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SWIMMING WORLD BIWEEKLY | DECEMBER 2020 | ISSUE # 24 008 TOM SHIELDS OPENS UP ABOUT WHAT LED HIM TO NEARSUICIDE EXPERIENCE IN 2018 by Andy Ross Toward the end of 2018, Tom Shields—an Olympian, American record holder, NCAA champion and happily married—tried to take his own life. He didn’t go public with this until December 2019, finally opening up in an Instagram post, saying he had tried to hang himself. “This was not a cry for help,” said Shields. “It was more about sharing my experience with it and de-stigmatizing mental health issues.” 010 DI FULVIO, JOHNSON ARE SWIMMING WORLD’S TOP WATER POLO PLAYERS FOR 2019 by Michael Randazzo Ashleigh Johnson—the top goalie on the world’s best women’s team—is Swimming World’s top female player for 2019. It’s the fourth time this decade that she’s been so honored. For the men, in a year when the Italian national team demonstrated that they are Olympic gold medal contenders, defender Francesco Di Fulvio was their best player while leading Italy to a gold medal at the 2019 World Championships and being named the meet’s MVP. 012 DAVE SALO ANNOUNCES THIS IS HIS LAST SEASON AS SOUTHERN CAL COACH by Andy Ross Although Dave Salo announced he will be stepping down as USC’s head swimming coach, he said he will continue to coach the various Olympic hopeful swimmers at Trojan Swim Club through the Olympics. 013 MICHAEL PHELPS SLAMS USOC FOR SILENCE IN FACE OF HIS REVELATIONS OF DEPRESSION by Craig Lord In an interview with Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post, Michael Phelps shares how the USOC leadership responded with silence when he revealed the nature and depth of his struggle with depression and mental-health issues that dogged him during his career as the most decorated Olympian of all-time, all sports. 014 REGAN SMITH SCORCHES 58.26 FOR 100 BACKSTROKE GOLD IN KNOXVILLE by John Lohn Regan Smith’s performances at the TYR Pro Series stop in Knoxville only fueled the massive expectations surrounding her and what she might accomplish at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. 016 CATE CAMPBELL BREAKS HER SILENCE TO SHED FURTHER LIGHT ON THAT FATEFUL NIGHT IN RIO by Ian Hanson Australia’s Cate Campbell, the world record holder in the women’s 100 meter free heading into the Rio Olympics, shared with sportswriter Wayne Smith of The Australian the “real reason” she finished sixth in a race that seemingly all Australia had expected her to win. 020 SUN YANG VS. WADA VERDICT: DAMNING EIGHT-YEAR BAN ENDS CAREER OF CHINESE CONTROVERSY by Craig Lord Sun Yang’s swimming career is over. In a damning judgment, a panel of three senior judges at the Court of Arbitration for Sports handed the Chinese Olympic champion an eight-year ban for violating several anti-doping rules, including chain of custody and tampering. 025 IOC CONFIRMS TOKYO 2020 WILL START ON JULY 23, 2021 by Liz Byrnes The Olympic Games were scheduled to start on July 24, 2020, but the relentless march of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic forced the IOC to postpone the Games for the first time in their history. Tokyo 2020 will now take place from July 23 to Aug. 8, 2021. 028 NCAA SWIMMING CANCELLATION: “POWERFUL STUFF WHEN YOU HAVE TO MESS WITH KIDS’ DREAMS” by Dan D’Addona While everyone seems to be on the same page about canceling the NCAA Championships, it is still devastating to the athletes who will miss their final competitions—especially the seniors. 030 SWIMMERS PREPARE FOR CHALLENGES OF OLYMPIC POSTPONEMENT by Andy Ross The postponement of the Olympic Games first brought a sigh of relief for athletes and coaches everywhere, but with the Games being pushed to 2021, that changes so many things for athletes around the world. 034 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

041 FEDERICA PELLEGRINI RESETS FOCUS TO FIFTH OLYMPICS 17 YEARS AFTER DEBUT by Liz Byrnes Italy’s Federica Pellegrini has reset her sights following the postponement of Tokyo 2020, and is now looking to her fifth Olympics, 17 years after her debut at Athens 2004. Pellegrini won gold in the 200 free at Beijing 2008 and silver in Athens, where she stood on the podium just 12 days after turning 16. 042 THE TOKYO POSTPONEMENT IN PERSPECTIVE: WHAT HAS (AND HASN’T) STOPPED THE OLYMPICS by Matthew De George The Olympic Movement has weathered boycotts and World Wars. It has navigated such international catastrophes as apartheid and the Nazi regime, plus dozens of civil wars and the full gamut of conflicts and chaos. The COVID-19 outbreak’s ability to knock the Olympics out of commission until 2021 is a testament to the virus’ threat to humanity and the gravity of the public-health situation across the globe. 044 OLIVIA SMOLIGA & LIA NEAL GOING BACK TO THEIR ROOTS WITH ZOOM Q&A by Andy Ross Olivia Smoliga and Lia Neal participated in a Zoom Q&A with members of the club teams they grew up with. The sessions were a chance for the two Olympians to give back by inspiring swimmers from their hometowns. 046 CLAIRE CURZAN ANALYZES FIRST MEET SINCE MARCH; DISCUSSES CHALLENGES OF RECRUITING IN PANDEMIC by Andy Ross Sixteen-year-old Claire Curzan, a member of the National Junior Team, set four best times at a TAC Titans intrasquad meet in Raleigh, N.C. in July, and swam faster than the national age group record in all four events. 048 THE GOLDEN YEARS OF HIGH SCHOOL SWIMMING: SANTA CLARA AND MISSION VIEJO by David Rieder Public schools Santa Clara and Mission Viejo built high school swimming dynasties from the 1960s through the early 1980s. Not only did they dominate high school swimming, but unlike today, they also produced many of the swimmers from that era who competed in the Olympics. 052 REECE WHITLEY: “SILENCE IN THE FACE OF INJUSTICE IS COMPLICITY”; URGES ACTION RATHER THAN JUST WORDS by Dan D’Addona Reece Whitley, U.S. national champion and University of CaliforniaBerkeley All-American, took to social media to urge people and organizations to take action instead of just words to help bring people together in the wake of racial tragedies throughout the United States that have led to protests around the nation. 053 ADAM PEATY BLASTS 100 BREASTSTROKE WORLD RECORD IN ISL SEMIFINALS by John Lohn There is no doubt that Adam Peaty is the greatest 100 breaststroker in history, and with a short-course world record (55.49) added to his ledger during semifinals of a recent International Swimming League competition, the British star only enhanced his legacy in the event. 054 AMY BILQUIST LOOKING TO BUILD ON HER FIRST ISL VICTORY FOR DC TRIDENT by Dan D’Addona Amy Bilquist joined the DC Trident this year because she saw the team’s energy in the inaugural International Swimming League (ISL) season and wanted to be a part of it. But with Katie Ledecky, Natalie Coughlin and Cody Miller out for the season, Bilquist immediately became one of the faces of the Trident. Bilquist, who won the U.S. national title in the 100 back in 2019, didn’t disappoint: In her first race in the DC Trident red, she won the 200 back in 2:02.23, the first win of her ISL career. 055 CAELEB DRESSEL PUTS TOGETHER EPIC DAY: TWO WORLD RECORDS AND AMERICAN MARK by John Lohn Caeleb Dressel produced one of the greatest single-day performances the sport has ever seen in the short-course meters pool on the first day of the ISL Grand Final in Budapest. In the span of two hours, he became the first man to break the 48-second barrier in the 100 fly (47.78), added a world record of 20.16 in the 50 free and shaved 2-hundredths off his own American record in the 100 free (45.18). 056 PARTING SHOT

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INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENTS Americas: Matthew De George (USA) Africa: Chaker Belhadj (TUN) Australia: Wayne Goldsmith, Ian Hanson Europe: Norbert Agh (HUN), Liz Byrnes (GBR), Camillo Cametti (ITA), Oene Rusticus (NED), Rokur Jakupsstovu (FAR) Japan: Hideki Mochizuki Middle East: Baruch “Buky” Chass, Ph.D. (ISR) South Africa: Neville Smith (RSA) South America: Jorge Aguado (ARG)

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On the Cover: Amy Bilquist Photo Courtesy: Mine Kasapoglu / ISL

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by Andy Ross

rom the outside looking in, Tom Shields seemingly had everything going for him. He had swum in the Olympic final in 2016, won two national team titles at Cal, broke American records, won NCAA titles, and enjoyed a happy marriage to his wife, Gianna. But toward the end of 2018, Shields admitted he tried to take his own life. But he didn’t go public with this until December 2019, nearly a year after the lowest point of his life.

He opened up in an Instagram post on December 26 saying he had tried to hang himself. “If G didn’t miraculously turn around and come home from her commute I wouldn’t be alive today,” Shields wrote in the post. “She called me out of the blue at a time I normally wouldn’t be reachable, and distracted me til she got back.” Swimming World reached out to Tom Shields to talk about what he had learned from the incident. “This was not a cry for help,” Shields said. “It was more about sharing my experience with it and de-stigmatizing mental health issues.” “I wish I was mature enough to say I needed help. I don’t think I am changing the world, I just wanted to share what I went through.” Shields reflected back on what had led him to nearly take his own life, saying it was a combination of things over time.

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For nearly his entire life, Shields said he had trouble falling asleep at night. But in the fall of 2015 was when he remembered it was getting particularly bad just months before the 2016 Olympic Trials, the biggest meet of his life to date. “I think I took swimming too seriously,” Shields said. “One of my friends had a job lined up in case he didn’t make the Olympic team, but I didn’t. My wife was going through grad school and I got stuck in the mindset of ‘I need to be successful to be able to support myself financially.'” He admits his grades weren’t the best while he was studying at Cal Berkeley, and he admits he didn’t network enough for his out-of-the-pool endeavors. That led to an “all cards on the table” mentality for Shields leading into the 2016 Trials. Ultimately, he made the 2016 Olympic team at age 25, where he would go on to place seventh in the 100 fly, 20th in the 200 fly, and also swam on the gold medal winning 4×100 medley relay team in the heats in Rio. But after Rio, he started thinking a lot about his future, admitting he didn’t attach the right ideas to being a professional swimmer. And the insomnia persisted. In 2017, he tried different pills to help him fall asleep, but he kept experiencing negative side effects. Melatonin did more harm than good. Nyquil wasn’t working either. “You get in your own head too much when you can’t sleep,”

[ PHOTO COURTESY: BECCA WYANT ]

Tom Shields Opens Up About What Led Him to NearSuicide Experience in 2018

Tom Shields said. In 2017, he missed qualifying for the World Championships team by placing fourth in the 100 fly at World Trials, and also missed the 200 fly A-Final altogether. It was the first time he wasn’t on a USA team since 2013. He would frequently blame himself for not doing enough in practices and instead of acting on those doubts that he wasn’t doing enough, like stretching more or eating healthier, he would simply not do anything. He would let the emotion turn into shame and over time things would pile up. He would have a lot of thoughts like ‘why am I still doing this?’ His extreme insomnia was not helping either, and in one particular week in the fall of 2018, he was awake for nearly 72 hours. During this time, his mind would race and would often go to dark places. “I woke up on Sunday morning and came home and didn’t sleep for three days. I lost the ability to motivate myself and I don’t think swimming success would have changed it. I wasn’t doing any sort of soothing techniques to calm myself down.”

get to a point where he would be able to share his experiences, because he was still searching for answers. He admits he is still not all the way there but he felt like it was time to come forward with it, and that’s why he wrote the Instagram post at the time he did. After the inaugural International Swimming League final last month in Las Vegas, he felt like at peace with the thought of being done after the 2020 Olympic Games if he is to make the team to Tokyo. “I would love to make the team and continue to grow as a leader,” he said. “But I have no hard core plans in swimming.” And he felt like this was the right time to come forward with his past struggles, saying he wanted to get his message out there while he was still relevant in the swimming universe. “I waited until it wasn’t weird to talk about it. I tried to do something good by talking about it.” Since he went public, Shields said younger athletes reached out to him with their own struggles.

After being awake for so long, he left his practice without finishing it. In his Instagram post he wrote last week, he said that he thought “I should get out of the way of the people I hurt, I will never get my s*** together, or be worthwhile. I am simply incapable of becoming the person I want to be, so the best course of action would be to die, and cease the pain I bring into the world.”

“This is going to help some people, you hope,” he said in an interview with NBC Olympic Talk. “More than anything, I’d like to shift the conversation. [Suicide] attempts are always going to be a big deal, but I hope that we get to the point where it’s not a big deal to just ask for help.”

But his wife was there to save him before he could harm himself.

Shields wants to get back to loving racing and loving training again, but he already feels like a much better person than he was a year ago.

“She is the most loving and supportive person,” Shields said about her.

