Swimmer's Daily

  • Olympic gold medallist Ian Thorpe was born to be a swimmer, but it wasn’t necessarily the sport his parents had in mind.

    An Australian household name, Thorpe admits “I was supposed to be a cricket player”.

    “My father was a very good cricket player,” he tells Luke Grant.

    “They actually planned my date of birth so I’d have a good age for cricket… turns out to be a terrible one for swimming.”

    The sporting champion says he got into the pool after getting “bored” watching his sister swim at carnivals.

    “I had all these problems with my sinuses,” says the 36-year-old.

    “It turns out I’m allergic to chlorine, and I still wanted to swim though because I enjoyed it.”

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  • A 15-year-old girl in Perth, Australia, had just stepped into the ocean for a swim Monday morning when she felt something with sharp teeth latch onto her left foot.

    Isabella Brett-Jensen shook free of the predator, but was bleeding profusely.

    “Bits of my foot or like flesh actually fell off as I was walking up . Brett-Jensen, who was swimming at North Cottesloe Beach, told 9 News. “There was blood everywhere.”

    Based on the spherical shape of the wound, which required 10 stitches to close, the predator was determined to have been a wobbegong shark.

    Wobbegong, in Australian Aboriginal language, translates to “shaggy beard.” Wobbegong sharks feature dermal lobes around their mouths, lending the appearance of a beard.

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  • Cake tutorial to show you how I make this swimming pool cake. In this video I am using Saracino sugarpaste and Saracino modelling paste.

  • FINA’s approach to and interpretation of its rules regarding swimmers and their participation in international competitions was discussed today, at a meeting of FINA’s leadership and a representative selection of national federations, present either in person in Lausanne (SUI) or by videoconference.

    “FINA’s principal concern remains the development of all the aquatics disciplines and the support and wellbeing of all our athletes”, said FINA President Dr. Julio C. Maglione. “While FINA is bound to respect its rules, there is some scope for interpretation and application of those rules and it was a pleasure to be able to provide clarifications today.”
     
    FINA acknowledges that swimmers are free to participate in competitions or events staged by independent organisers, namely entities which are neither members of FINA nor related to it in any way.

    Any independent organisers which intend to have the results and records of any competitions or events duly registered with and acknowledged by FINA shall cooperate with or seek approval from FINA or from any relevant member federation, as the case may be, the approval procedure shall be set out in FINA By-laws BL 12, which will be entirely applicable.

    If an independent organiser does not obtain or does not request the above-mentioned approval, all results or records of such unapproved competition or event will be deemed null and void and ignored by FINA and shall not be taken into account for any purpose whatsoever by FINA. However, such participation shall not be characterised as unauthorised relations in application of FINA General Rules GR4, and shall not give rise to sanctions by FINA.

    FINA Legal Counsel François Carrard, present at the meeting, clarified FINA’s position: “FINA recognises the right of athletes to participate in any swimming event. However, this participation should respect the frame of sport structure. FINA’s business is not to punish athletes, although if the FINA rules are not met, the results of the competition will not be recognised by FINA”. 

    “British Swimming was pleased to have been part of today’s meeting and we welcome the clarifications that were given by FINA,” said British Swimming Chairman Maurice Watkins CBE. “Our swimmers currently live, train and compete in the context of support systems that are focused on success at FINA’s flagship competitions: the swimming events at the Olympic Games, the World Swimming Championships, and our Continental Championships. Careful coordination will be required to ensure that any changes or additions to the competition calendar are complementary to preparation for those flagship events, so we can best support our athletes moving forward.” 

    “We work hard to make sure that swimmers are at the heart of everything we do at USA Swimming,” said USA Swimming President and CEO Tim Hinchey. “Our athletes are extremely dedicated to our sport and deserve every opportunity to reap the rewards of their hard work. It’s been great to work with FINA to learn more about the new opportunities that will be provided thanks to the FINA Champions Swim Series. With around USD $ 4 million in prize money and appearance fees, the Series is a great addition and we look forward to U.S. swimmers prospering at each of the three legs.”

    “FINA today is in an exceptional position at every level, thanks to many years of hard work and support from our 209 National Federations,” continued President Maglione. “At the highest level, aquatics athletes have more medal opportunities at the Olympic Games than for every sport and record prize money at our events. But FINA is just as proud of the way it now supports every single federation around with development funds, aimed at achieving our vision of ensuring the whole world knows how to swim. We are proud to support all our athletes, from Olympic champions to families swimming for fun, and we will continue to work as hard as we can to improve opportunities for all.”

    At the conclusion of the meeting, FINA Executive Director Cornel Marculescu presented the new FINA event for 2019, the “Champions Swim Series”, to all attending National Federations. The reaction to this competition was very positive, with FINA members underlining the importance of having additional opportunities for the stars of swimming to compete at the highest level.

    Press release from FINA

     

  • Snake catchers in Brisbane, Australia, came across a carpet python covered in more than 500 ticks.

    Tony Harris, a local snake catcher, told Euronews that he found the serpent in a woman’s swimming pool where it was trying to drown the ticks.

    “Pythons are usually very docile to start with and because of how weak this one was he didn’t put up any fight,” said Harris.

    The snake catcher later took it to a wildlife centre for treatment.

    See Euronews

  • An artist and freediver duo have completed a world record feat by performing an incredible dance underwater without oxygen – for more than THREE MINUTES.

    Marina Kazankova and Dmitrij Malasenko broke the Guinness wold record by putting on an eclectic performance which included a sword fight and flamenco-inspired moves.

    The artists pirouetted for 3 minutes and 28 seconds last month in the Y-40, the deepest pool in the world located in Padova, Italy – enchanting the audience gathered in an underwater glass tunnel that passed right through the pool to watch them.

    To make the stunt even more impressive, the pair performed most of their show while balancing on a rope.

  • Cayman’s athletes completed one last holdover from 2018 on Saturday: the 30th annual CUC Sea Swim.

    The 800-meter race, originally set for Oct. 6, and then for Dec. 1, had been rescheduled due to weather conditions. On Saturday, however, swimmers encountered pristine waters and clear skies at Seven Mile’s Governors Beach.

    Overall winner Alex Dakers, competing in the male 15-19 category, described a difficult but satisfying race.

    “It was good conditions, as always, and it was a really good race between me and some of the other boys out here,” he said.

  • In Messina, a seaside town in Sicily, Italy, water is a constant companion and a way of life. But for the thousands of migrants who arrive from Africa and the Middle East by boat, the sea is a perilous means to an end and a villain who has taken lives right before their eyes. To help newly arrived young migrants from Messina’s Nautical Institute adapt to their new seaside home, Giuseppi Pinci and his team teach them to swim, scuba dive and, hopefully, fall in love with the water they once feared.

  • Josh Juhl, a senior and a swimmer at Valparaiso High School, suffered from myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart, in 2017. The students plans to attend Indiana University in the fall, and wants to pursue a career as a cardiologist.