So we are back from our always-eventful trip to Ann Arbor for the Eric Namesnik Memorial Grand Prix. Actually, we got back last night, but were far too exhausted to give any reports. Over the course of our stay, we got a grand total of 12 hours of sleep. So yes, that is 12 hours spread out over 3 nights. How we functioned is beyond me.

So we return to our respective lives in Ohio and California with more stories to add to our Swim Vault. Unfortunately for y’all, we can’t share all of them. It’s not that we don’t want to; it’s that we were pretty much sworn to secrecy by Mama VDK and Papa Tarwater. So, no dish from them!

But we’ve got other stories, and we’ll roll them out on here, provided we don’t forget them before then. You know how it is.

The trip also inspired another Top 10 List, which is going to be supersized into a Top 20 List because we really couldn’t narrow it down to just 10 items.

The overall word of the meet was “socialize”, because really, that’s pretty much all we did when we weren’t updating Swim Stars Live. No really. We were constantly visiting our friends (and fellow swim fans) in the stands, meeting new people, catching up with swim parents, or teasing our favorite swimmers. And yes, they love it. Especially the one who currently resembles our lord and savior.

The Asian was absolutely awesome this weekend! We are so glad he is back in the pool and competing! And, as usual, every single picture that we took of him came out spectacular. The kid is just too photogenic for his own good.

We will also share some pictures of swimmers who aren’t necessarily covered on SwimStars.org. For example, we know AVK has some major fangirls out there who are always dying to see pictures of him. Who are we to deny them that bounty? We aim to please, remember? Speaking of Alex, we finally met him this weekend. Very nice guy; contrary to what we’ve been told over the past couple of years by a person we now know to be clinically insane. No, really. Said individual should be locked up wearing a straight jacket. But we won’t get into that because that leads to drama, and the Swim Aids are finally drama-free and loving it!

We also made some decisions about the general direction SwimStars.org is headed in. They are dramatic changes, but we are confident it will prove to make our work in promoting the sport’s athletes more efficient and effective. We’ll keep you posted!

So there’s a quick rundown of our trip. Be sure to check back for more stories and commentary. We promise you won’t be bored!

Looks like swimming’s most photogenic male swimmer, Chris DeJong, wasn’t enjoying life in the retirement home.

Just a short (or long, depending on who you ask) year ago, Chris competed in the Day 1 prelims of the Eric Namesnik grand prix. Shortly after that session, he withdrew from the meet and disappeared from the sport. As the summer of ‘06 wore on, we began to fear that we’d seen the last of The Asian. We asked PVK what was going on (because we were too pussy to ask for ourselves) and he told us that CDJ was “unofficially retired”.

This revelation lead to many tear-filled Swim Aid nights, because can’t nobody strike a pose on the pool deck like The Asian!

At Nationals, the name ‘Chris DeJong‘ turned up on the psych sheet. But we knew better. A quick text to PVK confirmed our prediction that he was indeed not competiting. Luckily we didn’t get our hopes up too much!

In the fall, The Asian started turning up on the pool deck, but not in a competition Speedo. He was keeping stats for the UM team. Better than nothing, but still not like old times.

So imagine our surprise when his name popped up on the Eric Namesnik Memorial grand prix psych sheet. Is our celebration premature? We hope not!

We’ll see for ourselves this weekend!

P.S. Don’t ask us to explain why we call Chris DeJong “The Asian”. If you don’t know, you betta ask somebody…ELSE

ETA: MGoBlue is adding more fuel to the fire! I hope, for their sake that they are not yanking our chains, ladies! Check out the latest release:

Current Wolverines who will participate in the event include 2007 NCAA 400-meter individual medley national champion Alex Vanderkaay (Rochester, Mich./Adams HS) and 10-time All-American Lindsey Smith (Dexter, Mich./Dexter). Vanderkaay will be joined by his brother, 2004 Olympic gold medalist and five-time NCAA champion Peter Vanderkaay (2003-06), and other former U-M stars, including three-time NCAA champion Davis Tarwater (2003-06) and five-time All-American Chris DeJong (2003-06). Club Wolverine members Erik Vendt, Kaitlin Sandeno, Hayley Peirsol and Kalyn Keller will also be competing at the event.

We haven’t seriously addressed the reason we have thrown our support behind Miss Amanda Beard posing for Playboy. We don’t usually feel like we need to defend our positions, and still don’t.

However, someone else has stepped up and happens to have the exact same position on the matter that we do. That individual is Michael Rosenberg over at FoxSports.com. He points out a lot of the same issues that we have (in our private discussions).

This particular snippet struck a chord:

Playboy features beautiful naked women every month. People who don’t normally buy Playboy will buy the issue with Amanda Beard on the cover, even if they would normally find one of the other Playmates more attractive. They feel like they know Amanda Beard in large part because they’ve been watching her compete for the last 11 years.

This is why the notion that Beard is “hurting” women’s sports falls flat. She has posed previously in FHM, nearly naked. She has appeared in SI’s swimsuit issue (and not in her competition Speedo). Beard is not exchanging her athletic fame for the fame of a model — her athletic fame is the fame of a model.

