http://www.armscontrolwonk.com/1997/india-nsg-exemption-in-danger mentions the author to create the deal with conditions. There are no logical arguments. Some NGOs will be paid to raise this issue. Thankfully we see a russia's georgia war that will allow the NSG to pass india specific deal easily.
NEW DELHI: The battle for India's nuclear exemption is likely to focus on access to enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) technology and equipment and to avoid a "testing" condition included in the final waiver document by the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) when it meets on August 21-22 at Vienna.
As the nuclear deal enters its final lap at the NSG, the opposition to India's case is also getting stronger. In fact, the meeting next week is expected to generate a lot of heat and noise against India and the deal, and it's not only the non-proliferation brigade that will oppose giving India a full nuclear waiver.
There has been an informal agreement that the India decision may have to be taken at another plenary tentatively scheduled for early September. But competing for attention with the nuclear deal is the Russia-Georgia crisis. US undersecretary William Burns, scheduled to arrive here for NSG talks on Monday, cancelled his visit at the last moment. As the US' former envoy to Russia, he is involved in resolving the crisis there.
Of all the "conditions" that NSG countries may try to impose, India will "strongly" oppose any bar on ENR technology and equipment. This, unfortunately, is one issue where almost all NSG member countries are on the same page. While the known objectionists — Austria, Ireland, Sweden, Netherlands and New Zealand — are expected to block India's demand for access to ENR, even Russia, an old friend and a potentially large nuclear supplier to India, has reportedly expressed reservations to transferring ENR technology to India.
Indian officials, particularly the DAE, has made it clear to their US counterparts that any language formulation that explicitly bars India from accessing such technology would be unacceptable. Even if there is no consensus on this at present, India would like the window to be kept open in one of several ways — either letting sovereign nations make sovereign choices on the matter or, keeping the issue open for a later decision. IAEA too has kept the window open for a future ENR pact, as was clarified in the cover note circulated to its members along with the draft agreement, saying India would have to negotiate another agreement for an enrichment plant.
The Indian insistence on ENR technology predates the NSG battle and was a big deal during the 123 negotiations with the US. The US, which has the most stringent laws on transferring ENR technology, has denied it to every country in the world, except Australia, and that too because, in this field, Australia is more evolved than the US. India possesses enrichment and reprocessing technology, and it has been completely indigenously developed, the brainchild of Dr Homi Sethna. But despite having both enrichment and reprocessing plants, India has not been able to scale up the technology to commercial levels.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Michael Phelps , the golden swimmer , his father, sisters ,mother and coach
Swimming's Wonder Boy
Gifted Phelps Is Primed to Win Multiple Medals in Athens
By Michael E. RuaneWashington Post Staff WriterSunday, April 18, 2004; Page E01
First in an occasional series
Shortly after Michael Phelps turned 11, the coach of the North Baltimore Aquatic Club summoned his parents, Debbie and Fred, to a meeting in the baby-sitting room of the pool where their son learned to swim.
The coach, Bob Bowman, told them that Michael was an extraordinarily gifted swimmer who had a fabulous future ahead of him.
Start of rightcontent.inc
"This is my prediction," Bowman explained: By 2000, Michael should be in the audience at the U.S. Olympic trials, just getting the feel of big-time national competition.
"In 2004, he'll probably make his first Olympics," the coach said. "Two thousand eight will probably be a better Olympics for him, [and] 2012 . . . will be his best Olympics ever."
Debbie Phelps, who tells the story, was stunned. "Bob," she replied. "He's 11 years old." How could the coach foretell the boy's life so far into the future?
As it turned out, Bowman was wrong.
Michael Phelps wasn't in the stands at the 2000 tryouts. He was in the water, where, at 15, he made the team, and went on to swim at the Olympics in Sydney. There, he finished fifth in the 200-meter butterfly as the youngest U.S. Olympian since 1932.
This year Phelps is aiming for the Summer Games in Athens, not as a rookie Olympian, but as the most dominant swimmer in the world.
Indeed, just 10 months out of Towson High School, and seven years removed from Bowman's forecast, Michael Phelps could make history this August in Athens. All he has to do is win seven, or more, gold medals, equaling or beating the achievement of the legendary Mark Spitz at the Munich Olympics in 1972, and making him one of the greatest Olympians ever.
"I don't want to be the second Mark Spitz," says Phelps, who will turn 19 on June 30. "I want to be the first Michael Phelps."
Spitz wishes him well: "I hope he does it. It's going to be great for the Olympics. . . . It's going to be great for America. It's going to be great for him."
Phelps, a resident of Rodgers Forge, near Towson in Baltimore County, already has gained world-class attention.
He has a case full of crystal trophies and medallions in the elegant Tudor townhouse he shares with his mother. Last week he beat out basketball stars LeBron James and Diana Taurasi to win the prestigious James E. Sullivan Award, given annually by the Amateur Athletic Union.
Phelps has the added incentive of $1 million offered by Speedo, the swimwear company whose products he endorses, if he matches Spitz's record.
Skilled at several strokes, he is the world record holder in the 200-meter butterfly, the two individual medley events -- which combine all four strokes -- and is regularly referred to by coaches, colleagues and observers as the best all-around swimmer in the world. Last summer he became the first person to break five world records in one meet.
He has the perfect swimmer's physique: He stands 6 feet 4, weighs 199 pounds and has broad shoulders, a long torso and a 6-7 wingspan.
He has the training discipline for which his sport is famous, swimming endlessly up and back in the pool at Baltimore's Meadowbrook Aquatic and Fitness Center, seven days a week, almost 365 days a year.
He has two more advantages.
At a young age he fell by good fortune under the tutelage of Bowman, a former college music major and student of child psychology, who at 39 has become one of the best coaches in the country.
And Phelps grew up in a talented, driven, if somewhat fractured, swimming family.
His parents, who are now divorced, reared him and his two sisters by the side of the swimming pool, and all three children became crack competitive swimmers. Hilary Phelps, the eldest sibling, excelled at the butterfly but gradually lost interest in participating in the sport. Whitney Phelps, the next youngest, seemed certain to make the U.S. Olympic team as a 15-year-old in 1996 only to fail at the tryouts -- a blow so severe that she says she no longer swims, not even for pleasure.
Michael Phelps is the youngest, and most promising.
He has lost just two races in the last eight months, in both cases because of illness. He lost just twice last year, and keeps a picture of a swimmer who beat him last July near the computer in his room for motivation. "Right when I get out of bed, I can see it every morning," he says.
His coach says Phelps is the most competitive person he has ever met.
Phelps says, "I hate to lose."
Numbers Game Bowman is whistling like the driver of a mule team, as he strides rapidly along the pool beside his star swimmer.
"Yeah! Yeah!" he yells at Phelps, who is churning, exhausted, through the last lap of a long butterfly drill.
"Attaboy!" he hollers, stalking the athlete with a stopwatch. "Attaboy!"
It is 5:30 p.m. on a chilly February evening, and the sun is setting behind the bare trees outside Baltimore's Meadowbrook Aquatic and Fitness Center.
Bowman is putting Phelps and other elite swimmers through the second training session of the day, which for some began around 6 a.m. It has been mostly quiet, with the metal pace clocks clicking off the times in big digital numbers, and the coach watching from the plastic chair where others are forbidden to sit.
But the session is almost over, and Bowman is now out of his chair and riding Phelps relentlessly, staying even with him, whistling, yelling, until Phelps touches the pool wall, and finishes the drill, gasping, "way too fast. I went out way too fast."
"That's all right," Bowman calls, briskly walking away. "You gotta go for it."
Training for a swimmer is hard, monotonous labor. It leaves its acolytes in excellent physical condition, pallid from the mostly indoor work, and often with weird circles around the eyes from the pressure of their swimming goggles.
There are numerous diabolical training variations that can be thrown in by the coach, such as swimming laps with sneakers on, as Bowman had commanded earlier that day. But chiefly it is like plowing the same furrow in a watery pasture.
