The Blogstroke

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As I write this post, I thought I might be able to update it before the wee small hours of the morning to let you know how Nathan did in the 100 free prelims. Well…yeah…about that. He’s swimming in the LAST of the 22 heats. Right now, it’s Heat 8. I’ll try to hang on.

I did check out the start list to see who he was racing with and it’s a who’s who of sprinters. 

Right next to our guy is Alain Bernard (who is GINORMOUS!) not to mention Roland Schoeman of Russia, Brazil’s Cesar Cielo and Canada’s Brent Hayden.

Is it just me, or has the ‘media’ gone Phelps-crazy? It’s like Phelps.TV 24/7. There are so many great stories out there by so many swimmers, like Ryan Lochte, Cullen Jones, Rebecca Soni, heck even newcomer Kasey Carlson who won a bronze medal in the 100 breast. 

What do you think? Is it too much Michael, or not enough?

Another WHOOPS! moment brought to you by the fine makers of those lovely rubber suits everywhere. Aren’t you glad you don’t have to wear one to work?

Here’s a video of Nathan Adrian I found after the 400 relay win from the media room. 

And we are at Heat 12 of 22! Whoo-Hoo!!

I want to say a big Thank You to all my readers! The Blogstroke debuted in the No. 10 spot among Kitsap staff blogs! We’re only just beginning, baby!!

Heat 15 of 22 has started!

Oh, don’t forget. You can subscribe to an RSS feed of The Blogstroke to get notices when there are new posts. Mom’s a big fan.

So I’m keeping track of the heats through omegatiming.com (love it!) because the livestream from universalsports.com isn’t working. Has anyone gotten it to work? Does it just hate Macs? Just curious…

We’re at Heat 18! Oh, so close!!

I wonder what Nathan’s thinking at this point? If you’re a swimmer, make a comment below and let us know what goes through your mind as you wait to take to the starting block.

Heat 20! The times have dropped from high 53s to now sub-49 low. Matthew Targett of Australia was just off the world-record time at the 50 split. It’s getting craaaazzzyyy!!!

Here we go! Heat 22 is about to start…Nathan had a decent reaction time off the block, and was about third at the 50-split (23.06) and finished fourth in his heat with a time of 48.13. That should put him easily into the semifinals. Alain Bernard won in 47.80. No one set a world record but it’s only the prelims.

Again, Nathan swims at 9 a.m., so check back here for coverage if you can’t get it on TV or the online streaming. 

UPDATE: Nathan tied for the ninth fastest swim from the prelims, with Andrey Grechin of Russia. American David Walters was the fastest qualifier in 47.59.

Ciao!

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Olympic Aquatic Club produced some strong swims for retiring coach Bonnie Burmaster last week at KCAC in Federal Way.

OAC record swims by; Kelsey Crane (50 Free, 400 Free, and 800 Free), Liane Hirata (200 back, 100 breast, 100 fly, 200 IM and 400 IM), Brendan Weiner (400 free, 100 back, 100 fly) and John Wojtech (800 free).

Point scorers for OAC were; Kelsey Crane – 27 pts, Quaid Williams – 19, Grace Smith – 11, Liane Hirata – 2 and John Wojtech – 1.

Next stop for OAC is San Jose for the Far Western Zone Championships.

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Michael Phelps didn’t win and the world didn’t stop turning. Go figure!

Phelps took silver in his first individual final, the 200 freestyle, on Tuesday. German Paul Biedermann broke Phelps’ world record in 1:42, with Phelps coming in at 1:43.3. But Phelps fans shouldn’t worry. His best time is 1:42.9, and he did take six months off. That’s a very long time in terms of swimming, and training, for an elite athlete.

The two-time Olympic champion in the 200 fly, Phelps finished second in his semifinal heat in 1:53.48. The 200 fly is Phelps’ best event, he’s a beautiful flyer, barely coming out of the water and it just suits his body. He had a little more than an hour rest after the 200 free final. Read the rest of this entry »

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I think I’m still coming off Monday’s high of watching Nathan Adrian swim that incredible anchor leg in the 400 free relay. Read what the rest of the country (and the world) thought of the relay swim by checking out these media outlets; Manila (Philippines) Bulletin, SwimNetwork.com, New York Times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and  CNN.com.

Nathan won’t be swimming again until Tuesday in the 100 free. He has a preliminary heat Tuesday morning and semifinals in the evening (Rome). The finals are Wednesday.

Read the rest of this entry »

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UPDATE: If you missed the 400 free relay, you can watch it here. It’s pretty amazing!

UPDATE: A true champion always delivers in the cluch and Nathan is doing it time and time again. USA finished at 3:09.21 (a course record), better than Russia’s 3:09.52. Nathan had the fastest split of the four, going an astonishing 46.79. His best in the 100 free was 48-flat. He is obviously ready for this meet! By the way, France finished a disappointing third, 3:09.89.

Nathan was interviewed following the race, here’s what was said.

Andrea Kramer (NBC): All right, they’re calling Nathan Adrian Little Lezak. (Phelps laughing) You like that?

Phelps: That’s funny! That’s good! Nathan had a great swim he had to have 46.8 and its promising for our relay for the fuure. You know we finished the day off on a good note. So, we’re happy.

Kramer: What make you pull through like that Nathan?

Adrian: (laughing) I had to stay within myself and swim my own race as opposed to on, you know, try and focus on anybody else. I was able to do that and, um, you know the last 10 meters I just tried to put my head down and finish the race.

