PHOENIX, Arizona, August 30. WHEN it was announced that Ruta Meilutyte would be swimming in the junior world championships, some were in favor of it, while others were against the Olympic champion’s participation. Our latest poll gave you the opportunity to vote on whether or not Meilutyte should have swum in the meet, and 82.52 percent said yes, she should be allowed to swim, while 17.48 percent said no. With one day remaining, Meilutyte has collected three gold medals in Dubai, and her times in the breaststroke events didn’t put the meet records too far out of reach for the future generations.
The American Swim Coaches Association’s annual world clinic is starting Wednesday in New Orleans, and at a banquet near the end of the clinic, the organization will award the prestigious coach of the year award. Since 1961 this award has been given to some of the most revered American coaches in the sport, and this year will definitely continue that tradition. There are nearly a dozen coaches who could be worthy recipients of this award, but we’re only giving you three: Bruce Gemmell, who coached Katie Ledecky to two world records and a sub-4:00 minute swim in the 400 free at the world championships; Todd Schmitz, who guided Missy Franklin to six gold medals in Barcelona, something no woman had ever done; and Gregg Troy, the man who has worked with Ryan Lochte for many years and helped him win more gold at the world championships. Or do you think there’s another coach worthy of this award? Go to swimmingworld.com and place your vote in this new poll on the right side of our home page. We’ll bring you results of this poll next week, where we will be at the ASCA clinic in New Orleans.