In addition to possessing physical skill and endurance, Phelps is a keen swimming mathematician. In a sport that is obsessed with figures, and times, and where training sets are written on blackboards like dense equations, Phelps is a human calculator. His mind is like a clock, his mother says. "That's all the sport is," Phelps says. "A bunch of numbers."
Among the figures stored in his brain for quick recall are his world record times of 4 minutes 9.09 seconds in the 400-meter individual medley; 1:55.94 in the 200-meter IM; and 1:53.93 in the 200-meter butterfly.
Phelps loves it. He is eager in the pool. He is happy swimming. It is his life, he says. Canadian author and swimming guru Cecil Colwin likens him to the late Russian ballet dancer, Rudolf Nureyev. "He can intellectualize what he's doing," Colwin says.
Bowman sees him more as a musical virtuoso. "Michael swims like he would play an instrument," says Bowman. "If he was a concert pianist he would practice eight hours a day," only a little more than Phelps practices swimming several days a week.
Phelps credits Bowman with much of his success. "The physical part is all Bob," Phelps says. "I just swim. It's something that he's taught me to do. . . . If he says something; if he says 'Your left hand is coming higher than your right,' then I try to fix it, then just keep on swimming."
Phelps would be a freshman in college, had he not deferred his education for the Olympics. He is a big fan of the late comedian Chris Farley. He loves rap music, and during meets loses himself under his headphones to the rumble of 50 Cent or Eminem. He has the Olympic rings tattooed on his right hip.
He drives a sand-colored Cadillac Escalade, purchased after he turned pro and started earning endorsement money three years ago. Two Christmases ago, he bought his mother, a teacher and Baltimore County school administrator, a silver Mercedes-Benz ML320. He put the keys in her Christmas stocking.
In street clothes, baggy corduroys, layered T-shirts and red baseball cap, he is just a big, broad-shouldered kid. He can still walk around a mall, or a hotel, relatively unnoticed. Though he has appeared on network TV, he recently slipped into a meet at Baltimore's Loyola College, gulped down pizza and melted easily into the poolside throng.
So far, he says, "I can just go on, be on my way, and not have to worry about getting mobbed and being jumped on."
That may be, Bowman laughs.
"Not for long."
All in the Family "Watch this," Debbie Phelps said, sitting by herself in the bleachers of Auburn University's James E. Martin Aquatics Center on a rainy Saturday in January. "He always does this."
By the pool below, her son was poised on the Lane 5 starting block, crouched in a classic racing stance: left foot forward, toes gripping the platform edge, right foot back, heel raised.
Then, in the moment of silence before the start, he began swinging his huge arms. He first locked them behind his back as if handcuffed, then swung them twice across his chest, until they slapped against his shoulders.
Twice the quiet was broken by the whack of his hands on his shoulders, part of his ritual, prerace stretching. (The few times he hasn't done it, he says, he hasn't raced well.) When the starting tone sounded, Phelps launched himself at the water, and his mother was soon on her feet yelling: "Come on Michael! Come on honey!"
Michael Phelps is, in fascinating ways, the product of his family.
His sisters have provided inspiration and example. His father, though estranged from Phelps, was an intense and talented athlete in his youth who also dreamed of greatness.
And his mother has been parent, advocate and fan while spending large portions of her adult life beside swimming pools. "You take every moment of your life and you make use of it," she says of the sport.
An amiable, engaging woman who for years taught middle school in the Baltimore County school system and was twice a Maryland teacher of the year, she was fashionably dressed as she watched the Auburn meet. At 53, she had just gotten braces on her teeth last fall. "It was time to do something for me," she says.
Her son credits her for much of his success. And his success has changed her life.
The granddaughter of a coal miner, Debbie Phelps was born in Westernport, Md., a flood-plagued, Allegany County railroad town situated at a bend in the North Branch of the Potomac River.
The second oldest of four children, she was a tomboy as a kid. She married her high school sweetheart, Fred Phelps, a strapping football player from an even smaller mill town up river. Both went off to college in West Virginia, then moved east to take jobs, she as a home economics teacher, he as a state policeman.
But over time, their marriage foundered. She was left with the kids, work and swimming. Amid the domestic turbulence, she says she was determined to provide stability for the children.
All three swam from an early age, and while Hilary, 26, was the first to compete successfully, and is now one of Michael's most ardent fans, it was Whitney, 24, who seemed destined for greatness.
Tall, broad-shouldered and strong, she swam the butterfly, and began to travel, win medals and make headlines.
But she developed serious back problems, which she kept to herself even as they worsened. Her parents had separated, she found solace in the water, and she was determined to make the 1996 Olympics.
At the trials in Indianapolis that year, in front of her anxious family, she failed to make the team.
"To this day," her mother says, "we'll talk, and she'll say, 'How good could I have been?' "
Whitney Phelps now lives with her father, who has remarried, in Linthicum, Md., 20 miles from where her mother and brother live. In a recent interview, she said she loves and admires her brother. "He has this fire burning inside of him that keeps him going," she said.
But she doesn't intrude. "I kind of stand on the outside and look in," she said. She will attend a meet to watch him swim, but then "I like to go."
"I'm still angry about everything," she said. "It's still a touchy subject."
She no longer swims, even for pleasure. "I still want to be able to compete," she said. "But I can't. So I don't want to torture myself just going for a Sunday swim. I'm probably never going to swim, ever again."
Fred Phelps said his daughter's fate was a tragedy. He, too, suffered athletic disappointment as a young athlete, but not in the sport of swimming.
His love was football.
Fred Phelps, 53, who retired from the Maryland State police on Jan. 30 after 28 years on the force, was raised in tiny Luke, Md. His father died when he was 8, and his mother worked as a secretary. He grew up swimming in the nearby Savage River. "Organized swimming?" he says. "Nah, we never had it."
A robust figure at 6-2 and 230 pounds, he said he grew up tough and hard, hunting and fishing and playing sports. As a young man he worked on the labor gang at the paper mill, and, summers, as a bouncer in Atlantic City.
"My God, by the time I was 18 I was in more knockdown, dragouts," he said. "You grow up in a small community, buddy, you either take care of business or you get the [expletive] knocked out of you."
He played football at Fairmont State College in West Virginia, mostly on defense, and dreamed of playing in the NFL.
"I loved playing ball," he said. "I loved hitting. There was something about laying a shoulder on somebody and hearing that gasp of air leave their body." He, too, hated losing.
After college, he tried out for the Redskins but failed to make the team, which took time to get over.
Though he and his son see little of each other, and Michael rarely mentions him publicly, Fred Phelps said he understands.
"He's shooting for the stars," Fred Phelps said. "One of the last things I ever want to do is to step in front of his aim. Never want to do that."
"Ride that rocket while it's running, baby," he said.
"Take it. Take the ride."
To Be the Best Four weeks after the January meet at Auburn, a group of youngsters carrying American flags led Michael Phelps and seven other swimmers toward the starting blocks of an old indoor YMCA pool in Orlando.
Rock music pounded through the PA system, and the pool deck and the stands were filled with spectators. It was the final of the 200-meter backstroke at the Spring Nationals, the biggest national swimming meet before this year's Olympic trials in July.
As he walked in the prerace ceremony, Phelps had on his game face: an unsmiling look of defiant, outta-my-way determination.
His goggles were propped up on his forehead, just below his white swim cap. There was a swagger in his step, and intimidation.
Earlier in the meet, he had told reporters that he was "tapered and shaved," meaning that he had tapered, or sharpened, his training, and had shaved much of his body hair along with a microscopic layer of skin. He was, physically and psychologically, ready to race.
Phelps had beaten out 54 swimmers in heats earlier in the day, and earned the coveted Lane 4 in the middle of the pool for the final.
The event was not one of his best, but he and Bowman had been working on it to broaden his chances for gold in Athens.
The world record was 1:55.15. But Phelps had previously done it in 1:56.10, and the crowd knew he might do almost anything.
