New Chatroom!

There were so many people interested in chatting that I've gone ahead and installed our very own BHO Chatroom. You'll need to be registered to enter chat and there are some instructions and Chatroom rules posted on the chat page. I hope you all enjoy using it. Please let me know if you have any problems.

There have also been some additions to the Gallery including this fabulous picture of Brendan and Sean from Swimphilly..



And lovely Anna with Brendan's Tahoe.



And many other new additions as well. A note about the Gallery - if you register on the Gallery page it will give you the option of leaving a comment and rating your favorite photos.

And lastly - y'all list some links to your fav Bren pics in the comments so I can put together a new favorite pic poll. There are just so many to choose from - I can't narrow it down on my own.

Pumpkin Meets the Crockah

From the Grandpeeps!

Following his sophmore year, in which he tied the state record of Jeremy Linn and qualified for the Junior National Team, Brendan went to a Camp, that Ian also attended, before going to Sheffield, England. This was the first International Meet for Brendan. It was there he roomed with Ian, as he put it, a tall, skinny, kid from Maine. He called us from England, when he couldn't get his mother. We asked him whom he was rooming with Brendan said, 'some geek from Maine.' Ian was with him and we heard them both laughing. They hit it off great during this time and Ian said,' wouldn't it be great if we could go to the same college'. After returning home they kept in touch with each other for the next two years.

In the summer of their junior year both Ian and Brendan were recruited by and visited most of the same schools. Three of the schools Ian visited were Arizona, Auburn, and Texas. They also had invitations from Stanford, Michigan and many others. On some of these visits their parents went with them. Naturally, both boys like all the schools they visited. The boys however, were unaware that Mrs. C and Mrs. H were comparing notes concerning each of their visits discussing the pros and cons of each of the schools. The moms were in complete agreement about each school. During the long drive home from one visit Brendan had made up his mind that was the school he wanted to go to it was not Texas. When Brendan visited Texas he was impressed with the facilities, the school and Eddie Reese as a coach. When Brendan compared each school he had visited with two columns one with the pros and the other with the cons for each school. It was then he told his dad, I have decided to sign with Texas. When asked why, Brendan said, each school we visited, the schools were nice, the facilities were good, it came down to the coach. Brendan said each of the coaches said 'what an asset he would be for the team and for the school.'Eddie Reese was the only coach who asked Brendan, 'what do you want to get from your swimming, what are your goals.' When Brendan told him Eddie said, 'I'll get you there'. Brendan said he was the only one who asked me what I wanted. I knew then that I could work with Eddie.

Ian called Brendan and told him he was going to sign with Texas. Brendan was surprised and said 'I thought you were going to go to Arizona'. Brendan was upstairs and he started jumping up and down and yelling he was so happy. Mrs. H. couldn't figure out what was happening. He told Ian he also signed with Texas.

We have gone to Texas every December, for the Texas Invitational and to all of the NCAA's wherever they were held. At one time we met the woman who does all of the travel arrangements for the various Texas teams. She asked us who we were there to see and was really excited to meet us. She told us she has been Texas for nine years and never met a boy as nice as Brendan. She said no matter where he would see her he would go out of his way to stop and talk to her asking how she was doing etc. As she told us, he really means it too. If you remember Rowdy Gaines, in Indianapolis, said when Brendan was waiting behind the starting blocks. Rowdy said, 'Brendan is not only a good swimmer, he is even a better person.' That says it all. As grandparents we are naturally prejudice, but Rowdy Gaines had no reason to say what he did. Everyone who comes in contact with Brendan echoes what Rowdy Gaines said.

Everything I need to know I learned from Brendan

By Crackinup

For those of you who missed the chat, you know, because you have a life, we have put together some learning points for your benefit. These assorted nuggets of wisdom, which range from Brendan learning a valuable tequila lesson to Aaron attempting chemistry in his boxers, have been categorized below for your reading pleasure.

Music

• Brendan chats with us while listening to blues, but his favorite song is "Me and Mrs. Jones" by Billy Paul. It's very "chill." [Editorial note: "Chill?" Influence much, Peirsol?]
• He also likes Bob Dylan. [Editorial note: Influence much, Crocker?]
• Marvin Gaye is good makeout music.
• Jack Johnson is "cough gay cough."

Alcohol

• Tequila = VERY VERY BAD. Like, fetal position bad.
• When the rule at Trudy's is "2 drink maximum", they mean "2 drink maximum", not "Bar Crawl!"
• Favorite drink: Jack and Coke. No, not Jack the dog. Ew.

