Chris DeSantis

Day 4 Thoughts from Indy.

Here's somethings I thought about while trying to figure out whether the Universe would blow up if Brett Hawke were on the US World Champ coaching staff:

1. What was Matt Grevers wearing, part deux? So earlier this week I noticed Matt going off his endorsement contract to wear an x-glide for the 100 back. Last night for the 100 free, Matt was wearing a TYR again, except it appeared to be some TYR I'd never seen before in my life. I shrugged it off and said "ah, that must be the A7". Except then I looked at pictures of the A7 online. This suit Matt was wearing had some bright red panels on it. I don't see any bright red panels here:

http://www.tyr.com/A7/

Can anybody get a hold of a picture of what this was? I'm intrigued.

2. The race that wasn't: Coming into the night, I was overwhelmingly pumped to see Tyler Clary race Ryan Lochte in the 200 IM. Their 400 IM battle had not disappointed and Tyler had gone on to have an unbelievable 200 fly. So this was naturally going to be great as well, right? Wrong. Lochte grabbed this one by the neck from the very beginning. He was so far ahead that most of the crowd because obsessed with the world record line and forgot that Eric Shanteau was blowing by Clary on breaststroke and steamrolling home. In the end, Lochte just missed the record and Shanteau dropped a couple seconds to secure another individual spot. Look out for a monster 200 breaststroke today.

3. Hoping for a second taper: With this meet so very close to Worlds, I am cautiously hopeful that some of America's best gambled on not being fully prepared for Trials. I'm hoping this because in some events, our winner has performed a time that will simply not be good enough to medal in Rome. The 200 backstroke tonight was another example. Elizabeth Beisel swam a veteran race to snatch victory from Elizabeth Pelton on the final 50. However, her final time (2:08) is well off her pace from last summer, as was her 400 IM. I haven't asked Elizabeth or her coach Chuck Batchelor about it, but I am willing to bet they are trying to avoid the situation from last summer, where Elizabeth swam amazing to make the squad but couldn't repeat those times in Beijing.

One more day!

Chris DeSantis

Day 3 Thoughts from Indy

1. This morning was the predictable hangover morning. The crowd could barely muster any energy for the morning session, and neither, seemingly, could most of the swimmers. I was incredibly excited to watch some of Auburn's foreign contingent drop in for the 50 free. We were treated to a sizzling 22.1 by Freddy Bousquet, who looked like he was waiting for a second starting beep. The women's 400 IM saw the majority of the contenders pacing themselves for a nighttime battle. Thankfully, morning gave way to the night, which was definitely..

2. The best session of the meet thus far. Seriously, tonight was a treat. The men's 50 free gave us not one but two awesome races. The first was a nail biting finish that saw Nathan Adrian step out and set up a rare splash and dash swim off for a World Championship spot between Garrett Weber-Gale and Cullen Jones. The B final let us see the second fastest 50 freestyle of all time ahead of the swimmer who had the fastest 50 freestyle of all time. I'd say that was the most exciting part of the night if Michael Phelps hadn't led wire to wire to set the world record in the 100 fly and somehow looked less excited than Tyler McGill punching his ticket in the lane next to him. Which brings me to my final point:

3. Brett Hawke: Making America Better. I've gotten a couple of chances to talk to Brett this weekend. He's very excited that he's got some American swimmers on the World Champs squad. Some would count Mark Gangloff as a David Marsh product, but I think both coaches would give each other some credit. Tyler has made great strides since last summer. Is it too late to make Brett one of our World Champ team coaches? Nevermind, I forgot that all his swimmers were wearing Jakeds, which is totally cheating. Lets run him out of the sport.

A Note from Garrett McCaffrey

First of all, I can't thank you enough for all the support. I am truly overwhelmed by all the kind words that people have sent my way over the past few days. I'm still exploring all options when it comes to the next step, but right now I'm trying to get my hands on a camera here in Indy so that we can get some interviews from Nationals.

Swims like Aaron's 100 back last night and breakouts like Tyler Clary and Elizabeth Pelton deserve to be recognized. I'm working on it so stay tuned. As for tonight, we could see a WR in the 100 fly and the 50 free. Also look for the 100 breastroke WR to fall up north as this morning Anamay Peirse was 30.4 on the way out in her 100 Breast this morning at Canadian Nationals.

I started up a Twitter account, gmccaffrey, so check that out as I'll be updating that from the pool tonight.

I'll let you know where to find the videos as soon as I get them. Thanks again for all your support, it has truly been amazing.

Chris DeSantis: Day 2 Thoughs from World Champs Trials

Day 2 Thoughs from World Champs Trials:

Endorsement Contracts? Who needs em!: While I'm not totally shocked to see endorsed athletes straying from their usual suits, its still getting some buzz on deck. Matt Grevers, probably the most well-recognized TYR sponsored athlete, stepped up for the 100 backstroke in an Arena X-Glide. In Matt's defense, everyone here is just trying to make the team, and he clearly thought he might be at some kind of disadvantage without the suit. On the other hand, he was faster last year racing in TYR, so you tell me whats going on. Also in a delirious haze I thought i saw Katie Hoff wearing an x glide and violating her 10 year endorsement contract. The lesson here is to get your boss to have her flight land before 1:30 so you can get some sleep before writing one of these!

