Thursday, July 14, 2011

'praftica ne omoara'....

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http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/27455.asp?q=Socialization-in-Practice&association=com

Socialization in Practice -- July 5, 2011

Feature by Tyler Remmel

HARTLAND, Wisconsin, July 5. TALKING is a simple thing; it is so common, even at practice. Swimmers will do their best to hold up a conversation in five-second gaps between swims, and two-minute periods between sets.

Senior swimmers are pretty good at it by now.



There are the obvious difficulties that such conversations present, but what's more interesting is how the opinions of this socialization differ from coach to swimmer.

A normal Lake Country Phoenix (Hartland, Wisc.) practice is rarely quiet. Aside from the time spent actually swimming, there will often be multiple conversations going on at once.

For a swimmer, talking is a sort of rite of passage. Some say that it makes practices go faster, others say that it makes practices easier, and still others claim that conversation is what keeps them coming back to practice.

SwimmingWorld.TV Video on Socialization in Practice


"For the little joy that practice offers, talking makes it a lot more enjoyable," said Lake Country swimmer Evan Barta.

"Once you look back on it [if you were talking], the practice…doesn't seem as hard if you were having fun," Holly Johnson said.

Even though coach Mark Kohnhorst used to be a swimmer, he insists that it would be good for training if swimmers didn't have to talk during practice.

"Too often, a conversation carries through into a not-so-high-quality push-off," he said. "When a swimmer is involved in a conversation, it's very difficult to coach in between sets."

Lake Country's coaches have had a fairly extensive battle with conversations in that regard. It's not very often that either Kohnhorst or coach Tom Coons do not have to raise their voice to get the attention of their swimmers to explain a set.

Every time they do so, the pool will go silent – not always immediately, though. As you can imagine, this upsets the coaches.

Having a little stubbornness, the swimmers get upset at the coaches when they raise their voice, too. The disagreement seems to stem lightly from the interpretation that talking might be considered a sort of privilege, or something that at least needs to be done sparingly at least.

It's not just the coaches that feel that way, though. Olympic gold medalist Garrett Weber-Gale will sometimes train with Lake Country during the winter holidays, and one of the most lasting impressions that he's left is the loose quote, "If you're swimming as hard as you should be, you shouldn't have the breath or energy to talk."

The swimmers don't exactly take that seriously. Instead, it will get thrown around from time to time as a sarcastic remark.

And as you may have figured out, when Kohnhorst or Coons raises their voice, the ensuing silence doesn't last very long. If you'd ask the swimmers for an estimate, their responses range from .02 seconds to two seconds.

"It's pretty easy to talk while the coaches are talking," Johnson said. "There's so many people."

Kate Jones thinks that hard work should be rewarded with a sort of free speech.

"They need…to just let us talk," she said. "We work so hard. We should be able to talk if we're like [working hard] to do the sets."

Preludiile lu' Shanghai 2011.... 02

dar inainte - click aici
http://issuu.com/swimmingworld/docs/swm_dg_july_2011
iata predictiile lui Peter H. Bick

FINA World Championship Podium Predictions: Men's Edition -- July 11, 2011

Column by John Lohn, Swimming World senior writer

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico, July 11. WELCOME back to our loyal readers. After unveiling my early women's picks for the World Championships a week ago, I've been itching to reveal my preliminary selections for the men's competition. As the competition begins and psych sheets become finalized, it's my intent to release my final choices. Thanks to you all for your thoughts and comments, and we look forward to more give-and-take this week. So, without further ado, here is where I'm leaning for the guys.

50 Freestyle


Gold: Cesar Cielo
Silver: Fred Bousquet
Bronze: Nathan Adrian
**This is an event that could surely change depending on the outcome of Cesar Cielo's hearing with CAS in light of a failed drug test.

100 Freestyle
Gold: Nathan Adrian
Silver: Cesar Cielo
Bronze: Brent Hayden
**American's premier sprinter follows up his win at last summer's Pan Pacific Champs by ruling the globe.

