Within an hour, I had been reached by a couple of Canadian coaches and athletes disappointed that I would publicly put down Canadian Swimming in this way. I feel that I should apologize just as publicly as I offended. I am sorry if my comments were construed as being "anti-Canadian" or un-supportive to my own cause. It was not intended this way at all.
I was simply amazed that Katie Ledecky had such ridiculous speed in the opening 200 of her 800FR. 2:00.67 is bloody fast, obviously by American and World standards as well!! I do not think that anyone should deny or ignore it! I do not think that it is necessarily relevant to anyone outside of this nation where it would rank in our country, but to ignore the fact that it is incredibly fast would be a tad "head in the sand". Congrats to Katie, she had a hell of a swim! Lets congratulate her rather than taking it personally.
I'm not sure that anyone can really call me unsupportive to Canadian Swimming (my countless hours of writing on this blog, coverage of Canadians at Major Canadian Meets for other websites as well as my podcast, Google+ Community for Canadian Coaching & OFF THE DECK series pushing Canadian Swimming all over the web, suggest quite the contrary) but I can see that my comments were irrelevant and poorly worded, given the way they have been taken by Canadian coaches and athletes. For that, I am sorry. I am a swim fan and got wrapped up in the excitement of a great race. Please forgive me and keep reading.
Yours Truly,
Mike Thompson
