• Ms. Foo Xu Hui had to give up dance and gymnastics after a sudden fall in junior college left her in a wheelchair. She adapted to her new life and picked up swimming along the way.

  • Today we’re going to give away the $200 Form Swim Goggles but first let’s do a full review of these goggles and their heads up display system where you can see live swimming metrics like pace while you’re swimming. Link to where you can buy them below:

    Buy them here: https://amzn.to/35oNOj1
    Form Swim Goggle’s Website:
    https://www.formswim.com/

  • The Finns are eccentric in the best way. In Northern Europe, the winters get pretty chilly – and Northern Finland is up there with the coldest places on the continent. Doesn’t bother the Finns! Swimming in icy water is a widely practiced tradition, and every year locals compete in an extreme swimming race. For many here, a freezing cold dip is part of everyday life. Naturally, Euromaxx reporter Max Merrill went there to find out for himself how swimming in sub-zero temperatures feels. His challenge: to survive a 25-meter dash in a lake that’s just 1°c – and not come in last!

  • On Friday 28 February 2020, Capetonian marathon swimmer, musician and mother-of-three Carina Bruwer will attempt to swim approximately 20km to cross Nelson Mandela Bay in Port Elizabeth, in support of Muzukidz, an organisation that offers underprivileged children the opportunity to learn the violin.

    If successful, Carina will be the first woman and the second person to complete the gruelling crossing from Pollock Beach in Summerstrand (PE) to Bluewater Bay on the Coega side of the bay.  She will enter the water at approximately 08:00 on Friday, where a group of children from the Muzukidz project are expected to see her off.  The exact finish point will be determined on the day, depending on visibility and/or shark activity in the harbour vicinity.

    “Crossing Nelson Mandela Bay has been on my bucket list for longer than I can remember” says Carina, an  open water swimming veteran whose resume includes numerous records and iconic crossings such as the English Channel, False Bay, the Gibraltar Straits, and dozens more.  “I just never quite got round to it but now that Muzukidz, the NPO that I support with all my heart and efforts, opened a branch in Port Elizabeth, the time has certainly come!”.

    Over the past 20 years, three male swimmers have crossed the bay. PE swimmer / adventurer Kyle Main did the 20km crossing from Hobie beach to Coega on two occasions (first of which was in 2000), while Chris Malan completed a 15km crossing across the bay in 2003 at the age of 15, a route which internationally renowned Lewis Pugh also followed in 2006.

    Local sports company Adventure Swims ZA will oversee the crossing and provide support in the form of two boats (one from Raggy Charters and one private vessel) and a team consisting of pilots, a power / rescue swimmer and a medic. The Port Authority, NSRI, KB Surf lifesaving and Guardmed will also be on standby.  The boats will be equipped with shark shields, while there will also be a dedicated shark spotter on each boat. Carina’s swim is expected to take anything between 5 and 7 hours, depending on the conditions. The main challenges, apart from the distance, are unpredictable currents, wind, rough water, shipping lane activity and ocean life.

    Carina, an International Marathon Swimming’s Hall of Fame nominee who was also ranked as one of the World Open Water Swimming Association’s top 50 most “daring, courageous and audacious” open water swimmers in the world in 2015 and 2018, has been training 30km per week and says she feels ready for the distance.   “I am feeling fit and am looking forward to spending the time in the ocean; it is my happy place and the little aches and pains that creep in after a few hours of swimming are quickly forgotten when I am swimming for a cause”, says the 40 year-old mother of three.  “When I swim in the open water and I get into my ‘zone’, I often experience a beautiful state of clarity, where the world makes sense to me and I feel enormously optimistic and filled with hope.  I realise that I am hugely fortunate to be able to experience moments like this while so many people in this world are limited by their circumstances – certainly most people in South Africa – so Swim For Hope is all about sharing this optimism and spreading the feeling of hope that I experience in the open water”, says Carina.

