Author: rokur

Lilly King was called into a meeting to discuss poor grades. Turns out those grades were symptomatic of a larger issue. Lilly King, the indomitable swim heroine of the Rio Olympics, was having trouble with the aftermath. School was hard. Celebrity was annoying. Racing was dull. Practice was drudgery. “She started talking, and it all came out,” Indiana University coach Ray Looze said. She talked. She sobbed. She lost it. Since that winter meeting, King said, she has been fine. Read Indy Star https://youtu.be/Z6cCwmXKhhE

Having a swimming pool is a super fun way to stay cool during the summer. For the small animals living in your backyard, however, it can be a death trap. Wildlife biologist Rich Mason is out to change that with his simple, yet ingenious invention – the FrogLog. “In June of 2004, good friends who had recently built an in-ground swimming pool on their wooded lot near Baltimore, Maryland, called to let me know frogs were dying in their pool,” Mason wrote on his official website. Deeply troubled by what he was hearing, Mason decided to construct a life-raft of…

To be a professional cyclist, one must have guts, microbiologist Lauren Peterson says, and she doesn’t just mean that in the metaphorical sense. Peterson, herself a pro endurance mountain biker, has discovered that the most elite athletes in the sport have a certain microbiome living in their intestines that allow them to perform better, and if you don’t have it, well, there may soon be a way to get it. “Call it poop doping if you must,” Peterson told Bicycling magazine last week about her research. Peterson, a research scientist at the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine in Farmington, Connecticut,…

When a tiny baby elephant unexpectedly fell into the water during a poolside stroll at the Seoul Grand Park Zoo, the calf’s frantic adult walking companion and another nearby elephant sprung into quick collaborative action to rescue the little pachyderm from drowning. The two grown elephants entered confidently into the water and quickly walked the little one onto dry land. Another elephant in a separately fenced area, paced back and forth in frustration until the calf was brought to safety. See Laughing Squid https://youtu.be/KozEQl3OBpA

On his fourth attempt, Romanian endurance athlete Avram Iancu completed a 17 hour 54 minute crossing of the English Channel. Iancu will need that same depth of commitment and passion for open water swimming as he just set off on a 60-day stage swim of 2,860 km in the Danube River yesterday. The 41-year-old librarian from Petrosani, Transylvania started his stage swim from Donaueschingen in the Black Forest in Germany. His finish is in Sulina on the Black Sea in Romania, planning to cross through ten countries and pass four capital cities without any fins or a wetsuit. His plans…

See rare video of a swimming great horned owl. Hikers walking through a canyon in Lake Powell between Arizona and Utah stumbled upon the rare sight. It’s likely a young great horned owl and still has some of its nestling feathers. Great horned owls often roost on cliff ledges, so it’s possible the young owl fell into the water from its nest. Seeing an owl swim is unusual, and they have no way to defend themselves while in the water. Owls are unable to take flight while swimming, so they must leave the water and dry their feathers before flying.…

Today is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, in the southern hemisphere. And in Antarctica, 15 Australian expeditioners at Davis station are celebrating with an icy dip in freezing waters, a now traditional midwinter swim. The air temperature is hovering at -33.5°C and the water temperature about -1.8°C. See Business Insider https://youtu.be/WFZoDs-_LF8

Water safety is an important issue this time of year, and a recent study claims only 54 percent of Americans know how to swim. On the Great Lakes alone 30 people have died so far in 2017, and more than half of those deaths took place on Lake Michigan. Different community centers and city parks are offering affordable or free swimming lesson. One of those community centers is focused on the African American community in particular. “I’ve had swimming classes in school and I never learned completely how to swim,” said Desiree Washington. Washington may not be able to swim,…

James Taylor was trying to be a good citizen of the Earth and help out an injured squid, but the squid just seemed interested in his board. Spotted an injured giant squid just behind the waves in Melkboss a while back and decided to try and get it to the beach. With @cristinafva and @wahinemich . #giantsquid #kraken #capetown #melkbosstrand #ocean #sup A post shared by James Taylor (@ejamestaylor) on Jun 13, 2017 at 3:59am PDT Via Digg

https://youtu.be/-Tj4yf21fiI