“I just remember being angry all the time,” Tom Shields said. Now he is in a much better place. And he is thankful for that every single day. ◀

[ PHOTO COURTESY OF CONNOR TRIMBLE ]

She helped him get to therapy where he learned exercises to improve his mental health. He uses cognitive behavioral therapy worksheets and other breathing and memory exercises, including spelling a long word backwards or using a diary to write down his experiences. He sees a therapist at least once a week. Tom Shields wanted to use his own experiences to help other people who might be dealing with similar circumstances because a lot of people are afraid or embarrassed to admit they need help. But it took him a long time to

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Di Fulvio, Johnson Are Swimming World’s Top Water Polo Players for 2019 by Michael Randazzo | Photos Courtesy Catharyn Hayne

icking the best of anything is never easy. The best croissants in Paris, the best pizza in Chicago, the best pitcher in baseball — many of these decisions come down to personal preference. And are subject to endless second-guessing. Except when it comes to the best female water polo player in the world. That’s easy. Ashleigh Johnson — the top goalie on the world’s best women’s team — is Swimming World’s top female player for 2019. This is the fourth time this decade that she’s been so honored; clearly Johnson, who was an out-sized star at Princeton during her collegiate career, is deserving of a lofty standing. On the men’s side, the choice was not as easy. But in a year when the Italian national team demonstrated that they are gold medal contenders for the upcoming 2020 Olympics Games, defender Francesco Di Fulvio was their best player as well as a key contributor to Pro Recco, the top team in the Italian league. “This was his best season on the [Italian] national team,” Dejan Udovicic, U.S. head coach, said about selecting Di Fulvio for the Total Water polo Player Award 2019. “He won the gold medal and the MVP award at the World Championships.” As Udovicic noted, Di Fulvio led his Italian teammates to a title in the 2019 FINA World Water Polo Championships last summer in Gwangju, South Korea. Not only was it Italy’s first world championship title in eight years — the last time Settebello won gold was 2011 in Shanghai — the win guaranteed the Italians a berth in the Tokyo Games. A member of the Italian squad that captured bronze in the 2016 Rio Games, Di Fulvio has represented his country in 174 matches, and was earned most valuable player honors at FINA Worlds, scoring 10 goals as the Italy enjoyed a perfect

run (6-0) to the title. Last season for Pro Recco, the native of Pescara, Italy registered 57 goals in Italian league play and another 25 goals in Champions’ League play, where Recco finished third in the 2019 Final Eight championship. A member of five Italian league winners, in 2015 Di Fulvio helped the legendary club to a Champions’ League title in 2015, Pro Recco’s eighth, the most in LEN history. His contributions to his professional club and national team were noted by Maurizio Felugo, president of Pro Recco and a legend in Italian water polo. “An extraordinary athlete, the prototype of the modern water polo player: the new rules have enhanced his immense talent, “ Felugo said in an email. “The victory of the world cup with Italy was his consecration. We hope he will repeat his performance in the Champions League finals with Pro Recco and at the Olympic Games in Tokyo”. According to Francesco Grillone, who publishes WaterPoloItaly.com and is extremely knowledgeable about Italian polo, Di Fulvio is a “complete player “— in comparison to Denes Varga, who was picked just ahead of the Italian as the male Total Waterpolo Player for 2019. “He is s defender, a forward, a playmaker,” Grillone said via email “He has a fantastic understanding of the game… the difference between Di Fulvio and Varga is very small.” His father Franco was a member of his hometown’s polo team during the era that the great Spaniard, Manuel Estiarte was leading AS Waterpolis Pescara to international success, including a Champions’ League title in 1988. In a nod to history, Di Fulvio wears cap number 2 in honor of Eraldo Pizzo, one of the greatest Italian water polo players. Johnson’s squad also captured gold at the 2019 FINA Worlds.

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[ PHOTO COURTESY OF MARIANA BAZO ]

In fact, the American women are in the midst of a 68-match winning streak, with no end in sight. With Johnson in nets, Team USA has beaten every contender for Olympic or World Championship titles; the Americans finished 2019 undefeated (37-0) and have gone an impressive 60-1 the past two years. After taking time off following her graduation from Princeton in 2017 — a season in which she became the first-ever Eastern player to win a Cutino Award, given annually to the top American collegiate male and female water polo player — Johnson came back to play professionally in Italy for AS Orizzonte Catania. Since returning last season to full-time netminding duties for U.S. Head Coach Adam Krikorian’s squad, Johnson has seen her teammates outscore the opposition by an astounding 363 goals in those 37 matches. Johnson, along with teammates Amanda Longan and Gabby Stone, surrendered just over six goals a match last year. One keen observer of the the Miami native’s brilliance is Attila Biró, Hungarian women’s head coach. The lead decision-maker for Hungary’s women has seen his squad lose 12 times since he cam on board in 2015. He’s also been up close to Maggie Steffens, Johnson’s teammate who spent a season in Budapest playing professionally for UVSE. In a recent interview, Biró explained his decision to pick

Johnson first for the Total Waterpolo Player Award 2019. “My vote was for Ashleigh with Maggie second and Rita Keszthelyi third,” he said. “In my opinion, Johnson is the best player now in the world, because the goalie is that much more important than 3, 4, 5, or 10 years ago. Now the goalie in water polo must be quicker and stronger. “Johnson the past year definitely was the best goalie, in the U.S. and in the world, so that’s why they’re going to win. Maggie is a fantastic player, a little bit more complex, like [Keszthelyi], mainly on defense, that’s why she was the second, and Rita, a fantastic talent, is third.” Expounding on the changes in the women’s game over the past decade, Biró came down strongly on the side of defense. And, in his opinion — and that of many other observers — no one backstops a defense better than Johnson. “If you have a good goalie you have a better chance to win. It doesn’t matter who is the center-back, or center-forward or the driver, but my opinion, the best team has the best goalie. Ashleigh is playing like a gold medal goalie. Her physical conditioning is fantastic; she’s really athletic, with fantastic leg work, so it’s very difficult to beat her.” Or, dispute that Johnson is the world’s best, which is why she’s our pick. ◀

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[ PHOTO COURTESY: PETER H. BICK]

Dave Salo Announces This is His Last Season as Southern Cal Head Coach by Andy Ross

outhern California head coach Dave Salo announced that he will be stepping down as head coach of the Trojans undergrad team and that this will be his last season. Salo said he will continue to coach the various Olympic hopeful swimmers at Trojan Swim Club through the 2020 Olympic Games. Salo had been coaching the Trojans undergrad team since the fall of 2006 when he took over for Mark Schubert. After a rocky first four years in Los Angeles, he guided the men of Troy to seven top ten finishes in nine years, reaching as high as fourth in 2013 and 2015. In his 12 years as head coach of the women’s team, they finished in the top ten a total of ten times, finishing as high as third in 2011 and 2012. “After thoughtful consideration and discussion with several key people in my life, this 2019-2020 season as USC’s head coach will be my last,” Salo said in a press release from USC. “Following the NCAA Championships I will remain at USC, turning my undivided attention to the preparation of my athletes for the Tokyo Olympic Games. Beyond the Games I will continue my work with the Novaquatics Swim Club and with opportunities that have been presented. I also plan to put in a lot more work on improving my fade-away jumper. “I have spent one third of my life at USC, as a grad student, assistant men’s coach and now as head coach. I will always be proud of the time spent here with the many people that make USC special. I will always reserve a most special place in my heart for the student-athletes and my staff who I hope I have served well. Going forward, I am excited about the future for the USC swimming and diving program with some great talent joining the team in the next few years.” Dave Salo won a combined 22 NCAA individual and six relay titles with the likes of Katinka Hosszu, Vladimir Morozov, Louise Hansson and Rebecca Soni. His 2015 men’s team won the program’s first Pac-12 championship since 1979 and the 2016 women’s team won that program’s first-ever Pac-12 title as he was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year.

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During his time at USC, he also was the head coach of the United States women’s team at the 2013 and 2015 World Championships, and the head men’s coach at the 2018 World Short Course Championships. He also served as an assistant on the US team at the 2012 Olympic Games while he was head coach at USC. Dave Salo’s Individual NCAA Champions at USC Rebecca Soni, 5 Katinka Hosszu, 5 Haley Anderson, 3 Louise Hansson, 3 Larsen Jensen, 2 Vladimir Morozov, 2 Cristian Quintero, 2 Salo’s Relay NCAA Champions at USC Men’s 400 Free Relay, 2013 Men’s 800 Free Relay, 2014 Men’s 800 Free Relay, 2015 Men’s 400 Free Relay, 2015 Women’s 400 free relay, 2016 Men’s 200 Medley Relay, 2018 Before coming to USC, he was the head coach of the Irvine Novaquatics from 1990 to 2006, where he coached Olympic champions Lenny Krayzelburg, Aaron Peirsol, Amanda Beard and Jason Lezak. All four of those swimmers have been inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame. He was the 2002 U.S. Swimming Coach of the Year. He was a USC assistant under Peter Daland for five seasons (1986-90). Last year, Dave Salo’s USC women were 10th at the NCAA Championships and the men placed 20th. ◀

[ PHOTO COURTESY: AZARIA BASILE ]

Michael Phelps Slams USOC For Silence In Face Of His Revelations Of Depression by Craig Lord “How long should I stay silent? I can sit here and be silent for as long as you want, because that’s what I got.” – Michael Phelps

ichael Phelps was ignored by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC, now USOPC after the addition of the word Paralympic in the title) when he opened up about the depression and mental-health issues that dogged him during his career as the most decorated Olympian of all-time, all sports. The most decorated Olympian in history points to the dangers of silence when he says: “I was afraid to say something because I thought I couldn’t.” In an interview with Sally Jenkins at the Washington Post, Phelps is asked how the USOC leadership responded when he revealed the nature and depth of his struggle. Here is how Jenkins describes what happened next: You would like to believe athletes who wear USA on their chests are better cared for these days, after all the ghastly problems. The trouble is, you can’t. Not after you read Dr. William Moreau’s lawsuit accusing U.S. Olympic committee officials of mishandling mental health issues. And especially not after you call up Michael Phelps and ask him what the leadership’s response was to his revelation that he suffered from depression while he was winning gold medals. The phone line practically burns up with Phelps’s answer. At first after you pose the question, there is a dead quiet from Phelps. It stretches on and on, until the silence becomes the point. You realize that contained in it is an angry tension like a buzz on the line. Finally, Phelps speaks. “That’s what I got from them,” he says. Nothing. “How long should I stay silent?” he asks. “I can sit here and

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be silent for as long as you want, because that’s what I got.” Phelps, winner of 23 gold atop 28 Olympic medals 20042016, hopes Moreau’s court battle will expose what he says is “the USOPC’s neglect of athletes’ psychological well-being”, Jenkins reports. In a damning indictment of the Olympic body, Phelps says: “I don’t know of anything they’ve done to help us mentalhealth-wise. There are a lot of us who feel the same exact way, and we’re pretty hurt that they choose not to do anything about it . . . I believe they only care about us when we’re swimming well or competing well.” The USOPC, Jenkins notes, offers access to sports psychologists, but athletes say the focus is enhancing medal performance, not on dealing with serious afflictions such as depression. Says Phelps: “I was afraid to say something because I thought I couldn’t. Then everybody knows. How are we ever going to feel comfortable or safe or confident that we’ll get help, instead of them just running around and blabbing their mouths? All I could do was stuff it down.” Bob Bowman, mentor to Phelps, backed his former charge and wrote on social media: “So proud of MP and his efforts to raise awareness about mental health in athletes who dedicate their lives to their sport.” Phelps has won praise and awards far and wide for his raising of awareness of mental-health issues. Read the Washington Post report in full, including a 2018 response to Phelps’ revelations from a marketing executive criticised by Phelps’ agent. ◀ BIWEEKLY

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Regan Smith Scorches 58.26 for 100 Backstroke Gold in Knoxville by John Lohn

he expectations surrounding Regan Smith and what she might accomplish at this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo are massive, fueled by what the teenager managed at last year’s World Championships. Given what Smith did on the third night of the TYR Pro Series stop in Knoxville, the attention isn’t going to lessen at any point in the immediate future. One night after setting a National Age Group record in the 100 butterfly for the 17-18 category, Smith unloaded a spectacular effort of 58.26 to set a meet record and record the 12th-fastest time in history. The performance Saturday night was the quickest ever in January and, for that matter, the first three months of a calendar year, a fact that lends the mind to wonder what Smith might be capable of doing this summer. Out in 28.36, Smith had a comfortable lead by the turn and remained strong to the finish to post the second-fastest time of her career. Lost in the dominance of Smith was fellow teenager Phoebe Bacon, one of several American women capable of qualifying for the Olympics in the 100 back. Bacon was timed in 58.86.!

Smith nearly added a second victory in the 200 butterfly, where she tangled with reigning World Championships silver medalist Hali Flickinger. Smith and Flickinger raced evenly through their four laps, until Flickinger found a final surge in the last 15 meters to get to the wall first, her time of 2:08.34 14 16

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bettering the 2:08.73 of Smith. Clipped for the gold medal at the World Champs by Hungarian Boglarka Kapas, Flickinger shifted her training grounds in late 2019 from her longtime base at the University of Georgia to Arizona and the guidance of Bob Bowman. The 25-yearold Flickinger is chasing her second Olympic invitation, following a seventh-place finish in the 200 fly in 2016. “I love racing Regan,” Flickinger said. “She’s such a sweetheart and has such a light spirit and I always like racing next to her. I love her to pieces. I could feel her throughout the race, but I was really trying to focus on the little things. I knew she was there, but I had to remember what I was in training for and what I have been focusing on and to not mess with that.” A highly touted age-group performer for many years, Smith surged to a new level at the 2019 World Championships. In addition to setting a world record in the 200 backstroke (2:03.35), Smith led off the United States’ world-recordsetting 400 medley relay with another global standard in the 100 backstroke (57.57). That quickly, Smith became one of the most-hyped athletes for the Olympic season. While Smith is expected to be the woman to beat in both

[ PHOTO COURTESY: PATRICK B. KRAEMER ]

>> REGAN SMITH

[ PHOTO COURTESY: PETER H. BICK]

“That’s the first time I’ve been able to go what I consider fast in-season and after putting on some more weight, I feel healthier than I did last year or two years ago, so I’m pretty excited about it,” Ress said. “I know what I have to do going into the year and it’s going to be really tough. Being a backstroker in America, you know what’s coming. So, I’m using that as motivation.” >> ZANE GROTHE

backstroke events in Tokyo, her gains in other events, especially the butterfly stroke, have created ambitions for a challenging, multi-event program. It would not be surprising if Smith threatens to complement the backstrokes with a fly event and, potentially, duty in the 800 freestyle relay. “It was a tough day,” Smith said. “I was kind of nervous for it and it was kind of hanging over my head. But I’m really happy that it’s out of the way now and happy with how I swam. It felt really good, and I don’t think I could have asked for a better night.” The upset of the night belonged to the University of Tennessee’s Erika Brown, who delighted the home crowd at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center by defeating reigning world champion Simone Manuel. Ahead of Manuel from the start, Brown fended off a late charge by the Team USA veteran to prevail in 24.57, with Manuel touching in 24.63. Brown has enjoyed a strong collegiate season and her profile has continuously risen, to the point where she is a major contender not just to earn a relay spot for the Games, but to secure an individualevent invitation. Brown cut a hundredth of a second off her season best from last year, when she ranked 15th in the world and third among Americans, behind Manuel and Abbey Weitzeil.

