Wow, This lady Criticising rugby league badly

[kimlo_]

And people want to see records get broken in sports like swimming and athletics. It would be pretty boring if no-one had gone faster in 5-10+ years.

Would be quite unfair too, for the swimmers who had to work their arses off to get those records in the first place.(USER:Aussie, Don't give me a lecture for using the word arses). Why should it be easier for them to get faster times than others that went before them? It's like giving all the newe footballers drugs so they can break all the previous records, just plain stupid.

 

[schmix]

It's like giving all the newe footballers drugs so they can break all the previous records, just plain stupid.

No, it's like giving the new footballers different boots, or more technologically advanced jerseys. Oh hang on...they already do that. [eusa_doh

Technology is a fact of life. This isn't the first new swimsuit to be created, wasn't there a new one only a few years ago? Pools are different these days - less wash from other swimmers. Training methods are different and involve computers. People who broke records 40 years ago had advantages over those that swam before them, anyone who sets a record knows it will be broken.

 

[mick]

Didn't an Olympic athlete get done for drug trafficing just the other week? Not a swimmer but not a league player either.

I think it was the bloke who won the Stawell Gift

Correct. Well, there's been two.

Nathan Allen, I think his name is, won last year's Stawell Gift and he has recently just been charged on possession/importation of a banned substance.

Then there was also Nathan Baggeley(spelling?), a former MAJOR player and world champ in Kayaking who has gone through Court proceedings on ecstacy and other drug trafficking charges, not sure what stage that's at though.

 

[trigrhappi]

Then there was also Nathan Baggeley(spelling?)

Thanks to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Baggaley
That happened in September 2005 when the paddling world was shocked to learn that Baggaley had tested positive for banned steroids, (stanozolol and methandienone). The Court of Arbitration for Sport banned him from the sport for 24 months. Baggaley said that he had been drug-tested at least fifty times in his career and had always tested negative. He maintained that he had taken the steroids by accident and that he intends to use the ban as a rest and return to competition afterwards [1].
In February 2007 police stopped Baggaley and a companion in Mermaid Waters, northern NSW and on searching their car they found "nearly 800 ecstasy tablets, an unspecified white powder, cannabis and cash".
Prior to his arrest, Baggeley's girlfriend had been world record-breaking swimmer Sophie Edington, who ended their two-year relationship a week before the arrest. In July 2007, he was charged after allegedly stealing a surf ski from the Byron Bay Surf Club. Among his coaches is Peter Clark, a former teacher at the Taipei American School.

In November 2007 Baggaley has been jailed and is facing more drug charges after being arrested in connection with the manufacturing and trafficking of ecstasy.
The new charges come a month after Baggaley, who won two silver medals for Australia at the 2004 Athens Olympics, was told he cannot return to competition due to other pending drug charges after serving a two-year ban for taking steroids.

Very interesting to see that he has a link to the new golden girl of the pool eusa_think

 

[Je$ter]

Because wikipedia is so reliable and stuff.

 

[brettbrett]

And while we are on swimming, the only reason all these records are getting obliterated is because of the new suits. There is no way Stephanie Rice can come out and beat a PB by 6 seconds without the help of anabolics or other external factors. Not making any accusations at all, but 6 seconds is a big drop in time.

I wouldn't be suprised if the new suits will be banned before Bejing.

I totally agree. All these records being broken in the last couple of days. Why not just give them a suite with built in flippers or some crap. The sooner they ban these the better.

Are you guys serious??? Do you want them to go back to swimming in the neck to ankle cotton swimsuits? Or barefoot in track and field? Or not be able to use any sports science testing to help them go faster?

I would be calling for their banning as well if only a few people had the access to them to wear them, but everyone has them, so it's a level playing field. And at the end of the day it's not like I could put on one of those new suits and go out and break a world record - the swimmers still have to put in the training and damn hard work to get the results (which is where drug use is different because using banned drugs means you don't have to put as much hard work to get the results).

And people want to see records get broken in sports like swimming and athletics. It would be pretty boring if no-one had gone faster in 5-10+ years.

I know what you mean... I was watching the swimming tonight and it occured to me that everyone does have them but we are still the ones breaking the WR's. I guess what I find annoying is the fact that they go on about how they are all breaking the records but I just don't find it such a big deal anymore because they are using the suits. My opinion anyway...

