to Know & Understand

Ever since I entered college, I noticed that most swimmers younger than myself (as well as a certain number of senior swimmers) seemed to have developed amnesia with regard to the fundamental responsibilities of a swimmer. Well, amnesia may not be the right word to describe it since I do not think most of them were ever told that such responsibilities existed. But I did hope that they would have deduced such realities after a few years of swimming varsity. 

In either case, I think it is time that young swimmers are reminded of the things below. It would be such a pity if you guys do not put to memory and, more importantly, understand them. Trust me--these five things will help in the long run.

1. Not all the time should the Student come before the Athlete.

We have heard it all before in Coach Carter. "These kids are student-athletes. Student comes first," as Samuel L. Jackson eloquently phrased it. I am not disputing this. It is the obligation of every varsity swimmer--or athlete for that matter--to prioritize his education over his athletics. After all, turning professional is not an option for a Filipino swimmer for obvious reasons.

However, I have seen swimmers using the student-athlete excuse to chronically skip training. Kids, prioritizing academics over athletics does not mean forsaking your swimming obligations altogether. Prioritizing means striking a manageable balance between studying and swimming. The life of a student-athlete is hard to put it mildly. And while your coach, captain and/or teammates allow you certain latitude to skip training in order to study, please be reminded that you have voluntarily joined the team. Meaning to say, you accepted the difficult, complex and sacrifice-ridden life of a student-athlete in all its entirety; you embraced all of a varsity swimmer's responsibilities and obligations with open arms when you joined the team after passing try-outs. Let me stress it again; You joined to team voluntarily. No one forced or coerced you.

Except for certain unavoidable occasions, never use academics to skip team activities such as training and meets. Everyone, even the brightest, of your teammates is experiencing the same amount of difficulty you are going through so you have absolutely no right to complain or give excuses. And while you will have to skip athletic commitments for academic obligations, there will come a time wherein you ought to do the reverse. Whether it be cutting classes for meets, taking exams earlier or even load-reving from a class of the best teacher to the class of the terror teacher since the former coincides with training, you will have to see these through.

Boys and girls, sacrifices go both ways. So keep the student before the athlete alright; just do not be too uptight about it.

2. Listen to and RESPECT  your coach.

Integral to swimming success is your relationship with your coach and/or coaches. We all desire to have the perfect coach--one who is always understanding of our shortcomings and will never give sets we cannot accomplish. As lofty as such dreams are, we know that we rarely encounter such coaches. Often we get the composite coach--the combination of the dreaded one and the benevolent one in certain aspects of his personality. But of course, relationships with our coaches are dynamic.

In the team I came from, I am honestly astounded by how younger swimmers view our coaches. Most of the time, I had to restrain myself from coming down on numerous youngsters because their attitude  toward our coaches are downright disrespectful. While most of my teammates dismiss such attitudes as childish behaviors of, well, children, I cannot reconcile such things as gentlemanly, Atenean even. And let us not even begin to discuss the online social network bashing...

Guys, RESPECT ALL YOUR COACHES! You are allowed to have favorite coaches in as much as coaches are allowed to have favorite swimmers. That is a fact of any athlete's life. But respect your coaches indiscriminately nonetheless. You may not like them but you have to respect them, for their authority if not anything else. 

Keep in mind that your coaches (well most of them) only want what is best for you. They are hard on you because they believe that you can become a better person through sports.

Do not be scared if your coach comes down on you. Not too much anyway because that is a sign that he still wants to push you; that he still believes in you! Be scared when he ignores you completely. That is an indication of a total loss of confidence and trust. Believe me, I know.

However, if you really cannot swim for a coach you do not like and cannot bring yourself to respect in any way possible, find another one who you will swim for. There is nothing wrong about that. In fact, I highly recommend it. 

3. Never mind that no one watches your meets or even cares that you are a varsity swimmer.
Coming from a school whose administration, faculty and staff absolutely worships basketball and football as much as the student body, I understand completely why grade school, high school and college swimmers are very much frustrated when their achievements go unnoticed. Imagine swimming for your school for four grueling days trying to win a team championship by winning individual medals and breaking records without receiving so much as a thank you for your efforts regardless of the end result.  Would not you feel upset, frustrated even angry at that?  And when you hoist up your trophy at the end of the day, you do not even see the direct representatives of the student body--the varsity cheerleaders--because they are off at Araneta cheering for the basketball team full force. Get my point?  (For my opinions about the aforementioned, click Burst My Babble Part 1 and Burst My Babble Part 2)

In my years of swimming for my school, I have learned that while such a reality is dreadful, you are setting yourself for more than you can possibly imagine if you dwell on it too much. Lobby hard  and fight for the recognition you deserve and do it the right way. Other than that, just swim. Leave it out on the pool because at the end of the day, your achievements are only as important as what you make them regardless if your school recognizes your or not. 

