That is it, I am not making predictions any more. Once again I have been proven wrong, as Natalie steps up at the most important moment and wins the 100back. Unfortunately yesterday on the our 'Inside the Lanes" show I predicted that Kirsty Coventry would win the 100 backstroke, and now I have to apologize to Natalie for not giving her enough credit and believing in her. To me she just didn't look easy or comfortable in the semi and I had some doubts. But as Olympic champions often do, she stepped up to the plate when mattered the most.

Once again I will say that you can throw times and world records out of the window when swimming in the Olympic finals. It's who can handle the pressure the most will become an Olympic champion...

Wow what a swim for Michael in the 200 free. 1:42.9.  It's starting to become ridiculous to comprehend how fast this man is swimming. Where is the limit of human capabilities? Michael seems to consistently challenge that question. For those of us that saw this race, there is not much to say other than it was OVER in the first 15 meters. When the greatest swimmer of all time has over a body lead in the first 15 meters of the race, you know everyone else is swimming for 2nd...

The one person that will be overlooked at these Olympics and most likely forever when historian remember this era of swimming. But I will have to say that Aaron Piersol is by far the greatest backstroke of all time. Once again he proved today in the finals that he is the absolute KING of BACKSTROKE. Probably 5th or 6th at the 50 meter turn, he stayed with his race plan and never got flustered, and his second 50 was unbelievable. During the past year the field has definitely closed in on Aaron and his dominance in backstroke events, but just when you think someone will over take him, he takes it to the next level. Today was no different, seeded 5th going into the finals, he drops over a second and breaks his own world record by over 3 tenth of a second...

Wow what a day of swimming for our team. Is there any doubt that we are the BEST swimming nation in the world!!!!!!!!

-Lenny

Hey I am reporting from Beijing, and if you guys saw the relay race this evening and what an incredible and heart pumping race that was you will understand that there is absolutely nothing else like it in the world. THAT IS WHY THIS IS THE OLYMPICS!!! I can almost be certain that no sporting event in our country, Super Bowl, NBA Finals, World Series, Masters, etc. comes close to the excitement and the pressure to perform on the biggest sporting stage of the all while the whole world is watching. I am sure tens of millions of people were glued to their TV’s last night pulling for our guys, and all of them witness what a minuscule difference there is between victory and defeat. We are all more proud than ever to be Americans today and know that our US Athletes are representing this great country with a lot of pride, and are fighting to the bitter end, never giving up, for chance to be forever called OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS.

The anchor leg last night in the relay by Jason Lezak in my mind was the greatest swim of all times. Considering the circumstances, the pressure, trailing by almost a second to the French team and the world record holder swimming the last leg for them, Jason did the unthinkable!!!! I guess we all as humans have some inner powers that we most likely do not know exist, and you have to reach down sooo deep to be able to retrieve them, and a lot of times it’s not even possible to do so.  But I guess at one moment, one time, some are able to reach within, never afraid of the challenge, AND ALWAYS BELIEVING IN THEMSELVES, to consume those powers and perform the improbable, especially when you are able to do this on the grandest stage of the all, THE OLYMPICS… To me Jason performed the IMPROBABLE last night!!!!

-Lenny

The pressure of Olympic Trials we saw it yesterday like never before. Few people that I personally felt were a lock to make the team in their events DID NOT make it.  Based on the semi finals swims by Randall Bal in 100 back and Rebecca Soni in the 100 breast, Hayley Mcgregory 100 back (broken the WR in the prelims) I thought they would make the team, but if you ask them now, they will tell you that the PRESSURE is SO big, that most of the time it gets the best of you. If either of these swimmers just swims the same time they did in the semi finals, they make the Olympic Team, but they did not swim those times and the results are unbearable, at least at this time.

If anyone can name me a better clutch swimmer in the world today or maybe even ever, I would love to know, because I think Aaron Peirsol is as good as we have ever seen stepping up in the clutch.  Honestly I really thought he had the most pressure of anyone to make the team, because the competition was so fast and being a WR holder and defending Olympic Champion all the pressure was on his shoulders. But like all the GREAT ones do, they let actions speak louder than words and Aaron once again proved to never doubt his talent and never count against him.

Michael wins the 200 free with a very solid 1.44 low, and again establishes him and the favorite to win this event in Beijing. I just do not think there is anyone else in the world today that can swim the times Michael is swimming in the 200 free. On the personal note I was very happy for two of my former Trojan teammates Klete Keller and Eric Vendt, who both made their third Olympic Team, qualifying in the 200 free. I made a prediction few days ago in my blog, Eric Vendt will break and WR in the 1500 at trials, his 200 and 400 free swim so far have only reconfirmed my beliefs.

