Author: rokur

A Greek swimmer giving me a total ‘aha’ moment while cooking in the sun on the athlete’s stand at the FINA 2009 World Championships in Rome, Italy. They know a lot more about keeping cool in the sun, than us the Faroese. Really.

In the underwater horror game Deep Sea, you strap on a mask that takes away your vision and limits your breathing, to start fighting alien monsters in the abyss by trying to localize, aim and fire at them using only your hearing, to the point where you have to surpress your breathing in order to hear. Sounds simple, but some people really freaked out at the stand, hands shaking and not wanting to talk about the experience, while another described intense feeling of claustrophobia and his Chtulhu-esque monsters conjured up by his imagination. Read more here on Gamasutra

At the FINA 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup in Eilat (ISR) yesterday, Spyridon Gianniotis (GRE) and Ana Marcela Cunha (BRA) won gold, Gianniotis by outsprinting Thomas Lurz (GER) to a 1h52m32s45 third consecutive win out of three possible at this World Cup series and Cunho by clipping Ekaterina Seliverstova with a 2h02m37s45 to 2h02m37s80. See PR 19_2012.

At the Indianapolis Grand Prix yesterday, Michael Phelps scorched the men’s 200 meter individual medley with a 1:56.41 meet record, almost two seconds under Joe Roebuck’s world-leading time of 1:58.16 from the British Olympic Trials. Read more here on SwimmingWorld Magazine Crazy to think it all started 12 years ago in Indy…. And now I swam my last race ever in this (cont) tl.gd/gojrr4— Michael Phelps (@MichaelPhelps) April 1, 2012

At the Spanish Open National Championships, Spain’s Mireia Belmonte García broke the national record in the women’s 400 freestyle, with a time of 4:05.77 breaking Melanie Costa Schmid’s 4:07.02 from the Shanghai World Championships last year. Read more here on SwimmingWorld Magazine.

24-year-old Lauren Boyle, who has qualified for the Olympics in three individual events and the 4×200 freestyle relay, has been honored for an outstanding 2011, including finals in the 400 and 800 freestyle in Shanghai, a semifinal in the 200 freestyle, helping the 4×200 to qualify for the Olympics there, and winning five medals at the following World University Games in Shenzhen. Read sport.msn.co.nz and nzherald.co.nz (4-year-old video featuring Lauren Boyle)

You would never know by looking at him, but Jeffrey is legally blind. He was born with a rare genetic eye condition. He has no color vision whatsoever, meaning that his depth perception is off, and cannot see longer than 10 feet in front of him. But get him in the water, and he’s just like everyone else. Great story, read CBS Sacramento.

In her new memoir “In The Water They Can’t See You Cry,” seven-time Olympic medalist Amanda Beard reveals how she has battled with bulimia and self-mutilation during her astonishing rise to the top. Struggling to cope with her parents divorce and her shot to fame at the age of 14, she began to battle with personal torments, only relieved when in the pool. Trouble with a boyfriend made her start cutting herself when in college, and then there was alcohol and drug abuse. Her book hits stores April 3, read more for instance on NYDailyNews.com, MailOnline and Radar.

A photo taken after the second semifinal of the men’s 200 freestyle at the 2009 FINA World Aquatic Championships in Rome, Italy. Germany’s Paul Biedermann posted the quickest time, en route to his 1:42.00 world record in the final the day after.

Behind the scenes at the Canadian Olympic & Paralympic Trials presented by RBC.