Bertha, as she’s been named, has been very reliable over the years, but it was time to make the next step. The lens I have been lusting over for quite some time will go by the name of Bessie and she will make her debut in Omaha.

However, I will not be the one shooting with Bessie, initially. Kiwi, will be handling the photography from the Qwest Center while I will be taking care of live updates via computer.

Anyway, I just wanted to share! I’m super excited! This should make the pictures I take at meets pop and I can reach further with this lens. Check it out below:

I won’t be going to that competition as I originally though. I need to continue to save for Trials; the big meet!

So, my trusty sidekick, kiwi, will be handling the Swim Stars Live coverage.

This meet also marks my return to the deck as a credentialed media member. The last meet I covered, in depth, was the ConocoPhillips Summer Nationals in Indy last summer. I’m hoping I’m not too rusty and can jump back into things tomorrow morning! We’ll see!

If you want to see all the latest, visit Swim Stars Live throughout the day. I’m flying solo for this meet, so I will most definitely have my hands full. Bear with me. I’ll be sure everyone is kept updated!

It used to be part of Swim Stars, but I made the decision to remove it last year.

As it stands right now, the site is not completely dead. I have been in talks with Michael and Octagon and there will be some sort of collaboration in the future. There’s a lot of red tape and shifts in MP’s business environment that are slowing things down. It’s not anything I can control. All I can do it wait.

So, while I can’t speak definitively on a timetable for the site’s return, just know that it will return. I just have to wait for things to work themselves out. Obviously, Michael, his family, and Octagon would all like to see the site back before the big Olympic push. So, if we can make that happen, we will.

Head coach Brad Shively joins the Michigan crew every summer at the Wolverine Swim Camp in Ann Arbor, and one of my sorority sisters used to be on the WashU team; something I did not discover until recently. Seriously, where was I?

Anyway, I read the latest WashU Student Life email edition after it landed in my inbox, and there was a nice little write-up about the swimming programs performances at the UAA (University Athletic Association) last weekend. The women were 2nd and the men 4th. It made me laugh because it is another instance of how I keep seeing how close the sport of swimming was to me, throughout my life, and yet I paid no attention to it.

I was thisclose to becoming a swimmer when I was 3. I broke my leg and the Dr. suggested to my parents that I do gymnastics, ballet, or swimming to build up the strength in my leg again. I chose ballet. I wanted to rock the tutu and be a ballerina. Close, but no cigar.

Remember now, Athens is what sucked me into the sport. During my college years, I really only paid attention to basketball, volleyball, and baseball because those are the sports my friends played.

Well, just thought I’d share. But aren’t you all glad that I’ve since seen the light?

What’s everyone else’s stories on getting sucked in?

I got so busy with the overall maintenance of Swim Stars, The Swim Aids, and now MGoSwim.com, that this little blog o’ mine took a backseat. I aim to get back to checking in and giving regular updates on the behind-the-scenes aspects of what I do here on SwimStars.org.

My fall was mostly consumed with paid work within the swimming community. I completed websites for Mark Spitz and Jessica Hardy, as commissioned by PMG Sports.

You may have noticed that I already had a Swim Stars Network site here for Jessica Hardy, that she was involved in. Nothing changes there. She continues to answer questions from fans on her Q&A there. Her official site is more basic. There is no news posted. All of the pictures there belong to Jess and she maintains her own blog as well. So, those are the major differences, in case anyone was wondering!

I have many other web projects with PMG Sports lined up that I’m excited to work on. This includes sites for Kate Ziegler, Dara Torres, Cullen Jones, and more. I’ll post more about those as I get to them.

As for Swim Stars, the site will maintain the status quo for the rest of the year. I have been going back and forth as to whether or not I add any new swimmers to the site. If I do, it will likely be Kathleen Hersey, as I already own a domain name. But if not, SwimStars.org may be headed towards some major changes after the Olympics. The site may reach even further into the future in promoting the sport’s next stars. That is, in part, because of the impending retirement of some of the Stars I promote now.

So, keep an eye on Swim Stars this year! Definitely not going anywhere!

I’ve received a request to post some pictures of Lenny Krayzelburg from the US Open, so I will add those in a little bit. I’d love to share!

As you can probably see, the US Open updates are keeping me very busy lately. It was a great meet and I was glad that it was so close to home for me. It makes “swim trips” so much more manageable when I can hop in my car and attend rather than catch a flight! In any case, I hope to be done with updates by this weekend. Then I can turn my attention to completing the new SwimStars.org layout as well as 2 more network sites (TaraKirk.net and ErikVendt.com).

I’m going to keep myself busy for the remainder of the year and on into 2007!

As always, if you have any feedback or suggestions for SwimStars.org, don’t hesitate to let me know!

I hope it turns out as neat as I am envisioning!