Natalie Coughlin re- breaks her WR in the 100 back from the prelims, and becomes a first female ever to break a 59 sec barrier backstroke. She earns her second trip to the Olympics and judging by the way she is swimming will be a major player to win multiple medals in Beijing, just like she did four years ago in Athens.

As we keep following the Olympic Trials, the chess matches keep evolving. Michael has made a decision to pull out of 100 back to concentrate on the 200 free, and now Ryan Lochte, show was qualified first in the 200 free going into the semi finals tonight decided to scratch the event to focus on the final of the 100 back. I can total see this move by Ryan, he had proven himself in the 200 free for the relay team in Beijing, not he want to make sure he can make an individual event in 100 back. Also being realistic he would have a much better shot of winning a gold medal in 100 back than he would in 200 free, having Michael swim that event.

Last night Katie Hoff, made the team in her second event 400 free, and it came as no surprise that US will be represented well in this event with Katie Ziegler taking the second spot.

100 breaststroke will be represented by the same two guys that represented US in Athens in 2004. Brendan Hansen and Mark Gangloff. I am sure Brendan was a bit disappointed with his swim in the finals, having come a tenth of a second of his WR in the semi finals, he will for sure have a chance to refocus and get ready to battle Kitagima in Beijing. If he wants to win a gold in Beijing Brendan will have to step and start swimming his best times in the finals, rather than his usual pattern in the semi’s.

Tonight 100 back final will be a beauty. Randall Ball had looked great so far, but as we all know one of the greatest closers of all time in our sport is in the race, Aaron Peirsol. Personally I think to make this Olympic team both swimmers will have to go under a current World Record of 52.98… It will be exciting!!!!!

Here we go the trials have started, and who else makes the earliest statement on the first night. Michael steps up to the plate and delivers the first WR of the meet with a stunning 400 IM. He breaks his old world record from last year’s World Champs by almost 1 sec, and shows the world that he is still getting better and his quest for breaking Mark Spitz’s record of 7 Olympic Gold Medals has begun. Personally I think he has a great shot at breaking that record, but the competition will be serious, and it was proven last night. Ryan Lochte gave Michael everything he could handle and a serious race of the 400 going under Michael's previous world record time as well. Last night’s race sets a beauty a month from now when these guys will be going at each other once again but this time for an Olympic Gold Medal and the stakes will be a lot higher.

Katie Hoff did not want to be outdone by Michael, as she herself took down the World Record in 400 IM that stood for few months. For a while now Katie has been somewhat of a female version of Michael Phelps, having to be extremely versatile in many events, I believe that these trials will be a great stage for her to show the world that come Beijing she could come out as the most decorated US female athlete at one Olympic in history. A former teammate of mine Larsen Jansen from USC won the 400 free last might with an American Record and earned his second trip to the Olympics. It was a great race between Larsen, Peter Vanderkaay and Eric Vendt, and Peter was able just to touch out Eric for the second spot and earn a spot on the Olympic team. On a personal note it was a little disappointing to see Eric not make the team in this event, I am very excited that the time swam in the 400 gives him a tremendous confidence going into his best race 1500. I will make one personal prediction for the meet; I believe that Eric Vendt will break a World Record in 1500 at these Olympic Trials. And if he does so, we will have to dedicate a whole blog to it, because for history of United States swimming this would be legendary. On the first night of competition we already saw two world records broken, could this be one competition where the most World Records are broken? It sure seems possible looking at the overall time of how fast people are swimming at these trials. I was speaking to John Naber few days ago and he asked me a question, "how many world records do I think will be broken at this meet?" In his opinion it was ten. At first I answered a quick no, and then after giving a bit more thought 10 seemed to be very reasonable, and after the first night I am thinking ten is a very small number. Stay tuned and we will see…

Hey all ONLY 5 days left until trials. Again for some dreams will come true, for others their dreams will not happen. I want to specifically talk about backstroke events in these trials. To me both 100 and 200 backstroke will be most highly contested events. USA is so deep in both of these events it is shame that some people good enough to medal at the Olympics will not even make an Olympic team. With Phelps swimming both of these events it adds even more drama to it.

Ok let's see, 3 of the FASTEST 200 backstrokers in the history of world swimming are Ryan Lochte, Aaron Peirsol, and MP. You guys, one of these three swimmers is not making an Olympic team in this event, to me this is absolutely incredible.

