SwimNews.com - Craig Lord:  Review Of 2012: January To London 2012
Review Of 2012: January To London 2012
Dec 31, 2012
 - Craig Lord
A trawl back through the headlines of a year about to end: the Phelpsian swansong, the rise of Franklin, Schmitt, Agnel, Muffat and Meilutyte and the doubles of Kromowidjojo and Sun, to mention but a few of the 2012 aquatic headlines:
Part 1: January to the conclusion of the London 2012 Olympic Games
JANUARY
3: Spain's world and European s/c champion Mireia Belmonte tells her home media that she has yet to decide which of Rebecca Adlington's Olympic crowns she will target as a fourth event at London 2012 - it turns out that the 800m is the big one, silver the prize a hand ahead of the Beijing 2008 champion, gold going to the biggest international improver of the year, Katie Ledecky (USA)
6: Tunisia's California-based Olympic and world short-course champion Oussama Mellouli is named best sportsperson in the Maghreb in 2011 on his way to marathon glory at London 2012
11: Missy Franklin makes up her mind: college over cash. A quarter of a million dollars is set aside for a different pathway for a teenager destined for the Olympic pantheon
14: At the Victoria Championships Down Under, Ian Thorpe clocks 51.05 and 1:51.08 over 100m and 200m freestyle, his comeback looking to have arrived too late to have any impact on London 2012
14: Olympic year starts to warm up, among solid swims at the Austin GP efforts from Michael Phelps, Rebecca Soni, Eric Shanteau, Dana Vollmer and Nathan Adrian, while Allison Schmitt clocks a 4:05.90 meet-mark warning over 400m free
15: As Michael Phelps continued to put the long medley back at the heart of his Olympic preparation, Baltimore training partner Allison Schmitt fires another warning shot, 1:55.83 200 free at the Austin GP, on her way to Olympic gold in London come the summer
16: Quadruple Olympic breaststroke champion Kosuke Kitajima wins his first race of 2012 with a 1:58.80 200 effort in a short-course yards meet at Fullerton, California
17: Aussie backstroke ace Hayden Stoeckel places home advantage high on his Olympic plans, returning to Adelaide before Olympic trials
18: Rebecca Adlington, Britain's double Olympic champion of 2008, talks for the first time about retirement beyond trials and the London 2012 defence she has trained for
18: American legend Janet Evans, back in the swim as a 40-year-old mother of two, signs an endorsement agreement with Arena in the week she makes 2012 Olympic trials cut
19: Pierre Lafontaine, national coach and CEO of Canadian swimming, calls on all Canadians based abroad and who may be eligible to compete for their country at the London 2012 Olympic Games to make sure they meet all conditions
20: Ryosuke Irie clocks 1:54.02 at state titles in Australia
20: Katie Hoff, Kate Ziegler, Whitney Myers leave FAST in a return to mentor programmes; Ed Moses goes too
20: FINA wins its case to have ban on Brazil's Fabiola Molina extended
20: Aussie media reports that Ky Hurst and Mel Gorman, Australia's London 2012 Olympic marathon pair, have been forced to go hunting for lane space in Switzerland after being told their plans don't match those of the rest of the swimming team ahead of the London 2012 Games
20: Aussie media reports that Australia's Olympic bosses are "throwing money at maybe medallists in a desperate last cash splurge before London"
20: Camille Lacourt clocks a 53.59 victory over fellow world champion Jeremy Stravius (54.83) in the 100m back at the Nancy International 
21: On the last day of action at the West Australia state titles, Japan's Ryosuke Irie clocks 53.32 to lead his team's medley relay to victory on backstroke, his time setting the early pace for 2012
22: Aussie 'fly ace Geoff Huegill abandons a training camp to get back home to Sydney, where his wife Sara had given birth to their first child
23: Long-time FINA and LEN Bureau member Klaas van de Pol (NED) passes away aged 87 
23: Spain's Mireia Belmonte clocks lifetime best of 4:07.10 and a 4:38.77 over 400m free and medley respectively at Catalan Champs
24: Abdul Rehaman Al Bader (KUW) is slapped with a six-month ban for a positive Methylhexaneamine test
26: Dr Gary Hall Snr directs an effort on behalf of United States Olympians and Paralympians and National Team members and alumni of all Olympic sports "to reverse the alarming trend of childhood obesity in America" 
27: James "The Missile’ Magnussen, world 100m free champion and the swiftest man ever in a textile suit, gives South Australia swim fans a thrill with a 48.05 blast at state titles in Adelaide
28: At the Miami Swimming Club's Miami Super Challenge, Sun Yang clocks 49.50, 1:46.84 and 3:42.89 over 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle, while Hao Yun, 16, makes his world ranks debut on 1:48.74 and 3:45.49 - and 54.11 100 'fly
28: Sarah Sjoestrom, the Swedish 'fly and free ace who took two weeks off at Christmas in the face of convention as world-class swimmers approach Olympic season, sets a Swedish short-course record of 52.15 in the 100m free at junior nationals in Valby
29: Sarah Sjoestrom, with junior Swedish marks in the 200m medley (2:08.17) and 100m free (52.15) in the bag, adds two more youth records to her tally at nationals in Valby with a 56.70 (26.91) win in the 
100m butterfly and a 23.82 victory in the 50m free
29: Matthew Targett powers to a best time of 21.98sec to deliver a knockout blow in a bout with world-champion 4x100m free teammates Matt Abood and James Magnussen as the action wraps up at South Australia State titles in Adelaide
30: NADA, Germany's national anti-doping agency, says 28 athletes are implicated in a scandal involving Dr Andreas Franke, who worked at Thuringia's Olympic training facility and is said to have treated blood then reinjected it; swimmers not implicated
FEBRUARY
1: Dirk Lange left his national-team coach role in Germany by mutual consent at the end of 2011 and will now help Mexico raise its game in time for a home FINA world titles in 2017
2: USA Swimming, due to host its Olympic trials in Omaha from June 25, is to supply FINA with a list of likely team members for London 2012 in time for a June 18 qualification deadline set by the international federation for all nations so that it can process Olympic entries in time for IOC purposes
5: Mind Games begin as Sarah Sjoestrom (SWE) races in Uppsala to a 1:56.57 over 200m free (and 57.91 in the 100m butterfly), before Camille Muffat (FRA) strikes a pose on a matching 1:56.57 over 200m and then goes a PB 4:03.21 over 400m free in Montpellier
6: On the eve of NSW state titles in Sydney, world 100m freestyle swimming champion James Magnussen (AUS) says he sent alarm bells ringing in his rivals' ears with an untapered 48.05sec in Adelaide in January and will aim to peel back the clock once more
8: Aussie Ashley Callus retires
8: Steenbergen, 12, on 58.66 over 100 Free in Amsterdam at the start of a long journey
9: Chloe Yoo, a 12-year-old Australian, has a best of 59.64 over 100m free but the way she did it makes news: 29.48, 30.16
9: Michael Phelps gives himself 7/10 when it comes to his Olympic swan song preparations after Shanghai 2011 world titles 'relit the fire'
10: Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington confirms the seriousness of her intent with an 8:22.35 victory over 800m freestyle at the British University championships in Sheffield
10: Britain ignored its women in all sports for its top sports prize of 2011 and Laureus ignored swimming altogether but in France journalists elected Camille Muffat as Gaul's "Sports Personality of the Year" - praising achievement in swimming at home paid off for France in 2012
10: At NSW State Titles in Sydney, Olympic champion Park Tae-Hwan wins 400m freestyle in 3:45.57; 14-year-old Fairweather on 8:31 over 800m freestyle
11: Emily Seebohm (AUS) takes early world No1 spot on 59.36 in 100m back at NSW State titles 