At the starting tone, Phelps took the lead and finished the first 50 meters in 27.93 seconds, very close to the record split of 27.75 seconds.
As he pulled further into the lead, the crowd grew more excited, realizing what might be coming. Standing at poolside Bowman began whistling ferociously with his eyes closed, and yelling, "Come on, Michael! Go!"
Paul Yetter, a North Baltimore coach at one of the club's satellite pools, started timing Phelps's stroke cycles with a stopwatch and calling out the numbers.
Phelps finished the first 100 meters in a fast 57.09 seconds, and then streaked to the 150-meter mark at 1:26.54. "Come on!" Yetter yelled, "Come on!"
When Phelps finished in 1:55.30 -- .15 second off the record -- there was a groan from the crowd. "Oh, man!" Yetter yelled. So close. "Whoo!"
But as Bowman stepped out of the throng, and headed to greet his swimmer, he was grinning. He had tried to foretell this young man's future before, and was short of the mark. Here was Phelps, dashing near a world record in an event that was not his specialty. Who knew how far he might go?
"That," Bowman chuckled, "was pretty good."
Gifted Phelps Is Primed to Win Multiple Medals in Athens
By Michael E. RuaneWashington Post Staff WriterSunday, April 18, 2004; Page E01
First in an occasional series
Shortly after Michael Phelps turned 11, the coach of the North Baltimore Aquatic Club summoned his parents, Debbie and Fred, to a meeting in the baby-sitting room of the pool where their son learned to swim.
The coach, Bob Bowman, told them that Michael was an extraordinarily gifted swimmer who had a fabulous future ahead of him.
Start of rightcontent.inc
"This is my prediction," Bowman explained: By 2000, Michael should be in the audience at the U.S. Olympic trials, just getting the feel of big-time national competition.
"In 2004, he'll probably make his first Olympics," the coach said. "Two thousand eight will probably be a better Olympics for him, [and] 2012 . . . will be his best Olympics ever."
Debbie Phelps, who tells the story, was stunned. "Bob," she replied. "He's 11 years old." How could the coach foretell the boy's life so far into the future?
As it turned out, Bowman was wrong.
Michael Phelps wasn't in the stands at the 2000 tryouts. He was in the water, where, at 15, he made the team, and went on to swim at the Olympics in Sydney. There, he finished fifth in the 200-meter butterfly as the youngest U.S. Olympian since 1932.
This year Phelps is aiming for the Summer Games in Athens, not as a rookie Olympian, but as the most dominant swimmer in the world.
Indeed, just 10 months out of Towson High School, and seven years removed from Bowman's forecast, Michael Phelps could make history this August in Athens. All he has to do is win seven, or more, gold medals, equaling or beating the achievement of the legendary Mark Spitz at the Munich Olympics in 1972, and making him one of the greatest Olympians ever.
"I don't want to be the second Mark Spitz," says Phelps, who will turn 19 on June 30. "I want to be the first Michael Phelps."
Spitz wishes him well: "I hope he does it. It's going to be great for the Olympics. . . . It's going to be great for America. It's going to be great for him."
Phelps, a resident of Rodgers Forge, near Towson in Baltimore County, already has gained world-class attention.
He has a case full of crystal trophies and medallions in the elegant Tudor townhouse he shares with his mother. Last week he beat out basketball stars LeBron James and Diana Taurasi to win the prestigious James E. Sullivan Award, given annually by the Amateur Athletic Union.
Phelps has the added incentive of $1 million offered by Speedo, the swimwear company whose products he endorses, if he matches Spitz's record.
Skilled at several strokes, he is the world record holder in the 200-meter butterfly, the two individual medley events -- which combine all four strokes -- and is regularly referred to by coaches, colleagues and observers as the best all-around swimmer in the world. Last summer he became the first person to break five world records in one meet.
He has the perfect swimmer's physique: He stands 6 feet 4, weighs 199 pounds and has broad shoulders, a long torso and a 6-7 wingspan.
He has the training discipline for which his sport is famous, swimming endlessly up and back in the pool at Baltimore's Meadowbrook Aquatic and Fitness Center, seven days a week, almost 365 days a year.
He has two more advantages.
At a young age he fell by good fortune under the tutelage of Bowman, a former college music major and student of child psychology, who at 39 has become one of the best coaches in the country.
And Phelps grew up in a talented, driven, if somewhat fractured, swimming family.
His parents, who are now divorced, reared him and his two sisters by the side of the swimming pool, and all three children became crack competitive swimmers. Hilary Phelps, the eldest sibling, excelled at the butterfly but gradually lost interest in participating in the sport. Whitney Phelps, the next youngest, seemed certain to make the U.S. Olympic team as a 15-year-old in 1996 only to fail at the tryouts -- a blow so severe that she says she no longer swims, not even for pleasure.
Michael Phelps is the youngest, and most promising.
He has lost just two races in the last eight months, in both cases because of illness. He lost just twice last year, and keeps a picture of a swimmer who beat him last July near the computer in his room for motivation. "Right when I get out of bed, I can see it every morning," he says.
His coach says Phelps is the most competitive person he has ever met.
Phelps says, "I hate to lose."
Numbers Game Bowman is whistling like the driver of a mule team, as he strides rapidly along the pool beside his star swimmer.
"Yeah! Yeah!" he yells at Phelps, who is churning, exhausted, through the last lap of a long butterfly drill.
"Attaboy!" he hollers, stalking the athlete with a stopwatch. "Attaboy!"
It is 5:30 p.m. on a chilly February evening, and the sun is setting behind the bare trees outside Baltimore's Meadowbrook Aquatic and Fitness Center.
Bowman is putting Phelps and other elite swimmers through the second training session of the day, which for some began around 6 a.m. It has been mostly quiet, with the metal pace clocks clicking off the times in big digital numbers, and the coach watching from the plastic chair where others are forbidden to sit.
But the session is almost over, and Bowman is now out of his chair and riding Phelps relentlessly, staying even with him, whistling, yelling, until Phelps touches the pool wall, and finishes the drill, gasping, "way too fast. I went out way too fast."
"That's all right," Bowman calls, briskly walking away. "You gotta go for it."
Training for a swimmer is hard, monotonous labor. It leaves its acolytes in excellent physical condition, pallid from the mostly indoor work, and often with weird circles around the eyes from the pressure of their swimming goggles.
There are numerous diabolical training variations that can be thrown in by the coach, such as swimming laps with sneakers on, as Bowman had commanded earlier that day. But chiefly it is like plowing the same furrow in a watery pasture.
In addition to possessing physical skill and endurance, Phelps is a keen swimming mathematician. In a sport that is obsessed with figures, and times, and where training sets are written on blackboards like dense equations, Phelps is a human calculator. His mind is like a clock, his mother says. "That's all the sport is," Phelps says. "A bunch of numbers."
Among the figures stored in his brain for quick recall are his world record times of 4 minutes 9.09 seconds in the 400-meter individual medley; 1:55.94 in the 200-meter IM; and 1:53.93 in the 200-meter butterfly.
Phelps loves it. He is eager in the pool. He is happy swimming. It is his life, he says. Canadian author and swimming guru Cecil Colwin likens him to the late Russian ballet dancer, Rudolf Nureyev. "He can intellectualize what he's doing," Colwin says.
Bowman sees him more as a musical virtuoso. "Michael swims like he would play an instrument," says Bowman. "If he was a concert pianist he would practice eight hours a day," only a little more than Phelps practices swimming several days a week.
Phelps credits Bowman with much of his success. "The physical part is all Bob," Phelps says. "I just swim. It's something that he's taught me to do. . . . If he says something; if he says 'Your left hand is coming higher than your right,' then I try to fix it, then just keep on swimming."
Phelps would be a freshman in college, had he not deferred his education for the Olympics. He is a big fan of the late comedian Chris Farley. He loves rap music, and during meets loses himself under his headphones to the rumble of 50 Cent or Eminem. He has the Olympic rings tattooed on his right hip.