200 Freestyle
Gold: Michael Phelps
Silver: Tae Hwan Park
Bronze: Ryan Lochte
**Honestly, this thing could go so many different ways. It should be the best event of the competition.

400 Freestyle
Gold: Tae Hwan Park
Silver: Sun Yang
Bronze: Ous Mellouli
**The Olympic champion could be the first man under 3:40.

800 Freestyle
Gold: Sun Yang
Silver: Ous Mellouli
Bronze: Ryan Cochrane
**A near-miss in the 400 free is eased with a victory over twice the distance.

1500 Freestyle
Gold: Sun Yang
Silver: Ous Mellouli
Bronze: Ryan Cochrane
**Can the most vaunted record on the books, Grant Hackett's historic performance, survive the onslaught of Sun? Time will tell if Sun is can do it, or is too worn down by his previous races.

50 Backstroke
Gold: Camille Lacourt
Silver: Liam Tancock
Bronze: Junya Koga
**Even a pure sprinter like Tancock can't stay with the Frenchman.

100 Backstroke
Gold: Camille Lacourt
Silver: Ryosuke Irie
Bronze: Nick Thoman
**This is where Nick Thoman breaks through in long-course action on a big platform.

200 Backstroke
Gold: Ryan Lochte
Silver: Ryosuke Irie
Bronze: Tyler Clary
**Wouldn't be surprised if any of these three took the gold medal.

50 Breaststroke
Gold: Cameron van der Burgh
Silver: Felipe Silva
Bronze: Hendrik Feldwehr
**I don't think any of these guys will factor in the 100 breast.

100 Breaststroke
Gold: Kosuke Kitajima
Silver: Alexander Dale Oen
Bronze: Brenton Rickard
**We all know Kitajima saves his best for Olympic years, but doubting him here would be unwise.

200 Breaststroke
Gold: Naoya Tomita
Silver: Kosuke Kitajima
Bronze: Daniel Gyurta
**Tomita takes down guys with highly impressive international portfolios.

50 Butterfly
Gold: Cesar Cielo
Silver: Matt Targett
Bronze: Milorad Cavic
**Cielo's status again throws in event in prediction disarray.

100 Butterfly
Gold: Michael Phelps
Silver: Milorad Cavic
Bronze: Laszlo Cseh
**The performance by Phelps at the Canada Cup in Montreal showed he's ready to roll in this event.

200 butterfly
Gold: Michael Phelps
Silver: Takeshi Matsuda
Bronze: Laszlo Cseh
**Yes, Phelps has dropped some 200 fly races of late. Won't happen on the world stage.

200 Individual Medley
Gold: Ryan Lochte
Silver: Michael Phelps
Bronze: Laszlo Cseh
**The Americans have finished gold-silver on a number of occasions in major competitions.

400 Individual Medley
Gold: Ryan Lochte
Silver: Laszlo Cseh
Bronze: Tyler Clary
**Lochte secures his third individual gold medal of the meet.

400 Freestyle Relay
Gold: United States
Silver: France
Bronze: Russia
**Another showdown between the United States and France goes the way of the Stars and Stripes.

800 Freestyle Relay
Gold: United States
Silver: Russia
Bronze: China
**The gap between the United States and its foes has lessened, but not enough.

400 Medley Relay
Gold: France
Silver: United States
Bronze: Germany
**A hunch has France holding on after building a sizable early lead.

Follow John Lohn on Twitter: @JohnLohn

FINA World Championship Podium Predictions: Women's Edition -- July 4, 2011

Column by John Lohn, Swimming World senior writer

BASKING RIDGE, New Jersey, July 4. WITH less than three weeks separating us from the start of the World Championships in Shanghai, we begin our predictions for the competition with a look at the women's events. In two weeks, we'll provide picks for the men's events. We look forward to hearing your thoughts as well.

50 Freestyle


Gold: Ranomi Kromowidjojo
Silver: Britta Steffen
Bronze: Therese Alshammar
**The way the Dutchwoman has been performing this year prevented my selection of the reigning Olympic titlist.

100 Freestyle
Gold: Femke Heemskerk
Silver: Britta Steffen
Bronze: Fran Halsall
**Yep, another Dutch pick in a sprint-freestyle event, with Britta Steffen earning her second silver medal.

