Swimmer's Daily

  • For eight days every four years, the sport of swimming takes center stage at the Olympics and its top athletes often become household names, if only for a few nights. A well-heeled Ukrainian businessman who is convinced swimming can do better has ambitious plans to launch a professional league that he says will better showcase the sport and compensate the world’s best swimmers.

    But the nascent International Swimming League [ISL] has faced harsh resistance from FINA, the sport’s international governing body, which has blocked the start-up’s efforts by threatening swimmers’ Olympic eligibility. The dispute has prompted a federal antitrust lawsuit, sparked discussions around the pool deck about labor organizing and has cast a spotlight on the tilted economics that long have ruled the sport.

    “Swimmers have the same level of talent like NBA players or soccer players, sometimes even more. But a swimmer who has talent like LeBron James receives 1,000 times less money,” said Konstantin Grigorishin, the ISL’s chief backer and financier. “We have to fix this.”

    Read The Washington Post

     

  • Motherboard meets Kevin Vaughan, a 28-year-old vet and amputee as he tries his new amphibious water prosthetic, “The Fin,” a 3D printed prosthetic engineered for swimming.

  • Some of the world’s top swimmers are in East Tennessee for a Pro Swim Series. This is the first time they’ve been in the area. Jan 9, 2019-4pm

  • Michael Phelps is picking up more hardware — this time for what he’s been doing outside the pool.

    The Boston-based Ruderman Family Foundation, a leading voice in calling for more opportunities for the disabled, said Tuesday the Olympic champion is the recipient of its fifth annual Morton E. Ruderman Award in Inclusion.

    The foundation told The Associated Press it picked the world’s most decorated swimmer of all time to recognize his advocacy for people with disabilities and “his own journey with mental health.”

    Phelps has gone public about his struggles with depression and thoughts of suicide.

    Last year, the 23-time Olympic gold medalist announced a partnership with Talkspace , which provides online therapy for those who are going through tough times. Phelps said helping people overcome the dark chapters in their lives is “way bigger than ever winning gold medals.”

    In a statement, the 33-year-old Olympian thanked the Ruderman Family Foundation for “their continued efforts to help eliminate the shame and stigma that surrounds mental illness.”

    “Together, we can normalize the mental health conversation and recognize the potential in every person — with or without mental illness — to contribute to our world in their own unique way,” Phelps said.

    Read The Boston Herald

    Photo by Gage Skidmore

  • At CES 2019, Shenzhen VxFly launched LESWIM, an electric kickboard that can provide both buoyancy and propulsion. This new comer to the swimming gear family will bring a totally new swimming experience. LESWIM helps swimmers of all skill levels to glide through the water.

    Henry He, co-founder and CEO of VxFly, says: “We want to change the way people learn to swim, help them overcome their fear of water, inspire their interest and build their confidence. And we want everybody to enjoy it, so we designed LESWIM to be affordable and easy to use.”

    Read PR Newswire

    Let’s swim with LESWIM electric kickboard

  • Sam Ramsamy, one of Africa’s leading voices on the Olympics, talks with Around the Rings Editor Ed Hula about his career in sport. After 23 years as a member of the IOC in South Africa, Ramsamy retired as of Jan.1.

    Listen to ATRadio

    Photo by GovernmentZA

  • Thousands of holidaymakers have been stung by jellyfish after a vast number of the sea creatures swarmed beaches in Queensland, Australia.

    Surf Life Saving Queensland said a “whopping” 3,595 people were attacked, forcing the closure of popular swimming spots across the northern state.

    Lifeguards said the invasion was caused by unusually strong north-easterly winds pushing the marine animals close to shore.

    Queensland’s heavily populated Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast regions were worst hit.

    Read Independent

  • The AMI Open Water swim club loves their Sunday morning swims at Manatee Public Beach. When red tide forced them to swim at other locations, it didn’t stop them from swimming. Now that red tide is gone, they’re back in their favorite waters. Video by Tiffany Tompkins, read more here: https://www.bradenton.com/news/local/…