SHANGHAI, China, April 3. SPEEDO has enlisted the talents of some of its world class sponsored athletes to write blogs from the 8th FINA World Swimming Championships in Shanghai this April.
The meet is set to be a showcase for a new generation of up and coming swimmers, and Speedo has invited five established high profile swimmers including Michael Phelps (USA) and Grant Hackett (AUS) to write daily blogs which preview the day’s key races. The blogs will provide a first hand insight into how competing swimmers are feeling, background on each race and a ‘who to watch’ guide of upcoming clashes in the pool.
The five swimmers featured in the Speedo Star Athlete Blogs represent a who’s who in the world of swimming: Phelps and Hackett will be joined by Natalie Coughlin (USA), Amanda Beard (USA) and Leisel Jones (AUS). Meanwhile retired swimmer and 5-times World Champion James Hickman, (GBR) will provide a retrospective look at each day’s action and give a full round-up at the close of competition.
Each athlete will post their blog entry on www.Speedo.com the day before the race in which they would normally compete. Phelps will be first on 4 April. He will be making his overall Shanghai predictions and will comment on the action from the first day. Coughlin will take over on day 2, Beard on day 3 and Jones will comment on several races scheduled for Day 4. Hackett will post his blog on the final day of competition. As undisputed champion of the 1500m Freestyle for the past 8 years, he will no doubt have a lot to say on this year’s race.
Speedo athletes at the Championships include Randall Bal, Tara Kirk and Rachel Komisarz from the USA, Lisbeth Lenton, Jessica Schipper and Brooke Hanson from Australia, Federica Pellegrini from Italy, Markus Rogan from Austria, Thomas Rupprath from Germany and 6-times World Champion Mark Foster (GBR). Note: This will be Foster’s last major event before he retires.