Author: rokur

Photo of a page in the newspaper that we got from our guide Cora during the Shanghai 2011 World Swimming Championships. Her parents had noticed ‘her swimmer’ in the paper, we were told the title says something like “One athlete, big dream”.

The 11,000 single beds for the Olympic athletes village are on sale now here on Remains of the Games for £39.99 – and no, they are not 172 cm short but 197 cm long (superlong versions also available). Official supplier Ramler Furniture is selling off all kinds of Olympic furniture, including the official bedroom sets, lamps, benches, lockers, benches etc etc, to be delivered after the Paralympics. Just don’t expect to get Usain Bolt’s mattress, as he has had a specially designed orthopaedic one made, the team around Jamaica working hard to deliver everything but a goat’s head. Read The…

Apparently some new ‘same-side guidelines’ issued by FINA last year, included in IOC rules for London posted in May. Also, the eagle-eyed reader will quickly notice that Phelps is a MacBook Pro and iPhone user :-) https://twitter.com/MichaelPhelps/status/225896069307961344

London is planning travel restrictions for some 109 miles of its streets during the Olympics; a third of that distance will be reserved for athletes, members of the press, and officials. London cabbies aren’t happy about it: Some 40% of the city’s 23,200 black-cab drivers plan to strike during the games. Read Bloomberg via Newser

Sweet, “Border staff are among government workers who are set to strike on the eve of the Olympics, union leaders announced Thursday, risking longer lines at Heathrow airport’s passport control for visitors arriving for the Games.” Read for instance CNN.

Tough guy Chris Duff has been visiting the Faroe Isles the past seven weeks, en route from Scotland via Orkney, Shetland and the Faroe Islands to Iceland. Rowing alone in a modified Wayland Marine Merry Wherry 19-footer. Apparently the last stint to Iceland has been called off (280-miles in 6 days), due to bad weather, but still he made the first 205 miles in 5, rowing the final 59 miles nonstop to avoid being blown off-course. Here is him encountering a basking shark near Vestmanna. GoPro FTW. Read more on his website

The Rijeka 2008 European Short Course Championships men’s 50 backstroke medal winners. From left to right Lubos Krizko (Slovakia, bronze in 23.47), Stanislav Donets (Russia, gold in 23.22) and Aschwin Wildeboer Faber (Spain, silver in 23.28). See result list here

Off On-Sport.dk: ‘Waxing is a tradition and part of the Olympic preparations of the Danish swimming girls. Here it is Mie Østergaard Nielsen who has come under loving care by Rikke Møller Pedersen and Pernille Blume.’

Even with aquatics separated into 4 sports, we get two in top 7 :-) 1. Swimming One of two sports synonymous with the Summer Olympics, swimming rightfully dominates the opening week. Of course, having Michael Phelps is a big advantage, but as 2008 showed, the swimming events are usually exciting, with close, and in some cases, historic finishes. Swimming also gets bonus points because we are currently the dominate country. U-S-A! U-S-A! See FANIQ

This was shot just a couple of weeks ago by the Leven Estuary in Cumbria, when a flock of 25 sheep were cut off by a fast-rising Morecambe Bay tide. Now, I know for a fact that sheep can also drown, but that is another (embarrassing) story. Btw, last minute, me so sleepy now, via fwi.co.uk