Lane lines from 2011 -  a trawl through the aquatic headlines of the past year: November and December 

November 

1: "My body feels good and it's slowly dawning on me I'm about to race again. But at the same time, I'm nervous because I just don't know what to expect and (it's) the great unknown" - Ian Thorpe ahead of world cup comeback 

4: In 6th place in heats on 56.74 over 100m medley at the world cup in Singapore, Ian Thorpe makes his first dip into the international race pool since 2004

4: World Cup leader Chad Le Clos (RSA) claims another triple on his tub-thumping tour of the arena-sponsored series with victories over 400m medley, 200m butterfly and 100m medley; brace for Therese Alshammar (SWE); first comeback finals for Thorpe and Trickett

5: The unstoppable Chad Le Clos (RSA) continues to cut a blazing trail through Arena World Cup waters with three more sizzling victories that took him ever closer to the $100,000 prize he looks sure to win when the cup concludes in Tokyo 

8: Chad Le Clos (RSA), world cup trailblazer of 2011, wins three more as Beijing round of the six-event series gets underway - and loses the 100m free to Kyle Richardson (AUS) by 0.01sec

8: At Russian short-course nationals that began in Volgograd today, Sergey Fesikov swims the first leg of a 4x50m freestyle relay in 21.19sec, the world season best for 2011-12

9: Hao Jun is 16. His best long-course 1500m free is a 15:18.75 effort from July of his 15th year among us, in 2010. He has no short-course entry until his home round of the Arena World Cup in Beijing - from which he emerges boasting a best of 14:40.15

9: The Midas Touch lives in Chad Le Clos on the last day of the penultimate round of the 2011 Arena World Cup in Beijing: three out of three once more leaves the South African within a stroke of a $100,000 pay day; Blair Evans (AUS) on 3:58 in 400m free

9: After cracking out the world's best 50m freestyle time this season, a 21.19 at the start of the 4x50m free relay, Sergey Fesikov confirms his speed with a sizzling 21.09 victory in the solo dash at Russian short-course nationals in Volgograd

9: Pierre Lafontaine, CEO and Performance Head to Canada, is to concentrate solely to CEO responsibilities after London 2012; nation to launch search for new head of performance in Vision 2020 plan

11: A civil lawsuit is filed in an American court against USA Swimming by the family of an Indiana teen who say officials should have done more to protect the girl from sexual assault

11: On the same day as the above, the good work of veteran and experienced US coaches is highlighted in a mentoring scheme run by USA Swimming; 19 coaches paid by USA Swimming in funding reward for achievement

11: Just 0.05sec splits Nikita Lobintsev and Sergey Fesikov by the end of a tight 100m freestyle battle on the last day at Russian short-course nationals in Volgograd, Lobintsev taking the title in 46.98, Fesikov silver and Evgeny Lagunov the bronze in 47.37

11: Olympic champion wins two at US GP opener in times he has never seen before in November over 200m free and 100 'fly - 1:46 and 52; Allison Schmitt cracks out a 1:55 200 free ahead of Missy Franklin's 1:57

12: Chad Le Clos is set to return to South Africa $100,000 to the good after world cup domination but Takeshi Matsuda stays home with a smile on his face after setting the swiftest 200 'fly time ever by a man in a textile suit in Tokyo - the first sub 1:50 effort - 1:49.50

12:  The Gold Coast wins rights to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games in a bid run by Mark Stockwell, Australian Olympian and husband of legendary medley ace Tracy Caulkins (USA)

12: In 1:56.12 Michael Phelps dominates his signature 200 'fly event at the Minneapolis Grand Prix and then returned to the fray for a second gold, a 53.71 in the 100m backstroke; Missy Franklin on 59.69 in the 100m backstroke

13: Chad Le Clos (RSA) and Therese Alshammar (SWE) are crowned Arena World Cup champions  and celebrate a $100,000 pay day each as the Tokyo round of the series brings the seven-meet FINA circuit to a close

13: Michael Phelps completes a golden run at the opening leg of the US Grand Prix with a class-apart 1:57.58 victory in the 200m medley, the time the 4th best in the world this year, the 20th best of his career and best ever at that time of the year

14: As swimmers, coaches, programmes and even nations seek a new pathway for competition and debate continues about the best direction for the world cup, a Pro Swim League is about to be baptised in the United States

14: The Euro crisis and debt problems of Italy stretch to the world of swimming as Sicily reveals that it can no longer host the FINA world short-course championships at Catania in 2014 because budgets can't go there

15: Colin Moynihan, BOA Chairman, calls for stronger global anti-doping policies and practices and a fundamental review of the progress of the World Anti-Doping Association in light of concerns over weakness of purpose in the fight to deny cheats who would deny others who will be given no second chance to write a winning page in their sporting history book

17: The British Olympic Association is to defy WADA and defend before the Court of Arbitration for Sport a bylaw that prevents drug cheats from representing Britain at the Games; WADA brings the challenge knowing that those once banned would prosper

18: French coach Fabrice Pellerin kits out his squad, including Yannick Agnel and Camille Muffat, with waterproof mp3 players loaded with Hans Zimmer's Dark Knight (Batman), Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Eminem, Rihanna, the Beatles, Mozart and more

21: WADA declares 2012 Olympic host Britain "non-compliant" with its Code in an argument over the weakness of anti-doping rules that let foxes back into the Olympic coop; under the Olympic Charter, the BOA is technically unable to compete at London 2012

22: Alena Popchanka, world 200m free champ in 2003, is back in the race pool and aiming to join the girls of Gaul for an Olympic outing in 2012

25: Britta Steffen (GER) leaps back to top form and the helm of the world s/c rankings with a 52.00sec victory over 100m freestyle at the German s/c nationals in Wuppertal

