We’ve seen it with Kaitlin Sandeno, Aaron Peirsol, and Mark Spitz. And now it’s Amanda Beard’s turn.

Olympic gold medalist swimmer Amanda Beard claims GoDaddy.com breached a 2008 settlement agreement in which the Web host company agreed to stop using her name and image. In the suit filed in Superior Court, Beard said the December 2008 agreement terminated a previous contract she had with GoDaddy.

Tsk, tsk, tsk, Go Daddy. Be prepared to feel the stiff arm of justice!

Speaking of GoDaddy, though, I think I need to renew some domains I have registered there. Not this one, though!

A couple of days ago Britta Steffen bettered Libby Trickett’s 100 Free WR. She set the new mark in one of the controversial super suits and had the following words to say afterwards:

“I’m feeling in good shape but this suit is of a different world. This is a really weird piece of equipment, one that I’ve never worn before. You don’t die in the last metres and you feel no pain. Under normal circumstances, this suit should be forbidden, and I expect that by 2010 it will be. I felt like a speedboat in water and never in my life would I have believed that a human could glide like that.”

Then, last night I read a new story about the repercussions of FINA’s swimsuit decisions and saw this:

Germany’s double Olympic champion Britta Steffen set a world record in the 100 metres freestyle Thursday, but predicted it would not last long and complained that futuristic swimsuits are damaging the sport.

Wait. There’s more…

Steffen said the record would last only until the world championships in Rome starting next month, and lamented the impact of high-tech swimsuits even though hers benefitted her on Thursday. “This development is a shame for the sport — where will it all stop?” Steffen said.

Is she effing kidding me? How is she going to benefit from the suit technology, set a freakin’ World Record, and then turn around and complain about what suits like hers is doing to the sport? If she cared that much about the sport perhaps she wouldn’t have swam her race in said suit in the first place!

Hypocrisy at its finest, folks.

Sorry for yet another rant, but I just couldn’t let this one pass me by without speaking up.

We knew Olympic trials were headed back to Omaha, but now it’s official, as the deal has been signed.

The Swim Aids are not fans of the city of Omaha. I’m not sure we should even truly refer to it as a “city” because it is far from what I consider one.

I can see why, from the athlete’s POV, Omaha would be a great place for a major team selection competition. There’s absolutely nothing to do! Very little distractions = focused swimmers. I get that. But for the rest of us, zzzzzzzzzzzzz. What a snoozefest! I was expecting Omaha to be like Indy in terms of a downtown. There are a million things to do and restaurants that don’t close at 5PM. You don’t need a car in downtown Indy, you do in Omaha. Well, if you want to occupy your time doing anything anyway.

I mean, why is there no downtown mall? That’s just unacceptable! There are no fast food restaurants either. Quizno’s — which was the closest we found to “fast” — closed at 5PM, no joke. We ate from some pizza place and Jimmy John’s damn near every night. Ugh.

We found out the hard way that transportation was much-needed when we wanted to have lunch at McDonald’s. I don’t remember how many miles we had to walk to get there, but it was ridiculous for a “major city”. Where is the public transportation? We saw a bus like once or twice every day! No roaming cabs? WTF!

I know it seems like I’m hating on Omaha, and I am. I’m no fan. I wanted 2008’s Trials to be in San Antonio, TX and 2012’s to be anywhere but Omaha.

But let me take a moment to talk about some of the good things in Omaha. This won’t take too long. The airport is very close and airfare costs weren’t bad. I bought last minute and got a decent price. The “city” is clean. I guess when there aren’t people around you don’t have to worry about trash, grafitti, crime, and a lot of the problems real cities deal with. If I was out late, which I was often, I had no issues walking around.

I enjoyed the Qwest Center Omaha. It was a nice venue for a big swimming competition. And the media shuttle was a godsend with my heavy-ass backpack.

And last, but not least we pay Homage to Farrells. Oh what a place. We had a lot of fun there and coaxed some others to join us — who probably shouldn’t have gone — there with us. Good times.

