Now we know that we have the category set here titled “Club Wolverine Owns Us”, but perhaps we need to change that to something else and start a “Ryan Lochte Owns Us” one. Because we owe him like 59175093750 cases of Heineken. We don’t owe Club Wolverine nada. Actually, if you think about it, they prolly owe us a little somepin’ somepin’…

So, down in Hotlanta, The Lochte is tearing shit up. We just love seeing that. And picking up our Heineken incentive plan from Worlds ‘07, we continue with the Short Course Nationals.

The tally, after 1 day, is as follows:

It’s too bad we don’t really keep track of how many we owe him. Just know that said number is far too high! He knows all he has to do is let us know when/where he wants some and we’ll hook it up! We take care of our own.

Now back to the whole CW issue. Y’all know that if they had a blog, they would have a category that was named “The Swim Aids Own Us”. It’s just a fact.

To some, Golden Goggles are all about a once a year meet and greet, where the swimmers get all dressed up and strut their stuff.  But to the Swim Aids, it’s all about the fashion: What Not to Wear style!  There’s already been posts, but I wanna join in on the fun, and try not to offend anyone like I have done in the past!

So, that being said: taking lessons from Phelps or were you just camping for the weekend and forgot a razor?

Note: And yes, I hope this doesn’t come back to bite me in the ass!

“OH MICHIGAN”
Welp, Michigan…2 outta 3 aint bad. Glad we can count on the pool Wolverines to rack up those W’s. That was the most underwhelming OSU/UM game I can remember in my lifetime; and I’ve seen many!

GOLDEN GOGGLES
Anyway, moving on to the Golden Goggles. They’re tonight. I’m not expecting many surprises. I expect Phelps and Ziegler to clean up. Speaking of Phelps…

Look at the pic to your right. At first glance, doesn’t it look like someone got dressed without a key article of clothing? *shudders* I just ate and I was afraid my food might come back up. Thankfully, it was just horrible shadowing and I won’t be kept up at night with nightmares. The lord be praised! Feel free to click on the thumbnail for a larger picture.

And because I can, I’d like to introduce Mr. Phelps to what should be his new best friend:

To check out the other not-so-frightening portraits from the Golden Goggle photo session, click here. It’s always great to see the swimmers in street clothes.

PSYCH SHEET
Keep an eye out later this week for post concerning ticket packages for the Olympics in Beijing. I’ve literally been sitting on this post trying to find the words to express my utter shock and disgust for what’s happening to USA Swimming and the families of Olympic hopefuls. I hope to pull something together this week, but when I have to hold back and choose my words carefully, tasks become increasingly more difficult. You’ll see.

Score another accurate prediction for the Swim Aids!

Speedo sent this over today, so we thought we’d post and share with the world!

SPEEDO®, the top-selling swimwear brand in the world, today announced a four-year contract with 22-year-old sprint star Ben Wildman-Tobriner. Earlier this year, Wildman-Tobriner burst onto the international scene swimming a 21.88 in the 50m free to win gold and his first-ever world title at the 12th FINA World Championships in Melbourne in March. In August, Wildman-Tobriner improved upon that time winning the U.S. National Title in the 50m free with a time of 21.80, just missing the American Record by four-one-hundredths of a second. The agreement, which runs through 2010, is designed to help Wildman-Tobriner reach his goals in the water while also supporting his charitable efforts.

Wildman-Tobriner decided to postpone medical school and turn pro following an accomplished collegiate swim career at Stanford University, where he graduated with a degree in biomechanical engineering. At the 2007 NCAA Swimming Championships in Minneapolis, just two weeks before Melbourne, Wildman-Tobriner set a new American Record in the 50 yard free with a time of 18.87. He is aiming to make his first-ever Olympic team in 2008 and will enter next summer’s U.S. Olympic Team Trials as a favorite in the hotly contested 50m free.

Wildman-Tobriner is represented by David Arluck, President and CEO of Arluck Promotions Inc.; the company also represents veteran sprint star and fellow Team SPEEDO® member Gary Hall Jr.
Continue Reading »

Don’t care about my trip to the dentist? That’s too bad, because you’re going to read about it anyway!

First, let me start by saying that I think it’s a little ridiculous for an adult to think that I am still in high school. I got to my appointment a little before 3PM yesterday and my hygienist said “Did you just come from school?” Dude, seriously? It took all the self control I possessed not to say “Yea, 10 years ago.” Do I really look like I could be in high school? I mean, yea I’ve gotten carded at rated R movies before, but that was a while ago. I guess I should take it as a compliment?

Anyway, during my last visit (6 months ago, as is recommended) the last hygienist I had turned out to be a Masters swimmer that got her workouts in with the Westerville Masters club. I even recruited her to go to Big Tens that Ohio State hosted back in February.

So, imagine my surprise when my new hygienist was also a former swimmer! A cleaning that should have take about 15-20 minutes ended up being close to 45 because he wanted to talk swimming with me. I also made it a point to tell him about the Ohio State Grand Prix meet in early April. I do as much recruiting as I can!

It’s nice to be able to go about your day-to-day activities and run into people who also share a love for the sport of swimming. That’s hard to come by for someone, such as myself, who didn’t grow up swimming or have friends who did!

Note to other Swim Aids: When someone asks your real opinion on Phelps, try to avoid a pregnant pause before you give your opinion. People tend to jump to conclusions that are usually spot on… This effectively prevents you from giving the politically correct response we’ve all been spoon-fed.

As someone who watches more than their fair share of ESPN programming (I can’t help it!), I have to say they put together great commercials.

That is why my interest was instantly peaked when I learned that Phelps just shot an “on-air advertising promo” this week for the network.

He wasn’t alone, either. ESPN also filmed spots featuring fitness guru Richard Simmons, author Stephen King, NBA stars Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, as well as Jose Reyes and Jimmy Rollins from the MLB.

This better be good, Phelps!

And no, it wasn’t Phelps either!

So our favorite late night talk show host is even cooler than we imagined. During his monologue, he acknowledged that the Beijing Games were 1 year away. Not only that, but he also gave a shout-out to a couple of swimmers. He shared how excited he was to see Ryan Lochte and Lenny Krayzelburg battle for the 200 Backstroke title.

We are impressed Conan (or his writers) even knew enough about the sport - and that particular event - to name 2 swimmers that aren’t Michael Phelps. So he gets keepin’ it real points for that. We also love the name drop-age the Lochtenator received, even if Conan did pronounce his last name “locked”. It’s all good; we forgive you, Conan!