Its the swimmers, dumby, not the suit: Seriously. Aaron Piersol is the world's best backstroker in board shorts or Arena. Katie Hoff would be struggling at this meet no matter what she was wearing. Michael Phelps is the world's greatest. Dave Walters has had this breakthrough coming for what seems like forever. The evidence on the pool deck is still firmly on the side that its the swimmer's making the suit. I had my first chance to see the plethora of new suits that have appeared in the states over the last few months, and I honestly can't see a clear advantage over anything we had last summer. Memo to swimmers out there: wear what you feel best in and stop stressing about the suits.

Scheduling: Talked to a coach on deck today who had a swimmer in Serbia. It seems like its a real shame that some swimmers who we would like to have in two weeks in Rome are currently swimming over there. Chad LaTourrette comes immediately to mind, as well as Sean Mahoney. The scheduling of trials concurrent with WUG prevented these swimmers from having a chance to qualify for the world team. I only wish they could have been here to add some depth to Team USA!

Chris DeSantis: Day 1 Thoughts From the Deck in Indianapolis

I woke up this morning, took a deep inhale and sipped a cup of coffee. It was a new day, and I had watched a phenomenal night of swimming. I am going to try and provide you my best insight for what those of you at home may be missing here in Indianapolis. Here are my quick, random thoughts from the first night in Indy:

1. The Breakthrough: Mark Gangloff: It seems like everybody, Mark included, had been waiting for him to break a minute in this race for quite a while. He's come tantalizingly close a number of times, most recently at this summer's Charlotte Ultraswim. Although Eric Shanteau had sent the message he would be a strong competitor with his first time under a minute earlier that day, everyone expected at least a monster front half from Mr. Gangloff.

The crowd got what they wanted as Mark rocketed out to a 27.46. Still, he had over the last few years typically faded over the course of the second 50. Not tonight. I sheepishly admitted to Brett Hawke this morning that I thought Mark was going to tie up, but he pretty much didn't. Tonight, they've arranged a special time trial for Mark to go after Felipe Silva's 26.89 world record 50 breaststroke. I wouldn't bet against it.

2. Will America have a women's distance finalist? I'm not so sure after watching the 400 free last night. Allison Schmitt won in 4:06, a time that leaves America locked out of the world top ten with just two weeks until Rome. There is a gaping hole between the world's best performers, Brits Joanne Jackson and Rebecca Adlington plus Italian Federica Pelligrini all at 4:00. Katie Hoff, who was one stroke away from gold in this event in Beijing, continued what has been a rough summer, recording a 4:12 well off her best. Here's hoping Katie can turn it around, the US team will miss her all around depth.

3. Phelps Who? The 400 IM: Seriously, who would have thought that this event would be just as exciting without him? Tyler Clary has 100% arrived as a world class swimmer. He was knocking on the door last summer and blew it open with this long course swim. He led for 350 meters with a nearly Phelpsian front half. The crowd was on their feet for this entire swim. I got chills watching Ryan Lochte go into the final wall behind and emerge ahead. Great race

4. Speaking of Arrivals: Julia Smit! Ok, I know she was an Olympian last summer, but now she looks poised to fill some of the void Hoff left in this event and others. The 400 IM for women is setting up for a phenomenal race, with Smit looking significantly improved over last summer, Beisel with a much stronger 200 IM than in Omaha, and Knutson hanging around. Look forward to it.

Thats all for night one. If you're hanging out at the meet, please say hi! I'll be posting everything I can as the week goes on.

A Viking Funeral of Sorts... My Goodbye to Flo.

On Monday I got an email from Chris DeSantis that asked a very strange question: “If we started an independent site, would you be on board?” I have never met Chris in person, but we have built a little bit of a professional friendship. I said, “Sure. What are the details?” He couldn’t really give me any… so I started wondering if maybe he and Garrett McCaffrey had a falling out. I texted Garrett and he responded, “What Chris didn’t tell you was that flocasts let me go yesterday.”

I immediately went into shock. I still am in shock. Ten minutes after I got the text, Garrett’s letter was posted on the site.

I have never met Garrett McCaffrey in person, either. When Swimnetwork fell apart last summer after the Olympic Trials, and all of the old crew left (for reasons I have no idea, as I was the only person involved with the site who did not go to the trials,) I started to spend a little more time at floswimming. Garrett put out a blog asking the flo community to contribute videos. Mrs. Coach had already made the move over so I emailed Garrett and told him I would be willing to do the Viking thing for him if he thought it would help.

