Psychological barrier

One of Orjan Madsen’s first acts on taking control of German swimming was to hire a team of psychologists. Given the way morale is being sapped by the new Speedo suit that rivals are wearing, it is just as well he did. Norwegian coach Madsen was appointed technical director of the German Swimming Federation (DSV) in 2006 with a mission to toughen up the athletes for competition in time for Beijing. 

Britta Steffen and Helge Meeuw were among those in top form at the national trials in Berlin but hopes of a first German Olympic swimming gold since Dagmar Hase won the 400 metres freestyle in 1992 have faded to almost nothing, as rivals clad in the new Speedo LZR Racer suit smash records around them. 

The DSV has a contract with Adidas and officials recently rejected a proposal to let their swimmers wear the hi-tech suit of one of the company’s main rivals. Madsen is not yet convinced the Speedo suit makes a technical difference but there is no questioning the psychological impact.

“There have been 39 world records, long and short course, this year and 90 percent of them were in Speedo,” Madsen said. “That, or course, does something to the athletes. It’s almost impossible to put yourself in a state of mind where you say it doesn’t matter. Of course it matters. There are athletes, as we’ve seen here, who swim in other suits and do it well. They swim European records and they beat swimmers who swim in Speedo, so it is possible. But for the next three-and-a-half months I’m afraid that topic, that discussion of the suits, will remain.” 

Adidas has developed a new suit of its own and early feedback from the swimmers, including Steffen, has been positive. However, it remains to be seen if it can help bring the same record-breaking times as the Speedo suit. 

The controversy over the Speedo suit is simply the latest obstacle for Madsen, who could be forgiven if he is eagerly looking forward to his post-Beijing retirement when he will split his time between sports consultancy in Norway and kite-surfing at his condo in the US Virgin Islands. 

German swimming is weighed down by memories of the state-sponsored doping of the old DDR and suspicions were briefly revived after the team performed so well at the European Championships in Budapest in 2006. 

Those suggestions were strongly denied and Madsen believes he has done everything to show his swimmers are clean, after insisting on a strict anti-doping regime that includes a full-scale blood profiling programme. 

“My task is to make sure that the German team does everything to show we are clean,” Madsen said. “We do a lot of things proactively besides doping tests.”

At last year’s world championships in Melbourne, Madsen discovered that not all his swimmers were capable of producing their best times when it mattered, as the team picked up just three silver medals and one bronze.

There was enough on show in Berlin, however, to give Madsen cause for cautious optimism about Beijing. Steffen shaved a 10th of a second off her old world record time and there were European records for Meeuw in the 100 metres backstroke and Sarah Poewe in the 100 breaststroke. Steffen then showed that her decision to drop the 200 and concentrate on the shorter events was probably a wise one as she set a German record of 24.19 in the 50 metres freestyle. 

“There are events where we are world class but there are also events where we are far from world class,” Madsen said.