He drives a sand-colored Cadillac Escalade, purchased after he turned pro and started earning endorsement money three years ago. Two Christmases ago, he bought his mother, a teacher and Baltimore County school administrator, a silver Mercedes-Benz ML320. He put the keys in her Christmas stocking.
In street clothes, baggy corduroys, layered T-shirts and red baseball cap, he is just a big, broad-shouldered kid. He can still walk around a mall, or a hotel, relatively unnoticed. Though he has appeared on network TV, he recently slipped into a meet at Baltimore's Loyola College, gulped down pizza and melted easily into the poolside throng.
So far, he says, "I can just go on, be on my way, and not have to worry about getting mobbed and being jumped on."
That may be, Bowman laughs.
"Not for long."
All in the Family "Watch this," Debbie Phelps said, sitting by herself in the bleachers of Auburn University's James E. Martin Aquatics Center on a rainy Saturday in January. "He always does this."
By the pool below, her son was poised on the Lane 5 starting block, crouched in a classic racing stance: left foot forward, toes gripping the platform edge, right foot back, heel raised.
Then, in the moment of silence before the start, he began swinging his huge arms. He first locked them behind his back as if handcuffed, then swung them twice across his chest, until they slapped against his shoulders.
Twice the quiet was broken by the whack of his hands on his shoulders, part of his ritual, prerace stretching. (The few times he hasn't done it, he says, he hasn't raced well.) When the starting tone sounded, Phelps launched himself at the water, and his mother was soon on her feet yelling: "Come on Michael! Come on honey!"
Michael Phelps is, in fascinating ways, the product of his family.
His sisters have provided inspiration and example. His father, though estranged from Phelps, was an intense and talented athlete in his youth who also dreamed of greatness.
And his mother has been parent, advocate and fan while spending large portions of her adult life beside swimming pools. "You take every moment of your life and you make use of it," she says of the sport.
An amiable, engaging woman who for years taught middle school in the Baltimore County school system and was twice a Maryland teacher of the year, she was fashionably dressed as she watched the Auburn meet. At 53, she had just gotten braces on her teeth last fall. "It was time to do something for me," she says.
Her son credits her for much of his success. And his success has changed her life.
The granddaughter of a coal miner, Debbie Phelps was born in Westernport, Md., a flood-plagued, Allegany County railroad town situated at a bend in the North Branch of the Potomac River.
The second oldest of four children, she was a tomboy as a kid. She married her high school sweetheart, Fred Phelps, a strapping football player from an even smaller mill town up river. Both went off to college in West Virginia, then moved east to take jobs, she as a home economics teacher, he as a state policeman.
But over time, their marriage foundered. She was left with the kids, work and swimming. Amid the domestic turbulence, she says she was determined to provide stability for the children.
All three swam from an early age, and while Hilary, 26, was the first to compete successfully, and is now one of Michael's most ardent fans, it was Whitney, 24, who seemed destined for greatness.
Tall, broad-shouldered and strong, she swam the butterfly, and began to travel, win medals and make headlines.
But she developed serious back problems, which she kept to herself even as they worsened. Her parents had separated, she found solace in the water, and she was determined to make the 1996 Olympics.
At the trials in Indianapolis that year, in front of her anxious family, she failed to make the team.
"To this day," her mother says, "we'll talk, and she'll say, 'How good could I have been?' "
Whitney Phelps now lives with her father, who has remarried, in Linthicum, Md., 20 miles from where her mother and brother live. In a recent interview, she said she loves and admires her brother. "He has this fire burning inside of him that keeps him going," she said.
But she doesn't intrude. "I kind of stand on the outside and look in," she said. She will attend a meet to watch him swim, but then "I like to go."
"I'm still angry about everything," she said. "It's still a touchy subject."
She no longer swims, even for pleasure. "I still want to be able to compete," she said. "But I can't. So I don't want to torture myself just going for a Sunday swim. I'm probably never going to swim, ever again."
Fred Phelps said his daughter's fate was a tragedy. He, too, suffered athletic disappointment as a young athlete, but not in the sport of swimming.
His love was football.
Fred Phelps, 53, who retired from the Maryland State police on Jan. 30 after 28 years on the force, was raised in tiny Luke, Md. His father died when he was 8, and his mother worked as a secretary. He grew up swimming in the nearby Savage River. "Organized swimming?" he says. "Nah, we never had it."
A robust figure at 6-2 and 230 pounds, he said he grew up tough and hard, hunting and fishing and playing sports. As a young man he worked on the labor gang at the paper mill, and, summers, as a bouncer in Atlantic City.
"My God, by the time I was 18 I was in more knockdown, dragouts," he said. "You grow up in a small community, buddy, you either take care of business or you get the [expletive] knocked out of you."
He played football at Fairmont State College in West Virginia, mostly on defense, and dreamed of playing in the NFL.
"I loved playing ball," he said. "I loved hitting. There was something about laying a shoulder on somebody and hearing that gasp of air leave their body." He, too, hated losing.
After college, he tried out for the Redskins but failed to make the team, which took time to get over.
Though he and his son see little of each other, and Michael rarely mentions him publicly, Fred Phelps said he understands.
"He's shooting for the stars," Fred Phelps said. "One of the last things I ever want to do is to step in front of his aim. Never want to do that."
"Ride that rocket while it's running, baby," he said.
"Take it. Take the ride."
To Be the Best Four weeks after the January meet at Auburn, a group of youngsters carrying American flags led Michael Phelps and seven other swimmers toward the starting blocks of an old indoor YMCA pool in Orlando.
Rock music pounded through the PA system, and the pool deck and the stands were filled with spectators. It was the final of the 200-meter backstroke at the Spring Nationals, the biggest national swimming meet before this year's Olympic trials in July.
As he walked in the prerace ceremony, Phelps had on his game face: an unsmiling look of defiant, outta-my-way determination.
His goggles were propped up on his forehead, just below his white swim cap. There was a swagger in his step, and intimidation.
Earlier in the meet, he had told reporters that he was "tapered and shaved," meaning that he had tapered, or sharpened, his training, and had shaved much of his body hair along with a microscopic layer of skin. He was, physically and psychologically, ready to race.
Phelps had beaten out 54 swimmers in heats earlier in the day, and earned the coveted Lane 4 in the middle of the pool for the final.
The event was not one of his best, but he and Bowman had been working on it to broaden his chances for gold in Athens.
The world record was 1:55.15. But Phelps had previously done it in 1:56.10, and the crowd knew he might do almost anything.
At the starting tone, Phelps took the lead and finished the first 50 meters in 27.93 seconds, very close to the record split of 27.75 seconds.
As he pulled further into the lead, the crowd grew more excited, realizing what might be coming. Standing at poolside Bowman began whistling ferociously with his eyes closed, and yelling, "Come on, Michael! Go!"
Paul Yetter, a North Baltimore coach at one of the club's satellite pools, started timing Phelps's stroke cycles with a stopwatch and calling out the numbers.
Phelps finished the first 100 meters in a fast 57.09 seconds, and then streaked to the 150-meter mark at 1:26.54. "Come on!" Yetter yelled, "Come on!"
When Phelps finished in 1:55.30 -- .15 second off the record -- there was a groan from the crowd. "Oh, man!" Yetter yelled. So close. "Whoo!"
But as Bowman stepped out of the throng, and headed to greet his swimmer, he was grinning. He had tried to foretell this young man's future before, and was short of the mark. Here was Phelps, dashing near a world record in an event that was not his specialty. Who knew how far he might go?
"That," Bowman chuckled, "was pretty good."
Smart Luxury Takes on the Vanguards of Prestige
A billboard near this Hudson Valley enclave urges people to "drive prestige." It is an unabashed pitch to egos in pursuit of sales of expensive European and Japanese automobiles -- BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Lexus.