200 Freestyle
Gold: Federica Pellegrini
Silver: Kylie Palmer
Bronze: Allison Schmitt
**The way Palmer looks heading into Shanghai, she made me pause for a second before going with the incumbent.

400 Freestyle
Gold: Rebecca Adlington
Silver: Federica Pellegrini
Bronze: Camille Muffat
**This event should provide one of the finest duels of the women's competition. Expect Chloe Sutton to make a push for a podium position.

800 Freestyle
Gold: Rebecca Adlington
Silver: Chloe Sutton
Bronze: Kate Ziegler
**The pick of Ziegler sneaking in for the bronze medal is a hunch that she'll ratchet it up for her first World Champs since 2007.

1500 Freestyle
Gold: Chloe Sutton
Silver: Lotte Friis
Bronze: Kate Ziegler
**The longer the race, the better for Sutton. Not only is she an extreme talent, she's one of the more likable people in the sport. Everything about Sutton oozes a feel-good sense.

50 Backstroke
Gold: Aya Terakawa
Silver: Anastasia Zueva
Bronze: Gao Chang
**Not going to lie. I'm not a fan at all of the 50-meter stroke events. My preference sits with the Olympic program.

100 Backstroke
Gold: Aya Terakawa
Silver: Natalie Coughlin
Bronze: Anastasia Zueva
**Terakawa put down the world's top time of the year in April, but Coughlin has the experience and it wouldn't be a surprise if the two-time Olympic champ ruled.

200 Backstroke
Gold: Kirsty Coventry
Silver: Elizabeth Beisel
Bronze: Belinda Hocking
**Coventry hasn't done much this year, but history suggests she'll rise up.

50 Breaststroke
Gold: Rebecca Soni
Silver: Yulia Efimova
Bronze: Leisel Jones
**This event will be the toughest for Soni in her pursuit of a breaststroke sweep.

100 Breaststroke
Gold: Rebecca Soni
Silver: Leisel Jones
Bronze: Yulia Efimova
**Looking for Soni to go 1:04 and reaffirm her standing over Jones.

200 Breaststroke
Gold: Rebecca Soni
Silver: Yulia Efimova
Bronze: Amanda Beard
**There was a real urge to pick Amanda Beard for the bronze-medal slot, so I went with it.

50 Butterfly
Gold: Therese Alshammar
Silver: Sarah Sjostrom
Bronze: Marieke Guehrer
**The veteran Alshammar has long been the class of this event.

100 Butterfly
Gold: Sarah Sjostrom
Silver: Dana Vollmer
Bronze: Alicia Coutts
**With her home country behind her, Liu Zige is a strong pick for medal in her weaker butterfly event.

200 Butterfly
Gold: Liu Zige
Silver: Jiao Liuyang
Bronze: Kathleen Hersey
**Another hunch pick with Hersey in the bronze position.

200 Individual Medley
Gold: Ariana Kukors
Silver: Stephanie Rice
Bronze: Ye Shiwen
**Alicia Coutts would have been a medal pick, but her 100 fly final earlier in the night will take some out of the Australian.

400 Individual Medley
Gold: Stephanie Rice
Silver: Elizabeth Beisel
Bronze: Li Xuanxu
**Had a real tough time picking what is a jammed-up event.

400 Freestyle Relay
Gold: Netherlands
Silver: United States
Bronze: Australia
**This was a fairly easy selection given the way the Dutch have looked this year.

800 Freestyle Relay
Gold: Australia
Silver: United States
Bronze: China
**The Aussies made themselves the favorites with that impressive demonstration of power and depth at their World Champs Trials.

400 Medley Relay
Gold: United States
Silver: China
Bronze: Australia
**Not a good feeling for this event. It could go a lot of different ways.

Follow me on Twitter: @johnlohn

Preludiile lu' Shanghai 2011.... 01

la o asa mare intindere a activitatii de inot este cert ca nevoia de Control si Disciplina este bine urmarita; toate conflictele, plangerile sau reclamatiile se discuta oficial si se dau verdicte asemanatoare chiar cu cel stiut de noi ca 'persona non grata'; aviz amatorilor...!!!