For you grade schoolers, take it from me. Do not quit swimming to shift to the popular sports so that your peers will regard you as an athlete. You are an athlete, young man! And trust me, while your basketball batchmates bask in limelight now, their numbers will dwindle with every year level you progress since there are fewer and fewer leagues wherein basketball teams can play in high school and only the UAAP division in college. Only a few of them are good enough to make it to the UAAP Seniors Division so come college, the only league you will see these guys is the IAC (kind of like your Intrams in grade school). But if you stick it out with swimming, chances are you will still be enjoying the perks of a varsity member in college. (If you are wondering what some of the perks are, well, Ateneo College is co-ed!)

Here's another food for thought. While your basketball batchmates only play in one league be it PAYA, PRADA, PSBL and the like, you will be swimming in all of them! So technically, you are a member of at least two teams! How's that!

So keep swimming, young men. Keep staring at that emotionless black line and endure the proverbial chlorine-smell and tan lines. It will all be worth it in more ways that you will ever expect.

4. Competing does not start and end with the meet.
During my time as team captain for the college team, I cannot remember a time wherein I did not stress this. The competition does not start and end with the meet; it begins the moment you wake up everyday and will only end once you finally hang up your swimming gear. Competitive swimming is a consummate sport. The key to success is to keep swimming even when you are not swimming.

But how do you swim without swimming? Easy. By going the extra mile. Apply Magis in your sport! In my experiences, you accomplish a lot of your technique improvements and stroke corrections when you are not swimming. In every waking second, think about what will make you stronger, faster and better. Be as cerebral as you possibly can out of the pool because when you are racing, more often than not, your instincts take over. Also, take advantage of technology! Watch Youtube videos of the legends like Michael Phelps, Ian Thorpe, Ryan Lochte, Grant Hackett, Kosuke Kitajima and other elite swimmers to learn from them and see what you can possibly adapt.  

Guys, never believe anyone who tells you that you need only to defeat your opponents during competitions. That is a total misconception. While the goal is to defeat your opponents during meets, the only way to do so is by defeating him in every aspect of the sport. It is true that you do not control what your rivals do but regardless, make sure that your goal is to outwork him in training by acting as if you are already competing. Outsmart him by eating the right food. Overpower him by religiously attending gym and land training sessions before pool workouts. But as creative and as unorthodox as possible!

5. Enjoy every second of swimming; have as much fun as you can.
Enjoy swimming as much as you can, young ones. Swim every swim as if it is your last and enjoy the company of your teammates as much as you possibly can. As amazing as life is, it is also unforgivingly unpredictable. So love swimming, even if she plays hard-to-get.

A word of warning though. As much as I advocate having fun, please keep them in the proper perspective and in line. When it is time to get serious, do not fool around. Focus your attention at the task at hand and have fun afterward, once you and your teammates finish the set. Surviving hellacious sets are always fun and entertaining to look back on. Especially when one of your teammates is a sport when he is the butt of all the innocent ribbing and jokes!

Boys and girls, I hope that these five things are clear enough. If you have any questions or concerns, never hesitate to leave a comment!

Take Your Mark!

The Comeback Season

It seems that with the London 2012 Olympics drawing nearer and nearer, a lot of international swimming legends are mounting a comeback. Perhaps this is due to the banning of the supersuits which gained notoriety after the 2009 Swimming World Championships dubbed "The Plastic Wars"; swimming with the regulation textile jammers (knee-length suits), times are slower but the sport is back to its purest form. Therefore, the playing field has been leveled completely, making swimming inviting once more to former Olympic swimmers. I am sure that aside from the swimmers I will be mentioning, there are many other swimmers who are planning a comeback. But these swimmers are the ones rocking the swimming headlines and are the ones who I am personally looking forward to see.

