I will be gone for the next 9 days so there won’t be any updates during the next week. I will be back around next Sunday or Monday and will continue with the picture and video updates I still haven’t managed to put online.

* But before I go I updated the Fansection with a new wallpaper.
Thanks to Marianna

* Gallery Update.
Big Thank you to Unfamous for the pics of the Hawaii Clinic.

All of her pictures can be found in the Summer Clinics Gallery

I added new pictures to:
* Thanks to Elysha

Olympic Trials Fanpictures

* Athens Professional Pictures

Pictures from 2004 to
* Santa Clara Invitational

Fan Pictures from 2005: Thanks to Norcalgirlosu
* Santa Clara 2005

Pictures from 2002
* Moscow 2002

Happy 3rd anniversary to Aaron Peirsol Online.com.

So this site has been online for 3 years now and I want to use this occassion to say Thank you to everyone who has been helping me, who has provided pictures, fanart and reports.
Thank you guys for supporting me and the site.
Thank you to Bobby Brewer as well.
And of course to Aaron!
I never thought this site would be so big and would actually be online so long.
I appreciate every help I got over the years and I will get in future.
It is this help and all the support that keeps me going.

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Young Olympian reveres the Duke

Young Olympian reveres the Duke

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

Duke Kahanamoku was born 115 years ago on this date. Aaron Peirsol turned 22 last month. That yawning gap has been bridged by water.

From 1912 to 1932, Kahanamoku won five Olympic medals, including three golds in swimming. He is also revered around the world as the Father of Surfing. Kahanamoku was the first to be inducted into both the Swimming (1965) and Surfing (1966) halls of fame.

Peirsol has four Olympic medals. He swept all three backstroke golds in Athens. And, the Southern California native insists, he “grew up in the ocean” — usually body surfing Newport Beach’s “Wedge” — and “with Kahanamoku.”

“He’s part of history, Olympic and U.S. history,” Peirsol says. “He was a U.S. hero and still is. He’s an icon. There’s only one like him. He’s like John Wayne. One of our original heroes.”

Peirsol insists that anyone who grew up near a beach knows of Kahanamoku. He won’t get an argument this week.

Peirsol is here for Duke’s Ho’olaule’a, which benefits the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation’s college scholarship and community grants program. He worked a keiki clinic yesterday and will be in the Hawaiian Airlines Duke’s Legends Surf Classic and Duke’s Ocean Mile Swim on Friday and Saturday.

Peirsol’s passion for the Duke goes deep.

“I give him the utmost respect for giving us such a really nice sport (surfing),” Peirsol says. “He was a great swimmer, too. ... I think he is better than any swimmer, at his time, relative to any other time. He was breaking records by like five seconds. You would think that was impossible. He defined revolutionary.”

Peirsol is the world-record holder in the 100- and 200-meter backstroke, and claimed those events yet again at last month’s World Championships. He spent his collegiate pool time, between Olympics, in Austin, Texas.

He loved the city, but hated the distance from the ocean. He lives with his fins and board in his car in California and the first thing he wanted to do here was “find some waves.”

He calls surfing his “meditation time,” far from the goal-oriented sport of swimming, which offers a much different rush. He is elated when he wins a medal or sets a record. In contrast, he calls surfing “therapeutic.”

“I love the water so much,” Peirsol says. “I don’t know how many NBA players say they want to be on the court every day. I want to be on the water every day.”

One of his goals at the keiki clinic was to try and convince kids that the better they swim, the heavier surf they can handle. A balance of both sports, admittedly at a high level, can create someone like Kahanamoku. Or, at least, someone who shares Peirsol’s passion for the Duke.

DUKE’S HO’OLAULE’A SCHEDULE

Friday: Converse Hawaiian Open semifinals (7 a.m. to 5 p.m.) at Waikiki; Hawaiian Airlines Duke’s Legends Surf Classic preliminaries (7 a.m. to 5 p.m.), five-person teams compete; Waikiki Beach Boys Legends Celebration at Duke’s Waikiki (3 to 5 p.m.).

Saturday: Converse Hawaiian Open finals (7 a.m. to 5 p.m.) at Waikiki; Hawaiian Airlines Duke’s Legends Surf Classic finals (7 a.m. to 5 p.m.); Duke’s Ocean Mile Swim at Duke’s Waikiki (8 a.m. registration, 9 a.m. swim); Bud Light Surf Polo Tournament at Kapahulu Groin (9 a.m. to 3 p.m.); Bishop Museum’s Duke’s Historical Display and Lei Making at Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.); Waikiki Community Lei Making to decorate Kahanamoku’s statue, at Sheraton Moana Surfrider (9 a.m. to 3 p.m.); Lei Draping (5 p.m.); Sunset on the Beach (7:30 p.m.).

Sunday: Brunch on the Beach (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.); Bishop Museum’s Duke’s Historical Display at Hyatt Regency Waikiki (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.); Waterman Challenge at Waikiki Beach (10 a.m.); Sunset on the Beach (7:30 p.m.).

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com .

Get your Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool video

Relive the excitement of the 2005 Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool. This two tape VHS set offers three and a half hours of races, behind the scenes interviews and athlete profiles. Click here to purchase.
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I added a new article to the Articles section: Golden moments with Olympic Trio. It is about the Elk River clinic Aaron did this last weekend.

“Only so many people have been to the Olympics - it’s a sacred thing and it means a lot,” said Peirsol. “If you get a medal, you can show people the rest of life that you were once the best in the world. People respect those medals.”

Golden moments with Olympic trio

by Bruce Strand
Sports editor

Even after looking forward to this for months, the young swimmers at VandenBerge Middle School last weekend could scarcely believe with whom they were rubbing elbows.

