Soooooo, remember how annoyed I was, in the previous post, with how John Naber was conducting interviews after the awards ceremonies?

I still can’t get over the question he asked Natalie. I mean, seriously. WTF?

Imagine our surprise tonight when the head of media for USA Swimming, Jamie Fabos Olsen, was the one conducting those interviews.

She handled them with much class that was lacking before. Thank you, Jamie!

And how funny was PVK not really hearing her question about him and his brothers all competing together here? He stumbled all over that one! It’s ok, Pete. We still love you!!

I sent him a “good luck” text earlier today, so I’d like to think that’s what pushed him to win tonight. I do have that kind of power, ya know.

Ok, enough of this. I got some partying to do! Last night in Omaha, baby!

Ok, so I totally can’t believe that this thing is over tomorrow! I remember last Sunday when I was like “this is going to be a long week”. Not the case at all! When spending time with friends and covering fast swimming, time always flies by!

So what went on today?

YAY for Margaret Hoelzer breaking the 200 Back World record. She’s had quite the 15 month period, hasn’t she? She went from being the standout US 200 female backstroker, to the American record holder (at Worlds last year), to World Record holder tonight. Awesome! Great for her! She’s really come along!

I absolutely could not predict the 50 Free. Like many others, I changed my predictions every few hours. So, when it came time for that final, I just decided that I’d let it play out and not try to predict anything. It was easier since Paul wasn’t with us to demand our guesses on who made the team. And I’m not going to lie, we missed his company during finals. We’ve gotten used to watching most of them with him. Today, he was on deck and NBC was filming him during Katie’s 800 Free final.

Speaking of The Hoff, she totally tried to get us kicked out of the Qwest Center this afternoon. And we’re going to remember that! She’s also a horrible girlfriend. But don’t worry about her. I gave her some expert relationship advice and she should be ok in the future. She may get her “free pass” at the Swim Aids revoked if she continues this nonsense! We’re watching you, Hoff! We’re also still laughing at how the security guy didn’t even know who she was. I’m thinking “um, that’s Katie Hoff dude. Remember her name. You’re going to hear it A LOT” But he’ll realize the error of his ways soon enough.

We watched the final 2 men’s 1500 Free prelim heats with Mama Vanderkaay. We thought it was time to hang out with her again, so after we came back to the pool, after our nap, she went at sat with her, Papa VK and the Vendts. I know I sound like a broken record, but talking with her is a pleasure for us. we jump at the opp to socialize with her!

And I’m sorry. After the 50 Free, I was so not about to sit for 2+ hours watching 1500 Free heats of people I don’t cover on Swim Stars. I came back just in time for PVK’s race like a good girl. And how great was Erik Vendt’s time? Wow! Coach Bob kept trying to tell him to slow down and after the race Erik said he didn’t really want to go that fast, he just felt good. Can’t hate on that, can you?

And about Lia Neal breaking the 13-14 NAG record in the 50 Free prelims? Pretty cool. It’s nice to see minorities excelling in the pool. Maybe Cullen won’t have to hold that banner along for much longer!

Dara Torres amazes me. And so does Jessica Hardy. I mean, how often do you see a breaststroker that’s extremely successful in the sprint freestyles? Not very often, but Jess is doin tha damn thing. What doesn’t make me happy is all the talk about Dara with regards to doping. People are so cynical. I don’t even want to talk about it. So I won’t.

What about after finals?

Well, we went to “Swimmer Central” again. And, by Swimmer Central, I mean Farrell’s. Everyone and their mama was there again. Well, not exactly. We feel like there were more people there last night and we definitely didn’t hear any “GTFO” orders. We also didn’t see the “drunk girl” that entertained us with her lack of balance and common sense. We’re hoping to go out on a good note tomorrow. I invited some of my young’un friends to join me at Farrell’s and they came through. I’m not going to call them out because I don’t want them to be accused of anything by judgemental and overbearing people. But, they know who they are, and I thank them for coming out tonight!

Sir Phelps even made a late appearance before last call. He showed up alone. It was weird for him.

We’re beyond ecstatic that we get to sleep in tomorrow. Sleeping in is one of my favorite activities. If sleeping were an Olympic event, I would be the World Record Holder. Don’t even think you can challenge me, because you can’t. I would pwn you.

Later all!

Ok, I forgot to mention something else that grinds my gears from last night.

Did y’all notice the way the meet announcer says Ben Wildman-Tobriner’s name? It goes a little something like this (hit it):

BEN “WILD MAN” TOBRINER!!

I was not aware that Ben’s swim nickname was “Wild Man”, did y’all? I guess it’s true that one does learn a new thing every day!

BTW, we’d like to take an additional second to shout out the Chlorination boys. We love those guys to death!!

ETA: We just got back from BWT’s presser and a reporter asked if he had any nicknames. He said he had “many”, but that most popular was obviously “Wild Man”. What a coincidence, right Paul?