11: No sooner had Ellen Gandy swum a 57.78sec world ranks topper 100m butterfly at NSW State titles Down Under, than Britain teammate Fran Halsall clocked 57.67 in morning heats at the Brit Uni Champs in Sheffield
12: Matt Grevers (USA) claims the 100 back at the Missouri Grand Prix in 53.57 and then invites his girlfriend, US swim teammate Annie Chandler, onto the podium, gets down on one knee and proposes; the girl says "yes!" The start of a great year for the couple in life and for Grevers in the pool on his way to 100m gold at London 2012
12: American Katie Ledecky, 14, has a best of 8:36.05 going the Missouri GP and emerges with a new best of 8:30.14 … she will take a further 16secs off that for the Olympic crown come the summer
12: Melbourne-based Brit Ellen Gandy set the pace at the helm of the early 2012 world ranks over 200m butterfly with a 2:05.95 victory at NSW State titles in Sydney
13: South Korean Olympic 400m free champ Park Tae-Hwan graduates from university and cites post-grad studies and a career in academia as a professor of PE as his aim beyond the race pool
14: Rome, embroiled in financial struggles and legal wrangles in the wake of the 2009 world swim champs, announces that it has pulled out of the running to host the 2020 Olympic Games after Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti weighed up costs and decided "no go", Corriere della Sera reports
14: The 2012 short-course Japan Swim in Tokyo produces six national records and dumps almost 1,000 swims into the annual world rankings
15: A high level of confidence in world 100m freestyle champion James "The Missile" Magnussen should not be read as arrogance, Australia head coach Leigh Nugent tells the Aussie media
16: Public trust in the London 2012 ticketing programme is being tested by unnecessary secrecy on where the tickets are going to and how many of each price have been sold, according to a new report published by the London Assembly
16: In a worrying trend for swimming, Antwerp in Belgium is the latest bid-winner of a major championship to withdraw from hosting; Debrecen and Eindhoven step in to stage European titles
17: The creation of Safe4Athletes, designed to promote a safe environment for young athletes, stands out because it shifts focus from single sports measures undertaken by federations and others to protecting athletes across many sports
18: Alicia Coutts (AUS), the triple Commonwealth champion of 2010, confirms that she was elbowed in the head and spat at by a European opponent on the way to her blocks for the 100m freestyle at world titles in Shanghai - all Europeans in the race deny being the culprit
18: At the SEC's in Knoxville, Florida's world 400m medley champion Elizabeth Beisel becomes the third swimmer ever to break 4mins over 400y medley; Elizabeth Pelton misses her 200y back US record by 0.01sec
19: at the Nice meet in France, Yannick Agnel claims the early world-rankings lead in the 200m free with a 1:45.52, just 0.53sec away from his French record, a prophetic effort for a man heading to the helm of the Olympic podium
22: The Dolphins are fuelled by a new principal sponsor: EnergyAustralia will back the Aussie squad until 2017; Leigh Nugent, head coach to Australia, for London 2012, is named as the man to lead the Dolphins to Rio 2016 
23: Hungary opens its national championships to international entry as Olympic qualifier
24: Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) opts out of the European l/c championships to focus on London 2012 - good call as it turned out, the Dutch sprinter on course for double sprint gold
28: Sean Kelly, coach to world 10km champ Keri-Anne Payne and the Stockport squad in Britain, is admitted to hospital and will take no further part in Olympic year preparations; Lars Humer steps in to lead the team at one of Britain's five intensive training centres
29: The Princess of Monaco, Charlene Wittstock, former RSA swimmer, offers to host her native nation's Olympic swim team at no cost on the way to London 2012; the closest thing to an IOC member (the Prince) sponsoring an Olympic squad?
MARCH
3: At Great Britain Olympic trials in the London Aquatics Centre, as the London 2012 pool enjoys its first week of racing, Hannah Miley takes the helm of early 2012 world rankings with a 4:32.67 in the 400 IM; the first British swimmer to qualify for action in the pool at a home Olympic Games is Roberto Pavoni, who grew up 20 minutes from the London Aquatics Centre with an Italian dad who  matches his son's passion in the pool with his own passion up in the stands
3: at the Olympic test event in London, with international finals following Britain's trials at the London Aquatics Centre, Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom clocks a strong 56.79 (off 26.41) 2012 world best in the 100m butterfly
3: A broad smile appears on the face of Lord Coe as he tells us up in the media stands how he felt like a "dodgy Spanish timeshare salesman" as he tried to sell his Olympic vision to members of the IOC in 2004; the transformation of East London and the site of the Olympic Park is magnificent, monumental, the cleaning up and development of a ...
4: Rebecca Adlington sets up the defence of one of her two Olympic crowns at a home Games with a 4:02.35 effort  over 400m freestyle at Britain's Olympic trials 
4: at the Olympic test event in London, Lithuanian 14-year-old Ruta Meilutyte, based at Plymouth Leander, clocks a lifetime best of 1:07.30 in the 100m breaststroke; she is not fully rested - and come the summer will be 2sec faster … for Olympic gold at 15
5: World record holder Gemma Spofforth keeps her career alive and kicking when she books a return crack at the Olympic podium in London four years after she fell 0.04sec shy in Beijing
5: In international finals at the Olympic test event in the London 2012 pool, Sarah Sjostrom, of Sweden, clocks a world leading 1:55.23 to win the 200m freestyle in commanding style
6: At Italian nationals in Riccione, world champion Federica Pellegrini clocks 4:05.70 to win the 400m freestyle
7: At Great Britain Olympic trials, Bath teammates Andrew Willis and Michael Jamieson crack 2mins 10 to book berths for a home Olympic Games - on their way to the big final and silver for Jamieson - while a third member of the unit, Kris Gilchrist bows out graciously
8: Matthew Dunn, former medley ace for Australia, is been voted on to the FINA Bureau as member for Oceania
9: At Britain's Olympic trials, Rebecca Adlington books a double defence at a home Games with a lonely 8mins 18.54 victory in the 800m freestyle
9: At Italian Nationals in Riccione, Federica Pellegrini, rumoured to be running a fever, Marco Orsi and Luca Dotto earn qualification to London 2012
10: Francesca Halsall matches Inge De Bruijn's best ever, of 24.13, for fastest 50m free ever in textile to the knee; Daniel Fogg becomes the third Brit to break 15mins with a sterling victory over David Davies in the 1500m free, both men on the Olympic team and heading for a second battle in open water; both Halsall, after injury in May, and Fogg will finish top 5 at a home Games, Fogg over 10km, but the podium will elude them; after eight days of Britain trials at the London Aquatics Centre, Britain selects 38 swimmers for the home Games squad but has top-up trials ahead in June; its selection procedure will be in focus after a Games at which 40 out of 49 performances fall shy of season best
10: Olympic champion Michael Phelps clocks 1:45.69 over 200m freestyle at the Columbus Grand Prix in the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio - but as it turns out, the 200m is the one that he will drop from his London 2012 swansong schedule
11: In 1:55.32 at the Columbus Grand Prix in Ohio, the Olympic champion of 2004 and 2008 brakes a four-year-old meet mark and confirms that he intends to keep a tradition alive as he heads towards his Olympic swan song in London. Can anyone stop him? Yes, by 0.04sec, it turns out.