    Carina is also a well-known musician who performs with the internationally renowned instrumental group Sterling EQ, She founded Swim For Hope in 2014 as a fundraising platform through which open water swimmers can dedicate a solo or group swim to a worthy South African cause.  Since its inception, Swim For Hope has raised over R600,000 for different charities, in addition to media coverage to the value of more than R1 million. The project’s current beneficiary is MUZUKIDZ which, after 5 years working exclusively in Cape Town, has now also opened a branch in Port Elizabeth.  Operating from Settlers Park Primary in Walmer, Muzukidz has one teacher in PE, who has taken 50 young children from townships in and around PE under her wing. Children are taught at no cost to the families and Muzukidz relies solely on external funding to cover costs for teachers, instruments and teaching material. The organisation hopes to be able to appoint a second teacher and reach 150 children by mid-2020.

    “Muzukidz is the perfect beneficiary, as I truly believe in empowering South Africans and growing South Africa through education, and being more of a performer than a teacher myself, I was delighted to discover this amazing organisation as it represented everything I was hoping to support as a musician. I believe that giving a child the opportunity to learn a musical instrument goes way beyond the ability to make music or the possibility of being a musician one day. Music stimulates the brain in a very special way; in fact studies have shown that children who do 14 months of musical training displayed more powerful structural and functional brain changes. Imagine what this can do for a young child who comes from a poor background and who has limited opportunities and a limited support structure. I am convinced that organisations like Muzukidz are helping to mould our future leaders, inventors and change makers.”

    Members of the public, as well as corporates are invited to follow the swim online, and are encouraged to sponsor and donate.

    DONATIONS:

    https://www.givengain.com/ap/carina-bruwer-raising-funds-for-muzukidz-24503/

    VIEWING / FOLLOWING OPTIONS:

    1. Regular live streaming and updates will be posted on Carina’s Facebook page and Instagram account:
      www.facebook.com/carinabruwerofficial
      www.instagram.com/carinabruwer

    2. Carina’s progress can also be tracked online on
      https://www.mapmytracks.com/events/carina-bruwers-20km-swim-for-hope-across-nelson-mandela-bay1/race/20km-nelson-mandela-bay-swim-crossing

    Press release and images courtesy of Swim For Hope / Carina Bruwer

  • Description: there are many benefits to the ketogenic diet, as well as some cons. So what can the keto diet bring to you as a swimmer? This article looks at how this diet can impact your swimming.

    Photo by Guduru Ajay bhargav from Pexels

    The world isn’t short of people who are embracing the ketogenic diet. Everywhere you go, you’ll see celebrities talking about how brilliant it has been for them. You’ll find runners who have claimed to have run tens of miles without needing to go to the toilet after sticking to a high-fat diet and taking best keto supplements. You’ll even find deacons embracing various keto diet snacks. Like it or not,  this diet is really everywhere you go. However, is it safe to try? We’re going to bring you up-to-date with everything you need to consider about this diet before you decide whether to try it for yourself.

    What’s it all about?

    If you’re unsure about keto diet with exercise because you simply have no idea what it is, fears not! Were going to take you through it.

    Fortunately, the principles behind the keto diet are really very simple. The key is to ingest high-fat food with low carbohydrates. If you do this, you can put your body into a natural metabolic state known as ketosis. Ketosis causes the body to ban fat stores instead of carbohydrates that it usually targets to burn for energy. However, you will need to eat the right quality of food (no junk). You will need to consume a very low amount of carbohydrates, typically between 25 and 45 g a day, in order to start burning fat for energy. People who have chosen to follow the ketogenic diet with success have always adhered to counting the carbs with accuracy.

    What can you eat?

    If you’re looking at a keto diet for beginners, as a rule of thumb, you will want to avoid carbohydrates, as we mentioned. It is also important to know that you are what you eat, so you should avoid processed food and junk food as much as you can.

    Here are some foods that you might find on a keto diet plan for athletes:

    • Butter
    • Eggs
    • Meet
    • Fish
    • Cheese
    • Nuts
    • Oils
    • Non-starchy vegetables
    • Fibrous vegetables
    • Berries 
    Photo by Sabrina Schulz from Pexels

    The pros and cons

    High-fat diets have had a lot of success in preventing seizures for those suffering from epilepsy. A lot of research has been done to show that the ketogenic diet can help people with type II diabetes regulate their blood sugar levels. This kind of diet has also been linked to a reduction in heart disease risk. 

    Those who are trying to lose body mass find that exercise and ketogenic diet go hand in hand. This is because fat and protein can provide satiety easily, resulting in people eating and snacking less on the whole. This can be great if you are swinging because you can lose weight and build lean protein, which will help you swim.

