Aaron didn’t make into the Top 3 in USSA’s Athelete of the Year Awards. Check out the USSA site for the results.
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Aaron is mentioned in Brian Cazeneuve’s article Prelude to the Games
These athletes made a non-Olympic year entertaining.

Aaron Peirsol and Grant Hackett

In a year in which Michael Phelps experimented with new events and
Ian Thorpe went on sabbatical, these two stalwarts emerged from the
shadows of their famous teammates and just kept winning. Peirsol won both
backstroke events at the World Championships in Montreal, adding to his titles
from the Athens Olympics. Hackett, the best distance swimmer on the planet for
the last decade, won his unprecedented fourth world crown in the 1,500-meter
freestyle one week after capturing gold in the 400 free.

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First of all I want to wish you all Merry Christmas and/or Happy Hanukkah. Whatever you are celebrating at this time of the year I wish you all great holidays.
I want to thank everyone who kept supporting me and the site over the last year. I really appreciate it and all the help I received. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the site.

Happy Holidays!!!

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Again, you still can vote for Aaron today. Please do so at USSA.
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Updates: I will not have much time during the holidays but there will be more updates, some kind of Christmas treat. I will finally add some new content to the MediaSection. There will be more picture updates as well. For now I brought two sections up to date:
* Results
* Aaron’s Profile

Pictures:
A Big Thank you to Chelsea. She contributed pictures to APO from the Winchester Clinic Aaron held in November. You can find all of her pictures under Misc 2005

Fansection:
A Big Thanks goes to Helena, who donated two wallpapers to the Fansection. You can find them in the Wallpaper Section

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* Please keep on voting for Aaron at USSA.
You can still vote until Dec. 24th

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Aaron Piersol Visits Great Wall of China; Returns to the United States

SORRY for yet another delay on the journal entry. Yesterday was another long day and when we got to the airport this morning, we found out our flight back to the states had been cancelled. After some maneuvering and begging, I was finally able to get on a flight back to Los Angeles 6 hours after I was supposed to leave. They sent me to the VIP Lounge to relax so it wasn’t too horrible. So here I am in Beijing, writing my final entry to conclude my trip to China.

To go to the whole article

Beijing, December 22. Aaron Piersol’s Final Daily Dairy: Day 5. SORRY for yet another delay on the journal entry. Yesterday was another long day and when we got to the airport this morning, we found out our flight back to the states had been cancelled.

After some maneuvering and begging, I was finally able to get on a flight back to Los Angeles 6 hours after I was supposed to leave. They sent me to the VIP Lounge to relax so it wasn’t too horrible. So here I am in Beijing, writing my final entry to conclude my trip to China.

Yesterday we were up at the crack of dawn to beat the traffic out to the Great Wall. It was amazing the difference in landscape in just 45 minutes of driving. We went from the hustle and bustle of the city into the mountainous rural area where the wall is. It was a beautiful part of the country to see.

When we got to the wall, we realized that we would have to climb 3,500 feet (straight up) to get to the top. Seeing how everyone with me was an athlete or former athlete, our competitive spirit kicked in and we all aimed for the top. It took about an hour and a half to finally reach the summit but it was well worth it!!

We learned the history of the wall and the Ming Dynasty of China along the way. It truly is a fascinating sight to see. When we reached the top we could see the wall curve through the hills and valleys as far as the eye could see completely cutting the landscape in half. It took us another hour and a half to get back down. The descent was much tougher than the ascent and we all had shaky legs by the finish.

Next we headed to lunch at the Outback Steakhouse. Yes, the same Outback Steakhouse as in the states! Our host really wanted to go there. It is a big hit with locals. Once we finished lunch we headed directly to the Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City is an ancient city sitting right in the middle of Beijing. Each Emperor during the Ming and Ching Dynasties had built a number of temples and buildings which were all still in pristine condition. We learned how the royalty of China lived and saw a ton of artifacts and art from the time of the Dynasties. In the background, all around the city, I couldn’t help but notice the Beijing 2008 Olympic banners and signs. Learning the history of the people of China and this great country makes me even more excited to be training for another trip back here in 2008!

For dinner we met the executives of Nike again at the top of a local hotel. This was a high scale rotating restaurant with a beautiful 360 view of Beijing. We all said our goodbyes and thank you’s for being such gracious hosts. We all truly enjoyed the spirit of the Chinese people and felt their excitement about having the games here on such a grand scale in 2008.

Thank you all for tuning in and saying hello. I hope I will be able to do this again in the future. It has been a real pleasure. Maybe one of the younger readers out there will be encouraged to train harder and set there sights on Beijing 2008. I hope to see you there!!!!