12: Phelps takes a chance at the Columbus Grand Prix to register a 48.49 100m free, his fourth best ever in a textile suit and swiftest he's ever posted away from the heat of major moments; the pathway to a 4th Games has not been smooth but the writing is on the end wall: his last display will be no damp squib as some have predicted
14: Amanda Beard reveals all, so to speak - this time in words for her roller-coaster memoir, including botched relationships, bulimia, drug experimentation and self-harm
15: At Australian Olympic Trials in Adelaide, Stephanie Rice takes a solid stroke towards defending her Olympic 400 IM crown with a 4:33.45 victory, her best ever in textile; 
15: Britain pledges to host the European Championships for swimming, diving and synchronised swimming at the London Aquatics Centre in 2016 if a bid comes to fruition and finds favour with LEN
16: At Australian Olympic Trials, Adelaide, comebacks go awry as Libby Trickett is the defending Olympic champion no longer in the 100m 'fly, Alicia Coutts and Jessica Schipper ahead of her; and Ian Thorpe finishes 12th in 200 free semis; Christian Sprenger goes below minute for first time in textile in 100m breaststroke on way to the Olympic podium later in the year
16: Ranomi Kromowidjojo storms to a 24.24 victory in the 50m freestyle at the Amsterdam Swim Cup, a Dutch Olympic qualifier, ahead of Marleen Veldhuis and two other Eiffel, PSV, teammates
17: At Australian Olympic Trials in Adelaide, Emily Seebohm and Belinda Hocking go 59.28 and 59.41 100m back
17: Ian Thorpe was not ready to race at peak, his preparation having fallen shy of the point where he could do the big training sets required to make the leap from comeback to force reborn, head Australia coach Leigh Nugent tells the media
18: The hopes of Ian Thorpe of making London 2012 are over: the 29-year-old finishes 21st in the 100m free at Aussie Olympic trials on 50.35sec
18: Eindhoven's Ranomi Kromowidjojo clocks the fastest time in the world over 100m freestyle in 2012 with a 53.30 blast on the final day of the Amsterdam Swim Cup, a sub 53 and Olympic gold squarely in her sights
18: At Australian Olympic Trials in Adelaide, Stephanie Rice confirms a double medley defence at London 2012 with a 2:09.38 to 2:09.83 win over Alicia Coutts
19: James I On 47.10; James II On 47.63 - at Australian Olympic Trials in Adelaide, James The Missile Magnusses fires to best textile time ever, while James "The Rocket" Roberts clocks 47.63 for second berth; relay prospects radiant - until reality dawns in London
19: A Menacing 4:01.13 From Miss Muffat at French Olympic trials in Dunkirk sets the tone for a French success story built almost entirely in Nice. The winning time in the 400m free, 4:01.13, is a French record past the best of Laure Manaudou, past the world textile mark and to the helm of the 2012 world rankings, Olympic gold in focus
20: Camille Muffat takes down another Laure Manaudou standard with 1:55.40 French record in the semi-final of the 200m freestyle at French Olympic trials in Dunkirk; Manaudou watches then clocks 1:00.16 to book London 2012 ticket on backstroke eight years on from a triple medal success at Athens 2004.
20: Yannick Agnel, Muffat's Nice training partner, sets a French record of 1:44.42 at Olympic trials in Dunkirk, his time the third best ever by a swimmer in textile suit, 0.02sec inside the mark in which Ryan Lochte (USA) claimed the world crown in Shanghai in 2011 and a sign of the winning time to come at London 2012
20: At Australian Olympic Trials, Adelaide, Day 6 finals: James Magnussen warms up with 21.88; teenagers Larkin and Lawson on the team; comebackers Huegill and Trickett survive but Klim and Pine are out
21: At Australian Olympic Trials in Adelaide, James Magnussen, on 21.74, and Eamon Sullivan claim dash berths 
21: At French Olympic trials and nationals in Dunkirk, Camille Muffat fires another warning shot - a second world textile best of the week, 1:54.87 in the 200m free; nine men breach 50sec in heats of the 100m freestyle 
21: British 200m breaststroke record holder Kris Gilchrist, the man who inspired and drew Bath teammates Andrew Willis and Michael Jamieson to Olympic berths ahead of him at Olympic trials, announces his retirement...