This is another Tales From The Deck entry written on my sidekick. There may be lots of errors and things of that nature due to the fact that I am typing on a phone, plus I went out tonight and “had a good time” with friends.

I’d like to officially start this entry with a quote:

GET THE FUCK OUT!!

For those of you who went to Farrell’s, you know what that quote is in reference to. And for those of that didn’t, WTF is wrong with you! Farrell’s is where the party is yo! We better see you tomorrow. And by tomorrow, I mean tonight since it’s technically already Saturday. There are no prelims Sunday, so I expect Farrell’s to be jumpin’ again!

DRINK IT UP, DRINK IT UP, DRINK IT UP!

Onto the action at the Qwest Center. Tonight was super exciting as we passed the Aussie Trials with 8 World Records being set. Represent, baby!

We’re still not fully recovered from the shock of Brendan getting shut out of his pet event and I don’t think we ever will be. But watching those 2 new WRs certainly helped!

Last year’s “upset” in the 200 Back when the Lochtenator beat Peirsol and set the World Record was great. Too bad we had no idea that that’d be the 1st — and last — time we’d see something like that for a while. We seriously need to see Lochte take down Phelps. We know it’d cost us like a gazillion more cases of Heineken, but I’ll be damned if it wouldn’t be worth it!

I don’t care what anyone says, I am so freakin’ glad Amanda and Dara made the Olympic Team! Amanda was the last Swim Star that I needed to meet and that happened today at the hotel, before finals. She had emailed me before and we’d traded some facebook messages as well. But not only had I not met her, but I also hadn’t seen her race either. So, finally glad to have met her. She’s such a sweetheart, and always has been.

Paul continues to keep us company during finals. We love his company because quality time with Paul pretty much makes our life. He always asks us who we think is going to win each final. I gotta tell ya that I’m doing surprisingly well considering the volatility of a meet like this!

John Naber gets on my last damn nerves. The questions he’s been asking after the awards ceremonies have really been grinding my gears. I seriously want to order him a tall glass of STFU because he’s so inappropriate. I love how the crowd called him on his poorly chosen question to Natalie about how she felt about “losing to a 41 yr old”. Tacky, Naber. Just tacky.

And how hot did Jenny Thompson look? Ah-Mazing!

And how cute was Dara’s little Tessa? I remember taking photos of them on the awards stand at Nationals last summer. Cute then and cute now.

Love that Cullen broke the 50 Free American Record. Hope it gets lowered again tomorrow. GHJ’s old one lasted entirely too long for my liking!

Can’t wait to see The Hoff vs. The Ziegster. Holy fast race, Batman!

There were rapid-fire press conferences today. Dara revealed that she was only thinking she’d get 3rd thru 6th in the 100 free for a shot on the relay. Her 1st place finish totally surprised her. She’s not sure if she’ll be doing that individual event in Beijing. The 50 Free is more her event.

Amanda was ready to go on a long trip up the Pacific coast had she not made the team. She, her boyfriend, and their dogs were going to jump in an RV and get away. Obviously that’s going to be pushed back now.

We, and Michael Phelps, are tired of reporters continuing to ask about the LZR. Several variations of the same question have been asked a million times and he gives the sam answer. The suit only does so much people!

We’re also quite pissed that the Lochtenator hasn’t done a presser yet. WTF! Are they keeping him away because of his excessive usage of the words “uh” and “um”. And how funny was it that he had to come out 3 times tonight for awards ceremonies?

We finally got to catch up with PVK. He was doing an interview before finals and we waited until he was done to holla at him. I love that guy. He’s always been super sweet over the years. Love him, and love his family, with the exception of his hater of a older brother

This is a really long post. I wonder if Jason Marsteller would approve…

We probably will go back to Farrell’s tomorrow and we aim to sneak out some of our young’un swim chicks with us. We’re also going to strongly suggest tha Lochte go too. We owe him a crapload of beer. Time to get started redeeming it!

Ok, time for bed! I’ll probably sleep through most of those 1500 heats though. I’m not going to lie!

Keep it real!

I can’t believe it’s Day 5 already. This is insanity! What’s also insane is that I can’t find an earlier time in the day/night to write these. I mean WTF, it’s after 3AM!

Anyway, there is only one emotion that can sum up tonight’s action at the pool:

*GASP*

That about does it, doesn’t it? I’m pretty much at a loss for words after tonight’s men’s 200 Breast final. We went from hangin’ out at Farrell’s and looking forward to an awesome B-Han showing to picking our jaws up from the floor. It took me a good 5 minutes after the race to get my shit together and write up the update for Swim Stars Live. I was literally just standing there with my mouth open. The Olympic Trials are so bittersweet. And while Bren won’t be swimming his “baby” in Beijing, he is already on the team. So all is not lost.

We also felt sad for Mary Descenza. I could have sworn she’d take 1st or 2nd. In hindsight, I guess it’s a good thing that I’m not a better gal, or else I’d be out some serious dough at this meet!

Yay for Cullen Jones. Yay for Jason Lezak. Yay for Kathleen Hersey. Wow for Scott Spann.