Garrett didn’t just email me… he called me. Not once, in all my time at swim network as a paid news blogger and volunteer of my Viking blogs did anyone call me. I got a few emails, but never heard a single person’s voice throughout any of it. As a matter of fact, when I left Swimnetwork, I didn’t even know if I still had a job. I don’t hold a grudge. I wish them all the best. I hope they can get it together because there is serious potential there, but it was not a good experience as a first writing gig.

I have worked on commercial fishing boats, in a fish cannery, loaded trucks for RPS… I have had good bosses and bad. I have been screamed at, ignored, flipped off and hugged. I have to say that working with Garrett has been a new kind of experience. I will never forget my first contact with Garrett: “Let’s talk about the upcoming year and all the ways we can promote the sport.” That sums up Garrett in a nutshell. Whatever is best for the sport. Garrett trusted me enough to allow my blogs to go up on the flash, but he was watchful enough to edit me down if needed. Only once did he tell me a post shouldn’t go up at flo, and he had very good reason. As any good editor would, he asked permission if he wanted to change something out of respect for me as a writer-- a professional courtesy I hadn’t yet earned, as I am not really a professional writer. I am certainly no journalist.

I have never had any contact with the Flo brothers. Not one email. Not one thank you. I never even knew their names until I had read an article in the Mizzou paper about Garrett’s career. This site, in my eyes, has been Garrett’s site. Their non-involvement up until now might be very difficult to overcome. They allowed Garrett to become the sole face of floswimming, and as you can see in the comments on the last three posts, it makes for a very tough road for the next person to take the helm.

I am sure that floswimming will survive this. Their platform is unique, and they have a team behind the scenes that does good work. They will find a new face. My team is heavily invested in their locker room and we will probably continue to use it until we can afford to move on to another site. I am sure I will keep checking in to see their content. It might end up being a good thing for Garrett to move on to something bigger and better. Who knows how this will all turn out?

But for me… my loyalty is to Garrett. Garrett certainly knows the value of the words “Thank you.” They go a long way in building a community of fans and contributors. I don’t hold a grudge against flo, but I will do anything to help Garrett move on to greater things. Garrett is out. Chris is out. Sadly, for the time being, the Viking is now out too. I have extended the invitation to them to use my blogspot until another platform is available to them, if they should choose to pursue it. Of course, that is, if one of the big dog media outlets doesn’t scoop these guys up first.

Thank you, Garrett. Thank you, Chris. Let’s talk about the upcoming year and all the ways we can promote the sport. Let’s make chicken salad out of all this week’s chicken s**t.

Chris DeSantis' Goodbye from Flo

Today should have been an exciting, happy day. I was going to step on deck for the first time in my new job. The meet i'd been looking forward too since last year in Omaha was finally upon us. We were going to pick our World Team.

Instead I'm sick to my stomach. I've felt this way since finding out late Sunday night that Garrett would no longer be a part of this site. I've felt the full gamut of raw, negative emotion: disbelief gave way to sadness, which gave way to anger. Now I'm desperately searching for a way to make things better.

The tenor of the comments on Garrett's blog reflect what I am about to say: he changed my life here. I am one of the thousands of people in this community that have benefitted from his presence, but I doubt that many have benefitted more than me.

A year and a half ago, I approached Garrett with what I thought was a crazy idea. I was so excited with what he was doing at floswimming. I wanted to write a blog. I thought there was a chance I had something to offer. Garrett did something that day that few others in the community had done for me at that point: he gave me a chance. I can truly say that he and my future wife are the two biggest reasons I am living my dream today.

He opened more doors for me than he probably knows. He also inspires me to keep loving this sport every day. Garrett has never taken the people here for granted. I wish everyone could have travelled to one meet coverage with Garrett. My first experience was at Olympic Trials in Omaha. Garrett would wake up in the morning, get as many high quality interviews as he possibly could, and upload the content. All the while he built relationships with people from all across the country. He cared. By day two, I was doing half the work but looked twice as exhausted.

When I had been working for the site for just a few months, small offers came in to pay me to take my content elsewhere. I called Garrett immediately. He wished me all the money in the world. If I had left him and sold out for a few dollars he never would have held a grudge. I didn't because I believed in him.

When I saw Garrett today we should have been pumped. These are the days we live for: exciting meets and our athletes putting on a show. Instead, my stomach won't stop gnawing at me. I am powerless to correct something that I believe is wrong.

I have had very little direct contact with Mark and Martin Floreani, the two developers of the platform and entrepeneurs of flocasts. From what I know, they don't consider what I do here an asset to the site, in fact they may even think that I am a negative drain on their resources though I have never been paid a dime. I do not begrudge them this, they have invested money into floswimming and it is their business to run. However, without Garrett I see no reason to continue an affiliation here. I hope to wake up tomorrow and do my best to share my love for this sport and the people in it in a positive and unique way. If you need me, I'll be with Viking and you can continue to contact me at crdesantis at gmail.com.