Annie Lazor and Will Licon walked away with TYR Pro Series victories in the 200 breaststroke. Lazor covered her race in 2:23.06, a little more than a second clear of Emily Escobedo. As for Licon, he delivered a consistently paced race to finish first in 2:10.34, exactly a second faster than Anton McKee. Licon has unfinished business from the Olympic Trials in 2016, where he placed third and missed a trip to Rio by only .14. The winner of the 800 freestyle on Thursday night, Erica Sullivan went to half that distance on Saturday and reaped the same results. Sullivan supplied a personal-best time of 4:06.36 to notch a three-second win over Allison Schmitt, who won the 200 free on Friday. On the men’s side, Zane Grothe and Kieran Smith went stroke for stroke for eight laps, with just .13 separating at the touch. Grothe got the victory in 3:48.38, with Smith registering a mark of 3:48.51. In other action, Canadian Mack Darragh won the men’s 200 fly in 1:59.29, American Andrew Seliskar (1:59.60) the only other swimmer to break the two-minute barrier. Meanwhile, Dutchman Nils Korstanje topped the field in the 50 freestyle in 22.16. ◀

“About two years ago, I was really struggling with long course,” Brown said. “But my coaches are really great. They’re extra smart so we’ve been working on it every day in practice and that really adds up and pays off.” [ PHOTO COURTESY OF PETER H. BICK ]

The men’s 100 backstroke also figures to be a hotly contested affair at the United States Olympic Trials in Omaha, and Justin Ress plans on being a central player. The North Carolina State product stopped the clock in 53.99 to win by more than a second over Javier Acevedo (55.22). BIWEEKLY

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[ PHOTO COURTESY: BECCA WYANT ]

Cate Campbell Breaks Her Silence to Shed Further Light on That Fateful Night in Rio by Ian Hanson

espected Australian sportswriter Wayne Smith is an old school scribe who has always had a keen eye for the finer points of the game and as a clever wordsmith he tells how it is – you can smell the sweat, you can see the blood and relate to the tears.

100m freestyle with Cate and Bronte Campbell both wearing the famous gold cap – Cate the world record holder held the best Aussie hopes.

He has been around sports grounds and swimming pools for almost 50 years, reporting on anything that bounces and anything that makes a splash.

The starting mechanism sent the field on its way and immediately the keen eye of Smith saw movement at the station and he turned to Colman and said: “Cate just moved.. she broke…I think she’ll be disqualified.”

He was poolside when Duncan Armstrong – a fellow Queenslander caused one of the great Olympic upsets to win gold in the 200m freestyle in Seoul in 1988.

History played out over the next 53 seconds and Campbell had the most disappointing race of her life, finishing sixth – Smith wrote that in his column for The Australian.

He was there again when another great Queenslander Kieren Perkins won gold in the 1500m in Barcelona and then swam the race of his life to do it again from lane eight in 1996 and when Suzie O’Neill and Petria Thomas won gold and silver the same night.

Inside Campbell was shattered, outside she put on a brave face and carried herself like a true champion, as she made her way through a mixed zone of media – a place you really don’t want to be when you haven’t exactly covered yourself in glory.

And when Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett ruled the lanes of gold in 2000 and 2004.

She went into various “melt down stages” from the television interview with Channel 7 to dealing with accepting the fact that she choked.

When another great Queensland girl Stephanie Rice made the medleys her own in Beijing and when Kyle Chalmers and Mack Horton added their names to Australia’s long list of Olympic gold medallists in Rio four years ago.

Campbell has moved on, taking 2017 off, coming back in 2018 to conquer the Pan Pacs and line up next to the best of the best at the Worlds, the Fina World Cups and the ISL.

It was there that he stood next to fellow News Limited sportswriter, columnist and author Mike Colman, like all Australians anxiously awaiting the start of the women’s

She is now preparing for the 2020 Olympic Trials in June as she looks towards a fourth Olympics – to equal Leisel Jones record.

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Smith too will dust off his note pad for a ninth Summer Olympics and in preparation put in a request to talk to Campbell and for the very first time since that fateful day in Rio had the chance to ask her about “that start.” This is his story, published in The Australian this week. It was the biggest race of her life, the 100m freestyle final at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, and Cate Campbell swam it fully expecting to be told at the finish that she had been disqualified. For the first time, Campbell has spoken of the real reason she finished sixth in a race that seemingly all Australia had decided she would win. For the past three years, Campbell has been prepared to let Australians think she choked. Cate Campbell is convinced she jumped the gun in Rio.

>> Wayne Smith

now have reduced her race plan to one or two words, like a professional golfer who whittles down their swing thought to a single key phrase.

Indeed, she herself fuelled that version of events. But there was way more to the story than that …

But on this day, that was all thrown into chaos. Her mind was in a jumble. The last thing she was thinking of was her race plan.

Just before the starting gun had fired in Rio, Campbell had moved on the blocks. She then swam the entire race in the belief that she would be disqualified.

“I was about 90 per cent sure that I would be disqualified,” Campbell recalled. She paused before continuing. “Maybe it would have been a preferable option.”

To this day, Campbell doesn’t know for certain whether she moved enough to warrant being disqualified. The officials no longer drop a false start rope to rein in any swimmers who have left the blocks early. Instead, they allow the race to be swum to the finish and only then break the shattering news to any transgressors.

Had she been scrubbed from the race, it would at least have provided the Australian public with an answer, however unpalatable.

The fact that no blazer-wearing official was waiting for her as she left the pool isn’t convincing proof in her eyes that she hadn’t made a false start. It might simply have been that she had finished sixth, well out of the medals, and the officials were content to let sleeping dogs lie. Had she recovered from the mishap to win gold, silver or bronze … then, perhaps it might have been a different story.

They recall Raelene Boyle’s disqualification at the start of her 200m semi-final at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. And then, of course, there was the graphic image of Ian Thorpe toppling into the pool before his 400m freestyle heat swim at the selection trials for the 2004 Athens Olympics. Anguished images, deeply engraved in the tales of Australia’s sporting tragedies. Images that the public could at least get their minds around. But this was an inexplicable defeat.

“No, no, I moved,” Campbell said.

Campbell had gone into the final with one Rio gold medal already in her keeping, from the 4x100m freestyle relay, where she had executed her race plan flawlessly.

“But I might have been still enough to move again when the starting signal went.”

Cate Campbell gets a hug from her sister Bronte after finishing sixth in 2016.

Campbell looks stunned after her 2016 100m freestyle failure. Campbell is consoled by her fellow competitors.

She had set a world record in the lead-up to the event. But the individual race itself was a shambles. It made no sense.

It was in that anxious and ambivalent state that Campbell hit the water. Under normal circumstances, she would by

“The world got to witness possibly the greatest choke in Olympic history a couple of nights back,” she told Channel 7. CONTINUED >> BIWEEKLY BIWEEKLY

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[ PHOTO COURTESY: SPORT THE LIBRARY ]

She had raised her stroke rate through the roof. Normally, that’s how you recognise Cate Campbell in a warm-up pool filled with hundreds of swimmers, by her long, powerful, very deliberate stroke. Campbell won gold earlier in the meet as part of Australia’s 4x100m freestyle relay team.

>> Ian Thorpe’s unfortunate tumble at the 2004 Australian Olympic Trials

Campbell found herself envying distance swimmers, for the first time in her career. Had she made the same mistake at the start of, say, the 800m freestyle, she might have had time to clear her head, put all the negative vibes to the back of her mind and concentrate on the race. But a 100m event gives none of that luxury. “I won’t say exactly what I said (once in the water) because you won’t be able to print it. But it was along the lines of, ‘holy ….’, I think I have just been disqualified. And then any race plan you had has been taken over by this overarching thought and 100m is not enough time to really reformulate and go again. “I always say that it was probably the first 25m, 35m of that swim that derailed the whole event. I just dumped way too much energy and that was part of it.”

[ PHOTO COURTESY: SWIMMING AUSTRALIA ]

In pure panic, Campbell sprinted to the front of the field, turning first at the 50m. But, like Gary Hall Jnr in his epic anchor leg of his relay race against Thorpe at the Sydney Olympics, she realised almost instinctively that she had overswum the first lap badly.

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But now it was revving, almost out of control, and it was time to pay the bill. She finished in 53.24sec. Her world record at the time stood at 52.06sec. To this day, she is still trying to unravel the events that happened that night at the Estadio Aquatico Olimpico, to determine whether her behaviour on the blocks was cause or effect. “I’m not sure if it was the movement at the start or whether that was a symptom of the mental stress I was under,” she said. Campbell doesn’t break at the start of her races. If anything, she takes way too long getting going. Most swimmers have a reaction time of around 0.6sec. Campbell regularly takes 0.8sec to clear the blocks. Almost invariably she is the fastest swimmer through the water. On the rare occasions that she loses, the margin of defeat can invariably be traced back to her slowness off the blocks. That’s what comes of being 186cm tall. Long levers. The mystery is unsolved but the result remains the same. “Yeah,” she said. “The end result was the same.” Now, in the lead-up to Tokyo, she has to decide whether to keep that lesson firmly in mind. Or to chuck it in the dustbin of history. ◀

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by Craig Lord

un Yang ‘s swimming career is over. In a damning judgment, a panel of three senior judges at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) handed the Chinese Olympic champion an eight-year ban. The penalty is not backdated and starts this day, ruling Sun out of the defence of the 200m freestyle title at Tokyo 2020.

this morning. I believe in clean sport and a level playing field for all athletes and I trust in CAS and WADA to uphold these values.”

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) welcomed the ruling saying that it “confirms those concerns and is a significant result”.

“ASADA welcomes the CAS decision as it restores faith in the anti-doping system. We hold our athletes to the highest possible standards and we expect that those standards are upheld globally.”

That rang true for the testing team that visited Sun’s home in September 2018 only to be met with refusal and, from some of Sun’s entourage, threats, and those who have made a stand against not only Sun but the circumstances and organisations perceived to have given him a lenient, easy ride and even helped to protect him. Mack Horton, who in 2016 called Sun a “cheat” before beating Sun, the defending champion in the Olympic 400m freestyle final, told Swimming World today: “My stance has always been for clean sport. It is not, and never will be about individuals or nations. Today’s outcome does not change my stance.” The other man involved in podium protests against Sun’s presence at World titles last July, Duncan Scott, of Britain, told Swimming World: “I fully respect and support the decision that has been made and announced by the Court of Arbitration for Sport 20 8

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Horton was backed by sports authorities in his country and The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, which said:

One of Horton’s friends and great rivals of both the Australian and Sun, Gregorio Paltrinieri, the Italian Olympic 1500m freestyle champion, told SkySport Italy: “To me this whole story leaves only so much sadness, as always in all cases of doping. I really can’t celebrate because one of my rivals is found positive for doping. I don’t find anything beautiful, I just can’t rejoice. I will say a paradox, I am almost sorry that this news came out “. Pressed to say whether he felt sorry for Sun Yang or for the credibility of the anti-doping system, Paltrinieri replied: “Sorry for him certainly not. My displeasure stems from the fact that Sun Yang has marked my professional growth as an athlete. Since I was a child he has always been my point of reference, he was the champion I wanted to beat, I worked hard to be able to compete face to face with him, I dreamed of challenging him side by side in lanes 4 and 5 (in swimming the lanes of best) and I managed to do it. Knowing now that

[ PHOTO COURTESY: BECCA WYANT ]

Sun Yang vs. WADA Verdict: Damning Eight-Year Ban Ends Career Of Chinese Controversy

there has been the help of doping, really, behind some of its competitions, takes away a little from everything “. Ian Thorpe, five-times Olympic champion, weighed in with: “I definitely supported Mack’s stance at the Olympics and I also felt that the sport should’ve done a better job in making sure there was never a situation where Mack had to stand up on the podium in the first place.” And fellow Olympic champion of Rio 2016, Kyle Chalmers, the 100m freestyle gold medallist, had the back of his teammate, saying: “I am in full support of my teammate Mack … I support Mack and what Mack stands for.” Adam Peaty, the Olympic 100m breaststroke champion from Britain, hailed the verdict a triumph for clean sport. Leading coaches joined the chorus of celebration in swimming, Jon Rudd, now the head of Swim Ireland – in the land of Michelle Smith, the last swimmer to have news of her doping case broken by this author before a public hearing at CAS spelled the end of her career, back in 1998 – said: “Thats of to CAS … the sport has been rescued: it’s literally that big.” In the United States, Olympic teamster and 4x200m free gold medallist of 2008 and 2012, Ricky Berens told Swimming World: “I don’t want to say, ‘it was good to see’, because I hate seeing negative attention brought to our sport. This decision effects a lot of people, Sun Yang, but also the people that he has competed against and knocked off podiums. I can’t remember a penalty like this while I was competing, which goes to show how strong the evidence was stacked against Yang. This decision sends a message to not only our sport, but all sports, that cheaters never win. This Sun Yang saga has been going on for far too long. I hope that this puts an end to it and our sport can move on from it.” Questions For FINA As Sun says he will appeal FINA, the international federation, now faces huge questions about its handling of a case in which it’s role was, at the very least, to remain neutral. The case goes down in swimming and anti-doping history as a thumping reminder that sports federations cannot serve as both police and promoter, the two roles representing a huge conflict of interest. In its statement on the CAS decision, FINA did not refer to any of the issues that demand urgent review of the governance structures, checks, balances and accountability within the organisation. A FINA statement read: FINA has noted the judgement published by CAS today in

the case of WADA versus Chinese swimmer Sun Yang. Notwithstanding any further legal action, and as directed, FINA will implement CAS’s decision with regard to disciplinary action against the swimmer. FINA has also noted CAS’s provisions with regard to the modification of competition results. Sun Yang’s Last Stand: Appeal To Swiss Federal Tribunal The decision of the CAS brings to an end one of the most controversial careers in swimming history. There is one option left to Sun and his legal team: they can challenge the CAS verdict at the Swiss Federal Tribunal, a legal authority beyond CAS in Switzerland, where the Court of Arbitration, as well as FINA, is based. Sun has already said that he will appeal the ruling. The Swiss Federal Tribunal (SFT) has the power to issue a stay on any decisions in sport pending judgement of the Swiss court. That could leave the door to Tokyo 2020 ajar. However, in past sports cases, the Swiss court has only issued a stay where there have been no objection from the opposing party, in this case WADA. It is highly unlikely that that WADA would let a plea for stay in Sun’s case go unchallenged under the circumstances: where other cases have involved issues of financial recompense or human rights, the swimmer’s case and judgement speaks to the WADA Code, the CAS decision based on anti-doping rules not wider international conventions and precedents. The Tribunal’s role: The CAS is subject to the more general legal framework of international arbitration in Switzerland regulated through the Swiss Private International Law Act (Swiss PILA). The Swiss PILA emphasizes the parties’ autonomy in the conduct of the arbitration proceedings and limits the intervention of state courts to the strict minimum. Within this context, arbitral awards are final upon their notification and can only be challenged before the Swiss Federal Tribunal (SFT) on a very limited number of grounds, exhaustively enumerated in Art. 190(2) PILA. Although a “limited” role tis bestowed upon the SFT, Switzerland’s Supreme Court has so far rendered numerous judgments in motions to set aside CAS awards. The SFT has significant influence on how CAS operates and CAS judges are aware of relevant conditions when they make their judgements. The SFT controls both the legality of CAS as an arbitral institution and the legality of CAS awards. The SFT may confirm, reject or more generally interpret some of the procedural provisions of the CAS Rules and the law applicable to the merits of cases. Those With Questions Yet To Answer If one aspect of the story ends this day, the CAS decision does not bring an end to the issues that led to a decision that affects a swimmer but leaves in place, as things stand, the entourage of doctors and scientists and anti-doping agents and bosses who contributed to the downfall of an athlete. Continued >> BIWEEKLY