Since what’s done is done, we’ll start looking for ways to enjoy 2012’s Olympic Team Trials. Since there is an overlap with the College World Series, maybe the lingering college baseball fans will keep us entertained. We heard they party hard in Omaha during the CWS every year. I mean, what else is there to do? Depending on how long the Finals series goes, the overlap could be up to 2 days.

Trials officially begin Monday, June 25. So our advice is to go ahead and reserve yourself a room as early as you possibly can. We booked a year in advance and were very glad we did. Next time around, however, we will be renting a car because the setup they have there is beyond ridiculous.

My advice to Omaha? Please work on your downtown. Some more businesses and restaurants would be nice. And why not increase the frequency with which your buses run? And don’t close everything at 5PM during the work week. Make improvements in these areas and you will have some happy Swim Aids!

Note: I don’t really care if people, especially from Omaha, disagree with me. When you live there, you become accustomed to things and a little protective. It’s cool. I’m sure outsiders aren’t crazy about my city either. But mine is a real city with people, frequent public transportation, malls, parks, historic landmarks, eat places to eat… Ok, let me stop hatin’. I’m in a foul mood because the King of Pop died today. How about this. If you’re from Omaha or simply have been and/or know the area well, recommend some activities for us. We’re open and always looking for some adventures! That’s the best way to put a positive spin on something we deem as negative!

I moseyed on over to the ESPN sub-site to cast my vote for all the swimmers nominated for ESPY Awards. (You should too.)

When I got to the “Best Female College Athlete” category, I was pleased to see Dana Vollmer nominated. What didn’t please me was that they used a picture of Lacey Nymeyer. ESPN FTL!

Note: We know we have some explaining to do re: our attendance at the Santa Clara Grand Prix. That is a post for another day!

First we had to mentally deal with the breakup of The Hoff and our favorite coach, Paul Yetter. I’m not sure we’ve fully recovered from that. Now Swimming World Magazine informs us that Paul may soon be announced as an assistant coach at Auburn University.

I mean, we always figured it was only a matter of time before Paul headed to the collegiate ranks, but we didn’t think it would be now. Nor did we think it would be Auburn. Nothing against Auburn. Just not the place I thought he’d head for the first NCAA job. Then again, as long as he’ll be able to put a disco ball on his porch, and he is allowed to run up and down the pool deck, I think he’ll be aight. That, and he’d better continue showing up at some of the meets the Swim Aids attend. ‘Cuz if not, there’s gonna be a fight!

And since I found out about this, initially, from Miss Felicia Lee on Twitter, I began to think about the NBAC kids. We’ve grown quite fond of that group over the years. It’s not rare for young age group swimmers to relocate in order to train with him. I wonder how this affects his Senior Elite group.

Plus, and I’m not sure if has anything to do with how well I get along with Paul or if it’s mostly about talent, I wonder if I won’t suddenly welcome more Auburn swimmers to the Swim Stars Network. Paul has a not-so-subtle way of suggesting new swimmers for me to add to the site. Be it emails about so-and-so setting a NAG, or simply talking up someone heavily at a meet. (We are pretty much BFF’s when it comes to being at the same meet at the same time) So, if he’s coaching Auburn swimmers, I guess that’s who he’ll be pimpin’, right? Something to keep an eye on!

So, if this does go down, we wish Paul the best with his new position. It signals the end of an era fa sho, though! I look forward to seeing him in March 2010 for Men’s NCAAs, which will be right here in my hometown. But that better not be the next time I see him, or another fight will ensue. Just sayin’.

The 70s called.

They want their porn stache back. So, if you could go ahead and get that to them, that would be grrrrreat. Thanks.

<< This has been another Swim Aids Public Service Announcement >>

P.S. Bonus keepin’ it real points to whomever can name the movie I referenced in this post!

Back when we first started getting into the sport (post-Athens bitches; we’ve been around a minute, huh?) we were all over the place. We were attending national meets nearly every other month and it was awesome! We were the fan fixtures in the stands learning more about the sport and meeting awesome swim parents at the same time. They simply could not believe we traveled to all of these meets without having a background in swimming ourselves!

Flash back to Summer Nationals in 2006. We spent our final night in Irvine, partying with the Florida Gator swimmers; the Lochtenator included. When some of them found out that we weren’t swimmers ourselves, they thought it was the coolest thing ever! It’s too bad hotel security shut that party down. It was jumpin’!

