Changing China

Panda Diplomacy: China’s goodwill pandas ready for Australia mission

See Panda Diplomacy report on reuters.com

A tough time for trade and diplomatic ties between China and Australia, but the loan of this cuddly couple may repair the rift. Wang Wang and Fu Ni, from China’s southwest Sichuan province, will be sent to the Adelaide zoo by yearend in a 10-year loan for research purposes. Relations have been tense between China and Australia after Chinese state-owned metals firm Chinalco failed in a $19.5 billion bid for a stake in Rio Tinto, and separately four Rio employees were arrested on suspicion of corporate espionage. A decision by Australia’s government in July to grant a visa for exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer further soured ties. But panda diplomacy may be answer.

Video Credit: Guan Yongning

Beijing podcast — day two

I’m joined today by Mitch Phillips, Karolos Grohmann and swimming expert Julian Linden to talk about the blockbusting start to the swimming from Michael Phelps, the relegation of athletics to second class status this week and all that’s been happening in the IOC corridors of power.

Should athletes be penalized for bad behaviour off the clock?

Disgraced Australian swimmer Nick D’Arcy is fighting to save his career and Olympic dream after being banned from the Australian team over an alleged bar room bashing of fellow swimmer Simon Cowley. The 21-year-old butterfly champ has expressed regret overhis actions and promised to stay away from alcohol but it has sparked a debate about whether athletes should be penalized in the pool or on the field for bad behaviour not related to their sport. Are athletes beyond reproach?

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.

“Fast-skin suits.” A swimsuit – or a performance enhancer?

Jonathon Newton, a Reuters account manager in Australia, has been a competitive swimmer for over 20 years. Last weekend, clad in one of Speedo’s newly released LZR racing suits that take at least 15 minutes to peel on, he came third in the 50 metre freestyle at the Australian Swimming Championships, but his time of 22.15 seconds was 0.13 seconds short of taking him to the Beijing Olympics. Newton, 27, talks about getting into his suit, how it affects his swimming and the debate around swimwear that boasts to improve times by up to 3 percent.

“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.”