[CTcard]

I miss Ferrari and his knowledge of and experience in swimming.....

Perhaps I can help a bit.

I was also a swimmer, and my brother still coaches and swims in open water competitions. Most of the dirt I get comes from him.

The swimming community is really up in arms over the doping issue. My sense is that most of the swimmers from places outside of Russia and China were cheering on Lilly King for speaking out on Efimova. There are a few others that seem to fall into the category of "everybody knows they're doping even if they haven't tested positive". That's a dangerous category, because everybody doesn't quite KNOW, but it's enough to make me suspicious.

Maya DiRado is easy to cheer for. A Stanford legacy, very good student (probably even among Stanford students), apparently very friendly, and has kept at it past a few tough moments. Missed on the London games as she was fourth at trials in both IMs. Won her first NCAA title as a senior (2014), made her first Olympics this year, and is on a roll - which is what got her on the 4x200 free relay that she didn't qualify for it (or swim the 200 free at all) at trials.

USA is swimming well, but nine countries have won gold medals in swimming so far, which is a nice mix.

[CTcard]

I miss Ferrari and his knowledge of and experience in swimming.....

Perhaps I can help a bit.

I was also a swimmer, and my brother still coaches and swims in open water competitions. Most of the dirt I get comes from him.

The swimming community is really up in arms over the doping issue. My sense is that most of the swimmers from places outside of Russia and China were cheering on Lilly King for speaking out on Efimova. There are a few others that seem to fall into the category of "everybody knows they're doping even if they haven't tested positive". That's a dangerous category, because everybody doesn't quite KNOW, but it's enough to make me suspicious.

Maya DiRado is easy to cheer for. A Stanford legacy, very good student (probably even among Stanford students), apparently very friendly, and has kept at it past a few tough moments. Missed on the London games as she was fourth at trials in both IMs. Won her first NCAA title as a senior (2014), made her first Olympics this year, and is on a roll - which is what got her on the 4x200 free relay that she didn't qualify for it (or swim the 200 free at all) at trials.

USA is swimming well, but nine countries have won gold medals in swimming so far, which is a nice mix.