Swimmer's Daily

  • The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory has tasked scientists and engineers at the 711th Human Performance Wing with building a small electronic device that would help prevent pararescue candidates from dying in the pool by monitoring blood oxygen levels.

    The device is known as the FISH, and the project has matured. A private company is now being sought to license and commercialize the technology for widespread use

  • Thousands of swimmers will put their swim skills to the test tomorrow at the 40th Lorne Pier to Pub event.

    https://youtu.be/kcsU8Frx0F8

  • Melodee, a strong swimmer and working mom, was born with hip dysplasia and uneven leg lengths, resulting in the need for a total hip replacement. She met with her orthopaedic team at Froedtert Menomonee Falls Hospital, where her surgeon made a digital template of her hip – a virtual blueprint to help guide the procedure. Melodee’s leg was also lengthened in surgery- something she describes as life-changing. Now she’s back in the pool, and living pain free.

  • Train like a pro with Olympian Femke Heemskerk. In the 2020 Olympic year we followed gold medallist Femke Heemskerk during a full workout. This gives you a bit of insight in how professional swimmers train on a daily basis.

  • For the last three years, the Edgewood High School Swim Team has hosted the Jessica Brown Memorial Invitational, a regional swim meet that honors their beloved coach who passed away in 2017. Video shot and edited by Edgewood Media student Laney Messent.

  • Documentary which tells the story of the volunteer coaches and the unlikeliest of athletes who they tirelessly support in their dream to swim from England to France.

    In 1875, Captain Matthew Webb – with little more than some brandy, beer and beef tea to keep him going – became the first man to successfully swim from England to France. Since then more people have conquered Everest than successfully swum across the Channel. To this day, it remains the ultimate open water swimming challenge. This documentary tells the story of those who keep Captain Webb’s vision alive – the volunteer coaches and the unlikeliest of athletes who they tirelessly support in their dream to swim from England to France. The rules are simple – no physical aids, no wimp/wet suits, just a swimsuit, goggles, the all-important swimming cap and a spot of grease to stop the chafing. At the heart of the community are pensioners Freda, Irene and Barry. They can be found in Dover every weekend from May to September come rain or shine, ready to train, feed and grease the wannabe Channel swimmers. The swimmers do not take on this arduous journey alone, and also rely on the skill of the pilots who navigate them safely to the other side of the busiest shipping lane in the world. The community share their highs and lows both in and out of the water as they train together on this small stretch of pebbled beach shadowed by the ferry port. Feasting on jelly babies, and fuelled by adrenalin and dreams, the modern-day swimmer continues to risk it all in this, the ultimate challenge of man versus nature

  • Athletes who protest at Tokyo 2020 have been threatened with possible disciplinary action under Rule 50 guidelines developed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes’ Commission.

    It is the first time the IOC Athletes’ Commission has established specific guidelines on Rule 50 – which states that “No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas” – for competitors at the Olympic Games.

    The document, published following a joint meeting of the IOC Executive Board and the Athletes’ Commission, prohibits protests and demonstrations at “all Olympic venues”, including medal ceremonies, the field of play and the Olympic Village.

    The rules come in response to protests from athletes at major sports events last year, including the Pan American Games in Lima and the World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju.

    Read Inside the Games

  • Tokyo Olympic athletes beware — particularly larger ones.

    The bed frames in the Athletes Village at this year’s Olympics will be made of cardboard. Sturdy cardboard.

    “Those beds can stand up to 200 kilograms,” explained Takashi Kitajima, the general manager of the Athletes Village, speaking through an interpreter.

    That’s about 440 pounds, and surely no Olympic athlete weighs that much.

    “They are stronger than wooden beds,” Kitajima added.

    He also took into account the possibility of a wild room celebration after, say, a gold-medal victory.

    “Of course, wood and cardboard would each break if you jumped on them,” he said.

    Read for instance The New York Times and Reuters

  • In September 2015, Mustill and a friend, Charlotte Kinloch, were paddling a tandem kayak in Monterey Bay, California, on a whale-watching tour when a 30-ton humpback breached and came within feet of landing directly on them. They were knocked from their boat and quickly rescued, but video footage of the incident captured by nearby whale-watchers went viral, rapidly racking up millions of views. In the weeks afterward, Mustill found himself watching and rewatching the clip, growing more and more obsessed. As he ruminates in the film, “How can you get that close to something so big, with that much power, and not die?”

    It’s a coincidence so perfect that it seems contrived—wildlife filmmaker landed on by a breaching whale, film to come—but Mustill’s background is what makes him the perfect candidate to investigate this case. His deep dive into the behavior of the humpback turned into a wide-ranging look at the precarious state of whales that became The Whale Detective.