Michael Phelps and Jack Bauerle on The Week That Was – Video

Michael Phelps after 100 butterfly

Photo Courtesy: JD Lasica

PHOENIX – This past week wrapped up some longstanding storylines in aquatic sports, as we learned the fate of the best swimmer of all time and one of the best coaches of all time. Those two are part of this episode’s countdown of the top five headlines of the week, but we’ll get started with a retirement announcement in Germany.


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At number five was the news that Markus Deibler was retiring from the sport after about a decade at the top of his country’s elite swimmers. What was puzzling about the news was that just two weeks earlier, Deibler had won the short course world title in the 100 individual medley, breaking Ryan Lochte’s world record. Deibler didn’t go into many specifics in his retirement announcement, only to say that the decision came after much deliberation. Deibler has some great history in the sport, swimming in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, placing eighth in the 200 IM in London. His short course worlds win earlier this month was the first for him on the world level. The Deibler name will still be seen in the sport, as Markus’ older brother Steffen will still be competing for Deutchland.

Last weekend two meets took place in Oklahoma City, as the American Energy Pro-Am and the Marlin Elite Pro-Am featured some of the country’s best swimmers for our number four headline. It might be a little confusing to explain, but I’ll give it a try. The original director of the sole pro-am meet that had been running for the past 22 years moved to a new team and wanted to have a pro-am meet of his own in town. The team that owned the original meet also wanted to have a pro-am meet, and thus dueling pro-ams existed last weekend. Some of the country’s top professional swimmers came to Oklahoma City to earn some holiday gift-giving cash, and we got some great racing as a result. Cody Miller and Breeja Larson set American and US Open records in the 50-yard breaststroke, a race that is rarely swum at the elite level. Miller beat Brendan McHugh, the US Open record holder in the long course 50 breast, by five hundredths of a second, 23.61 to 23.66. Miller beat McHugh in some impressive touch-out races in the 100 and 200 breast as well. Breeja Larson had an easier time with her win, posting a 26.88 to break the record and win by a little more than a second. Nathan Adrian won the 50 and freestyles, nearly breaking his American records in the sprint events and was touched out in the 200 by three hundredths of a second by Dax Hill. Those swims took place at the American Energy pro-am, where most of the faster times were swum. At the King Marlin meet, Eugene Godsoe was king of the backstroke, while high school senior Katie McLaughlin was the class of the women’s meet with four wins. We’ve got a virtual meet recap of how times stacked up from both meets on swimmingworld.com, so go check it out.

Meet Mobile has been a great resource for getting results from swim meets all over the United States, almost instantaneously and for free. Now that smartphone app is going to come at a price, and our number three headline of the week is the news that the company is charging five dollars and 99 cents for a yearly subscription to the service. Active.com, the company that owns Meet Mobile, said the new price point comes with a major upgrade to the app, including better search options and social media interaction. The upgrade and subscription options will start appearing on your smartphone January 7.

Some good news from the University of Georgia today for our number two headline. After almost a year of waiting and wondering, Jack Bauerle is back on the deck to coach the Georgia swim teams. Bauerle was suspended by the NCAA when it was revealed that this time last year he personally asked a professor to admit Chase Kalisz to a class past the deadline, a clear violation of NCAA rules. Bauerle’s case wasn’t heard until this fall, meaning Bauerle wasn’t on deck when his women’s team won the NCAA title in March, or when Kalisz set the 400-yard IM American record at the men’s meet. As a result of his discretion, Bauerle was ordered to pay $5,000 and sit out nine competitions in the 2014-2015 season. Those nine meets have already taken place, and Bauerle is set to coach the teams January 3 against South Carolina. Welcome back, Jack.

And now we’ve reached our number one headline of the week, and it’s the court-ordered sentence for Michael Phelps as a result of his DUI arrest last September. Phelps was given a one-year suspended sentence after pleading guilty to the DUI charges in court on Friday and will serve 18 months probation. Also, Phelps will attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, which will likely happen for the rest of his life, because as they saying goes, once an addict, always an addict. Phelps has been back in the water training since he ended his stint in rehab, and though he’s not competing at the world championships, there’s a good chance we’ll see something amazing from him when he hits the water after his USA Swimming ban ends in March. Phelps will be out to prove that this was a minor bump in the road, and told fans in an online message that he’s got some goals to reach in 2015. Phelps never shares his goals publicly, but as we know, he sets big goals and pretty much always achieves them. If you want to read more about Phelps’ day in court, just go to our USA news channel at swimmingworld.com.

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