Streamlined News: Recapping Top Stories of 2012, Nos. 1-3

PHOENIX, Arizona, December 28. TODAY we're wrapping up our countdown of the 10 most popular stories of 2012 with the top three, as decided by the top articles read on swimmingworld.com in 2012. Coming in at number three is Dagny Knutson's admission of an eating disorder and her exclusive interview with swimmingworld.com. Knutson had been dealing with the eating disorder for many years, and had managed to swim well in spite of it, but last January she finally realized she needed treatment, and in the months since then, she has returned to the sport with a new spirit. But most importantly, she says she's a better person out of the pool now that she has a handle on dealing with the eating disorder.

Our number two headline of the year was the stunning admission by South African Cameron van der Burgh that he cheated in the final of the men's 100 breaststroke on the way to a gold medal. Two days after his win, van der Burgh admitted to doing three dolphin kicks at the start of the race, two more kicks than are allowed. Our article about his admission and our subsequent call for him to be stripped of his gold medal received tens of thousands of views and started a lengthy discussion among our readers that lasted for weeks. Though van der Burgh was never asked to return his medal, FINA did state that a proposal to institute underwater video judging will be discussed next summer.

And finally, we're at the number one headline of 2012, and probably to no surprise of anyone that followed the Olympics, Ye Shiwen's final 100 meters of freestyle on the way to a gold medal in the 400 IM sparked controversy that included suspicions of doping. Ye did not test positive for illegal drugs at the Olympics, but the fact that she outsplit Ryan Lochte in the final 50 meters of the race had people calling foul play for months. John Lohn's commentary defending Ye Shiwen was our most-read article of 2012, garnering nearly 40,000 views since it was published on July 29, and eliciting nearly 150 comments. No article on our website generated as much discussion among our readers, and few swimming events at the Olympics received the type of attention that the 400 IM got.

Of course, there were other top stories of the year, and you can let us know which one you thought was the top story of the year by posting a comment on the article associated with this show. We look forward to hearing from you.

For now, that will do it for Streamlined News. This is our final episode of the year, and we want to thank all of our viewers who have watched us not only this year, but for the past five years. We will be back in the studio Wednesday, January 2, with more aquatic sports news from around the world.

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