Adrian now has to be considered a strong contender to make the podium in the 100 free, which can be seen on Universal Sports (check local listings for channel) and Universalsports.com, at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

UPDATE: Phelps has the leadoff, and it’s a tight first 50, Brazil is at 22.5, but Lochte is in the water and he looks good. Phelps got them third. Lochte, swimming it for the first time, still third. Matt Grevers has the third leg, now second! And now Adrian into the pool! Nathan is in lane 6 and looks great! Here he somes! Oh my! He did it!

USA wins! Nathan is a world champion! They beat France again! He was so strong! Amazing finish yet again and Phelps was yelling at him, ‘Finish it finish it!’ France actually finished third, with Russia coming in second. Wow!

Rowdy Gaines has dubbed Nathan, ‘Jason Lezak Jr,’ in reference to Lezak’s amazing finish in Beijing.

UPDATE: Finally got a glimpse of Nathan Adrian. Phelps and Ryan Lochte are next to France.

UPDATE: We’re moments away from the start of the 400 relay and NBC is absolutely playing this up as the bout of the century. A little overkill, maybe??

The first day of the world swimming championships are finally underway.

It’s Sunday evening in Rome at Foro d’Italico, the swim stadium, and the highlight of the day is the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay. Everyone’s expecting a showdown of the French and U.S. teams, but Brazil made an early statement in the prelims.

Brazil set a meet record in 3:11.26 and is the top seed. The French are second (3:12.72) and Great Britain third (3:11.62).

The U.S. team of Garrett Weber-Gale, Matt Grevers, Ricky Berens and Cullen Jones qualified fourth for the finals in 3:11.64.

Nathan Adrian and Michael Phelps will swim the relay finals along with two others from the morning.

This post will be updated, so keep checking back.

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Is it just me, or does it seem like it’s taking forever for the world swimming championships to start?

What’s up with that? At least Nathan Adrian and the rest of the swimmers have been doing something, like practicing, eating pasta, eating more pasta….oh, how I wish I was there.

Anyway, here’s a couple recent stories from various sources to keep you entertained until Sunday.

FINA banned full bodysuits on Friday; you can read about it here. Anyone think they should have done this a week ago or more? Or, at least waited until after worlds?

Swimnetwork.com is asking ‘Is the U.S. Still the Top Team in the World?’

Megan Jendrick was disqualified at the PNS championships

By the way, if you’ve been to the championships in Federal Way, drop me a line and let me know how it’s going. I’m all ears!

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For Olympic Aquatic Club, and many other swimmers/parents/fans, Thursday will be a bittersweet day. One of the largest end-of-summer meets, the PNS Championships in Federal Way, gets underway — but it’s also the meet where longtime OAC head coach Bonnie Burmaster will, at the end, retire from coaching. You can read about it here as well as see a video of Bonnie.

I had a chance not to long ago to visit with Bonnie, and husband Elwin at their farm off Waaga Way (that’s a little slice of heaven right there!) and I can certainly see why she will be missed. It has to be impossible not to like Bonnie. Her joy for her ‘swim’ kids is apparent and she never treated it like a job or chore —

something she had to do. Plus, she’s one of the kindest and funniest people I’ve met.

For Bonnie it’s always been about teaching the kids and cheering on their successes. She will be greatly missed. So if you see Bonnie on the deck at KCAC Thursday-Sunday, give her a hug and tell her thanks. She deserves it. Read the rest of this entry »

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It’s officially one week from the start of the FINA world swimming championships — although other sports like diving and synchronized swimming are going on right now in Rome — so since we have a little time before it starts, here’s a look at what’s going on locally.

The 10th annual Fat Salmon swim was Saturday at Lake Washington. Several OAC masters swimmers participated (and hopefully they didn’t feel like a chubby NW fish). Here’s how it went down: Read the rest of this entry »

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NBC has joined Universal Sports in airing coverage of the FINA World Championships, beginning July 26. While universalsports.com is showing a live web cast, NBC begins its show next Sunday from 9-11 a.m. (local) and again Aug. 1 and 2, 9-11 a.m.

NBC’s coverage will highlight the men’s and women’s 4×100 free race — the men’s race is a rematch between the U.S. and France from the Beijing Olympics last summer. It’s likely Nathan Adrian will be a member of that team. Other races include  the 100 fly with WR holder Michael Phelps and Dara Torres in the 50 free.

Universal Sports (check local listings for channel) will feature a two-hour primetime show starting at 5 p.m. each night of the championships. The network (which is Ch. 115/Comcast in my neighborhood) is airing the championships live 9 a.m. Monday, July 27-Friday, July 31. A notable race is the 100 freestyle, in which Nathan is swimming, on Thursday. Universalsports.com is streaming both the finals and the morning prelims. Check the web site for times.

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After a somewhat lengthy layoff, the Blogstroke is back.

The Blogstroke first appeared last summer in advance of the U.S. Olympic swim trials, in which we had locals Tara and Dana Kirk and Nathan Adrian (all of Bremerton) and Bainbridge Island’s Emily Silver competing for spots to Beijing. If you’ve kept up on swimming, you know Adrian and Silver each won medals as part of their respective 400 free relays.

My goal is to make the Blogstroke one-stop shopping for all swimming/water sports news on the Kitsap Peninsula. With the help of coaches, swimmers of all ages, and you — the readers — I hope it’s a blog you enjoy, is enlightening and can answer a question or two about swimming.

The blog will encompass everything from age-group club swimming, high school, masters, and our Kitsap Olympians — as well as touching on what’s going on around the world of swimming. Read the rest of this entry »

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