And I still get that when I meet other media members while covering meets. I know the inevitable “what drew you to the sport?” question is coming and when I give my answer, the look on their faces is priceless!

It often goes like this:

“You mean, you don’t swim?”

“Nope.”

“Like, ever?”

“Only if a boat I’m on is sinking…”

“Wow!”

All the hoopla surrounding this weekend’s Charlotte Ultraswim grand prix stop got me thinking about how exciting it used to be going to frequent meets. A lot of our faves are competing at Ultraswim: The Hoff, The Lochtenator, Fleeeee, T-Dub!!, the Vanderkaays, Peirsol, Cullen… The perfect group of swimmers to be strolling deckside with. Imagine the “Tales From The Deck” I could share! Had this meet taken place back in our “glory years”, where it seemed money grew on trees, we would soooo be there this weekend! My mom spent the first part of her life living just outside of Charlotte, and my family still owns that house. I wouldn’t even need a hotel for this swim trip!

As we went though the past quadrennium, I got more and more comfortable with the sport and transitioned from just a fan to also a media member. It’s been a great ride! I still remember watching the Athens games and trying to learn all the strokes and terminology down. And now, I report on the goings-on of the sport. I’m still a fan, and I consider a number of the swimmers I cover to be friends, but the growth I’ve experienced in the past 5 years has been enormous! How’s that for a turnaround?

So naturally we’re a little nostalgic these days because we can’t just hop on a plane and go to a meet anymore. Damn economy! We’ve missed some great ones too! It looks like Santa Clara and World Trials will be it for some of us this year. Depressing? Yes.

So, this post serves as a notice that there may be a number of throwback posts headed your way. Our material has been a little dry lately since we aren’t attending meets like yesteryear anymore. So, we’ll take a stroll down memory lane, and hope you’ll join us!

One’s wedding day is so special and memorable. Well, it’s supposed to be. I wouldn’t know, because honestly, I’m on track to be that “old lady with the cats”.

Anyway, the lovely Natalie Coughlin married her longtime boyfriend, Ethan, on Saturday in NorCal. Leading up to the big day, she shared tidbits from her planning of the wedding on her Twitter account. So cute!

Pictures from her special day have made their way onto the internet. They came from Flynet Pictures, a notorious paparazzi agency. I don’t claim to know more about Natalie than anyone else, but I don’t think I’d be going out on a “limb” to say that I’m pretty sure she did not invite or hire Flynet as her wedding photography company. Just a WILD guess!

Anyway, no clue how she feels about the apparent invasion of privacy, because she’s off on her honeymoon. And I’m sure I’m not helping matters eithers, but isn’t that what non-serious bloggers do? If you’re curious about the location, scenery, and wedding itself, you should click right here.

What can I say, I’m just as nosy as the rest of you!

Congrats to the newlyweds!

Anyway, the love hasn’t really left, so it will be openly expressed right here on our Swim Aid shrine, just like it originally was, pre-domain.

I’m bringing it back with a congratulatory post. Michigan junior Chris Brady was recently named to the 2010 Order of Angell class.

Because I’m not that “in the know”, with regards to clubs and societies in the greater Michigan community, I’ll simply direct everyone to Wikipedia for further explanation.

Make no mistake. This is a big friggin’ deal!

Swim Aid favorite, PVK, is also a member of this select group of Michigan Men, as is one of my all-time favorite football players, Mike Hart.

At last month’s NCAA Championships in College Station, TX, Chris earned 4 All-America honors in the 400-yard medley relay (8th), 200-yard medley relay (7th), 100-yard butterfly (4th), and 400-yard freestyle relay (6th).

The last time I recall was the Penta Water issue, which also involved Mr. Aaron Peirsol.

This time around, a ‘marketing company’ has been using Aaron’s image, without permission. Big no, no. He appears in swimwear ads that have run in popular swim mags such as Swimming World and USMS.

Aaron doesn’t like when shady people seek to profit from his image. It makes him sad. We can show you what his face would look like in such a situation:

Classic, right? This picture will forever be in the Swim Aids Hall of Fame.