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[ PHOTO COURTESY: CRAIG LORD ]

There is also a question left for FINA to answer: Doping Rule DC 10.8 requires the federation to cancel all results from the date of the offence, which was September 4-5, 2018. As such, Sun Yang should forfeit his 2019 World titles over 200m and 400m freestyle. However, the CAS ruling specifically says that given a lack of evidence of actual doping in September 2018, the rule for cancellation of results should kick in from this day of the CAS judgment. Sun would also escape under the rule that allows cancellation of results achieved up to six months prior to an offence: February 28 leaves us at August 28, 2019 going back six months: a few weeks after Gwangju action and the controversy of podium protest by the nowvindicated Mack Horton and Duncan Scott, both warned and heavily criticised by FINA, were history. Below are the CAS decision; the statement from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) welcoming the verdict; and a backgrounder on the saga: The CAS issued the following statement: SUN YANG IS FOUND GUILTY OF A DOPING OFFENSE AND SANCTIONED WITH AN 8-YEAR PERIOD OF INELIGIBILITY Lausanne, 28 February 2020 – The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has upheld the appeal filed by the World AntiDoping Agency (WADA) against the Chinese swimmer Sun Yang and the Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA). As a consequence, Sun Yang (the Athlete) is sanctioned with an eight-year period of ineligibility, starting on the date of the CAS award. Following a conflictual anti-doping test at the residence of Sun Yang in September 2018 which resulted in the testing not being completed, the matter was initially referred to the FINA 10 22

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Doping Panel (FINA DP) which found that the International Standard for Testing and Investigations (ISTI), the protocol adopted by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for the conduct of doping controls, had not been properly followed. Therefore, the FINA DP invalidated the sample collection. As a consequence, the FINA DP determined that the athlete had not committed an anti-doping rule violation. WADA filed an appeal at CAS against that decision, asserting that Sun Yang had voluntarily refused to submit to sample collection and requesting that a period of ineligibility between a minimum 2 years and maximum 8 years be imposed on him. The arbitration on appeal was referred to a panel of CAS arbitrators, composed of Judge Franco Frattini (Italy), President, Mr Romano F. Subiotto QC (Belgium/UK) and Prof. Philippe Sands QC (UK), which held a hearing on 15 November 2019. Further to the parties’ request, the hearing was conducted in public. The CAS Panel unanimously determined, to its comfortable satisfaction, that the Athlete violated Article 2.5 FINA DC (Tampering with any part of Doping Control). In particular, the Panel found that the personnel in charge of the doping control complied with all applicable requirements as set out in the ISTI. More specifically, the Athlete failed to establish that he had a compelling justification to destroy his sample collection containers and forego the doping control when, in his opinion, the collection protocol was not in compliance with the ISTI. As the Panel noted, it is one thing, having provided a blood sample, to question the accreditation of the testing personnel while keeping the intact samples in the possession of the testing authorities; it is quite another thing, after lengthy exchanges and warnings as to the consequences, to act in such a way that results in destroying the sample containers, thereby eliminating any chance of testing the

sample at a later stage.

WADA issued the following statement:

Considering that, in June 2014, the Athlete was found guilty of a first anti-doping rule violation (ADRV), the Panel concluded that, in accordance with Article 10.7.1 FINA DC, an eight-year period of ineligibility, starting on the date of the CAS award, has to be imposed on the Athlete for this second ADRV.

Montreal, 28 February 2020 – The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) welcomes the ruling of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in relation to WADA’s appeal against the Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) disciplinary panel decision in relation to an incident that led to a doping control involving Chinese swimmer Sun Yang not being completed as planned.

Considering that FINA refrained from seeking the imposition of a provisional suspension on the Athlete when charging him with an anti-doping rule violation that doping tests performed on the Athlete shortly before and after the aborted doping control in September 2018 were negative, and that in the absence of any evidence that the Athlete may have engaged in doping activity since 4 September 2018, including on the occasion of the FINA World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea in July 2019, the results achieved by the Athlete in the period prior to the CAS award being issued should not be disqualified. The Arbitral Award will be published on the CAS website in a few days, unless the parties agree that it should remain confidential.

WADA had lodged the appeal on the basis that Sun Yang voluntarily refused to submit to sample collection as per the terms of the World Anti-Doping Code (Code) and the related International Standard for Testing and Investigations. WADA notes the sanction handed down by CAS and is satisfied that justice in this case has been rendered. WADA Director General Olivier Niggli said: “WADA decided to appeal the original FINA ruling having carefully reviewed it and having concluded that there were a number of points that seemed to be incorrect under the Code. Today’s CAS ruling confirms those concerns and is a significant result. We will now need to take time to review the decision in full, and we will continue to review diligently all anti-doping decisions taken by Code Signatories to ensure they are in line with the Code and, when warranted, to exercise our independent right of appeal.” Continued >>

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The Background Sun Yang was handed an eight-year ban after a panel of three senior CAS judges upheld the charge of “tampering” brought by WADA At a hearing in Montreux last November, WADA challenged a January 2019 ruling by a three-man FINA Doping Panel to issue only a caution to Sun, 28, over a four-hour argument that raged through the night with out-of-competition antidoping testers outside his home in Zheijiang Province in September 2018. The FINA decision was to have been kept private but a Sunday Times report by this author on January 27 last year revealed the severity of the caution handed to Sun – and promoted WADA to delve more deeply before it lodged a case with CAS last March. The swimmer, who failed to deliver a urine sample on the night of September 4-5, 2018, submitted to a blood test, signed off the sample but was then, two hours into the session when his doctor, Ba Zhen, arrived, party to arguments that led to a security guard being asked by Sun’s mother Ming Yang, to fetch a hammer. According to Sun and the CAS hearing, the blood sample has been removed from the chain of custody by Dr Ba Zhen, who was twice penalised for supplying a banned substance to Sun in 2014 – once for the offence and then a second penalty for having worked with Sun at the Asian Games at a time he should have been serving a suspension. Once the Sun entourage had taken the sample back from testers, the outer casing of the vial was smashed with the

hammer by the security guard as Sun shone his smartphone torch on proceedings. Sun and his lead team had argued that the three testing officers who arrived at his home had not presented valid proof of identity and authority. This was rejected by the CAS judges. Instead, they sided with WADA lead counsel Richard Young, who stunned the CAS hearing when he revealed what WADA aimed to catch Sun for: “Tearing up the form, smashing the bottle, I mean that is pretty sensational but he was nailed on a tampering violation before any of that happened.” Sun’s penalty is the first eight-year ban to be imposed on China since then-deputy head coach to the country, Zhao Ming was barred for the same period in the wake of the China Crisis of the 1990s, when more than 60 swimmers, all barring a couple teenagers, tested positive for a range of banned substances, including steroids, human growth hormone, blood booster EPO and diuretics. Remaining questions revolve around Sun’s entourage and what penalties they may face, though the Chinese Swimming Association said that it would support Sun’s appeal to the highest Swiss court. That case is unlikely to be heard before the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, where Sun had hoped to defend the 200m freestyle title he claimed in Rio in 2016. Sunyangmon3 In Montreux at the hearing last November, WADA Counsel Richard Young referred to “concerns over intimidation and protection issues”, while his co-counsel Brent Rychener highlighted several times in crossexamination of witnesses the threats and warnings, as he described them, made by members of Sun’s entourage to the testing officers, including exchanges involving the swimmer’s mother, the head of the Chinese Swimming Association and two doctors, namely, Dr Ba Zhen, a man twice-penalised by WADA in 2014-15, and Dr. Han Zhaoqi, head of the Zheijang AntiDoping Centre. Those characters, among others in the Sun Yang story, go unmentioned in the overview CAS ruling but there is a case, giver that Sun said that it was Dr Ba Zhen who had taken the blood vial back from the chain of command, for imposing a third and final penalty on a doctor described by a source close to the international federation as “more dismissive of the WADA Code than is healthy for any athlete or sport.”◀

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1 IOC CONFIRMS TOKYO 2020 WILL START ON JULY 23, 2021 by Liz Byrnes

he International Olympic Committee has announced that Tokyo 2020 will take place from July 23 to Aug. 8, 2021.

The Olympic Games were scheduled to start on July 24, 2020 but the relentless march of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic meant they were postponed last week for the first time in their history. The IOC said they would take place no later than summer 2021 and there had been some talk of a spring Games but confirmation came on Monday with the dates of the Paralympic Games also announced as running from August 24 until September 5, 2021. It does though beg the question of when the World Championships, due to take place in Fukuoka, Japan from July 16 to August 1, 2021 will go ahead with reports in Australia claiming they will run from mid-August 2021 although no official decision is expected until next month. Governing body FINA released a statement saying they were working with the Fukuoka organisers on a revision of those dates. The confirmation came following a teleconference on Monday involving IOC President Thomas Bach, Tokyo 2020 President Mori Yoshirō, Tokyo governor Koike Yuriko and Olympic and Paralympic Minister Hashimoto Seiko. The IOC said the decision was taken with three main considerations being taken into account: “To protect the health of the athletes and everyone involved and to support the containment of the COVID-19 virus. 8

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“To safeguard the interests of the athletes and of Olympic sport. “The global international sports calendar.” The IOC also noted that a July 23 start to the Games would give the health authorities as much time as possible to deal with the coronavirus and its ensuing chaos across the world. “Humankind currently finds itself in a dark tunnel. These Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 can be a light at the end of this tunnel.” Pertinent given the observations of Kosuke Kitajima, the four-time Olympic champion and Tokyo resident, last week when he told Swimming World: “I am still a little bit sceptical as to whether people in Tokyo really understand about this virus – especially in the light of globally what is happening overseas and the trend there. I understand when people say it’s not time right now for sport. “Because it is something we ourselves are not familiar with, we don’t know people who have contracted the virus. “It still feels like something far off to us. In other words, we are not feeling the real urgency or the desperation ahead.” There was also confirmation that athletes that had already qualified for Tokyo 2020 will retain their spots while quota places will be unaffected as Tokyo will remain the Games of the XXXII Olympiad. ◀ BIWEEKLY

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NCAA Swimming Cancellation: ”Powerful Stuff When You Have to Mess With Kids’ Dreams” by Dan D'Addona

fter the NCAA swimming championships were cancelled because of the coronavirus, the emotional toll of the monumental decision began to rise. Anger. Sadness. Disappointment. Devastation. While everyone seemingly is on the same page about this having to happen, it still is devastating to athletes missing their final competitions — especially the seniors. It leads to an endless list of: “What ifs?” for NCAA swimming. “That is the biggest things, the ‘what ifs?’ It was such an abrupt end,” Michigan senior Miranda Tucker told Swimming World. Tucker was a senior poised to make a run at the NCAA

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swimming title in the 100 breaststroke. “It hurts a lot, I am not gonna lie. I had been feeling the best I had all year. Everything was going in the right direction,” Tucker said. “I finally had a true belief in myself. I am capable of great things and I was ready to let it rock.” She was not alone. Seniors across the country were looking to make their final mark on the sport. “My first heart-felt thoughts go out to the seniors. It is an absolute nightmare. It is powerful stuff when you have to mess with kids’ dreams,” Georgia coach Jack Bauerle said. “It is like all dressed up and nowhere to go. All the banners were in the pool when we got there, the place looked perfect and then no meet. It was a downer.” How about the team race? Would Stanford’s depth reign supreme again? Would upstart Virginia or Cal or Tennessee

[ PHOTO COURTESY: DAN D'ADDONA]

>> Miranda Tucker

be able to catch them? Could Michigan and NC State break into the trophies? Could Florida surge back into the top 10? Would USC’s relays propel the Trojans even higher this year? For the women’s meet, the list of senior contenders is nearly too long to list. Cal’s Abbey Weitzeil, Wisconsin’s Beata Nelson, and USC’s Louise Hansson were all looking to cement their legacy after winning national championships last year. Stanford’s Katie Drabot was looking for a redemption meet after how her junior NCAAs went. “It is not easy at all. I wish I had a chance to show everyone what I have been working for this year. This is not the way I wanted to end my senior year. But it is more important to stay safe and stay healthy and try to get back to a normal life,” Drabot said. “One thing that has really helped me is that it is not just me. So many people are experiencing the same thing. That at least is comforting. But I really feel bad for those seniors who same in their last meets without them knowing.” NC State’s Ky-lee Perry was looking to prove she was an elite sprinter with a fast finish. Georgia senior 200 free specialist Veronica Burchill, OSU miler Molly Kowal, Tennessee’s Tess Cieplucha, Louisville’s Grace Oglesby and Minnesota senior breaststroker Lindsey Kozelsky were all in line to win their first individual title. How about the what-could-have-been battle between Weitzeil, Tennessee senior Erika Brown and Arkansas senior Anna Hopkin in the sprints? Or the backstroke seniors with Nelson, Kentucky’s Asia Seidt and Ali Galyer, Florida’s Sherridon Dressel, Virginia’s Megan Moroney and Texas’ Claire Adams.

“We can’t just give up. There is still the Olympic trials and the future ahead of us,” Tucker said. But some of the seniors who missed out are finished. Some made the NCAA meet for the very first time and will never get that experience. “This is for the greater good and beyond sports,” Tucker said. “But you can’t deny that it is hurting a lot of us. Everything was going great and we were ready to go. We sat down and Mike Bottom’s voice started to crack. I am going through the stages of grief. I was in disbelief, then anger. This is another thing we have to adapt to. This is something that we are all still trying to piece together. There is still the understanding that this is something that had to happen for those around us. If one of us got sick, it would affect all of us.” Tucker’s career has been full of adversity, which doesn’t make this any easier, but has helped her deal with it. “I have had so many things happen to me in my career help me respond to this. My whole career has been a bunch of rocky roads, tackling my physical health and mental health. If I was able to get through all of those obstacles, this is just another one,” she said. “I hope that this all calms down soon so people can get back to work. But the biggest things is staying healthy and taking care of everyone else around you. It is so much better in the long run. I truly feel for the seniors who this was the end.” Just about everyone agrees that these drastic measures had to be taken, but the sting and the “What ifs?” will never go away.◀

Those are just a few of the elite seniors who made the NCAA swimming women’s meet.

