Wide World of Kitsap Sports

Marvin Williams is apparently bringing some of his NBA friends to town for his blackout party.
The invitation on Facebook (which was sent to the Kitsap Sun) said he’s bringing Raymond Felton and Sean May, both former teammates at North Carolina.
What the heck is the blackout party? Well, it’s to support the “highly anticipated release of Pyro’s ‘Pieces To The Puzzle.’”

Willie Bloomquist is enticed by the National League, which features a deeper bench and could mean more playing time. He’s still considering staying with the Royals. You can read about that here.
And in case you missed it, Bloomquist hit a game-winning home run in the 12th earlier this week.

Bremerton native and Olympic bobsledder Bree Schaaf will attend Sunday’s Xtreme Bulls competition at the Kitsap County Stampede. She’ll be on hand to meet the public, sign autographs and take pictures during the 1 p.m. meet-and-greet session.
Community members can support Schaaf’s pursuit of the 2014 Winter Olympics by donating to her training fund (Bree Ann Schaaf Bobsled Donations) at any Puget Sound area branch of U.S. Bank.

Les Eathorne’s Celebration of Life event will be held Sunday at Bremerton High School in the Les Eathorne Gymnasium at 1 p.m. The public is welcome to attend.
Eathorne died July 5.
Eathorne, a 1942 Bremerton High School graduate, was a successful basketball player and coach for the Knights. During his tenure at East High School, Eathorne led the Knights to consecutive state championships in 1973 and 1974. He won over 500 games and was a member of the Washington State Coaches Hall of Fame.
The gym at Bremerton was dedicated to Eathorne in 2009.

The Swimmers Circle blog writer, Braden K., had some great things to say about Bremerton’s Nathan Adrian in the Top Moments of the Pan Pacific meet blog. You can read it here — skip down to No. 3 to read about Nathan.

If Nathan Adrian was getting slightly overlooked by international sprinters, he’s not now.

Bremerton’s Adrian is now the top dog in sprinting.

Adrian won the 50-meter freestyle at the Pan Pacific Championships Saturday, beating current world, Olympic champion Cesar Cielo of Brazil. Adrian touched the wall in 21.55, to Cielo’s 21.57. Cielo is also the current world record holder.

It’s his third gold medal of the Pan Pacs. Adrian won the 100 free and helped the U.S. win in the 400 free relay. He is slated to swim the anchor leg in the 400 medley relay coming up later.

UPDATE: Adrian won his fourth gold medal of the meet after anchoring the 400 medley relay. The Americans, including Aaron Peirsol, Mark Gangloff and Michael Phelps, finished in 3:32.48. Japan won silver with Australia taking the bronze.

Bremerton’s Nathan Adrian had some firsts on Thursday in the finals of the 100 free at the Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, Calif.

Not only did Adrian win the event in a course record of 48.15 seconds, the 21-year-old beat top dog Cesar Cielo of Brazil, who finished third in 48.48. It’s the first time Adrian has beaten Cielo in international competition. Canada’s Brent Hayden was second in 48.19. Adrian’s time was the fastest of the year.

Pan Pac gold medalist Nathan Adrian, middle, with silver medalist Brent Hayden and bronze medalist Cesar Cielo.

Adrian also earned his first long-course international gold medal. He won a short-course gold at the 2008 worlds and was a member of the 400 free relay that won gold in the LC worlds in Rome in 2009.

Adrian gets back into the water on Saturday with the 50 free.

The second night of the Pan Pacific Champions begin at 6 p.m. and Nathan Adrian is the No. 1 seed in the 100-meter freestyle. Swimnetwork.com is carrying a live feed of the finals. Adrian had the fastest time out of the morning prelims, finishin in 48.41 seconds. Jason Lezak was second in 48.47.

In a big surprise earlier today, two-time Olympic champion Michael Phelps failed to make the final of the 400 individual medley. Phelps had the fourth-fastest time, but only two swimmers from each country are allowed to swim in the finals.

Ryan Lochte, the world champion, was the fastest with a time of 4:07.77. Teammate Tyler Clary was second in 4:09.20. Lochte’s time is a new meet record — held previously by Phelps in 4:10.47.

Bremerton’s Nathan Adrian will swim Thursday in his first event, the 100-meter freestyle, at the Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, Calif.

Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Aaron Peirsol all won their first events on Wednesday — you can read about it here. Allison Schmitt and Peirsol set meet records in their events.

Adrian will swim prelims at 10 a.m. Finals are at 6 p.m.

The meet will be broadcast live Aug. 18 on Universal Sports (check your local TV listings) from 7-9:30 p.m. NBC will pick up the broadcast, although it will be taped, on Aug. 21 from 1-3 p.m., and Aug. 22 from 2-3 p.m.

Live streaming can be found at swimnetwork.com

I spoke with Nathan Adrian Thursday and he’s relaxed and ready for the Pan Pacific championships next week in Irvine, Calif. He sounded quite happy, and laughed when he said it would be hard not to be happy staying at a really nice hotel where you are treated like royalty.

Nathan Adrian

Adrian also said the U.S. team has been fun to be with and everybody gets along — good thing considering they’re in close quarters for more than a week.

“There’s a spectrum of different people here,” he said.

As I was writing the story, I did some research from the FINA website and checked out the world rankings for 2010. Guess who’s No. 2, Dr. Evil?

Yup, Bremerton’s own. Adrian is ranked second behind Cesar Cielo in the 50 and Alain Bernard of France in the 100. Neither of those swimmers will be at Pan Pacs — that meet is between the U.S., Canada, Japan and Australia.

The meet will be broadcast live Aug. 18 on Universal Sports (check your local TV listings) from 7-9:30 p.m. NBC will pick up the broadcast, although it will be taped, on Aug. 21 from 1-3 p.m., and Aug. 22 from 2-3 p.m.

Nathan is swimming Thursday, Aug. 19, in the 100 free. The 50 free is Saturday. Prelims are at 10 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m.

Swimnetwork.com is live streaming all sessions each day.