Author: rokur

Our John Chapman was given a backstage tour of the Olympic Swim Trials. https://youtu.be/iLnMyJqIFGQ https://youtu.be/irdAwJ2RZ5Y

A bid to clear the Pacific of its plastic debris has moved a step closer with the launch of the biggest prototype clean-up boom yet by the Dutch environment minister at a port in The Hague. On Thursday the 100m-long barrier will be towed 20km out to sea for a year of sensor-monitored tests, before being scaled up for real-life trials off the Japanese coast at the end of next year. If all goes well, full-scale deployment of a 100km-long version will take place in the “great Pacific garbage patch” between California and Hawaii in 2020. […] The snake-like ocean…

The 4,400-seat IU Natatorium in Indianapolis had sold out long before the meets in 1996 and 2000, and the potential of the event needed to be studied hard by Executive Director Chuck Wielgus and USA Swimming. “We kind of knew it was time,” said Mike Unger, the event director in 2000 and now USA Swimming assistant executive director. “Chuck always talks about standing on the 10-meter tower on the last night and looking down and seeing that we were kind of busting at the seams. And that’s sort of happened.” What was off there in the distance, had officials been…

After finishing an uncharacteristic fourth in the opening round of the 2016 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in Texas two weeks earlier, defending champion Gary Hunt showed his rivals that he’s still the man to beat if they want to win this year’s title. https://youtu.be/1Zp9VR5yJjI

The Olympic trials for swimming start next week, but former University of Michigan standout Sean Ryan won’t be stressing about them — he already clinched his spot on Team USA. In fact, he will have been an Olympian for more than year before he actually competes in the Rio games. He qualified in July 2015 when he finished fourth in the open water 10K at the FINA World Championships. “A year is a really long time to go without having an intermediate goal along the way,” Ryan said. You would think an open water swimmer would train in a year-round…

As the Syrian War intensified in 2014, Mardini and her sister left their home in Damascus, travelling to Beirut, Istanbul and finally Izmir in Turkey, where they embarked on their journey across the Mediterranean to the Greek island of Lesbos. During the sea crossing, the motor on their dinghy suddenly stopped. The tiny vessel meant only for six people was at risk of capsizing, with 20 desperate passengers huddled on board. Mardini, her sister and one other woman took to the water and pushed the boat until it reached the shore, saving the lives of everyone. “Only four out of…

Former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner received a 6 month jail sentence for sexually assaulting a fellow female student because the judge deemed the trial itself as enough of a punishment, according to new reports. The presiding judge of Santa Clara County, Aaron Persky, concluded what many are calling a “slap on the wrist” as sufficient because media attention and legal proceedings were already stressful and disciplinary for Turner. The ex-Stanford swimmer blamed the university’s “party culture” and the pervasive temptations from booze that permeate social life on campus, according to a letter he sent to the judge prior to the sentencing Turner has not admitted that…

In 2015, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges put out a report calling exercise a “miracle cure.” This isn’t a conclusion based simply on some cohort or case-control studies. There are many, many randomized controlled trials. A huge meta-analysis examined the effect of exercise therapy on outcomes in people with chronic diseases. Let’s start with musculoskeletal diseases. Researchers found 32 trials looking specifically at the effect of exercise on pain and function of patients with osteoarthritis of the knee alone. That’s incredibly specific, and it’s impressive that so much research has focused on one topic. Exercise improved those outcomes. Ten more studies…

Although Olympic champions can make great role models, sports officials can’t expect all athletes to be angels in their pursuit of results, according to Australian swimming great Ian Thorpe. The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has taken a hard line on team culture at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, four years after their London Games delegation was embarrassed by a number of unsavoury incidents involving misbehaving athletes. Several athletes have been put on watch-list ahead of the Games, while the country’s top tennis player Nick Kyrgios withdrew himself from consideration after a row with the AOC over his behaviour in the…

From age group swimmers to Olympians, even Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Missy Franklin and Katie Ledecky came from humble beginnings. https://youtu.be/OV_vvcvps7g