Category Archives: Swimming News

Golden Goggles 2008

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The annual Golden Goggle Award ceremony is taking place this year on November 17, 2008, and it should be a great event for the swimming world!  The Golden Goggle Awards celebrate top American swimmers for their accomplishment(s) that year.  Here are the categories and nominees this for this year’s awards:

Breakout Performer of the Year:

 

  • Matt Grevers
  • Christine Magnuson
  • Rebecca Soni

Perseverance Award:

 

  • Jason Lezak
  • Eric Shanteau
  • Emily Silver
  • Dara Torres

Coach of the Year:

 

  • Bob Bowman
  • Teri McKeever
  • Dave Salo
  • Gregg Troy
  • Eddie Reese

Relay Performance of the Year (all from the 2008 Olympic Games):

 

  • Men’s 400m Free Relay
  • Men’s 800m Free Relay
  • Men’s 400m Medley Relay

Female Performance of the Year (all from the 2008 Olympic Games):

 

  • Natalie Coughlin – 100m Backstroke
  • Christine Magnuson – 100m Butterfly
  • Rebecca Soni – 200m Breaststroke
  • Dara Torres – 50m Freestyle

Male Performance of the Year (all from the 2008 Olympic Games):

 

  • Ryan Lochte – 200m Backstroke
  • Aaron Peirsol – 100m Backstroke
  • Michael Phelps – 100m Butterfly
  • Michael Phelps – 400m Individual Medley

Female Athlete of the Year:

 

  • Natalie Coughlin
  • Margaret Hoelzer
  • Katie Hoff
  • Rebecca Soni

Male Athlete of the Year:

 

  • Jason Lezak
  • Ryan Lochte
  • Aaron Peirsol
  • Michael Phelps

As you can see, Michael Phelps has a significant number of nominations but it will most likely be very very close!  Along with those awards, there are two Golden Goggle Awards given only in Olympic Years: the Impact Award, and the Humanitarian Award.

I hope everyone tunes in as the biggest American swimming stars turn out for this event!

Happy swimming!

Libby Trickett Switches Coaches

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The Olympic 100 Meter Butterfly Champion (Libby Trickett) has made the decision to switch coaches and train out of Sydney, Australia.  The move from Stephan Widmer to Eamon Sullivan (lead by Grant Stoelwinder) was reportedly hard for Trickett because of the relationship that she and Widmer had developed over several years together.  Trickett made the transition as a result of the Beijing Olympic Games’ results and her desire for change and a new form of stimuli.

We, here at the Hamden North Haven Swim Team, wish Libby Trickett all the best and we will continue to follow her story!

USA Swimming Bans Elite Suits

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Even though we (the Hamden North Haven Typhoons) are solely a YMCA swim team we still need to keep up with what is going on in the USA Swimming realm.  At this past conference, USA Swimming banned suits that extend past the knee, shoulder, and neck.  The common theory being that the expense of the suits will drive more harm than good with financial burdens and disappointment.  The other common thought being that they want to protect the competitive level of age-group swimmers and not place barriers on swimmers than cannot afford these high-tec suits.  Right now, the swimming world is in a waiting game to see if FINA will follow suit and make this a global ban.

Personally, I absolutely agree with this ruling!  There is no reason for these suits to be introduced at an age-group level.  For those of us Hamden North Haven YMCA Swim Team members, an age group swimmer ranges from 12 years old and under.  The philosophy and approach that we take is a fun-filled atmosphere where the kids can learn and enjoy the sport of swimming!  Again, I am completely for this decision!  Excellent call!

Hamden North Haven Swimming Clinic

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Hamden North Haven YMCA Swim Team starts their swim clinic today (September 15, 2008)!  We will be working primarily on freestyle today with all of the kids!

Along with our returning swimmers we are expecting to have nearly 20 new swimmers join our Typhoons for the Short Course Season!  Our fun-filled coaching philosophy will remain the same, and we will build on swimming technique by having fun and learning at the same time!  With fun comes fast learning, with fast learning comes great technique, and with technique comes endurance, speed, and more fun!

I cannot wait to see everyone tonight!

Professional Swimmers – Is There Such A Thing?

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Since I have been coaching swimming, there has been a consistent question asked by swimmers looking to go on with their swimming career:  ”Is swimming a professional sport”?  To breifly answer that question, “yes”.

