So, what’s going on?

I know we haven’t been as active as years past, but we still love us some swimming, and I’m pretty sure we’ll never let this site die. Don’t you worry!

The snark will return…sooner rather than later!

Everyday he's hustlin. . .

Heeeeeyyyyy! Remember us?

We’re slowly getting back into the swing of things. That means we’re bound to be slow on general swim news for a while. We tend to peak during the summer when we’re up to our armpits is lots of swim news and swim trips. We hope this summer is no exception.

But for now, we thought we should say a little something as founders of the Austin Staab Fan Club. The latest news is that he has taken a leave of absence from Stanford.

“In other news, defending NCAA 100-yard butterfly champion, Austin Staab, has taken a leave of absence from Stanford University for a private and personal matter and will return to Stanford at a later date. Staab (Westerville, Ohio), a junior and 13-time All-American for the No. 2-ranked Cardinal, informed the team of his decision this week. Stanford asks for privacy in regards to this matter, both to the Staab Family and the Stanford Swim Program”

We’re not going to pry, not that we’d know how to even if we wanted to. We wish Austin well, but are a little bummed given that the Men’s NCAA Swimming & Diving Championship are right here in his hometown (Columbus, OH) and you know he would have received a ton of support as he defended his 100y Fly title.

That’s life, though. Best wishes, Austin! But in his absence, the Fan Club will carry on!

We knew Olympic trials were headed back to Omaha, but now it’s official, as the deal has been signed.

The Swim Aids are not fans of the city of Omaha. I’m not sure we should even truly refer to it as a “city” because it is far from what I consider one.

I can see why, from the athlete’s POV, Omaha would be a great place for a major team selection competition. There’s absolutely nothing to do! Very little distractions = focused swimmers. I get that. But for the rest of us, zzzzzzzzzzzzz. What a snoozefest! I was expecting Omaha to be like Indy in terms of a downtown. There are a million things to do and restaurants that don’t close at 5PM. You don’t need a car in downtown Indy, you do in Omaha. Well, if you want to occupy your time doing anything anyway.

I mean, why is there no downtown mall? That’s just unacceptable! There are no fast food restaurants either. Quizno’s — which was the closest we found to “fast” — closed at 5PM, no joke. We ate from some pizza place and Jimmy John’s damn near every night. Ugh.

We found out the hard way that transportation was much-needed when we wanted to have lunch at McDonald’s. I don’t remember how many miles we had to walk to get there, but it was ridiculous for a “major city”. Where is the public transportation? We saw a bus like once or twice every day! No roaming cabs? WTF!

I know it seems like I’m hating on Omaha, and I am. I’m no fan. I wanted 2008′s Trials to be in San Antonio, TX and 2012′s to be anywhere but Omaha.

But let me take a moment to talk about some of the good things in Omaha. This won’t take too long. The airport is very close and airfare costs weren’t bad. I bought last minute and got a decent price. The “city” is clean. I guess when there aren’t people around you don’t have to worry about trash, grafitti, crime, and a lot of the problems real cities deal with. If I was out late, which I was often, I had no issues walking around.

I enjoyed the Qwest Center Omaha. It was a nice venue for a big swimming competition. And the media shuttle was a godsend with my heavy-ass backpack.

And last, but not least we pay Homage to Farrells. Oh what a place. We had a lot of fun there and coaxed some others to join us — who probably shouldn’t have gone — there with us. Good times.

Since what’s done is done, we’ll start looking for ways to enjoy 2012′s Olympic Team Trials. Since there is an overlap with the College World Series, maybe the lingering college baseball fans will keep us entertained. We heard they party hard in Omaha during the CWS every year. I mean, what else is there to do? Depending on how long the Finals series goes, the overlap could be up to 2 days.

Trials officially begin Monday, June 25. So our advice is to go ahead and reserve yourself a room as early as you possibly can. We booked a year in advance and were very glad we did. Next time around, however, we will be renting a car because the setup they have there is beyond ridiculous.

My advice to Omaha? Please work on your downtown. Some more businesses and restaurants would be nice. And why not increase the frequency with which your buses run? And don’t close everything at 5PM during the work week. Make improvements in these areas and you will have some happy Swim Aids!