26: Michael Klim makes a good race comeback with a disputed 49.80 100m free (system had it as 51s but timing appears to fail) at a state qualifying meet at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre

26: Sarah Sjostrom continues to build a reputation as a world-class freestyler, a 52.18 national s/c crown over 100m in Stockholm just 0.01sec shy of the Swedish record held since 2000 by Therese Alshammer

27: Aussie freestyler Kenrick Monk escapes the prospect of a three-year jail term after it is decided not to charge him after he invented a story about a hit-and-run accident when in fact he had fallen off his skateboard

27: Katerine Savard sets a Canadian record of 57.80 in the long-course final on the last evening of action at the Canada Cup;

28: Ian Thorpe's chances of making the grade for the 200m free at London 2012 get a little stronger when James Magnussen indicates that an Olympics schedule clash may see him put off 200 solo plans until Barcelona 2013 world titles

30: Almost four years on from the LZR Racer that lit a torch to the suits crisis in swimming and culminated in a ban on shiny suits and the full body cut, Speedo launches the "Fastskin3 Racing System", a trilogy of suit, cap and goggles; first racing in the suit over following two weeks confirms that the apparel is not going to do for times what poly did in 2008-09

December

3: Lawyers play a part in helping cheats get off the hook; cheating much wider than stats suggest; science is not enough in war on drugs; time to take fight out of lab - David Howman, director general of WADA, in a keynote speech in NY

3: World s/c titles queen a year ago, Mireia Belmonte (ESP) gets the better of Lotte Friis (DEN), 8:22.78 to 8:24.31 over 800m free at the Dutch Open in Eindhoven 

4: The US nationals end in Atlanta with strong performances from Rebecca Soni, Brendan Hansen, Missy Franklin, Tyler Clary and Nathan Adrian; Olympic champion Soni takes the 200m breaststroke in 2:21.46, performance of the meet

4: Sarah Sjoestrom (SWE) leaps to the helm of the world rankings - and is best ever in a textile suit - over 100m freestyle with a sizzling 53.05sec victory at the Dutch Open in Eindhoven

5: Olympic champion Alain Bernard, of Antibes, brings French s/c nationals to a close in Angers with a 46.59 100m free blast

5: The tales of corruption at the heart of the IOC, FIFA and in Olympic sports touches the world of swimming on the news that Brazil's Joao Havelange has resigned as a member of the IOC just as expulsion threatens to follow inquiry 

7: Australian 'flyer Nick D'Arcy needs permission from a trustee to travel to the Olympic Games after he declared himself bankrupt and so avoided having to pay assault victim Simon Cowley what he is due; Aussie OC to discuss the matter

8: A case of Dubai 2010 revisited at the European Short-Course Championships in Szczecin, Poland, as Spain's Mireia Belmonte bags a brace of titles, victory in the 200m medley followed shortly after by triumph over 200m butterfly

9: Lotte Friis (DEN) claims the world textile-suit standard over 800m free with an 8:07.53 victory at the European s/c Championships in Poland; 6th 400IM crown for Cseh

10: Only Laure Manaudou (FRA) has ever swum faster than Mireia Belmonte (ESP) over 400m free s/c unassisted - at the Euro Champs in Poland, the triple world s/c champion clocks 3:56.39 for her 3rd gold of the meet as Federica Pellegrini falls shy of podium

11: Gold Coast 17-year-old Cameron McEvoy gets the better of James Magnussen in the 200m freestyle in a lifetime best of 1:48.08 on the opening night at the 2011 Queensland State Championships in Brisbane

11: Mireia Belmonte (ESP) goes a gold beyond her three-title tally at the world s/c champs a year ago when she claims the 400m medley Euro s/c crown ahead of Hannah Miley as the continental winter championships close in Poland

12: Emily Seebohm claims a brace on day two at the Queensland State Championships in Brisbane, clocking 59.37 in the 100m backstroke, followed by 2:13.37 in the 200m medley

13: World champion James Magnussen (AUS) stamps his authority on the 100m free on the third evening of action at the Queensland State Champs in Brisbane, 48.63 the time on the clock

13: The British Olympic Association files a formal appeal with the CAS challenging a WADA decision to declare non-compliant the BOA selection policy than denies cheats access to the Great Britain team for the Olympic Games

14: Double Olympic medley champion Stephanie Rice skips Queensland State titles to have shoulder surgery

15: Germany loses the senior coach at the helm of its London 2012 plans just seven months before the Olympic Games in the British capital next July as Dirk Lange leaves by mutual agreement after schism over direction of national team 

15: Swimmers are snubbed in a year that saw them race for world titles, none making it to the shortlist for Laureus awards

16: The USA medley quartet of Natalie Coughlin, Rebecca Soni, Dana Vollmer and Missy Franklin take down the 4x100m s/c world record in 3:45.56 at the Duel in the Pool; Franklin pressed close to WR in 200 back as Simmonds sets European record

17: The USA trounce Europe select 181.5 to 80.5 points at the Duel in the Pool in Atlanta; Lotte Friis (DEN) clocks 8:04.77 in the 800m free, Jessica Hardy (USA) on 1:03.33 in 100 breast; 2:04.91 200IM for Caitlin Leverenz (USA) - all world textile bests

20: A member of FINA's Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and one-time coach to the Swiss national team who once guided Flavia Rigamonti, Flavio Bomio is accused of sexual misconduct with 20 alleged victims; charges follow, as do statements from FINA and LEN condemning criminality

23: On the cusp of Christmas, Dennis Cotterell, former mentor to Grant Hackett, is cited by Sun Yang as the Chinese star sets his sights on a new world-record target over 30 laps - Aussie coach also reported as predicting that Thorpey won't make the London 2012 cut