Yea, what HE said!

Link: The naked truth: Beard not hurting sports

Need more proof? Yesterday, Amanda-Beard.com received close to 10,000 hits. Yes, 10,000. And, as a result, traffic to SwimStars.org and all the affiliated network sites surged to 3 times their normal amount. Amanda drew in an audience that normally wouldn’t have visited. Then they stuck around to explore what SwimStars.org had to offer and read up on other swimmers’ careers.

Looks like Amanda is doing a bang-up job promoting the sport of swimming, if you ask me.

Just like last year, a squad of Aussie swimmers will be descending upon the West Coast of the states this summer!

When we were at Santa Clara last year, there was an Aussie contigent in attendence and they definitely made the meet more exciting. We were teased with the possibility of Thorpey showing up, but alas, he did not make the trip.

In any case, this year’s US-bound squad will include some major star power in Leisel Jones, who just pulled out of the Mare Nostrum series in order to travel to the States. Her new coach, based in Melbourne, has stated that her biggest rivals are the American threesome of Jessica Hardy, Tara Kirk, and Megan Jendrick; all of whom are west coast based.

An article published by the Australian Herald-Sun indicated that the Aussie American tour will take place in July. While there is only a 1-day July overlap for the Santa Clara meet, I certainly hope the Aussie’s grace us with their prescence there again. We want to see “Lethal Leisel” compete too!

Speedo just sent this over. I think it’s a neat sponsorship opportunity for Gary. His contract is unique in that it recognizes his impact beyond the pool and focuses heavily on his many charitable efforts.

SPEEDO®, the top-selling swimwear brand in the world, today announced the signing of 32-year-old swim star and Olympic veteran Gary Hall, Jr. to a multi-year contract through 2010. A ten-time Olympic medalist, Hall represented the U.S. in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games and is projected to be a serious medal contender at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in his specialty, the 50m freestyle. If he wins gold in Beijing, Hall would become the first-ever Olympian to do so in the same event three times.

Now an “elder statesman” on the U.S. team, Hall was voted by his peers as Team Captain at the 2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships last August. He will compete for the U.S. in the 50 free and the 4×100 free relay at the 2007 Pan American Games, July 13-29, in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Hall is represented by David Arluck, President and CEO of Arluck Promotions LLC.

The agreement with Speedo recognizes Hall’s impact beyond this season as a U.S. National Team member and his expected Olympic return in Beijing. Prior to Beijing, Gary will work with Speedo Aqualab to lend his input to the research and development process of upcoming projects. Following the 2008 Games, Speedo will involve Hall in the brand’s mission to promote Masters Swimming. The brand will also partner with Hall on his many philanthropic efforts.
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I think we’re beginning to sound like a broken record here. Time for another shout-out to TYR. In the April issue of Swimming World Magazine, there is another new ad. It features none other than Mr. Peter Verhoef. I love how TYR utilizes their entire roster of swimmers for their ads. Way to spread that love around, TYR! I only wish other companies would do the same…

And how cool are the videos that they post on their website? Are those pretty neat or what? They’re like mini-movie trailers that showcase their products and athletes. Very impressive!

AP Photo by Mark Baker

Around here, we make it no secret that the men’s 800 Free Relay is our favorite out of all of the relays. It isn’t exactly rocket science as to why, now is it? We are quite fond of the members of the relay and constantly excited by their dominance in the event ever since that amazing race in Athens! Big Daddy Keller did the damn thing, and touched out Thorpey. So the relay team remained the same and the boys were salivating at the thought of bringing the WR home, where it belongs!

At the 2007 World Champs, the boys were below WR pace the entire time! Mike got it going with a blazing 1:45.36 leg. Next in the water was the Lochtenator (and no, he wasn’t sporting a grill). He, too, continued the pace set by MP with his 1:45.86 200. Next was Big Daddy Keller. I have to say that I was sooo glad to see his name on the entry list. There had been much speculation as ot whether or not he’d be replaced for this race. Kletus, himself, even suggested that he should not swim. As rough a meet as he may have had, there was no one else on the Team USA roster who can represent with the 800 FR like Klete. I knew he’d step up for this race, and he did. The team stayed well below the Aussie World Record during his leg. Last, but certinaly not least, PVK tried out the anchor slot for the first time ever. But even as the “Thorpe WR Line” attempted to chase him down, he kept his pace. Thorpey may have caught the team at Pan Pacs, but not this time! PVK wasn’t trying to hear none of that! He swam a lifetime best split of 1:45.71 and sealed the World Record for Team USA. Then, after realizing that they finally took down the WR they’d be after for years, the boys celebrated! (See above picture) I’ve never seen anyone get out of the pool, after a race, faster than Pete did! It’s always nice to see displays of emotion out of the male swimmers!

It was about been 6AM here, because I was watching live, but still I couldn’t muffle the frequent “OH SHIT!” exclamations and related expletives that kept trickling out of my mouth!

What a race!

P.S. LOL @ Klete being the only one wearing the old Fastskin and not the FS-PRO suit during this race.