Author: rokur

In a new television spot for activewear company Under Armour, billion-time gold medalist Michael Phelps preps for his final trip to the Olympics. He swims! He carbo-loads! He sleeps in a tube! He lifts his legs while hanging from a pull-up bar! He swims some more! He remains completely still during a cupping therapy session! As if this Rio de Janeiro training montage wasn’t enough to get me all sorts of psyched for this summer’s games, the commercial threw in a tune that’s so good, it deserves a gold medal of its very own. The song in the Under Armour ad where…

At 6 years old, Chloe Sutton knew she wanted to be an Olympic swimmer. The next 10 years — which were full of travel, sacrifice and hard work — that dream came true. Sutton reached her first Summer Olympics as a 16-year-old in 2008 in Beijing and repeated the feat four years later in London. However, after retiring from competition, the 24-year-old discovered a passion that she enjoys more than competition — imparting knowledge to younger swimmers across the country. Sutton made her first journey to West Texas where she is hosting a swimming clinic at Permian High School for…

The Yucatan Peninsula is rife with deep, sometimes creepy and hauntingly beautiful underwater caves called cenotes. Some have multiple layers of fresh water, seawater, stalagmites and stalactites and even trees. Many remain undiscovered and their depths unexplored. Freediver and scuba instructor Julien Borde, of Playa Del Carmen, explores this subterranean world for a living. Dive deep, hold your breath and don’t forget to open your eyes. https://youtu.be/1eIYW9Gp_EY

Olympic Silver Medallist, Double World Champion and Great Swim ambassador Keri-anne Payne shares her top suggestions to help you take on your first Great Swim in 2016. https://youtu.be/xwkmXy6xUCU

Courtesy of The Australian Dolphins Swim Team https://youtu.be/x1yo_kxNucQ

Members of a Northern York County YMCA swim team are looking for answers after their head coach was abruptly fired. Swimmers and their parents protested outside of the YMCA in Biddeford with signs that said “Bring Back Zach.” Zach Gray was head coach of the Manta Ray swim team for two years, but was let go on Tuesday. Those protesting say they believe Zach was fired for petty reasons, and say he has been nothing but an asset to the team. In a statement, the officials from the YMCA thanked Zach for his two years of service to the organization,…

Almost two dozen teenagers had to be rescued from the water off a San Diego shore after nearly drowning. The students were members of a swim team that were visiting the San Diego coast to compete in a long-distance swim as part of their annual beach swim training, officials said Tuesday. That’s when a few began to panic in the rough conditions. See ABC

A 2010 study conducted in Denmark and published in the journal Epidemiology aimed to answer the question “Is Swimming During Pregnancy a Safe Exercise? by comparing swimming, bicycling and no exercise. Swimming is considered an ideal activity for pregnant women, the study found. There was no indication that swimming in pool water “is associated with adverse reproductive outcomes.” Read The New York Times Photo by Yachichurova

A California tech executive died Sunday after he jumped into a swimming pool to save his daughter, who was being electrocuted and turning blue in the water, PEOPLE confirms. Jim Tramel, 43, of Burlingame, California, saw his daughter, 9, struggling in the pool at a home in Palm Springs during a family gathering and leaped in to save her, police said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. Tramel was electrocuted as well, and both father and daughter had to be pulled from the pool by others at the gathering. The electrocutions likely occurred “as a result of faulty pool wires,” police said.…

Nineteen-year-old Katie Ledecky has emerged as a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon, breaking multiple world records in races short and long. What’s her secret? asks Robert Sullivan. One of the reasons it is difficult to see precisely what makes Katie Ledecky perhaps the greatest athlete in America, and maybe the planet, is that when she comes out of her house it is dark, as in very dark, as in 4:25 in the morning. Naturally, conversation at this hour is limited: The swimmer is under the hood of her parka and savoring those last few moments before the 5:00 a.m. plunge, while her father,…