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 [On the Cover: Amy Bilquist Photo Courtesy: Mine Kasapoglu / ISL]
This issue of SW Biweekly features the best of the year 2020 in review. See our
featured content below to take a look at some of the most major news, events and happenings that 2020 had in store for the wide world of swimming!
FEATURES
008 TOM SHIELDS OPENS UP ABOUT WHAT LED HIM TO NEAR-SUICIDE EXPERIENCE IN 2018
by Andy Ross
Toward the end of 2018, Tom Shields—an Olympian, American record holder, NCAA champion and happily married—tried to take his own life. He didn’t go public with this until December 2019, finally opening up in an Instagram post, saying he had tried to hang himself. “This was not a cry for help,” said Shields. “It was more about sharing my experience with it and de-stigmatizing mental health issues.”
010 DI FULVIO, JOHNSON ARE SWIMMING WORLD’S TOP WATER POLO PLAYERS FOR 2019
by Michael Randazzo
Ashleigh Johnson—the top goalie on the world’s best women’s team—is Swimming World’s top female player for 2019. It’s the fourth time this decade that she’s been so honored. For the men, in a year when the Italian national team demonstrated that they are Olympic gold medal contenders, defender Francesco Di Fulvio was their best player while leading Italy to a gold medal at the 2019 World Championships and being named the meet’s MVP.
012 DAVE SALO ANNOUNCES THIS IS HIS LAST SEASON AS SOUTHERN CAL COACH
by Andy Ross
Although Dave Salo announced he will be stepping down as USC’s head swimming coach, he said he will continue to coach the various Olympic hopeful swimmers at Trojan Swim Club through the Olympics.
013 MICHAEL PHELPS SLAMS USOC FOR SILENCE IN FACE OF HIS REVELATIONS OF DEPRESSION
by Craig Lord
In an interview with Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post, Michael Phelps shares how the USOC leadership responded with silence when he revealed the nature and depth of his struggle with depression and mental-health issues that dogged him during his career as the most decorated Olympian of all-time, all sports.
014 REGAN SMITH SCORCHES 58.26 FOR 100 BACKSTROKE GOLD IN KNOXVILLE
by John Lohn
Regan Smith’s performances at the TYR Pro Series stop in Knoxville only fueled the massive expectations surrounding her and what she might accomplish at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
016 CATE CAMPBELL BREAKS HER SILENCE TO SHED FURTHER LIGHT ON THAT FATEFUL NIGHT IN RIO
by Ian Hanson
Australia’s Cate Campbell, the world record holder in the women’s 100 meter free heading into the Rio Olympics, shared with sportswriter Wayne Smith of The Australian the “real reason” she finished sixth in a race that seemingly all Australia had expected her to win.
020 SUN YANG VS. WADA VERDICT: DAMNING EIGHT-YEAR BAN ENDS CAREER OF CHINESE CONTROVERSY
by Craig Lord
Sun Yang’s swimming career is over. In a damning judgment, a panel of three senior judges at the Court of Arbitration for Sports handed the Chinese Olympic champion an eight-year ban for violating several anti-doping rules, including chain of custody and tampering.
025 IOC CONFIRMS TOKYO 2020 WILL START ON JULY 23, 2021
by Liz Byrnes
The Olympic Games were scheduled to start on July 24, 2020, but the relentless march of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic forced the IOC to postpone the Games for the first time in their history. Tokyo 2020 will now take place from July 23 to Aug. 8, 2021.
028 NCAA SWIMMING CANCELLATION: “POWERFUL STUFF WHEN YOU HAVE TO MESS WITH KIDS’ DREAMS”
by Dan D’Addona
While everyone seems to be on the same page about canceling the NCAA Championships, it is still devastating to the athletes who will miss their final competitions—especially the seniors.
030 SWIMMERS PREPARE FOR CHALLENGES OF OLYMPIC POSTPONEMENT
by Andy Ross
The postponement of the Olympic Games first brought a sigh of relief for athletes and coaches everywhere, but with the Games being pushed to 2021, that changes so many things for athletes around the world.