100 backstroke, has at least 6 guys that have a legitimate chance to get top 2 spots. For those of us that have been to the biggest stage of them all, Trials or Olympics, we know that you can throw times away, it is all about putting your hand on the wall first, or second in case of trials. Performing under pressure and not letting it get to them, will be the difference between Beijing or summer vacation (although this might sound rough, its reality).

Many of you might find what I say next crazy, however I truly believe in what I am about to say. The only person in these backstroke events that has absolutely no pressure is MICHAEL PHELPS. This might sound foolish to say about someone that is going for a historic record of 8 Olympic Gold Medals, but in my mind these backstroke events for Michael are just bonus events, I do not recall him ever swimming them at major international competitions. He has his main events that he will qualify in, so there is no pressure to make the team in these backstroke events. If he does, it just gives him that many more options to choose from. HOW GREAT IT MUST BE TO HAVE THIS LUXURY…

One person that will feel all the pressure in the world is Aaron Peirsol. He is a defending Olympic Champion in both events (100 & 200 back), and he has a REAL challenge ahead of him, to hold of Michael and Ryan Lochte. Even Lochte does not have the pressure that Aaron has, because Ryan is swimming other events at trials, and barring a disastrous meet, will make the team in at least some of them (200 & 400 IM) and (200 Free, remember 6 people make this event because of the relay spots). But I do want to say that Aaron is one of the most clutch swimmers the sport has ever seen, and I am pretty sure he will be up to the challenge.

Let’s get ready to RRRRRRRRRRRRumble!!!!!!

What up all, yesterday I caught up with KH (Katie Hoff) over text messaging to see how her taper is coming along. She is pretty excited about the taper and is feeling very well. I asked her if she is going to do a full taper, or just taper off a little with bigger picture in mind, Olympics. Her answer was that she never the one that taper’s off completely because she does not feel like she swims well by taking that approach. She and Paul (her coach) have a concrete taper plan in mind, with some solid work to still be maintained. In my mind Katie is a lock to make an Olympic Team in multiple events, and I imagined her to have Olympics as the main focus, however she reassured me that her and Paul are taking trails very seriously and have focused all their training and mental preparation for Trials first, and then they will reassess their game plan. She said “The trials are very competitive and nobody has the luxury of not preparing to be their best”. 

It was interesting to find out that Katie does feel some pressure as the Trials approach, especially knowing that she might me the face of USA Swimming on the women’s side, but she told be that by swimming so many events at Trials will help her take some of that pressure off a little bit. They are getting to Omaha, 3 days before the Trials begin on the 29^th, and I am sure when they do begin Katie Hoff will soon become a household name around United States of America.

Hey all -

Yesterday, I spent some time speaking with five-time Olympic medalist, Natalie Coughlin, about how she is feeling before the Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska (Trials start June 29th). Given Natalie is coming off an incredible meet at the Janet Evans Invite, I figured she'd be excited and anxious about her Trials performance. For those of you that aren't aware, a lot of people seem to forget or make the mistake that just because these swimmers are the top in their sport, it doesn't guarantee them a spot on the U.S. Olympic Swim Team. So, Natalie and all other elite swimmers have been training for Trials not just the Olympics. Like everyone else, Natalie needs to make the Team first, never mind compete at the Olympic Games. Making the Team is one of the most competitive and nerve wracking experiences for an Olympic swimmer. I learned that Natalie's mindset for the 2008 Olympic Trials is a lot different than her mind set for the 2004 Olympic Trials. She shared with me that she's a lot more confident, and relaxed than she was four years ago. She made a great observation, which I personally experienced back in 2000. She said, similarly to her pre-Games preparations now, in 2004 she had signed with some distinguished sponsors. Therefore, she has been working months in advance with them to promote the sport of swimming and the 2008 Olympic Games. However, it has made her a little uneasy because it is strange for her to promote the Olympic Games and promote herself as a member of the 2008 Olympic Swim Team, when she hasn't yet even made the Team. She's still uncomfortable with people and the media talking about her going to Beijing as an athlete and while she's planning on it happening, it's hard for her to handle the stress that is put upon her, like her anticipated medal performance, when she has yet even to make the Team. She said, this time around she's more experienced in how to handle this kind of pressure and works hard to remain focused on her mission to make the Team, rather than get distracted and caught up in other people's expectations beyond this. Perfecting Her Stroke - We spoke a bit about the incredible year that she's been having. In my mind this is the best year of her swimming career and I know she is very excited about her potential in the next few months. I asked her what she attributes to her success in the pool this year. She replied, "I finally get it." She said that for the past 5 – 7 years (for the youngsters swimmers, THIS IS A VERY LONG TIME), she has being focusing a lot on how to properly swim backstroke and freestyle. However, this year things have finally started to happen. She feels that she has mastered something that she worked on for so long - her technique in these two strokes. So, now racing is a lot easier because she does not have to think so much about what she is doing, but rather it comes naturally. From my own personal experience, I can say that when your mind is clear and you know exactly how you want to swim your event and don’t have to think much about your technique when you are racing, it takes you to a completely different level of competitiveness. So, I can understand what she is saying and I am sure others like yourselves know as well. Also, I think that her experience should not be overlooked. Natalie has been swimming at this level close to 10 years now, and she knows how to race and race fast - she's at a point where she has the system down, she knows what she needs to do and how to do it, she doesn't have to put so much emphasis on the mechanics but can focus more on just getting the job done the way she knows how to do it.