For Tucker, Nelson, Weitzeil, Perry and others, that hope is aided by the fact that their swimming careers are not over. They are hoping to compete at the U.S. Olympic trials.

[ PHOTO COURTESY OF PETER H. BICK ]

“I have been keeping contact with a lot of seniors around the NCAA. Lindsey (Kozelsky) and I have been texting each other. We are all in this together,” Tucker said. “All the swimmers have banded together making sure we are all OK and trying to give each other hope.”

>> Abby Weitzeil BIWEEKLY

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>> Grant House

Swimmers Prepare for Challenges of Olympic Postponement by Andy Ross | photos by Peter H. Bick

he coronavirus pandemic had caused the world to go into a frenzy the last few weeks. Athletic events were being cancelled left and right. Facilities were closing down. Sports, what was once a form of escape during times of panic like these, was suddenly completely wiped away from our lives in a matter of what felt like the blink of an eye. With roughly four months still to go to the Olympic Games, the coronavirus pandemic could not have come at a worse time. Athletes everywhere were struggling to find places to train. Gym equipment became nearly impossible to get their hands on. While in the United States, the NBA, NHL, March Madness, and spring sports seasons all came to a screeching halt, the Olympic Games were still set for a July start date. With Olympic Trials season right around the corner for many and a large percentage of the world’s athletes quarantined to their homes, training was not a feasible option. The International Olympic Committee had insisted that the Games would go on as scheduled and the COVID-19 pandemic would not be any reason to cancel or postpone the Games. Only three times in history have the modern Olympic Games been cancelled. The 1916, 1940 and 1944 Games were cancelled because of world wars, but no Games had ever been postponed. No matter what decision the IOC would come to, it would have been a historical one. So on Tuesday March 24 when the IOC officially announced that the Olympic Games for Tokyo would be pushed back another year to 2021 to ensure safety and fairness for all

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involved, it was a huge sigh of relief for athletes and coaches everywhere. “It was really really stressful trying to find training time and trying to get pool space with no pools open but after the news dropped, the dire need for water time has gone down significantly,” said USA national team member Erica Sullivan. “Now I am just trying to focus on dryland and a good weight regimen that I can do in my own house so I can stay safe.” But with the Games being pushed to 2021, that changes so many things for athletes around the world. 2020 had a nice ring to it and it rolled off the tongue. Not to mention the symmetry in numbers made the logo a catchy one. 2021 does not have that same effect. For some, 2020 was supposed to be the end of a long road with their respective club teams before they head off to college this fall. 18-year-old Carson Foster, who is a favorite at the Olympic Trials in both IM races as well as the 200 freestyle, graduated from high school early to fully focus on swimming before heading to Trials this summer, and eventually the University of Texas in the fall. Not being able to finish out with his club team, the Mason Manta Rays and head coach Ken Heis, is a bummer, but he still plans on heading down to Austin to join his brother Jake and the talented group with Eddie Reese and Wyatt Collins.

“Obviously that has crossed my mind and I’m sure it has crossed every person who is a senior in high school and in contention,” Foster said. “Changing up training is obviously not what you want to do before an Olympic year but I am confident that a year down at Texas is only going to make me better and I’m not worried about it. “I am sad to have to leave Mason behind next year. I know that was something Ken (Heis) and I were really excited about to try and make a push for the Olympic team as a club swimmer and especially do it for the city of Mason because of all of the stuff they have provided for me and all the ways they have helped our team.”

>> Carson Foster

“I’m bummed about that but I have 100% confidence in Eddie and Wyatt and that team and training environment so the plan as of now unless something drastic happens, I will still be heading down to Texas next fall.” For Erica Sullivan, 2020 was supposed to be her shot to make an Olympic team before she headed to the University of Southern California in the fall. Sullivan graduated high school in 2018 but deferred her enrollment so she could continue to train under coach Ron Aitken to try and make a spot on the Olympic team for open water. The qualification for the 10K starts a year in advance, so she stayed an extra year to try and earn a spot at the 2019 Nationals. She fell a spot short in finishing third at nationals. But she has emerged as a favorite in the pool 1500, where she still has a great shot to finish second at Trials behind Katie Ledecky. But it gets trickier for Sullivan. When she committed to USC and decided to defer her enrollment, the original plan was to join head coach Dave Salo in the fall after the Games. But Salo has since stepped down as coach of the undergrad team, and the next head coach is still not known. If she defers her enrollment another year, she would be a 21-year-old freshman. “I still don’t know who my coach is yet so I don’t want to make any decisions before I have to,” Sullivan said. “I think we are just going to wait until we get news from USC and sit down with my family and with Ron and whoever the new coach is and make some decisions from there.” For Arizona State’s Grant House, he took an Olympic redshirt this year to be a full-time swimmer and not have the stress of class weighing over him while he chases his dream with coach Bob Bowman. House was set to begin his junior year this fall no matter what happened at the Olympic Trials whether he made the team or not. He was a contender in the 200 freestyle and will still be among the mix for 2021. But this is an unprecedented time, and it is not know at the moment what will be made of

Olympic redshirts. “I can’t even imagine. If they’re not going to give the winter sport athletes back a year right now, then I doubt someone with an Olympic redshirt will fall under that or if there was any room for consideration,” House said. “As of right now, it looks like I will be back in school and training but we will see how that develops. Maybe if winter sport athletes get a year back, I wouldn’t be opposed to another redshirt year but obviously there are circumstances with eligibility, academics that also need to be taken into consideration.” House and Foster grew up together in Ohio, and still check in daily to keep up with each other. They have both tried to stay as positive as possible during this time. “Luckily there is postponement,” House said. “Ultimately I can’t control when they decided to postpone them to or if they were going to have it or not. What I can control is my preparation. The week before and the morning of, I was still preparing for Trials to be in June and for the Olympics to be in July. But now we are just going to prepare for it to be a year away and getting ready as we can. Now it is just a longer time to prepare and get ready for game time.” Every athlete will react to the year-long postponement differently. Most have been positive thus far. 35-year-old Ryan Lochte is chasing his fifth Olympic berth, which would make him just the third American swimmer to do so. He wanted to view the year-long postponement in a positive light. “I get to have another year of training and another year of getting better,” Lochte told Swimming World. “Working on my technique and getting stronger in and out of the water. I think I’m going to become an even better and faster swimmer than I am right now.” His long-time rival Michael Phelps is retired, but still took notice of the postponement. In an interview with NBC Sports’ Tim Layden, he went over how he would have reacted to a CONTINUED >>

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fall after the Olympic Trials and had set her mind on retiring after the summer. But like Schmitt, she has to make a major decision: chase her athletics dream and delay med school, or cancel her Olympic dream and pursue her degree. Cox still has not decided on where she will attend med school, and then a decision will have to be made to see if she can defer her enrollment so she can still go for the Olympics.

>> Erica Sullivan postponement if it occurred in each of his last three trips to the Games: 2008 (Beijing, where Phelps won a record eight gold medals): “I was totally locked and loaded,” he said, “But I had broken my wrist six months before the Trials and I was still getting better, I would love to have had another year.” 2012 (London, where Phelps was undertrained, disinterested and careening toward the crash that would come two years later, still won four golds and two silvers): “If the Olympics had been moved to 2013, I would have straight punted,” said Phelps. “I would not have shown up. That was the mental state I was in. I was mailing everything in, anyway, and I couldn’t have done that for another year.” 2016 (Rio, where Phelps closed out with those five golds and one silver, a triumphant finish to his career): “I would not have given up,’’ said Phelps. “No way in hell. I wanted to finish something that I hadn’t finished right. I don’t know what it would have looked like with a year off, if those games were postponed, but I would have found a way. The climb back to the top of that mountain was the best time I had I my career.” Phelps’ good friend Allison Schmitt is still swimming, and aiming for a fourth Olympic berth in Tokyo at the age of 29. She is training at Arizona State alongside House and coach Bowman. According to The New York Times, she put off her Master’s degree in social work at Arizona State after spending the 2019 spring semester completing internships, which she thinks the stress caused her to poor under her expectations at the World Championships. With the Olympics being pushed back a year, she is left in a bind. Does she put off her degree for another 12 months? Or try and juggle studies and training? It is worthy of noting that Schmitt’s best year of her career, 2012, was while she was taking a year off of school at the University of Georgia. Again this is an unprecedented time, and the answer is not certain what will happen in regards to deferred enrollments, For Madisyn Cox, she was set to start medical school in the 12 32

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“There are a few moving pieces that factor into whether I will be able to do so or not,” Cox said. “The first being the dates of both the Games as well as the start dates of medical schools I am still looking at. Another piece of it being which medical school I actually end up going to and if they will let me defer a year so that I can train. Like I said, I’m going to try my best to work it out so that I can swim.” US national team member Zane Grothe, who is a month away from his 28th birthday, will be chasing his first Olympic team spot in Tokyo next summer. As for his post-swimming plans, he ensured he was still going to swim past 2020 so this doesn’t change anything for him. “I’ve been a swimmer a long time now. What is one more year?” Grothe said. “As far as current training goes, I will have to get crafty. Indiana is currently on lockdown for two weeks. I’ve already been out of the water a week, too. I don’t mind taking a break from swimming but I’d really not like to be out of the water for more than a month. I’ll be doing calisthenics, yoga, abs, body weight circuits, and running to stay in shape the best I can. 2012 Australian Olympian Tommaso D’Orsogna, now a Western Australia Swimming Board Member, wrote a letter to his WA Olympic aspirants: “You face a new challenge now, on an unprecedented scale,” wrote D’Orsogna. “Extraordinary challenges can produce extraordinary results, but they require extraordinary strength and determination. Those that face this challenge with optimism, with innovation and creativity, will come out stronger than any single season of training could possibly make them. “Some will falter and give up, they will blame the situation, but success was never meant for them. Others will thrive, they will grow and steer themselves. To them, this is not a challenge, but an opportunity to prove themselves, to show they have what it takes to succeed – To be the best. “So, who will you be? The choice is yours and yours alone. Keep training, keep improving, keep pushing. Keep going.” There are positives and negatives to the postponement. “Most of my friends that I have met through swimming are closer to my age,” Foster said. “Fortunately for us another year will probably benefit us more than hurt us. We are lucky we are only 18, 19, 20 years old and we will continue to get better with age and keep getting stronger. I think we are lucky

in this situation.” Even though mostly everyone is quarantined in their own homes during the pandemic, many have kept in touch with their peers. “I’ve been checking in with Ashley (Twichell) the most,” said Sullivan. “At times like this, the most you can do is look back on memories and think back to something that made you laugh. Ashley and I were talking about how a year ago we were sitting in our room at Yeosu at Worlds, talking about the Olympic team in the next year and if only we knew all this back then.”

“But obviously everyone is in the same boat, I wasn’t the only one swimming well this summer. It’s motivation to keep working for another year. It feels far away now but it’s only a year out. It’s not that far away.” House, who is still in Tempe, had a lot of his ASU teammates go home while campus was shut down. He is able to train with the postgrad group which includes Schmitt, Worlds medalist Hali Flickinger and Arizona grads Giles Smith and Brad Tandy, and has taken on the role as ‘little brother’ with the postgrads.

Twichell, who will be 32 by the time the Tokyo Olympics finally come around, is already on the team for Tokyo by virtue of her top ten finish at the 2019 Worlds in the 10K. It is highly unlikely she will give up her dream when she has already qualified. But one more year is a long time to wait for someone with a grueling training schedule like her.

“They treat me like an equal which is very appreciated and respect goes around with all of us as well,” House said. “But it’s been nice to have to be around my peers reacting to this situation and it has kept me more calm and levelheaded. Having all that experience around me – it’s helped me immensely.”

The same goes for Grothe, who will be 29 by the time the 2021 Trials will roll around. But he has reaped the benefits of leaning on his friends in swimming who have been dealt the same cards.

These are just a few stories that have been affected by the Olympic postponement. The disruption to a four-year plan that had been set in stone can be a detriment to some and a benefit to others.

“The swimming community is an amazing group and we will all be coming together (not physically #socialdistancing) to help each other out,” Grothe said. “I’m ready for this adventure and for doing my part for our country to heal.”

“It’s going to be interesting,” Sullivan said. “It’ll definitely show who is the most resilient in the next year. I’m excited to see what the team is going to end up being.”

Foster still keeps in touch with members of the World Juniors team from last summer like Luca Urlando, who he had been training with a lot this year. Foster, Urlando and Regan Smith were all Olympic hopefuls that will be starting at their respective colleges in the fall. Foster will be at Texas under Eddie Reese. Urlando will be at Georgia under Jack Bauerle. Smith will be at Stanford under Olympic head coach Greg Meehan.

Everyone will react differently, but it will be rewarding for all of us when we finally get to Tokyo 2021 after a five-year wait. ◀

“I think ever since January, I have been really hitting my stride in training,” Foster said. “I haven’t rested at any meet this year since US Open so I was looking forward to showing my cards at the end of the summer at Trials and I felt really good where I was at and what my chances were.

[ PHOTO COURTESY OF PETER H. BICK ]

Their seemingly perfect plan of going to college and starting a new Olympic cycle under a new coach has been disrupted, and they have kept in touch with each other during this crazy time to have each other’s backs.

>> Erica Sullivan BIWEEKLY

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Federica Pellegrini Resets Focus To Fifth Olympics 17 Years After Debut by Liz Byrnes

ederica Pellegrini has reset her sights following the postponement of Tokyo 2020 and is now looking to her

fifth Olympics, 17 years after her debut at Athens 2004. Pellegrini won gold in the 200 free at Beijing 2008 and silver in Athens, where she stood on the podium just 12 days after turning 16. There was double disappointment in London in 2012 with two fifth places in the 200 and 400 before desolation in Rio de Janiero four years later when she was locked out of the medals by one place over four lengths. ‘La Divina’ had qualified for Tokyo 2020 but the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic meant it was moved back a year to July 2021 when she will be days from her 33rd birthday.

