Phelps Seeks Medal Record as Doping Row Flares

The headlines everywhere in the world right now.
I excerpt this from the business times; it has a more neutral feel.

---

Top swimmers cautioned against assumptions of doping as a debate over the astonishing performances of a Chinese swimmer threatened to overshadow Michael Phelps' bid to become the most decorated Olympian of all time on Tuesday.

Ye Shiwen, 16, is chasing a second gold in Tuesday's 200 metres individual medley final after winning the 400 medley on Saturday more than a second inside the world record.

"We want to be very careful about calling it doping," the American John Leonard, executive director of the World Swimming Coaches Association, told Britain's Guardian newspaper.

"The one thing I will say is that history in our sport will tell you that every time we see something - and I will put quotation marks around this - 'unbelievable', history shows us that it turns out later on there was doping involved."

China briefly dominated women's swimming in the 1990s but its reign ended as fast as it began, following a series of doping scandals.

Ye swam the 400 medley five seconds inside her personal best, covering the last 50 metres faster than American Ryan Lochte, who won the equivalent men's event in the second best time in history.

She issued a quick and firm denial on Monday, telling the China News

Service: "My results come from hard work and training and I would never use any banned drugs."

Australia's Ian Thorpe, winner of five Olympic swimming golds, warned against rushing to judgment.

"Young swimmers can take off chunks of time that other swimmers can't," he said.

"RUINING SPORT"

International Olympic Committee medical chief, Arne Ljungqvist said it would ruin the "charm of sport" to raise doping suspicions every time an athlete's performance improved dramatically.

Others noted that Phelps had broken his first world record at 15. "Michael Phelps is a phenomenal swimmer," British multiple short-course world champion Mark Foster said. "Is she the Chinese Michael Phelps? Why not?"

American Phelps has gone on to win 17 Olympic medals, 14 of them gold. If he wins two more in Tuesday's 200m butterfly and 4x200m relay, he will overtake Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina's record haul of 18.

He also has the chance in the butterfly, his favourite event, of becoming the first man to win the same swimming event in three successive Olympics.

"I made my first Olympic team in this. The shorter races are a lot better for me now that I'm older," Phelps said.

Monday provided another story of youthful success in the pool as Lithuania's swimmer Ruta Meilutyte, just 15, won the women's 100 breaststroke, and an upset as Frenchman Yannick Agnel beat Lochte in the men's 200 freestyle.

A total of three swimming golds put France third in the medal table at the end of Monday's third day of competition, behind the United States, on five golds, and China, on nine.

For the host nation, golds are proving elusive but a bronze in the men's team gymnastics on Monday felt almost as good as it ended a 100-year wait for any kind of a medal in the event.

The focus of home attention on Tuesday is Wimbledon as Andy Murray competes in the second round of the tennis competition, once again carrying the hopes of British fans yearning for a title after his final defeat to Roger Federer in the grand slam tournament there earlier this month.

Women's soccer throws up a tasty tie between North Korea and the United States, at Manchester United's Old Trafford ground, that may prove as much of a spectacle for students of Cold War rivalry as for die-hard sports fans.

----

I really admire International Olympic Committee medical chief, Arne Ljungqvist for defending her. Even Phelp's coach says it's unfair to accuse Ye Shiwen. What unjust! American coach John Leonard calls Ye's achievement, breaking the world record as "disturbing".  That's a very unwise thing to say.  I call his jealousy and inability to accept a true young prodigy as disturbing! Ye Shiwen is having a finals event later in the night, in which she broke the Olympic records yesterday while in the semifinals. This young girl is simply swimming for her life and all these news...I suspect it's all to distract her. :(( Poor Ye! It's really hard being on top. 

Men's 4x200m Freestyle Relay Heats

It will be such a joy to watch! Unfortunately I missed it due to work. :( So many countries represented! I wonder who each country sent for their heats. Usa has a reputation for sending b-team in their heats, but the stunning results - 3 seconds off the rest = is too incredible, so I'm guessing a-team is here! Lochte, Phelps, perhaps? And team france - Yannick Agnel? Paul Biedermann for Germany? Oh yes I love watching the relays because there's just too much stars!! :)))

1. USA 7:06.75 

2. France 7:09.18

3. Germany 7:09.23

4. Australia 7:10.50

5. Great Britain 7:10.70

6. China 7:11.35

7. South Africa 7:11.51

8. Hungary 7:11.64

9. Japan 7:11.74

10. Russia 7:11.86

11. Italy 7:12.69

12. Belgium 7:14.44

13. Denmark 7:15.04

14. Canada 7:15.22

15. New Zealand 7:17.18

16. Austria 7:17.94

Men's 200m Breaststroke Heats

5 heats in total, I have no idea who will win this, really. Except for Kitajima and Rickard, the names are quite new to me. 