What was also interesting was asking her if she'll be peaking for Olympic Trials or for the Olympic Games. She didn't really answer that question, but rather said, the first mission is to make the U.S. Olympic Swim Team. And, once that happens, she plans to use the pre-Games Training Camp as the place to increase her intensity a final time before tapering for Beijing. What I liked most about speaking with Natalie was how confident she was but also how modest and cautious she was at the same time. It's a unique balance of being confident that you will accomplish your goals but not overly confident so you don't loose sight of fact that anything can happen and you need to tackle one challenge/obstacle at a time - like the Olympic Trials and making the Olympic Swim Team.

Check back tomorrow and I'll share more about my conversation with Natalie and some of the cross training she does. Plus, I'll share a little bit about her wedding plans and life out of the pool.

We are just 18 days from the start of Olympic Trials. I reminisce back to my swim days at University of Southern California and I remember Mark Schubert always having a days count down put on the big score board, and as the number of days got smaller the heart rate would start beating higher, and the excitement would start settling in. It was also so interesting to see how each swimmer approached these last few weeks before trials. Some would be very relaxed and be their usual selves, others would become more serious, more tense, wouldn’t talk as much, just really trying to focus their whole mindset. Trials are a different beast and every swimmer approaches it differently.

Hopefully people are following meets that are correctly going on around the World this week. Mare Nostrum circuit has begun in Europe and the Australians are making a very strong statement that they will be ready to go come Beijing time, especially their women’s team. Looking at the results from the stop in Barcelona, there were some very impressive swims. I know personally that Barcelona pool is not a very fast pool, however Lisiel Jones came within 0.04 of a second from breaking her own world record in 200 Breastroke. Stephanie Rice swam a 4:35 400 IM, very impressive swim considering that she is still probably in the middle of some intense training.  Two of the best 100 sprint freestylers in the world went head to head for a little showdown before the games, Eamon Sullivan vs. Stefan Nystrand, and Sullivan came out on top with a very fast 48.4…

In these next few weeks I will be connecting more with some of our swimmers and getting a first hand feedback on how their taper coming along and what their mind set is as we approach the trials. In tomorrow’s blog I will talk more about taper and shaving and what that means in our world.

What a start to the weekend of swim meets around the country!!!! The Trials are coming and what a Trials they will be…

Besides her marquee 100 back event, no one has been taking about Natalie Coughlin as a multi medal contender at the Games in Beijing. However just like her personality, Natalie quietly gets things done. After so many years being the one of the best and most versatile swimmers in the World, she again proved last night that her best days could still be ahead of her. Probably no one expected Natalie to break an American Record in the event she rarely swims. But last night she took down an American Record in 200 IM, event that Katie Hoff has been almost untouchable. This could set up an unbelievable race at the Trials, if Natalie chooses to swim it… Michael was Michael again last night, as he warmed up the trials pool with some outstanding swims. 51.03 100 Fly unshaved is very impressive, and I know Michael was happy with it. Of all the great swims Michael has had in the past few months, this 100fly last night in my mind is a MAJOR STATEMENT swim. Bring on the Trials and the GAMES, I am ready to go!!!! Oh, by the way mid 48 in 100 Free is not too bad as well…

Good start to the fast weekend of swimming all across the United States. We’ll also keep an eye at the meets in other parts of the world, where I am sure fast swimming will be happening as well.

