I put on a swim clinic at the Lakeland Hills YMCA in New Jersey last weekend. We also put on a diabetes expo with the BD diabetes team. Just wanted to say thanks to the hundreds of people that came. I had a great time. Thanks! If you didn't catch me there I talk swimming and/or diabetes year round at our camps in the much warmer Florida Keys. Come visit us and we'll make you a faster swimmer. Bring the whole family because there is plenty to do for everyone. I'll see you soon.

Is Thorpe A Cheater? Oh, and the World Championships...

Because it's the right thing to do I am going to start this Aqua Notes by covering the newsworthy swims of the World Swimming Championships. Who cares about Ian Thorpe when Michael Phelps goes a 1:43.86 in the 200 free? Michael had an incredible meet, no doubt. The 50 freestyle went to Ben Wildman Tobriner in an impressive time of 21.88. Congratulations to Ben, for dashing everyone's Fantaswim picks! And to the beautiful Therese Alshammar for winning the 50 fly, Huzzah! The whole meet was spectacular! I could go on and on about the great swims but I'll leave some for the water cooler. Now for the dirt.

Ian Thorpe failed a drug test? I have no idea. None of us do at this point for sure. Let's sit tight and wait for things to unfold a little before we go nuts. But wow, you have to marvel that this guy stole the show the way he did at the World Championships. I mean look at the meet results. It was an INCREDIBLE meet and this news about Thorpe eclipses even Michael Phelps unbelievable performances. A google search of Thorpe vs. Ben Wildman Tobriner came in at 4,127 results for Thorpe vs. 277 for the guy that actually swam at the meet and won the gold medal.

Read article.

Swimmer, please.

I like the post about lining the birdcage with L'Equipe. However, L'Equipe did break a story that FINA has confirmed holds some truth. As of now it appears that someone within the ASADA (AUS doping agency) or FINA leaked the Ian Thorpe test results information. No one seems to be disputing this or the fact that the test was not a clear pass, worthy of further investigation.

There is an awful lot of criticism of this newspaper, mostly I suspect from people that do not read or speak French. My guess is that it has a lot to do with the publications questioning of Lance Armstrong's integrity. L'Equipe reported on Lance Armstrong and questioned his accomplishments, accusing him of doping. Does this make it a rubbish publication? L'Equipe pointed out that Lance Armstrong's inner circle was tarnished with doping scandals. Coaches, teammates, and trainers were most legitimately proven guilty. While I do believe that you can judge a man by the friends he keeps it is not the direct link that implicates Lance Armstrong. But, it should be enough to fairly suspect him, without his fans calling you a hater of children with cancer.

If you found out that Ian Thorpe's testosterone levels were high on one test, not one before or after with similar levels, L'Equipe may not be your first choice when it came to leaking the information. Fine, but give them a break. They did break the story that is at the very least putting FINA testing protocol under the scrutiny of the media and the public. In my humble opinion FINA testing is ineffective at best, I've stated it before. All you have to do is read through the FINA press interview to confirm this:

Click here to read the press interview.

(!!!) If all of this forces FINA to better it's system then I am extremely grateful to the birdcage publication, L'Equipe. Whether or not Thorpe is innocent or guilty it is glaringly apparent that the FINA testing system needs looking at. Let's put the system on trial!

By the way, I got expelled from law school for screaming that last line too many times, and showing up to trial in a yellow Speedo.

I mean, it doesn't seem to make sense to me that ASADA should be in a position to make a call whether or not a positive test is pursued or not, at all, but especially for it's star athlete that has earned their federation many millions of dollars and too much publicity to imagine. It's not a conflict of interest as one poster suggests, it's common interest. And a system that puts ASADA in that awkward position of having the ability to cover up a positive test of their (star) swimmer needs to be fixed. Without questioning the ASADA integrity, whether they did or didn't try, I think there has to be a better way.

As of now FINA has not disputed that Ian Thorpe's test of May 2006 had irregularities that are now or still (after almost a year???) being addressed. Nothing is confirmed but it is fun to talk about isn't it?

Can it be suggested, the possibility that AUS Swimming or FINA knew about the results and to save Ian and themselves embarrassment they made a deal that they would keep it quiet if Ian retired? It would explain almost one year pending test results, and a sudden unexpected retirement. We are all wondering what kind of black mark this is going to leave on the sport if Ian Thorpe is found guilty of cheating. I believe that a positive result for Thorpe would hurt the sport overall, no question.

Interesting spot for FINA. If Thorpe is not guilty, and retired right before the FINA World Championships, an act that lost FINA money (see articles on low attendance) it is easy for the conspiracy theorist to come up with a FINA vendetta scenario. Thorpe was often and still is critical of FINA. I have to believe that if FINA had the choice to brush this stinky biscuit under the rug, for damage control, they might. But if someone leaked the information it would force the FINA hand. FINA would have to take full advantage of this "opportunity" to take revenge on the critical Ian Thorpe now that the cat is out. What a way for them to make a lot of press on the effectiveness of their drug testing program by landing the sport's biggest fish. With the right spin I think that they may not only sacrifice Ian Thorpe they might look good doing it. It might be tempting enough to fabricate some results from a year ago that can be looked at, but not too closely. But, they better pull themselves together. It's going to take cooler heads than those in the press conference to pull this off regardless of the result.

We'll wait and see.

Roland "Unstoppable" Schoeman, take it from a guy that talks some trash, it only works if you back it up.

On another note Amy "The Bill Romanowski of swimming" Van Dyken, is being inducted into the International Swimming Hall Of Fame this year. She was directly implicated in the BALCO scandal when her name turned up on a long list of BALCO clients that were called to testify before a federal grand jury. It turns out that she shares more in common with Bill Romanowski than behavioral rages and facial hair. In exchange for federal grand jury testimony it was all kept confidential. Why aren't we taking her medals away? Oh, because we're inducting this cheater into the Hall Of Fame. Wait. Her testimony was kept confidential. I can't say with certainty that her indictment to testify makes her guilty. But can she at least tell her old teammate, a guy that cheered for her, why she was called to testify, why her name was on that list? I promise I won't leak it to L'Equipe.

Your buddy and pal,

Gary Hall Jr.