Semifinalists:

1. Tales Cerdeira (Bra)

2. Glenn Snyders (Nzl)

3. Clark Burkle (Usa)

4. Michael Jamieson (Gbr)

5. Ryo Tateshi (Jpn)

6. Giedrius Titenis (Ltu)

7. Laurent Carnol (Lux)

8. Christian Vom Lehn (Ger)

1. Scott Dickens (Can)

2. Viatcheslav Sinkevich (Rus)

3. Kosuke Kitajima (Jpn)

4. Daniel Gyurta (Hun)

5. Andrew Willis (Gbr)

6. Scott Weltz (Usa)

7. Marco Kock (Ger)

8. Brenton Rickard (Aus)

Women's 200m Butterfly Heats

4 heats in total. Jessicah Schipper is in heat 2; she won bronze in both the 100m and 200m Butterfly at the last games. 

Semifinals: 

1. Anja Klinar (Slo)

2. Hye Ra Choi (Kor)

3. Natsumi Hoshi (Jpn)

4. Liuyang Jiao (Chn)

5. Katinka Hosszu (Hun)

6. Cammile Adams (Usa)

7. Jessicah Schipper (Aus)

8. Otylia Jedrzejczak (Pol)

1. Martina Granstorm (Swe)

2. Mireia Belmonte Garcia (Esp)

3. Zsuzsanna Jakabos (Hun)

4. Kathleen Hersey (Usa)

5. Jemma Lowe (Gbr)

6. Judit Ignacio Sorribes (Esp)

7. Zige Liu (Chn)

8. Audrey Lacroix (Can)

Men's 100m Freestyle Heats

8 heats in total, most I've seen so far. Cesar Cielo, Sebastissn Verschuren, James Magnussen, Cullen Jones and Fabian Gillot and fresh gold medalist Yannick Agnel are all in this events. Cesar Ceilo got bronze in this events at the last games. Alot of names I have never seen before here, I'm guessing they are the young guns. 

Semifinals:

1. Fabien Gilot (Fra)

2. Cesar Ceilo (Bra)

3. Brett Fraser (Cay)

4. Gideon Louw (Rsa)

5. James Magnussen (Aus)

6. Nikita Lobintsev (Rus)

7. James Roberts (Aus)

8. Shaune Fraser (Cay)

1. Yannick Agnel (Fra)

2. Cullen Jones (Usa)

3. Brent Hayden (Can)

4. Nathan Adrian (Usa)

5. Sebastiaan Verschuren (Ned)

6. Pieter Timmers (Bel)

7. Konrad Czerniak (Pol)

8. Hnaser Garcia (Cub)

End of Day 3: Justifications

le icon of le night. good night. *yawns*

Hello, today I am faster, because I wasn't glued to the tv. I'm 2 couch lengths away, half typing, just so I could sleep before 5 for a change. I went to work tapping away on my ipad, searching for pictures to match my game coverages. I woke up a little earlier than 9am today, my head and my heart totally immersed in the swimming events. Dear blog, is this right? This is me, excited me, the me that is totally in love with the swim events and can't let go of it until I exhausted every strength I have to devour it whole. The blog's a perfect platform for that. 

Every mention of the word 'Olympic', every mention of the world 'swimming', every mention of any swimmers I know of at all, stirs me up. When I hear crowd cheering noises from someone's laptop I suppose they're watching the Olympics. It's a crazy kind of obsession. I don't even know where I get all these energy from. I haven't been sleeping much since the opening. 

BUT I AM JUST SO FREAKISHLY EXCITED!

But is it really worth it to be so mentally and physically exhausted? Is it really worth it to burn out my organs and feel the veins in my head pulsating every now and then? Is it worth it to wrinkly and be ugly for a week because of the inability to replenish skin cells (along with other organs of course, but I'm talking about surface value here). For a little moment at about 1:30am, I do feel like going to bed. I have assignments from le mum and le sis to deliver. Is the Olympics more important than my family? I did manage to proceed with these assignments, if you're wondering. It'll end by tomorrow. 

But the butterflies I get during this period is undesirable. It's like the 13 year old me when reading Harry Potter. It's like the 15 year old me, when watching So You Think You Can Dance and secretly locking myself up almost everyday just to, well, dance. It's pure love, that's the closest explaination I can arrive to. 4.45am, I do hope to reduce some of that throbbing migraine. 

Adios my friend, until tomorrow. 

xoxo

Women's 200m Individual Medley Semifinals

Ye Shiwen simply 不是人！This 16 year old is just far too amazing. She broke another olympic record in the semifinals, she's just pushing and pushing every single race. What an attitude. 

