Olympics News and Info » Swimming

USA Swimming honors Phelps; Bowman repeats as Coach of Year

RSS — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:42:44 +0000

Michael Phelps was named Athlete of the Year last night by USA Swimming at the annual Golden Goggle Awards, which recognize outstanding achievement in the pool for American athletes.

Phelps was something of a shoo-in for the award after winning eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, but the 23-year-old Fells Point resident was happy to take a night off from his busy traveling schedule to celebrate the honor.

He also received an award for Performance of the Year for his victory in the 100-meter butterfly, as well as one for being a part of the men’s 400relay.

“It’s been an awesome run,” Phelps said. “I’ve had so much support, from my family, my coach and my friends. My coach, in particular, has put up with a lot. I look forward to seeing what we can do in the future.”
Phelps took some time to talk about his business partnership with his coach, Bob Bowman, and the recent announcement that the duo had purchased the business side of the Meadowbrook Aquatic Center, as well as control of the North Baltimore Aquatic Club. It’s something Bowman and Phelps had talked about for more than a year before deciding to go forward with their plan.

“I’m going to have to learn a lot, but I’m ready for it,” Phelps said. “It’s going to be fun. It’s something different, something that I’ve never done before. Bob and I have had a great relationship over the last 10 years or so, so why not try some other things to see if we can master that? It’s going to be exciting. I’m going to learn a lot.”

Phelps said he has begun to climb back into the pool, although he won’t start to train seriously again until January.

“I feel just so out of it right now that I have to do something,” Phelps said.

Bowman was named USA Swimming’s Coach of the Year, the second straight year he has won that award.

“I just want to say thanks to the Phelps family, Debbie, Whitney and Hilary,” Bowman said. “We’ve been through a lot together. And Michael … I love you, man.”

Towson’s Katie Hoff was also in attendance, though she was nursing a sore throat that reduced her voice to little more than a whisper. Hoff announced this week that she would be working with Bowman from now on, leaving her longtime coach, Paul Yetter, after a somewhat disappointing performance at the Olympics.

“She’s so focused,” Bowman said of Hoff. “I’ve been kind of working with her alone [recently] and she can really train like that. Michael could never train like that. He has to have people around him. Katie is so focused on what she wants to do.”

source: baltimoresun.com

Phelps ready to make splash on ‘SNL’

RSS — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:27:11 +0000

After he hosts NBC’s Saturday Night Live this weekend, there might not be much more the network can squeeze out of Michael Phelps.
For now, anyway. Phelps’ historic eight gold medals in the Beijing Olympics were the driving force behind NBC’s prime-time Olympic ratings, just as Phelps’ six golds in Athens were the key to NBC’s 2004 Olympic ratings. NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol told The New York Times that after NBC gained Olympic officials’ support in its bid to have swimming finals moved from evenings to mornings so they could be shown live in prime time on the East Coast, the “first outsider” he consulted was Phelps, who was agreeable. After Phelps worked his way through various NBC outlets — this week giving Jay Leno his best rating in nearly three months — it was inevitable he’d end up on SNL.
But even though rehearsals have left Phelps “completely confident” about hosting SNL, he also says he’s “more nervous doing this than swimming in Beijing, I’ll tell you that.” Not to worry, says SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels: “No matter what happens, they can’t take those medals away.”
Phelps says he enjoys watching SNL when he can stay up to watch, adding he grew up as a “huge, huge fan” of the late SNL comic Chris Farley — who skated with Olympian Nancy Kerrigan when she hosted SNL— and that Farley’s Tommy Boy is his favorite movie.
Phelps says he has a funny side the public hasn’t seen: “In my group of friends, I’m one of the most sarcastic. … I’m actually a really, really sarcastic guy.” (And he didn’t sound sarcastic saying that.)
In hosting SNL, whose stage was used for NBC’s coverage of some Beijing Olympics action as announcers called events off TV monitors, Phelps joins a long line of athlete-hosts, including LeBron James and Peyton Manning in 2007. Charles Barkley mauled Barney the purple dinosaur on a basketball court. Tom Brady appeared in his underwear for a mock sexual harassment training video. Michael Jordan danced in a hula skirt. Says Phelps: “I’m just looking forward to having fun.”
Michaels says Amy Poehler played Phelps’ mother in rehearsals, although it’s still unclear which skits will appear on the show. Michaels added it’s possible Tina Fey will play GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. But don’t expect Phelps to perform anything that suggests his political preferences: “I’ve tried to stay away from jumping on political bandwagons. That’s something I try to keep to myself.”
Asked if future SNL shows might include Beijing Olympians, Michaels says probably not. Instead, “we’ll start thinking about 2010″ — meaning the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.
Think NBC is asking Phelps if he snowboards?