    If you are a swimmer who trains at a low intensity, i.e. 70% of your maximum heart level, the body will completely rely on fat energy, this makes the ketogenic diet very effective in keeping your weight down and your muscle lean. This proves massively advantageous to swimming where you want to be as light as you can and as strong as you can as well.

    However, if you’re not going to follow the diet accurately, you could experience some discomfort in your gut. Some studies have suggested that swimmers who have been on a keto diet for athletes have had little benefit in terms of high-energy performance. This means that you could lack energy as a swimmer if you want to go all out within a race. Some swimmers have reported not having enough intense energy at the last minute so that they can win a race that can prove very disadvantageous. The best thing to do is to stick to the diet in the long run in order to reach ketosis and get the body used to burn fat.

    Low-carbohydrate diets lead to the body producing many ketones and burning high amounts of fat instead of carbs to gain energy. It can be dangerous for us when out if too many of these ketones are to build up in the body. Too many and you can become dehydrated, changing the chemical balance of your blood. However, steady ketosis can make you reach satiety easier, thus helping you to maintain lean muscle mass. It is also vitally important to drink as much water as you can to stay okay.

    Is it good to try?

    We would thoroughly recommend sticking to it if you’re going to try. it. The body needs to adjust and reach ketosis and a lot of people who have noticed discomfort are those who have not given themselves enough time to adjust. It can be quite difficult because it isn’t the kind of thing you can ease into very well due to its restrictive nature, however, it is still possible to have a well-balanced diet whilst being on keto.

    Keto diet final thoughts

    If you’re wondering is the keto diet safe, we would definitely say yes, as long as you are following it correctly. The benefits of the keto diet can certainly help you if your swimmer,  just as long as you stick to it for enough time to reach ketosis. Do that, and you’ll be swimming like a fish for many years to come.

    Have you ever used a keto diet calculator? Tell us about your experiences in the comments section below.

    Author’s bio: Adam Reeve loves to swim. He has basically been swimming ever since he was in his mother’s womb. Working as a writer, he has time to swim in local competitions on an amateur level. Adam loves to write about swimming and all things related.

  • Is there a relationship between swimming and life? Yes, it is, because swimming is life itself, and in this article, we will prove to you that swimming can teach us very valuable life lessons.

    You Still Need Survival Skills  – Even in Our Tech Environment

    In fact, swimming is the first survival skill. And it is given to us by nature itself. The human fetus develops in water and at a certain moment leaves this environment to meet the world. But the swimming skill remains. Any newborn child can swim, but if you do not support this skill, then it will atrophy over time as something unnecessary.

    However, despite all the high technologies, safety standards, rules, and norms, life remains life. Life is unpredictable, and sometimes we can face danger – when your life, the life of your children or other people will depend on your ability to swim. It’s like a skill to drive a car – you can never do it, but sometimes just the skill can be decisive.

    Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

    Therefore, the lesson is as follows. We were born out of water – and we must not forget about the paramount survival skills, even despite all the virtues of modern progress.

    You Can Do It

    Swimming, like any other sport, teaches us that we always have enough strength to do anything. And what’s more, swimming is an innate skill. It does not need to be mastered from scratch – it needs to be restored. And you can do it – just like you can do something else that you want to achieve.

    Therefore, besides the fact that swimming is about sports, it is also about self-confidence, self-discipline, the ability to overcome, start from scratch, not give up, endure and swim to the end. It looks like our life, isn’t it?

    It Is Possible to Stop the Time

    We already know a lot about the benefits of swimming for both physical and mental health. This is the safest sport of all possible, it has practically no contraindications and dangerous consequences, swimming involves all muscle groups and affects all our organs and systems, including the nervous system, of course. This explains the positive effect of swimming on our mental state.

    And we will say even more – scientists from Indiana University conducted research and proved that the biological age of those who regularly swim is 20 years less than compared to those who do not. This is a real stop over time – because the date in our passport means only a set of numbers. And only real indicators of our health reflect the real picture.

    You May Leave Your Problems in the Water

    Image by Pexels from Pixabay

    Water is very strong energy. Even the water in your bathroom. Water flushes and cleanses – and does not require anything in return. This fact partially explains the positive impact of swimming on the nervous system and mental health in general – water in combination with sports really relieves negative things. Try it yourself if you don’t believe it. It is indeed possible to leave all your problems in the water if you use some mental practices as well.