Hey what up everyone… This a hard blog to write after my beloved Lakers lost in the first game of the NBA Finals. Tough loss but I am confident they will come back in the next game and will try to pull one out in Boston.

For those of you that watched the game last night an interesting occurrence happened. Paul Pierce (Celtic player) went down with what looked like a knee injury sometime in the middle of the 3rd quarter. As he was carried off the court the whole building froze in disbelief, and it would obvious that it took some wind out of the whole Boston team. However Pierce came back few minutes later and made few shots that ignited the whole team and Celtics never looked back. To me at was all about momentum, confidence, belief and this is exactly what Pierce brought to his team at the time they needed most. The reason for my observation is because it directly relates to swimming or any other sport. When you build confidence momentum builds, when momentum builds belief in yourself grows, when belief in yourself grows than not much can stop you on the way to victory and success. As the trials approach many swimmers have been swimming number of different meets, preparing to race the best they can at the trials. And just like Paul Pierce’s heroic comeback helped the Celtics to establish confidence and build momentum, in swimmer’s world it’s success and improvement from meet to meet that will have one to to build confidence and momentum leading into the trials…

I spoke to M. Phelps yesterday and he is ready to go... For those of you that do not know Mutual of Omaha SwimVitational is taking place in the same pool that will host  Olympic Trials later this month. Michael said that he is loving the pool, and the atmosphere at the QWest COnvention Center is absolutley sick... those that will compete this weekend in Omaha, will definetely have a great opportunity to test the pool and get used to it....

Hey what up everyone, it has been a while since I have checked in, but it’s been a very busy summer for me and it was hard to find a free minute to write a blog. Between managing my swim school operations, to doing swim camps and than few clinics I had a hectic summer. All of this made me travel quite a bit, but I enjoyed every bit of it.

Of course the most exciting part of the summer was my vacation trip to Europe with my wife. This was my first real vacation in a very long time, and definitely the first one with Irina. We never went on the honeymoon after our wedding, because my wife was already pregnant with our twin daughters. So this was out first time to get away alone. Our trip started in Venice, Italy. We then went on to Rome, Florence, Monte Carlo, and Cannes. The whole trip was a total of two weeks, but it was incredible. From gondola rides on the Venice Canals, to Coliseum ruins in Rome, to spectacular settings of Florence, to breathtaking views of Monte Carlo as you drive down from the highway into the city, all of this was truly thrilling to me. I’ve always enjoyed my previous trips to Europe, but it was always for swim meets, and never as a tourist. This time I had a pleasure to sightseeing a lot of historical sites, learn more about the culture, and just simply hangout. From Venice we went to Rome. After three days in Rome we rented a car, and drove to Florence, Monte Carlo and Cannes. What’s great about Europe is that everything is so close. Two, three hours and you might be in a different country, experiencing a completely different culture. It is also amazing how much more you get to see when you drive on your own and get lost few times. Two cities really stood out for me, Rome and Monte Carlo. I have swum in both of these cities couple of times, and it was awesome to come back to them and reminisce to few years ago when I competed there. Usually when we travel to swim meets our main focus is rest and competition, so we really do not get a chance to go and see the city. This was the first time that I had a chance to really embrace the atmosphere and just hang out. I loved sitting in a café on some small street or a piazza in Europe, just chilling and people watching, not in the hurry to go anywhere, just being fully absorbed by the culture. I have always imagined that being my perfect vacation, and I truly feel that I completely satisfied that.

- Lenny

Hey, what up this is Lenny Krayzelburg here. I am very excited to write my first blog for SwimRoom. First of all I would like to thank everyone involved in creating this project; I believe this new website will transform how top swimming stars in the world communicate with their fans.

In my first blog, I would like to talk about a great opportunity every visitor to the site will have to communicate with the starts. For young swimmers, you will have an opportunity to ask questions, watch video, and learn from the best in the world. You will also have a chance to get to know the swimming stars on a more personal level, and see how they live their daily lives chasing an ultimate dream of winning an Olympic Gold Medal. I truly believe that to be the best you must study and learn from the best. SwimRoom will allow you to do just that.

On a personal level, I am still trying to recover from a minor set back with my shoulder. I have not been training in the water for about three weeks now, but I am still staying in shape aerobically, by running and lifting weights. Of course it is very hard to expect a swimmer to have a completely perfect shoulder, after having it surgically repaired, but I still expect myself  to stay injury free and fulfill my dream of making another Olympic Team, and winning a Gold Medal. Will keep everyone post it on my progress in the next blog.

Good Luck,

Fight On

Lenny

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