With 17 years separating her first and final Olympics, it would be astonishing should Pellegrini reach the podium. The ‘Lioness of Verona’ has shown no signs of slowing down in desire or achievement and last year claimed a 200 free medal for the eighth consecutive World Championships when she won gold in Gwangju, South Korea Her’s is a career to pore over but it still has some way to run starting with Tokyo 2020 in 2021. And what of the European Championships the following year? The Foro Italico the stage where Pellegrini reigned supreme at the 2009 worlds. Who knows? Hard to imagine the court without its queen but for now the 31year-old is resetting her focus to Japan. Pellegrini appeared on the Tutto Convocati show on Radio 24 where she said: “The dream is to chase the fifth Olympiad, I’m on board. “I set myself the goal of the fifth Olympiad, I have had a 26

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career of really many years. “I’m not worried about the reasons, but in a year in swimming many things change, maybe in a year a new girl comes out.” Neither did Pellegrini want to look too far ahead, saying: “Ready for 2021? Wait a minute, let’s get out of this quarantine and get back on track. We professionals are losing a lot of work, we lose a lot.” Italy has been in lockdown since 9 March because of the pandemic which has seen the death toll in the country exceed 20,000. Some measures are now being relaxed but it is hard to see when life will get back to normal – whatever that means given the impact of the coronavirus across all levels of society. Pellegrini has raised 66,050 euros for a hospital in Bergamo – the epicentre of COVID-19 in Italy – by auctioning off 59 items of memorabilia including the goggles she wore enroute to 200 gold in Beijing. Pellegrini will welcome sport’s return when it does eventually happen and she hopes all sports will be recognised not only football. “Sport is secondary to health, but secondary to nothing else, when sport can be restarted. “I am sorry to hear only football these days, football brings money and the sales, but all other sports also exist. “Health comes first, but when you start to open certain activities again, one of the first must be sport, at least for athletes of national interest.” ◀ BIWEEKLY

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by Matthew De George

ews of an Olympic postponement rippled across the world, not just for its symbolism in the coronavirus pandemic but for its sheer unprecedented nature. The Olympic Movement has weathered boycotts and world wars. It has navigated (often unsuccessfully but still without pause) such international catastrophes as Apartheid and the Nazi regime, plus dozens of civil wars and the full gamut of conflicts and chaos. The COVID-19 outbreak’s ability to knock the Olympics out of commission until 2021 is a testament to the virus’s threat to humanity and the gravity of the public-health situation across the globe. It’s only the fourth time in 14 decades of the modern Olympics that the Games have been postponed or cancelled. It’s notable to look at not just what has caused Olympic postponements before, but what massive events haven’t moved the Games in the way that coronavirus has, to appreciate the enormity of the moment. THE CANCELLATIONS: 1916, 1940, 1944 The 2020 Tokyo Games falls in line with these three for the ignominy of not going on as scheduled. This installment stands alone for, 1) not requiring a World War, and 2) having the possibility of continuing at a later date. But the IOC’s pattern of handling such decisions remains applicable. The 1916 Games were supposed to be held in Berlin, but the outbreak of World War I made that impossible. There were mooted discussions in 1915 about moving the Games to the United States, which didn’t enter the war until April 1917. Even then, the notion of nations engaged in war with each other competing together was far-fetched, and the overwhelming majority of Olympic nations and power was housed on a European continent riven by war. All Olympic meetings were suspended from 1915-18, making the 1916 cancellation little more than a formality. The 1940 Games present a prescient parallel to the IOC operations of the present. Despite Europe again exploding into war, the Games were officially on until April 1940, what 14 42

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the Associated Press then called, “a football for the world’s war lords for three years.” The decision to cancel was shockingly delayed in retrospect. The 1940 Games were awarded in 1936 to Japan. They were touted as the first Eastern Olympics, but there was immediate buyer’s remorse after seeing how the Nazi regime politicized the 1936 Berlin Games and the increasing imperialism of Japan, which invaded China in 1937. By the following summer, citing a scarcity of resources in a war effort, a growing movement to boycott the Games from the West and a retraction from the global stage, Japan relinquished the Games. Hosting duties went to Helsinki. But when Germany invaded Poland and the Soviet Union invaded Finland in the fall of 1939, those Games were doomed to become a Missing Olympics. (There’s an interesting theory about a 40-year curse in the Olympics, from the 1940 Tokyo Games to the 1980 Moscow Games that the U.S. and many western nations boycotted to the 2020 Tokyo Games. Buckle up for the 2060 Mars Games?) The IOC, though, continued to try to operate as normal. In 1939, it awarded the 1944 Games to London. Such was the ensuing battle and cost of lives to all of Europe that a 1944 cancellation hardly needed to be announced. THE GAMES THAT WENT ON: 1968, 1972 AND 1996 Many Olympic watchers waited weeks to see how the IOC would react to coronavirus. And compared to historical perspectives, this year’s actions to postpone were relatively swift and decisive. Often in face of past crises, the IOC has opted to barrel forward. The biggest black eye for the Olympic Movement since World War II, even more than Cold War boycotts of 1980 and 1984, was the 1972 Munich terrorist attack that killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches. Orchestrated by the Black

[ PHOTO COURTESY: ROB SCHUMACHER-USA TODAY SPORTS ]

The Tokyo Postponement in Perspective: What Has (and Hasn’t) Stopped the Olympics

September Organization, a Palestinian terrorist group, the attack also killed a West German police officer and left five terrorists dead. It delayed the Olympics for about a day, and even that was deemed monumental. Events continued even as the standoff with the terrorists, who had broken into the Olympic village to capture hostages, raged. The attack began in the wee hours of Sept. 5. By the evening of Sept. 6, after 80,000 people gathered in the Olympic Stadium for a public mourning, the Games continued, as decreed by Avery Brundage, the 84-year-old outgoing IOC president. “The Olympic peace was broken by a murderous attack by criminal terrorists,” read an IOC statement. “The entire civilized world condemns this barbaric act with disgust.” What remained of the second week of competition was diminished. Mark Spitz, who’d won seven gold medals in the Games’ first week, fled Germany, fearing that his Jewish heritage would make him a target. Members of the Norwegian and Dutch delegations withdrew from the Games, as did the entire Egyptian and Syrian squads. Terrorism blighted the 1996 Games in Atlanta with the bombing at Centennial Olympic Park. A pipe bomb went off just after 1 a.m. outside a concert venue July 27, killing one person and injuring more than 100 (a cameraman also died of a heart attack on the scene). mike-burton The bombing was condemned in the harshest of terms by American president Bill Clinton, realizing the country’s fears in what was called, “the largest peacetime security operation for a public event in American history.” But after consultation with his cabinet and Congress, the Games continued with minimal interruptions.

in Continuing Student Clashes The student demonstrations came to a head Oct. 4, a story that warranted Page 1 treatment by the Times: “Deaths Put at 49 in Mexican Clash; 500 wounded after troops fire on students at rally – 1,500 taken prisoner.” What was then known as La Noche Triste (the Night of Sorrows) involved hundreds of students being fired upon by soldiers in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas. No official death toll has ever been tallied from the Tlatelolco Massacre. It was the culmination of a summer of protests by students, leading to skirmishes with police and the government seizing arms. Here’s the way the New York Times, in a stunning series of rhetorical hairpin bends, navigated it: “The atmosphere has grown particularly threatening since Wednesday night, when the conflict again exploded into a violent gun battle in which at least 30 people were killed. But despite the tension, the Olympics still seem to have the wholehearted support of most people, and visitors will find them friendly and eager to please. And most of the city looks festive, even if some of its citizens do not feel festive, and some of its sections still show the signs of battle.” The IOC, though, never wavered on its commitment to Mexico City. Like the 1940 Games, this was seen as a pioneering one, the first Olympics in the global south. So Brundage brushed the ideas off as “student manifestations,” even as the death toll climbed. In 2020, it’s taken the IOC weeks to weigh its decision, trying to balance the billions of investment from Tokyo in the Games with the needs of athletes and spectators the world over. But in ignoring its original four-week timeline and deciding more quickly, the IOC of today may end up in better standing than its predecessors. ◀

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Sept. 23: HUNDREDS SEIZED IN MEXICO CLASHES; One Killed and Dozens Hurt During a Night of Fighting by Students and Police Students and Police Clash Throughout Mexico City

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Sept. 24: 40 Are Wounded in Mexico City As Police Clash With Students

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Sept. 25: Students Fight the Police Through the Night 3 Are Killed and Many Injured in Mexico City Battle

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Sept. 26: Mexico City Death Toll Increases

[ PHOTO COURTESY OF ISHOF ARCHIVE ]

Both of those Games were underway by the time terror intruded. But the 1968 Games were a different story. And as utterly unprecedented as the current situation is, the circumstances in Mexico City present parallels. Consider these headlines, from the New York Times, ahead of the Oct. 12 opening ceremonies:

>> Mark Spitz (top) dives in the water during the 1972 Olympics BIWEEKLY BIWEEKLY

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by Andy Ross

s the world continues to be stuck in their homes during the coronavirus pandemic, it has helped bring some people closer together. With the Olympic Games being pushed back to 2021, the dire need for training has gone down for athletes chasing their Olympic dreams, providing opportunities out of the pool that they wouldn’t normally have. Americans Olivia Smoliga and Lia Neal participated in Zoom Q&A last month with members of the club teams they grew up with. Smoliga did a Q&A with age-group swimmers in Illinois, while Neal did a session with swimmers from her home club, Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics in New York. “Illinois Swimming had reached out to my former club coach, Steve Iida at Glenview Titan Aquatic Club (now Glenbrook Swim Club) so they reached out to him and then Steve reached out to me,” Smoliga said. “We were talking through email and then we just did it.” “I reached out to the administrators I had emailed before and the coaches and asked if I could do something with them,” Neal said. “I was asked to do something with Milo Cavic’s team, King Aquatics, so I figured if I am going to speak with another team, I should speak with my own club team that I grew up swimming on. I see them every so often when I do go home and train and I know they are very receptive to me. I figured this would be the perfect time to talk to them one on one. This opportunity doesn’t come too often and I just wanted to provide them with that. I would have loved to have that resource at that age.”

your best and be as limber and ready to go as possible, just quick reaction muscles. I was just walking through the things I do in a meet warm-up. Yoga, stretching, jumping rope.” “We Were Once in Your Shoes” The sessions were a chance for Smoliga and Neal to give back to their roots by inspiring swimmers from their hometowns. At one point, they were on the other side as age-group swimmers — sitting wide-eyed at swim clinics listening to established Olympians talking about their careers. “I went to a Northwestern swim camp up in Evanston and I don’t know how old I was but Amanda Weir came to talk to us,” Smoliga said. “We were in a classroom and she was telling us she listens to Reggae before she swims, that she eats a dozen eggs a week, I still remember it to this day. It was really meaningful to me because I wanted to be in her position one day so of course I took everything she said as bible. “And lo and behold in 2016 I was on an Olympic team with her. I told these kids the same thing — this Olympian came to talk to us, I was so inspired. I told them at the end of the call, maybe we can be on an Olympic team together, or cross paths in the future. If you really want to do it, anything is possible. I remember everything every Olympian told me.

Neal was able to talk to swimmers from each age group at Asphalt Green, including her 9-year-old nephew Rome.

“I’ve been raised in Illinois, I swam club in Illinois, and actually a handful of swimmers from the now Glenbrook Swim Club were on the call,” Smoliga continued. “It was like I was giving a virtual speaking clinic so-to-say. It means more coming from Illinois — it is the best state! You know how it is.”

“It was cute to have him on the call and he asked a good question,” Neal said. “It was ‘how do I warm up at meets?,’ and I said you need to make sure you are ready to perform at

“I went to a clinic that Ian Crocker and Josh Davis did,” Neal said. “I got to social kick with Ian and I think he even remembers that because we talked about it years later. It was

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[ Photo Courtesy: FINIS ]

Olivia Smoliga & Lia Neal Going Back to Their Roots with Zoom Q&A

really cool to be able to be on the other end of this. I was second in his lane and I was right behind him. It wasn’t a hard practice but I was keeping up pretty well and I remember he mentioned that like ‘hey, you’re pretty fast.’ “I would absorb everything because technique was a major thing that I paid attention to throughout my swim career, I wasn’t thinking ‘when am I going to be in that position in leading a clinic?’ I was just learning as much as possible.” Smoliga is aiming for her second Olympic team next year while Neal is pushing for her third trip to the Games. They are both three years out of college and have had tremendous success in the sport. What stuck out most to them in the Q&A’s was getting asked questions that turned out to be more complex than they thought. “I think the questions that are always harder to answer are when kids ask ‘what do you do when you plateau? or have a hard season? or don’t reach the times you want to reach?'” Smoliga said. “Those are hard for me to answer because not everyone is the same. The only answer I can really give is ‘if it doesn’t work out for you the first season if not the second season, if not the third, it might work out the fourth season so just keep going and not give up. “Don’t be too hard on yourself because I consider myself a late bloomer. I wasn’t really good until I was 14 or 15 and then I took off about 17/18 coming into college. My success was very compact and it grew and grew and grew. I feel like it is still growing. I think kids tend to get discouraged because they are comparing themselves to everyone around them rather than focusing on their own journey so that is the most important piece of advice that stuck out during the conversation.” “One of the high schoolers asked what is the difference between swimming in college and how do you prepare for that,” Neal said. “That was really relevant for them because they’re on the cusp of college. That was a question I really had to think about because that is such a huge difference that no one really prepares you for. I was like ‘I’m sorry this sounds so cliche but you have to figure it out on your own.’ You just have to go into it knowing college swimming is really different and will expect so much out of you. Not only are you going from high school to college and you are being given all these new freedoms and you have to make all these decisions for yourself, but in addition you are also swimming for your school and representing them. “In addition to a whole new training regimen, you also have to figure out ways you are putting your best self out there and you can represent your school the best way possible. A lot of the supplementary stuff like nutrition, because you don’t have your parents cooking for you anymore, or rationing out food, or recovery, because no one is telling you to go to

sleep at a certain time or just making sure you are balancing your academics along with practice and making sure you get enough rest as well. It’s just a lot to think of, and a lot of trialand-error, especially your freshman year. That was a simple question but there are a lot of layers to it.” Olivia Smoliga & Lia Neal’s Journey Smoliga and Neal are quarantined in separate states — Smoliga is in Illinois at her parents’ house, Neal is in her childhood home in Brooklyn — but they’ve kept in touch. Most of the conversations involve lighthearted memes. “We are both on Instagram a lot so we DM each other mostly funny memes or good music,” Smoliga said. “We don’t really talk about swimming much.” They have been friends for nearly ten years now, starting with their first international trip together, the 2011 Junior Worlds in Peru. Their friendship has taken them to an Olympic Games, two World Championships, and a spot on Team FINIS. While they are quarantined, they are excited to connect with the next generation of swimmers. Smoliga, even if she wasn’t quarantined, said she would have still done the Q&A in the middle of training for Olympic Trials. “To me I was just talking to a younger version of myself,” Smoliga said. “That’s kind of how I see it when I do clinics and I get to travel — giving advice or things I wish I would have known when I was younger. I view it as I’m talking to a younger me.” Neal used the opportunity to share how she has kept busy, including starting a YouTube channel, researching things she wouldn’t have time to do during training and practicing as a DJ. “I have been kept busy with using it as time to practice DJ’ing,” Neal said. “I bought my DJ set at the end of last year and have not used it as much. I’ve also been researching and reading up on anything I’ve been curious about and this time has been the perfect time to work on YouTube and filming and editing because that is time consuming in itself. When I mentioned I had a YouTube channel, I noticed some of the kids faces lit up, I guess they were surprised I had a YouTube channel.” All in all, Smoliga and Neal loved reconnecting with their clubs. “It’s nice because not only are you feeling like you are giving back to the swimming community but it is a point of reflection,” Smoliga said. “It was really cool, especially in your hometown. It is pretty special. I think a lot of my friends who are pro swimmers have had experiences like this already but I guess there are a lot more opportunities now. Every tidbit of positivity is great for a younger swimmer.” ◀ BIWEEKLY BIWEEKLY

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by Andy Ross

s the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage the United States, many people in the swimming community have wondered when the sport can return to normal. Since March, getting swimmers in the water to practice has been a challenge, posing the question: when can we have swim meets again? What will swim meets look like? How can we assure the safety of our swimmers when they are on deck and in the water?

since been lifted starting August 1. With the pressure of performing off, the swimmers were able to really let loose, and see what they had in them as they get racing reps back under them.