The TattOOPS

• Only people who've seen Brendan naked (who are these lucky people?) have seen his longhorn tattoo.
• Said longhorn is on Brendan's left hip. Like Aaron's rings...but lower?
• The longhorn will make an appearance sometime before May. Why May? Just because.
• The key to expediting a tattoo reveal is, naturally, booze. See above points re: tequila.

Brendan and the ladies

• Brendan thinks he has no game. But he referenced being naked, so clearly he is full of BALONEY.
• Brendan has a girlfriend. *Pregnant pause* Haha, just kidding, no he doesn't.
• He does not like pickup lines.
• He will not wear a kilt, even if it impresses the ladies.

Food:

• Ramen is "nasty."
• Aaron does not cook for Brendan. [But if he did, it wouldn't be ramen.]
• Brendan claims he cannot afford a personal cook.

The Challenge:

• Atrophy is toast, even if Brendan's legs are tied while he swims and he stops to do tutoring and squat thrusts mid-race.
• She is REALLY toast after voting for Peirsol for Swimmer of the Year. According to Brendan, "It's over."

His new house

• It has no pool, how ironic.
• This is a big weekend for furnishing and working on the house.

His dog

• Jack either hates dolphins or loves chew toys. Either way, the dolphin chew toy is missing its head, and Brendan's downstairs has blue sh*t all over it. Blame Michelle.
• Jack is lazy. He's nothing like Brendan, which is what Bren loves about him.
• If Aaron were to walk Jack, Jack would actually walk Aaron.
• Jack acts differently around girls. Really, he does.

Academics

• Brendan's major is kinesiology, and his minor is communications. [Editorial note: These relate to one another...how?]
• In contrast, his major it is NOT Pimpology.
• Nevertheless, he will be teaching PIMP 101 in order to efficiently pimp his friends and brother. BHO bloggers politely line up.
• Brendan is taking 5 classes. He is doing well in school so far, which is greatly facilitated by the fact that he hasn't had any tests yet.
• He is a busy boy. He leaves the house by 6am every day.

Oh yeah, swimming

• Brendan is working on IM with Aaron (back) and Ian (fly). [Duh.]
• Duel in the Pool will be a slow duel if Worlds are held abroad. Brendan hopes Worlds end up in the U.S.
• Yes, Brendan had fun at the Golden Goggles.
• Bren is working at the Longhorn swim clinic with Eddie Reese.
• Brendan TAs a swimming class. [Editorial note: What does TA'ing a swimming class entail, exactly?]

Other, more inferior sports

• Brendan shoots a compound bow. A Mathews.
• Brendan is trying to get tickets to the Super Bowl. [This would mean no party pictures, so don't encourage it.]

The Trio, and other famed swimmers

• Aaron never has girlfriends but is not a player. He just likes to "kiss girls." And study chemistry in his boxers.
• Aaron is "chubby" and thinks he has muscles. "Chubby" appears to be a relative term.
• Aaron was busted checking out his fansite. [Editorial note: Chat...with Aaron?]
• Ian Crocker is now a free agent. Sarah is first in line.
• Look for Ian modeling his boyish good looks in the next Speedo catalog.
• The Trio always has fun together.
• Thoogie is universal.

BHO Chat

I know we've discussed this unofficially in several different threads lately but many of us chat regularly on AOL Instant Messenger. We'd be happy to have others join us and we may even have a special guest one night this week. Those of you who'd like to join us list your screenname below and someone will invite you in. Or you can IM me (uyeahu)or Lena (culturalbug) and we'll invite you in. It's a lot of fun, but can be chaotic if too many people are having too many separate conversations at once so be polite and take side conversations to individual IM's. Hope to see you!

Sing a Song of Swimming

NEW GAME!

All you need to do is give me five lyrics or more from a song that fits the category, the song name, and who performed it. First category is "Pool Things".

Example: Life in the Fast Lane, Life in the Fast Lane, The Eagles.

Once this the exhausted you guys can start another. It can be a category or you can request lyrics that contain a specific Word.

GO!

Brendan and Kristy Kowal at Naperville Swim Clinic

Cheers to Simmy for tracking this photo down and sending me the link.

YOWZA!

Maxine sent me these scans from August's Backpacker magazine. Click the link to read the article (at bottom of page.) Thanks Maxine!





