KAZAN, RUSSIA // The 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games will force swimming’s elite to adopt some nocturnal habits as preparations are stepped up in the coming months in the race for golds.
The world championships finished on Sunday as the United States again ended top of the swimming table in Kazan with 23 medals followed by Australia (16), China (13) and Britain (nine).
But for coaches and swimmers alike, Kazan is already forgotten – it’s all about Rio from now on – and lots of late nights.
Traditionally, the swimming section of the Olympics involves morning heats and early evening finals.
But to capitalise on the US television market, the Rio finals are scheduled to start at 2200 local time with the heats beginning at 1300.
It means many medals will be decided around midnight.
Any newly-crowned champion can expect to see their bed in the early hours of the next day after the medal ceremony, media interviews, doping control and bus to the athletes village.
For the swimmers, the unusual schedule is just part of their job description.
This is not the first time the Olympic schedule has been changed – the finals of the 2008 Bejing games were held in the morning with evening heats.
“You walk out for a final and the timing is the last thing on your mind,” said Australia’s Mitchell Larkin, who won 100m and 200m backstroke gold in Kazan.
“It will be late in Rio, but it’s part and parcel of being an athlete. All we can do is prepare.”
Sweden and Germany held training camps last January in Rio for their elite swimmers to get used to the Brazilian metropolis.
Each country has a plan for Rio, but Swimming Australia is holding a five-day training camp at Canberra’s Australian Institute of Sport next month to give their swimmers a taste of what to expect.
It includes two days of competition with early afternoon heats and late night finals, plus everything from doping controls to mock media interviews.
“Everything from now on will be about getting the athletes as ready as possible for Rio, both inside and outside the pool,” said Australia’s media manager Ian Hanson.
“The Olympics has thrown a curve ball, but everyone is in the same boat.”
A year is a long time in sport and the list of Rio medal winners is likely to look very different to those in Kazan.
Big names, like US superstar Michael Phelps, France’s Yannick Agnel and Australia’s James Magnussen, will return to fight for Rio medals.
Phelps, 30, was suspended for Kazan after last year’s drink-driving conviction, but he would have won two world golds in Kazan, based on his times at the US Championships on Saturday.
Phelps’ world-best times for the 100 and 200m butterfly in San Antonio eclipsed those in the corresponding Kazan finals.
Katie Ledecky, the stand-out performer, left Russia with five gold medals having lowered two of her three world records.
The 18-year-old is the first swimmer in history to win the 200, 400, 800 and 1500m freestyle golds at a worlds and earned a relay gold.
She describes Kazan as a “great stepping stone towards the US trials” as she keeps “slowly chipping away” at her goals.
Some 44 years after Shane Gould of Australia won Munich Olympic medals in the women’s 100, 200, 400 and 800m freestyle, Ledecky looks set to rival those historic results in Rio.
Adam Peaty dazzled on his worlds’ debut by completing the 50 and 100m breaststroke double, breaking the sprint record twice in the process, and picked up a third gold and world record for Britain in the mixed relay
“I never thought I’d walk away from my first championships with three gold medals, but I’ll take nothing for granted next year,” said the 20-year-old.
“I want to be ruthless with my start and try to get them perfect every time. I want to nail them to get faster times.”
But British coach Bill Furniss’s tough appraisal of Kazan could be aimed at any world medallist dreaming of gold in Rio.
“It’s a platform, and no more than that, before Rio,” he said.
“Make no mistake, this is not the Olympics and that is what I will be telling our swimmers in the wrap-up meeting.
“Expect the Olympics to be between ten and 15 percent harder, which means we have to be 15 percent better at handling the pressure.”
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
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If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
It’ll be summer in the city as car show tries to move with the times
If 2008 was the year that rocked Detroit, 2019 will be when Motor City gives its annual car extravaganza a revamp that aims to move with the times.
A major change is that this week's North American International Auto Show will be the last to be held in January, after which the event will switch to June.
The new date, organisers said, will allow exhibitors to move vehicles and activities outside the Cobo Center's halls and into other city venues, unencumbered by cold January weather, exemplified this week by snow and ice.
In a market in which trends can easily be outpaced beyond one event, the need to do so was probably exacerbated by the decision of Germany's big three carmakers – BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi – to skip the auto show this year.
The show has long allowed car enthusiasts to sit behind the wheel of the latest models at the start of the calendar year but a more fluid car market in an online world has made sales less seasonal.
Similarly, everyday technology seems to be catching up on those whose job it is to get behind microphones and try and tempt the visiting public into making a purchase.
Although sparkly announcers clasp iPads and outline the technical gadgetry hidden beneath bonnets, people's obsession with their own smartphones often appeared to offer a more tempting distraction.
“It's maddening,” said one such worker at Nissan's stand.
The absence of some pizzazz, as well as top marques, was also noted by patrons.
“It looks like there are a few less cars this year,” one annual attendee said of this year's exhibitors.
“I can't help but think it's easier to stay at home than to brave the snow and come here.”
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
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Fitness problems in men's tennis
Andy Murray - hip
Novak Djokovic - elbow
Roger Federer - back
Stan Wawrinka - knee
Kei Nishikori - wrist
Marin Cilic - adductor
TOUR RESULTS AND FIXTURES
June 3: NZ Provincial Barbarians 7 Lions 13
June 7: Blues 22 Lions 16
June 10: Crusaders 3 Lions 12
June 13: Highlanders 23 Lions 22
June 17: Maori All Blacks 10 Lions 32
June 20: Chiefs 6 Lions 34
June 24: New Zealand 30 Lions 15
June 27: Hurricanes 31 Lions 31
July 1: New Zealand 21 Lions 24
July 8: New Zealand v Lions
SQUADS
India
Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur
New Zealand
Kane Williamson (captain), Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wicketkeeper), Henry Nicholls, Ish Sodhi, George Worker, Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, Trent Boult
MATCH INFO
Day 2 at the Gabba
Australia 312-1
Warner 151 not out, Burns 97, Labuschagne 55 not out
Pakistan 240
Shafiq 76, Starc 4-52
MATCH INFO
FA Cup final
Chelsea 1
Hazard (22' pen)
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)