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

MARCH

1: Emily Seebohm's season is thrown off course by a bout of swine flu, the Aussie teenager reveals

3: Michael Phelps clocks world-leading times of 1:46.27 over 200 free and 51.75 over 100 'fly at Indy GP after three weeks up high in Colorado

3: Citing Rebecca Adlington as the torch-bearer of belief for a Britain team precisely a year out from Olympic trials in the London 2012 pool, head coach Denis Pursley says: "It is an old cliche but it is so true: you've got to believe that you belong"

4: Melissa Franklin, 15, sets another US youth mark, of 59.56, to win the 100 back at Indy GP; Phelps on 1:55.34 200 'fly

5: 14-time Olympic gold winner Michael Phelps concludes his return to fine form at the Indianapolis grand prix with a dominant 1:56.88 victory over world record holder Ryan Lochte (1:59) in the 200m medley before he clocks 48.89 in 100m freestyle

5: Double Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington storms to a world-leading 4mins 02.84 victory in 400m free at British world-title trials 

6: Aus-based Brit Ellen Gandy clocks 57.68 to win 100m fly crown ahead of Fran Halsall and Jemma Lowe at British trials for world titles; Hannah Miley a class apart as she books place in Shanghai for world titles with a 2:12.01 200 medley 

7: after booking her ticket to the defence of her world title in Shanghai in July, Brit Gemma Spofforth heads for a critical Green-Card audience at the US Embassy next Monday before she can return "home" to her beloved Florida

7: World 50m back champion Liam Tancock dominates 100m back final with a 53.44 at Brit world-title trials; world 10km champion Kerri-Anne Payne races to a 16:06.67 British record over 1,500m to claim the crown  in a week that sees her make the podium in all finals from 200m to 1500m

9: Ellen Gandy and Jemma Lowe clock 2:06.13 and 2:06.94 in the 200m 'fly to book tickets to Shanghai world titles at British trials; James Goddard and Joe Roebuck had a tight tussle in the 200IM, 0.06sec splitting their 1:58 efforts; Gandy will go on to make the podium in Shanghai, while Lowe and Goddard just miss out

11: Two of Britain’s best medal hopes at world level, Elizabeth Simmonds and Gemma Spofforth, fail to qualify for the world championships in a 200m race won by Stephanie Proud; Spofforth would later reveal that her father's partner had died the night before the race after a battle with cancer - and had died in the hospice where the swimmer's mother had passed away after her own struggle with cancer in 2007; double Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington goes 8:20 on her way to the 800m free world crown 

12: European and Commonwealth champion Hannah Miley retains 400IM British crown in 4:39.12 for another ticket to world titles … not bad for her 17th race in eight days

12: At the Amsterdam Swim Cup, Ranomi Kromowidjojo scorches a 24.61 50m free ahead of Marleen Veldhuis, on 24.83, and Inge Dekker on 24.89

13: Femke Heemskerk and Ranomi Kromowidjojo on 53.70 and 54.00 in 100 free in Amsterdam

14: Thorpe confirms Touretski coaching partnership

23: Kieren Perkins explains to curious children at the school he attended as a boy how coach John Carew had set the bar high at the outset of what became a stellar career. The children asked why his name was nowhere in the school swim carnival results. Giving hope to all who don't make it to the ranks of fast developers, Perkins said he had never been tagged as a "future Olympian" as a boy, and was never a primary school champ, since all competitions for that age group at school level were held over shorter distances than those in which his lungs and stamina could start to do some damage. 

23: Russian open water champion Larisa Ilchenko is widely reported to have retired; she will not defend her Olympic marathon crown, claim reports in Russia and on respected open water swim websites; six months later, the FINA Magazine runs a feature in which she says she never quit and will try for a place at London 2012 if doctors give her the green light. At the time of the "retirement" reports, she had not been tested out-of-competition for almost a year.