22: Australia unveils a team of 44 swimmers for the London 2012 Olympics as trials ended in Adelaide; in last finals session, the Campbell sisters cut a dash, Cate on 24.44 led Bronte to the top two Olympic 50m free berths
22: At French Olympic trials and nationals in Dunkirk, Alain Bernard's defence of the Olympic 100m freestyle crown ended with a 5th place, the winner 200m ace Yannick Agnel on 48.02 via the sole sub-25sec homecoming split
23: At French Olympic Trials in Dunkirk, Benjamin Stasiulis sets a French record that had stood from a time of shiny suits with a 1:56.39 victory in the 200m backstroke; and Florent Manaudou clocks 21.86 to take lane 4 for the dash final en route to the ultimate prize later that summer
24: At the Danish Open, 15-year-old Mie Nielsen, of Aalborg Svømmeklub: is out in 29.15 and home in a Danish national senior record of 59.69 over 100m backstroke
24: At French Olympic Trials in Dunkirk, Laure Manaudou overhauled Alexianne Castel for a 2:08.06 to 2:08.57 200m back victory; Amaury Leveaux and Florent Manaudou take dash berths - stage set for the first sibling Olympic gold story in history, as things turn out
25: At French Olympic Trials in Dunkirk, France selects 29 swimmers, 17 men and 12 women, for the London 2012 Games, but European champion Sebastien Rouault, of Mulhouse, misses the cut in his last race
26: Matthew Stanley, a 20-year-old racing for Matamata, is busy rewriting the New Zealand record books at nationals in Henderson, Auckland: 3:47.67 in the 400m freestyle, 1:47.57 200m free past 1996 double Olympic champion Danyon Loader's highs
26: California celebrates yet another NCAA victory. For the men it was title No4 and the first consecutive crown for the school in 30 years; for the women it was a second straight title and the third in four years
27: Czech 50m and 100m butterfly national record holder Michal Rubacek, 25, is suspended for two years for testing positive for a banned stimulant
27: At Canadian Olympic Trials in Montreal, Brittany MacLean, on 4:06.08, and Savannah King, on 4:07.02, go inside previous national record
27: Laure Manaudou becomes the latest in a long list of big names who have missed two anti-doping tests and face a 2-year suspension if they miss another appointment with anti-doping agents
27: At New Zealand Championships in Auckland, the men's 4x200m quartet axes 7sec off the national mark
28: At Canadian Olympic Trials in Montreal, Julia Wilknson joins the sub-minute club on 59.85 ion the 100m back
29: Triple world s/c champion Mireia Belmonte, on 8:25 over 800m free, leads the charge on the opening day of the Spanish Open in Malaga as five Olympic qualification targets are met
29: At New Zealand nationals in Auckland, Gareth Kean books a ticket for the 200m backstroke at the London 2012 Olympic Games with a 1:57.15 national record
29: At the Indianapolis Grand Prix, some prophetic moments - Dana Vollmer takes 100m free and 'fly; Michael Phelps wins 100 'fly after Nathan Adrian pips him 48.62 to 48.74 in 100m free; Allison Schmitt and Katie Hoff 0.06sec apart in 400m free
30: Brent Hayden on 48.53 in 100m free at Canadian Olympic trials in Montreal
30: At the Indianapolis Grand Prix, Hungary's Katinka Hosszu challenges the best time in the world over 400m medley, while Michael Phelps and Nathan Adrian set meet records too, over 400IM and 50 free (respectively!)
30: At the Spanish Open in Malaga, Mireia Belmonte clocks 2:10.53 for third in the world in 2012 over 200m medley and then took down the Spanish 200m free record with a 1:57.58 win in the 200m free
30: At the Debrecen meet in Hungary, 19-year-old Peter Bernek, of Kobánya, clocks 1:57.10 in the 200m backstroke for third in the world so far in 2012; László Cseh and visiting South African Chad Le Clos, a man gaining valuable insight into the world of Michael Phelps and his rivals, go 52.57 and 52.86 in the 100 'fly
30: At New Zealand nationals in Auckland, Lauren Boyle, of North Shore, makes it four wins in the week
31: At the Indianapolis Grand Prix, Bob Bowman's bullet from Baltimore, Michael Phelps, goes 1:56.32 in the 200IM, the time faster than any other man in textile has ever swum apart from himself and Ryan Lochte, hunger back on the menu
31: At the Spanish Open in Malaga, Mireia Belmonte clocks a 4:33.91 Spanish record in the 400m medley to rise to 4th best in the world in 2012
31: At Canadian Olympic Trials in Montreal, Annamay Pierse, world record holder since shiny suits in 2009, clocks 2:27.14 in the 200m breaststroke, her London 2012 hopes dashed well off the pace of the next wave, Tera Van Beilen, 2:24.03, and Martha McCabe, 2:24.81
31: LEN, the European swimming league, votes to hold mixed relays in which men and women will race together at its winter showcase short-course championships in 2012 and at long-course championships from 2014; FINA will not follow when it votes on the issue= but may do so on another matter in Europe - logo limits on kit are to be abolished
31: After winning the 400m medley at the Indianapolis Grand Prix in 4:12.51, Olympic champion and world record holder Michael Phelps hints that he may well return to the big opener of his previous Olympic campaigns for London 2012; as things turn out, he does - and finishes off the podium in what will be only the second solo race of his Olympic finals career not to result in a medal, the first a 5th place over 200m butterfly aged 15 at Sydney 2000
APRIL
1: At Canadian Olympic Trials in Montreal, Sinead Russell sets a Canadian record of 2:08.08 in the 200m backstroke
1: At the Spanish Open in Malaga, Mireia Belmonte, triple world s/c champion of 2010, takes her potential programme at London 2012 to seven events after a Spanish 400m free record and a 2:06.95 win over 200m 'fly; Spain selects 11 for London 2012
2: At Chinese national championships in Shaoxing, Li Xuanxu, Hunan, wins 400IM in 4:34.92, and Ye Shiwen, Zhejiang, goes 4:35.17, 7secs off which will deliver Olympic gold, half that gain to be made entirely on freestyle as Ye swims at the pace of five in the Olympic men's final
2: At Japan Nationals and Olympic Trials in Tokyo, Kosuke Kitajima leaps past the rest of the world's best over 100m breast with a 59.31 in semis on his way to a shout at history after Olympic crowns in 2004 and 2008; Kosuke Hagino and Yuya Horihata inside Asia 400IM mark
2: Kim Brackin, the coach who led Kirsty Coventry (ZIM) to success at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games that included the 200m backstroke crown on both occasions, parts company with the University of Texas on her way to setting up Brackin Elite Swim Training.
3: In Shaoxing at Chinese nationals, Zhejiang's Sun Yang clocks 3:42.31 in the 400m freestyle to extend his world ranks lead on the way to the Olympic crown, as things pan out; Ye Shiwen cracks 2:10 in 200IM but no sign yet of the freestyle speed that will make headlines around the world come London 2012; Tang diffuses Le Jingyi's 1994 bomb from a time of deep doping crisis
3: At Japan Nationals and Olympic Trials in Tokyo, the triple crown dream is alive in Kosuke Kitajima after double Olympic champion of 2004 and 2008 sets Asian and national record of 58.90 in 100m breast; Kato goes NR too, on 57.77 in 100 'fly 
4: The first Chinese man to hold a world record in the modern era, Zhang Lin, Beijing 2008 medallist over 400m freestyle, may have fallen shy of best in a fourth-place finish at nationals in Shaoxing because of asthma, says coach - the end result is that he will not be selected for London 2012
4: Qatar is to become the second Gulf state after Dubai in 2010 to host the FINA world short-course swim championships
4: In Shaoxing at Chinese national championships, Xing Xin clocks 8:22.76 for world 2012 No 2 over 800m freestyle, and Sun Ye rises to a 2:24.54 in the 200m breaststroke
4: At Japan Nationals and Olympic Trials in Tokyo, Ryosuke Irie, Takeshi Matsuda and Satomi Suzuki raced into the top 3 in the world in their respective events
5: At Chinese nationals in Shaoxing, Olympic 200m butterfly champion Liu Zige finishes third behind Lu Ying and Jiao Liuyang, all on 57s in the 100m and Zhao is fifth in 100 back final
5: At Japan Olympic Trials in Tokyo, Natsumi Hoshi and Aya Terakawa lead world in 2012 with 2:04.69 (200 'fly) and 59.10 (100 back) national marks, both third fastest ever in textile
5: Olympic 200m backstroke champion Kirsty Coventry is on the mend after dislocating her knee cap when jogging
6: Michael Scott will continue as British Swimming's Performance Director four years from London 2012 through to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games as Britain sign new four-year deal ahead of a home Games;  head coach Dennis Pursley will leave Britain immediately after London 2012 come what may
6: At Chinese nationals in Shaoxing, Olympic champion and world record holder Liu Zige is beaten into third by teammates Jiao Liuyang and Gong Jie, on 2:05s, in the 200m butterfly, will end year as third-best in China but  but will still race the event at London 2012
6: At Japanese Olympic Trials in Tokyo, Olympic champ Kosuke Kitajima regains the upper hand over Ryo Tateishi 2:08.00 to 2:08.17 in 200 breast; Takeshi Matsuda on 1:54.01 200 'fly...