from: usatoday.com

Du Toit of South Africa wins gold in Paralympic swimming

RSS — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:59:44 +0000

Natalie Du Toit won the 100-meter butterfly gold medal at the Beijing Paralympics on Sunday, less than three weeks after her open-water Olympic swim in which she finished 16th in a race beset by problems.

The South African, who won five golds and a silver in the Athens Paralympics, finished in 1 minute, 6.74 seconds — a world record for her disability class.

A swimmer with Olympic promise, Du Toit lost her left leg above the knee in a 2001 motorcycle crash. She qualified for the Beijing Olympics in the 10-kilometer swim, a race in which her cap came off as she brushed the buoy on the first turn. Du Toit struggled the rest of the way with hair in her eyes, stopping at times to fix the cap.

“It’s been a bit of a rough ride from before the Olympics until now,” Du Toit said. “It’s awesome. Finally I’m swimming a bit faster, which is great.”

Du Toit will try for five golds in Beijing.

“Hopefully I’ll come back with five,” she said. “But there are going to be one or two races that are tight.”

Du Toit said her Olympic training was less than ideal, and the 10K race was about as bad as it could have been.

“I panicked,” she said. “I should have stopped and put the cap on properly. For 10 kilometers I stopped three times every lap trying to put my cap on. It wasn’t the best race and from lap one. I was swearing at myself.”

Sixteen gold medals in swimming were up for grabs Sunday in the Paralympics, with 11 others awarded in shooting, judo and cycling.

The United States won four gold medals in swimming on the opening day, the most of any country. The winners were: Erin Popovich, Rudy Garcia-Tolson, Miranda Uhl and Jessica Long.

Veronika Vadovicova of Slovakia won the first gold medal of the Paralympics, taking the women’s 10-meter air rifle (standing position) early in the day. Manuela Schmermund of Germany won the silver and Nilda Gomez Lopez of Puerto Rico the bronze.

Britain won the first medal in cycling with gold for Simon Richardson in the 1-kilometer time trial. Masaki Fujita of Japan was second and defending Paralympic champion Greg Ball of Australia was third.

China won two of the four gold medals in judo with victories by Guo Huaping (women’s 48 kilograms) and Cui Na (women’s 52 kilos).

Michael Phelps to start swimming foundation

RSS — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:36:44 +0000

Michael Phelps

NEWS: Olympian Michael Phelps announced this morning that he will put part of his $1 million bonus for tying Mark Spitz’s seven gold medals into a foundation to encourage the growth of swimming.

Phelps earned the bonus from Speedo after he tied Spitz’s 36-year record of seven gold medals in a single Games. He then beat the mark, winning eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics last month.

This morning, the 23-year-old Baltimorean told NBC’s “Today Show” host Matt Lauer that he will travel to eight cities in the United States to promote swimming among children.

The brief TV announcement did not address whether his plans to promote swimming would involve buying North Baltimore Aquatic Club’s Meadowbrook pool. Last month, Phelps told NBC’s Nightly News that he and coach Bob Bowman had bought a pool in Baltimore and were looking to change the sport of swimming. Bowman was named NBAC’s chief executive officer and is expected to start the job this month.

from: baltimoresun.com

Dutchman likens winning gold to his battle with cancer

RSS — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 08:47:07 +0000

Maarten van der Weijden from the Netherlands said his experience battling cancer helped him won the gold medal in the men’s 10km marathon swim. He was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2001 but has since come back stronger.

“The leukaemia has taught me to think step-by-step,” said the brave Dutchman who raised 50,000 euros in 2004 for cancer research by swimming the giant Ijsselmeer lake in Holland.