 

[kimlo_]

Except new boots don't help you break records, they might have new tech to help them perform better, but its different in a sport where its all about exactly how fast you can swim this distance. It's like two people having a car and both cars have to travel a certain distance, both have equal power but they shed 300kg from the first car, its plain stupid. Unless absolutely everyone uses these suits then it's considered unfair. Difference with football is nearly all have the same boots, simlair uniform etc. Going to the Olympics this year where the Aussies have suits which enable them to get 4-5 seconds faster than all the other countries who don't have access to or can't afford the suit is a bit unfair don't you think.

 

[Herron]

Does anyone remember the people protesting Lockyer's boots at ANZ stadium? THAT was funny.

 

[Coxy]

Does anyone remember the people protesting Lockyer's boots at ANZ stadium? THAT was funny.

Don't remember that! Remind me?

 

[Herron]

It was nothing major but some idiots were getting in peoples faces and handing out leaflets on how his new boots were the reason he could carve up the field.

 

[Flutterby]

Except new boots don't help you break records, they might have new tech to help them perform better, but its different in a sport where its all about exactly how fast you can swim this distance. It's like two people having a car and both cars have to travel a certain distance, both have equal power but they shed 300kg from the first car, its plain stupid. Unless absolutely everyone uses these suits then it's considered unfair. Difference with football is nearly all have the same boots, simlair uniform etc. Going to the Olympics this year where the Aussies have suits which enable them to get 4-5 seconds faster than all the other countries who don't have access to or can't afford the suit is a bit unfair don't you think.

But that's what I have been trying to tell you. Speedo has given the suits to the top 100 swimmers in the world across all countries. It isn't just Australians that have them. It won't really have an effect on who actually wins the medals in Beijing as the top ones are the ones you would expect to win anyway - they will just do it in faster times. Swimmers from other countries have been breaking WRs since getting them as well, it's just that our selection trials are on at the moment where other countries are not in a major competition right now. So we're hearing about all the Aussies with world records. Many of these guys and girls will no longer be the world record holders by the time the Olympics rolls around because other countries will have their selection trials between now and then as well. It will also give more credit to any swimmers who's records are broken this year, that they were better than the current technology.

 

[kimlo_]

umm... actually it was said on news that the suits cost $800 each and are extremely hard to find, so alot of countries won't have access to them, if everyone had a hold of them, no one would be complaining makes sense huh?

 

[Flutterby]

umm... actually it was said on news that the suits cost $800 each and are extremely hard to find, so alot of countries won't have access to them, if everyone had a hold of them, no one would be complaining makes sense huh?

They cost $800 for someone like you or me to buy, but the top swimmers in the world have been given them. The poorer countries who haven't been given them wouldn't be in the hunt for olympic medals or world records regardless of if everyone was swimming naked or if they had these suits. The only people actually complaining about them are the media and other people not actually involved in swimming at the highest level.

 

[kimlo_]

They are not complaining as of yet....

 

[broncoangel]

AFTER the disgraceful pre-season performance of some of our footballers, hasn't it been great to see athletes worthy of being called role models excelling in the pool.

In the lead-up to this week's Olympic trials there weren't any shameful displays of drunken swimmers falling out of nightclubs or urinating in laneways -- they left that to our well-paid league and Aussie rules footballers.

And, unlike the petulant cricketers, the words "monkey" and "obnoxious weed" haven't been uttered in the swimming lanes at Homebush.

Our swimmers have turned up fit, fresh-faced and sober to swim their hearts out -- even though they're not paid to do so.

I guess that is because these wonderful athletes love it. They are a credit to their parents and a credit to their nation.

I wonder how many footballers would train every day if they weren't getting paid?

Some of them can't be bothered to turn up even though they are paid hundreds of thousands of dollars.

But never our swimmers.

There they are, morning after morning, swimming lap after lap at some ungodly hour in the hope of representing their country and winning gold.

The divide between their life and the pampered world of football has never been wider.

How do our vivacious and articulate swimmers, competing and training for the most part as individuals, get it so right and our footballers get it so wrong?

Our swimmers train alone, under different coaches, coming together only at events such as this week, and yet there is a strong bond between them. A camaraderie among rivals.

Take, for instance, Emily Seebohm and Sophie Edington. One steals the other's world record breaking thunder within 24 hours, but there they were, giggling and hugging, genuinely pleased with one

another's achievements.

And there they were again jumping up and down on Monday night when they both qualified for Beijing in the 100m backstroke -- an event in which they will compete against one another for gold.

It is a team ethos like no other and, to the armchair observer, there don't seem to be any egos and ugly rivalries.

