I added pictures to the Montreal Gallery and to the Montreal 200m Back Gallery

More to come later.

Aaron will participate in the Duel in the Pool on Tuesday.
There is an interview with him on the official Duel site.  Click here to listen to it. It’s funny!  And pretty long.
He compares the first Duel with the next one and speaks about Southern Cal and having such a meet in his hometown.
ETA: Concerning the interview
The interview is linked on the homepage. It should be the first article on there. If you use AOL, please empty your cache, otherwhise the updates on those sites are not viewable.

The direct link to the Interview:  Here

Check USA Swimming and the official site Duel in the Pool.com.
The Duel will be televised on NBC.
Check your local times.

***
Updates will follow tonight. So check back
I added new Results and a new wallpaper to the fansection. More to come later.

Congrats Team USA

FINAL
1. United States USA 3:31.85 4
54.26 26.21 0.68 83 PEIRSOL Aaron 54.26
1:53.59 27.65 0.18 81 HANSEN Brendan 59.33
2:43.98 23.31 0.21 82 CROCKER Ian 50.39
3:31.85 22.64 0.16 75 LEZAK Jason 47.87

2. Russia RUS 3:35.08 3.23 3
54.75 26.95 0.81 84 VYATCHANIN Arkady 54.75
1:54.39 27.70 0.04 81 KOMORNIKOV Dmitry 59.64
2:46.55 24.11 0.30 75 MARCHENKO Igor 52.16
3:35.08 23.16 0.29 80 KAPRALOV Andrey 48.53

3. Japan JPN 3:35.40 3.55 5
54.85 26.77 0.55 84 MORITA Tomomi 54.85
1:54.04 27.78 0.19 82 KITAJIMA Kosuke 59.19
2:46.52 24.24 0.28 81 TAKAYASU Ryo 52.48
3:35.40 22.92 0.10 82 HOSOKAWA Daisuke 48.88

Complete Relay results here
Complete Championships results are on Omega Timing

***
* United States win men’s 4x100m medley relay
* Aquatic meet a success despite low attendance, $4 million deficit

“It’s been excellent,” said U.S. swimmer Aaron Peirsol, who set a world record in the 200-metre backstroke, one of eight world marks to fall. “The swimming speaks for itself. Records were dropping like flies.
“The Canadians are doing well in their own country. It’s just one of those cool meets. Everyone is happy. Nobody is disappointed.”


Bill Beacon
Canadian Press
Sunday, July 31, 2005

MONTREAL (CP) - There will be bills to pay and there were some empty seats, but few connected with the world aquatic championships call it anything but a resounding success.

The 15-day meeting of 1,784 swimmers, divers and water polo players ended Sunday in a stream of praise for the organization, the site and the competitions.

“I think Montreal and Canada can be proud of what they have accomplished at this event,” said Mustapha Larfaoui, president of FINA, the world governing body for aquatic sports.

“It’s been excellent,” said U.S. swimmer Aaron Peirsol, who set a world record in the 200-metre backstroke, one of eight world marks to fall. “The swimming speaks for itself. Records were dropping like flies.

“The Canadians are doing well in their own country. It’s just one of those cool meets. Everyone is happy. Nobody is disappointed.”

Organizers announced that 160,000 tickets were sold, falling short of the target of 200,000, and that they expect to run a $4 million deficit. But mayor Gerald Tremblay said it was worth it, and not only for the worldwide exposure it gave the city.

He said the deficit represents one-tenth of one per cent of the city’s annual budget which the city can pay from money it sets for special events.

Unlike the financial fiasco of the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, which won’t be paid off until 2006, “the taxpayers won’t have to pay additional taxes,” said Tremblay, who added that the city is now thinking of bidding to bring the Olympics back in 2016.

Larfaoui lauded the site - five venues close together on picturesque Ile Ste-Helene, one subway stop from downtown - the athletes, who set eight world records, 23 world championship records and 46 continental records.

He added that for the first time, there were more women than men competitors.

Of all the champions from Peirsol to star diver Alexandre Despatie of Laval, Que., Tremblay may have been the biggest winner of all.

It was Tremblay who stepped in to save the championships by promising to cover any deficits they may run after FINA cancelled them Jan. 19.

The event looked lost for good when Yvon DesRochers, head of the organizing committee, was found dead in his car from what police said was a suicide.