7: At Chinese nationals in Shaoxing, world champion and record holder Sun Yang wins 1500 in 14:42.30 on his way to an assault on the 1500m crown at London 2012; victory there would make him the first Chinese Olympic swimming champ among men
7: At Japan Olympic Trials in Tokyo, Satomi Suzuki clocks 2:22.99 a stroke ahead of a blanket finish for the second Olympic berth, Kanako Watanabe, 15, getting the touch in 2:23.56; Ryosuke Irie takes 200 back in 1:54.03
8: At Japan Nationals in Tokyo, no races produces a single Olympic qualifier as the meet comes to a close
9: Kosuke Kitajima says he feels pressure free on the way to attempting an historic double-triple crown in at London 2012 as Japan announces team of 13 men and 14 women, sets target of eight medals and offers 30 million yen to gold medallists - to no avail, as it turns out
11: In drug code review, BOA boss says: "By urging NOCs to work toward a global two-year ban in recent years, WADA has followed the wrong course. As Sir Steve Redgrave [put it], ‘A two year ban for doping is almost saying it is acceptable'."
11: French breaststroke Olympic medallist Hugues Duboscq parts  company with mentor and coach of 15 years, Christos Paparradopoulos after poor Olympic trials
12: Ryk Neethling, winner of an historic gold with his South African 4x100m freestyle teammates at Athens 2004, rubbishes claims by former girlfriend Amanda Beard that street drugs were used on a trip to meet the family
12: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) backs up the 53.05sec in which she claimed the fastest-ever 100m freestyle time in a textile suit last December with a 2012 world-leading 53.29 effort in semi-finals at the Eindhoven Swim Cup
13: Dutch sprinter Ranomi Kromowidjojo clocks 52.75, a world textile best, to win the 100m freestyle at the SwimCup Eindhoven - the time is the first official moment inside 53sec by a woman in a textile suit
13: Randy Starkman, the two-time National Newspaper Award winner from the Toronto Star and the man who exposed Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson’s second positive steroid test in 1993, passed away at 51 in Toronto
15: Ranomi Kromowidjojo enters the summer season as the fastest woman ever in textile suit over 50m and 100m freestyle after a 24.10 dash victory  24.10 victory at a home Swim Cup Eindhoven
15: A legend passes away. Born on January 6, 1939, Australian Murray Rose grew to be one of the all-time greats of his sport, the face of the 1956 home Games in Melbourne aged 17 and four years on the first man ever to remain a distance freestyle crown; Dawn Fraser says: "Before celebrity became code for promotion, Murray was a national hero ...Murray was a true gentleman ... The master of cool. The only guy to go through life and not cause a ripple, but certainly make enormous waves."...
17: In Durban at RSA nationals, Cameron Van Der Burgh (RSA) clocks 59.90, third best 100m breaststroke in the world so far in 2012
18: On day 2 of Russian nationals in Moscow, five men make the cut for the London 2012 Olympic Games: Alexander Tikhonov, 400IM; Evgeny Korotyshkin and Nikolay Skvortsov,100 'fly and Arkady Vyatchanin and Vladimir Morozov, 100 back
18: A day after racing inside 200 free Olympic cut in the 200 free semis, World Cup champion Chad Le Clos skips final to clock another London 2012 qualifier in semis at South African nationals in Durban with a 1:55.30 in the 200 'fly 
19: On day 3 of Russian nationals in Moscow, Anastasia Zueva clocks 2:06.59 on her way to the helm of the 2012 world rankings
19: At South African nationals in Durban, Chad Le Clos, after a 1:55.30 in semis, clocked 1:56.17 to confirm his place in the Olympic 200m butterfly this summer - he will be much faster come London - and ahead of Michael Phelps for gold
20: On the 5th day of action at South African nationals in Durban, Chad Le Clos takes his tally of London 2012 A cuts to four with a 1:58.87 200IM victory over Darian Townsend, also inside target time on 1:59.98
20: On the fourth day of Russian nationals in Moscow, Andrey Grechin leaps to second in the world so far this year on 21.82 blast in the 50 free
21: On the 5th day of action at Russian nationals in Moscow, Nikolay Skvortsov makes the London 2012 team with a 1:56.48 victory in the 200m butterfly
21: Olympic 400m free champion Park Tae-hwan (KOR) cruises to a 1:46.09 victory over 200m freestyle at the 84th Dong-A Swimming Championships in Ulsan, slowing down in the last 10m; coach Bohl says Parks' endurance and speed have improved
22: On the last day of Russian nationals in Moscow, Anastasia Zueva becomes the second woman to crack 59sec in a textile suit on 58.97; Izotov, 48.27, and Lobintsev, 48.39, finished top two in 100 free; Chaun pips Efimova 2:24.13 to 2:24.45 in 200 breast
24: World 100m freestyle champion James Magnussen pulls out of a national-team training camp after suffering another chest infection
25: At the Maria Lenk Trophy in Brazil, Olympic champion Cesar Cielo blasts a 21.38 50m free just 0.02sec shy of the best-ever in textile
25: German researcher Mario Thevis says some of the “80, 90, 100” new performance-enhancing drugs for which no tests yet exist have made it to elite sport: "They act like EPO but they are structurally different ... current EPO tests will not pick them up…" His words are critical at a time when any questioning of off-the-chart performance is met with cries of "… but there was no positive test" (just like there wasn't for the GDR, Marion Jones, Lance Armstrong and many others who subsequently fell from grace).
