UPDATE:
She is blind.

bike race

swimsuits part 2

Here's what they said at the FINA meeting:
Based on FINA's proposals and contributions discussed at the meeting, the FINA Bureau at its meeting on March 12-14, 2009 in Dubai (UAE) will consider amendments which include:
• DESIGN: The swimsuit shall not cover the neck and shall not extend past the shoulders nor past the ankles;
• MATERIAL:
o The material used shall have a maximum thickness of 1mm;
o When used, the material shall follow the body shape;
o The application of different materials shall not create air trapping effects;
• BUOYANCY: The swimsuit shall not have a buoyancy effect of more than 1 Newton (100gr);
• CONSTRUCTION: Any system providing external stimulation or influence of any form (e.g. pain reduction, chemical/medical substance release, electro-stimulation) is prohibited;
• CUSTOMISATION: All swimsuits of an approved model must be constructed in an identical fashion with no variation/modification for individual swimmers from the samples submitted for approval;
• USE: The swimmer can only wear one swimsuit at a time;
• CONTROL: FINA will establish its own independent control/testing programme. Scientific testing will be conducted by a team led by Prof. Jan-Anders Manson, from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) and Laboratory of Polymer and Composite Technology;
• APPROVAL: Swimwear manufacturers will be able to make submissions for approval of swimsuits until March 31, 2009. I like that they bring up customization - I think that's directly where things were headed next. And no "air trapping effects" probably means no more Blue Seventy. One other thing, though: There's no mention of availability, which they said would be a topic they'd cover at the meeting last month. Lack of availability from distributors and even manufacturers, let alone the astronomical cost, was probably the main cause for concern this year.

so-called technical swimsuits

Well, now that most conferences' championship meets are over, the NCAA has released a memorandum categorically explicating their position on so-called so-called technical swimsuits.
A snip:
Since the NCAA does not currently have the capability to test swimsuits, and since there seemingly is no discernible justification for treating any one technical suit differently from any other for purposes of use at intercollegiate competition, the committees have decided to permit all technical swimsuits for all 2009 NCAA swimming and diving championships.Okay. That is a steaming pile of nothing. Their logic says that since they can't test the suits, there is no reason to even consider disallowing any of them. They actually held a committee/staff teleconference to make this hollow, unspecific, see-no-evil "decision."
You could argue that it's FINA's fault for largely ignoring the enormous proliferation of sport-changing competition wear, but the NCAA can't just claim helplessness and pin responsibility on the higher-ups. If FINA isn't doing anything, the NCAA should take some initiative. It's fine that the suits are allowed at nationals this year - no reason to change mid-season. And I don't think the suits should be banned, necessarily - not my decision to make. But between now and next winter, I think it's reasonable to expect both FINA and the NCAA to explain a little further about what exactly is allowed and what isn't. As precisely as they explain the rules about, oh, I don't know, maybe something trivial, like the manufacturer's logo on those suits?
We also would like to take this opportunity to remind the membership that, per NCAA Bylaw 12.5.4, “a student-athlete’s institution’s official uniform (including numbered racing bibs and warm-ups) and all other items of apparel (e.g., socks, head bands, T-shirts, wrist bands, visors or hats, swim caps and towels) shall bear only a single manufacturer’s or distributor’s normal label or trademark (regardless of the visibility of the label or trademark), not to exceed 2¼ square inches in area (rectangle, square, parallelogram) including any additional material (e.g., patch) surrounding the normal trademark or logo.” As we prepare for the championships, it is important that everyone is in compliance with this bylaw and it is the individual participants’ and institutions’ ultimate responsibility to adhere to the bylaw. Division I institutions are reminded also to review NCAA Bylaw 31.1.7 pertaining to bench personnel. A violation of these bylaws will result in a report being sent to NCAA Enforcement.
Yes! Just like that! A detailed and no-nonsense description of the rules, and it's for something that nobody actually cares about! Hold as many teleconferences as it takes, NCAA - if it means an actual decision, we can wait.

UPDATE: I poked around FINA's site and found this. It's not bad. I'll be watching for what happens at the Bureau meeting in Dubai this month.

ball gymnastics

Found in away message:



High quality in link.

super bowl funny guy

J-Walk gets silly from time to time. Yesterday he live-blogged the Super Bowl.

2:10 pm - The two teams playing in this game are The Pittsburgh Cardinals and the Arizona Steelers. They are equally matched, and both teams won the same number of games this season: 67.

bills video

The Bills lost today, but there is still this video.