More Sophie's Choice:

1. Tux or Hoodie?
2. Brendan fishing or Brendan hunting?
3. Brendan teaching Aaron Breaststroke or Aaron teaching Brendan backstroke?
4. Dryland training or pool workout?
5. Brendan dancing or Brendan acting?
6. Donovan McNabb or Terrell Owens?

Sophie's Choice

1. Black Speedo or Blue Jammers?
2. Olympic rings or Longhorns?
3. Scruffy or Clean Shaven?
4. Patriots or Eagles?
5. Pumpkin or Bren Bear?
6. Crappy Longbeach Bleachers or Athens Brothel?

And an article about our own lala's theatre opening tonight. Break a leg babe!

And another article about the World Championship situation and Montreal's insistance that it can do it.

John Lohn: Delco standouts firmly behind Birds

Brendan mentioned at bottom:

In search of a breaststroke sweep at this summer's World Championships, Brendan Hansen is unsure of the location of his next international swimming competition.

Originally tabbed for Montreal, the World Championships now lack a home. FINA, swimming's international governing body, announced Wednesday that the championships will not be held in Montreal. The city failed -- by millions of dollars -- to raise the necessary funding for the event.

FINA is currently looking into alternatives for the meet, which is slated for July.

Hansen, a Haverford High graduate and the reigning Daily Times Sports Figure of the Year, is coming off the finest season of his illustrious career. Aside from establishing world records in the 100- and 200-meter breast events at the Olympic Trials, Hansen took home three medals from the Olympic Games.

D-Day

Today is the day. Will it be Montreal or somewhere else entirely? (Crosses fingers for Montreal).

ETA: Montreal loses Championships....And another article.

WE WUZROBBED!

Thanks to Stephie and Verbal for the links.

WE'RE NUMBER ONE!

On Google. Thanks for all the hit's you guys!

I'm posting an old article that I found. I'm pretty sure I'd remember it if I'd seen it before as it's FANTASTIC and has some great pics of Brendan. Small and blurry, but great nonetheless. (One I would have sworn was actually Marcus Rogan it's so out of focus, but still...) And a quote in there from Mrs. H, not to mention some stuff about Brendan's training and more about 2000 Trials. A great read.

UT standout still focused on Olympics

Ok, pics are very poor quality, but the subject is the best!



Also, an article that mentions Brendans appearance in Omaha last week.

Six Degrees Of Separation: BHO Style

Well, Michelle thought it was time for us to have a new "interactive activity" on the blog and I suggested playing this, which is something I currently drive my friends crazy with in real life.

It's very simple: Relate one word to Brendan in six levels or less: they can be words, names, events, etc.

Example (provided by the lovely lala):
Platypus: platypus, mammel, dolphin, Cheatejama, Brendan Hansen.

We'll post the first word and the person that solves this one, chooses in its post the next word and so on.
Just remember, keep it more or less PG 13, we're being read by minors and family.

The word is: Penny

Let the games begin!


PS: Michelle is still teh boss, I just wake up earlier on Saturdays to go training.

Ok, someone tell me how much money I just spent

Because I'm not good with the math.

Montreal is under the gun, ticket sales are low and sponsors hard to find. If you want to see Montreal and you've been thinking about buying tickets now might be a good time to do it.

No pressure Brendan - but you'd better be there.

Read more about the current situation here

Brendan in Nebraska....

Was anyone able to attend this event? We'd love to hear how it went.

CHALLEEEEENGE!

Temporary Insanity or too much Clos du Bois? Atrophy issues a Trio Challenge:

"Yo! Brendan! Go call Aaron over to the computer. I'll wait.

Ready? Aiight, here it goes: I'm a 22-year-old former swimmer who's just started a masters swimming class a few days ago, and oh man, is it kicking my butt into gear. So, while talking to Michelle, I got a brainstorm... What if I issued you two a challenge to race in eight months time at the Duel in the Pool? So. After Michelle's encouragement, I thought "Hell, I'll make a fool of myself:

Brendan, Aaron, Ian... I challenge you to a swim race. Not only will this give me a chance to race three of the greatest in the world, it'll also give me motivation like no other. So. What do you say? Willing to take up the challenge?

(PS: It would be totally helpful if, when/if you agree to this challenge, y'all would wear hoodies, sweatpants and maybe weights on your feet. If not, whatever. I can swim against you guys. Ahem)

Atrophy
BHO Blogger and webmaster of AaronPeirsol.org

John Lohn Revealed!

We'll TRY to respect you for your mind too John.

No News thread

I don't really have any big news to report, but a few little scraps I can throw your way.

