2014 Arena Grand Prix at Santa Clara
Women’s 200 Backstroke – FINALS
Liz Pelton, the top seed coming into the finals, led into the 100 with a slight lead. At the 150, Elizabeth Beisel pulled ahead to take the lead after an extraordinary 400 IM. She had a little bit more of a break between her races, but it wasn’t much longer. She claims her second win of the night with the 6th best time in the world this year. She touched the wall with a time of 2:09.11. Liz Pelton finished second at 2:09.73 just in front of her teammate Missy Franklin at 2:09.86. Missy Franklin is the world record holder in the 200 meter backstroke and Liz Pelton is the American Record holder in the 200 yard backstroke. Hilary Caldwell finished fourth at 2:10.85 and Kylie Stewart was 5th with a 2:10.85. Tasija Karosas won the B-final of the women’s 200 backstroke with a 2:12.85.
Braden, he’s worth big money! The interviewer needs to have screen presence, both knowledge of swimming and their hand on the pulse of what’s going on NOW in the sport, and perhaps most importantly, a relationship with the swimmers so they trust him and will speak freely with him, and Mel has all of that.
I know there are a lot of people behind the scenes, like you, who help Mel and make the coverage here so great. Why not pursue a corporate relationship with NBC? How about links on Universal Sports bringing viewers to SwimSwam so for exclusive, candid interviews by Mel and allowing viewers to participate in the conversation here to enhance their viewing pleasure? They did something… Read more »
Danjohnrob – we already have an exclusive partnership with Universal Sports, and its definitely something we hope to build upon as the Olympics come closer.
Braden, Thanks for taking the time to respond! I know SwimSwam doesn’t need my advice, LOL! I hope you understood my comments were intended to compliment the good work you all do, not to criticize!
Can we PLEASE get a contract with NBC to have Mel interview competitors during the Olympics?! They feel comfortable with him and their personalities shine through, plus he knows the right questions to ask! I hate when they have somebody who knows nothing about swimming ask, “How does it feel to lose the gold medal?” It makes me want to scream!
Danjohnrob – Mel works for (and owns) SwimSwam. If NBC wants him, they’re going to have to have to fork up some big money :-).
Wow.
NBC has one of the finest staffs covering swimming particularly Rowdy Gaines.
I am sure Mel will be hired for the 2016 Games by someone. There are some very good swim reporters out there who know what to ask and can relate to swimmers.
How does it feel to lose the gold medal may sound like a ridiculous question but it has been asked by the best of the best of reporters to understand the emotions, and yes a good sound byte or quote but the question needs to be asked at the heat of the moment.
There are tough questions, and then there’s the awful woman who does the poolside interviews for NBC that not only seems to know nothing about the sport but also seems to go actively out of her way to try to make athletes cry.
Very true, but in all honesty its unnecessary. There is no reason for that type of question in the heat of the moment, right after a swim. Losing the gold medal sucks and I can only assume everyone watching knows that. We all want to connect to the athlete and understand that they feel heart break too, but there is so much more to focus on and educate the non-swimming masses other than going for the raw emotional quotes.
I for one would love to see a changing of the guard in all avenues. I agree there are several people who are fantastic swimming reporters, Mel being one of them. NBC and “Swimming” need to have a changing of the… Read more »