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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 8:52 pm Post subject: Swiming has become a farce
Quote:
Five more records tumble in Rome
Five more world records fell on the second day of the swimming competition at the World Championships in Rome.
Sarah Sjostrom (100m butterfly), Ariana Kukors (200m IM), Rebecca Soni (100m breaststroke) and Anastasia Zueva (100m backstroke) all set new marks.
And in the men's events, Australia's Brenton Rickard smashed the previous 100m breaststroke record to win gold.
Britain's Hannah Miley finished sixth in the 200m individual medley, with her favoured 400m IM to come.
She said: "I am just over the moon with that.
"It's my first final having done semi-final and heats in a senior international meet for the 200 IM."
Three of her compatriots will have a good chance of adding to Britain's tally of four medals at this year's championships in two of Tuesday's five finals.
Spofforth, 21, was second fastest overall in a time of 58.74 seconds but will have a fight to win gold after Russia's Zueva set a new world record of 58.48, shattering Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry's previous mark of 58.77.
Simmonds, 19, set a time of 59.55 to finish joint seventh fastest.
"I'm pleased with how it went from a centre lane," she told BBC Sport.
"I'm enjoying being here, having such a great time and I'm swimming well."
Loughborough swimmer Liam Tancock made the men's 100m backstroke final after coming eighth fastest overall.
Tancock set a time of 53.12 to finish third in his race ahead of world record holder, American Aaron Peirsol, who surprisingly missed out.
The highlight of the night was arguably 15-year-old Sjostrom's performance in the 100m fly.
The Swedish sensation had already set a new mark of 56.44 in Sunday's semi-finals but obliterated that with a time of 56.06 in the final.
It was all the more impressive because the teenager was down in seventh at one stage.
"I don't know what is happening right now," she said. "t's unbelievable.
"This is my best year but I have many years in front of me. I can do better."
Just as outstanding was American Soni's world record time of one minute 4.84 seconds in the 100m breaststroke semi-final which broke Australian Leisel Jones' two-year-old record of 1:05.09.
And in the last race of a memorable night in balmy Rome, Kukors edged out Olympic champion Stephanie Rice to win gold and set her second world record in two days - the 11th overall of the championships.
The American touched home in 2:06.15 to surpass the mark of 2:07.03 she set in beating Rice in Sunday's semi-finals.
In the men's events, Australia's Rickard produced one of the widest smiles of the night after he sped to 58.58 to win the 100m breaststroke, trumping Japan's Kosuke Kitajima's previous mark of 58.91.
In the other men's final, Serbia's Milorad Cavic was the shock winner of the 50m butterfly, with world record holder Rafael Munoz taking bronze.
Meanwhile, eight-time Beijing Games gold medallist Michael Phelps stayed on course for his second gold of the championships finishing third fastest in the semi-finals of the 400m freestyle.
I was watching this yesterday on the beeb and was just thinking what is going on. How have they let the sport go so downhill, sooner or later they'll let them get a tow off a speed boat.
Rebecca Adlington is a funny one, it looks to me as though she won her golds at the olympics because she was wearing one of these super swim suits and now the technology has moved on she wont use the newer suits and is taking a moral stance by keeping with the inferior technology. She got a bronze yesterday, she could have won it if she'd worn the newer suit.
I think the international governing body of swimming is currently bringing in new rules to eliminate the special cozzies. It's back to wobbly woolies, people!
This is a tricky subject. I think your post is abit harsh TGS.
In other sports there is alot of technology which continuelly moves things on more than just an athletes performance, skill or talent.
Athletics and road running is probably the best thing to compare swimming too. Running shoes and trainers are massively different now to those worn by athletes as recently as the 1950s and they clearly make a huge difference to times compared to what would be achievable in a set of 1930s footwear. Ask Bolt to run in a heavy pair and see what time he does ?
Swimming has been behind the times for years in this regard. Its just your seeing a huge technoligcal leap in a very short space of time making it quite pronounced. Its easy to think something dodgy is going on and things are not quite right somehow.
Im really not sure what to think to be honest. As if you look at things logically there is not really anything wrong with these new suits.
Fina may look to change the rules on swimsuits in the near future. Thats fair enough but it makes it a pain for recent records set in them as you cant really scrap those times now.
My feeling is that they will be declared fine and legal when all is said and done.
Swimming as a sport has alot of scope for faster times still so records year on year shouldnt be seen as so much of a surprise.
The suits should be scrapped and the records also! Swimming is a sport that should be taken part in the flesh plus a cozzie and cap, end of.
These suits cost upwards of £350 each and last only a couple of races so those with the money will improve and everyone else will be stuck in the doldrums, where`s the fairness in that? It`s difficult enough for youngsters at local level to break through as it is, now they will have no chance
Bit like Formula 1 but don`t start me on that
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