1. Ye Shiwen (Chn)  Olympic Record

2. Alicia Coutts (Aus)

3. Caitlin Leverenz (Usa) 

4. Ariana Kukor (Usa) 

5. Katinka Hosszu (Hun)

6. Stephanie Rice (Aus)

7. Hannah Miley (Gbr)

8. Kirsty Conventry (Zbw) 

Men's 200m Butterfly Semifinals

12 years of being king in the 200m Butterfly. 26 times world champion. Whenever Phelps flaps his giant human fins - he got his own camera angle. That's respect for possibly the greatest olympic alive. No matter how he does in this games, the records will still be there. The gold medals will still be there. Time pass, young swimmers reach their prime. Yes, shortly after he will fade out of the competitive scene. But what a phenomenon.  He truly inspired a generation. 

Phelps is the youngest ever world record holder in this event back in 2000 olympics and he is here now, 12 years later, doing the same thing. His ability to maintain and keep up is just amazing. 

Le Clos looked frantically to both his sides before he dug his head in the water - his usual style to the finish - to touch second in the first round. In the second, Biczo and Stjepanovic led in the first 100m, and Phelps fell out of the third after the first 50m but flew in the last 25m to un-chasable distance. See, I told you Stejepanovic has a little something something...he vill go farrre

Finals:

1. Takeshi Matsuda (Jpn)

2. Chad le Clos (Rsa)

3. Yin Chen (Chn) 

4. Michael Phelps (Usa) 

5. Tyler Clary (Usa)

6. Dinko Jukic (Aut) 

7. Pawel Korzeniowski (Pol) 

8. Velimir Stjepanovic (Srb)

Women's 100m Breaststroke Finals

This is the race I'm waiting for. You have past world champions in here, and a surprising new prodigy that the world is watching intensely, anticipating for her to shine. Meilutyte, Soni and Efimova qualified fastest for this event. Alia Atkinson is the first Jamaican to make it to a swimming events finals! She had to battle it out in a swim off to be in that spot, didn't see her in the initial finals list. Larsen got off to a false start, how excruciatingly nervous it must have been! Meilutyte led throughout and WON THE GOLD. One of my goosebumps moments.

Gold: Ruta Meilutyte (Ltu)

Silver: Rebecca Soni (Usa)

Bronze: Satomi Suzuki (Jpn)

4 Alia Atkinson (Jam)

5. Leisel Jones (Aus)

6. Iuliia Efimova (Rus)

7. Breeja Larson (Usa)

8. Rikke Pederson (Den)

Men's 100m Backstroke Finals

Matthew Grevers was the fastest qualifier, Camile Lacourt and Liam Tancock behind him. Hayden Stoeckel was tied for Bronze at the last Olympic games. You have European record holders, past world record holders...it's really anyone's game! Lacourt turns first after 50m.

Grevers won silver in 2008. Guess everyone was overshadowed by Phelps in 2008. :( Grevers swam under the world record during the qualifications, he could have done it again, but olympic record is of course awesome as well. A well deserved win for Grevers.

Gold: Matthew Grevers (Usa) Olympic record

Silver: Nick Thoman (Usa)

Bronze: Ryosuke Irie (Jpn)

4. Camille Lacourt (Fra)

5. Liam Tancock (Gbr)

6. Helge Meeuw (Ger)

7. Hayden Stoeckel (Aus)

8. Cheng Fengyi (Chn)

Women's 100m Backstroke Finals

Missy Franklin appears for a finals just after a semis a few minutes ago. She certainly seemed tired from the walk out but managed to smile ever so sweetly. :)) The top 3 qualifiers for the finals are the 3 medalists. I somehow think that if Missy Franklin didn't swim that semifinals just minutes ago, she could have broken the world record. Who knows?

Gold: Missy Franklin (Usa)

Silver: Emily Seebohm (Aus)

Bronze: Aya Terakawa (Jpn)

Men's 200m Freestyle Finals

Why didn't I cover the semifinals? Its kinda unbelievable that I missed it. Did I forgot or did my local channel fail to show the games again? D: Paul Beidermann holds the WR. There's 3 newly-crowned gold medalist in this event alone. Yannick led all the way! I didn't think he was going to make it because Lochte looks set to catch up, but no, Yannick went even faster and became one body length ahead of his other competitors. First frenchmen to ever win in this event. :))

Gold: Yannick Agnel (Fra)

Silver: Park Taehwan (Kor)

Silver: Sun Yang (Chn)

4. Ryan Lochte (Usa)

5. Paul Beidermann (Ger)

6. Robbie Renwick (Gbr)

7. Thomas Fraser-Holmes (Aus)

8. Danila Izotov (Rus)

Nice to see Park and Sun interacting that much during the medal ceremony. Park nudged him to throw his bouquet to his fans/family. Cute. I always find that guys have less rivalry between each other; I mean they are fierce in the field, but once they're out of it, its really all bro-love.