But it is a sign of a time past, or certainly of an era that is passing, even in this community of elegant homes and rolling lawns.
Times are tough. Prestige no longer gets an automatic nod. Prestige without value, or encumbered by suspect worth, nowadays gets the boot.
Into that environment comes Hyundai Motor America with its most expensive automobile to date, the rear-wheel-drive 2009 Hyundai Genesis sedan. It's aimed at what the car industry calls the "near-luxury segment" -- that part of the market priced from about $30,000 to $50,000.
Conventional wisdom suggests that Hyundai is making a mistake. It is a Korean-owned company that made its mark in America, a poorly formed scratch that eventually became a strong product signature, selling economy automobiles and wagons. What is Hyundai doing trying to sell cars priced from $33,000 to $42,000?
The short answer is that Hyundai, like its competitors, is going for the gold. If successful, Hyundai could reshape popular notions of prestige. In the process, it could elevate the meaning of "value."
The Genesis, for example, does not have the traditional panache of rivals such as the BMW 528i, Cadillac CTS, Infiniti M35, Lexus ES 350 or GS 350, or the Mercedes-Benz E 350. But it runs and handles as well as any of those automobiles -- and better than a few of them. The Genesis also offers every technical advantage provided by its rivals and serves up more standard safety features -- eight air bags, electronically enabled head restraints in the front seats, and electronic stability and traction control -- than those usually offered by competitors.
Its styling is attractive inside and out. And the car is loaded with amenities, including thoughtful touches such as a power rear sunshade.
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What the Genesis lacks is an astronomically high price. Depending on the model chosen -- the eight-cylinder Genesis 4.6 or the six-cylinder Genesis 3.8 -- and whether that model comes with the "premium," "premium plus," or the "technology" package, the Genesis can cost from $200 to $22,000 less than competitive European and Asian automobiles.
In that regard, the Genesis is a celebration of luxury without hyperbole, luxury with a deal, including one of the best automobile warranties in the business -- five years/60,000 miles bumper-to-bumper protection and a 10-year/100,000 mile limited warranty on engine and transmission.
The pity is that early marketing chatter indicates that Hyundai executives do not understand the nature of the winner their company has produced. They are like young boys in a schoolyard bragging about who is best, who is toughest, talking about "targeting premium consumers and a broader audience to elevate the Hyundai brand."
They would be better served -- and they would better serve the Genesis -- to emulate the smart kid buried in a book in study hall while her classmates are in the schoolyard making noise. She might never become the most popular student. But she is likely to graduate with honors and go on to other educational and career achievements that will make a difference in the world and put money in the bank.
Put another way, instead of following traditional automobile marketing and shouting, "I'm better than you!," Hyundai executives should emphasize that the Genesis represents luxury with a difference. It wraps luxury -- indisputable, meaningful luxury -- with common sense
But it is a sign of a time past, or certainly of an era that is passing, even in this community of elegant homes and rolling lawns.
Times are tough. Prestige no longer gets an automatic nod. Prestige without value, or encumbered by suspect worth, nowadays gets the boot.
Into that environment comes Hyundai Motor America with its most expensive automobile to date, the rear-wheel-drive 2009 Hyundai Genesis sedan. It's aimed at what the car industry calls the "near-luxury segment" -- that part of the market priced from about $30,000 to $50,000.
Conventional wisdom suggests that Hyundai is making a mistake. It is a Korean-owned company that made its mark in America, a poorly formed scratch that eventually became a strong product signature, selling economy automobiles and wagons. What is Hyundai doing trying to sell cars priced from $33,000 to $42,000?
The short answer is that Hyundai, like its competitors, is going for the gold. If successful, Hyundai could reshape popular notions of prestige. In the process, it could elevate the meaning of "value."
The Genesis, for example, does not have the traditional panache of rivals such as the BMW 528i, Cadillac CTS, Infiniti M35, Lexus ES 350 or GS 350, or the Mercedes-Benz E 350. But it runs and handles as well as any of those automobiles -- and better than a few of them. The Genesis also offers every technical advantage provided by its rivals and serves up more standard safety features -- eight air bags, electronically enabled head restraints in the front seats, and electronic stability and traction control -- than those usually offered by competitors.
Its styling is attractive inside and out. And the car is loaded with amenities, including thoughtful touches such as a power rear sunshade.
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What the Genesis lacks is an astronomically high price. Depending on the model chosen -- the eight-cylinder Genesis 4.6 or the six-cylinder Genesis 3.8 -- and whether that model comes with the "premium," "premium plus," or the "technology" package, the Genesis can cost from $200 to $22,000 less than competitive European and Asian automobiles.
In that regard, the Genesis is a celebration of luxury without hyperbole, luxury with a deal, including one of the best automobile warranties in the business -- five years/60,000 miles bumper-to-bumper protection and a 10-year/100,000 mile limited warranty on engine and transmission.
The pity is that early marketing chatter indicates that Hyundai executives do not understand the nature of the winner their company has produced. They are like young boys in a schoolyard bragging about who is best, who is toughest, talking about "targeting premium consumers and a broader audience to elevate the Hyundai brand."
They would be better served -- and they would better serve the Genesis -- to emulate the smart kid buried in a book in study hall while her classmates are in the schoolyard making noise. She might never become the most popular student. But she is likely to graduate with honors and go on to other educational and career achievements that will make a difference in the world and put money in the bank.
Put another way, instead of following traditional automobile marketing and shouting, "I'm better than you!," Hyundai executives should emphasize that the Genesis represents luxury with a difference. It wraps luxury -- indisputable, meaningful luxury -- with common sense
SINGH Surendra in Mens 10000m
SINGH Surendra comes in bottom in the start list, his time of 28:02.9 is 29th among the 39 s away contenders. He is about 1 minute and some seconds away from the Ethopians who clock their best in
26:26.0
26:50.5
26:51.2
BEKELE Kenenisa has clocked 27.05 last olympics to win the gold. The objective for Surendra would be to clock his best or even cross 28.0 and complete the race. Bravo Surendra , we will look for your glory.
26:26.0
26:50.5
26:51.2
BEKELE Kenenisa has clocked 27.05 last olympics to win the gold. The objective for Surendra would be to clock his best or even cross 28.0 and complete the race. Bravo Surendra , we will look for your glory.
Olympic Women's Marathon: Romanian TOMESCU Constantina beats Kenya's NDEREBA Catherine
Note: A complete explanation of data type and depth can be found in the Additional Information section of the biography . Kenya must be very disappointed with the result as this was agood chance for Ndereba to clinch the gold. It must be noted that Ndereba ran a good race from behind to take silver. However the romanian was leading from start and did not slow down much.
Previous achiements of TOMESCU Constantina
Rank Event Year Venue Result
Olympic Games
20 Marathon 2004 Athens, GRE 2:37:31
World Championships
3 Marathon 2005 Helsinki, FIN 2:23:19
Previous achiements of TOMESCU Constantina
Rank Event Year Venue Result
Olympic Games
20 Marathon 2004 Athens, GRE 2:37:31
World Championships
3 Marathon 2005 Helsinki, FIN 2:23:19
African power: Tunisia's Ous Mellouli comes into play defeating the world swimming powers
Ous Mellouli, representing the small African nation of Tunisia, pulled off a huge upset in the 1,500-meter freestyle, defeating Australia's two-time defending champ Grant Hackett to win his country's first swimming gold medal.Mellouli finished in 14 minutes, 40.84 seconds to defeat Hackett, the world record holder, who took the silver in 14:41.53. Ryan Cochrane of Canada took the bronze in 14:42.69. In a sign of the globalization of the sport of swimming, Mellouli is the second African to win a swimming gold at these Olympics, following Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry in the 200-meter backstroke.
Lenovo ThinkPad X301 Notebook PC
Lenovo has announced the ultra thin ThinkPad X301, joining the X300 to challenge the MacBook Air. The Lenovo ThinkPad X301 is powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo ULV U9300 1.2GHz or U9400 1.4GHz processor. Both processor come with 6MB L2 cache and 1066MHz FSB. The ThinkPad X301 gets up to 2GB of RAM and 80GB or 128GB SSDs.
