Column by John Lohn
CRANBURY, New Jersey. August 17. The medal detector so successfully used by Brendan Hansen during his international swimming career has been in his garage for a year. And considering the state of the sport, with record-breaking that has been a sham at all levels, Hansen has no regrets about taking 2009 away from the pool.
Hansen has been working diligently with PureSport, the upstart energy drink company of which he is a partner. He's also watched swimming change drastically, and in a sad way. The sport to which he has dedicated the majority of his life is a mess. It is dominated not by sheer talent, but by a wardrobe nightmare that has blurred the line between skill and technological support and has allowed mid-level performers to compete alongside the best of the best.
The recent World Championships in Rome, of course, provided the perfect illustration of how muddled swimming has become. While setting a world record was once a special feat, there were 43 global marks set during the eight-day competition at the outdoor Foro Italico, which would have been a more fitting venue had it been covered by a circus tent.
"I watched zero of it," said Hansen, who was the two-time defending world champion in the 100 breaststroke. "I wasn't interested because of the suit situation. You can't compare what went on there with anything that was done before, so it wasn't worth looking at. Being the hardest worker doesn't get you what it did in the past."
For much of Hansen's career, he controlled the outcome of his races. Possessing the perfect combination of power and technique, Hansen rose to the top of his events, along with Japan's Kosuke Kitajima, the double Olympic champion in 2004 and 2008. The hours Hansen spent training and honing his stroke were the reasons for his vast success at every level.
In February 2008, however, the sport changed with Speedo's unveiling of the LZR Racer, the high-tech swimsuit designed with the help of NASA. The swimwear included polyurethane panels and enabled swimmers, through body compression, to be buoyant and maintain better position in the water, particularly in the latter portion of races, when fatigue is supposed to take over.
The LZR was the dominant suit at the 2008 Olympics, worn by the majority of medalists and responsible for a slew of world records. But by the time the World Championships rolled around, it was obsolete, an analog player in a digital world. The Italian companies Arena and Jaked had developed better suits, made almost entirely of polyurethane, and these rubber products enabled swimmers well down the world rankings prior to the suit storm to suddenly contend for world-championship medals.
More, several national-team coaches have stated the suits have been a bigger aid to some swimmers than others. That group includes France's Lionel Horter and the United States' Mark Schubert.
"To be honest, it is hard to accept," Hansen said. "I could have been a mediocre swimmer, but I chose to do everything I could to be the best. I based decisions in my life around that. Now, you see someone put on these new suits and they jump up a level, but without changing a thing with their stroke or how much they train. That doesn't add up."
How much have the high-tech suits changed the sport? Consider this: Before they were introduced to the sport in early 2008, only three men had ever broken the one-minute barrier in the 100 breaststroke and the 2:10 barrier in the 200 breast.
Hansen was the world-record holder in the shorter distance, his best time of 59.13 nearly a half-second quicker than the No. 2 performer in history. Meanwhile, Hansen held the global standard in the 200 breast at 2:08.50, and was the only member of the sub-2:09 club.
This year alone, 19 men have cracked a minute for the 100 breast and 23 have gone under 2:10 for the 200 breaststroke. As for the world records, they now stand at 58.58 for the 100 and 2:07.31 for the 200, those standards the products of the technological doping, as one Italian coach once put it, that has neutralized exquisite technicians such as Hansen and Kitajima.
Since February 2008, more than 190 world records have been set.
If there is a positive development, it's the fact that FINA, the sport's international governing body, is outlawing the high-tech suits effective Jan. 1, 2010. At that point, only textile fabrics will be allowed and male swimmers will be required to wear jammers, swimsuits that start at the hips and end just above the knees. Gone will be the bodysuits, some of which stretched to the ankles and were cut around the shoulders, therefore covering the torso.
"Going to jammers, that will be good because it will be swimming again," said Hansen, who has stayed in shape and is competing in triathlons. "But it could be bad, too, because we won't see records for a long time and people like world records if they mean something. FINA didn't know this was going to happen, but they could have changed it. They could have done something earlier and gotten rid of the suits. FINA got caught with its pants down."
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August 17, 2009 I hope Hansen comes back next year. He definitely has something left in the tank... Submitted by: SwimDER94
August 17, 2009 Another reason for the faster breaststroke times are the dolphin kicks at the start. In the Rome video you see E. Shanteau does 1.5 dolphins as he enters the pool - most of the others 1 strong down dolhin off the dive. I assume that they will either use the underwater cameras to stop this or legalize as in the case with the Kitajima dolphin.
see @ 2:19 on this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86XZukP0FbY Submitted by: natacao
August 17, 2009 It's so hard to enforce the fly kick rule on breast; I think they should just allow dolphin kicks up to 15 meters like all the other strokes. Breast is already the slowest stroke, no reason it should be held back further. Submitted by: liquidassets
August 17, 2009 Cameron van der Burgh has the sickest pullout ever... He's gone the step further and has completely separated the dolphin kick from the pullout phase so he's essentially doing two separate movements to keep momentum.