1. Brendan isn't in the Nike Catalog, but Aaron, Hoogie, Lezak and Haley Cope are. I ordered several copies from Pence Aquatic Supply and they arrived within a week of ordering. If you just want to see the pics of Aaron though, they are available at Aaron Peirsol Online.

2. Scott Goldblatt, our favorite behind the scenes photographer (and I hear he swims a little too), needs a new computer. Do you want to keep seeing precious moments like this captured and uploaded onto the internet for our amusement? You can donate to the computer fund here.

3. The website glitches are being looked into and hopefully will be resolved today or tomorrow. Just remember to keep hitting refresh if you get the Service Temporarily Unavailable message. Something about conflicting scripts causing it to time out, blah blah blah. I'm so not technical.

New Photo Gallery!

It's still "in development" which is designer lingo for "it ain't done yet", but it's already a huge improvement over the old gallery and much easier to navigate. I'll be working on labeling the photos and adding comments over the next few weeks, but otherwise it's ready to go. Enjoy!

Speaking of Inspirational...

I was so inspired that when I recovered I made it into a wallpaper.

We are experiencing technical difficulties

What, you've never broken a website before?

I've got technical support on it but it may be 24 - 48 hours before it's repaired. If you get a Service Temporarily Unavailable message just keep hitting refresh - it will eventually load the page. Graphics are also coming and going at will. Hopefully it won't take them long to get everything back to normal. General concensus is that I've got conflicting scripts (whatever that means.)

Black and white and hot all over

Ok, here's the next photo as promised, but let's continue the discussion of what Inspires us. It's making me all and .

Video Page Updates & Inspiration

I've just added several files to the video page including:

HDTV coverage of the 100m Breast Medal Ceremony including the victory lap, the 100m Breast SemiFinal and the 200 Breast Final (all compliments of Verbal)
Aaron's 200m back in Sydney where he won silver in an amazing race with Lenny.
Kitajima's Dolphin Kick in slow motion, not that it needs to be in slow motion for anyone to see it, unless you are a ref anyway. :P
and finally, Brendan's 200m Final from 2000 Trials

I got an email from one of our new bloggers recently who asks...

See, there's a lot to this "I'm a competitive swimmer" thing, and lately, I've been losing sight of my goals and my training. I feel like I'm sinking a little, and I need some inspiration to get me back where I need to be.

Of course, I don't know what you, or the girls, could do to get me out of this. Inspiring quotes, stories, ANYTHING at this point that would help me get around this block would be eternally appreciated.

I came to you for help, because y'all are such unfailling supporters of Brendan and the Trio......I was hoping there was a chance you could send a dose of that my way.

So help a girl out! What inspires YOU?

Gold, Silver and Bronze - OH MY!

Thanks to Photographer Eric Hartline for sending me these amazing photos that he took of Brendan for the year end issue of the Deleware County Times. And thanks to John Lohn for the hook up! The images are high res and perfect for autographs. I'll be posting 1 each day for the next 3 days. Y'all enjoy!

Wise Men's Day Part II

Well, this is what I had prepared for you as gifts. I thought we could use some fresh fan stuff with the new pics we've been getting lately.

Of course, it all pales at the anticipation of the tattoo pic, but it's the best I can do.

Enjoy and don't forget to give Aunt C a birthday greeting!









PS: Michelle is still teh boss cause she has the tattoo pic and I don't.

Happy Birthday Aunt C!

(Thanks Angie for the cute card.)

Wise Men's Day Part I

You're all wondering what I'm talking about. We have a kid's holiday in Argentina called Dia de Reyes, Wise Men's Day. On the night of January 5th, kids leave their shoes out along with grass and water for the Wise Men, who are travelling and need to make stops in the road. As a thankful note, the Wise Men leave toys and gifts next to the kids' shoes. So when you wake up on January 6th,. you find a gift next to your shoes.

We're gonna celebrate Wise Men's day in here. The first part is on you. What would you put next to your shoes instead of grass and water if the Wise Men were the Wise Texas Trio?



Let us know... As for the gifts, you'd have to wait until tomorrow and see...

PS I: thanks lala for the lovely manip
PS II: You know this, Michelle is still teh boss!

ETA: Don't forget to leave something for Aunt C the Wise Woman. It's her day too!

(You have lala and Aunt K to thank for this:D. Don't shoot the messenger!)

More goodies....

From Mrs. H - I'm sure many of you remember the story of the waitress who wanted Brendan to take his shirt off....the photo evidence.


(Doctor on the right for Stephie)

And Heather sent me this photo of she and scruffy Brendan from the Golden Goggles Today show taping...