23: Yannick Agnel shatters his own French 400m freestyle record with a commanding 3:43.85 victory at French nationals and world-title trials in Strasbourg, leaping from 43rd to 13th on the all-time ranks and up to 7th best ever in textile; he expects to need much more to challenge for there world crown

24: Camille Muffat becomes the first Frenchwoman to crack 54sec in a textile suit when she trounced her rivals with a 53.97sec victory over 100m free at French nationals in Strasbourg

25: a day after French sprinters Fred Bousquet, Alain Bernard and Fabien Gilot  take the arrowhead at the helm of the 50m free world ranks with efforts of 21.82, 21.98 and 22.09 at French nationals, American Nathan Adrian clocks a US s/c dash record of 18.66 under the mask of those quirky things called yards at NCAA champs

25:  Olympic champion Alain Bernard will not get to warm-up for 2012 and the defence of his crown in summer 2011 at world titles after finishing 4th in the 100m free behind Fabien Gilot, William Meynard and Yannick Agnel at French nationals

26: Nice training partners Yannick Agnel and Camille Muffat leap to the helm of the early 2011 world rankings over 200m freestyle with commanding victories. His: 1:45.47; Hers: 1:55.95

27: Camille Muffat claims her fourth freestyle crown of the week at French nationals with a 4:05.70 win in the 400m freestyle

27: California lifts its first NCAA men's team trophy for 31 years in Minnesota ahead of Texas and Stanford

28:  Berlin announced as host of the the 2014 European Championships; Olympic sprint queen Britta Steffen to extend her career for a home grande finale in German capital where she is based

28: Fred Bousquet places himself on a collision course with the French federation by threatening to boycott Shanghai world titles if his coach at Auburn, Brett Hawke, is not on the deck in China as part of the France contingent; two days later, swimmer decides to accept French staff selection policy and says he will race in Shanghai

30: quadruple Olympic champion Kosuke Kitajima sends a message of hope to earthquake victims at home in Japan

30: World record holder Annamay Pierse (2:24.18) and Martha McCabe 2:24.43) book world-title tickets in 200 breaststroke on day 1 at Canadian trials in Victoria

31: Mireia Belmonte, triple world short-course champion, clocks a 2:06.25 200m 'fly Spanish record and then follows up with an 8:27.88 victory over 800m freestyle at nationals in Madrid

31: World No1 in 2010, Brent Hayden lays down a speedy 100m free marker in 48.83 at Canadian world-title trials

APRIL

1: On day 1 at Australian Championships, Kylie Palmer and Bronte Barratt book tickets to the world-title 400m free battle in Shanghai, Palmer on 4:04.29, Barrat 0.07sec away

1: Mireia Belmonte takes third Spanish title with a world-leading 4:34.91 Spanish record over 400 IM in Madrid

1: Jeanette Ottesen takes Danish 100m free crown in 54.16 on her way to sharing the world crown in Shanghai come July

1: At Canadian nationals in Victoria today, Swimming Canada honours one of its outstanding achievers, the late Howard Firby, coach to a shoal of international podium placers

1: Katerine Savard, 17, breaks national 100 'fly record in heats, on 58.52, then hacks it  down below 58 to become a pioneering winner in the final

2: Commonwealth games star Alicia Coutts proves she is no flash in the pan, winning Aussie titles in 57.25 over 100 'fly then 2:10.06 in the  200IM

2: In Wuhan on day 1 at China nationals, Zhang Fenglin takes out the Chinese record in the 200m backstroke with a season-leading 1:56.34

2: At Spanish Spring Nationals in Madrid, there's a season world-leading 16:02.01 championship record from Kristel Kobrich, of Chile, in the women's 1500m freestyle

3: On the final day of nationals in Madrid, Mireia Belmontewipes 0.85sec off the Spanish 200m medley record with a 2:10.26 victory; Melanie Costa wins 400m free in 4:07.09

3: On the second day at China nationals in Wuhan, Sun Yang sizzles with a season-leading 7:44.12 over 800m freestyle; Ye Shiwen, 15, on 2:10.11 in 200IM

3: On day 1 ofd New Zealand world-title trials in Auckland, Lauren Boyle cracks 400m free national record in 4:07.61 