Note: I don’t really care if people, especially from Omaha, disagree with me. When you live there, you become accustomed to things and a little protective. It’s cool. I’m sure outsiders aren’t crazy about my city either. But mine is a real city with people, frequent public transportation, malls, parks, historic landmarks, eat places to eat… Ok, let me stop hatin’. I’m in a foul mood because the King of Pop died today. How about this. If you’re from Omaha or simply have been and/or know the area well, recommend some activities for us. We’re open and always looking for some adventures! That’s the best way to put a positive spin on something we deem as negative!

First we had to mentally deal with the breakup of The Hoff and our favorite coach, Paul Yetter. I’m not sure we’ve fully recovered from that. Now Swimming World Magazine informs us that Paul may soon be announced as an assistant coach at Auburn University.

I mean, we always figured it was only a matter of time before Paul headed to the collegiate ranks, but we didn’t think it would be now. Nor did we think it would be Auburn. Nothing against Auburn. Just not the place I thought he’d head for the first NCAA job. Then again, as long as he’ll be able to put a disco ball on his porch, and he is allowed to run up and down the pool deck, I think he’ll be aight. That, and he’d better continue showing up at some of the meets the Swim Aids attend. ‘Cuz if not, there’s gonna be a fight!

And since I found out about this, initially, from Miss Felicia Lee on Twitter, I began to think about the NBAC kids. We’ve grown quite fond of that group over the years. It’s not rare for young age group swimmers to relocate in order to train with him. I wonder how this affects his Senior Elite group.

Plus, and I’m not sure if has anything to do with how well I get along with Paul or if it’s mostly about talent, I wonder if I won’t suddenly welcome more Auburn swimmers to the Swim Stars Network. Paul has a not-so-subtle way of suggesting new swimmers for me to add to the site. Be it emails about so-and-so setting a NAG, or simply talking up someone heavily at a meet. (We are pretty much BFF’s when it comes to being at the same meet at the same time) So, if he’s coaching Auburn swimmers, I guess that’s who he’ll be pimpin’, right? Something to keep an eye on!

So, if this does go down, we wish Paul the best with his new position. It signals the end of an era fa sho, though! I look forward to seeing him in March 2010 for Men’s NCAAs, which will be right here in my hometown. But that better not be the next time I see him, or another fight will ensue. Just sayin’.

So, consider this post an “acknowledgment”. We don’t aim to pile on. Nothing productive will come of that.

I figured watching my usual ESPN shows today would be a little different. I was right.

First Take was the first thing I saw, upon my first visit of the day to ESPN.com.

My other usual TV viewing included Jim Rome Is Burning, Around The Horn, PTI, and celebrity entertainment shows like Extra and Access Hollywood. My brother even told me that Jay Leno made the topic part of his opening monologue.

It was interesting to see how different media outlets saw the situation and what they thought would happen. I got the impression that the celeb news magazines/shows didn’t think the situation was a big deal. The ESPN personalities and shows, which cover sports 24/7, thought it was a much bigger deal that should have far-reaching consequences. It’ll probably be somewhere in the middle, but I guess we’ll see.

Speedo and Omega will continue to support MP. Wonder who else will or won’t. Is ‘Sponsor Watch 2009′ on? Don’t ask me how I come up with these titles. And yes, I realize that I watch too much TV.

However this situation comes out, don’t expect us to put much emphasis on it on Swim Aids. We’re a goofy lot, and this was a major buzzkill to the Swim Aid mojo; which we’ve been trying to revive lately.

P.S. 10 Cool points to whomever can point out the Family Guy reference I used in this post.

Yes, I know this post is overly dramatic, but we need a little somepin’ somepin’ around here, wouldn’t y’all agree? None of us are really on suicide watch or anything. We’re just bummed.

Don’t get us wrong. We love us some Bob-Bow too, but he’s no Paul. Bob has never made any of us a mixed CD. He also doesn’t run over people in order to sit with us at meets. Maybe if he started doing those things, like Paul does, he’d be top dog in our eyes. But as it stands now, there just isn’t any other coach even remotely as cool and Paul Yetter. Just keepin’ it real, yo.

We’re really bummed we can’t stay for the whole meet, we still had some serious chatting to do!  So if you were getting up the nerve to approach us yesterday – sorry!  Should have been faster!  Oh, and remember – don’t be a finals ho, yo!