Three Olympians, and Olympic champions at that, were not just making an appearance, but swimming right alongside the kids while dispensing invaluable advice and instruction.

“It was pretty neat to have people at the top of the sport come here and help us out,” said Robb Rotramel, Elk River sophomore-to-be sprint star. “They look at everybody and try help everyone find ways to improve some skill.”

Erin Hickey, freshman-to-be, couldn’t get over it: “We watch them on TV at the Olympics, and now we’re swimming right next to them!”

Josh Davis, who won three golds in freestyle relays in 1996 at Atlanta and two silvers in 2000 at Sydney, Australia, where he was swim team captain, is the owner and head coach of the three-day Ultimate Technique Swim With a Champ program that he takes on the road once or twice a month.

Davis, 32, of San Antonio, Texas, was here three days, and a pair of 22-year-olds from southern California, currently among the world’s elite, joined him, three weeks after collecting golds in the world meet in Montreal.

Aaron Peirsol, gold medalist in the 100 and 200 backstroke and medley relay in the 2004 Olympics at Athens and world-record-holder in all three, was here Friday and Saturday. Kaitlin Sandeno, who won a relay gold, a silver in 400 individual medley and a bronze in 400 freestyle at Athens, was here Saturday and Sunday.

“Even though they’re Olympic swimmers, they were laid back and seemed just like us, and were real easy to talk to,” said Jenny Von den Kamp, Elk senior-to-be distance standout.

Don Olson, swimming parent and president of the Jets swim club that brought the Olympians here, watched as Davis, Peirsol and Sandeno swam with 54 young charges on Saturday.

“I don’t think the parents anticipated this,” Olson said. “Usually the way it works is that the coach runs the camp and the younger Olympic swimmers are with the kids, and the big stars just show up for some autographs. But these three are in the pool with the kids all day.”

He added that this camp cost $400 for each camper, while many camps with Olympians charge at least twice that. It was still a financial strain for the Jets but, he felt, well worth it.

“We can’t afford to do this more than once,” Olson said. “But if another club wants to host them, I’ll sure send my kids there.”

Thirty-five of the 54 kids were from the Jets club, including 16 Elk varsity swimmers. There were kids on hand from Colorado, Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin. The age range was 7 to 18.

“It was like a dream come true to have them in our pool,” said Megan Springer, an Elk River junior-to-be swimmer. “I’m such a big sports fan and swimming in particular.”

The Olympians coached, demonstrated and critiqued and regaled the kids and parents with stories of the Olympics and other world-level competitions, and answered whatever questions the kids had.

Davis, an outgoing 6-foot, 2-inch blonde athlete and father of five, explained how this all got started.

“When I won three golds in 1996 at Atlanta, I had a lot of opportunities for clinics,” he said. “After a while I came up with a format of my best stuff for a three-hour clinic.”

Eventually he devised a three-day camp and formed Ultimate Technique, LLC. In the last nine years he’s conducted about 400 clinics and camps utilizing over 30 Olympians.

“What’s great about a three-day camp is that we get to stay around and see if the kids ‘get it,’ and keep helping them along, rather than just giving instruction and leaving town,” said Davis. “We get to know a lot of the kids and parents and we make friends for life.”

One of the camp’s highlights for the kids was seeing the Olympic medals the trio brought along and having photos taken while wearing them.

“Only so many people have been to the Olympics — it’s a sacred thing and it means a lot,” said Peirsol. “If you get a medal, you can show people the rest of life that you were once the best in the world. People respect those medals.”

Said Van den Kamp: “It was so cool to see the gold medals and hear how they achieved them. They talked a lot about setting goals.”

Sandeno and Peirsol were fresh from the world meet in late July in Montreal. Peirsol added to his gold collection with wins in the 100 and 200 backstrokes and the medley relay. Sandeno swam the third-fastest split in history in the 4-by-200 freestyle as she anchored a USA victory and also earned bronze in the 400 I.M.

“So, one pretty good race, and one just OK,” Sandeno said.

Sandeno had a special treat waiting for her in Elk River.

“There’s a Minnesota side of the Sandeno family that I’d never seen before, and I got to meet about 20 relatives, second- and third-cousins,” she revealed. “I had dinner with them. They knew I was coming and e-mailed my parents. So that was a nice bonus for me.”

Randy Sandeno and his sister, Anne Murphy, both of Elk River, arranged the get-together with their famous relative, hosted by Anne on Friday night. “She’s quite an incredible kid, a lot of fun,” said Randy, adding that the conversation was mostly “family stuff.”

Kids at the camp interviewed by the Star New felt they absorbed very helpful fundamentals. Rotramel gleaned things about his kick, momentum and “streamlining” (the seconds entering the pool when the opportunity for speed is greatest). Hickey talked about interesting new drills. Von den Kamp said the champions opened her eyes about the importance of the six-beat kick for all freestylers including distance. Grade-schooler Hannah Olson commented, “They have all had lots of good coaching, so we learned a lot of technique. And they were very nice.”

The kids were able to witness two Olympians in action Saturday afternoon when Davis and Peirsol both took a crack at a pool record. Simultaneously, Davis swam the 100 butterfly in :51.35 while Peirsol swam the 100 backstroke in :50.34. Obviously both succeeded in beating the all-time bests set by high school swimmers in the pool, both by about four seconds, although both well off their personal-bests achieved in top shape at world meets.

The high schoolers’ records will still be official, of course, said Olson, but a special plaque will be placed on the wall by the record boards to list the Olympians’ times as “unofficial records.”

And it’ll be a nice memento of a very special, probably once-in-a-lifetime event in Elk River.
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I added a new Aaron Peirsol Fanlisting opened by Charlene to the Links section.
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