In professional sport, the motivation seems to be money and status. And it seems at times to be filled with wasted talent -- players who, for want of a better phrase, piss it up against the wall.

If anything, you would think athletes in team sports would feel a greater sense of duty to their teammates, club and supporters. But they don't.

Some don't even give a second thought to the thousands of supporters. Instead, they would rather risk a suspension after a night out clubbing until dawn.

When caught, these sportsmen tell of the excessive stress of top-level competition and the need to let off steam.

So how do our swimmers let off steam? It's certainly not by publicly binge-drinking. Even in retirement there doesn't seem to be a hint of scandal.

The most recent, to my mind, was when Ian Thorpe's reputation was shaken last May when he was informed he had returned an abnormal drug test.

Despite being cleared, he complained that his name had been forever tarnished.

Next to that was Libby Lenton and husband Luke Trickett -- who allowed a magazine to cover them in a big white "walking tent" on their wedding day.

However, the couple did salvage their reputation by announcing that they donated to charity the entire amount they were paid for exclusive access to their big day.

It's easy to see, then, why merchandisers, sponsors and television executives are all lurking and smacking their greedy chops at the prospect of this year's Australian swimming team for Beijing.

The number of world records and personal bests broken this week is just the start.

The fact that they have an appeal that can straddle populations, incite patriotic fervour and inspire us all is another.

They also remind us exactly why sport is attractive and important -- and why we watch -- to enjoy the thrill of good competition and be excited by displays of grace, stamina and endurance achieved by perfectly trained bodies and sharply focused minds.

Of course their good looks, self-discipline, ability to be great public speakers and their graciousness in both victory and defeat also helps.

The sporting display at Homebush this week was wonderful to watch.

These youngsters are the poster girls and boys for our future athletes -- and a wake-up call for some of our existing sportsmen and women.

Source: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23 ... 46,00.html

D'Arcy in bar fight allegation
By Tom Wald
March 30, 2008 OLYMPICS-bound swimmer Nick D'Arcy has allegedly been involved in a bar fight which left former Commonwealth Games champion Simon Cowley with facial injuries.

The altercation took place at a bar at Sydney's King Street wharf area around 0230 (EDT) on Sunday - just hours after D'Arcy was officially named on the Australia Olympic swimming team for Beijing.

A Swimming Australia spokesman confirmed an incident had taken place.

"There is an investigation going on,'' he said.

D'Arcy could be in hot water over the incident as the Australian Olympic Committee has the power to boot athletes off the Beijing team if they are considered to have brought the team into disrepute.

Cowley was a three-time gold medallist in the pool at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games before missing selection for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

The incident threatens to take some of the gloss off the swim's team record-breaking feats in the pool at the eight-day trials which wrapped up on Saturday night.

The Dolphins have cultivated a squeaky-clean image and it could damage that.

Police said they were investigating an alleged assault.

"We can confirm the Rocks (police) are investigating a serious assault at a bar in the Kings Street Wharf area this morning about 2.30,'' a police media spokesperson said.

"Police have been told that an argument has broken about between a number of people at the bar.

"A 27-year-old man from Sylvania suffered facial injuries and a suspected broken nose. He was taken by ambulance to St Vincent's Hospital and was later discharged.

"A 20-year-old Queensland man has been spoken to by police, no charges have been laid at this time but investigations are continuing.''

AAP

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,865 ... 13,00.html

'nuff said [icon_lol1.

 

[kimlo_]

I wonder what that stupid arrogant bitch has to say about that?

"Some don't even give a second thought to the thousands of supporters. Instead, they would rather risk a suspension after a night out clubbing until dawn.

When caught, these sportsmen tell of the excessive stress of top-level competition and the need to let off steam.

So how do our swimmers let off steam? It's certainly not by publicly binge-drinking. Even in retirement there doesn't seem to be a hint of scandal."

"The altercation took place at a bar at Sydney's King Street wharf area around 0230 (EDT) on Sunday - just hours after D'Arcy was officially named on the Australia Olympic swimming team for Beijing."

 

[Kee]

Wait until she reads the latest on the swimmer who is off to the Olympics who just got in a pub brawl with an ex Olympian.Headlines to. [icon_evillaugh

 

[Sabu_2008]

I love football. Binge Drinking, Face Works, Shoulder Charges and all. Anyone who doesnt like it can hit the highway, because this is Rugby League. In rugby league, players like to hit the piss, like to get physical, and like to hurt their opponents. Why? because they're people too.

Dont like it? Fark off back to Yawnion and watch a sport that even with their rip off League rules still sucks balls.