Olympic weekend primer: Swimming in December? Lochte, Hoff hit Atlanta

It may be rather frigid in your particular locale, but it is officially swimsuit weather in one corner of the Olympic sports world this weekend. Here's a closer look at what to watch:

As already foreshadowed, the U.S. Swimming Championships got underway on Thursday and run through the weekend in Atlanta. Notably absent is one Michael Phelps, but notably present are a slew of big-name swimmers, including Ryan Lochte, Katie Hoff, Rebecca Soni, Dara Torres, Brendan Hansen, Tyler Clary, Jessica Hardy and Nathan Adrian. For more on the weekend swimming outlook, hit the link right here.

In Alpine skiing... Though currently in the midst of threatening to quit over highly unpopular rule changes, Bode Miller is among the intrepid skiers tackling the Birds of Prey downhill this weekend. Meanwhile, in Lake Louise, it's a speed-oriented weekend on the women's World Cup circuit, with Lindsey Vonn and Dominique Gisin both looking impressive during downhill training on Thursday.

And not to be deterred by the impending arrival of winter, another summer sport (rugby) makes its second World Series stop, this time in Dubai, where the secret to victory may be an unexpected one: bringing along a quality doctor.