As for connectivity, X301 supports Bluetooth and WiFi. It also offers several options, Mobile boradband, WiMax, and GPS. The X301 will be available on 26th August and the starting price is $2599.
As for connectivity, X301 supports Bluetooth and WiFi. It also offers several options, Mobile boradband, WiMax, and GPS. The X301 will be available on 26th August and the starting price is $2599.
8th Olympic gold record: Michael Phelps breaks Mark Spitz record
BEIJING — Michael Phelps won his record eighth gold medal Sunday at the Beijing Olympics as a member of the victorious U.S. 400-meter medley relay team, breaking a tie with Mark Spitz for most golds in a single games.
Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, Phelps and Jason Lezak won in a world-record of 3 minutes, 29.34 seconds, lowering the old mark of 3:30.68 set four years ago in Athens.
The U.S. swept the men's relays in Beijing, with Phelps leading off in the 400 and 800 free relays. Lezak anchored the 400 free to a narrow victory over France to preserve Phelps' historic bid.
Australia took the silver in 3:30.04.
Japan earned the bronze in 3:31.18.
Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, Phelps and Jason Lezak won in a world-record of 3 minutes, 29.34 seconds, lowering the old mark of 3:30.68 set four years ago in Athens.
The U.S. swept the men's relays in Beijing, with Phelps leading off in the 400 and 800 free relays. Lezak anchored the 400 free to a narrow victory over France to preserve Phelps' historic bid.
Australia took the silver in 3:30.04.
Japan earned the bronze in 3:31.18.
Winster.com: a new social gaming site where you help others win
Housewife planned it all.
The games on http://www.winster.com/home.jsp are
Bingo bash
Poker pals
Burger buddy
Spell squad
Picture magic
Match Makers
Chain Gang
Facets
Doku deluxe
slot Social
the prizes to be won are
$25 Dinner Certificate
Movie Ticket
Omaha Steaks Gift Cert
$15 Music Gift Cert
5 Pairs of Earrings
Kodak Digital Camera
San Mateo, CA (PRWEB) July 23, 2008 -- Sometimes mothers make the best inventions. If you play games over the Internet, you have lots of company. Like many women, Michelle Kaplan plays games on her home computer to relax after a long day. But somehow, the typical games she found online just didn't seem right to her. Most of them pitted players against each other to win points, status or prizes.
"It seems to me most online games are better suited for young men that like to slay monsters or make touchdowns," says Winster Co-Founder Michelle Kaplan. "But I'm just not like that. I socialize with my friends by helping them, not competing with them. The last thing I need is more stress in my life."
So Kaplan got the idea to build a different kind of game -- one where people cooperate, rather than compete, to help each other win. Working with her husband, a computer engineer, she came up with a new type of game where people win prizes faster if they work together. The result was Winster.com -- where, as it says on the web site, '...friends help friends win free prizes'.
"I wanted games people would play with each other rather than against each other in a relaxing, friendly environment," says Kaplan. "Then I realized players could help each other win prizes. That's when it all came together."
More Like a Coffee Klatch:
"Winster is more like a coffee klatch than a game site," Kaplan explains. "People make new friends quickly and easily because they aren't trying to beat each other. Helping out other people is much
more fun than you might think."
Kathleen Valentino, a regular Winster member, says, "Due to health reasons, I am housebound, which can be very isolating. Since I started playing Winster, I have found a network of friends to socialize and play fun games with."
To date, the husband and wife team has created ten games to choose from. To play a game on Winster.com, you first pick a prize you want to win, and then solve some sort of puzzle to earn points until you have enough points to claim your prize. Up to five players sit side by side in a virtual room where they can see each other's puzzles. The trick is they can help each other by trading pieces they don't need for pieces they do need -- so everyone wins.
A Hobby Turns into a Business:
What started as a home project in their garage quickly grew into a real business. Michelle's husband Jerry Kaplan now works full time managing a team of Silicon Valley engineers building games in the Winster style. "Who knew this would be such a big deal?" he says. "We've had hundreds of thousands of people play games at Winster.com, and some of them spend many hours each day making friends, winning prizes, and just plain having fun."
To design the games, the Kaplan's took familiar activities like Poker, Scrabble, and Bingo and adapted them to this new concept. For instance, on Winster everyone can see your Poker hand, and the goal is to trade cards with your neighbors so that everyone gets the best hand they can.
Valentino concludes, "It has been very difficult for me to stay connected with my friends outside my home. Now, I play Winster.com with old friends and continue to meet new friends as well. I finally feel like I have my social life back."
About Winster:
Winster, Inc. operates a new type of Internet game site that caters to people who play online games as a social outlet rather than a competitive one. The site offers innovative games designed to foster a sense of community and promote positive social interaction by enabling players to help each other winnprizes. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in San Mateo, California
The games on http://www.winster.com/home.jsp are
Bingo bash
Poker pals
Burger buddy
Spell squad
Picture magic
Match Makers
Chain Gang
Facets
Doku deluxe
slot Social
the prizes to be won are
$25 Dinner Certificate
Movie Ticket
Omaha Steaks Gift Cert
$15 Music Gift Cert
5 Pairs of Earrings
Kodak Digital Camera
San Mateo, CA (PRWEB) July 23, 2008 -- Sometimes mothers make the best inventions. If you play games over the Internet, you have lots of company. Like many women, Michelle Kaplan plays games on her home computer to relax after a long day. But somehow, the typical games she found online just didn't seem right to her. Most of them pitted players against each other to win points, status or prizes.
"It seems to me most online games are better suited for young men that like to slay monsters or make touchdowns," says Winster Co-Founder Michelle Kaplan. "But I'm just not like that. I socialize with my friends by helping them, not competing with them. The last thing I need is more stress in my life."
So Kaplan got the idea to build a different kind of game -- one where people cooperate, rather than compete, to help each other win. Working with her husband, a computer engineer, she came up with a new type of game where people win prizes faster if they work together. The result was Winster.com -- where, as it says on the web site, '...friends help friends win free prizes'.
"I wanted games people would play with each other rather than against each other in a relaxing, friendly environment," says Kaplan. "Then I realized players could help each other win prizes. That's when it all came together."
More Like a Coffee Klatch:
"Winster is more like a coffee klatch than a game site," Kaplan explains. "People make new friends quickly and easily because they aren't trying to beat each other. Helping out other people is much
more fun than you might think."
Kathleen Valentino, a regular Winster member, says, "Due to health reasons, I am housebound, which can be very isolating. Since I started playing Winster, I have found a network of friends to socialize and play fun games with."
To date, the husband and wife team has created ten games to choose from. To play a game on Winster.com, you first pick a prize you want to win, and then solve some sort of puzzle to earn points until you have enough points to claim your prize. Up to five players sit side by side in a virtual room where they can see each other's puzzles. The trick is they can help each other by trading pieces they don't need for pieces they do need -- so everyone wins.
A Hobby Turns into a Business:
What started as a home project in their garage quickly grew into a real business. Michelle's husband Jerry Kaplan now works full time managing a team of Silicon Valley engineers building games in the Winster style. "Who knew this would be such a big deal?" he says. "We've had hundreds of thousands of people play games at Winster.com, and some of them spend many hours each day making friends, winning prizes, and just plain having fun."
To design the games, the Kaplan's took familiar activities like Poker, Scrabble, and Bingo and adapted them to this new concept. For instance, on Winster everyone can see your Poker hand, and the goal is to trade cards with your neighbors so that everyone gets the best hand they can.
Valentino concludes, "It has been very difficult for me to stay connected with my friends outside my home. Now, I play Winster.com with old friends and continue to meet new friends as well. I finally feel like I have my social life back."