Women's 200m Freestyle Semifinals

Muffat led from the start, Schmitt close behind. But it is Barratt, who was at the 5th place, who sprinted in the last 25m to finish first in semifinals 1. Sjostrom failed to make it to the finals this time. Lippok, Macclatchy and Pellegrini led the second round of semifinals. But it is 2 times world champion and defending champion Federica Pellegrini that finished first in the second round. 

Finals:

1. Bronte Barratt (Aus)

2. Allison Schmitt (Usa)

3 Camille Muffat (Fra)

4. Federica Pellegrini (Ita)

5. Veronika Popova (Rus)

6. Cailtlin Mcclatchey (Gbr)

7. Kylie Palmer (Aus)

8. Missy Franklin (Usa)

Men's 200m Butterfly Heats Swim-off

This was on the website but no details is provided. I wonder what it's about. Sounds...interesting! Swim for their life!!!

Women's 200m Individual Medley Heats

Happy to see YOG alum Zavadova (Cze) in the heats. Ye Shiwen finished fastest yet again in the heats. Really don't know what goes on in this young olympian's head. She just handles everything so well. Notice how swimmers from the same country tend to have almost the same timings. Must have been trained under the same coach. :))

Semifinal 1
1. Izumi Kato (Jpn)
2. Hannah Miley (Gbr)
3. Mireia Belmonte Garcia (Esp)
4. Katinka Hosszu (Hun)
5. Evelyn Verraszto (Hun)
6. Amit Ivry (Isr)
7. Joanna Melo (Bra)

Semifinal 2
1. Jiaxing Li (Chn)
2. Stephanie Rice (Aus)
3. Alicia Coutts (Aus)
4. Ye Shiwen (Chn)
5. Caitlin Leverenz (Usa)
6. Ariana Kukor (Usa)
7. Theresa Michalak (Ger)
8. Beatriz Gomez Cortes (Esp)

Men's 200m Butterfly Heats

I missed watching Chad le Clos and Singapore's very own Joseph Schooling in his olympic debut! Although he didn't make it into the semifinals, at least he was in heat 5 together with Michael Phelps. I bet local press would give that a mention. Some of the Youth Olympians: Bence Biczo (Hun), Velimir Stjepanovic (Srb), Marcin Cieslak (Pol) are here, in the event that they're good to qualify for the finals in the youth version. And other than Cieslak, all my little youth olympians made it to the semifinals! (I say "little" because they're obviously younger than I am; but they do look freakishly old and hulky) Biczo, beat Chad le Clos to win gold back in 2010 and Stejepanovic was bronze. Guess their speed 2 years ago is actually enough for Olympics semifinals. So proud of them. That and they trained uber hard, of course. Stjepanovic often eludes this very mysterious, sinister feel. He is so well hidden and so under the radar...that he might bring some surprises, who knows. :))

Semifinals 1
1. Chirs Wright (Aus)
2. Peng Wu (Chn)
3. Yin Chen (Chn)
4. Tyler Clary (Usa)
5. Chad le Clos (Rsa)
6. Takeshi Matsuda (Jpn)
7. Nick D'Arcy (Aus)
8. Ioannis Drymonakos (Gre)

Semifinals 2
1. Bence Biczo (Hun)
2. Laszlo Cseh (Hun)
3. Michael Phelps (Usa)
4. Dinko Jukic (Aut)
5. Velimir Stjepanovic (Srb)
6. Kazuya Kaneda (Jpn)
7. Pawel Korzeniowski (Pol)
8. Nikolay Skvortsov (Rus)

Women's 200m Freestyle Heats

Sarah Sjostrom, Allison Schmitt and Camille Muffat, fresh from last night's emotional race, is back for the qualifying heats in the morning. Also in the race is the youth olympic finialist in the same event Danielle Villars. :)) Here are the semifinalists:

Semifinal 1

1. Shijia Wang (Chn)

2. Bronte Barratt (Aus)

3. Barbara Jardin (Can)

4. Allison Schmitt (Usa)

5. Veronika Popova (Rus)

6. Sarah Sjostrom (Swe)

7. Camille Muffat (Fra)

8. Sara Isakovic (Slo)

Semifinal 2

1. Silke Lippok (Ger)

2. Samantha Cheverton (Can)

3. Melania Costa Schmid (Esp)

4. Federica Pellegrini (Ita)

5. Missy Franklin (Usa)

6. Cailtlin Mcclatchey (Gbr)

7. Kylie Palmer (Aus)

8. Hanae Ito (Jpn)

I was at work...