Aaron
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Swimming World Magazine’s featured pages about Aaron’s stay in China. VBisit the site for exclusive footage, videos and all of Aaron’s diary entries.

Aaron Piersol Motivates Chinese Youth, Later Visits Tiananmen Square

IT is 6 AM on Tuesday and I am heading off for a day of sightseeing with our hosts. You are probably reading this a little late as yesterday was an extremely busy day.
...
Today we are off to see the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. I have been told that in China there is a saying..."You are not a man until you have climbed the great wall.” I expect to become a true man tomorrow and climb all the way to the top for my workout.

Aaron Piersol Motivates Chinese Youth, Later Visits Tiananmen Square—December 19, 2005

Beijing, December 19. AARON Piersol’s Dairy Day 4. IT is 6 AM on Tuesday and I am heading off for a day of sightseeing with our hosts. You are probably reading this a little late as yesterday was an extremely busy day.

We were up at 6 AM to train and to do another clinic with local swimmers. This time we concentrated on speed work and core strength again. The kids and coaches were very interested in everything we said and I think we all got a lot out of it. It is amazing that you can be half way across the World, but training is still tough. Kids still love to train and coaches still love to coach. Swimming and sports in general are universal.

I have no idea about the backgrounds of many of these great young swimmers, but I can see in their eyes they are motivated to get better. Some want to get better because they love the sport, some because they are fortunate enough to be a part of a great program and some because they want to please their parents and coaches… very similar to young swimmers in the United States.

After the clinic we went straight to Tiananmen Square for a quick tour of the center of Beijing. This was a fast trip because of all the things we had planned for the rest of the day, but it was great to see. I love the history and architecture. What an interesting place to be.

After a quick lunch we headed straight back to the pool for our final swimming session. We were greeted by a great group who wanted help on dryland training, stretching, and some very specific backstroke work from Coach Eric Hansen and me.

This was the last of our clinics so we received a gracious goodbye from our new friends at the pool and headed to a “closing ceremony” dinner with all the swimmers, coaches, and parents. Once again it was a traditional Chinese meal with at least 20 different dishes to choose from. My favorite so far has been the duck. The ceremony went well into the night, but we finally made it home around 10 and got some much needed sleep.

Today we are off to see the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. I have been told that in China there is a saying….”You are not a man until you have climbed the great wall.” I expect to become a true man tomorrow and climb all the way to the top for my workout.

Wish you were all here with me!!!

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Confident Peirsol eyes triple gold repeat in in 2008

“At the minimum, I can do as well as last time,” he said during a training clinic with the Chinese national swimming team organized by Nike. “Once you have won three gold medals, you have the confidence that you can do that again.”
....
“I haven’t reached my ‘goal’,” he said.
“After winning three gold medals from the Athens Games, I stepped back and knew I have accomplished all my goals, and I thought ‘what’s next?” he said.
“A month later I realized that I am still 22, and I am still an improving athlete and even set my best mark one year after the Olympics.”
“I am looking for something of consistency, not at one specific time.

When it comes to the Beijing 2008 Olympics, Aaron Peirsol, the seven-time world champion and three-time Olympic champion American swimming sensation, is aiming to repeat or top his triple Olympic gold medal winning performance last year.

“At the minimum, I can do as well as last time,” he said during a training clinic with the Chinese national swimming team organized by Nike. “Once you have won three gold medals, you have the confidence that you can do that again.”

The 22-year-old from California won three gold medals in men’s 100m, 200m backstroke and 400m medley relay at the Athens Games last year and repeated the achievement at the Montreal World Championships in July. In Montreal, he broke the 200m backstroke world record. He also holds 100m backstroke world record.

“I haven’t reached my ‘goal’,” he said.

“After winning three gold medals from the Athens Games, I stepped back and knew I have accomplished all my goals, and I thought ‘what’s next?” he said.

“A month later I realized that I am still 22, and I am still an improving athlete and even set my best mark one year after the Olympics.”

“I am looking for something of consistency, not at one specific time.”

Peirsol had just finished a three-day clinic with Eric Hansen, head coach of the US men’s swimming team in Beijing. Top Chinese swimmers joined in the clinic, including Asian record holder Ouyang Kunpeng, world championship bronze medallist Wu Peng and women’s breaststroke veteran Qi Hui. Peirsol also held a clinic with young Chinese swimming enthusiasts on Sunday.

Peirsol said he is expecting an explosive performance from the Chinese swimmers who are enjoying the home advantage.

“Most hosts are doing much better than expected, and China has that advantage now,” he said. “They are ready to do well in 2008.”

He said he noticed that Chinese swimmers have been improving for a long time, but experience is what the young Chinese team needs in order to do a good job three years later on home turf.
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