About Winster:
Winster, Inc. operates a new type of Internet game site that caters to people who play online games as a social outlet rather than a competitive one. The site offers innovative games designed to foster a sense of community and promote positive social interaction by enabling players to help each other winnprizes. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in San Mateo, California
Vornado 615L 3 Speed Hi Velocity Floor Fan
The Vornado 615L 3 Speed Hi Velocity Floor Fan is not like your usual air moving device, this model looks pretty cool. Most fans I have had are very noisy, but the 615L is very quiet and you will barely be able to hear it.
The Vornado 615L 3 Speed Hi Velocity Floor Fan stands 34-inches tall and has a 12-inch diameter blade to help move. As we said the fan is quite but still offers great performance.
The fan has 3 speed controls which can push the air up to 80 feet. The air is directable which provides a great movement of air at many angles.
The fan is light which makes it more portable. The fan also improves your heating and cooling in your home, as it helps to circulate the air in your room.
Men's bantam : 54 KG: Light flyweight : Olympic boxing KUMAR Akhil (Ind) vs GOJAN Veaceslav (Moldova)
Off the three Indian boxers into the quaterfinals, AkhilKumar faces an equal opponent and he has high chances of making into the semis thus ensuring an Olympic medal for India. His bout with Gojan Veaceslav (Moldova) is slated for August 18th evening. good luck to Akhil Kumar.
Men's fly 51 Kg: Olympic Boxing :BALAKSHIN Georgy (Russian fed) vs Jitendra kumar (Ind)
It will be tough bout for jitendra who faces an experienced Balakshin Georgy who finished 5th in Athens and has won european Championship. ಗಳವು ಅಗಲಿಯೆಂದು ಕೆಳುತೇನೆ.
Usian Bolt: fastest man from Jamaica breaks the 9.70 sec barrier
Usain Bolt smashed olympic and world records to become the fastest man on earth.His timing was 9.69 seconds. He is seen waving to media cameras even before he finishes. Bravo usain Bolt. seems he can beat 9.65 as well
Usain Bolt of Jamaica won the 100 meters Saturday night, set a world record, and did it so easily he was mugging for the camera before he crossed the finish line.
Bolt finished in 9.69 seconds, despite dropping his hands and losing his form about 20 meters from the finish line.
He appeared to glance at the video screen overhead and to his left, then lowered his hands and slowed as he neared the finish line. As he crossed he thumped his chest with his right hand.
Bolt had set the record of 9.72 seconds at a meet on May 31 in New York.
Richard Thompson of Trinidad & Tobago was second. Walter Dix of the U.S. took the bronze.
Bolt finished in 9.69 seconds, despite dropping his hands and losing his form about 20 meters from the finish line.
He appeared to glance at the video screen overhead and to his left, then lowered his hands and slowed as he neared the finish line. As he crossed he thumped his chest with his right hand.
Bolt had set the record of 9.72 seconds at a meet on May 31 in New York.
Richard Thompson of Trinidad & Tobago was second. Walter Dix of the U.S. took the bronze.
The achievements of Usain Bolt before the final.
Rank Event Year Venue Result
Olympic Games
Heats 200m 2004 Athens, GRE 21.05
World Championships
2 200m 2007 Osaka, JPN 19.91
2 4 x 100m Relay 2007 Osaka, JPN 37.89
8 200m 2005 Helsinki, FIN 26.27
Golden League
2 200m 2007 Zurich, SUI 20.19
2 4 x 100m Relay 2007 Zurich, SUI 38.82
3 200m 2007 Brussels, BEL 20.14
Super Grand Prix
1 200m 2008 London, GBR 19.76
1 200m 2007 London, GBR 20.06
2 100m 2008 Stockholm, SWE 9.89
2 200m 2007 Lausanne, SUI 20.11
2 200m 2005 London, GBR 19.99
3 200m 2006 Lausanne, SUI 19.88
4 200m 2006 London, GBR 20.54
Grand Prix
1 100m 2008 New York, NY, USA 9.72
1 200m 2008 Athens, GRE 19.67
1 200m 2008 Ostrava, CZE 19.83
1 200m 2006 Zagreb, CRO 20.49
1 200m 2006 Ostrava, CZE 20.28
2 200m 2007 Sheffield, GBR 20.08
2 200m 2007 New York, NY, USA 19.89
World Athletics Final
3 200m 2006 Stuttgart, GER 20.1
Men's Middle (75kg): Olympic boxing: KUMAR Vijender (IND) vs GONGORA Carlos (Ecuador)
Kumar vijendra will have a tough bout against GONGORA Carlos (Ecuador) on august 20th. Gongora was ranked 9th at World Championships Middleweight 2007 Chicago, IL, USA while Vijendra was distant 17th.
If Vijendra manges to create an upset, India can dream of a Olympic bronze.
If Vijendra manges to create an upset, India can dream of a Olympic bronze.
0.01 seconds and 50.58 and Phelps beats all odds and even destiny to win
Smiling michael phelps after a destiny miracle victory thus equally Mark spitz's 7 Olmypic golds recordBEIJING - It must be destiny at work. There was no way, absolutely no way that Michael Phelps could have won his record-tying seventh Olympic gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in the 100-meter butterfly this morning. He was seventh at the turn, more than six-10ths of a second behind Serbia's Milorad Cavic. He was half a body length behind with 25 meters to go. He was still in midair when Cavic was at the finish.
And yet somehow, Phelps got his hand on the wall first to win by a hundredth of a second, setting an Olympic record (50.58), equaling the standard for most victories at one Games, which countryman Mark Spitz set in 1972 in Munich, and picking up a $1 million bonus from sponsor Speedo.
"When I took that last stroke, I thought I lost the race there, but it turns out that was the difference," said Phelps, who's almost certain to pick up his eighth gold in tomorrow's 4 x 100 medley relay (broadcast tonight at 10:58 EDT), which the Americans never have lost at Olympus. "I'm at a loss for words."
It was the closest finish imaginable. After Serbian team officials filed a written protest contesting the result, the Omega timing people slowed the video replay to a thousandth of a second and the freeze frame showed that Phelps had won. "The timing system was in perfect condition, perfect order," said race referee Ben Ekumbo. "There is no doubt."
It was an eerie replay of the same event in Athens four years ago, when Phelps trailed for the entire race before touching out countryman Ian Crocker by four-100ths. The difference was that Phelps already had missed his chance for seven golds by then. This time, he still was chasing history, and he seemed to be impossibly behind.
Cavic, a University of California graduate who'd come out of retirement more than a year ago, seemed an unlikely man to beat Phelps. He hadn't made the final in 2004 and was only sixth at last year's world meet. Yet he was a finger's length from pulling off the greatest upset in Olympic swimming history.
"A hundredth of a second is the most difficult loss you can have, especially at the Olympics," said the 24-year-old Cavic. "But it's a complete miracle to me that I'm here. I'm enjoying this moment, from my heart."
This was the individual race Phelps was most worried about, after swimming 15 heats, semis, and finals during a marathon week. What he needed, with his tank running low, was a fuel injection, which coach Bob Bowman impishly provided. "Beforehand, Bob said it would be good for me if I lost," said Phelps. "When he said that, I was fired up. I said, 'I'm going to go for it.' "
Phelps always has had a monster back half in the 100 fly, running down rivals over the final 50. As he had in Athens, Phelps went into overdrive, picking off rivals one at a time - Jason Dunford of Kenya, Ryan Pini of Papua New Guinea, Andrew Lauterstein of Australia (who won the bronze), Andrii Serdinov of Ukraine, and then Crocker. But this time, it appeared that he had too much ground to make up.
Phelps could see the Serb ahead of him, reaching for the wall. Though he's the master of the fingernail touch, the magic hand that comes out of nowhere, Phelps had never done it when he still had open water ahead of him. If he hadn't been in mid-surge, and if Cavic hadn't been gliding, Phelps would have had six golds and one silver.
