Indian Summer

Just this morning I was lamenting the lack of swim meets this year to watch, critique, and complain about. I was all, ho hum, no swimming meets this year?! What is the world coming to?

And then, just like that, I remembered the fun that is the Commonwealth Games.

The Commonwealth Games are a sensitive subject for me. In 2002, I made the qualifying standard for the 50m freestyle but I did so the day after the qualifying period ended (which raises the question, why on earth did the qualifying period finish the day before the second-largest swimming meet in the world?) and besides, 2002 was well before the days when New Zealand considered "elite athletes with disabilities" for their Commonwealth Games teams. In 2005 I competed at the trials for the 2006 Games and failed to qualify so miserably that just two days later I quit swimming forever.

This might be why I've thus far ignored this year's Games, due to be staged in New Delhi, India (oh, that could also have something to do with it) in October. Admittedly, one close friend (Jessica Hamill), one former training partner (Rebecca Wardell) and an old clubmate (Stuart Farquhar) are all New Zealand representatives this year, along with some of my favourite athletes ever, Nicholas Willis and Valerie Vili - so I should really be paying attention. As well, Penelope Marshall is on the swim team. If you were at the Waikato Age Group Swimming Championships in like, 2002, you may remember seeing me, Penny and Kirby stumbling round in fits of laughter while candy dropped out of our pockets and from under our jackets. It may have been the greatest moment of my life up until that point. (And, maybe even since.)

Commonwealth Games swimming events don't boast the Chinese, Japanese and US swimmers that Olympics and World Championships do. And you might watch them and think "Guernsey? Really?" But it shouldn't be forgotten, firstly, that Italy is not in the Commonwealth and so Federica Pellegrini won't be there, and also that Ian Thorpe broke his 400m freestyle world record at this event in 2002 (a mark - 3:40.08 - that stood until it was controversially broken by German Paul Biedermann at last year's Worlds), and that Australia has some of the world's best swimmers. In 2002, Petria Thomas swam in thirteen races (this includes heats, semi-finals, finals and relays) at the Commonwealth, and if memory serves me correctly, she earnt seven medals. This of course was en route to her stunning 100m butterfly gold in Athens.

Pellegrini: bitch, get out of my life and take your
oversized breasts, smug face and ego with you.

I'm biased, but the Commonwealth Games has, for the last three editions anyway, showcased the enormous (in both terms of achievement and her physical size) talent that is Natalie du Toit. In 1998 she competed for South Africa in the 200m butterfly and 400m IM events, before having a leg amputated. In Manchester (2002) she won both "EAD" events, as well as qualifying for the 800m freestyle final. She repeated her efforts in Melbourne in 2006 (after dominating the 2004 Paralympic Games, competing at the 2004 World Short Course Championships), and has since represented her country at the 2008 Olympics and Paralympics, and at World Open Water Championships.

So the Commonwealth Games are significant in terms of international swimming, even though they don't have Phelps. You should watch them. And ha-ha, even if you don't intend to, you're still going to hear about it here.

P.S: Wondering about Le Tour de France?

Well, Vande Velde got out on stage two after a nasty crash, and Farrar is out too... so apparently my team's hopes now rest on the shoulders of Ryder Hesjedal, who is like, younger than me. Good.