…Dutch star Inge Dekker today moved away from Marseille, France where she had been training since September of 2012 with the elite program there for the 2012 Olympics. Her success in London was mixed, but overall a positive as she was a big part of the silver medal winning 400 free relay for the Netherlands. Dekker will be most remembered for her selfless action at the Games. There she scratched her best individual event, the 100 fly, to focus on that relay that came the same day. The move didn’t pay off completely, as she was the slowest leadoff leg in the final, but her nod of respect to the great 400 free relay tradition of the Dutch (she was a part of the team that won gold in 2008) was admirable. At 27 years old, she’s right on the bubble of being able to stick around for another Olympics, though of course she has a great example in teammate Marleen Veldhuis, who swam in London at 33. Dekker hasn’t made her future plans publicly known yet…
…Canadian former World Record holder Annamay Pierse is officially retiring from the sport of swimming. “Well it is official! After 22 yrs of swimming I am hanging up the goggles & moving on Thank you to everyone who made it amazing!” Pierse Tweeted last week. The highlight of Pierse’s career was the 2009 World Championships, where she swam a 2:20.12 in the semi-finals that broke the World Record. She would take silver in that race, and her record would stand for three years before American Rebecca Soni broke it twice at this year’s Olympics. Pierse didn’t swim in that race after finishing 5th at Canada’s Trials, but she did have a front-row seat as she was in London working for CTV. Pierse, 28, is still the Canadian Record holder and second-fastest woman in history in the event…
…In other news from the Great White North, Canada has hired a new Director of Domestic Operations, naming Iain McDonald to the role. This position in the upper-ranks of Swimming Canada gives him the opportunity to work with Canada’s Club Excellence Program and continue to develop it. He is also responsible for large parts of Canada’s major meets circuit, including coordinating doping control, managing the calendar, managing records, and helping manage major competitions…
…LSU kicked off their 2012-2013 season by dominating Division III in-state opponents Centenary over the weekend. The Tigers gave their freshman a chance to shine in this meet that had a modified 50-100 lineup. The Tigers swept the events in their first ever matchup that head coach Dave Geyer described as a good opportunity to get a travel meet under their belts. Among the highlights for the freshman class included Gabriel Rooker winning the 100 breast in 57.24. That’s within a second of his lifetime best already. Full meet results available here.