26: At the Maria Lenk Trophy in Rio, the non-Olympic 50m butterfly finals used as speed tests by medal prospects at London 2012, Cesar Cielo (21.76) and Jeannette Ottesen Gray (25.29) establishing world textile marks
27: Ron "Stix" Ballatore, mentor to Brian Goodell and Tom Jager, latterly a Gainesville coach at the University of Florida Gators and formerly at the helm of the UCLA men's programme, lost his battle with throat cancer; swimming mourns a leading light 
27: At the Maria Lenk Trophy in Rio, Cesar Cielo clocks 48.28 in the 100m free and Felipe Franca da Silva goes best-ever 50m breast in textile
27: Olympic swim champions Mark Spitz and Janet Evans, Aaron Peirsol, Brooke Bennett and Amanda Beard and diving's Greg Louganis are among 18 Olympic athletes who sue Samsung over a Facebook application 
28: On the last day of the Maria Lenk Trophy in Rio, Thiago Pereira became the first Brazilian to crack 54sec in 100 back with a 53.86 victory
30: Former doping cheats will be eligible to compete for the host Olympic nation at London 2012 after CAS rules the British Olympic Association's lifetime ban on offenders out of synch with a WADA Code that allows offenders a second chance; case will lead to a new Code agreement that backs the BOA position
30: all aquatic athletes seeking London 2012 selection for China are seven weeks into a meatless diet to avoid the risk of doping positives by default in a country where clenbuterol is among substances fed, illegally, to livestock, officials reveal
MAY
1: Alexander Dale Oen, the Norwegian world 100m breaststroke champion, dies at the age of 26, in Flagstaff, the swimmer's federation confirms the morning after tragedy strikes; swimming world in shock as tributes flow from VD Burgh, Kitajima and Gyurta
1: Sir Colin Moynihan, chair of the British Olympic Association, seeks "minimum of 4 years, including one Games" and "testing measures that ... treat athletes with greater fairness and consistency" - WADA Code deemed to have failed clean athletes
2: As Flagstaff police report no foul play and the autopsy is inconclusive, details of Alex Dale Oen's last day emerge: he swam easy, played a round of golf, complained of feeling cold and took a shower as teammates watched TV in the next room
2: Japan, home of quadruple Olympic breaststroke champion Kosuke Kitajima, reconsiders its altitude training programme after the death of Alex Dale Oen, the Norwegian 100m breaststroke world champion...
4: Double Olympic medley champion Stephanie Rice complains that her parents still have no tickets for the swimming at London 2012 - she and they are not alone as disquiet over ticket sales becomes louder; after the Games, organisers will admit that some swimming tickets went unsold, while corporate seats went unfilled as folk stood outside unable to buy a ticket
5: Swimming Australia denies reports of a secret deal to allow Nick D'Arcy, the butterfly swimmer found guilty of assault on Simon Cowley in 2008, a berth on the London 2012 squad
7: Simon Cowley, assaulted by Nick D'Arcy in the wake of the 2008 Australian Olympic trials, points to two Swimming Australia press releases as evidence that the federation agreed to allow D'Arcy back on teams is he agreed to drop a legal threat
8: "The plan was that Alexander and Robin would create The Dale Oen Experience after the Olympics in London 2012 and manage the fund together. Now Alexander is not here anymore, but his message is still important" - Robin Dale Oen, brother of the late world swimming champion
9: Britain's Gemma Spofforth, world record holder and 2009 100m back champion, reveals the depths of despair she has lived through on the way to a home Games in London, her mere presence in the pool a triumph in itself
17: US coach Skip Kenney, 69, waves goodbye to Stanford after 33 successful years
18: The CEO of Swimming New Zealand Mike Byrne is reported to have cleared out his office in readiness for quitting after an independent review of the sport in his country recommends that the entire board resign and CEO role overhauled
13: Ryan Lochte sets a 1:57.63 meet record in the 200m medley on the last day of action at the Charlotte Grand Prix, taper for Olympic summer weeks away
13: As several more add their name to the German London 2012 team on day 4 of trials in Berlin, Britta Steffen sets up the defence of her second Olympic crown with a 24.92 victory in the 50m freestyle
12: Olympic champion Rebecca Soni extends her lead at the helm of the world rankings with a 2:22.22 victory over 200m breaststroke at the Charlotte Grand Prix
12: On the third day of Germany's Olympic trials in Berlin, Jan-Philip Glania sets a national mark of 1:55.87 (prev best 1:58) in the 200m back and Jenny Mensing takes down 200m mark for women twice in one day
11: At Germany's Olympic trials in Berlin Marco Koch steals the show with his first sub-2:10 textile effort ahead of Christian Vom Lehn in the 200m breast
11: Bid battle is over - Queensland, Australia, will host the 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships 25 years after the event was last held there
10: Eight Japanese Olympic swimmers decide to go ahead with altitude training for London 2012 as planned, despite the death of Norwegian world champion Alexander Dale Oen at a camp in Flagstaff, Arizona
9: Vinicius Rocha Barbosa Waked (BRA) is back in the race pool just two days after anti-doping rules designed to deter cheats allowed him to return in the wake of going down as a cheat not once before but twice, his case among those cited by officials battling to strengthen a WADA Code that has allowed cheats back into the Olympic arena on legal technicality
19: Calendar chaos takes a toll once more - at least 21 solo European titles will not be defended when racing gets underway at the continent's long-course showcase championships in Debrecen, Hungary, on the 21st; by the time a meet of mixed-bag challenges comes to a close, the case for Europe returning to a four-year cycle or at least shifting its event to a suitable slot on the race calendar becomes all the more compelling
20: "Maybe I could be confident in who I am and what I am and just try to just move forward. If I was wet cement before, now it's dry and I'm a boulder and I'm going to start rolling downhill" - Anthony Ervin, 2000 Olympic champ back for more...
