A few days have gone by since LEN has released it’s disciplinary decision on my actions, and I have to admit that I am completely blown away with all of the support I’ve been getting. I’ve been doing my best to respond to all emails sent to me, along with all the Facebook messages I have received… and although it may take more time, I am trying my best to respond to as many as I possibly can! The support has given me a new strength and motive to be the greatest swimmer and man that I can be.

Your reactions are exactly what I’ve been talking about and this is the way we need to be. Be positive and unite when we are weak! Only together are we strong, and only strong can we move forward. My t-shirt at the European Championships has been spoken of as scandalous and misplaced, but if you understood my actions in this way, I regret to inform you that this isn’t about war, or to provoke violence. “KOSOVO IS SERBIA” is what I feel. It is in our history and a part of who we are. The Serbian government has fallen apart, and is in the process of re-election and being re-assembled. My point is that we have to take what we have in common, and work together in rebuilding our country… but this time, whatever the people decide we should do, we should do it together!

It was my personal duty as an ambassador of Serbia to express myself and to express my support for my people. This isn’t about the rest of the world. If I cared to upset you, my shirt would have been in English. If you’re looking for an apology, then you should probably write an email to someone who has committed a real crime. There are evils in this world which really threaten our safety and security, and really deserve more attention than they’re already getting… I leave it to you to decide which battles you choose. My battle is with pain and misery in Serbia. What’s yours?

Remember, there is no such thing as bad people, only bad leaders. I dont care where you're from - EVERYONE WANTS JUST TO BE HAPPY… what are you doing to ensure this? I hope I did my part to uplift my people… and I will never regret this action.

Thank you all once again for your support!

- Milorad Cavic 

LEN has decided to place a suspension on me for the rest of the European Championships in Eindhoven, and to fine my federation.

This did not go the way I had hoped and I regret that I will not be able to do something great in the 100m butterfly as I know I can! Its time for me to plan for the next thing, and to leave this behind and focus on my final push toward the Olympic Games.

Thank all of you for your support,

Milorad

http://www.b92.net/sport/na_vodi/plivanje.php?yyyy=2008&mm=03&dd=21&nav_id=290186

Whoa! Not that it’s a big deal or anything, but this European record came as a complete surprise! What was just as surprising was that I took nearly .6 off my preliminary time! I came to the pool tonight 2.5 hours before my race and did the usual routine that I do before my races – 45 minutes of stretching, 30 minutes of warm up in the pool, 30 minutes of massage, a 300 meter pre-race warm up to practice the things I’ve been thinking about, and then I put my racing suit on before  I go to the call-room. The only difference tonight is that I put a lot of thought into correcting my mistakes from this morning, and I put on Arena’s new suit for a try!

This morning I felt like a few things were missing from my qualification swim. First of all, I had the 2nd slowest reaction time off the block; secondly, my underwater kick was a bit slow and I had started swimming while I was 2 feet underwater; and finally, I didn’t put enough emphasis into my 2nd kick in every stroke. How did all of these things amount to .56 improvement? I don’t know… but I don’t want to give the suit too much credit although I’m extremely impressed with it. Are night swims really just faster? Unfortunately, the Olympics will have morning finals, so I’m just going to have to adapt to this and be a better morning swimmer. Its pretty important to learn from every race and I hope every time I race, that I’ll have another opportunity to make the small improvements necessary to be faster in the following opportunity. Tonight’s race seemed to have gone by so quickly that I might have to look at the video to see where I could improve a bit more… but one thing is for certain: Unbelievable and unexpected things always happen during the Olympic year. The competitions during the last month should be evidence enough of this.

I’m going to give the next opportunity my best shot. It is the 50 butterfly final, and this is where it counts, so new record or not, I just need to win!  Wish me luck…