Dr Eric Windholz, a Senior Lecturer in the Law faculty at Monash University, talks with the panel about the very important subject of transgender and intersex issues in sport. He discusses FINA, Caster Semenya and Lia Thomas.
Tag Archives: swimming
Sportzfan Radio show for 22 November 2020 (Ep 375)
If you missed today’s Sportzfan Radio, Dan Butterly spoke about winners and losers from the recently completed NBA draft, the panel discussed whether the Australian Open will need to be moved to accommodate a fourteen day quarantine period for tennis players and their entourages and the halving of Shayna Jack’s suspension period by an arbitrator at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Paul Dalligan analysed Queensland’s win in State of Origin 3 and spoke about a belated appeal by Melbourne Storm against being stripped of their 2007 and 2009 premierships and the panel gave their opinion on rule changes for the AFL and VFL in 2021.
You can see the show on our Facebook page.
Weekend musing – AFL captaincy issues, Grant Hackett……
I was a little surprised by a couple of the AFL captaincy announcements during the week. Interesting that Nat Fyffe has taken over from David Mundy after he had only one year in the role at Fremantle. The other was Jack Viney joining Nathan Jones as a 
co-captain at Melbourne. By all reports at Fremantle, Fyffe is not the most popular of players, but in a year when he comes off contract he is made captain. I know Freo had a bad year last year, however, nothing filtered through about Mundy’s captaincy, so to be replaced after a year is a big surprise to me. A slightly different story at Melbourne where Nathan Jones was not replaced, but was joined by Viney, which also comes as some shock. For some time before being made captain, Jones was considered the leader at the club and having skippered Melbourne to a promising season last year, he has been effectively demoted. Seems like a bit of a slap in the face for Nathan Jones.
Very sad to read about the continued spiral out of control by Grant Hackett. I remember an interview with him when he was on the way up, but still had not won anything of note and he was a very 
impressive individual who seemed to have his head screwed on right. He went on to have a stellar career and looked to have the world at his feet. Tim Watson spoke of his initial meeting with him at Channel 7 and said he had not met anyone as impressive as Hackett. It goes to show that sportsmen without the sport are vulnerable, even those that appear to do all the right things. It also shows that substance abuse doesn’t play favourites and can ruin anyone’s life. I hope for his sake and that of his family that he gets through it.
Have a great weekend!
Weekend musing – father/son combinations, Richmond FC woes……
It was great to see Kyle Chalmers win our first men’s 100m freestyle Olympic gold medal since Michael Wenden in 1968. He is the son of Brett Chalmers who made his name playing AFL and it got me 
thinking about other father/son combinations in different sports. There is Gary Jack (rugby league) & Kieran Jack (AFL), Jack Newton (golf) & Clint Newton (rugby league), Ray Ruffels (tennis) & Ryan Ruffels (golf), Tony Mundine (boxing) & Anthony Mundine (rugby league & boxing), John Ronaldson (VFL/AFL) & Tony Ronaldson (basketball), Pat Cash Snr (VFL/AFL) & Pat Cash Jnr (tennis) and Dimitri Markov (pole vault) & Oleg Markov (AFL). There are bound to be a lot more, but this is a good starting point for further discussion.
I was pleased to see Richmond win last week to get the heat off Damian Hardwick. As much as I thought Richmond erred by 
extending his contract at the start of the year, I thought he should be excused one bad year. The discussions about Richmond this year remind me of the discussions about Richmond of 10-15 years ago. Back then they had fourn players, Matthew Knights, Wayne Campbell, Nick Daffy & Matthew Richardson and then they fell away and now it is Dustin Martin, Trent Cotchin, Jack Riewoldt, Brent Deledio and Alex Rance and then they fall away again. Is history repeating itself?
Have a great weekend!
