I recently updated my five year plan. I’m not a big fan of five year plans- too much committment – but mine was about two years outdated and in need of some serious revisions.
Anyway, when comparing the “old” and the “new”, there was only one item that stayed the same… qualify for the Ironman World Championships. I always push it back because it requires some serious endurance training. But, after today’s practice, I don’t think it would be as hard as I always make it out to be. I’d have to add some distance to the running, throw in a few more open water swims and add biking back to the routine. Easy cheesy.
As I sit here watching the Opening Ceremonies of the 29th Summer Olympics, I am in awe. I can’t even begin to imagine how much time, effort and thought went into coordinating not only the performances, but also the men, women and children (15,000 of them) executing those performances.
In the weeks leading up to the Games, Beijing received a lot of “negative” press about the strict guidelines, traffic laws and restrictions that they plan on imposing this week. And yes, some of it is a little extreme- like making citizens take a swig of liquids that are in discarded bottles (wish I could find that article again). But, I get it and I applaud them for it.
For one week, their ENTIRE country is not only in the spotlight of the United States, but in the spotlight of every single country that is participating. And, in this day in age, I’m sure a lot of the Olympic coverage will live on for much longer than a week on YouTube, Blogs, Twitter, etc.
If something were to go wrong in Beijing it would be like giving a presentation with a glaring spelling mistake to 2.5 billion people. Okay, not the greatest example, but the take away from both would be the mistake and not all the amazingly right things done.
In the case of the Olympic hosting country, “bad” press is not “good” press. I applaud Beijing for taking every precautionary, proactive step possible to not allow “bad” press to happen.
I’m still thinking about Nike’s announcement to let their sponsored swimmers wear Speedo LZR suits. I have to say, even though I’m not a fan of Nike, I’m impressed by their decision and a few others:
- Nike gets the idea of the $100,000 salt and pepper shaker. Unlike Adidas, Nike has once again chosen to sponsor individual athletes vs. being the official sponsor of an event. By sponsoring individuals, they are connecting on a micro level. In addition, their sponsorship dollars are going further and lasting longer. Ask me who sponsored Amanda Beard in the 2004 Olympics. RedBull. Now ask me who sponsored the 2004 Olympics. No clue.
- It’s always good to be first. Now the other sponsors (i.e. Adidas, TYR) have to jump on board or look like pricks for refusing to allow their swimmers to wear whatever they want.
- Whatever the outcome, just imagine all the COOL marketing campaigns that can (and hopefully will) spawn from this.
For not being a fan of Nike, I’ve now written two semi-positive posts about the company. Imagine what I would have written if they denied their swimmers the right to wear what they wanted.
Thanks to someone for sending me the latest swimming news. I just don’t know about this new turn of events.
Here’s the thing:
I swam for a Nike sponsored D1 college. All our equipment was Nike. I hated it. Compared to Speedo, they suck. Even in college, I still rocked Speedo goggles and whenever I could get away with it, I rocked Pearl Izumi sneakers. The rest didn’t matter too much.
In lieu of this announcement, let’s play out the Olympics as an amateur swimmer:
1. Rooting for a Nike sponsored swimmer now sporting Speedo’s LZR suit. Swimmer wins. Am I really going to wear Nike? Um, NO.
2. In love with Nike sponsored swimmer who sports Speedo LZR suit. Swimmer loses. Am I going to wear Nike? Um, no… going to go with whatever I currently love / wear.
3. Neither love nor hate Nike sponsored swimmers. LZR suit bombs, but still rocked the trials. Would I still choose LZR suit? Yes. Swimming is a mental thing. HELLO, I didn’t shave my legs for 6 months in order to shave TENTHS of a second off my national times. I know, GROSS… just imagine what I did before Olympic trials in 2004…
Swimming is 99% MENTAL. No matter what the outcome, Speedo’s LZR suit has gotten enough PR, especially in swimming circles, to warrant any swimmer worth their salt giving it a spin (or swim). Which means, no matter what the outcome of the Olympics, Speedo is going to bank some serious ROI. Props to Nike though for stepping up and attempting to generate some positive, feel good PR… unfortunately, still not buying their equipment, but I’m sure others will…
When the Olympics hit Beijing in a week, you won’t see any sex shop signs as authorities are conducting a campaign to rid the city of anything deemed “unsightly”. This is just another example of perception vs. reality, and I must say, Asia does a great job of keeping up perceptions.
The Big Picture by the Boston Globe does a great job converting today’s news into pictures. I love the ones about the Olympic trials for swimming and diving. The diving ones are hysterical; the photographer caught some great facial expressions. The swimming ones show Michael Phelps once again having a less than stellar start and still going on to not only win, but also setting a new world record.
Just imagine if every world record during the Olympic Trials and Olympics is broken by a swimmer wearing Speedo’s new LZR Racer. That could possibly be the best advertising ever, even with all of the controversy. Hell, I might even go out and buy the $550 suit for shits and giggles… it’s a small price to pay for the possibility of a world record.
I love winning and I love being first. In fact, that mindset often gets me into trouble or at the very least, interesting situations, both work and personal. But, swimming reminds me that it’s not always about winning or being first. It’s about being the BEST. If you’re the best, chances are you’re winning anyways.
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