A Voice For The Sport: Chuck Wielgus Deposition Unsealed; Many Changes During The Past Year
-- July 11, 2011

Column by Brent Rutemiller, Swimming World CEO

PHOENIX, Arizona, July 11.

IT has been more than a year since the bombshell ABC News 20/20 interview with Chuck Wielgus, USA Swimming's Executive Director, hit the mass media exposing USA Swimming's lack of athlete protection from sexual predators.

Since those tumultuous times, USA Swimming has created an athlete protection officer, passed sweeping reforms through its House of Delegates and recently has partnered with a national child protection firm to educate athletes about recognizing unsafe situations, identifying potential risks and reporting questionable behavior. Collectively, all the efforts are meant to strengthen USA Swimming's goal to provide safe environments for athletes, coaches and volunteers.

Just when the wounds appear to be healing, a deposition given by Wielgus in 2010 is now public with the potential to create new scars. The deposition, when viewed in its place and time, shows the battleground that was confronting USA Swimming at the time and clearly illuminates weaknesses within the organization.

Looking at the deposition from a fresh perspective, this is what we can surmise.

- One year ago, USA Swimming did not have a public list of banned members. Now, USA Swimming has a public "Banned List" that contains people who, for various reasons, lost membership to USA Swimming. Although the list is not actively sent to the media when updated, it can easily be found by searching USA Swimming's website.

- USA Swimming also has a non-public "Flagged List" that contains names of people who are not current members of USA Swimming. If these people request membership, they would be subject to a national board of review and possibly an investigation, for various reasons, prior to being granted membership.

Local Swim Committees (LSCs) are quickly informed, when they link to the national registration database, that an individual requesting membership is on the flagged list. The LSCs are notified that the individual seeking membership needs approval from the national office.

- USA Swimming does not investigate rumors and only investigates formal complaints when it involves current members of USA Swimming. This was made very clear in Wielgus's deposition and is still a major part of the new policy.

- USA Swimming will investigate third-party rumors when it involves staff as in the case of Mark Schubert, which fortunately for Schubert turned out to be unmerited and denied by the supposed victim.

In the case of Everett Uchiyama, USA Swimming was formally approached by the victim and informed of an inappropriate relationship. When confronted by USA Swimming, Uchiyama resigned as USA Swimming's National Team Director and was put on a banned list. The banned list was not public at the time, and therefore Uchiyama was free from public scrutiny and allowed to seek employment in an aquatics-related field (not related to USA Swimming) across town. When the list became public, Uchiyama immediately resigned from the country club position to the embarrassment of the country club and USA Swimming.

Under current policy, Uchiyama's name would have been put on the public banned list, and future employees would have the responsibility of doing their due diligence as part of a background check.

- As for the coaches that Wielgus was questioned about in the deposition, there was little mention of investigations by USA Swimming into alleged inappropriate behaviors of coaches. There were two simple "rules of thumb" at the time; A person must file a complaint and the coach must be a current member of USA Swimming before USA Swimming will take action. The inaction by USA Swimming beyond those two measures clearly showed a lack of policy at the time.

While the recently-released Wielgus deposition is sure to be analyzed, criticized, and conspiratory-ized, the new systems, with its proactive policies, promise to offer better outcomes than in past years.


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Showing 2 comments

  • SCAQTony
    They have come a long way but they should settle with the victim in the King case.
    Everett Uchiyama showed us a pattern post the Chuck Weilgus email, "Let's keep this just between you an me..." That email is crystal clear evidence that even when a victim complains and asks for action from the CEO of USA Swimming, it was taken as a "formal complaint."

  • Idaho5000 Collapse
    I saw him on ABC's 20/20 and he was a disgrace to USA Swimming. He came across as an absolute buffoon. I could not believe what I was listening to and this man is the leader of USA Swimming? I'm surprised he was not fired immediately.

    I was speechless and was very embarrassed for him and the organization he leads.