There is still a long way to go to get swimming back to normal, per se. Summer meets everywhere have been canceled by USA Swimming. But in Raleigh, North Carolina, there were some signs of hope for the future of the sport.

“I wouldn’t say expectations because I don’t really look for time stamps or setting times but I have seen myself in the few weeks that we’ve been back feeling pretty good in the water and feeling pretty strong,” Curzan said. “I’ve been going faster than I typically go which is always good to know. I wouldn’t say I had any expectations going into this weekend but I was just excited to get back to racing.”

The TAC Titans, one of the gold medal clubs last year, held an intrasquad meet for all its swimmers to see where they are at in their first meet back in nearly four months. 16-year-old Claire Curzan, a member of the National Junior Team, set four new best times over the weekend, and swam faster than the national age group record in all four events. Not only was it hope that swim meets can return, but hope that swimmers will be able to go best times again. “It was definitely nice getting back because racing in practice is one thing, but being able to put on a knee skin and get up on the blocks and race people is totally different. It has been really nice to get back,” Curzan told Swimming World. USA Swimming was not going to be sanctioning any meets in the month of July, meaning that no times from this past weekend’s intrasquad would officially count. That rule has 46 14

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After such a successful weekend, the question had to be asked: were there any expectations laid out beforehand for herself?

Curzan swam elite level times every time she raced, causing people all over the country to raise their eyebrows at her results. • • • •

50 free: 21.51 100 fly: 50.03 100 back: 51.01 100 free: 47.23

The event that Curzan has been able to make a name for herself so far has been the 100 butterfly. As a 12-year-old in 2017 she broke her first national age group record in that event. As a 15-year-old she made her first Nationals A-Final, where she solidified her first international team trip to the World Juniors in Budapest last summer. But in her first meet

[ Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick ]

Claire Curzan Analyzes First Meet Since March; Discusses Challenges of Recruiting in Pandemic

back since the Speedo Sectionals in March, she was looking forward to the 100 freestyle the most. “My freestyle in practice has been feeling really good. I was kind of excited to do the race and see where I was,” she said. “The 50 free stood out to me the most,” Curzan said about her times this weekend. “Going into the meet with the first race, you never really know what to expect so it’s a gauge where the rest of the meet is going to go. So to be able to go a best time in the 50 free and go the time that I did – it was really exciting.” As for her 100 fly swim which unofficially put her seventh all-time, all Curzan had to say: “I was super happy with it. Any drop is always good.” Claire Curzan had been out of the water for nearly six weeks before TAC Titans was able to get back to the pool to train. With USA Swimming recommended guidelines in place, Curzan has been training just two hours a day at 9 – 11 a.m. as well as three dryland sessions a week since May. She had taken on running during her time out of the water, and was able to swim in backyard pools while strapped to a tether. During the quarantine, the main focus was stroke maintenance rather than any aerobic work, so when she got back to full training she wouldn’t feel like a fish out of water. “I definitely think the tether stuff really helped, keeping my feel for the water and making sure my strokes were technically pretty good. Getting back into the full practices transition wasn’t that bad.” Since being back, one set that has stood out has been a test set of timed 400s, which she loathes every time the topic comes up. “In the beginning we did these test sets to get back in shape so it is a four-week progression. The first week you do 1×400 for time and the next week 2, all the way up to 4. It’s always a fun anticipation to get up to the 4x400s but after that it’s a big relief.”

summer to lighten the load for junior year. “Bruce (Marchionda) has a master plan in place for her to sleep in, so that’s been a refreshing thing to do which is nice, and she loves her sleep, to have a lighter load junior year, still with AP classes, to have some flexibility. The school has been really accommodating with it to make this cycle to work in her favor.” But with Curzan entering her junior year, that also welcomes the world of college recruiting. And in a world where she is unable to make official visits to campuses to see them with her own eyes, it can be overwhelming, especially for one of the most sought out recruits in the country. “Everyone has been super great about it. Everyone has been understanding with scheduling and everything, and they’ve been really good. I don’t know how to describe it,” Curzan said. She is keeping her options open and hasn’t narrowed down her search to a top five, hoping to study somewhere in the math or science field. “The calls have been good. I have been able to meet the coaches which has been nice. I think they are going to start some Zoom sessions to meet the team to kind of go in place of the recruiting trips so I’m hoping those come around eventually. Right now everyone has been doing a really good job of making sure I understand the program I’m learning about.” The last few months have been difficult for all swimmers, and Curzan is no exception. She was ready to make some noise at the Olympic Trials just a few days before her 16th birthday, but when the news came out that the Olympics wouldn’t be happening this year, it was hard to process. “At first it was hard because you have a goal in mind and a set date, so learning that the date has been pushed back a year has been hard to wrap your mind around at first. But it’s been nice to have the pressure off for a little bit, and just being able to enjoy training again and getting to really experience the process again.”

Curzan is just a month or so away from starting her junior year at Cardinal Gibbons High School in North Carolina. There is still the uncertainty of whether she will attend school entirely online or in the classroom, but with an Olympic year now upcoming (again), Curzan’s course load will be lighter to ease her stress as she trains for a spot on the team headed to Tokyo.

Getting back to see her friends at practice has been what has kept her calm during this time of so many uncertainties.

“With the Olympic delay, we were set up with additional time to practice her sophomore year and had it mapped out and then this COVID thing happened,” Claire’s father Mark Curzan said. “They’ve been really understanding at Cardinal Gibbons in Raleigh and taking some pass/fail classes over the

With Curzan’s monstrous swims this past weekend, she has entered a lot of people’s minds as a potential spoiler pick to make some noise at next year’s Olympic Trials, and has certainly left college coaches around the country salivating at her versatility in the short course venue. ◀

“It’s really helped having organized practices because being able to be there with my teammates and feeding off their energy and being able to train with them has really helped drive me.”

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>> George Haines (left) built arguably the greatest high school swimming program ever at Santa Clara, and Mark Schubert tried to replicate that success in Mission Viejo.

The Golden Years of High School Swimming: Santa Clara and Mission Viejo by David Rieder

Public schools Santa Clara and Mission Viejo built high school swimming dynasties from the 1960s through the early 1980s. Not only did they dominate high school swimming, but unlike today, they also produced many of the swimmers from that era who competed in the Olympics. **********

f the entire U.S. swim team assembled for the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, 13 of them had trained in one pool—at Santa Clara High School in northern California under Coach George Haines. Among Haines’ swimmers at the 1964 Olympics, Don Schollander was the star of the Games, winning gold medals in the 100 and 400 free along with two free relays, and Dick Roth and Donna de Varona earned the inaugural Olympic gold medals in the men’s and women’s 400 IM. By today’s norms in swimming, a club team of high schoolaged swimmers packing an Olympic team would be stunning, but in the 1960s, no college scholarships existed for female swimmers, and there were no professional opportunities beyond college for men. Therefore, the patience and steady development that today’s coaches practice for their young swimmers would have been worthless. Teenage swimmers had to take advantage of their brief window to excel.

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George Haines: Great Coach, Teacher and Person And to give themselves the best chance at excelling, they turned to Haines, who coached a then-small Santa Clara Swim Club and the Santa Clara High School team. Haines also worked as a high school P.E. instructor, and he had previously also coached the high school lightweight football team. Schollander moved from his home in Oregon to live with a family in Santa Clara so he could swim for Haines. While living apart from his family, Haines became a father figure for Schollander. On weekends, Schollander would accompany Haines to coaches’ clinics as a demonstrator, and the two bonded during that time. On deck, Haines would quickly adapt and react to fit the needs of his swimmers on a daily basis, and he would vary his workouts to keep his swimmers mentally fresh. “A lot of coaches just write the workout on the blackboard and then just sit there. He was very, very involved, not only motivating us, but he was always correcting in our stroke technique. I had a tendency to drop my left elbow on freestyle. He would just look at me and touch his elbow,” Schollander said. “Just a great, great coach and a great teacher, great person. That’s what he was.” De Varona, who had qualified for the 1960 Olympics as a

prelims relay swimmer, spent the following year at Acalanes High School, where her brother was a senior, for a “normal” high school experience, but after that, she moved from the Berkeley, Calif., area to the South Bay and Santa Clara so she could swim full time with Haines. During her three years swimming at Santa Clara, de Varona said, “We broke world records in workout.” Typically, she would swim with the superstar boys in the group except during the boys-only high school swim team, when that was not allowed. The girls would sit in the stands and cheer on the boys in high school competition, and then, during the summer, the group would train together in eliteonly morning workouts.

Shortly after that, Finneran, now Sharon Finneran Rittenhouse, decided that she, too, wanted to swim with Haines at Santa Clara, where she would be training with everyone she would need to beat to make the Olympic team. (Claudia Kolb, the next world record holder and the eventual Olympic gold medalist in both the 200 and 400 IMs in 1968, was also training in Santa Clara.) De Varona eagerly accepted the arrangement, believing that the two would make each other better as rivals training together. So Finneran moved from Los Angeles by herself, without her family, to Santa Clara.

[ Photo Courtesy: Swimming World]

In 1962, de Varona traveled to Osaka, Japan, where she roomed with fellow American Sharon Finneran and raced Finneran in the 400 IM—and the two repeatedly traded the world record, with Finneran ending up with the final record at 5:21.9.

>> Donna de Verona

When she arrived, Haines put Finneran with the male distance swimmers, while de Varona swam on the other side of the pool in the middle-distance workout, so the two did not race each other every day in practice.

and incorporate them. And he had an ability to make each swimmer feel special, as if they were his favorite.

“We could still compete every day and not have a head-tohead competition,” Finneran said. “He was able to soften that whole competitive thing so that all of us could swim in the same pool and not be enemies and not have that stress of every single day having to go head on with the person you had to beat to make the Olympic team. He was remarkable for that. It was a genius the way he did his workouts so that everybody was able to be comfortable.”

“George had a knack for, before the race, even if your rival was your teammate, making you think that he wanted you to win,” de Varona said. “I would never tell Sharon what George told me, and Sharon would never tell me what George told her. But years later, we were laughing over it because I thought I was his favorite, and Sharon thought she was her favorite. George had that ability.” And the pattern of immense success continued: Haines would put an amazing 16 swimmers on the 1968 Olympic team, with Kolb, Jan Henne and Mark Spitz all winning gold medals, and another 10 swimmers on the 1972 team, when Spitz won his then-record seven gold medals.

In the potentially anxious environment, Haines could masterfully defuse tension and break up the monotony of tough practices. He often flipped chairs with his feet, offering swimmers the chance to get out of practice if he failed to land the chair straight up. Schollander recalled one time during the summer when he jumped into the pool fully clothed after Kolb put up an impressive practice effort. He would solicit opinions from his swimmers and from other coaches

Mission Viejo: Following in Santa Clara’s Footsteps In 1972, Mark Schubert first moved from Ohio to California as head coach of the Mission Viejo Nadadores. For years, he had read about Haines and his high school and club teams at Santa Clara, and he aspired to put together a similarly successful program. And indeed, Mission Viejo became the high school swimming mecca of the 1970s and 1980s, just like Santa Clara a decade earlier.

Continued >>

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Although the Mission Viejo High School principal offered him a teaching job so he could continue coaching for the school, Schubert picked club. He recommended a coach named Mike Pelton to take over the high school team, and his stronger swimmers continued to train with the club team during the high school season. The high school team kept winning, and Schubert encouraged all his swimmers to swim for their high schools, maybe skipping some easier meets during the season, but always gearing up for the league meet and the CIF championship. Some, including Shirley Babashoff, attended other area schools, but Goodell, Jesse Vassallo and Dara Torres were among those who swam at Mission Viejo High School.

[ Photo Courtesy: Don Chadez ]

“I got involved with swimming as a high school swimmer in Akron, Ohio. I’ve always had a love for high school swimming,” Schubert said. “I think it’s a valuable experience. I think the team aspect, swimming for your high school classmates and swimming for your school, it’s kind of like swimming in college, and I want them to have that experience.” Goodell remembers his senior year in high school, 1977, when Mission Viejo won its first national team of the year honor. The team had set a goal to dominate Swimming World’s mythical competition, and Mission Viejo High School even held a pep rally for the swim team before the CIF meet. Even with their sights set on even higher ambitions in swimming, proving their mettle as the country’s best high school swim team had major value.

