You knew this post was coming, didn’t you? Well, if not, then you must be new to the Swim Aid following!

Now that the major International meet of the year is over, we’re going through a bit of withdrawal already. Yes, the US Open is going on now, but the writing’s on the wall. We’re pretty much not going to have any swimming to follow until October-ish when NCAA season kicks into gear. That’s when we’ll be back to stanning for the Michigan Wolverines, I guess. Different year, same ol’, same ol’.

So, we’re already looking ahead to next summer’s Conoco Phillips Summer Nationals in Irvine, CA. Can anyone say “party”?! Well, we can!

The Swim Aids conquered the 2005 and 2006 Summer Nationals that were held in Irvine and had a blast doing so! Well, except for some unnecessary drama and having to drive on Cali roads (I thought I was going to die). We can’t wait to do it all over again and here’s why:

1. It’s an outdoor meet! Most of us reside in states where meets are contested indoors. So the chance to enjoy swimming outside — and the frolicking that goes along with it — is just wonderful. We don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s that we don’t inhale as much chlorine, but we just enjoy outdoor competitions. We’re more spirited and fun, if you can believe that. Actually, most of us lost our voices cheering during the Irvine ‘06 Nationals.

2. In-N-Out Burger. ‘Nuff said.

3. Hot tub parties! The Swim Aids, for some reason, are obsessed with hotel hot tubs and jacuzzi’s. If our hotel has one, you will find us in it every night. That’s not even an exaggeration.

4. Most of the Swim Aids, if not all, will actually be able to make this meet. Our quality time together has been severely limited in the last 1.5 years. We aim to change that as soon as possible!

5. Tailgate possibilities. We’d like to think we were some of the first people to tailgate at a swim meet. Don’t be surprised if we bring that back next summer. Gotta make sure we get clearance/permits/etc. It’d be fun! Our last (and first) tailgate was a success! We had a pretty nice guest list which included Sir Phelps briefly, Katie Hoff, Kaitlin Sandeno, and Davis Tarwater. Debbie Phelps also stopped by and brought us cookies and balloons; which we later fought over. If we end up pulling off an Irvine tailgate, you won’t want to miss it. Trust us!

6. Post meet after parties. There will be some, and if we don’t have one ourselves, we will be cruising for others. Last time out, we partied with the Florida Gators and the Lochtenator. We owed him some Heineken (and still do), so we were able to get him some after the meet. It was a good time until hotel security shut it down! *shakes fist*

So, clearly we’re already psyched about next year! Show of hands: Who’s in?

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’.

I didn’t know where to put this, but I just knew I had to post it somewhere! It’s just too good to pass up.

Below is a video of Katie showin’ off a couple of the dance moves she’s learned in her hip hop classes. She’s promised me that we’re going to go out and tear it up, after the Olympics, so it was nice for me be able to get a preview of what I can expect. For the rest of you, enjoy the LOLZ!

Please note the look on her face when asked to share some dance moves. That’s pretty much the same face I got when I asked her to put on my ‘Black Girl” t-shirt. And just like then, she caved to the request.

We love that girl!

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!

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.

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Day 1 of the 2008 US Olympic Team Trials – Swimming are in the books and all we can say is DAYUMMMMMM!

Night 1 was off the chain!! We could hardly believe it!

The 400 IM, men’s and women’s, featured 2 World Records! It was soooo loud up in the Qwest Center; like you wouldn’t believe!

Phelps out touched the Lochtenator, but both hit under the old WR mark. We’re not sure if that means we owe Ryan another case of Heineken or not. Like he needs anymore from us. We owe him like a milli! We wonder if he brought his grillz. We also wonder if he’s ever going to remember to wear them during a domestic awards ceremony. Not that that mattered tonight because only the top finisher was paraded around the pool.

Speaking of parades, we LOVE that water affect behind the podium. It’s tight!

The strictness of this meet means we’re not going to be roaming freely around like we’re accustomed to. Yea, we know you’re bummed for us too. Thanks!

So, we’ll try to bring you what we can from our little home in the media seating.

We got to say hello to Debs after prelims. For those of you not in know, Debs = Mrs. Phelps. I can’t speak for all of the Swim Aids, but I hadn’t gotten to speak to her since last summer and she was just as wonderful as ever! As if you didn’t know, but she is beyond elated that both Bob and Mike are returning to Baltimore. She also does not like being as close to the pool as she was today. Hopefully she can remedy that and be more comfortable during the sessions! She was a ball of nerves before the 400IM final!

Fast forward to after finals. We stuck around for some press conferences from the top place finishers.
Mike and Bob were first, followed by Larjo, and then Katie and Paul.

The Mike & Bob Show was pretty typical. Bob brought the lolz when he talked about his hair falling out due to the stress of coaching Mike. He (Bob) looked very sunburned, btw.