21: At the European Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, Paul Biedermann (GER), on 3:47.84 in the 400m freestyle, and Katinka Hosszu (HUN), on 4:33.76 in the 400m medley, claim the first two titles up for grabs at the seven-day meet
21: I'm An Alpha Male & I Like It, says the Missile - "I've never taken being pushed around very well ... I'm not going to take any rubbish from anyone" - James Magnussen tells Aussie media
22: on day 2 at the European Championships in Hungary, Fabio Scozzoli (ITA), world championship silver medallist in Shanghai last year, dedicates his European title in the 100m breaststroke today to the late world champion Alex Dale Oen (NOR)
23:  At the European Championships in Debrecen, Hungary,Italian teen Gregorio Paltrinieri, in his 18th year, goes inside 15mins and 14:50 for the first time for 1500m crown; Laszlo Cseh clocks 1:56.66 champs record in 200IM
24: At the European Championships in Hungary, Boglarka Kapas's win over 800m free for the hosts is followed by victories for Katinka Hosszu (2:10.84, 200m IM), Daniel Gyurta (2:08.60, 200m breast), and Laszlo Cseh (1:54.85, 200m 'fly)
25: At the Mel Zajac Jr International in Vancouver, Olympic champion Park Tae Hwan (KOR) clocks 1:46.75 to win the 200m freestyle
25: At the European Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, Sara Nordenstam and Ingvild Snildal pay homage to the memory of their late teammate Alex Dale Oen with victories for Norway over 200 breast and 100 'fly 
26: At the European Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, Radoslaw Kawecki (POL) sets championship record of 1:55.28, ahead of Hungary's Peter Bernek, on 1:55.88 in 200 back
27: At the European Championships in Hungary the hosts enjoy more success - after Katinka Hosszu and Zsuzsanna Jakabos top the 200m 'fly, Laszlo Cseh claims his 14th continental medal and 11th Euro l/c crown in 4:12.17 over 400IM
27: Park Tae Hwan's latest show of force is a 3:44.22 in a lonely 400m free swim at the Mel Zajac Jr Intl; he also took second in the 50m dash, his 22.89 behind a 22.76 win for Brent Hayden (CAN)
28: Former 1500m free great Grant Hackett is dropped by a children's anti-violence charity after pictures were published of damage at his home following an alleged drunken rampage; Evans done with warm-up
31: Grant Hackett was absent from a celebration of Australia's distance free tradition attended by Kieren Perkins, who said that athletes, including Nick D'Arcy, had to understand that they had a wider responsibility to upholding standards
JUNE
1: Dana Vollmer takes a brace of victories at the Santa Clara Grand Prix, on 54.38 in the 100m free and 57.03 in the 100m 'fly (after 57.07 heat); Park Tae Hwan goes 48.85 in 100m free and 3:44.96 in 400m free
1: Jozsef Nagy, the breaststroke guru based in Canada, laments that Canadian kids are not prepared to give up home comforts and face the challenge of world-class swimming; Sergio Lopez urges them to beat a path to his door
1: At the Santa Clara meet, Park Tae Hwan (KOR) clocks 7:52.07 meet mark over 800m
2: At the Longhorn Aquatics Elite Invitational in Austin, Allison Schmitt lays down a 1:55.04 prophetic victory over 1:57.91 for Missy Franklin in the 200m free
2: At the Santa Clara meet, St Peters Western tourer Steph Rice clocks 4:35.87 in the 400m medley
2: Rebecca Adlington and Hannah Miley celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee with victories of 8:19 in the 800m free and 4:34 over 400IM at the Barcelona round of the Mare Nostrum Tour.
3: Wisdom survived the USOC challenge to the IOC's Osaka Rule that bans athletes convicted of serious doping offences from competing in the next Olympic Games - WADA will reintroduce the measure by placing it in a revamped Code
3: What with coach Bob Bowman walking around with Dvorak's stirring 7th in his musical mind this season, the final notes of a sporting movement like no other appear to be falling nicely into place, a 1:54.79 over 200 'fly in Austin in the mix for Michael Phelps
3: Takeshi Matsuda (JPN) continues to register standout times over 200m butterfly, his 1:54.57 in the Santa Clara 200 'fly granting him the four best performances in the world this year
4: Alice Tait (nee Mills), the Aussie sprinter who had her own Olympic medal-winning career after carrying Inge De Bruijn's clothes basket off the deck as a young girl volunteer at Sydney 2000, retires
5: A Portuguese teenager is handed a warning after a Terbutaline positive: among questions being asked is - was a drug discouraged by US doctors, unapproved by the FDA and used to delay labour in pregnant women used to help a swimmer to breathe? 
6: On the first day of finals in Canet, Camille Muffat establishes a world textile record of 1:54.66 in the 200m freestyle and boasts three of the best five efforts so far this year; Yannick Agnel on 1:45.24 has the best three among men
6: A day to celebrate the 65th birthday of a butterfly legend from a country that has produced a fine shoal of women swimmers - but just the one Ada Kok, a woman who set more 'fly world marks than any other in swimming history
7: In an open letter, ASCA, the body representing American coaches, condemns an article in the Wall St Journal in which overseas college athletes are referred to as "The Enemy"
7: After a world textile best of 1:54.66 in the 200m free the day before, Camille Muffat, of Nice and France, scorches a 4:02.97 victory in the 400m at the Canet International; in 2012 she has swum 4:01, 4:02. 4:03 and 4:04 over 400m - the Olympic crown her target
7: The "two bad boys of Australian swimming" as media Down Under described Nick D'Arcy and Kenrick Monk, are in hot water again after being forced to remove online photos of them posing with guns while on tour in the US
8: Nick D'Arcy and Kenrick Monk apologise for posting online a photo of themselves posing with guns at a store in the US. 
9: Off the Portuguese coast at Setubal today, Haley Anderson (USA) wins the FINA Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier for the last 10 places in the London 2012 10km race this summer, with Eva Risztov (HUN) second just 1.4sec away and on her way to gold in the Olympic marathon proper, as things pan out
9: Nick D'Arcy and Kenrick Monk will be sent home from the London 2012 Olympics by the Australian Olympic Committee the moment the swimming programme ends and are barred from social media after posting gun photos online, officials announce
9: After tub-thumping swims over 200m and 400m freestyle at the Canet round of the Mare Nostrum Tour, Camille Muffat (FRA) takes down the Monaco meet record twice in a day: 1:56.42 heats, 1:55.21 final
10: France's Camille Muffat, coached by Fabrice Pellerin in Nice, concludes her Mare Nostrum Tour with a dominant 4:03.72 victory over 400m freestyle in Monte Carlo, the time giving her 5 among the best 7 performances in the world in 2012
10: Oussama Mellouli (TUN) will not only defend his 1500m freestyle crown in London this summer but will take on the 10km marathon after gatecrashing the open water party off the Portuguese coast with victory in the Olympic qualifier
10: An Irish senator and former athlete faces a blast of criticism after describing Michelle Smith de Bruin, the disgraced swimmer, as his nation's "greatest Olympian” in a discussion that follows the Olympic Council of Ireland's decision to bypass her on the trail of London 2012 torch-bearers
12: Doctors at a press conference in Oslo reveal that Alexander Dale One, the world 10m breaststroke champion who died on the last day of April, suffered a heart attack caused by a blood clot in one of his coronary arteries
13: The Russian Swimming Federation announces that Andrea Di Nino will be one of the national team coaches for the 2012 Olympic Games in London; he is the first foreign coach to serve on the nation's Olympic squad
14: Further detail has emerge about the cause of death following an autopsy on Norwegian world swim champion Alex Dale Oen, whose family have been advised to have heart checks because of a condition that may have been hereditary 
