The A.D.N Swim Project, an example of international cooperation in elite swimming, is on a mission to cause Superfish Michael Phelps a few hairy moments on butterfly at Rome 2009.
Milorad Cavic, the Serbian who fell 0.01sec shy of Phelps over 100 metres at the Olympic Games in Beijing, is already training under the guidance of Italian coach Andrea di Nino. After the ADN group emerges from the other side of a training camp in Sierra Nevada on february 10, they will be joined by two new recruits, first Russian 'fly ace Evgeni Korotishkin, before a mystery recruit, also a world-class 'flyer, bolsters the campaign to oust Phelps from his throne in Rome.
With Cavic in Sierra Nevada are new recruit fellow Serb Miroslava Najdanovski, world titles 200m butterfly podium placer Kim Vandenberg from the US, Fabiola Molina, the 'fly and backstroke speedster from Brazil and countrymen Fernando Silva, Olympic free relay man, and Diogo Yabe. Temporarily missing is backstroke world-record-holder Randall Bal, of the US, who is back home on promotional tour.
Di Nino's squad is focussed on the aerobic side of preparation, partly a reflection of high altitude conditions but also because, as the coach put it to SwimNews "all my group come from a 'strange' autumn season'." Cavic and Vanderburg, who swam a 2:08 200 l/c 'fly at the Dutch Cup last month, returned to racing relatively late last year, while Molina went on world cup tour. "We must build an aerobic phase and this for me is the best place to do just that," said Di Nino from Sierra Nevada. "My group is sprint-oriented so we will still also focus on short speed sets and, of course, work in the gym."
Di Nino's group is rare: swimmers from three continents coming together under a philosophical umbrella and taking a similar approach to their preparation in one squad. The atmosphere, says Di Nino, is "just great ... different languages and culture ... just amazing."
Vanderburg shares a room with Najdanovski, American and Serb teammates and friends together. Just a few years ago, such a thing would have been unthinkable.
