Aaron's blog

Hey racers,

I know I've been a little MIA lately, but I've gotta little time right now and thought I'd catch up a bit. It's been pretty quiet the past month or so, not too much to report except ... I finished my university classes! Let me tell you, I am stoked. Getting a degree sure feels good.

In pool news, it's training as usual. I've got a lot more time to focus completely on my stroke now that I don't have term papers or midterms to worry about.

In some ways I suppose I'll miss good ol' U of T, but I'm definitely amped for Beijing. Rock 'n' roll. ...

AP

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Hey Racers,

So you've probably heard the news by now seeing as how the Golden Goggles happened a little over a week ago. But just in case, I guess I should tell you I got skunked at the awards this year. My teammate Michael Phelps went home with three accolades, including honors in the two categories I was nominated for. Oh well.

The good news is training is going well for Beijing. We took a quick breather to inhale some turkey over the holiday and now we're back to it. Let the countdown to the end of the semester begin. ...

AP

Hey racers,

It's been a minute since I've last posted. I'm finishing up studies here at the University ... almost done!

This looks to be an eventful weekend for me, as I'll be over at the Beverly Hilton in swanky Beverly Hills, Calif. for the Golden Goggles awards.

I'm nominated in two categories: Best Male Performance and Best Male Athlete. I'm going up against two of my teammates, Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, but do they have Race for the Oceans racers in their corner? I didn't think so. ...

Be sure to vote for me at the USA swimming website. Winners are determined by votes, so help me out!

Hey racers,

I just wanted to mention something else I learned in Long Beach that I thought was pretty cool. Did you know that ships in the Port run on electric power, which helps to eliminate harmful emissions produced by diesel fuel?

It’s just another small change in our everyday lives that can make a positive change in the surrounding environment, the oceans in particular.

Ocean pollution is such a problem along So Cal beaches, yet it’s so easy to avoid if people would just be a little more conscientious of where their waste goes, you know?

Oceana has worked to eliminate ocean pollution in their campaigns as well. They were able to convince Royal Caribbean a few years back to outfit their cruise liners with advanced wastewater treatment technology so those mini-cities don’t dump all their waste directly into the oceans.

Hey racers,

Hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine was great – I spent it in Long Beach, Calif. at the Green Port Festival signing autographs for a few of you and also making a difference for the oceans.

I accepted a check for $10,000 from Toyota on behalf of the Race for the Oceans campaign. Toyota’s got this thing called the “Engines of Change” program, where they look to support athletes working at a local level to make changes on a more global level.

And speaking of donations, the Race for the Oceans campaign could surely use some more help. We’re not looking for anything big, but if a lot of people contribute a little bit we’re bound to make a big difference.

Hey racers,

Check out this release the good people at Oceana put together about my upcoming trip to the Green Port Fest this weekend. I'm stoked to be headed back home for a few days and even more stoked that it's for such a good cause.

Here's the deal:

LONG BEACH, CA — On the road to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, three-time gold medalist and world record holder Aaron Peirsol, is making a stop at the Port of Long Beach’s Green Port Fest on Saturday, October 13, 2007 to address the declining health of the world’s oceans. Peirsol is returning to his home state of California to recruit advocates and raise awareness about the importance of saving the oceans as part of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc.’s “Engines of Change” campaign, a national program that supports top athletes who are making a difference and creating positive change in their communities.

Hey racers, if you live in the Long Beach, Calif. area, you should definitely head over to Port Fest on Saturday, Oct. 13 because I’m gonna be there along with Oceana staffers and their mascot Finley the "species-neutral" fish.

I’ll be doing some interviews and signing autographs, as well as exploring the Long Beach Aquarium, which if you’ve never had a chance to check out I highly recommend. I might even have the opportunity to talk a bit at the event about the Race for the Oceans project and the importance of saving our oceans.

Hope to see some of you there!

AP

Back to school, and now back to the pool. Yep, training has resumed after some down time since the Paris meet. Coach Reese (who’s the college coach at Texas and also our Olympic coach) has got us swimming once a day for now, but the load should be picking up as we get back into better shape.

I swam about 6,000 yards the other day. It sounds like a lot (well, it is), but we break it up so we’re not swimming it all at once. We’ll do something like swim three 200-yard rounds, then three 100-yard rounds, then three 50-yard rounds, and then we’ll rest and start all over. We also shake it up by practicing different strokes.