Author: rokur

The Swedish Olympic Committee today nominated Jennie Johansson and Martina Granström for the London 2012 Olympics, in addition to already qualified Sarah Sjöström and Therese Alshammar. Johansson and Granström are Olympic debutants, while Sjöström also participated in Beijing, and Alshammar at all 4 games since 1996. The Committee also nominated the women’s 4×100 freestyle, though without naming the swimmers. According to the Swedish Swimming Federation, the next selection will be at the end of May, after the European Championships. Via simma.nu/se (Alshammar happy at the World Cup leg in Stockholm back in 2010)

Svimjihøllin í Gundadali, main swimming pool of Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, all dressed up to greet young swimmer Magnus Jákupsson after his successful Nordic Youth Championships participation back in July 2010, where he won gold in the 50 backstroke, silver in the 50 butterfly and bronze in the 200 backstroke. Had to find a photo with Merkið today, since it is our annual flag day :-)

At the FINA 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup í Cancun (MEX) yesterday, Brazil’s Ana Marcela Cunha won the women’s event in 2h09m14s78, ahead of Angela Maurer (GER) in 2h09m16s22 and Martina Grimaldi (ITA) in 2h09m19s04, and Germany’s Thomas Lurz the men’s event in 1h58m16s51 ahead of Spyridon Gianniotis (GRE) in 2h57m16s55 and Nicola Bolzonello (ITA) in 2h58m16s56. Oussama Mellouli (TUN) made his first appearance in a FINA-sanctioned open water event, taking 11th in 1h57m32s02. See press release on FINA.org and results here.

So at the just-for-fun Speaker’s Corner event on Friday night at Hotel Føroyar, our federation president Jon Hestoy got into a mine-is-bigger-than-yours competition with Ilkka Keskinen from Finland and Hafþór Gudmundsson from Iceland, speakers at the 11th Nordic Conference in Elementary Swimming Teaching, on how many 5-6th grade kids could swim in their countries. Unfortunately there is quite a lot of background noise, but I strongly recommend at least to listen to Hafþór, since their statistics are absolutely impressive, and the solution quite simple. And notice, they compare the Nordic definition of swimming ability, which is to be able to…

The drivers if fortunately OK after losing control of his car, flying through the air and plunging upside down into a family pool, the accelerator apparently having gotten stuck on his 1968 red Chevrolet Camaro. Bumblebee, is that you? Read 7News

The Skandalopetra FreeDiving Event will be held in Bonaire, Northern Carribbean on May 2-9, where freedivers will use the ancient Greek sponge diving technique of using a stone called a “skandalopetra” to dive head-firt to the bottom. Read more here on Greek Reporter.

35-year-old Trenton Oldfield who on April 7 stopped the 158th annual Boat Race by swimming between the boats was yesterday banned from the Olympic torch route and celebrations for the Queen’s Jubilee. Now, that is a lot of ground covered over time, since the Flame will come within 10 miles of 95% of people in the UK, Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey, so maybe he should just stay in one area from May 19 until July 27, and then move on the day when it gets to there. Read MailOnline

The lineup of the Russian Olympic swimming team is complete, with 29 athletes earning the right to represent their country in London 2012, following the conclusion of the National Championships in Moscow. According to RT the one chance that Russian swimmers had to qualify for the Summer Olympics, which makes you wonder what the heck Lobintsev was thinking: “You know I came to the championships completely out of form, which was plain to see,” Lobintsev explained. “I completely flunked the 400 meters and didn’t do much better in the 200 meters. But now I’ve more or less found my form…

Construction is already underway on the Shimao Intercontinental Hotel in the Songjiang District of Shanghai – a five-star, 19-story, 380-room, luxury hotel built into an abandoned, part-flooded quarry, including underwater public areas and guestrooms facing a ten-meter deep aquarium. The lowest level of the hotel will contain a leisure complex with a swimming pool and water-based sports, and an extreme sports centre for activities such as rock climbing and bungee jumping will be cantilevered over the quarry. Sheesh, I sure hope they will sound-proof those windows. See Atkins via Gizmag

Another photo of Japanese fans at the the Rome 2009 World Aquatics Championships, the other one was here.