    • You can imagine all your problems as a black stone and see clearly how you throw it into the water.
    • You can swim and imagine yourself surrounded by a bubble of protective and positive energy.

    Thus, swimming also teaches us to work with problems on a mental level – even if you are physically far from the water now, you can always draw the picture you need in your head and get rid of your feelings, especially if you can’t influence to the situation.

    The Process Can Be Even More Important Than the Result

    Sometimes we come to a goal and realize that the process itself was actually a goal. And that is wonderful. Swimming is another lesson in self-development. When we set a goal, break it into small steps, gradually overcome each, experience difficulties, do not give up, and in the end still achieve results, then pride in the path traveled sometimes even sounds stronger than the feeling of victory. Because these are your life lessons that will stay with you forever, and which will help you move forward and get high from the process, in other, possibly more difficult situations.

    By the way, if you have difficulties with academic tasks or creating content, you can always choose the most suitable author on the Online Writers Rating review website. And move on.

    Sometimes, the Only Way Is to Overcome Yourself

    No one will ever tell you directly about this, but you can believe it – very many famous (and not known) swimmers experienced fear. Fear of depth (even when you understand that the coach is half a step away from you), fear of jumping (even when you understand that the distance to the water is no more than half a meter), fear of height (even when you understand that water below will easily take you into its arms and will not do any harm). These are all real fears. And there is only one way to overcome them – close your eyes, breathe more air and take a step forward. And in real life, it works the same way.

    And Sometimes, You Just Need to Loose

    Winning and losing go hand in hand. Without knowing the taste of defeat, it is impossible to taste the victory completely. And yes, this is another fact that professional swimmers do not speak directly about – but each of them knows everything about what defeat means. And here, you need to be able to correctly perceive defeats – both in the pool and in real life. It is necessary to learn to be grateful for the opportunity to compete and to be grateful to your rivals – for the opportunity to evaluate your abilities with a sober look, to reconsider your strategy and continue to move again.

    Conclusion

    This is impressive, right? Just one simple action given to us by nature  – to swim forward, but this is not a complete list of life lessons that it can teach you.

    Frank Hamilton is a blogger and translator from Manchester. He is a professional writing expert in such topics as blogging, digital marketing and self-education. He also loves traveling and speaks Spanish, French, German and English.

  • With 50 plus years of recreational use, the Lithia Springs Park, located on Lithia Springs Road, is a popular spot for people to camp, swim, and hike.

  • SwimOutlet’s Sporti brand, a top performance swimwear line, launched its groundbreaking Sporti “Renew” collection this week, a line of swimwear made only from discarded fabrics and leftover materials already on-hand at factories. Renew’s story from inception to production is a unique one and first-of-its-kind to be available at SwimOutlet.com, the web’s most popular swim shop.

    “We’ve challenged ourselves at Sporti to be a more innovative and socially-responsible brand,” said Winnie So, President of Sporti. “When we learned about these rolls and rolls of new leftover fabrics at the factory warehouse that were destined to end up in the dump, we came up with the idea to make seasonal designs specifically around these leftovers and remnants. This ultimately cuts down on waste and has less carbon footprint than recycling. That was the genesis of our Renew collection.”

    Most factories keep leftover fabrics for a few months before sending them to the landfill, when there is no longer any perceived use for them. But Sporti’s Renew line has turned that dynamic on its head for this particular factory by creating a line specifically using these discarded materials through upcycling.

    The Sporti design team worked directly with the factory to create eye-popping new prints for this first collection which features chlorine-proof fabrics originally from Italy and provides moderate compression for swim training.

    “By upcycling these beautiful leftover fabrics that were going to end up in a landfill, we were able to bring them back to life with minimal carbon footprint,” said Winnie So. “If we think creatively to find new solutions across various areas of design and product development, we can make a difference for our planet.”

     A total of 16 swimsuit styles were created for this initial collection in Sporti’s best-selling and functional silhouettes, all at affordable prices, starting at $22.95 for him and $19.95 for her. The Sporti Renew collection is available for purchase now.

    Press release from SwimOutlet