“Superman” in the pool? This young man is awesome!
Underated…if he was is the land of OZ he would be on every tv show and would have groupies…the US takes dumps on the olympic sports but wants to scream U-S-A, U-S-A at athens and other olympics.
I caught the races last night too. Phelps REALLY hit his taper right.
Did y’all catch Alexander Popov?! The announcers were all shocked, but I always thought his 2000 Olympic performance was just a case of missing his taper, not old age. After all, I think he set the 50 meter free record a few months before the Olympics. It was good to see him issue a butt-whoopin’ to the youngsters.
Underrated? This young man should be male athlete of the week… maybe the month! Fastest leadoff relay split, individual medley, butterfly, etc, etc. However, I understand the point.
What in T&F sprinting is equivalent to the “dolphin kick”? Though a neophyte, I am truly enjoying the world swimming championships. I can’t comment on narration, but the action and camera work is fun to watch!
Dolphin kick = Drive phase 
I love Popov, what happened to the Americans? Ed Moses?
200 Fly Semi-Final Men Michael Phelps (USA), lowered his world record yet again this time to a 1:53.93. His last 50, always the most spectacular, was a 29.65-a faster split than the the 8th place swimmer in the last 50 of the men’s 200 freestyle in tonight’s final.
Re: Popov
Rumors are he’s back with Coach Gennadi Touretsky,based in Switzerland.
Most interesting is the fact Gennadi cut Popov’s overall training volumes by 50% right from the beginning of the Season this year (100km weekly-> 50km weekly),thus concentrating on better Technique and SPEED work…Result: the Zar is back!
Also notice the excellent job the Brits are doing.Australian Master Coach Bill Sweetenham’s work begins to produce results…Remember the reference to Mr. Sweetenham’s training approach made on the old forum,and even quoted by Charlie in the Forum Review e-book…
By contrast look at the disastrous overall performance of the way too much celebrated Italian Team,with only a bronze so far,and very very few Finals reached…I guess they “missed the taper”… 
Pakewi,
Please expand on your comments about what happened the italian team. And the Austrailians? What happened in the 4x100?
Clemson,
I do not know any evident reasons for the awful latest performances of the Italian Swimming Team.
As our Open Nationals are to start on Tuesday,I will keep you informed “live” of apparent reasons and rumors.
So far the very first head to fall has been the Strength & Condiioning Coach in charge for the Team.
Personally I would say the traditionally very conservative mindsetting of Italian Coaches coupled with an extremely limited awareness of the requirements ,dynamics,and implications of any intensification of the training process could well be the culprit.
This is only my point of view,from making my everyday living in the Italian Swimming World.
After watching phelps train this summer for a few hours, I guess the Americans are doing some things right…we still got to win the 4x100 at athens…and will an american step up in the 100? its been since 88 that we had a winner!
Australia had a good competition in respect of PB’s, but if you take out Thorpe and Hackett medals it was a struggle.
It seems that Australia does okay at longer events, and struggle in the short freestyle events.
Is that fair and why?
Michael Phelps was amazing.
From USOC ePublication
BARCELONA, Spain – Michael Phelps has Mark Spitz in his sights.
The 18-year-old American claimed one of Spitz’s records Sunday on the final day of the World Swimming Championships when he broke his fifth individual world mark for the 400-meter individual medley.
Michael Phelps celebrates after winning the 400-meter individual medley on Sunday.
“If everything goes as well as I want it to, as I hope to, then maybe I could be going after Mark Spitz’s accomplishments,” said Phelps, who finished Sunday in 4 minutes, 9.09 seconds – a stunning 1.64 seconds faster than he swam in April for the old record.
Spitz managed only four records in individual events in the Olympics 31 years ago as he won his legendary seven gold medals.
Phelps was the centerpiece of one of the fastest meets in history; 13 world marks were broken and one was tied. He also upstaged his American teammates, who led with 11 golds in the pool and 28 overall – their best performance since the Olympics three years ago.
Archrival Australia had only six golds and 22 overall.
When diving, water polo, synchronized and distance swimming was factored in, the Americans still led with 12 gold medals and 31 overall.
Phelps won three golds with records in each: 200 butterfly, 200 individual medley (he broke this record twice) and the 400 individual medley. He also got silver in the 800 freestyle relay and shattered the 100 butterfly record in Friday’s semifinal, only to be upset in Saturday’s final by fellow American Ian Crocker.
“I’ve have had a great week of swimming here,” Phelps said Sunday, after his final swim of 13 over a marathon six days. “I couldn’t ask for anything more. I left every ounce of energy I had in the pool.”
His silver in the 100 fly came a day after he became the first male swimmer to ever set records on the same day in two different strokes – 100 butterfly semifinal and the 200 individual medley final.
The upset prompted a headline in a Spanish daily: “Phelps is Human.”
His coach Bob Bowman clipped the story.
“Whenever he gets a little high on himself, I’ll put that in his mailbox.”
This seems unlikely.
Bowman describes Phelps as a “completely average teenager.” He smiles readily, often breaking into a sheepish grin when asked about his accomplishments. After the meet he left for Athens with several other American swimmers to “check everything out and see how things are laid out.”
“I’m going to do everything I can to make sure I improve next year,” he said.
At the beginning of the championships, Phelps was billed as a threat to Ian “Thorpedo” Thorpe. By the end, Thorpe was largely invisible despite winning three golds (one in a relay), one silver and one bronze. He set no records.
Thorpe’s last swim was Sunday morning when the Aussie 400 medley relay was disqualified for an exchange violation.
All the talk was Phelps, including questions about what he’d buy with bonus money earned from breaking the records.
“I really want a dog,” he said. “I want surround-sound for my TV. I want a TV in my car. It just depends on what my mom really approves on. She has the final say on what I get to buy.”
Two other world records were also set Sunday.
The American team of Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hanson, Ian Crocker and Jason Lezak set a new standard in the 400 individual medley relay. Germany’s Thomas Rupprath established a new mark in the 50 backstroke.
The U.S. relay team beat its own mark, improving from 3:33.48 to 3:31.54. Russia (3:34.72), anchored by Alexander Popov, took silver and Japan (3:36.12) won bronze.
“The speed in the meet was ridiculous,” Peirsol said. “You had to get your mind set every time for a new standard.”
How is that a record seems to be broken in every major swimming meet?
What is it? Better pool design? Better training programs? Fancier outfits?
Its weird that a performance is only really hailed in this sport if a record is broken in the process of winning gold. The commentators even sound disappointed when the record is not broken in an event.
Contrast that to track.
I was disappointed that the American women failed to break the East German’s record in the 800 free relay. It is one of the last records on the books that we can be completely certain is drug-induced. Why it is still included is a mystery to me.
Dear DCW:
Yes, the pools are faster, but many locations have modern designs now. The bodysuits do make a difference ( though I was glad to see Popov, naked as it were, beat a stacked field in the 100 free.)
The swimmers are getting stronger. Concentrated weight lifting is something that didn’t really take off in swimming until a few years ago. Illegal drugs are also more common than they used to be, unfortunately.
Frankly, the training is getting better and more specialized as well. Clemson may or may not agree with me here, but it is my contention that swimming is roughly 15-20 years behind track and field in terms of training techniques, rest, diet, weight lifting, etc.
Just a few years ago EVERYONE trained distance, all the time, whether your race lasted 23 seconds or 15 minutes. It was considered essential to “build a great base” and 50 freestylers were swimming 8-10 miles per day 6 days per week 9-10 months out of the year.
This is one of the reasons why I train by myself. I am a sprinter and got tired of training as if I wasn’t.
Mike