3: At Australian Championships, Melissa Gorman and Leisel Jones hold on to their crowns and Emily Seebohm collapses, exhausted from the effects of the bout of swine 'flu she suffered some weeks earlier

3: Canada selects 32 for Shanghai world titles as Erica Morningstar and Sinead Russell set Canadian records and Brent Hayden clocks 22.37 to win the freestyle dash in curtain-closing action at nationals

4: In Wuhan at China nationals Li Xuanxu goes 4:35.73 in 400IM; Sun Ye takes 200m breaststroke in 2:24.24, 0.05sec ahead of Ji Liping; but 200m free champion slower than 7th at Aussie nationals in Sydney in a country that won the 2009 4x200m free world title in world-record time

4: In Sydney at Australian Championships, Kylie Palmer and Bronte Barratt crackle on 1:55.73 and 1:55.74, the 3rd and 4th sub 1:56 efforts of the new textile suit era, over 200m free

4: Mireia Belmonte heads Spain's medal hopes at the world championships in Shangai in July after seven women and two men make the grade at Spanish trials

5: US-based Lauren Boyle clocks 1:58.74 over 200m freestyle on day 3 at the New Zealand Championships in Auckland and helped drag the 4x200m crew with her to Shanghai world titles; Dylan Dunlop-Barrett breaks Danyon Loader's 800 free mark

5: Day 5 at Australian Championships puts the writing on the end wall as 19-year-old James Magnussen clocks 48.29, the second-best ever 100 free by an Australian in textile, and 19-year-old James Roberts takes silver in 48.72 in a race that sees five go below 49... Magnussen would go on to win 100m world crown and set best-ever textile time leading Australia 4x100m free quartet to victory at world title in Shanghai

5: Sun Yang slams down a 3:41.48 in the 400m free for second-best ever in textile over 400m free (after Ian Thorpe) at China nationals in Wuhan; Liu Zige on 57.39 (2011 world No2) in the 100m butterfly and Zhao Jing on 59.91 (2011 world No3) in the 100m backstroke

6: In Wuhan at China nationals Sun Yang follows up with a 1:44.99 win in the 200m free at helm of a flood of excellent times - Wang Chengxiang, 4:11.89 (Asian Record) 400m IM; Liu Zige, 2:04.40, just ahead of Jiao Liuyang in 200 'fly; Li Xuanxu, 16:09.56 1500 free (China record)

6: at Australian Championships, a commanding victory in the 100m free gives Commonwealth triple champion Alicia Coutts a third national title

6: The Task Force report into the death of Fran Crippen in a 10km race off the coast of the UAE last October is returned to the panel of experts who penned it with a note from the FINA Executive saying 'you've gone too far, please rewrite', SwimNews is told

7: In response to news that FINA has sent back the first report of the Fran Crippen inquiry to the Task Force it appointed to investigate the death of the swimmer in the UAE in October last year, ASCA asks the international federation to explain

7: in Wuhan at China nationals, Sun Yang concludes his campaign with a 14:42 over 1500m free and boasts all titles from 200m upwards

7: at Australian Championships, Belinda Hocking clocks 2:06.88 in the 200m backstroke to fire a shot across the bows of world-title contenders

8: FINA names 5 cities interested in hosting 2015 and 2017 world championships - in Mexico, China, Russia and Canada

8: Australian Championships wrap up with 52 bound for action at World Championships in Shanghai

8: Michael Phelps takes down two pool records on the first evening of action at the 2011 Eric Namesnik Michigan Grand Prix - 1:48.45 200 free, 52.30 100 'fly

9: Phelps edges out Lochte in 54.19 in the 100m backstroke after 4th in the 200m 'fly 1.17sec behind Wu Peng's 1:56.62 at Michigan GP

9: At the Dutch SwimCup Eindhoven, the men's 100m butterfly produces the 2nd, 3rd and 4th best times in the world so far that season, from Joeri Verlinden, Milorad Cavic and Jason Dunford as Sarah Sjostrom starts to show her potential on freestyle

9: On day 1 at Japanese trials, three national records fall and there's a world-leading 200m 'fly from Takeshi Matsuda, on 1:54.12

