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A change-up for synchro divers
U.S. Diving won't announce its lineups for the synchronized events in Sydney until days before the first event, but you can expect U.S. coach Jay Lerew to make a few changes when finalizing his pairings. Rules permit Lerew to make substitutions from those who qualified for the Olympic team in Federal Way, Wash., in June so that divers who match up well together can dive as a team. The U.S. qualified pairs in three of the four Olympic events (men's three-meter, men's 10-meter and women's 10-meter), missing out in the women's springboard event. Since rules require teams to use divers in synchronized events who also qualified in individual events, divers often scramble to learn each other's dives or adjust elements in their versions of a common dive in order to be in sync with their partner. Look for Lerew to reconfigure two of the three U.S. teams. On the men's side, Lerew will use David Pichler in both events, even though Pichler only qualified individually on platform. Pichler is especially adept at adapting his dives (takeoff position, arm swing, hurdle speed) to match those of a partner. Mark Ruiz, who qualified for the U.S. in both events, and Troy Dumais, who made the team in the springboard, are not a good match. Ruiz is quicker to the board than Dumais and their uncommon dives left Lerew to decide who would be a better fit with Pichler. Though Ruiz earned the right to dive in both synchro events, because the individual platform competition starts the day after the synchronized three-meter final, Lerew decided to save Ruiz for platform, where he is a medal contender. "Mark and I have talked about it," Lerew said of the decision. "He's fine with it. He wants to direct his energies to platform. He can be the man on 10-meter. Besides, four events is asking a lot. This way Mark would have three events, David three and Troy two." On the women's side, look for '96 team member Jenny Keim, the only woman on the team with Olympic experience, to replace Sara Reiling on synchronized platform, where she'll team with Laura Wilkinson. Michelle Davison, the team's second springboard diver, was not an option, since she does not compete on the platform. Uncovering the story behind bodysuitsWhy did USA Swimming approve the full bodysuits for the U.S. trials on July 18, just weeks after its board voted 16-3 to ban the suits at trials? For one thing, the organization avoided the bad publicity and time commitment of an arbitration hearing that was due to take place the following day. Ian Thorpe, Susie O'Neill, Inge de Bruijn and Tom Malchow have set world records in the suits, which have swimmers believing they can cut precious digits off their times. The suits' ridged surfaces help bead water more efficiently and, some say, compress the muscles, enabling swimmers to slice through the pool more quickly. By allowing swimmers to wear the suits in competition, USA Swimming avoided an arbitration hearing created by the grievance filed on July 12 with the USOC by a trials participant named Matt Zimmer. Zimmer is an employee of TYR, which is a competitor of Speedo, an official sponsor of USA Swimming. First, a timeline: Oct. 8, 1999: FINA, the sport's international governing body, determined that the proposed suits didn't break the federation's rules of flotation or modesty (i.e., they weren't too skimpy and they would sink to the bottom if unaccompanied by a swimmer). May 1, 2000: After the Australian Olympic Committee requested an advisory opinion on the validity of the suits, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the suits were legit. May 8: Chuck Wielgus, USA Swimming's executive director, sent letters to four manufacturers (TYR, Speedo, Nike and adidas) asking them to have bodysuits available for the swimmers as soon as possible. Wielgus mentioned June 14 as a target date, but not a hard deadline. June 22: The board of USA Swimming voted 16-3 to disallow the use of the suits at the Olympic trials. The grievance pointed out that 90 percent of the 1,300 swimmers at the trials are either sponsored by Speedo or have ties to the company. Speedo is a USA Swimming official sponsor, the grievance noted, saying, "USA Swimming's board of directors includes Speedo-sponsored coaches, coaches who were on Speedo-sponsored teams and athletes who, at one time or another, were endorsed or sponsored by Speedo." Yet Speedo was unable to have enough suits ready for all the swimmers to use in time to train for the trials. Other manufacturers were further along in their production of full bodysuits. adidas, for instance, had a suit in production for more than a year. The claim of the grievance was that the basis upon which USA Swimming voted to ban the suits (their lack of availability) was not true. On July 18, the federation voted to allow swimmers to wear the suits. Brian Cazeneuve is a Sports Illustrated writer-reporter who covers the Olympics and is a frequent contributor to CNNSI.com. Click here to send a question to his Sydney 2000 Mailbag.
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