“When you are in hospital and feeling so much pain and feeling so tired, you don’t want to think about next week – you just think about the next hour.

“It teaches you to be patient when you are lying in a hospital bed and that was almost the same strategy I chose here to wait for my chance in the pack.”

Maarten van der Weijden of the Netherlands wins gold in men’s swimming marathon

RSS — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:14:47 +0000

Maarten van der Weijden of the Netherlands narrowly won the gold medal in the men’s 10km swimming marathon with a time of 1:51:51.6.

David Davies of Great Britain won the silver medal with a time of 1:51:53.1. Thomas Lurz of Germany won the bronze medal with a time of 1:51:53.6.

Russia’s Larisa Ilchenko wins 10km marathon swim

RSS — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 05:16:19 +0000

Russia’s Larisa Ilchenko has won the women’s 10km marathon swim at the Beijing Olympics setting a time of 1 hour 59 minutes and 27 seconds.

Keri-Anne Payne from Great Britain won the silver medal and Cassie Patten also from Great Britain won the bronze medal.

“I’m very happy, It was a really hard race,” Ilchenko told reporters. “The two British girls were very strong.”

Ilchenko is famous for swimming in the wake of other swimmers, saving energy and making a final charge at the finish line.

“It’s what she does, everyone has their own tactics, it doesn’t bother me,” Payne said.

“It was tough, but a good race for me. We were hoping we were far enough ahead to stop her coming back, but she did. I think she was surprised, we definitely had her worried.”

South Africa’s amputee swimmer Natalie du Toit finished 16th.

Michael Phelps got his gold; now he’s going home

RSS — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:35:17 +0000

His phenomenal swimming performance was in the books, and not even Michael Phelps himself was interested in watching the rest of the Olympic Games.
Asked if he would stay in Beijing for the Closing Ceremony, a week after his final race, Phelps said, “I have some other things . . . obligations that I’ve got to do.”
So while Phelps attends to sponsor promotions, the Games organizers and NBC Sports are committed to playing out the schedule through Sunday. It’s just that without him, the 2008 Olympics are limping toward the finish.
That’s more than an expression, in China’s case. Track hurdler Liu Xiang, a defending Olympic champion and a Yao Ming-sized star in this country, pulled out of his 110-meter heat Monday because of a foot injury. He walked slowly away from the starting blocks and off the track, taking the hopes and years-long anticipation of China with him into the tunnel of the “Bird’s Nest” stadium.
The Chinese still have Yao and his basketball team, which qualified for the quarterfinals, but Liu’s absence causes “major trauma,” said Jamie Metzl, an executive of the New York-based Asia Society.
“It is impossible to overstate the impact of Liu Xiang to the people of China,” said Metzl, a former State Department official. He had predicted if Liu lost his final race, “you would feel the air going out of the stomachs of 1.3 billion people.”
That may describe how NBC executives felt when Phelps climbed out of the pool for the last time. The network was enjoying a record pace for Olympic ratings, averaging some 30 million viewers nightly as Phelps was shown live (or close to it) in U.S. markets, winning a record eight gold medals while competing in the mornings in Beijing.
The American women’s gymnasts also helped boost the ratings, and they’re down to one event: All-around champion Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson will compete Tuesday on the balance beam.
So what’s left after that? Not much. There’s still some drama in the gold medal count, being led by China, but few high-profile contests will spice the competition. Track and basketball usually drive the second week of the Summer Games. With Liu out, the biggest track event is Wednesday’s 200 meters, with Jamaica’s Usain Bolt attempting to duplicate his world-record performance in winning the 100 last weekend.
For Utahns, there’s intrigue in Wednesday’s quarterfinal basketball game, featuring former University of Utah center Andrew Bogut of Australia against the U.S. team with Jazz players Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer. But the Americans have played so well, in contrast to 2004, that little mystery remains in the tournament. What’s more, Sunday’s gold medal game begins at 12:30 a.m. Utah time.
At this point, NBC’s best strategy might be to superimpose an image of Phelps swimming alongside sailing vessels or canoe paddlers, or just show a lot of beach volleyball.

from: sltrib.com

Don’t swim breaststroke, Kitajima urges Phelps

RSS — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 08:24:51 +0000

Japan’s double Olympic gold medallist Kosuke Kitajima is hoping Michael Phelps will steer clear of breaststroke when he takes up new events.

