So, no Britta Steffen in Berlin for the world cup but plenty of other thrills in store. Beyond the rejoining of battle by Mssrs Phelps and Biedermann, two of the biggest names in breaststroke swimming, both missing of late - Leisel Jones through choice, Jessica Hardy while serving a doping suspension - will revisit an old rivalry.
Jones must surely be on any shortlist (and the list will indeed be short) of swimmers who may be able to prove that textile suits cut off at shoulder strap and above the knee are no impediment to setting standards beyond the best possible in a shiny suit these past two seasons. After all, the Australian, Olympic champ in the 100m breaststroke and world record holder over 100 and 200m in recent times, set her best times while wearing the "short" suit of 2007 that will now be allowed once more from January 1, 2010 when non-textiles and bodysuits are banned.
Jones will get her world cup tour off the blocks in Moscow this weekend. Then off to Stockholm midweek and then for a final European-round showdown with Hardy in Berlin November 14-15. The American, who argued that the banned substance that invited suspension from the race pool from summer 2008 for a year must have got into her blood stream via a food supplement that did not say what it contained on the tin, made a stormy comeback in the wake of the world championships in Rome when she clocked four world records in a shiny suit in September to contribute to the tidal wave of performances enhanced not by doping but by suits that sent swimmers to places they would not have gone without a little help from an aid to speed, buoyancy and endurance.
On August 8, a week after Rome waved bye to the world's best, Hardy clocked 29.95 in a 50m breaststroke time trial in a long-course 100m race at Federal Way, Washington. The next day, she doubled up when she reduced the 50m mark to 29.80 on the way to a 1:04.45 world mark over 100m. Then on October 17 at the Durban round of the world cup in South Africa she whacked out a 29.45 global s/c mark.
Jones is still a target for Hardy: the Australian holds the world s/c mark over 100m at 1:03.72. The Berlin battle does not end there. Rebecca Soni, American Olympic 200m champion ahead of Jones in Beijing and 100m world champion in Rome will be a force to reckon with, as will Norway's Olympic bronze medal winner Sara Nordenstam and fast-improving Dane, 20-year-old Rikke Möller Pedersen, who two weeks ago in Odense clocked European s/c records 1:04.59 and 2:18.52 over 100m and 200m respectively.
Jones's coach Rohan Taylor said in a statement today: "Despite having a break from major international competition she hasn't really stopped training and has been in a maintenance stage for some time now. The racing will also give us a clear indication of the things we need to focus in on and she will probably do more volume of work away than she would have if she was just training at home."
It will be fascinating to see what battle clothes they all climb into as the January 1 deadline with reality draws ever closer. Phelps has committed himself to wearing a suit that will be allowed in 2010, as have his US teammates Ariana Kukors and Katie Hoff, medley aces, as they take on European rivals at the Duel in Manchester just before Father Christmas delivers bucket loads of textile suits to swimmers around the world.