1. Ian Thorpe - No other former international swimmer has made headlines when announcing his comeback other than Ian Thorpe. Retiring in 2006 citing his waning motivation for the sport, the Australian was arguably the best middle-distance swimmer in the modern era. To point a fact, he was the best swimmer in the world before Michael Phelps came along. From 1999-2004, no one could dethrone him in his pet event, the 400 meters freestyle. Few could forget his forays into long-distance swimming and his duels with compatriot and record holder Grant Hackett in the 800 meters freestyle during the 2001 World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. Seemingly inexperienced in the race, Thorpe bid his time during the first 700 meters then shifted to a higher gear in the last 100 meters, leaving the veteran long distance swimmer in his wake. His only specialty event wherein his competitors, specifically Peiter Van Dan Hoogenband and a young Michael Phelps, ever got close to him or in the case of Van Dan Hoogenband, actually beat him, was the 200 meters freestyle. Other than that, no swimmer could keep up with his closing laps once his employs to full effect his powerful 6 beat kicks.

With the bodysuit ban in effect, it will be a shame that we will not get to see Thorpe clad in his signature black full bodysuit. It is also more shameful that we won't get to see him swim the 400 freestyle since his focus is the 200 freestyle and a spot in the 4x100 meters freestyle relay. The thought, however, of witnessing a sequel to the Thorpe-Phelps showdown is entertaining especially when the likes of Ryan Locthe, Paul Biedermann, Peter Vanderkay and Park Taeh-Wan are among the fastest 200 meter freestylers today.

Click here to watch The Thorpedo's first international swimming competition in six years. He competed in the 100 IM during the Singapore grand prix.

Click here to watch Ian Thorpe's final world record swim in the 400 meters freestyle with a time of 3:40.08 during the 2002 Commonwealth Games held in Manchester, England. (It is a shame that this record had to go during the 2009 World Championships when Paul Biedermann broke it by 0.01 seconds wearing the infamous Arena X-glide full bodysuit).

2. Geoff Huegill - Swimmers these days do not know who Geoff "Skippy" Huegill is. During his prime, Huegill was one of the most dominant butterfliers in both the world and in Australia. He and compatriot Michael Klim have had a lot of duels in 100 meters butterfly in national and international meets. While Klim has won more swims during their duels, Huegill always gave him a run for his money especially during the first 50 meters. Unlike the 100, the 50 meters butterfly is Huegill's bread and butter. During his prime, he owned the event and even held the world record for a time.

Most do not know that Huegill began his comeback in 2009, during the era of the supersuits. While his motivations back then were simply to get back in shape after gaining over 40 kilograms after his last Olympic stint in 2004, Huegill has been improving leaps and bounds. Testament to his improvement was his gold medal performance in the 100 butterfly during the 2010 Commonwealth Games. What is more impressive is that his gold medal was the first gold medal of Australia during the games, winning it by breaking his personal best time of 52 seconds from the 2000 Sydney Olympics with a 51.69. (Click here to watch the video)

With a stellar performance in 2010 Commonwealth Games as well as having qualified for the 100 butterfly finals during the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai, expect Huegill to be gracing the final of his signature event in the 2012 London Games. The gold medal maybe out of reach for Skippy since Michael Phelps has been the dominant swimmer in the 100 butterfly since 2007. However, it is possible for him to win the silver or bronze medals; Phelps aside, the field is quite close with the likes of Tyler Clary, Jason Dunford and compatriot Andrew Lauterstien in the mix. Let's not forget Serbian Milorad Cavic who, after finishing second to Phelps by the closest of margins in 2008 and 2009, is gunning for a rematch with the Baltimore Bulltet. But it would be a perfect ending if this comebacking veteran gets a podium finish in the 2012 London Games.

3. Brendan Hansen - Known for his outspoken demeanor on top of his powerful breaststroke, Brendan Hansen is back with a vengeance. One of the original members of the Texas Trio--an epically fast swimming stable of the Texas Longhorns Swim Team comprised of butterflier Ian Crocker, backstroker Aaron Piersol as well as Hansen, all former world records in their specialty events--Hansen's comeback has not received the proper amount of international attention as opposed to Thorpe and Huegill. Regardless, Hansen will perhaps bring about the renaissance of American breaststroke dominance (or so the experts predict it).