...editing on steroids in the office (didn't know lack of sleep will double up my efficiency in the most eerie/health-threatening sort of way) when the heats and semifinals happen in the morning (London time) when it's 5pm here. Hence the following updates will infact not be live; but from internet results. :))

Sidedish: Significant Other

1. James Magnussen's Girlfriend Andrea Patrulescu 
Australia's top swimmer James Magnussen is 21 and dating a former swimmer named Andrea Patrulescu. They have been spotted on the red carpet together on many occasions but prefer to keep their personal life quiet.

2. Alastair Wilson's Girlfriend Francesca Halsell
Fran Halsall and her boyfriend, Alastair Wilson, will be one busy couple at the games. She's swimming for team Great Britain, while he's on the country's field hockey team! They'll have to bunk with their respective teammates for the duration of the Olympics, but Wilson assured reporters he'll be watching his girl on the telly.

3. Maria Sharapova's Fiance Sasha Vujacic
When Maria Sharapova's not smashing balls on the tennis court, you can bet she's busy planning her nuptials. She and Slovenian basketball star Sasha Vujacic announced their engagement in 2010 and reportedly plan to marry in November 2012.

4. Missy Franklin's Boyfriend John Martens
Olympic swimmer Missy Franklin is dating a fellow swimmer named John Martens. The pair started dating just under a year ago and even practice at the same pool. “We try to support each other,” Martens said. “If we had a bad practice or a bad meet we try to bring each other back up, to tell each other to focus. It’s only one bad day. You can work through it. Just that type of positive attitude.” Aww. Martens was hoping to make the 2012 Olympic team but did not qualify.

5. Rebecca Soni's Boyfriend Ricky Berens
Talk about an Olympic power couple: Rebecca Soni and Ricky Berens will both be competing in swimming in London. They have been dating for at least two years and train at the same pool in L.A.

6. Dana Vollmer's Husband Andy Grant
Swimmer Dana Vollmer will be celebrating her first wedding anniversary shortly after the Olympics, on August 20, 2012. The pair met while swimming for rival schools in college though Grant has since retired from the sport. He's in computer security and hopefully has lots of time off to support his wife's Olympic run.

7. Matt Grevers' Fiancee Annie Chandler
How cute is this? American swimmer Matt Grevers got down on one knee and popped the question to girlfriend Annie Chandler, who's also a U.S. National Team swimmer, at a meet on Valentine's Day 2012. Chandler handed him his gold medal after winning the 100-meter backstroke, and then he turned around and gave her a diamond ring! There's video of the super cute proposal, even.

[source: zimbio]

Hero of the Day: Dana Vollmer

Usa's Dana Vollmer underwent a heart surgery in 2003 and suffers from another condition that causes her heart to stop at random. Nevertheless this 24 year old fighter, who failed to qualify for the 2008 games, went on to break the American record, Olympic record, and then the world record for the 100m Butterfly events. She is the first and only women swimmer in the world who has gone under the 56s mark. Dana said she knew she could have gone even faster. Just look at that smile when she swims, she is just happy. She knows she's going to get it. Her long awaited gold. She's just happy to be doing this, happy to be alive.

Photo of the Day: Cameron van der Burgh

South African Cameron van der Burgh soaks in his long awaited moment of glory. He bags gold in the 100m Breaststroke and sets a new world record. :))))

End of Day 2: Calm Me Down!

le google cartoon of the day

Hello Swimfans and friends, if you so happen to pop by. It's 5.30am here in small little Singapore. Unlike yesterday, it matters now because in 3 hrs time I have to get up and go to work (summer job). Nevertheless, the fire in me is igniting too fiercely to be able go to sleep now! 

There's a few things I would like to talk about. 

First, A-Teams and B-Teams. If you would qualify swimmers just for the timings, I'm sure you'll just see the Americans, Aussies, French, one or two unbeatable banzukis from some countries like Germany (Paul Beidermann) or South Africa (Cameron Van der Burgh). That'll be the world championships, right? But this is not the world championships, its the Olympics, it focuses on bringing the world together, focuses on friendship between nations. There must be some limit as to how many athletes a country can bring per event. Even though Australia have, lets say, 100 swimmers under A-team time, they could only bring 20. That's why you don't see the kids at the Youth Olympic Games that are from Aus or Usa here. You do see the others, but just not from the powerhouse countries. There's just too many celebrity-status veteran swimmers. And when they do finally appear, they'll be like Dana Vollmer or Missy Franklin (too young for an example, but that's the name at the back of my head). And I see alot of past B-Team swimmers who rose up to become A-Team and are making into the finals. How cool is that!