Friday musing – Australian Swimming Championships, Malcolm Turnbull and Port Adelaide FC’s China push
I have been watching a bit of the Australian Swimming Championships this week and have been amazed at the performance of Cameron McEvoy. Not only is he the first swimmer to win the men’s 50 metres, 100 metres and 200 metres freestyle, he is also 
considerably smaller than the other swimmers. Most swimmers these days seem to be built like Centre Half Forwards whereas McEvoy is built like a Forward Flanker/Rover. He must have a very good technique to beat his more imposing rivals. I was also impressed that James Magnussen was happy to face the cameras after his defeat in the 100 metres final, he was clearly disappointed, but still put himself out there.
I was also bemused to hear during the week that Port Adelaide FC had secured a substantial sponsorship from China and they intended 
to play an “away” game in China. That is quite magnanimous of them offering someone’s home game for their sponsorship! It reminded me of Carlton offering to play all their away games in Sydney some time back when it looked like the Swans were struggling and may fold. I cannot see any team wanting to take up Port’s generous offer, but the AFL may pressure the Gold Coast or Greater Western Sydney to take up the game as the AFL is still propping them up.
One thing I did laugh at was our Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull telling the world that Aussie Rules was the best game going 
around….this from a private school educated person who has no doubt played a fair bit of ‘rugger’ in his time. I thought at one stage Turnbull was going to gag on his words.
Have a great weekend!
10 years on, Michael Phelps has learned nothing
In 2004, the same year as the Athens Olympic Games, Michael Phelps was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and he was placed on probation without a conviction being recorded. Wind forward ten years and once again Phelps is in hot water having been charged with a second DUI (he allegedly blew 0.14, well over the 0.08 limit in Maryland).
As if that wasn’t bad enough, he was also charged with excessive speed (allegedly recorded at 84mph in a 45mph zone) and crossing double lane lines meaning he was a big danger to other road users at the time.
Like most high profile athletes, Phelps has followed the usual route after tangling with the law. He is taking time out from his chosen field of sports endeavour to attend a course (or two). In Phelps case, so he can (reportedly) ‘better understand himself’.
There’s only one thing Phelps needs to understand here and that is drinking and driving is illegal. End of discussion.
In swimming, if you change lanes during a race, you are disqualified. It is disturbing that USA swimming don’t see this set of circumstances as disqualifiable as they are allegedly taking no action, notwithstanding this is Phelps’ second offence.
What message is that sending to the rest of society?
Sportzfan Radio show #292 highlights
The Professor and the Gelding talk about worrying signs for Australian cricket – the Professor thinks cricket is in the same boat as swimming and the Melbourne Football Club – all have problems at the top of the tree. The Gelding comments on Michael Clarke’s captaincy 1606 – cricket The Professor and the Gelding also talk about what assistance the AFL should provide to the Melbourne Football Club 1606 – melbournefc
Sportzfan Radio – show #232.2
15 January 2012 232.2 Mark Fiorenti goes on to talk about the sacking of Melbourne Victory coach Mehmet Durakovic and the appointment of Jim Magilton. He thinks the Victory could still slip into the top four. Mark also talks about the Melbourne Heart and says they are clearly the best side in Melbourne. He discusses the A League initiatives of Big Wednesday concept with five games being played on the one day and the coach of Gold Coast being miked up during the game. Daniel says if he owned the team he wouldn’t have allowed it. Mark finally looks at Arsenal signing Thierry Henry for the next few months and Eric Cantona vying for the French presidency. The Panel talk cricket and the test series against India. The Gelding says that Craig McDermott is doing a great job as bowling coach. Paul Dalligan comes on to talk both NRL and NFL especially his beloved Denver Broncos. He thinks Billy Slater will be fit to start the NRL season and that Canterbury Bankstown are a special for the coming season. Tennis is the next topic of discussion and the Professor quizes the Panel about how many Australian men and women are in the Australian Open draw. The Professor also queries whether Ian Thorpe should have come back after a fifth place in the Victorian championships. Daniel likens it to the embarassing comeback of Tony Lockett. Daniel also talks both NBL and NBA looking at the LA Clippers, Melbourne Tigers and Patty Mills.
