Author: rokur

Lisa Stephens writes very touching here on The Swim Brief about how outdoor swimming in the summer transforms her autistic daughter from being reclusive to ‘blossoming into a butterfly’. Someone knowing agrees immediately in the comments, as does this video from a story earlier this year. “There’s magic in the water.” During the summer, in the sunshine, in the reflection of a clear blue pool, Kate comes alive. She lives at the pool, she cannot get enough. It’s incredible to see the transformation. It very much is like a caterpillar emerging from it’s cocoon and blossoming into a butterfly. In…

Nice video with Jason Lezak giving a young kid some swimming tips, including a short “how-to-beat-the-French” lesson in drafting. Good one Lezak, you earned another ribbon in my book :-)

Meet Bryall McPherson, cancer survivor now vying for a place on NZ’s Paralympic Swimming Squad for 2012. Inspirational! The Winning Spirit from Kadambari Gladding on Vimeo.

A new movie about a killer whale (orca) that took (friendly) interest in people (and apparently has a great sense of humor, see the intro). A beautiful film shot by whale friends in Nootka Sound, Canada, that world premiered here in the Faroe Islands. Movie City News via seattlepi, see also www.thewhalemovie.com.

A beautiful short film here by Faroese film maker Heiðrikur á Heygum, about his grandmother Maria á Heygum. Nicknamed “the swimming granny”, she had been swimming in the ocean out of Vestmanna for 48 years, when this movie was produced. Imagine, every day in 7°C warm water (44.6°F), no matter the weather, no matter the waves. Enjoying it :-) Waves – A Portrait of Maria á Heygum from Heidrik á Heygum on Vimeo. Here is a segment from Faroese TV about the short film, with clips out of it and interview with the film maker.

According to various news outlets in Venezuela, FINA has decided to lift the one-year antidoping suspension that Albert Subirats got earlier this summer, due to missing tests because of his federation not forwarding his whereabouts. Read more here on SwimmingWorld Magazine.

Yes, I’m still in GoPro mode. I like the fact that you can do all this with a camera that has no manual controls, but is rugged and watertight and extremely good at capturing motion … plus so small that you can have it in your pocket, or stick it to a 5 foot pole like this guy did :-) Sun, Sand, and Surf from Reel Story Films on Vimeo.

On 12-15 January 2012, Stadshallen/Högevallsbadet in Lund, Sweden will host the 1st World Aquatic Development Conference, featuring Bill Boomer, Milt Nelms, Alex Nikitin, Brad Burnham, Chris Martin, US Olympic Head Coach Teri McKeever and multiple Olympic gold medal winner Shane Gould. There will be five tracks, ranging from “Learn to Swim” over “Women in Sports” to “Competitive swimming”. The organizers know their stuff, they organized a successful conference with Boomer, Nelms and Gould in Haderslev, Denmark back in 2005 that I attended, and are now with this “Swedish Center for Aquatic Research” establishing a state-of-the-art training and testing facility with…

The “Air Swimmers” video shown here on August 12 is a full-fledged viral YouTube sensation now, receiving a whopping 2.125.609 views in just five days, after being tipped by also Toys ‘R’ Us and Hamleys as a must have toy (/tool) this holiday season. The clip has also been voted as YouTube’s favorite Science and Technology video for the month. Read Gadgets and Gizmos. Another clip called “Flying fish attacks cat!” is also going viral, receiving 424.189 views in just a few days. I for one welcome our new flying robotfish overlords!

The GoPro HD is a fantastic camera. Water is fantastic too, and vacations with your dearest. Considering a Rio 2016 research trip as we speak. 3 Days in Rio (personal vacation 2011) from Daniel Ferro on Vimeo.