“Phelps in breaststroke? That would be the last thing I’d like to see,” said Kitajima, who won the breaststroke “double-double” in winning the 100 and 200 event for a second successive Olympics.

“I really hope not to see that happening,” he added.

After winning a record eight gold medals last week in freestyle, butterfly, individual medley and relays, the American said he planned to take up new events.

Breaststroke, however, is his weakest discipline and he is pondering taking up backstroke events and the 100 freestyle.

Kitajima, who is considering retiring from the sport, said he was in awe of what Phelps had done in Beijing.

“His achievements are just beyond description, and the whole world recognises his ability,” added Kitajima, who also won a bronze medal in the 4×100 medley relay.

“I have great respect for him. We are both athletes, but I’m also a fan of his.

“Being able to stand on the same podium as Phelps …was indeed a great joy for me.”

from: reuters.com

History-making Michael Phelps looks ahead to London

RSS — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 08:42:32 +0000

Michael Phelps said rest was the first thing on his agenda in the wake of his epic Olympic performance in Beijing, before he and coach Bob Bowman chart a new course for London 2012.
Despite his remarkable achievement - an unprecedented eight gold medals in nine days to take his career total to a record 14 Olympic titles - Phelps says there is plenty left to do to achieve his goal of changing the sport of swimming in the United States.
“There are some things I still want to do to raise the bar a bit more in the world of swimming,” Phelps said. “For me, it’s still work in progress.”
But Phelps, whose Beijing programme matched his schedule in Athens, will spring something new on the world of swimming in London.
He hadn’t even dried off after winning the 400m individual medley here when he said he was through with that event - although coach Bob Bowman may have other plans.
“I would say I would like to go down and start sprinting, but Bob isn’t so keen on that,” said Phelps, who showed in Beijing just how dangerous he could come to be in swimming’s shorter races.
Phelps swam the lead-off leg of the 4×100m freestyle relay in 47.51sec, making him the third-fastest performer in history in the prestige event behind current world record-holder Eamon Sullivan and former world record-holder Alain Bernard of France.
Phelps was also the second-ranked swimmer in the world in the 100m and 200m backstroke in 2007 - one of the top performers all time in each event although neither was on his Beijing programme.
“We’ll see how keen he is on going to the sprints,” Bowman said. “There is more and different training. He’s more naturally suited to longer events.”
Phelps said he and Bowman would experiment a little, as they did at the 2005 world championships in Montreal in the wake of his impressive Athens Games.
“I think over the next four years, I would like to try new events and see what happens.
“Bob has said he wants to start fresh and do things he hasn’t done before, new training methods and stuff like that.”
After moving from his hometown of Baltimore, following Bowman to a coaching job in Michigan, both are planning a return to Maryland.
“We are going to look at some different events, mix up the training programme a little bit and do some experimenting,” Bowman said. “We have plenty of time and we will look at reinventing ourselves.
“We have accomplished this set of goals and I would dare to venture to say we are not going to do it again, at least not like this.
“We will start coming up with some goals that excite him and start working towards them.”
But first, Phelps said a little vacation was in order.
“It’s something I haven’t done for a long time,” he said. “I am looking forward to seeing friends, hanging out and sitting down. Not moving.
“Bob has a saying about putting money in the bank and this week was about making withdrawals. I guess I’ve gotten through every penny. Now it’s time to start making redeposits.”
But Phelps won’t rest too long, especially since his over-arching aim is to raise the profile of swimming in his home country so that it can garner headlines outside of Olympic years.
“I don’t want this sport to be an every four year sport,” he said. “We get lots of attention every four years, but for the rest of that time there is really not a lot of attention.
“We swim every single day, there is never really an off-season. I just want more people to get involved in the sport and I think it will happen in the next four years.”
Besides, Phelps can’t take too much time off, since he has to book a spot in the 2009 World Championships in Rome.
“My mom has told me I have to make the (US) team so she can go to Rome,” Phelps said. - AFP

from: nst.com.my