About This Issue

 

Nick J. Thierry
Editor / Publisher


The big competition during June was the Mare Nostrum series in Europe. The most impressive performer was Alexander Popov, well recovered from his knee surgery in January. He won all the sprint freestyles in the three competitions with world leading times for the 50 and 100 freestyle.

Other standouts were cover girl Mette Jacobsen (DEN) who went undefeated in the 200 freestyle and 200 butterfly, beating Olympic champion Claudia Poll and Jenny Thompson.

This series is one of the highlights of the summer season as it's the only chance for some of the best swimmers to race outdoors in a low-pressure competition and socialize. I'm told everyone really gets in the spirit and has a good time.

Karin Helmstaedt was at both competitions in France.

Russ Ewald tells the story of Josh Davis-one of the new breed of adult swimmers who have managed to make a full- time job of doing what they are best at. He's enjoying it so much that he plans to compete for the next decade.

TAG lists have been the mainstay of the magazine for over 25 years. We publish the all time 10 fastest long course Canadian performances. I'm sure you'll find this highly motivational. It's not easy to get your name on such a list, but about a dozen performances from 1999 are included. There is a special 10 & Under TOP Plus list from long course meets country wide. This is a complimentary list to the TOP Program (coming in the next issue).

Next issue we will have extensive coverage of the European Championships as the SWIMNEWS team will be there. You'll find all the daily results at www.swimnews.com starting on July 23, with the swimming events getting underway on the 26th.

TAG includes all competitions received from June and some late arrivals from May.

Gennadi Touretski, one of the most successful swimming coaches of the 1990s, is turning 50! OnJuly 17, Alex Popov's, Michael Klim's, and Matt Dunn's long-time coach will be celebrating his "midlife crisis" in typical "Touretski" fashion with his swimmers and coaching mates at the AIS! Anybody wishing to send their best wishes can contact him through Jim Fowlie at:

Jfowlie@ausport.gov.au
Happy Birthday Gennadi!!