So, in light of our dear Kletus leaving the midwest, I thought I’d resurrect this classic Swim Aid video. I honestly don’t think we can ever get enough of this video. No, seriously.

Now remember, you must turn up/on your speakers when viewing this. When I showed PVK this video a few months back, he didn’t “get it” because the big goof didn’t have his sound on. Please don’t make the same mistake he did. Enjoy this tribute properly and responsibly!

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.

It’s not what you think, so get your minds out of the gutter!

If you take a look through the Media Guide for the WOrld Championships team, you’ll find an interesting little ditty under Pete’s bio. He has a pet hermit crab named Ditka.

Upon discovering this, I laughed for 5 minutes. Actually, it was more like 30. Then I had to find out why on earth he had a pet hermit crab because “I was unaware that people older than 12 years old had hermit crabs for pets”.

Pete’s reply was simply:

Don’t hate.

So no, he did not shed any light on the subject. He was probably embarassed, as any grown man with a pet hermit crab should be. In any case, my hat goes off to my favorite Vanderkaay. He takes my frequent ribbings like a champ, no matter where he is. In this case, he was down under for Worlds. And let’s be real. That email probably made his day; just like all of mine do.

Now if he could only come up with a decent comeback for when I make fun of him…

We told y’all that you need to watch out for the Wolverines, did we not?

Well a Vanderkaay named Alex has stepped up and claimed his first individual NCAA title in winning the 400y IM. He came in to NCAA meet with the fastest time in the nation and with his when, he’s putting the doubters on notice that he is for real. Not only that, but he knocked over 3 seconds off of his lifetime best time in the event. How’s that for making a statement.

We tend to crack Alex jokes from time to time, but make no mistake that we are extremely proud of him! Maybe PVK was right when he told me last year that “Alex is the man” . He would know, wouldn’t he?

We cannot wait to hear from Mama VDK. She was sooo excited last week at AVK’s chances at NC’s. We’re sure she’s literally bouncing off walls!

Anyway, congrats, Alex!

BONUS: Take a listen to Alex’s thoughts on his race courtesy of Swimming World Magazine. [DOWNLOAD]

P.S. Is it me or does Alex not sometimes sound just like Pete when he speaks?

People just can’t get things right, can they? First we pointed out the DeJong brother goof, and now we have a Vanderkaay brother one, brought to us by the Cal Bears athletic department. Seems they can’t tell the difference between AVK and PVK. Whatever happened to fact checking before publishing press releases?

So it must be said: Can Alex Vanderkaay please get some respect?

Geez.

We are equal opportunity supporters of swimmers. So we’re showing some love, on a regular basis, to some swimmers we feel need to be pimped. You know how it is!

Erik Vendt was our inaugural Special Guest for a long while. And now he is set to join the Swim Stars Network with his own site, located at ErikVendt.com. Then we pimped out Cullen Jones. No Swim Stars site for him because Suz is going to be designing his official site in the coming months.

So, now we turn our attention elsewhere; and to a team, and not an individual. We already pimp these boys out far more than they deserve, but we can’t help ourselves. They’re like our crack. We can’t quit them. Ok, enough bad jokes.

Give it up for the University of Michigan & Club Wolverine swimming programs. Yea, we’re predictable. Get over it!

By the way, you can get to this page simply by visiting MGoSwim.com. Clever? Yea, we thought so too. Shout out to our fave U-M blog, MGoBlog!

Michigan Wolverines

According to the newly released CSCAA rankings, the Michigan men are holding steady in the #4 spot. Around here, we reckon they’ll move up before taking a drop. It’s just how things are going to work. As us about it sometime. We’ll drop some sick knowledge on you. (Dec. 5, 2007)

Since everyone else in the Big Ten’s weekend performances paled in comparison, Mr. Matt Patton was rewarded with the “Swimmer of the Week” honor from the conference. It was Mattie P.’s 1st time receiving this award, but we’re certain it won’t be his last! (Dec. 4, 2007)

So, the boys in blue won the Husky Invite out in Seattle over the weekend. Not surprised. We pretty much expect them to do the damn thing, whenever they hit the blocks. The best part? The 2nd place team wasn’t even close to their point total.

Total domination, folks.

Michigan: 1,621.5
Cal: 1,142.5

Here are all the results, in case you want see the pwnage for yourself: Day 1 Finals | Day 2 Finals | Day 3 Finals (Dec. 3, 2007)

Club Wolverine

The Asian has been named to the Team USA roster for the 2008 FINA Short Course World Championships in Manchester, England from April 9-13. He’s been selected to swim the 200 Free & the 200 Back at the international competiton. This makes up for not swimming at the Japan International Grand Prix. Good move, CDJ! (Dec. 12, 2007)

PVK & T-DUB!! are going to be doing a clinic together on Dec. 27 in Potomac Valley, VA with the Machine Aquatics Swim Team. Oh, to be a fly on the wall of that. We’re sure we would shed a tear with Davis‘ comedy. But will PVK still look like a dear in headlights? We wonder, we wonder. [LINK] (Dec. 11, 2007)

While the NCAA team was in Seattle getting rained on, the post-grads of Club Wolverine were in Hotlanta competing at the USA Swimming Short Course National Championships. While, Swim Aid favorite Ryan Lochte made the biggest splash, the CWers were no slouches!

Phelps was Phelps. Although he is coming off a wrist injury (from being a tool), he still turned in respectable performances, including a hard fought win in the 200y Free over his teammates PVK (2nd), The Asian (3rd), Vendt (7th), & T-Dub (8th). Yea, they’re nicknames. Get over it!

PVK won the 500y Free; an event he holds the American Record in. Erik won the 1650y Free. Davis won the 200y Fly. And the CW 800y Free Relay team set a new American & US Open Record together. Man, if there’s something those Michigan boys do well, it’s the middle distance freestyles!

Club Wolverine won both team titles at Nationals. Represent!

P.S. We’d like to make my prediction for who makes the US Olympic Team for the 800 Free Relay. In order of how much we like them: Vanderkaay, Lochte, Keller, DeJong, Ritter, Phelps. Mark it down, folks! (Dec. 3, 2007)

Links

Recent News Articles

Beijing Contender: Peter Vanderkaay (WCSN)
DeJong’s national relay record makes waves (Grand Rapids Press)
U-M Announces Early Signees (MGoBlue)
DeJong believes he belongs in elite company (Holland Sentinel)

Pictures

We’re working on it! We’ve got a TON!