The Daily Nationals Enquirer August 16, 2008

NATIONALS ENQUIRER DAILY

AUGUST 16, 2008

Is it the Pool, the Suit, the Maturing Athletes or Something Else ? Astonishing Speed in Beijing By Robin Parisi

Every morning for the past week I have begun my day by looking at the Prelim results for the Olympic Swimming competition. And every morning I am astonished by what I see. Thursday morning’s stunner was the Men’s 100 meter Butterfly, in which it took a 52.05 to get into the semi-finals. Am I hallucinating, or isn’t that incredibly fast? I decided to do a little unscientific research on the subject, and this is what I found: In Athens in 2004, a 53.11 made it into the semi-finals, and 52.05 would have been good for 4th place in the finals. This motivated me to do a little survey of times at the past four Olympiads, picking four events at random, the results of which are reflected below: Event M 100 FR M 100 BK W 200 FR W 400 IM *

1996 49.30 55.18 1:59.95 2:43.42

Average Finalist Time* 2000 2004 48.95 48.80 54.85 54.52 1:58.92 1:58.69 2:40.64 2:41.00

2008 47.77 53.28 1:56.35 2:35.15

Percentage Improvement ’00-‘04 ‘96-‘00 ’04-08 0.73% 0.30% 2.11% 0.60% 0.60% 2.29% 0.86% 0.07% 1.97% 0.98% -0.13% 2.08%

The arithmetic sum of the times of all eight finalists in the event, divided by eight.

Yikes! It appears from this brief analysis that in 2008 the percentage drop in Olympic finalists’ average times has more than doubled (and sometimes tripled) the percentage drop that was seen in prior years. The improvements reflected in these “group” statistics are also reflected in the record book: everyone expects that the fourteen world records broken in Sydney will pale in comparison to the record-breaking swims put up in Beijing. So what accounts for the world getting so fast? You’ve heard speculation here, in prior issues of the Nationals Enquirer. The speculation in more mainstream media is ubiquitous. It might be the new generation of bodysuits; it might be improved pool technology; it might be that the best athletes are staying in their careers longer and continuing to improve; it might be advances in training and technique – or it might be the “D” word. Time will no doubt shed some light on the phenomena of exceptionally fast swimming that we are enjoying in 2008. Further reading on the issue: As Swimming Records Fall, Technology Muddies the Water, by Jeré Longman and Gina Kolata, NY Times August 12, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/sports/olympics/12records.html?scp=3&sq=swimming&st=cse

Who Swims Masters ~ Lane Mates become Life Mates There is a picture above the 50-meter pool at the Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland of one “Mo Haslach,” swimming furiously at the 1988 Olympic Trials. By the look on her face, you wouldn’t want to mess with her. She’s the sister of a friend of ours, Tim Haslach, Esq., a big shot lawyer in downtown Portland, but we haven’t seen her for years. We ran into her on the pool deck trying (unsuccessfully) to hang the banner of Arizona Masters. Continued, page 2

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NATIONALS ENQUIRER DAILY

AUGUST 16, 2008

Lane Mates become Life Mates, Continued Nowadays she is Maureen Rankin, and since she has two kids aged 2 and 5, a husband and a real job, she is “only” swimming the 400 IM, the 200 IM, the 50 Free, the 100 Free and the 200 Breast at this Nationals. She is married to Mark Rankin, and with him coaches the Brophy East Swim Team. Mark also coaches the Brophy Swim Club Masters team, and is a team coach for the Arizona Masters at Nationals. Mark and his twin brother Matt swam with Mo back in the glory days of the Multnomah Athletic Club, where head coach Skip Runkle used to take a huge squad to Senior Nationals. “Swimming there was so great,” Mo said. “We had so many good swimmers. I believed totally in everything Skip asked us to do. I worked so hard for him that I made my Olympic Trials cut in practice. All of us in those days made nationals. Matt won the 200 Fly and the 400 IM and everyone swam best times. . . . Alex Stiles, Sarah Quan, Karen Haffner, and a whole bunch of others.” Mo swam well enough to make the consolation finals at Trials. Many on the team ended up swimming at University of Arizona during the reign of Dick Yockums and later Jack Bauerle. Mo now admits that she “probably” had a crush on Mark way back when they were lane mates at the MAC. But it wasn’t until a few years after college when they met again in Portland and began dating that Mo and Mark discovered that lane mates could make pretty good life mates too. Mo now coaches the little tykes and stresses the fundamentals. Mark has the older age groups and the senior squad. “Swimming gave so much to me,” Mo said. “I love coaching. This is the best job I ever had.”

Important Notice from a small but loud group of officials (after tipping a few at Edgefield): “Any swimmer who doesn’t make his or her seed time in a distance event will have to swim the event again by him or herself in the moonlight, starting at 11:30 PM.”

This publication (if you want to call it that) is not the official, or any, communication of USMS, OMS, Mt. Hood Community College, or any other responsible organization, nor is it a communication attributable to the Meet Directors, who are men of few words (but mighty deeds in most situations). This publication is intended solely as entertainment by athletes, for athletes. The opinions expressed by the editors and contributors are entirely their own, God help them. Other editions available at www.lcnationals.2008.net