10: A world-leading effort of 1:54.08 from Ryosuke Irie in the 200m backstroke is the highlight of day 2 at Japan nationals

10: On the final day of the SwimCup Eindhoven, Ranomi Kromowidjojo and Marleen Veldhuis speed to the helm of the 2011 world 50m free rankings with respective efforts of 24.35 and 24.85

11: at Japanese world-title trials in Hamamatsu, Olympic champion Kosuke Kitajima suffers a rare defeat over 200m breaststroke, victory going to Naoya Tomita in 2:08.25, the best ever in a textile suit

12: former world champ Gerhard Zandberg gains automatic selection for world title in July with a 24.90 in the 50m back at South Africa nationals

12: The Arizona Wildcats name the man who will lead them when Frank Busch takes up his role at the helm of performance at USA Swimming in May - Eric Hansen, head coach at Wisconsin

13: Dick Pound, the chairman of the Open Water Review Commission charged by USA Swimming to investigate the death of Fran Crippen heaps criticism on FINA for failing to hand over critical information; USA Swimming 'extremely disappointed' as it issues a thinly veiled criticism of FINA at the top of a report that writes a blueprint for a sport in need of serious reform

13: Cameron Van Der Burgh goes 1:00.29 in 100 breaststroke at South African nationals

13: Federica Pellegrini clocks 4:03.49 over 400m freestyle at Italian nationals in Riccione on her way to defending the world crown come July

14: FINA thanks the US for a "most useful contribution" when delivering recommendations from the Fran Crippen inquiry and answers criticism that it failed to cooperate by giving Task Force the green light to exchange all information"

15: After criticism in the US yesterday, FINA publishes its Task Force Report into the death of Fran Crippen amid cries that any commitment to the priority of athlete safety needs to start with the leadership of FINA

16: Fran Crippen's coach, Dick Shoulberg, calls on FINA to cancel the open water events at the world championships in Shanghai this summer in light of ambient limits suggested by reports into the death of his pupil last October; FINA are unmoved and come July a world 25km race goes ahead without three world champions and a shoal of other world-class athletes who pull out of the race citing unacceptable conditions

16: A weekend of celebration marks the 90th birthday of a coaching legend: Peter Daland, with wife Ingrid and a vast number of family members and friends by his side at USC, is the man in the spotlight

16: at Italian nationals, Luca Dotto sets 22.04 freestyle dash record and Federica Pellegrini wins 200 free in 1:56.98

17: FINA's OWSTC, IOC and Triathlon Union experts to fine tune the detail of recommendations made by two inquiries into the death of American swimmer Fran Crippen; FINA director denies trying to influence task force jury and laments misunderstanding with USA inquiry team

18: As the FINA marathon circuit gets underway in Santos, athletes are upset by lack of minute of silence for Fran Crippen, who died in the last of race of the season last October in UAE

18: Cameron McEvoy, 16, clocks 49.70 over 100m free at Aussie age groups, 0.01sec inside the youth standard of Ian Thorpe

20: in response to the death of Fran Crippen in 2010 and in light of two inquiry reports, FINA changes the start times for all open water races at world titles in Shanghai to early morning, the 25km due to start at 8.15am

20: At Australian age-group championships in Adelaide, Carlile 14-year-old Amy Matsuo clocks 55.26 to win the 100m free and place herself in the frame for a relay berth at senior world championships this July

26: SwimNews launches App for i-platforms

26: FINA cancels the Sumidero Canyon open water Grand Prix round on grounds of water quality after a recommendation from the international federation's Sports Medicine Committee

28: Commonwealth Games OC Chairman Suresh Kalmadi is arrested on charges of fraud and cheating related to the timing and results contract awarded to Swiss Timing for the Games last October; Swiss Timing denies any wrong doing

29: Jessica Hardy, the US swimmer suspended after a positive test in 2008 that led to her being dropped from the Olympic team for Beijing, is cleared to compete at the 2012 London Olympics if she makes the US team, as concerns are raised over clenbuterol cases