15: At the Sette Colli meet, Ranomi Kromowidjojo crushes oppnenents on 53.06 in 100m free - writing on the wall
18: Yoav Bruck, a former swimmer for Israel, is among 27 people who face an International Olympic Committee (IOC) investigation into an alleged breach of strict regulations on the sale of London 2012 tickets; he denies wrongdoing
20: Swimming Australia cancels a relay camp and 2012 Grand Prix scheduled for the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra "as a precaution" after two athletes at the AIS suffer whooping cough
25: at US Olympic Trials in Omaha, a torch is lit for the opening gambit of London 2012 as Ryan Lochte holds off the last lap thunder of Michael Phelps in the 400IM; Beisel world textile best 400IM
25: Cecil Colwin, coach, SwimNews columnist and one of the most prolific and knowledgeable of authors on the subject of swimming, dies aged 85; swimming mourns a scholar
26: At US Olympic Trials in Omaha, Allison Schmitt moves to 3rd in the world on 4:02.84; along the way she tests Federica Pellegrini's shiny suited speed, turning in 1.58.34, 1.08sec inside world record pace, at 200m; Brendan Hansen is back - 59.68 100m breaststroke win; Ryan Lochte retains psycho lead in the duel with Michael Phelps 1:46.35 to 1:46.37 in 200m free semi; Dana Vollmer takes 100 'fly in 56.50 
27: At US Olympic Trials in Omaha, Michael Phelps refused to yield under unrelenting pressure from Ryan Lochte in a 200m freestyle final that ended 1:45.70 to 1:45.75 in the Olympic champion's favour (but he won't race it at London 2012); Missy Franklin on 58.85 and Matt Grevers on 52.08 in 100 back finals; Breeja Larson defeats world champion Rebecca Soni 1:05.92 to 1:05.99 in 100 breast
28: At US Olympic Trials in Omaha, Michael Phelps clocks 1:53.65 for 200 'fly victory, the 6th time he has raced inside 1:54 in textile (no other has ever been there to this point); a 36.79 breaststroke lap rang the death knell for the opponents of Caitlin Leverenz, on 2:10.22 in the 200IM; Allison Schmitt is the best we have ever seen over 200m freestyle, a 1:54.40 world textile record throwing the gauntlet back at the feet of Camille Muffat (FRA) and world champion Federica Pellegrini (ITA)
28: China includes 200m champion Liu Zige, her nation's No 3 over 100m and 200m 'fly this season, on squad of 51 for London 2012
29: at US Olympic Trials in Omaha, the US 4x100m freestyle quartet creeps up on France - on paper - but there's work to do (and it will be done…) to catch the Dolphins as Nathan Adrian goes 48.10 and Cullen Jones 48.46 in 100 free; Californian Scott Weltz and his coach Peter Motekaitis dream the Olympic dream with a 2:09.01 victory in the 200m breaststroke as Clark Burckle goes inside 2:10 for second with Shanteau and Hansen locked out; Olympic champ Rebecca Soni writes a footnote in swim history in heats in Omaha: her 2:23.11 200m breaststroke is the swiftest ever prelims swim ever in domestic competition anywhere and best ever in international competition in textile suit
29: German swim federation (DSV) is left red-faced over an oversight that sees its biggest fish in its men's swim pool left off the list of Olympic squad members for London 2012: 10 women, 17 men, 3 open water swimmers named - the one missing, Paul Biedermann, added later in the day
30: At US Olympic Trials in Omaha,Ryan Lochte takes 200 back 1:54.54, Tyler Clary on 1:54.88; then Phelps, celebrating his 27th birthday, hits back with a "no-way" win in the 200IM 1:54.84 to 1:54.93 over Lochte and goes 51.35 to lead way into 100 'fly final; the defence of the Olympic 200m breaststroke crown is on as Rebecca Soni, coached by Dave Salo at Trojan, extends her world-ranks lead; Anthony Ervin, 31, clocks 21.83 in the 50m freestyle heats - faster than the time in which he shared Olympic gold with gary hall Jr back at Sydney 2000; and the great Janet Evans bows out after a 9-minute 800m free swim - "Did you win," asks her 5-year-old ... '"no", says mom. "It's okay, I still love you", comes the best of replies
30: Olympic silver medallist Duge Draganja questions the circumstances in which a split time was registered for a domestic rival in a way that tests the rule book; the split is used as a way of locking him out of London 2012 
JULY
1: "I think we have to talk about the program," says coach Bowman of Phelps as US trials drew to a close. "I wanted him to get through tonight so we could see how it went, and we'll decide what he should do."
1: At US Olympic trials in Omaha, Cullen Jones stopps the clock on 21.59 in free dash, 0.01sec ahead of Anthony Ervin; in 51.14 in his last Olympic qualification race ever Michael Phelps extended his lead at the helm of the world rankings in the 100 'fly; Miss(y) Phelps is what they called Melissa Franklin in Berlin last year and it all seemed more real after a 200m back victory in 2:06.12 takes to seven the number of events she will tackle at London 2012; Katie Ledecky clocks 8:19.78 in 800m free for an annual gain of 17secs so far - with more to come for gold in London
2: Andrew Gemmell, in 14:52.19, and Connor Jaeger, on 14:52.51, pass Chad La Tourette with 200m to go to claim places on US London 2012 squad as US Trials comes to a close; end of the elite race road for 45-year-old Dara Torres as she finished outside top 2 in 50m free; Michael Phelps drops the 200m freestyle from his London 2012 programme
2: Australian swimmers receive a boost on the eve of leaving for the London 2012 Olympic Games: win a gold medal and get an Aus$35,000 bonus, while a relay gold will see $60,000 shared by any who race in heats or finals
3: Ann Curtis Cuneo, an Olympic swimming champion from San Francisco, one of the names of the 1948 London Games and founder of her own swim club passes away at home in San Rafael, California. She was 86
4: Australia's ban on sleeping pills after Grant Hackett said he had become dependant will cost the Green and Gold medals at London 2012, says athletes
5: Organisers of the 2013 FINA World Championships in Spain seek private sponsorship in exchange for state tax breaks
6: At the Paris Open, Camille Muffat fires another shot across the bows of her Olympic rivals with an 8:23 in the 800m, swum 4:18 then 4:04 plus, followed five minutes later with a 1:56 200m - 3 weeks out from London 2012
7: Camille Muffat gives the home crowd on the last day at the Paris Open reason to send her off to the 2012 Olympics with hope in their hearts: she won the 400m free in her 6th sub-4:05 of the season, a 4:04.42; Yannick Agnel on 1:46.09 200m
8: Russia topped the medals table at the European Junior Championships after five days of racing in Antwerp; Gabriele Detti (ITA) and Mariya Baklakova (RUS) best of meet
9: The Quebec Cup provided a last staging post for world-class swimmers heading to London 2012, coach Mike Bottom's Club Wolverine squad to the fore and Wu Peng (CHN) on 1:54.91 in the 200m 'fly for 4th best in the world this season
10: As Swimming Australia grant its Olympic team $10,000 each as their latest pay deal weeks out from London 2012, swimmers' rep Daniel Kowalski says promises have been broken and not enough is being done to keep athletes in the sport
12: The names of China's team of 27 women and 24 men, 51 in all, for London 2012 are confirmed, Sun Yang at the helm and a handful of anomalies in the mix; No1 and No2 swimmers missing in several events
13: Ian Thorpe appears on Aussie TV this evening in a documentary about his failed attempt to make the London 2012 Games; he wanted to ensure that he did not drag regret through the rest of his life over his decision to retire in 2006
20: Grant Hackett refutes coach Cotterell's claim that a sleeping pill lost him a third Olympic crown over 1500m in Beijing
London 2012: 
Michael Phelps emerges as the most decorated swimmers and athlete at his swansong Games, his latest successes contributing to an all-time record of 22 medals career medals, 18 of them gold. Missy Franklin is the star of the women's events.