Btw, FINA aren't seriously thinking about keeping these records, right? As if these times had anything to do with the times Hansen and Kitajima did... Submitted by: JakedBadForYou
August 17, 2009 I guess they should have two sets of records, otherwise it will be bad for the sport because people will get bored and frustrated that the recent records are out of reach. Submitted by: liquidassets
August 18, 2009 C'mon Hansen!!
DID YOU FORGET THAT WHILE YOU WERE UNDER A NIKE CONTRACT YOU SWAM WITH A NEW LZR IN BEIJING????
Hypocrisy to its fullest....He was there in 2008 where these guys are in 2009....same place....new technology....what a joke...Lost some respect for the guy after this quote...
"I could have been a mediocre swimmer, but I chose to do everything I could to be the best. I based decisions in my life around that. Now, you see someone put on these new suits and they jump up a level, but without changing a thing with their stroke or how much they train. That doesn't add up." Submitted by: mambomambo
August 18, 2009 The Jaked and Arena rubber suits are so far beyond the LZR - compare breaststroke times in LZRS to Jakeds or Arenas - take Soni as an example in the 100 breast - she drops 2 seconds???? Brenden is being honest - look at any these times with Jaked or Arena to a year ago in the LZR in the 200 breast. Sprenger 2:11.02 - 2:07:31; Shanteau 2:10:10 - 2:07.42; Barbosa 2;12.56 - 2:08.31.
Also note that in 2009 - 23 swimmers break the sacred 2:10 mark and in 2008 just 12. In the 100 breast, 8 broke a minute in 2008 and 20 this year! Brenden is right on - it does not add up.... Submitted by: natacao
August 19, 2009 WHat about the regular suits to LZR difference? Hansen and you natacao, seemed to forget about that... Submitted by: mambomambo
August 19, 2009 I am gunna have to agree with mambomambo... It reminds me of a scene from the old movie The Sting. I forget all the details but two characters are playing cards and both are cheating and the one that loses is obviously pissed but knows he cannot really turn the other guy in cuz he was cheating too. The quote is something like, what am I gunna do tell them he out cheated me. Speedo def opened the door and is now trying to play good guy, puhlease its not fooling me. I say good for Jaked and Arena for pushing the envelope on Speedo. Do not punish these companies because they made a better suit than speedo within the rules presented by FINA. It is all FINA's fault for allowing the LZR in the first place. It really is not that hard to see. Just get rid of all rubber and have two sets of records. Submitted by: onehandtoucher
August 20, 2009 Another great article Mr.Lohn, to point out the differences that these suits did to swimming. When B.Hansen broke the records in 2006,208.50 in the 200 Breast,and 59.13in 100 Breast,he was wearing the Nike Jammer suit. Not the space suits they wore from the neck to the ankles,at both Bejing and Nationals. Let's see what these times will be with these guys after January 1st, and they are required to wear jammers again. Iam sure these times will be back to what they were before 2009,211's for the 200 Breast and 101.'s for the 100 Breast.
Swandive Submitted by: 10savini
August 20, 2009 Not sure if I can really respect the opinion of those who criticise these suits but went ahead and wore the LZR last year.
Also, jammers work perfectly for Brendan. Submitted by: Priyant
August 20, 2009 I'm sure Brendan will have trouble sleeping without your respect Priyant. Do you have trouble respecting the many swimmers who have spoken out against the rubber suits but wore them in Rome anyway? When your competition is all wearing the suit that is proven fastest, are you to waste a year of training, not to mention the potential lost income, that would result from taking an ethical stand and losing? Let us all know how well that works out for you next time you're on the Olympic team, your sole source of income on the line, and your teammates counting on you. Submitted by: Michelle
August 20, 2009 Michelle, in that case, I believe a swimmer should not open his mouth to criticize other swimmers for wearing the new suits when he has done the exact same thing.....THAT IS HYPOCRYTICAL...
It is not like Hansen was ONLY criticizing FINA for allowing this mess to occur in the first place, he also criticized other swimmers for wearing those suits....BIG DIFFERENCE!!!