Larjo’s presser gets a standing O from us. That young man is beyond articulate. Every answer he gave was well delivered and smooth. No uh’s or um’s; we’re talking to you Lochte!! He’s thrilled with his 400 Free when and thinks it sets him up well for the 1500 later in the week. He kept referencing the mile and no mention of the 200 free, so not sure if he’s going to contest it still.

While we were fully expecting a PVK win, we simply can’t imagine him having to do that victory walk. That would have been the most awkward and uncomfortable thing for him. If you know him, you feel me on this. No one wants to lose, but the goal is making the team and PVK did that. He is no longer a “relay swimmer” and we couldn’t be more proud!

And how cool is it that all the boys are competing together here? We’re big VK family supporters, so we’re happy for them. And because we know they’ll see this, yes, we got pictures today. Check your email, facebook, or talk to your mom. We’ll hook y’all up. Just don’t be haters. You’ll regret it later on

Katie & Paul were great and theirpress conference. They both walked in and waved at us. The rest of the room was probably wondering why we got the shout-out, but they aint got it like us. Katie and Paul are our peoples and have been since 2005 yo. Paul’s calm alter-ego made an appearance at their presser. In direct contrast to the Paul we’re used to seeing bouncing all over the deck.

We got to catch up with both of them after the presser, so we were able to properly congratulate Katie on her World Record. She really wasn’t expecting one, but we were. We were running our mouths all day about how we just KNEW Katie was going to do the damn thing. We shared this with her and she appreciated our swagger on her behalf. We’re gonna order her some, so she can strut too.

Oh, and Paul, come sit with us for real! We’ll save you a seat!

We’ll have more stories as the week continues. We have to kidnap Felicia Lee and Megan Romano, plus we have to catch up with other swim moms and swimmers as lord only knows when we’ll see them again after this week!

And thus I close the longest Swim Aids post ever? Actually it may not be the longest. It just feels that way because I did it all on my Sidekick again. Yes, all of this. I’m hardcore.

If you want to keep up with the action from the Qwest Center, visit Swim Stars Live. I update after every event is completed!

This is gonna be short, cuz my ass needs a nap like you wouldn’t believe!

1. I’ll be honest. I didn’t think I’d have anything to share today because I’m that tired. But I do. Funny how that works, huh?

2. Oh Em Gee! Cesar Cielo KILLED IT this morning! His 21.99 was a crazy sick 50 free time! I saw that his seed time was in yards, so he was in one of the “slower” heats. I made sure I had a great spot on deck for it because I knew, coming off of NCAAs, that he’d be fast! Holy cow!

3. My quality time with the St. Petersburg Girls is never dull. They all made asses out of themselves this morning, in the presence of UF swimmer Shaune Fraser. When Meg sees this, she’ll probably kill me, but what is she going to do about it? Nothing! Anyway, I always know when Shaune is near because Meg follows him not just with her eyes, but her entire head! These girls don’t know what discretion (or whispering) is and it’s so entertaining to me. I won’t share the rest of the embarassment, because a lot of it you had to be there for. They wanted to go shopping at Easton this afternoon. I highly recommend it. They also said they were looking for a ride there. I’m soooo glad they didn’t ask me. I would have felt obligated and not gotten my much-needed nap!

4. Katie and I plotted our party plans for post-Beijing. She’s looking forward to getting her dance on the week after swimming is done. When she gets back stateside, we have a date, and it’s gonna be insane. Trust. She also noted how zombie-like I was this morning (I told y’all I was tired). I didn’t even shoot the women’s 400 IM because I was that out of it. That and I decided to sleep in a little, so I missed the early heats.

5. Kaitlin, Kaitlin, Kaitlin. What can I say about her? Well, besides how much I love her. Her hotel hasn’t been doing right by her. The bed are supposed to be comfy, but she can’t sleep. Then wakes up with a crick in her neck. Not cool! She’s also looking forward to checking out some of the shops on High St. Every time I pass them, I think about how Kaitlin would probably love to shop there. Guess I was right! I just urged her not to go after dark since there was a shooting on campus (in that area) last weekend…I gotta look out for my peeps. Don’t want them getting shot up.

6. Dan Madwed is swimming out of his mind this weekend. Really great times. Definitely going to make a nice addition to the University of Michigan/Club Wolverine Family.

7. Gary Hall Jr. signed autographs, this morning, for at least 30 minutes. Every time I walked by, age group swimmers and meet volunteers were crowded around him and he was signing anything and everything given to him. He was also taking pictures with everyone. This went on for a long time. I said 30 minutes, but it was probably a lot longer. Others shut themselves off, ya know, under diving platforms, so people can’t interact with them. So this was very nice to see.

8. I FINALLY got to meet Miss Felicia Lee face-to-face. About damn time, huh? I really, really, really want to fold her up and put her in my pocket with my other faves. Wonder if anyone would notice…

9. There may or may not be more to this morning, but I can’t think of it. I’m going to go take a nap. Peace out!