History has proven that the Olympics is a venue wherein Hansen has had his difficulties. During the US Olympic Trials in 2004, he convincingly gained a spot in the national team by setting world records in both the 100 and 200 meters breaststroke. With the expectations of an entire nation behind him, Hansen was nowhere near his world record times during the Olympics itself. He finished second in the 100 meters breaststroke behind Japan's Kosuke Kitajima and swimming to third in the 200. While earning a medal as part of the 4x100 medley relay team, Hansen placed fourth in the 100 breaststroke during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

However, much like his Texas Trio partner Ian Crocker, the Swimming World Championships is where he has been dominating in the breaststroke. During the 2005 World Championships in Montreal, Hansen produced a double gold performance in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. He was also a member of the gold medal 4x100 meters medley relay team alongside Texas Trio teammates Crocker and Piersol as well as veteran freestyler Jason Lezak. During the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Hansen again won the 100 meters breaststroke as well finishing second in the 50.

Emphasizing that he is back for good, Hansen won the 100 and 200 meters breaststroke during the US National Championships. Though his times may not be near his personal bests (which are former world records), it is evident that he is on the right track and will no doubt be someone to be reckoned with come the US Olympic Trials and, if he plays his cards right, the London Olympics itself.

Click here to watch Brendan Hansen's world record swim in the 100 breast during the 2006 US National Championships.

Click here to watch Hansen's comeback victory in the 100 breast during the 2011 US National Championships.

4. Michael Klim - If ever there is a swimmer who embodied a versatile sprinter before and during the first years of the millennium, Michael Klim would be it. With his trademark skin head, "Klimy" was nearly unmatched in the 100 butterfly and was always among the top medal contenders in the 100 and 200 meter freestyle. Klim was the first man under 52 seconds in the 100 butterfly by setting the then world record of 51.81 in 1999. It stood for nearly four years before Andri Serdinov, Michael Phelps and finally Ian Crocker lowered it to 51.76, 51.46 and 50.98 respectively during the 1st heat of the semi-final, 2nd heat of the semi-final and final heat of the 100 butterfly during the 2003 World Championships.

In the 100 freestyle, Klim stood out among the competition by incorporating his signature underwater dolphins from the dive and off the turn in an effort to gain an advantage over his opponents. On top of his underwater technique, Klim employed a unique strategy when approaching the wall during the 100 free. In contrast to the traditional style of maintaining his six-beat kick all throughout the race, Klim would utilize body dolphins 15 meters away from the wall to facilitate a stronger finish. The technique looks awfully ridiculous but speaking from experience, the move is truly a handy technique since the body dolphins utilizes a different and less tired muscle group than the that of the flutter kicks.

Much like Brendan Hansen, Michael Klim has not enjoyed much success in the Olympics with respect to his individual events. In 2000 Sydney Olympics, many were expecting Klim to bring home gold in both the 100 freestyle and butterfly. Coming into the Olympics, Klim was the current world record holder in the 100 butterfly with a 51.81. Though qualifying second for the final heat and leading almost the entire race, Klim was upstaged by Lars Frolander who, almost out of nowhere, overtook Klim in the last 5 meters and out-touched the Australian. In the 100 freestyle, Klim finished 6th even after breaking the then world record during his relay leg. In the 2004 Olympics, Klim was part of the Australian 4x100 and 4x200 freestyle relays helping his team place 6th and 2nd respectively.

In contrast to Hansen however, Klim has an Olympic moment which will forever be remembered in the history of swimming. Before 2000, no other country has won the 4x100 meters freestyle other than the USA. As such, the American team consisting of Anthony Ervin, Neil Walker, Jason Lezak and Gary Hall, Jr. were extremely confident coming into the event with Hall going as far as claiming that they will smash the Australians "like guitars". Needless to say, the team of Klim, Chris Fydler, Ashley Callus and Ian Thorpe upset the Americans through the record breaking swim of Klim in his opening 100 as well as an extremely epic chase down by the anchoring Ian Thorpe (click here to watch the race). With the gold medal and relay world record to boot, Klim led his teammates in playing air guitar in reference to Hall's pre-race jabs.

To be honest, I would not be so bold as to predict whether or not Michael Klim would qualify for the Australian Team for the 2012 Games. If he does, then I would get to see one of my swimming heroes in action once more. If he doesn't, well, at least he did something about his desire to accomplish all the things he left unfinished in the pool. But then again, I would like to see the old "Shave Down the Pool, Klimy" signs adorning the stands once more.

Take Your Mark!