I’m sorry. I just have to say something about this.

A couple of days ago Britta Steffen bettered Libby Trickett’s 100 Free WR. She set the new mark in one of the controversial super suits and had the following words to say afterwards:

“I’m feeling in good shape but this suit is of a different world. This is a really weird piece of equipment, one that I’ve never worn before. You don’t die in the last metres and you feel no pain. Under normal circumstances, this suit should be forbidden, and I expect that by 2010 it will be. I felt like a speedboat in water and never in my life would I have believed that a human could glide like that.”

Then, last night I read a new story about the repercussions of FINA’s swimsuit decisions and saw this:

Germany’s double Olympic champion Britta Steffen set a world record in the 100 metres freestyle Thursday, but predicted it would not last long and complained that futuristic swimsuits are damaging the sport.

Wait. There’s more…

Steffen said the record would last only until the world championships in Rome starting next month, and lamented the impact of high-tech swimsuits even though hers benefitted her on Thursday. “This development is a shame for the sport — where will it all stop?” Steffen said.

Is she effing kidding me? How is she going to benefit from the suit technology, set a freakin’ World Record, and then turn around and complain about what suits like hers is doing to the sport? If she cared that much about the sport perhaps she wouldn’t have swam her race in said suit in the first place!

Hypocrisy at its finest, folks.

Sorry for yet another rant, but I just couldn’t let this one pass me by without speaking up.

I know, 2 posts in one day. Don’t get too spoiled. This won’t last! Also, please be forewarned, this is mostly a rant post!

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. But wait, there’s more! »

I moseyed on over to the ESPN sub-site to cast my vote for all the swimmers nominated for ESPY Awards. (You should too.)

When I got to the “Best Female College Athlete” category, I was pleased to see Dana Vollmer nominated. What didn’t please me was that they used a picture of Lacey Nymeyer. ESPN FTL!

Note: We know we have some explaining to do re: our attendance at the Santa Clara Grand Prix. That is a post for another day!

I’m not sure how much more of this we can take!

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’.

The 70s called.

They want their porn stache back. So, if you could go ahead and get that to them, that would be grrrrreat. Thanks.

<< This has been another Swim Aids Public Service Announcement >>

P.S. Bonus keepin’ it real points to whomever can name the movie I referenced in this post!

Kiwi and I were just chatting and it dawned on us that we haven’t seen each other since Trials! That is an eternity! Same goes for Carrie! And don’t even get me started on Erika, whom I haven’t seen since we rang in 2008 together! Some of the my other swim friends I last saw in Omaha as well and I miss them all! Twitter and Facebook are great, but I miss my homies!

Back when we first started getting into the sport (post-Athens bitches; we’ve been around a minute, huh?) we were all over the place. We were attending national meets nearly every other month and it was awesome! We were the fan fixtures in the stands learning more about the sport and meeting awesome swim parents at the same time. They simply could not believe we traveled to all of these meets without having a background in swimming ourselves!

Flash back to Summer Nationals in 2006. We spent our final night in Irvine, partying with the Florida Gator swimmers; the Lochtenator included. When some of them found out that we weren’t swimmers ourselves, they thought it was the coolest thing ever! It’s too bad hotel security shut that party down. It was jumpin’! But wait, there’s more! »

Sure looks like it! But at least she didn’t have to cover herself with a tent…

One’s wedding day is so special and memorable. Well, it’s supposed to be. I wouldn’t know, because honestly, I’m on track to be that “old lady with the cats”.

Anyway, the lovely Natalie Coughlin married her longtime boyfriend, Ethan, on Saturday in NorCal. Leading up to the big day, she shared tidbits from her planning of the wedding on her Twitter account. So cute!

Pictures from her special day have made their way onto the internet. They came from Flynet Pictures, a notorious paparazzi agency. I don’t claim to know more about Natalie than anyone else, but I don’t think I’d be going out on a “limb” to say that I’m pretty sure she did not invite or hire Flynet as her wedding photography company. Just a WILD guess!

Anyway, no clue how she feels about the apparent invasion of privacy, because she’s off on her honeymoon. And I’m sure I’m not helping matters eithers, but isn’t that what non-serious bloggers do? If you’re curious about the location, scenery, and wedding itself, you should click right here.

What can I say, I’m just as nosy as the rest of you!

Congrats to the newlyweds!