Swimming World Media Round Table: Future of Swimming

PHOENIX, Arizona, September 12. NOW that the hangover from the 2008 Beijing Olympics is almost at a conclusion, the Swimming World Media Round Table wanted to take a look at the future of the sport.

Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times, Dan Albano of the Orange Country Register and Erik Boal of the Los Angeles Daily News joined us for that conversation.

To see our participants work, check out the web sites of the Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Daily News.

[Jason Marsteller, Swimming World] Welcome back to the round table everyone. Also, we'd like to welcome Lisa to the discussion for the first time. Let's get right to it. Where do you think the sport of swimming is headed by 2012? Lisa?

[Lisa Dillman, Los Angeles Times] Up and up! A lot better than my stock portfolio. TV, of course, will be the driving engine. I see the post-Olympic Phelps era a lot like when Wayne Gretzky came to LA in 1988. The NHL did not take advantage of it, TV wise, and stayed on an obscure cable network. Swimming HAS to get on TV. Even Versus would do for now. USA swimming also has to hire Erik in its PR/marketing department.

[Erik Boal, Los Angeles Daily News] Outstanding first response, even throwing a little LA Kings reference in there. I throw my support to Lisa Dillman in 2008. I agree totally with the necessity to use TV as a vehicle, because most people won't search on the Internet to find it. If they can keep it in the public eye at least through the 2009 World Championships in Rome, then it has a chance to have some serious staying power come 2012.

Of course, there will be the natural mid-quad lull between 2009 Worlds and 2010 Pan-Pacs in Irvine, but if they promote the World Youth Championships and Youth Olympic Games properly then it could tread water, no pun intended, until the 2011 World Championships in China, and then the train will be full steam ahead toward London in 2012.

[Dan Albano, Orange County Register] Probably the second biggest story for the sport that came out of the Olympics was NBC signing up for the '09 Worlds and '10-11 nationals. From an exposure standpoint, that was a home run. Sure, it's a long wait til 2009 but Phelps is doing a great job keeping the sport part of the sporting landscape right now. I know some critics would like to see more meets, more chances for exposure, but I think major TV coverage once a year is pretty darn good right now.

[Erik Boal, Los Angeles Daily News] I think exposure for the sport is tremendous and anytime you have a charismatic athlete like Michael Phelps as the central figure for your sport, then it's definitely a plus. But I think there needs to be more of a push between now and 2012, or even now and 2009 to keep tabs on some of the other high-profile swimmers, whether it's veterans like Jason Lezak, Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen and Erik Vendt, or up-and-comers like Ricky Berens, Cullen Jones, Garrett Weber-Gale and Ben Wildman-Tobriner and keep their names in the public eye. The same goes for the women, with veterans like Natalie Coughlin, Dara Torres and Amanda Beard, and up-and-comers like Katie Hoff, Rebecca Soni, Christine Magnuson, Elizabeth Beisel and Allison Schmitt…

[Lisa Dillman, Los Angeles Times] And Dara swimming a relay at age 45.

[Erik Boal, Los Angeles Daily News] …Everybody knows about Michael Phelps and won't soon forget his name or his accomplishments. But if the sport, as a whole, is going to remain exciting and appealing until 2012, the other athletes in the U.S., and around the world, have to be promoted too, and Dara swimming a relay at 45 would be incredible, Lisa.

[Lisa Dillman, Los Angeles Times] Dara's story really resonates. Not quite as many people ask me about Dara, compared to Michael, but it's close. The tough part was that some of the great stories late in the swimming got overlooked. Soni beating Jones and Dara's silver in the 50 would have been lead stories any other time. Dara could be a major marketing tool in the lag between now and Worlds next year.

[Erik Boal, Los Angeles Daily News] I think if your name wasn't Michael Phelps or Dara Torres, possibly Jason Lezak, then you were, at some point, overlooked. Natalie Coughlin won more medals in an Olympics than any other American female and I think she was a bigger focus in Athens than Beijing.

[Dan Albano, Orange County Register] From an exposure standout, I think the biggest payoff for swimming will come from perhaps the new competition Phelps faces — whether he is now more of a sprinter or trying to stay on top in some of his signature events. I could see the public wanting him to be challenged ala Tiger Woods in golf. If a swimmer could beat Phelps, they would be on the map. Sure, there are great stories on the women's side and they will be carried to higher levels because of Phelps.

[Erik Boal, Los Angeles Daily News] BRING ON CAVIC

[Lisa Dillman, Los Angeles Times] Getting back to Natalie Coughlin, do you think that was a byproduct of her personality. Wonder if she preferred it that way this time around?

[Erik Boal, Los Angeles Daily News] Without a doubt. I just think that with all the attention toward Dara Torres, and rightfully so, as well as NBC's push to make Katie Hoff the female version of Michael Phelps in Beijing because she was swimming in so many events, that Natalie, whether by her own choosing or just the way the storylines unfolded, was knocked down in the pecking order of the top stories in Beijing. Hopefully, as time elapses in the post-Olympic year, her accomplishment will be appreciated more. As I hope Soni's victory over Jones will in the 200 breaststroke. Because, now you have a world-record swimmer back in college for her last year of NCAA competition.

[Dan Albano, Orange County Register] I just think Natalie and many of the U.S. swimmers got rolled by the Phelps' tidal wave — Jason Lezak seems to be getting incredible exposure and I believe a lot of that has to with his connection to Phelps — and his comeback.

I think from a participation standout, swimming will get a major boost in the next four years. There are probably tons of kids who will want to be the next Michael Phelps — and that will push efforts at all levels – age group and up. And open water will be a nice added bonus for U.S. swimming by 2012. It's a very fast-growing sport — kind of like triathlon.

And just think how much more well-known Cavic would be today had he just finished his race that he had won? How much exposure or money did that cost Cavic? And maybe he should have been trying to get on the U.S. team all along? Maybe in 2012?

[Lisa Dillman, Los Angeles Times] The problem is some major storylines go ignored because of the big time lag between major events. For instance, will Katie Hoff stay with the same coach? Should she? And what will Cavic do or say next? Talk about a gift to all sportswriters. But, Dan knew that long ago. He started talking in the mixed zone after the semis of the 100 fly, and suddenly it didn't matter that I had gotten about four hours of sleep the previous night. Sorry to sound like Aaron Peirsol, but that guy was an "awesome" quote.

[Erik Boal, Los Angeles Daily News] You couldn't have ended on a better note.

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