And how about Amanda Beard? I definitely was not expecting her to go as fast as she is, but you can’t ever count out a former World Record holder and 3-time Olympian. That women’s 200 Breast final is gonna be bananas tomorrow and I can’t wait!

I think that sums things up from the pool.

Now on to the fun stuff!

You guys, we totally met a celebrity today! I know you’re dying to know who, right? Well, you’ll never guess, so I’ll just tell you. WE MET DAVID DUCHOVNY!! I bet you guys didn’t know he was a big swim fan, huh? Well, he is! However, there was something weird about meeting him. He kind of likes people to call him “Chris”. Isn’t that weird?

We also finally got to hang out with Miss Felicia Lee. She spotted us wandering around the AquaZone so we chilled for a little bit. Love that girl! She’s a riot. I think we may need to add her to our “protected” list, because she has a completely different idea of what “creepy” is in the swimming fandom than we do. We’ve seen some things and they aint pretty! We’ve been known to be very overprotective of some of our fave swimmers, so we’ll take her under our wing and guide her along. She aint seen nothin’ yet!

We also got to congratulate Matt Grevers on making his 1st Olympic Team. Being that I haven’t seen him in a year, due to his move out to AZ, I forgot about how circus freak tall he is. I mean, I’ve always known, and it’s not like this is the first time I’ve been face-to-face face-to-stomach with him, but damn. I had to go on tip toe just to give the boy a damn hug! We’re very proud of him. When I first saw him swim, back in 2005, I just knew he’d be a special one. The day after that meet I bought MattGrevers.com and went through the process of adding him to SwimStars.org. Good call, right?

Have you all been to Farrell’s AKA the official TYR hangout? That place is pretty dope, especially that humongous Grevers billboard on the side of the building. I gotta admit that’s pretty bad ass. He thinks it’s all a little ridiculous, but I beg to differ. That’s ballin’, baby. Simply ballin’.

I’ve been informed that we are now official members of NBAC. Apparently when Coach Paul, whom we love, makes you a mixed CD you’re considered “in”. Well, we got ours today. It’s the “Swim Stars Mix” too; specially made for us. Bet you wish you were “in” like that. We’re now going to wait for our official NBAC gear to wear to meets. *cough*

I’m looking forward to celebrating the 4th tomorrow, er today. If there are parties jumpin’ off, we want to know about it. Actually, I take that back. Party aint a party unless we roll through, so if you want yours to be a good one, you should probably let us know. Just keepin’ it real.

Ok, so I’m not dozing off during prelims, I’m gonna shut this down and go to bed. Peace out!

So I realized that I didn’t do one of these yesterday and now, unfortunately, the days are starting to blur together. So here goes on another edition of “Tales From The Deck”

After tonight’s session we felt extreme sadness. I’m talking like being on the verge of tears. Why, you ask? Because T-Dub!! finished 3rd in the men’s 200 Fly, thus not making the Olympic Team. I don’t know if there was anyone else in the meet we wanted on the team more than him, so when Gil Stovall swam the race of his life (props to him, that was badass!) we knew Davis‘ chances at punching a ticket for Beijing were reduced to zero. But he left it all in the pool. That was his best time. For our own selfish reasons, we want him to continue one more year — like a couple of his teammates — but we understand if he’s ready to move on. Seeing how upset his mom (whom we adore) was after the race, was almost too much to bear.

And the sadness didn’t end with T-Dub!! It also extended to Miss Kaitlin, a regular Swim Aid reader. She’s been fighting a string of health maladies and injuries in recent months, the after effects causing her to lose critical strength and stamina. But, she’s been dealing with it like a champ and with the smile we’ve all come to love. She’s going to be in the AquaZone Friday, so everyone go, say “hi”, and wish her well! And please know that she’s ok. She wants people to know she’s not on suicide watch or anything.

Other National Team veterans who look to be on the outside looking in include Tara Kirk, Rachel Komisarz, and Neil Walker. Both Tara and Neil were regular Team USA captains. So this is going to be an adjustment. Tara has another race in the 200 Breast, but with such a deep women’s field, you just never know! We wish her good luck in that race!

Today’s session really broke our hearts though. There were a lot of happy moments, but I think the sad outweighed the good from our point of view. We were elated at Allison Schmitt and Caroline Burckle making the team. I’ve called Allison to the team before, and as recently as last night. She’s such a great kid and we love how her personality calms others before races. She was classic in her press conference tonight. Classic. It didn’t even sink in that she was on the relay until that presser when a reporter asked her about it.

I’m going to put the rest of this post behind a cut because it is looooooong as hell. I’m not kidding! So get to clickin’ to read on.

But wait, there’s more! »

We feel blessed to have had the opportunity to meet the coolest person EVER in Jason Marsteller!!

You all know Jason, right? He is a force to be reckoned with at Swimming World Magazine and a Swim Aid groupie in his own right; just like all of you!

And yes, this needed its own post. Right, Jason?