Many swimming fans have lamented throughout the week the choice between watching the Discovery Channel’s now cult-status Shark Week programming, and the USA Swimming National Championships. Luckily, we may have found a few loopholes that will allow for both (thank goodness there’s no open water swimming this week, or that sentence might take on a whole different tone).
1. Madison Kennedy – Sprint freestyler Madison Kennedy has a nickname that will evoke an emotional response from both elasmobranchologists* and Discoverphiles alike: Jaws.
According to her USA Swimming bio, Kennedy earned this nickname from her father:
My dad gave me the nickname. Braces for four years + big teeth = shark nickname. He hasn’t called me anything else since I was 13.
Perhaps not started under the most genial circumstances, it seems to have become a nickname that she’s embraced, and fits appropriately in the context of her swimming career. Perhaps spurred on by some pre-meet watching of her aquatic-brethren, Kennedy tied her 2nd-place finish in the 50 free on Wednesday evening for the highest individual US Nationals finish in the history of her career.
(*elasmobranchologists are those who study sharks.)
2. “Duh nuh…” – The younger generation of swimming might not get it, but there should still be enough 1975 horror-flick fans in the crowd to drum up a pretty solid “Duh nuh” chant in Palo Alto. Anybody who does it before Madison Kennedy’s 100 free on Saturday will earn a huge shoutout via any applicable social networking media that I have at my disposable.
3. TYR Shark-Fin Caps – Stock up on TYR Sharkfin caps. These monsters will help you cut through the water like nobody’s business. Besides the awesome fashion statement, they have a neat fin on top that will help cut through the surface tension. No ruling on FINA yet as to the legality of using shark fins for speed-enhancement. (Click here to get one from SwimOutlet for only 7 bucks).
This TYR Cap would be an appropriate fit, only $6.95 from SwimOutlet
4. Shark Attack During Warmups – With roughly 1,800 swimmers entered in this National Championship meet, even with the four-pool monster complex on the Stanford University campus, warmup space is probably pretty limited. If someone in front of you just isn’t keeping up with the pace, lay a big old “shark attack” on the swimmer in front of you by grabbing their feet and yanking them backwards.
5. Sharks and Minnows – Everyone to the diving well, for sharks and minnows! This is a staple of all neighborhood swim teams, and me thinks that if you got the National Team together, you could put together a pretty awesome game, especially if you play with “gator” rules (must be tagged above water). Can you imagine 6’8″ Matt Grevers and 6’8″ Dax Hill going at it 5-meters deep for food-chain supremacy? If you got the right group of swimmers involved, a game of sharks and minnows could make for as good (or better) TV action than many of the races you’ll see this week.
Now, for those who had to make the decision between tonight’s premier of “Jersey Shore” and the day 3 finals (you know who you are, you were Tweeting about it)…I have no solutions to your problem.