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Suits, Shaving and
Speed Janet Evans Invitational Provides an Excellent Tune-Up for Trials, Athens By
Jim Buzinski There are a lot tougher assignments than spending three days surrounded by elite swimmers, some of who will be household names at the Olympics in two months. But such are the perks of living in Southern California. The Janet Evans Invitational was a world-class warmup event for U.S. swimmers preparing for next month’s Olympic Trials and other swimmers who have already clinched spots in Athens. Several meet records were broken in the event that featured such stars as Australians Ian Thorpe and Michael Klim and Americans Gary Hall Jr., Ed Moses, Amanda Beard, Jenny Thompson, Lenny Krayzelburg and Natalie Coughlin. It was a cozy venue with great access to the athletes, who proved unfailingly polite, a welcome contrast to covering many big-time athletes. Notes from in and out of the pool --The controversial body suits were a topic of conversation all weekend for both men and women. The men either wear the traditional Speedo-type suit, a half-body suit (bottom), a full body suit minus the sleeves or a complete body suit. The high-tech suits are seen as giving swimmers an edge in a sport where a hundredth of a second can be the difference between first and second.
South African Ryk Neethling, who swims for the University of Arizona, was miffed after losing to Ian Thorpe at the men’s 200-meter freestyle and put some of the blame on the suits, though he did acknowledge he didn’t swim his best. Neethling wore a half-suit and Thorpe a full-body. "One guy's wearing just trunks. Another guy's in a full suit," Neethling said. "It's a big difference." He added that in Athens he’ll also be full body, saying, “When I put it on, I’ll be going faster.” Thorpe, who beat Neethling by four seconds (something a body suit could not overcome; Thorpe’s was the fastest 200 ever swum in the U.S.), said he thought the advantage provided by the suits was negligible, and that wearing them was simply a matter of preference for each swimmer. The flamboyant Gary Hall Jr. scoffed that the suits make much difference and said he wears a half-one because “they’re more comfortable than those skimpy” suits. People are wrong, he said, “who think they can just put one on and swim faster.” We’re not sure about the competitive merits of the suits, though it is odd to have a sport where the uniforms can vary so widely. But we’ve always felt they should be banned on aesthetic grounds alone. These men and women are among the fittest specimens in the world and covering it all up is a crime against nature. --One burning question I had: With a full-body suit, is there a need to still shave? Thorpe said yes, more out of tradition than an increase in speed. “It doesn’t make a huge difference, but the hairs still poke out [of the suit], it’s that tight.” Another swimmer said that guys still shave because pulling off the skin-tight suit over hair is quite uncomfortable. I would guess, though, that 95% of the swimmers were smooth.
--A personal highlight was watching Outsports photographer Brent Mullins try and get Thorpe to cooperate for the cameras. Thorpe is the biggest sports star in swimming-mad Australia and hounded everywhere he goes down there. U.S. swimmer Ed Moses said the coverage of Thorpe in Australia is like “Ben and J-Lo here.” So maybe it was understandable when Thorpe told Brent “no pictures” during prelims on Friday. Telling Brent “no pics” is like telling a dog “no bone.” He got shots of Thorpe during interview sessions and at poolside on Saturday, but it wasn’t the definitive image he wanted. He saw his chance on Sunday when Thorpe and fellow Aussie Michael Klim were warming up. Klim is a very friendly and cooperative athlete so Brent went up to him and asked if he could get a shot of him and Thorpe. “Sure, mate,” Kilm said and Thorpe looked slightly chagrined when he saw who the photographer was. --Two years ago, Thorpe, a lover of fashion who has his own jewelry line, denied rumors that he is gay (“You know I'm a little bit different to what most people would consider being an Australian male. That doesn't make me gay,” he said. “I mean I'm straight.”) This weekend, he denied reports that he had a Las Vegas wedding with American swimmer Amanda Beard. “That’s a nasty rumor that’s been going around and I’m used to that,” Thorpe said Saturday. Apparently, Beard went to Las Vegas with a group of the Australian swimmers recently and what started as a goof turned into a rumor that was printed by several Australian media outlets. Beard laughed it all off on Sunday, saying she didn’t have a boyfriend and was just focusing on making the U.S. Olympic team and doing well in Athens. “I've ruled out boys for the summer," she said. --Thorpe was very cooperative during interviews and answered every question politely. But there's no doubt that he's the star. Even his coach Tracey Menzies had her own press availability. Thorpe apparently travels first class while the rest of the Aussies fly coach. He took his time getting to the press area after his race on Saturday, being the only swimmer to arrive dressed in street clothes--a Von Dutch baseball cap, a blue Australia Swimming T-shirt and faded (by design) jeans. His three-day growth of beard gave his a grunge look. In discussing shoes he kept pronouncing "adidas" in a way that left the American reporters scratching their heads; he then said he was pronouncing it the way it's said in the rest of the world. --Hall is never shy about saying what he thinks. After setting a meet record in the men’s 50 freestyle on Saturday, Hall bragged that he would be the first man to ever swim 21.5 seconds later at the Olympics. "I think it's humanly possible to go 21.5 seconds,” he said, "and I expect that. For anyone to beat me, they are going to have to go faster than 21.5." --Hall was among several swimmers who said there was more pressure to qualify at trials than to swim in the Olympics. "You'll feel the intensity at the trials," Hall said. "If you get third at the Olympics, you're a medal winner. If you get third at the trials, you're sitting on the couch, gripping a remote control like everyone else." --The event was held near the Long Beach Convention Center at special portable outdoor pools shipped from Italy. It was used as a trial run for next month’s Olympic Trials at the same venue. Meet records were set in the men's and women's 800-meter freestyle, the men's 100-meter freestyle, women's 200-meter butterfly, men's 200-meter breastroke, the men's 50-meter freestyle, the men's 100-meter breastroke, the men's 200-meter IM, the women's 1,500-meter freestyle and the men’s 200-meter freestyle. --Some
NBA players are begging off of a trip to Athens for the Summer Games
citing security reasons. Erik Vendt is having none of that.
Vendt said the NBA players are “using security as an excuse.” --It was just a throw-away note at the end of a column, but Frank Burlison of the Long Beach Press-Telegram (a former colleague of mine) pissed off a concession official when he wrote: “Don't show up at the Aquatic Centre if you'd like to pound a few unless you're rolling in dough. The cost for a 12-ounce cup of a popular Mexican beer at one of the snack tents? With tax, $9.47.” Frank got a huffy e-mail from someone overseeing the concessions, who pointed out that the beer (Tecate) was actually 20 ounces and was served in a souvenir cup. This official defied Frank to find such a “quality import” of that size for a lower price at any other sporting event. So there! June 15, 2004 jock jockstrap gay gay gay gay gay underwear gay gay jock jock jock gay jock gay underwear jock gay gay underwear |
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