But, just to use an example, I recently read an article by Craig Lord at swimnews.com which outlined the monetary value involved with swimming.  Granted, this example is of a Silver Medalist and soon to be world-record holder, but bare with me.

Park Tae-hwan, the 19 year old South Korean Olympic Swimmer (400 and 200 Free events), has recently signed endorsements to the tune of $100,000,000 (give or take).  These endorsements came as a result of his accomplishments at the Olympics and other Championship Swim Meets. 

Now, Park might be considered an extreme example, but there are essentially “teams” of professional swimmers; people that are sponsored to swim by different companies (TYR, Speedo, Nike, Arena, etc).  You can find a roster on almost all of the company websites.  These teams come up with contracts for their swimmers that outlines their job responsibilities and expectations as well as what will happen if they fail to achieve (or achieve) those goals.  This, of course, is similar to your typical (main-stream) sports like baseball, basketball, and football!

So, the long and short of the question…yes, there are most definitely professional swimmers, and teams are always looking for up and coming talent!

Please feel free to subscribe to the Hamden North Haven YMCA Typhoons blog, or find out more about the Hamden North Haven Swim Team!

Olympics Spark Interest for Connecticut Swim Teams

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With the Short Course Season starting very soon, we will see how much of an impact Michael Phelps and Dara Torres truly had an impact on the non-swimming community.

Michael Phelps serves as a huge role model for young swimmers in Connecticut and all over the U.S.!  He had a goal and a dream when he was 11 years old and truly reached for the stars!  He overcame obstacles, stereotypes, and school-age bullies to be one of the greatest athletes of all time.  If that doesn’t inspire someone to get activated, then I don’t know what will.  Personally, I think that his accomplishments have significantly stirred the pot and will have a huge positive affect on the world of swimming!

Now, Dara Torres…need I say more?  I know that we have all heard the stories, but I hope that everyone who has heard them truly appreciates what she has done for the sport.  Dara has broken down barriers in swimming that nobody else in the history of the sport has come close to touching!  Yes, it will inspire the kids to work hard throughout life, but it will (I think) inspire a lot of us parents out there to get back into the swim of things with Master’s Swim Team programs!  It’s not every day that you get to go back to being on a motivated team again, and I think this is what Dara Torres has done for the “older” swimming world (shown us that it’s not too late to get back in).

So, thank you to both Michael Phelps and Dara Torres for doing so much for the sport!  It is truly appreciated by this Hamden Swim Team coach!

Olympic Numbers

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Connecticut Swim Teams have several team sponsors, but are primarily aligned with either TYR Sports (like us – the Hamden Noth Haven YMCA Typhoons) or Speedo.  If you watched the 2008 Summer Olympic Games you probably noticed that a lot of the swimmers were wearing special suits.  Most of these suits were Speedo brand.  These figures were sent to me by a colleague with regard to percentage of people who wore the Speedo LZR suit:

Overall Medals:

  1. 29 out of 32 Gold Medals (91%)
  2. 23 out of 32 Silver Medals (73%)
  3. 32 out of 34 Bronze Medals (93%)

USA Medals

  1. Gold Medals: 12 out of 12 (100%)
  2. Silver Medals: 8 out of 9 (89%)
  3. Bronze Medals: 10 out of 10 (100%)

Records

  1. World Records: 23 of 25 (92%)
  2. Olympic Records: 43 of 53 (81%)
  3. American Records: 24 of 24 (100%)

Now, I am not saying that Speedo has made the “next gen” product, but those are some pretty impressive statistics above!  Personally, I understand that concept of the new suits, but it does not surpass nor overcome the amount of hard work and effort that these swimmers put in to these Olympic Games.  After all, all of the swimmers were suited up in these newer faster suits (whether they were Speedo, TYR, etc).

Check out our Hamden Swim Team!

Is It The End for Grant Hackett?

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Grant Hackett has been one of the best distance swimmers to date.  He has apparently decided that he is not going to be swimming in the 2012 Olympic Games, but may want to continue up until 2010.

In my opinion, Hackett should stay with it as long as his heart is with it!  He is, according to Criag Lord, looking to start a family with his wife.  As a father, I completely respect that, but I have to say that if he ends his swimming career in 2010 it will be, in this Hamden Swim Team coach’s eyes, too early!

Best of luck to you, Grant.  Connecticut Swimming looks forward to seeing you in Rome (2009)!!