2007 World Swimming Championships

Poacher

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They start today in Australia, Melbourne I believe. America's greatest athlete, Michael Phelps, will be on display. Also the black swimmer Cullen Jones will be there. If he wins expect an avalanche of agitprop. Phelps is to swim a record number of events and will probably end up with the greatest medal haul in WC history. Phelps is the greatest swimmer the world has ever seen. He is world class in every stroke. It'll be fun seeing him dominate.
 

Poacher

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While we've been sleeping here in America our greatest athlete has been busy in Australia cementing his legacy as America's greatest non-team sport athlete.

Michael Phelps has competed in 3 events in Melbourne and has three gold medals thus far. His first victory came in the 4x100 relay where he swam the lead-off leg giving the U.S. a lead it never relinquished on their way to the second fastest time in history.

His next gold came in the men's 200M freestyle. Phelps hacked 2 tenths of a second off of Ian Thorpe's record. A record that was one of the most respected in swimming.

His third gold came in the men's 200m butterfly final.His performance here was transcendent. Over the final 50 meters Phelps was over a full body length in front of the superimposed red line on the TV screen indicating world record pace. He had over two body lengths on second place. He finished a remarkable 1.62 seconds ahead of the existing world record which by the way was his as well.

Take a good look people, we won't see the likes of him for a long time.Edited by: Poacher
 

surfsider

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Who was doing the television coverage? Was there any? I haven't been watching TV too intently of late but haven't seen any references to the swimming Worlds.
 

Poacher

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It's not being carried as far as I know. It might be on some channel at 4 in the morning but that's about it.
 

jaxvid

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Swimming + white guys = little media coverage. Now just let that negro that's on the team win something and whoo boy look out, suddenly the Chosen ones information control outlets will discover swimming.

I'm a bit lucky in this regard, Phelps is a local kid from where I live and his exploits are getting a lot of coverage. One of the few times that my local paper isn't a carbon copy of the national news (funny how that works). His performance at such a big event is nothing short of phenominal.
 

Bart

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From what I've read Phelps has been astounding. Americans have no idea who he is or what he's done. I'm reminded of that black swimmer who won a race last year. He hasn't done squat and has already cashed in on big bucks.


[url]http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6138754 &ft=1&f=1021[/url]


News & Notes, September 25, 2006


Cullen Jones surprised the swimming world in August with a victory in the 50-meter freestyle at the U.S. Nationals. The victory impressed Nike enough to sign Jones to the richest endorsement deal ever for a short distance swimmer, more than $2 million over the next seven years. Nike hopes this black swimmer will continue to prove himself in a sport desperately seeking diversity.
 

PitBull

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That's right Bart. I thought sports was about seeking excellence, not
diversity.
 
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As an ex-swimmer I have the utmost respect for Phelps.... Can't believe that
record in the 200...... outstanding.....


About Cullen..... it is infuriating that he got such a 2 million and Phelps gets
nothing.... 4 gold metals and NOTHING.... Cullen wins ONE event in the
Pacific Rim Swim Meet and gets it all. At the World Swimming Chapionships
Cullen didnt take anything. he was a part of the relay team..
 
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Ok on a better note... Of the 52 events at the swimming championship ... 5
NEW WORLD RECORDS WERE SET....I cant believe that we are still setting
records and at this rate.... truely outstanding
 

Poacher

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Well Phelps has done it again. He just beat world record holder Ian Crocker in the 100M butterfly final, coming from behind in the final 15 meters to win it. He was visibly exhausted afterwards.

Cullen Jones finished second. Pity that. All that money from Nike couldn't buy World Championship gold. He was beaten by unheralded American Ben Wildman-Tobriner (who incidentally didn't get 2 million dollars from Nike) who swam a personal best of 21.88 to Jones' 21.94. Jones is 23. Ian Thorpe retired at 24. Jones is a sprinter. At the Olympics next year he'll be 24, it will likely be his last legit shot at a recognizable gold medal. So we'll have to put up with the hype (though it will be diminished) until next year.Edited by: Poacher
 

Poacher

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OC football said:
A South African (forget his name) swimmer will beat Jones regardless....

Roland Schoeman(sp), I believe.
 

guest301

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surfsider said:
Who was doing the television coverage? Was there any? I haven't been watching TV too intently of late but haven't seen any references to the swimming Worlds.
Fox Sports Net has been doing some coverage. I have watched a little of it, not sure if it was live or on tape delay.
 

JD074

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I am so happy that Jones lost. And kudos to Benjamin Wildman-Tobriner!
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[url]http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D8O732400& forumcomm_check_return[/url]
 

Don Wassall

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With the U.S. having so few top athletes in any internationally contestedsports anymore, you'd think Phelps would at least get a small amount of the recognition he deserves from the xenophobic corporate media. But nope, when the great athlete is a white man in a white sport, Caste System necessities trump everything else.
 