Tremblay, fearing for the city’s reputation for putting on international shows, flew to Europe to lobby FINA board members and the event was given back to Montreal on Feb. 10.

“It was with regret that we withdrew the championships from Montreal,” said Larfaoui. “We had faith in the organizers.”

It left only five months to prepare. Only about $500,000 of the $11 million budgeted from sponsorships had been raised and ticket sales were almost nil.

But once Tremblay took over and hired perhaps the city’s best promoter, Normand Legault of the Canadian Grand Prix Formula One race, and got the energetic Rene Guimond in as vice-president, sponsors started signing on, even if ticket sales remained slow.

“Lack of time became an ally rather than an enemy,” said Guimond. “When there’s no time, you have to make decisions.

“It’s been tough, but also fun and interesting and, in the end, very satisfying.”

In the media, the event was treated mostly as a news item about looming deficits and slow ticket sales until about a week before the opening, when attention began to be paid to the impending arrival of world-class athletes and competitions.

At the opening ceremony produced by the Cirque du Soleil, Tremblay got a standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 11,000, rare for a politician at a sports event.

Still, attendance was sparse until the second day of competition, when Despatie won his first of two gold medals in diving before a full house.

It started Canada on its best world championships ever - 10 medals overall, and suddenly, the city started paying attention.

The women’s water polo team won a bronze medal and turned a city on to a previously obscure sport so that even games Canada wasn’t in were packing the grandstands.

Only the 11,000-seat swimming venue wasn’t full for finals, although it drew decent crowds.

“We were hoping for around 200,000, but the actual number is not the important thing,” said Legault. “For us to manage to get 160,000 shows the response was extremely positive. I can’t be disappointed.”

The site had three permanent and two temporary pools, close enough together to hear the roar of crowds from one competition to another.

The swimming venue had seats built down to the pool deck, only five metres from the water. Pierre Lafontaine, CEO of Swimming Canada, was impressed with the crowds.

“What I heard from coaches around the world was that this wasn’t a Canadian crowd, it was a world crowd,” he said. “A standing ovation for (Australian) Liesel Jones - nowhere else in the world would you see that.”

Television ratings exceeded expectations.

Joe Recuppero, who produced the daily broadcasts, said viewership hit a high of about 390,000, well below Hockey Night In Canada numbers but considered good for amateur sport.

“That’s good, especially in summer,” said Recuppero. “There’s been excitement about it.

“Nothing translates like success - medals and great performances. Alex and the divers set it up for us. It was the momentum builder.”

The French language broadcasts on Radio-Canada did even better, with daily 4 p.m. live telecasts drawing a high of 574,000 - more than 15 per cent of the market-for Despatie’s first gold medal. Even late-night replays drew as many as 309,000.

What’s left after the temporary grandstands are pulled down this week are three superb outdoor pools.

There are plans to move the city’s annual diving grand prix to the new pool. Lafontaine has bigger plans for the main swimming pool. He has already met with park administrators to set up future events.

“We’re going to start running a Quebec Cup here and having our age group national championships here,” said Lafontaine. “We’re going to have camps here.

“I told the coaches in the area they should be training here from May 15 to October 15. If they don’t, they’ll be missing the boat.”

Swimmer Erin Gammel of Calgary said training outdoors is invaluable when preparing for Olympics or other major events.

“It will give us more opportunity to race with the sun shining in our eyes, or for people racing outside who have trouble with wind,” she said.

For Lafontaine, the event’s success will leave a legacy of its own.

“It will help Sports Canada,” she said. “They’re going to say that having international events in this country is good and we’re going to support them. I think everybody’s been impressed.”

© The Canadian Press 2005
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1. GRIGORIADIS Aristeidis 85 GRE 0.71 24.95 4
...
4. BAL Randall 80 USA 0.67 25.23 0.28
5. PEIRSOL Aaron 83 USA 0.67 25.30 0.35

Aaron finished three places better then he did in 2003 in barcelona. This 50m results is a good one for him.

***
There are a lot of pictures and screencaps left to be updated. I will do that in the following days or a bit later this week. So check back to see some new pictures.
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Sorry for the site donwtime last night. There was some kind of attack on the server.

So the news are a bit delayed: 
* Aaron qualified 5th for the 50m back final tonight with 25.55
* the 4x100m Medley relay

Pictures will be updated later.
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