Next, I must really calm myself down. Records are broken everyday. Everyday minute. Every sec...that's too exaggerated (drama queen much). I know I like to weep over how the world record holders, the young hopefuls, the consistent racers are all in the same pool. How old medalist fail to make it and young out-of-nowhere rising stars bag to gold. But time passes. People get old. Records can never stand for long. Even if they are record holders, they might never match their own record timings ever again. And the young have the energy, have the physical prowess, have the hunger for their first ever medal chance in the world's stage. What excellent emotional balancing skills they must possess. Witnessing their inability to perform as well as their 4 years younger self, witnessing their 2 times defended gold title being taken by another young swimmer...they are real athletes. They respect the sport, love it to death, together with all the cruelty it brings upon. 

Yes time passes. Peaks passed, new peaks reached. This is the time to shine for the 15-20 year old ladies and the 20-25 year old lads. Cameron Van der Burgh slogged for the past 4 years just to get a taste of his long waited gold. Dana Vollmer, Camille Muffat, two first time event finalist and gold medalist swam way ahead of their competitors and they didn't even make it to the last Olympic games. It's their time. There's too many talented swimmers but they just show up or happen to be in the wrong time. Get what I mean? It's like they are at the right age, the right stage of life, just the right amount failures and experience to get them to the top. They might never get to defend their title because their time has passed. Therefore I say: the real test comes in between the Olympics. How you keep up. How you become better. Vollmer actually said that she knew she could go faster. Note that no women in the history of swimming has got under 56s and she did! 

Ahh the Olympics. It's pure art. 

Men's 4x100m Freestyle Relay

Familiar names in the form of James Magnussen and Eamon Sullivan poped up. Together with Phelps, Lochte and Cullen Jones from team USA. It was a fight between Australia and US from the start. Phelps was 2nd man, and Lochte the last, the one to bring them home. But in the very last 50m, France's Yannick Agnel out-swam Lochte to bring France their first relay gold medal. It was said that France looks set to bag to finish first at the last games, but American Jason Lezak touched first with his long limps and caused them their gold. Now France finished a good second ahead of team USA, their triumph roars and cheers fill the stadium. I kind of feel that Yannick got inspired from his girlfriend, fresh Olympic gold medalist Camille Muffat. "She's done it, so can I!"

Gold: France 3:09.93
Silver: USA 3:10.38
Bronze: Russian Federation 3:11.41

4. Australia 3:11.63
5. South Africa 3:13.45
6. Germany 3:13.45
7. Italy 3:14.13
8. Belgium 3:14.40

Yannick Agnel, Amaury Leveaux, Fabion Gilot & Clement Lefert

Women's 100m Backstroke Semifinals

So this was the match my local broadcaster failed to show. That, or I was having my fishy dream (an evening nap to prepare for my midnight report). Like Kitajima, a fellow 2X defending olympic champion, Zimbabwe's national treasure Kirsty Conventry fail to perform. 17 year old Missy Franklin, at her first Olympics, finishes first in her semifinals round. This set looks interesting to watch too! It will be a tight race between her and current record holder Seebohm.

Finalists:

1. Emily Seebohm (Aus) 58.39
2. Missy Franklin (Usa) 59.12
3. Aya Terakawa (Jpn) 59.34
4. Zhao Jing (Chn) 59.55
5. Anastacia Zueva (Rus) 59.68
6. Gemma Spofforth (Gbr) 59.70
7. Belinda Hocking (Aus) 59.79
8. Fu Yuanhui (Chn) 59.82

Men's 100m Backstroke Semifinals

Glad to see Irie in; he is actually really young (22) and should be in his best form. Hope he bags a medal. Last Olympic's bronze medalist Arkady Vytachanin failed to make it to the finals. 1s faster than the rest of his competitors, Grevers looks set to take the gold, don't you think? ;)

1. Matthew Grevers (Usa) 52.66
2. Camille Lacourt (Fra) 53.03
3. Liam Tancock (Gbr) 53.25
4. Ryosuke Irie (Jpn) 53.29
5. Nick Thoman (Usa) 53.47
6. Cheng Fengyi (Chn) 53.50
7. Helge Meeuw (Ger) 53.52
8. Hayden Stoeckel 53.74

Women's 400m Freestyle Finals

Rebecca Adlington has come a long way. A hero at the Beijing games, she is the first team GB women to win a gold medal in the swim events and the first Brit to win more than one medal at a single games. What a figure! She fails to defend her title, but finished way better compared to her qualifying rounds (I inferred - because she was on lane 8) to bag the bronze. Camille Muffat - a name whom I have never heard before. She led all the way from start to finish, the gold was practically hers to take. 23 year old Muffat participated in the individual medley in Beijing, only making it into the semifinals at best. She switched to focus on a single stroke shortly afterwards and have since shine at world championships. :)) Allison Schmitt gave a good chase from start to finish.