THe funny thing to me was his quote: "Being the hardest worker doesn't get you what it did in the past." WHAT????? So is he saying that Cielo wasn't a hard worker, or Biederman for that matter? What a joke. Stupid comments from Elite athletes like Hansen should NEVER occur.... Submitted by: mambomambo
August 20, 2009 Michelle, your comments make it seem like you would be perfectly ok with taking an "illegal substance" if EVERYBODY ELSE was doing it too....after all, like you said: "are you to waste a year of training, not to mention the potential lost income, that would result from taking an ethical stand and losing? Let us all know how well that works out for you next time you're on the Olympic team, your sole source of income on the line, and your teammates counting on you."
C'mon, lets be real here... Submitted by: mambomambo
August 21, 2009 Look, I have no problems with Bren anyway, and I'm not saying I don't respect HIM, I don't respect or have time for his comments that relate to this issue in a critical way. I think Brendan is a fantastic athelete and did alot for American men's breaststroke, so this isn't to knock him. And also when I say I don't have time for that opinion, I'm not saying it's exclusive to just him. I say that to anyone out there, even say Hugues Duboscq, whome I love, I thought sold out a bit when he kept voicing his opinions about the suits and said he's wear briefs, and then didn't.
I also think like as mambomambo (that felt weird to type) said, it's a massive insult to then insinuate that hard work isn't to do with this. As far as I'm concerned, the results were fine, the placings were fine, the TIMES were the issue. Submitted by: Priyant
August 21, 2009 My point Priyant is that it's really very easy for you to have that opinion because YOUR livelihood isn't at stake. Anyone can be an arm chair quarterback. It takes nothing more than a lack of empathy and an internet connection. Many athletes have spoken out against the suits, and did so back in 2008 when it was just the LZR, but to expect them to not do everything within their power to win WITHIN THE RULES LAID OUT BY THEIR SPORTS GOVERNING BODY (for the obviously confused mambomambo), is to expect far too much. Especially when they are getting pressured by their teammates, their coaches, their sponsors, the media, etc. etc.
Wearing the suits while complaining about what they are doing to the sport doesn't make them hypocrites, it makes them realists. Submitted by: Michelle
August 21, 2009 And in response to the your opinion that the results were fine and the placings were fine, I disagree. I think some athletes obviously got a much bigger boost from the suits than others. That doesn't mean that every placement was wrong, but there were some very obvious question marks. We'll just have to wait and see how it all shakes out next season. Submitted by: Michelle
August 21, 2009 Michelle is right on. Anyone calling Hansen and Duboscq hypocrites is smoking something that's probably not good for them in the long run. The real hypocrites are the ones who don't want the suits to get banned (because THEIR livelihood is at stake too) BUT STILL insist that the suits do nothing and it's all because they train so good. If the suits weren't about to get banned in Jan 2010, we would NEVER see those guys in anything but a fullbody rubber. It's time to see what they're really capable of. And they seem to be from anywhere, the Germans are ironically enough the only ones realistic and classy enough to admit the suits make for completely unrealistic times. Biedermann has no doubt improved this last year regardless of the suit, yet he acknowledges it. The 200 free was so important for so many reasons, most of all it got Bowman and Phelps to wake up and take a stance. You didn't hear them complain last year about the LZR. Despite having arguably the best suit, Arena still wants the whole technology banned and doesn't mind its sponsored athletes speak their opinion. Funny how BlueSeventy and Jaked doesn't find anything wrong with the new materials, I guess it takes a true swimming company to acknowledge true swimming.
The unrealistic time drops are what Hansen is talking about. Not that people aren't training hard, maybe even as hard as he is. But their talents and stroke technique didn't allow them to swim as fast as he did, yet with the new suits (and no increase in training load), they drop time and suddenly find themselves at his level. Take the suit off, and maybe they aren't at his level anymore. Taking the year off was the best thing him and Kitajima could've done. Hope to see them back in 2011 and 2012 totally owning everyone again... Like it used to be Submitted by: JakedBadForYou
August 22, 2009 mambomambo,
you are either foreign or just another American who got beaten by Brendan one too many times. I think Brendan has earned the right to voice his opinion considering he dominated the stroke for eight years, held both world records for three of those years, and was one of the 2008 Olympic Team Captains. It may be easier for him to comment so vehemently because he is not active at the moment, but I'm sure many on the current National Team do agree. Unless you are Mark Schubert or Eddie hiding behind that name I would suggest you thank Brendan for what he's done for our sport and move on to criticizing another article. Submitted by: oldbay22
August 23, 2009 Brenda is "Over the hill". He was terrific, but no more. Submitted by: Susan B_1987
Reaction Time responses do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions
of Swimming World Magazine or SwimmingWorldMagazine.com.
Reaction Time is provided as a service to our readers.
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