Swimmer's Daily

  • Andrew Gemmell got into swimming as a kid because it was fun. From there, he realized his passion and talent for the sport, and guided by his father who doubled as his coach, went on to earn a place with one of the most successful teams to ever compete for Team USA.

    Over the course of his long career in elite swimming, during which he competed at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Andrew held himself accountable for doing the right thing, from eating healthy and setting aside time for recovery, to filing Whereabouts and checking the prohibited status of medications. Now retired, Andrew is channeling his commitment to clean sport to advocate for a level playing field and help the next generation of swimmers compete the right way in his role as an Anti-Doping Education Athlete Presenter with USADA.

    https://youtu.be/p7aR3pV5VCM

  • Would you swim in these conditions?!
    Air temp: 7C. Water: 7C. Wind: Gusting 45mph. Fun: off the scale!
    2nd January 2020, Reef Beach, Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland.
    Part of Lewis Pugh’s training camp ahead of his Antarctica 2020 swim.
    Lewis is joined by training partner Max Holloway, Jonathan Aitken and Calum Maclean. A hard 1k swim followed by a return 1k run on the beach.

    Find out about Lewis’s Antartica2020 swim: https://lewispughfoundation.org/east-…

  • A swim coach who previously was disciplined for an arrangement allowing his private swim club to rent the pool at Whitney Young High School “for little to no cost,” also pocketed nearly $30,000 from improper side deals to lease the pool to three other outside groups, according to a new watchdog report.

    From April 2013 through September 2016, Whitney Young swim coach Andy Parro collected at least $29,604 from three outside groups through “off-the books agreements” and kept the money for himself, even though he had no authority to rent out pool time at all, according to the latest annual report from Chicago Public Schools Inspector General Nicholas Schuler. The report does not name the school or Parro, but the CBS 2 Investigators previously have reported on allegations against Parro involving improper use of the Whitney Young pool.

    In 2016, Parro and his club were suspended from doing business with the district, after Schuler’s office found he had made an arrangement with the principal and assistant principal to rent the pool for his private club for a mere $1.20 per hour between August 2014 and September 2016.  The inspector general estimated the school gave up $96,301.70 to $582,504.20 in possible rent due to the improper arrangement.

    In the wake of Schuler’s report on that arrangement, the inspector general’s office received new complaints that Parro had been improperly subletting his swim club’s lease, and that he was still engaging in business with the school even after the Chicago Board of Education had moved to bar him from doing so.

    See CBS Chicago, Chicago Tribune, Houston Chronicle

  • Before you jump in consider bringing along a swim buddy. It’s safer and social.

  • A man was killed by a shark Sunday while diving near Esperance off the coast of Western Australia state.

    The attack happened as the man was diving from a boat at Cull Island off Esperance just after 1 p.m. His body has not been found.

    The Department of Primary Industries confirmed the attack, saying “a man received fatal injuries after being bitten by a reported white shark.”

    Police said a woman aboard the boat had been treated for shock.

    Read The Union Journal and ABC News

  • On 60 Minutes, Allison Langdon experiences the unique chance travelers and scientists are sharing in the Pacific – to swim with humpback whales.

  • We are proud to launch the ‘Swim Against Loneliness’: an event which will take place in two phases.

    The first will involve all the children currently taking swimming lessons at Queens Park Sports Club (some 2,000 in total) who will be going for their certificates during the week of Saturday 6th June. The second will be aimed at adults and will take place either on Saturday 6th or Sunday 7th June. The Sports and Volunteer Centres’ Management teams are currently working through the details to maximize participation at this valuable and exciting event.

    Visit http://swimagainstloneliness.online/

    https://youtu.be/1wG_l4KfF9Q

  • It was a gift with some awful strings attached.

    Toward the end of his sophomore year at Ohio State University, then-star swimmer Derek de Jong discovered that he was a lock for one of just a dozen spots in the school’s prestigious exercise science program — and that the team physician, Richard Strauss, had made it happen.

    De Jong said he had not even considered applying because his grades were nothing special and this was a highly competitive program.

    “Strauss found out that I was interested in medicine,” de Jong told NBC News. “He intervened on my behalf without my request.”

    But Strauss wanted something in return, he said.

    “When I got in he congratulated me and asked, ‘When do you want to repay me for it?’” de Jong said.De Jong said he knew what Strauss was after.

    Read NBC News