034 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
041 FEDERICA PELLEGRINI RESETS FOCUS TO FIFTH OLYMPICS 17 YEARS AFTER DEBUT
by Liz Byrnes
Italy’s Federica Pellegrini has reset her sights following the postponement of Tokyo 2020, and is now looking to her fifth Olympics, 17 years after her debut at Athens 2004. Pellegrini won gold in the 200 free at Beijing 2008 and silver in Athens, where she stood on the podium just 12 days after turning 16.
042 THE TOKYO POSTPONEMENT IN PERSPECTIVE: WHAT HAS (AND HASN’T) STOPPED THE OLYMPICS
by Matthew De George
The Olympic Movement has weathered boycotts and World Wars. It has navigated such international catastrophes as apartheid and the Nazi regime, plus dozens of civil wars and the full gamut of conflicts and chaos. The COVID-19 outbreak’s ability to knock the Olympics out of commission until 2021 is a testament to the virus’ threat to humanity and the gravity of the public-health situation across the globe.
044 OLIVIA SMOLIGA & LIA NEAL GOING BACK TO THEIR ROOTS WITH ZOOM Q&A
by Andy Ross
Olivia Smoliga and Lia Neal participated in a Zoom Q&A with members of the club teams they grew up with. The sessions were a chance for the two Olympians to give back by inspiring swimmers from their hometowns.
046 CLAIRE CURZAN ANALYZES FIRST MEET SINCE MARCH; DISCUSSES CHALLENGES OF RECRUITING IN PANDEMIC
by Andy Ross
Sixteen-year-old Claire Curzan, a member of the National Junior Team, set four best times at a TAC Titans intrasquad meet in Raleigh, N.C. in July, and swam faster than the national age group record in all four events.
048 THE GOLDEN YEARS OF HIGH SCHOOL SWIMMING: SANTA CLARA AND MISSION VIEJO
by David Rieder
Public schools Santa Clara and Mission Viejo built high school swimming dynasties from the 1960s through the early 1980s. Not only did they dominate high school swimming, but unlike today, they also produced many of the swimmers from that era who competed in the Olympics.
052 REECE WHITLEY: “SILENCE IN THE FACE OF INJUSTICE IS COMPLICITY”; URGES ACTION RATHER THAN JUST WORDS
by Dan D’Addona
Reece Whitley, U.S. national champion and University of California-Berkeley All-American, took to social media to urge people and organizations to take action instead of just words to help bring people together in the wake of racial tragedies throughout the United States that have led to protests around the nation.
053 ADAM PEATY BLASTS 100 BREASTSTROKE WORLD RECORD IN ISL SEMIFINALS
by John Lohn
There is no doubt that Adam Peaty is the greatest 100 breaststroker in history, and with a short-course world record (55.49) added to his ledger during semifinals of a recent International Swimming League competition, the British star only enhanced his legacy in the event.
054 AMY BILQUIST LOOKING TO BUILD ON HER FIRST ISL VICTORY FOR DC TRIDENT
by Dan D’Addona
Amy Bilquist joined the DC Trident this year because she saw the team’s energy in the inaugural International Swimming League (ISL) season and wanted to be a part of it. But with Katie Ledecky, Natalie Coughlin and Cody Miller out for the season, Bilquist immediately became one of the faces of the Trident. Bilquist, who won the U.S. national title in the 100 back in 2019, didn’t disappoint: In her first race in the DC Trident red, she won the 200 back in 2:02.23, the first win of her ISL career.
055 CAELEB DRESSEL PUTS TOGETHER EPIC DAY: TWO WORLD RECORDS AND AMERICAN MARK
by John Lohn
Caeleb Dressel produced one of the greatest single-day performances the sport has ever seen in the short-course meters pool on the first day of the ISL Grand Final in Budapest. In the span of two hours, he became the first man to break the 48-second barrier in the 100 fly (47.78), added a world record of 20.16 in the 50 free and shaved 2-hundredths off his own American record in the 100 free (45.18).
056 PARTING SHOT
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