The BBC reported that the  first surge in Aoyuns came in 1992, when China applied to host to the 2000 Games with about 680 Aoyuns registered at that time.  In 2002 another 553 babies were named Aoyuns after China was chosen to host the 2008 Games and the number has been rising ever since.

It is not uncommon for Chinese children to be given names of common events and popular slogans - such as Defend China, Build the Nation and Space Travel. There are 290,798 registered Civilisations.

An annual survey of sports fans conducted for Sporting News found that a majority of the 1,500 participants — 62 percent of men and 63 percent of women — completely or mostly agreed that “more and more athletes today feel like they are above the law.” About half of the 12-64 year olds polled — 52 percent of men and 49 percent of women — completely and mostly agree that “athletes are less accessible and approachable today than ever before”.

Despite the negative swing in how athletes’ behaviour is perceived, the Sporting News survey found that sports fans are spending more time and money watching sports. About a third of men, or 27 percent, will spend 32.4 hours a week either watching sport on televions, reading sports magazines or surfing sports Web sites while about 44 percent of men will spend an average of 14.8 hours a week with sports media.

“You really need to wear socks or plastic bags over your feet to get the suit on as there is a kind of sticky rubber on the inside leg. If you’re even slightly wet it is impossible. They are not comfortable but you get used it. You don’t put the suit on until just before you go to the marshalling area and take it off straight after the race so it is on for maybe 30 minutes. You need two people to help with the zip on the back. They pack up very small — about the size of a bag of sugar — and people can’t believe you will fit into the suit when they see it packed. 

These suits cost about A$800 each and they are only good for four or five swims at the most. I feel sorry for parents with young swimmers who grow out of them quickly. I’m grateful that when I was young we all just wore briefs.

I truly believe that there really is no difference between all the major suit makers — Speedo, Adidas, Arena, TYR– but it comes down to your personal preference and how it fits your body. I am sure that the major improvement is psychological. When swimmers shave themselves to race it is not about speed but about the way they feel in the water as it makes you feel like you are really cutting through — like a hot knife through butter. It’s the same with these suits. It makes a difference to how you feel you are moving through the water and if you’re feeling good, you make fewer mistakes.

The NCAA in America decided not to allow these suits at their championships this year because they were not available to all swimmers. (Speedo, whose suit is approved by FINA, has promised to provide about 6,000 suits to Olympic hopefuls so that everyone can have access to one as well as the Australian team which it sponsors). This really gets down to a grey area of what is a performance enhancer. The companies that make the suits say they enhance performance but when put on the spot they back down. This has become an issue in the sport and it is a complex debate. Everyone now uses these suits but can you say it cuts your time? The training methods and science of sport has improved dramatically in the last 10 years as well as the suits coming out so it is hard to know exactly how the different factors are helping us.

I missed the Olympic team by 0.13 second. My time was the 4th fastest ever by an Australian, 11th in the world so far this year, but still I did not make it. I am happy that I swam so fast but at the same time it is a bittersweet victory because it still wasn’t good enough for the Beijing team. At least I can take consolation in the fact that I am still getting faster and able to do what I love with such a busy lifestyle and whilst working at Reuters.”