Gold: Camille Muffat (Fra) olympic record 4:01.45
Silver: Allison Schmitt (Usa) 4:01.77
Bronze: Rebecca Adlington (Gbr) 4:03.01

4. Lotte Friis (Den) 4:03.98
5. Federica Pellegrini (Ita) 4:04.50
6. Coralie Balmy 4:05.95
7. Brittany Maclean (Can) 4:06.24
8. Lauren Boyle (Nzl) 4:06.25

Men's 100m Breaststroke Finals

Cameron Van Der Burgh didn't even qualify for the finals in 2008, but he has held the world record in 100m & 50m Breaststroke events since November 2008. I really liked how he celebrated his win. Already confident from the start, he seem to race with a smile to finish. And then he slung himself on top of the lane divider and soak in the moment. World Championships ain't enough for him. Olympics is the real deal and he has done it. Congrats!! Kosuke Kitajima failed to defend his 2x champion titles. His long time rival Brendan Hansen managed to finish 3rd. He was 4th in 2008. It's also excellent maintaining and keeping up, don't you think? :))

Gold: Cameron Van Der Burgh (Rsa) world record 58.46
Silver: Christian Sprenger (Aus) 58.93
Bronze: Brendan Hansen (Usa) 59.49

4. Daniel Gyurta (Hun) 59.53
5. Kosuke Kitajima (Jpn) 59.79
6. Brenton Rickard (Aus) 59.87
7. Fabio Scozzoli (Ita) 59.97
8. Giedrius Titenis (Ltu) 1:00.84

Women's 100m Butterfly Finals

A hero is born! 24 year old Dana Vollmer first broke the American record & the Olympic record in the qualification rounds. And now, she broke the World Record at the finals! She is the first and only women in the world under the 56s mark.
Vollmer made her first Olympics in 2004, when she's just 16. She didn't qualify for Beijing. Dana had a surgery to correct a serious heart condition in 2003 and battles a secondary condition that causes her heart to stop at random.


Gold: Dana Vollmer (Usa) World Record 55.98
Silver: Lu Ying (Chn) 56.87
Bronze: Alicia Coutts (Aus) 56.94

4. Sarah Sjostrom (Swe) 57.17
5. Ilaria Bianchi (Ita) 57.27
6. Jeanette Ottesen Gray (Can) 57.35
7. Claire Donahue (Usa) 57.48
8. Ellen Gandy (Gbr) 57.76

Women's 100m Breaststroke Semifinals

Ruta did it again! She was so overwhelmed that she cried during the heats, but was so confident as she marches out for the semifinals. Alas, another fastest qualification, another Lithuanian record broken. What's interesting is that Sarah Poewe, who failed to make it to the finals this time, swum for both Germany and South Africa. She represented South Africa in 2000 Sydney Games, started representing Germany since 2004. She has a stellar career, won numerous European Championships as well. At just 29 years of age, she has fallen off form. Seems that women's swimmers' peak is about 15-20. D:

I will be rooting for the young Lithuanian! Will you? :D

1. Ruta Meilutyte (Ltu) 1:05.21
2. Rebecca Soni (Usa) 1:05.98
3. Iuliia Efimova (Rus) 1:06.57
4. Breeja Larson (Usa) 1:06.70
5. Leisel Jones (Aus) 1:06.81
6. Rikke Pederson (Den) 1:06.82
7. Satomi Suzuki (Jpn) 1:07.10

Women's 400m Freestyle Heats

-transmission interrupted by le country's 'today at the games' :(-

Rebecca Adlington raises hopes for Team GB

Men's 100m Backstroke Heats

Ryosuke Irie! One of the poster boy in my 2008 blog was there (memory refreshed) as well as Arkady Vyatchanin and Yankov Toumarkin (mat him at YOG). Ryosuke "won", for as far as I know, faster than Lochte back in 2008. Here were the results then:

Gold: Ryan Lochte (Usa) world record 

Silver: Aaron Piersol (Usa)

Bronze: Arkady Vyatchanin (Rus) 

However his suit wasn't approved. And although he's 1:08s faster than Lochte, he was disqualified and stripped off his gold! Yikes. So here are the semifinalists:

