Friday's Swim Report - Counting Down To Santa Speedo

Lane 1 - USA Today posts "Michael Phelps says 'Call Me Maybe' video was key for Olympic swim team.  "It's funny to say it now, but that Call Me Maybe video we did really brought us together," Phelps told Costas."

Lane 2 - Courier Mail posts (w/video) "Underwater rugby league rivalries.  On-field rivalries are taking a plunge ahead of the Kangaroos one-off rugby league test match against New Zealand."

Lane 3 - Financial Times posts "Back in the swim.  Weeks after her controversial gold at London 2012, 16-year-old Ye Shiwen was in action at a remote Chinese meet.  There was no evidence that she had ever used drugs but her speed over the final length, which she swam faster than the 6ft 2in-tall American Ryan Lochte, who won gold in the men’s medley, fuelled intense speculation that she had been cheating. John Leonard, executive director of the World Swimming Coaches Association, lent a voice of authority to the doubts. “Any time someone has looked like superwoman in the history of our sport they have later been found guilty of doping,” he told the Guardian.  The International Swimming Federation came to Ye’s defence, pointing out that she had passed four drugs tests in the past year.   High quality global journalism requires investment.  But for many people in China the speculation touched a raw nerve. It betrayed a “lack of respect for athletes and for Chinese swimming”, according to Xu Qi, the head of China’s swimming team. “We recognise and accept the existence of extremely talented swimmers in other countries. Can’t China, with its huge population, produce such talent?"

Lane 4 - Adelaide Now posts "Meet the villains we love to hate.  FOR all the joy we have as sports fans, there's always a slew of villains we seem to encounter. 10. JAMES MAGNUSSEN.  BEFORE he became the poster boy for Australia's screw-up in the pool at the London Olympics, Magnussen earned the ire of South Australians by thumbing his nose at a decision to hold the Olympic trials in Adelaide.  "Olympic trials 2012 in Adelaide. What an absolute joke! Can't wait to swim in front of crowd of 10 and that will only happen if the entire city turns out to watch," Magnussen wrote on his Facebook page.  Magnussen later apologised after being told to pull his head in by fellow swimmer Brenton Rickard.  Geoff Huegill also chimed in, saying: "It's not all about you, mate."  To make matters worse, Magnussen - part of an Australian 4x100m freestyle relay team that dubbed themselves the Weapons of Mass Destruction - laid a pair of eggs in the pool in London, coming home without a gold medal."

Lane 5 - China Daily posts " Down Under gets a bit closer.  One of Australia's best coaches will lead a camp for top Chinese swimmers in Thailand facility  Overseas training programs always seem a little better when they are close to home.  Training in Australia has been a great benefit to Chinese swimmers in recent years, but the long trip Down Under remains a headache.  Now, the country's elite swimmers won't need to go quite so far for the Aussies' expertise as they have found a much closer base in Phuket, Thailand."

Lane 6 - Boston.com posts "Prepping for the Santa Speedo Run.   The Santa Speedo Run is not just one Saturday in December for Matt Napoli and Steve Roge. It's a 365-day-a-year commitment ... a mission ... simply a way of life. RadioBDC was able to catch up with the pair during a pre-race training at Boston Common earlier this week. Not only do get up close and personal with a duo that is partaking in their 13th Santa Speedo Run, we learn about numb legs, pulled hammies and being comfortable in one's ... uh ... own skin. And tiny bathing suits."