As it was, he had no idea whether he'd won or lost. "I had to take my goggles off first to make sure the 1 was next to my name," he said. "When I saw the 50.58 and the 50.59 and I saw the 1 next to my name, that's when I sort of let my roar out."
It was a day of stunning accomplishments that otherwise would have made headlines. Great Britain's Rebecca Adlington wiped out the oldest record on the books - Janet Evans's 8:16.22 in the 800 freestyle, which had stood since 1989. "I knew when I touched the wall I was going to win the gold, but I didn't expect to get the record," said Adlington, who chopped more than two seconds off the mark in 8:14.10. "And by that much is unbelievable."
Brazil's Cesar Cielo Filho shocked everyone in the men's 50 free, winning his country's first swimming gold medal in an Olympic-record 21.30, as Australian world record-holder Eamon Sullivan finished sixth. "My dream was to be an Olympic champion," said Cielo Filho, "and that dream is now realized."
And Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry, who'd won three silver medals here, finally collected a gold in the women's 200 backstroke in a world-record 2:05.24, ahead of US rival Margaret Hoelzer (2:06.23), with Rhode Island teenager Elizabeth Beisel fifth in 2:08.23.
"This was a great experience," said the 15-year-old from Saunderstown, who represents the Bluefish Swim Club in Attleboro, Mass., and who was fourth in the 400 individual medley. "I'm a little disappointed in my swim, because my best time would have been third, but it's my first Olympics and it's great to have it under my belt for the future."
Phelps also was 15 when he made his first appearance at the Games, finishing fifth in his only race. Now, he's the master of the pool, with only 100 meters between him and immortality. "I have seven out of seven so far," said Phelps, who'll swim the butterfly leg on the medley relay. "I don't know what to say."
And yet somehow, Phelps got his hand on the wall first to win by a hundredth of a second, setting an Olympic record (50.58), equaling the standard for most victories at one Games, which countryman Mark Spitz set in 1972 in Munich, and picking up a $1 million bonus from sponsor Speedo.
"When I took that last stroke, I thought I lost the race there, but it turns out that was the difference," said Phelps, who's almost certain to pick up his eighth gold in tomorrow's 4 x 100 medley relay (broadcast tonight at 10:58 EDT), which the Americans never have lost at Olympus. "I'm at a loss for words."
It was the closest finish imaginable. After Serbian team officials filed a written protest contesting the result, the Omega timing people slowed the video replay to a thousandth of a second and the freeze frame showed that Phelps had won. "The timing system was in perfect condition, perfect order," said race referee Ben Ekumbo. "There is no doubt."
It was an eerie replay of the same event in Athens four years ago, when Phelps trailed for the entire race before touching out countryman Ian Crocker by four-100ths. The difference was that Phelps already had missed his chance for seven golds by then. This time, he still was chasing history, and he seemed to be impossibly behind.
Cavic, a University of California graduate who'd come out of retirement more than a year ago, seemed an unlikely man to beat Phelps. He hadn't made the final in 2004 and was only sixth at last year's world meet. Yet he was a finger's length from pulling off the greatest upset in Olympic swimming history.
"A hundredth of a second is the most difficult loss you can have, especially at the Olympics," said the 24-year-old Cavic. "But it's a complete miracle to me that I'm here. I'm enjoying this moment, from my heart."
This was the individual race Phelps was most worried about, after swimming 15 heats, semis, and finals during a marathon week. What he needed, with his tank running low, was a fuel injection, which coach Bob Bowman impishly provided. "Beforehand, Bob said it would be good for me if I lost," said Phelps. "When he said that, I was fired up. I said, 'I'm going to go for it.' "
Phelps always has had a monster back half in the 100 fly, running down rivals over the final 50. As he had in Athens, Phelps went into overdrive, picking off rivals one at a time - Jason Dunford of Kenya, Ryan Pini of Papua New Guinea, Andrew Lauterstein of Australia (who won the bronze), Andrii Serdinov of Ukraine, and then Crocker. But this time, it appeared that he had too much ground to make up.
Phelps could see the Serb ahead of him, reaching for the wall. Though he's the master of the fingernail touch, the magic hand that comes out of nowhere, Phelps had never done it when he still had open water ahead of him. If he hadn't been in mid-surge, and if Cavic hadn't been gliding, Phelps would have had six golds and one silver.
As it was, he had no idea whether he'd won or lost. "I had to take my goggles off first to make sure the 1 was next to my name," he said. "When I saw the 50.58 and the 50.59 and I saw the 1 next to my name, that's when I sort of let my roar out."
It was a day of stunning accomplishments that otherwise would have made headlines. Great Britain's Rebecca Adlington wiped out the oldest record on the books - Janet Evans's 8:16.22 in the 800 freestyle, which had stood since 1989. "I knew when I touched the wall I was going to win the gold, but I didn't expect to get the record," said Adlington, who chopped more than two seconds off the mark in 8:14.10. "And by that much is unbelievable."
Brazil's Cesar Cielo Filho shocked everyone in the men's 50 free, winning his country's first swimming gold medal in an Olympic-record 21.30, as Australian world record-holder Eamon Sullivan finished sixth. "My dream was to be an Olympic champion," said Cielo Filho, "and that dream is now realized."
And Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry, who'd won three silver medals here, finally collected a gold in the women's 200 backstroke in a world-record 2:05.24, ahead of US rival Margaret Hoelzer (2:06.23), with Rhode Island teenager Elizabeth Beisel fifth in 2:08.23.
"This was a great experience," said the 15-year-old from Saunderstown, who represents the Bluefish Swim Club in Attleboro, Mass., and who was fourth in the 400 individual medley. "I'm a little disappointed in my swim, because my best time would have been third, but it's my first Olympics and it's great to have it under my belt for the future."
Phelps also was 15 when he made his first appearance at the Games, finishing fifth in his only race. Now, he's the master of the pool, with only 100 meters between him and immortality. "I have seven out of seven so far," said Phelps, who'll swim the butterfly leg on the medley relay. "I don't know what to say."
India monsoon from June 2008 to August 15 2008
FULL DISC image from kalpana satellite showing water vapour as of August 16th. Shows trpoical depression in orissa spreading across India creating more water vapour dense zones
Despite the global warming, India has received normal rainfall and recently some areas got intense downpours. See the map attached.
The Indian food security that is entirely dependent on monsoon must heave a sign of relief.
MAIN EVENTS for week ending august 13.
Ø A depression formed over Orissa coast, close to Puri in the evening of 9th August. It weakened into a low pressure area on 10th evening over north Orissa. It then moved northwestwards across Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh during 11th & 12th. This system caused widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls occurred over Orissa, north Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and East Rajasthan during the week.
Ø Widespread/fairly widespread rainfall occurred along west coast, Gujarat Region, Madhya Maharashtra and South Interior Karnataka during the week with increase in intensity during second half of the week.
Ø A depression formed over Orissa coast, close to Puri in the evening of 9th August. It weakened into a low pressure area on 10th evening over north Orissa. It then moved northwestwards across Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh during 11th & 12th. This system caused widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls occurred over Orissa, north Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and East Rajasthan during the week.
Ø Widespread/fairly widespread rainfall occurred along west coast, Gujarat Region, Madhya Maharashtra and South Interior Karnataka during the week with increase in intensity during second half of the week.
Outlook For The Week Ending On 20th August 2008
· Under the influence of the interaction between mid-latitude westerly trough and a cyclonic circulation in lower levels fairly widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls is likely over northwest India during 1st half of the week.
· Fairly widespread rainfall activity likely over the Gangetic Plains, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim and northeastern States.
· Subdued rainfall activity is likely over the remaining parts of the country.
· Under the influence of the interaction between mid-latitude westerly trough and a cyclonic circulation in lower levels fairly widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls is likely over northwest India during 1st half of the week.
· Fairly widespread rainfall activity likely over the Gangetic Plains, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim and northeastern States.
· Subdued rainfall activity is likely over the remaining parts of the country.
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