And for those who hadn't noticed - the Blogger Photo Contest is complete and all the names matched with all the lovely faces. You can see them all HERE. As far as who won bragging rights for guessing the most right...it's been tough. Crackinup, AimsRos and Lena all got 24 right before I gave my final round of hints, but Crackinup did it first and she and afadingvoice were the first two to guess the remaining 7 correctly...So I'm declaring Crackinup the winner on this one, with AimsRos and Lena finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively and an honorable mention to afadingvoice for being the first to solve my oh so not cryptic final 7 clues. In truth we are all winners here because we are all so damned cute! Wheeee for us! Participants will receive 2 exclusive photos by email that will not be posted on the website (as soon as I get around to it. :P).

ETA: I meant to mention that lovely Maxine's photos finally arrived! So y'all be sure to check her out on the blogger gallery page.

New Poll and more

Please check out the new poll in the sidebar. It's such a tough one, I really should have put an "All of the Above" option...
but I didn't.

Poll results from Favorite Innocent Victim poll:
Aunt C kicked some fish bootie! I don't really remember which pictures were one and two. I should really have checked that before replacing it with the new poll.

Bird? 1
Deer? 3
Aunt C 59
Fish 23

86 votes total

And finally - I know it's long overdue but lala wanted her's to be a Christmas surprise so I'm just now getting around to posting what the winners of our Thanksgiving Essay contest received from Brendan for their participation (in order of finish).
Janine
Lena
Duong Vu (tie!)
Stephie Mc(tie!)
lala
Mine!

Shame on you people who voted for me to keep the prizes for myself! (check is in the mail ;)

Your "Elevator Speech"

In business they have this thing called an "Elevator Speech", which is basically the 2-3 minute speech you prepare to give an investor/client that grabs attention and says a lot in a few words. The idea being that you should be able to get them interested in the time it takes for you to go from the top floor to the bottom (in an elevator). I thought it would be fun to ask each of you what your "elevator speech" would be if you met Brendan. You have 2-3 minutes to tell him everything you want to say...GO!

Good News!

Ok, instead of starting the year with a snark thread I wanted to give everyone a place to post their GOOD news. I'll start...

1. Brendan has been added to the CelebMatch area of the Bio Love Match website. He's really made it now.
2. The Nike catalog featuring Brendan is out...now I just have to get my hands on a copy.
3. Brendan won American Swimmer of the Year in the SwimInfo poll and placed second behind Aaron in the World Swimmer category.
3. Brendan heads back to Texas today. Bad news for Mrs. H, but good news for the ladies of Austin.

(everyone send Mrs. H their cyber hugs today xoxox).

Tom McNichol: Hansen, Nelson are Delco's favorite sons

Click link to see full article...

Some quotes:

The Daily Times sports department put together its annual year-end tribute to Delco's Sports Figure of the Year Friday. Never in the relatively short history of this feature, was the decision more difficult than it was in 2004. That's one of the reasons we felt compelled to include an image of Jameer Nelson on our Back Page along with that of our choice, Olympic swimming medalist and world record-holder Brendan Hansen.

We have been extremely fortunate to have a couple of sports writers in John Lohn and Rob Knox who developed a rapport with Hansen and Nelson, respectively, before the two athletes became nationally known.

Hansen has called Lohn from points all over the globe, including Athens this summer. The stories we ran on Hansen from Athens were as good or better than the ones other papers ran from writers who were there.

In Hansen's case, we have been able to chronicle his trips home when he would show up at the Daily Times Elite Meet and sign autographs for the impressionable young kids who idolized him.

Nelson has become very involved with Youth Interlock, the very successful program for young people in Chester, giving of his time and some of his new-found wealth.

They are two young men who haven't forgotten their roots because they know it is in those roots where the foundation for their success can be found.

Like many sports fans in the county, we were able to follow the exploits of two of Delco's favorite sons on national television throughout 2004.

There was more swimming watched in this sports department than any in America between the Olympic Trials and then the Summer Games.

Such was the high level of expectation in Athens for Hansen that there was a twinge of disappointment in silver and bronze in the 100 and 200, respectively. But there's no diminishing the value of an Olympic medal in any athletic endeavor and don't forget, Hansen still owns the world records in both events.

Another article from Delware County Times:
A taste of the good, the bad and the ugly of 2004

And Another:
Top sports stories of 2004: It was an Olympian year on the Main Line

And Another:
Flannery: In the end, 2004 was pretty special