1. Matthew Grevers (Usa) (he was just a heats-boy for Usa relay team back in 08!) 

2. Cheng Feiyi (Chn)

3. Nick Thoman (Usa)

4. Camile Lacourt (Fra)

5. Ryosuke Irie (Jpn)

6. Nick Driebergen (Ned)

7. Helge Meeuw (Ger)

8. Liam Tancock (Gbr)

9. Hayden Stoecel (Aus)

10. Vladimir Morozov (Rus)

10. Arkady Vyatchanin (Rus)

12. Jan-Phillip Glania (Ger)

13. Charles Francis (Can)

14. Gareth Kean (Nzl)

15. Daniel Arnamnart (Aus)

16. Aschwim Wilderboer Faber (Esp)

Alezandr Tarabrin of Kazahstan swimming for his life here

Women's 100m Breaststroke Heats

What a swim! Many familiar faces and names here, Leisel Jones, defending champion Rebecca Soni who has been dominant in this field since Beijing, 18 year old Tera Van Beilen who got gold and silver at the 100m & 200m breaststroke events back in 2010 YOG. They all made it to the semifinals. But what made my heart warm is really Rūta Meilutytė, who became the fastest qualifier. I thought she emerged out of nowhere, how ignorant of me. This young 15 year old has broke 9 Lithuanian records since making her appearance in the professional scene. She was so overwhelmed that when she emerged out of the water, she broke down. It must have been the fastest she has ever swam and she couldn't believe it. She out-swam Soni to become the fastest qualifier for the events. I hope she continue that speed! It's gonna be a match to look out for!

Semifinals:

1. Rūta Meilutytė (Ltu)

2. Rebecca Soni (Usa)

3. Iuliia Efimova (Rus)

4. Breeja Larson (Usa)

5. Leisel Jones (Aus)

6. Satomi Suzuki (Jpn)

7. Sarah Poewe (Ger)

8. Jennie Johansson (Swe)

9. Pikke Pedersen (Den)

10. Alia Atinson (Jam)

11. Leiston Pickett (Aus)

12. Suzaan van Bilkon (Rsa)

13. Zhao Jin (Chn)

14. Mina Matsushima (Jpn)

15. Jillian Tyler (Can)

16. Tera Van Beilen (Can)

an emotional Ruta

Men's 200m Freestyle Heats

Park Taehwan returns after an (my prediction) emotional race last night, where he failed to defend his title in the 400m Freestyle. Sun Yang returns after a victorious, historical win in the same event. Also in this race is Ryan Lochte, the current IT-boy I dare say, for the swimming events in this games. Paul Beidermann, the 25 year old from Germany, who holds the world record for both 200m & 400m for long and short course; is also here.

1. Sun Yang (Chn) 1:46.24
2. Ryan Lochte (Usa) 1:46.45
3. Yannick Agnel (Fra) 1:46.60
4. Danila Izotov (Rus) 1:46.61
5. Park Taehwan (Kor) 1:46.79
6. Robbie Renwick (Gbr) 1:46.79
7. Kenrick Monk (Aus) 1:46.94
8. Ricky Berens (Usa) 1:47.07
9. Dominik Kozma (Hun) 1:47.18
10. Paul Beidermann (Ger) 1:47.27
11. Sebestian Verschuren (Ned) 1:47.31
12. Gregory Mallet (Fra) 1:47.39
13. Thomas Fraser-Holmes (Aus) 1:47.50
14. Brett Fraser (Cay) 1:47.74
15. Artem Lobuzov (Rus) 1:47.91
16. Dominik Meichtry (Sui) 1:47.97

Yup that's the semifinals. Gruesome as usual. The fastest and slowest qualifying time is within a second difference. It's all about the milliseconds. All about the milliseconds...

Lochte captured by robotic cam

Rūta Meilutytė Beats Rebecca Soni as Fastest Qualifier

Soni, who has been dominant since Beijing 2008, has been beaten by 15 year old Lithuanian Rūta Meilutytė as the fastest qualifier for the Women's 100m Breastroke. Meilutytė has been deemed the a swimming prodigy, having broke 9 Lithuanian women's swimming records and winning gold at the 2011 Youth summer Olympics.

End of Day 1

*Yawns* It's end of day 1 and it's 4:45am here in sunny Singapore. No worries, it's a sunday and I only need to be up at about...11am. Abit delusional here but would like to get some of my feelings out.

le google icon of le day

I still am awestruck by Olympics and especially swimming. I am amazed by the resilience of the swimmers, and how some could shine under pressure and deliver such incredible results. These people meet each other about twice every year, and they better themselves each year, train while thinking about their fiercest opponent on the other side of the world. Don't you think its just amazing? I was checking their track record but then I got tired of it. Almost all of the athletes you see at the pool held the world record some point in their career. Some are current holders. Some are new, fresh holders. I love how the commentator say "...and the world record holder in right there in the pool in lane..." He or she maybe the idol of his/her competitors in the other lanes, trained against his/her timing for years. It's all about the split seconds, +0.18, +0.02...it could make or break a swimmer. It could cause you your chance in the finals, it will make you lose your gold. 


Yup, the best in the world; they are compatriots, rivals, maybe friends. Without each other they won't be spurred on to swim their best.Sports is beautiful.  Sports is life! Can't live without it. Can't live without sleep, either. Adios my dear friends. Until tomorrow! 


xoxo,
olympic fish