Poacher

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The WC are over and Phelps has finished with 7 medals, all of them gold...a new WC record. He was denied a shot at eight golds due to the U.S. men's relay team getting DQ'd in the prelims yesterday because of a faulty start by Ian Crocker (.04 too fast sayeth the computer).

As most of you can probably tell from my thread I believe Phelps to be America's greatest non-team sport athlete. And, in my eyes, he's had that title since Athens in '04. Some may argue Tiger Woods but I refuse to grant golfers the status of "athlete." There simply is not enough physical exertion involved. But I don't want to argue about that.

Many will always view Phelps as being in the shadow of Mark Spitz. That is completely inaccurate. In international competition Spitz had one great moment, the '72 Olympics. After that he quit swimming. But he is still revered by our media overlords as the best swimmer ever. Of course Mr. Spitz is a member of the tribe which may help to account for Phelps constantly being placed in his shadow. But who really knows.

Anyway, it was a transcendent performance by Phelps at this event. And it should be said that others had incredible perfromances as well. Piersol, Lochte and our women's team were all great as usual. If it weren't for Phelps Ryan Lochte would be the greatest IM'er in history.

We OWN the pool.
 

xc1427

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Welcome to white athletic Christmas in early April. What Phelps has done at the WC is downright frightening. It's officially time for Mark Spitz to step aside as America's greatest swimmer, because this takes the cake away from the Caste System.

As Poacher said, "We OWN the pool." Thank you very much, and don't forget to tip your waiters and waitresses.
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Maple Leaf

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I don't know about your U.S. televison coverage of this event but in Canada here the CBC has done a very good job setting aside hours for it. TSN has shown some highlights and of course print and net have been noticeable.

After Athens I thought Thorpe "The Thorpedo" was incredible. Phelps is even better, head and shoulders better. He should beat M. Spitz's record of 7 in China. He also could have won the 100 free is he had competed but chose not to for scheduling.

For the media and all of those people that deride sports like swimming I have this to say:
It takes years of dedication and very hard training without any guarantee of eventual success to make it anywhere in this sport. The entire world -with the exception of 1 (one) country- recognizes Phelps and his peers as incredibly special and talented athletes. Only in the USA is swimming looked at as something less (with the exception of Caste Football of course). Somehow some slob/grunt wearing a limeman's jersey is more "athletic". I'm laughing my head off writing this!
Perhaps if the media were to show more "fast-twitchers" sinking to the bottom of the bottom the sports media would have a different perception.
 

Don Wassall

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The Caste System media won't be thrilled about it, but Phelps has to be the biggest U.S. story going into the '08 Olympics. An American athlete with a real shot to win 7 or more gold medals is huge, even if he's a white man.


It would be great to see Phelps and his fellow swimmers dominate in China, and for Wariner win gold in the 200, 400 and 400 relay, and Rock and some others medal as well in the sprints.
 
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May I vent....


HOW THE F^%#& is it that Jones wins ONE race at the "pacific swim invite" and gets a 2 million dollar Nike contract....... And its not like he set a world record.



PHELPS WINS SEVEN GOLD'S, and sets WORLD RECORDS at the WORLD CHAPIONSHIP and gets NOTHING.....NO MEDIA COVERAGE..... No money.... NOTHING....

ITS BULLS&$*$Edited by: OC football
 

jaxvid

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OC football said:
May I vent....


HOW THE F^%#& is it that Jones wins ONE race at the "pacific swim invite" and gets a 2 million dollar Nike contract....... And its not like he set a world record.



PHELPS WINS SEVEN GOLD'S, and sets WORLD RECORDS at the WORLD CHAPIONSHIP and gets NOTHING.....NO MEDIA COVERAGE..... No money.... NOTHING....

ITS BULLS&$*$

Phelps is not getting nothing. He has endorsement deals and probably makes more then Cullen Jones.

Phelps is attending University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Phelps cannot swim for the team, however, because his endorsement deals with Speedo and other companies have caused him to forfeit his amateur status. He is sponsored by Speedo, Visa, Omega, Power Bar, and Matsunichi.
 
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phelps has made about 2 million dollars a year since 04 or so. i don't remember the exact details but he got a multi-million dollar contract after the 04 games. he makes far more than jones.

phelps skipped NCAA swimming completely. there was no reason for him to even bother. i consider him to be like high school basketball players who went directly to the NBA. the only difference is that phelps gets free tuition to michigan - so he'll have his undergraduate degree and be a millionaire professional athlete at the same time.
 

Bart

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Can you imagine the media -splash- Cullen Jones would have made if he won -7- medals? A tsunami of epic proportions. Edited by: Bart
 
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