>> Brian Goodell

When Swimming World began naming national high school teams of the year in 1971, Santa Clara won four of the first five (boys’ titles), and then, the Mission Viejo girls and boys each won a whopping ten public school titles each between 1977 and 1987. A year after beginning his tenure with the Nadadores, Schubert started coaching the high school team as well, and Mission Viejo took second at the CIF (California Southern Section) Championships behind the efforts of a freshman named Brian Goodell. The following year, Mission Viejo won the first CIF title in the school’s history. At that meet, Schubert said, “Brian Goodell and Tim Shaw raced head-to-head in the 500, and they were both under the current American record. This wasn’t NCAAs. This was CIF high school kids. Of course, both of those kids ended up making the Olympic team two years later.” After that, the CIF passed a rule where a coach could not work with his high school athletes out of season, so he had to choose between his club and high school coaching jobs. 20 50

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“It was a stepping stone to bigger and better things, like college scholarships and NCAA Championships and Pan American Games and the Olympic Games,” Goodell said. “I don’t think it was the be-all, end-all in any case, but it was a byproduct of the fact that we had bigger goals and were working hard to be the best in the world.” Vassallo, meanwhile, moved from Puerto Rico to Florida and then to Mission Viejo in 1975 when he was 14. His father moved the family to California “strictly for swimming,” and he called swimming for Schubert and with swimmers like Goodell a “heck of an experience.” While still in high school, Vassallo won gold medals in the 200 back and 400 IM at the 1978 World Championships. From high school competitions, Vassallo’s standout memory is “the way we dominated,” he said. “We could do pretty much whatever we wanted,” Vassallo said. “If we wanted to go 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 in the 500 free, we could have packed it up. Relays, we could have had the two relays. It was pretty impressive. It felt pretty powerful to be a part of it.” Meanwhile, the Mission Viejo Nadadores became the country’s top club team, with a pre-eminent goal of winning U.S. Nationals and putting swimmers on the Olympic team.

Six Nadadores qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in 1976, along with several more international swimmers who had moved to Mission Viejo to train, from countries like Great Britain, Australia, Brazil and the Netherlands. Still in high school, Goodell won gold in the 400 free—edging out Shaw and reversing the CIF finish from a few years earlier—and 1500 free, and he smashed world records in both events. Following that success, more top swimmers began moving to Mission Viejo to train with Schubert, and the Nadadores kept putting more swimmers on Olympic teams, with four qualifying for the U.S. team for the 1980 Games and six in 1984.

>> George Haines and Mike Bottom

A New Era of Swimming The 1960s was the era of Santa Clara, and in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Mission Viejo became the center of the American swimming universe. In the contemporary swimming era, it’s rare for many of the best high school swimmers in the country to train together in one place. “I think there are more good coaches and good programs around the country, and I think that’s really helped American swimming a lot,” Schubert said. And at the same time, the sport has become much older. College scholarships did not exist for women until the passage of Title IX in 1972, so swimmers like de Varona basically had no path forward in swimming after high school. Up through the 1980s, even after the Olympic ban on professionals was lifted, no swimmer could afford to swim past college. Unlike today’s age of long, professional swimming careers, this era of high school swimming focused on big success at a young age.

[ Photo Courtesy: Bob Goff, Swimming World ]

“We even had T-shirts that said, our motto was, ‘Think Nationals.’ In those days, we didn’t have Junior Nationals,” Goodell said. “It was either you made Nationals or you went to Junior Olympics. That was it. I didn’t want to get left behind. I got left behind on the team going to Nationals in 1973. They all got out of the pool to go to the airport. That felt bad. I didn’t want to be left behind again.”

Every swimmer who qualified for the 2016 U.S. Olympic swim team was at least one year past their high school graduation, and while some very young female swimmers have achieved success (like Missy Franklin and Katie Ledecky), no American high school-aged male swimmer has qualified for the Olympics since 2000. So for all the greatness of the Santa Clara and Mission Viejo dynasties, it’s unlikely we will ever again see high school swimmers packing the lanes and training together for their imminent shot at Olympic glory. ◄

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[ Photo Courtesy: Patrick B. Kraemer ]

Reece Whitley: “Silence in the Face of Injustice is Complicity”; Urges Action Rather than Just Words by Dan D'Addona

[ Photo Courtesy: Reece Whitley Instagram ]

eece Whitley took to social media to urge people to find ways and organizations to help — using action instead of just words to help bring people together in the wake of racial tragedies throughout the United States that have led to protests around the nation. “Silence in the face of injustice is complicity,” Reece Whitley posted on social media on Tuesday. “The words of organizations in support of the Black community in this time of pain are more powerful than ever before.” Whitley is an All-American swimmer at Cal and won the U.S. national championship in the 200-meter breaststroke this past summer in Palo Alto. He is one of the tallest swimmers in the world at 6 feet, 9 inches, and said having a powerful body like that can make him seem like a threat — even if he isn’t. Here is the full transcript of Whitley's post: I know this isn’t a #BlackOutTuesday post but I do ask that you respect the fact that I’ve not spoken out yet and will not let my voice go unheard any longer. Please read this in its entirety and please click the link in my bio. In the wake of recent events, I’ve had a lot of time to think about my family, and what would happen if it were me instead of my fellow brothers being murdered without hesitation. It’s undeniable that if I, a 6’9, 250 pound, dark-skinned man, were ever in the wrong place at the wrong time, fatal force would likely be brought my way. In dealing with this, it is very easy to slip into an unhealthy sense of isolation. If any brothers or sisters reading this feel a similar way, know that you aren’t alone. Many on this platform seem to be blind to the fact that repeatedly seeing horrific videos of Black reality can be quite

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traumatic to those that can actually find themselves on the wrong end. Everyday I think about the possibility of something happening to me and subsequently not ever getting the chance to say goodbye to those I love. I usually like to keep my family life off of social media but then again, I may not get the chance to post me and my role models if I wait too long. Let this be a reminder to people that being an ally by donating to the many organizations working to make change helps more than you think. It takes just as long to post or tweet an ‘i feel your pain’ picture as it does to donate to meaningful causes. Help make a difference. Silence in the face of injustice is complicity. The words of organizations in support of the Black community in this time of pain are more powerful than ever before. Now is the time to speak up and be supportive if that is truly how you feel. To those who have read this in its entirety, I appreciate your care, and know that your respect is sincerely valued. Love ◀

[Photo Courtesy: Mine Kasapoglu / ISL]

The reigning Olympic champion and charge of Mel Marshall, Peaty went out in 26.04 and came home in 29.45 to clip .12 off the previous record. Peaty was pushed the entire way by Belarus’ Ilya Shymanovich, who was a hundredth back of Peaty at the midway point and touched in 55.69, the thirdfastest performance in history.

Adam Peaty Blasts 100 Breaststroke World Record in ISL Semifinals BY JOHN LOHN

here is no doubt that Adam Peaty is the greatest 100 breaststroker in history, and with a short-course world record added to his ledger on Sunday afternoon, the British star only enhanced his legacy in the event. Racing for the London Roar in the semifinals of the International Swimming League, Peaty took down South African Cameron van der Burgh’s 11-year-old world record in the 100 breaststroke, a clocking of 55.49 getting the job done. Van der Burgh set the former global standard of 55.61 at a 2009 World Cup stop in Berlin on this exact day, November 15, 11 years ago.

In the long-course pool, Peaty has been the undisputed king of the 50 breaststroke and 100 breaststroke for nearly a decade. There is no one who can carry the speed between the walls anywhere close to the Brit, evidenced in the fact that he is the only man to not only break the 58-second barrier, but also dip under the 57-second threshold. However, Peaty has been challenged in the short-course format, a handful of rivals able to use their better turns to slightly neutralize Peaty. But on Sunday in the Duna Arena in Budapest, where the ISL bubble has been conducted, Peaty again proved that he has no peer in the 100 breast. Although Shymanovich appeared to have a slight edge on Peaty entering the final 25 meters, that margin quickly disappeared as Peaty shifted into his highest gear. The possibility of Peaty producing a world record during the ISL semifinals was elevated when he delivered a sub-55 split in the 100 breaststroke on London’s 400 medley relay on Saturday. A day later, Peaty backed up that performance with the best short-course effort of his career. ◄

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BY DAN D'ADDONA

my Bilquist joined the DC Trident because she saw the team’s energy in the inaugural International Swimming League (ISL) season, and wanted to be a part of it. But with a team that is without Katie Ledecky, Natalie Coughlin and Cody Miller for the season, Bilquist was immediately one of the faces of the Trident. Bilquist wanted to go out and prove that she was ready to be that face, that leader for the group. In her first race in the DC Trident red, Bilquist won the 200 backstroke in 2:02.23, the first win of her ISL career, and a statement.

Day 1 when I had four events,” Bilquist said. “At some point I just had to let the energy feed me and help me get amped for my races. The pool atmosphere is different. There is no crowd which is unique but ISL is doing a great job to make it feel like there is. There’s lights, smoke, a DJ, etc. so there’s a lot of excitement even without a crowd.” Plus the chemistry on a team that has seen a lot of turnover from last year is a work in progress. But the Trident are building the relationships that will help build energy on the pool deck.

“Winning was so awesome. I really wanted to come out of the gates and try to shift the momentum for DC with a big swim,” Amy Bilquist told Swimming World. “Personally, it felt pretty good. That was my first race since the ISL finals (as a member of the LA Current) back in Dec 2019 so to be able to break into racing again with a win was a huge personal victory for me.

“DC is so welcoming. Within the first day I already felt so integrated with the team and so supported. It’s so amazing to also meet new people and make new friends. For example, Ky-lee Perry and I have raced so much in college but we never got to know each other and now we hang out all the time here,” Bilquist said. “So that’s been an amazing opportunity. The people on DC are truly amazing people (not just fantastic swimmers) so that makes this bubble time a lot more fun and light-hearted.”

“Obviously I was really excited to get that first win of my ISL career but there are going to be a lot of meets coming up against amazing swimmers so as much fun as it was to celebrate I have to keep my eyes on the next meet as well.”

The bubble is different than anything any swimmer has dealt with before, and each swimmer and team is making the most of it.

Bilquist, who won the U.S. national title in the 100 backstroke in 2019, took that next mentality into the second DC Trident meet and swam even faster in the 200 backstroke, though she finished second in 2:01.72 behind Cali’s Beata Nelson (2:01.31). The Trident finished third in the opening meet, but fourth this past weekend. The team is looking to itself for a boost.

“The bubble is interesting. The first couple days were kind of hard but honestly now the weather has been sunny, we’ve been able to walk to the pool which is nice to get some outside time and they are doing a really good job of trying to keep us all safe and healthy,” Amy Bilquist said. “I’m just very grateful to even have an opportunity to be in the ISL bubble so that I can train, race, make new friends, and have fun.”

“The atmosphere on DC is unparalleled. There is so much excitement in the box and that really, really helped me on my

And help lead a second-half surge for the Trident this ISL season. ◄

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[Photo Courtesy: Mine Kasapoglu / ISL]

Amy Bilquist Looking to Build on Her First ISL Victory for DC Trident

[Photo Courtesy: Mine Kasapoglu / ISL]

The 100 freestyle, though, will be just the start for Dressel, who is expected to contest the 100 individual medley and 50 butterfly, world records in each of those events also within reach. With Dressel in better form than last weekend, when he broke the world record in the 100 I.M., that standard is likely to be taken even lower. As for the 50 butterfly, the target will be Nicholas Santos’ 21,75 from 2018.

Caeleb Dressel Puts Together Epic Day: Two World Records and American Mark BY JOHN LOHN

is talent is well known to the world, so the fact that Caeleb Dressel can still leave mouths agape only speaks to the ridiculous level of that skill set. An argument can be made that Dressel produced the greatest single-day performance the sport has seen in the short-course pool on Saturday, when the International Swimming League held the first day of its Grand Final at the Duna Arena in Budapest. In the span of two hours, Dressel blasted a pair of world records and added an American standard while elevating the Cali Condors into first place in the team standings. There was much anticipation concerning Dressel and what he might pull off over the weekend, and the American star certainly delivered on the expectations. Dressel jumpstarted his session by becoming the first man to break the 48-second barrier in the 100 butterfly, a 47.78 the new world record, and added a world record of 20.16 in the 50 free. For good measure, Dressel went 45.18 in the 100 freestyle to shave .02 off his own American record. Although the entire session spanned two hours, Dressel crammed his trio of records into a 75-minute window. The achievement speaks to his recovery ability and the work he has put in under coach Gregg Troy and during the six-week Budapest Bubble. The scary thing? There’s probably a lot more to come on Sunday, when the ISL crowns its Season Two champion. Dressel’s American record in the 100 free arrived on the leadoff leg of the 400 freestyle relay, so he will get another chance at that standard when the individual 100 free kicks off Day Two. It figures that a fresh Dressel will make a run at the world record of 44.94, set by Frenchman Amaury Leveaux in 2008. Leveaux’s record is the second-oldest in the shortcourse record book.

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How Caeleb Dressel performs, and whether he can secure some Jackpot points, will go a long way in determining if the Cali Condors can capture the team title. The Condors head into Day Two with 267 points, 27.5 clear of Energy Standard (239.5). The London Roar sit third with 1995. Points, followed by the L.A. Current with 177 points. Energy Spark Energy Standard put together a spectacular day in relay competition as three of its squads registered the fastest times in history. Because the relays featured competitors from various countries, they are not eligible for world-record status, but are nonetheless impressive. In the women’s 400 free freestyle relay, the quartet of Siobhan Haughey (50.94), Pernille Blume (51.59), Femke Heemskerk (51.29) and Sarah Sjostrom (51.55) combined for a time of 3:25.37. The effort could have been much faster, but Sjostrom was about a second slower than she is capable, an indication that she was monitoring her output in order to remain effective throughout the session. Meanwhile, the men’s 400 freestyle relay stopped the clock in 3:02.78, the first performance under 3:03 in history. Energy Standard benefited from the combination of Evgeny Rylov (46.09), Kliment Kolesnikov (45.25), Chad Le Clos (45.40) and Florent Manaudou (46.04). The United States owns the official world record at 3:03.03. Energy Standard’s third superb relay outing came in the 400 medley relay, where Kolesnikov (48.58), Ilya Shymanovich (55.38), Le Clos (48.53) and Manaudou (45.79) combined for a time of 3:18.28. Kolesnikov’s leadoff leg established a world record for the 100 backstroke. RYAN MURPHY’S LAW The runnerup in the 200 backstroke early in Day One, Ryan Murphy returned to the pool later in the day and recorded an American record of 22.54 in the 50 backstroke. That performance took .09 off the record Murphy set in 2018. The win was one of three on the day for the L.A. Current, which also received a victory from Beryl Gastaldello in the 100 butterfly and a first-place finish in the 200 individual medley from Andrew Seliskar. One of the biggest showdowns on Sunday will be the matchup between Kolesnikov and Murphy in the 100 backstroke. Based on his world record, Kolesnikov has the advantage, but Murphy has been known to rise to the occasion, evident in his Olympic victories. ◄ BIWEEKLY

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