Swimmer's Daily

  • The grand opening ceremony of the Tokyo Aquatics Centre has been postponed, with a rescheduled event set to take place without members of the public.

    The opening ceremony had been scheduled to take place on March 22.

    The event was postponed as part of measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) announced.

    โ€œIn addition, in the interest of public safety it has been decided that the opening ceremony, when rescheduled, will not be open to the public,โ€ a TMG statement read.

    The ceremony was originally set to be attended by members of the public, who had applied in advance to watch the event.

    Read Inside the Games

    Tokyo Olympic swimming venue unveiled

    Tokyo 2020 Olympic Organizers Announce All Venues Now Completed

     

  • Wim Hof first caught the attention of scientists when he proved he was able to use meditation to stay submerged in ice for 1 hour and 53 minutes without his core body temperature changing. Since then, heโ€™s climbed Mount Everest in his shorts, resisted altitude sickness, completed a marathon in the Namib Desert with no water and proven under a laboratory setting that heโ€™s able to influence his autonomic nervous system and immune system at will.

    Almost everything Wim has done was previously thought to be impossible – but heโ€™s not a freak of nature.

    To demonstrate that any human can learn his methods, Wim offered to teach Matt Shea and Daisy-May Hudson to climb a freezing cold mountain in their shorts without getting cold. But when Matt and Daisy signed up for the training, they had no idea that the so-called Iceman was planning to lead them on a psychedelic journey across Europe that circled the chasm between science, spirituality, and mystery.

  • The International Olympic Committee will follow the World Health Organisationโ€™s recommendation on whether to cancel or postpone this yearโ€™s Tokyo Olympics over the coronavirus pandemic, IOC chief Thomas Bach said Thursday.

    In an interview with German television ARD, Bach said his organisation has been in regular contact with WHO experts since mid-February over the issue.

    โ€œWe will follow the advice of the WHO,โ€ he said, adding that the IOC was now still working towards preparing for a โ€œsuccessfulโ€ Games.

    With cancellations of Olympic qualifiers piling up as countries unroll drastic measures to halt the contagion, Bach acknowledged that there are โ€œserious problems with qualification competitionsโ€.

    โ€œHere we will have to react very flexibly,โ€ he said, adding that this could be through postponing competitions or changing qualification criteria.

    What is key, he said, is that athletes, particularly those from countries hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, must be offered โ€œfair qualification under these very difficult conditionsโ€.

    Read Hindustan Times

    Coronavirus outbreak: IOC President Thomas Bach addresses impact on Tokyo 2020 Olympics

  • Australian swimmer Shayna Jack is heading to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to appeal a four-year ban recommended by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority’s rule violation panel.

    The 20-year old tested positive to the banned substance Ligandrol before last year’s World Swimming Championships in South Korea.

    ASADA has not named the swimmer on its list of sanctioned athletes and is not required to do so until 21 days after any appeal process has been finalised.

    According to the anti-doping body’s website: “We can publicly release information regarding an athlete’s ban once a final determination has been made [pending any appeals] by the relevant sport or the Court of Arbitration for Sport.”

    Read ABC

    Shayna Jack Speaks Out | The Project

  • Team Elite is a swim club directed by David Marsh in San Diego, CA. Most of his pro group are olympic qualifier swimmers and they’re from all around the world. This is what a practice looks like.

  • Do swimmers need to worry about the coronavirus? We explain what the coronavirus is, if it can be transmitted in the pool, and what swimmers can do to stay safe and healthy.

  • What happened when Olympic silver medallist ands double world open water 10k champion Keri-anne Payne went cold water swimming with Outdoor Swimmer editor Jonathan Cowie…

    Keri-anne Payne joins the Sub-10 Club with her first cold water swim at London Royal Docks

  • USA Swimming has officially pulled the plug on all events for the next 30 days regarding the coronavirus pandemic, sources have confirmed. That includes all championship meets including NCSAs.

    The coronavirus pandemic ramped up this week with many American colleges and universities suspending classes and shifting to online schooling for the rest of the semester. Many major sporting events, including the remainder of the NBA season and the NHL season have been put on hold for the time being. Two NBA players from the Utah Jazz, Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, have tested positive for COVID-19.

    Read SwimmingWorld

  • Given the current situation with the coronavirus (COVID-19) spreading throughout Europe and the implementation of stricter and stricter containment measures decided by various governments, the following measure will be effective as of immediately:

    Travelling and participation on behalf of LEN of any officially designated LEN person (Delegates, Officials, Lecturers, Observers, etc.) to any Competition, Clinic or any other Sport or Non-Sport Event is temporarily suspended, up until 15 April 2020.

    In the coming days LEN will assess, also in accordance with the single Country directives and based on the evolution of the situation, whether such ban for the officially designated LEN people will need to be maintained beyond 15 April 2020.

    It remains clear that LEN cannot and has no intention to interfere with staging of any non-LEN-sanctioned event organised under the jurisdiction of any National Federations. The decision whether such events are held as planned, cancelled or rescheduled remains the sole responsibility of the local organisers and National Federations.

    LEN shall continue monitoring and evaluating the situation and inform you if further measures will be needed in order to unconditionally safeguard the health and safety of the whole LEN Family.

    Read LEN

    covid-19 photo