Tokyo 2020 will be the first Olympics to use facial recognition technology to increase security around all venues, the organizers announced on Tuesday.
Games organizers have linked up with Japanese telecommunications and information technology giant NEC to develop the first system of this kind to be implemented at an Olympics.
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“Risk-taking” men are ten times more likely to die while swimming in the sea, the RNLI has warned.
Last year, 99 of the 109 adults who died on the coastline were men.
The RNLI said that a male love of watersports and a tendency to take risks may be contributing factors for the difference.
Young men made up the majority of the cases, the lifeguards said, and asked people in that demographic to make sure they speak to each other about the risks of swimming in the sea.
One of the biggest killers, the RNLI added, was cold water shock.
RNLI lifeguard supervisor Lewis Timson said: “When you jump into very cold water it sends your heart into a bit of a sporadic rhythm, throws breathing out and generally people thrash to get to safety. The current safety message is the complete opposite of that.
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Photo by garryknight 
At its meeting in Glasgow, the LEN Bureau allocated two of its top events.
The 2021 European Short-Course Swimming Championships shall be held in Lisbon (POR), as the local Government, the city and the host federation presented a strong bid which prompted a unanimous decision of the Bureau to allocate its year-end showcase to Portugal. It’s also a kind of returning to the city which already hosted the 1999 edition. This time it’s going to be a true spectacle to be staged in the Altice Arena, one of the largest multi-purpose facilities in Europe (with a maximum seating capacity of 20,000).
The stand-alone European Diving Championships will return to Kiev (UKR) in 2019 after a highly successful edition in the last year.
“We are very happy and proud that big-time swimming returns to Portugal†LEN President Paolo Barelli said. “Lisbon is a great city and the proposed venue guarantee that we shall witness another outstanding short-course event in December 2021. As for Kiev, in 2017 the Ukrainian hosts delivered a fantastic event, we are very much looking forward to be part of the second edition there.â€
The Bureau nominated Fernando Carpena, President of the Royal Spanish Swimming Federation, new Vice-President of LEN and Gilles Sezionale, President of the French Swimming Federation, LEN Bureau Member.
Mr. Francis Luyce, former Olympic swimmer, former President of the French Federation and the longest serving member of the current Bureau since 1994, has been nominated LEN Honorary Member.
Press release from LEN
Beijing Olympic silver medallist, Keri-anne Payne is urging nervous swimmers to overcome any anxieties they have about breathing, after it was reported that 1 in 5 adults in the UK cannot swim.
Payne, who is now an ambassador for Better, the UK’s largest leisure charitable social enterprise, says that swimming has had a major impact on her physical and mental health:
“In terms of wellness and mindfulness, there’s something really calming and relaxing about the water which can really help us relieve our stresses or grievances. It’s why we enjoy listening to the sound of water or rain,†she says.
The open-water swimmer focusses on what it takes to gain confidence in the water. She tells Better that, in general, people’s biggest fear of swimming often comes from the fear of not being able to breathe, which affects willingness to even enter the water:
“The trick is to always remind yourself that you can always come up to breathe, and that way you’ll stop taking extra breathes and hyperventilating.â€
Payne also shared intimate anecdotes about perseverance, encouraging us to overcome our adversities:
“An incident occurred in my race in the 2012 London Olympics where I caught a hit to the face, I was left in 12th position and it was a huge blow. I felt so downbeat but when I looked up [it was in Hyde Park with a crowd of 30,000 people], I saw all these people cheering me on, shouting my name and it really encouraged me to persevere through. I managed to come back from 12th to finish 4th!â€
Top tips Keri-anne gave Better:
“Always focus on your body position in the water- you can achieve this by keeping your eyes focussed at the bottom of the water… or top of ceiling if doing backstroke.â€
“Set yourself goals from the outset, sign up to an event and get sponsored for a charity to make the training/sport less about yourself and more about others around you.â€
“Always do warm up exercises before entering the water to prevent injuries and strains. Exercises that strengthen your core are equally as important, as it’s constantly being worked in swimming!â€
Swimming is an important exercise which helps both adults and children relieve stress, gain confidence and become fitter and healthier. Better is the UK’s largest provider of swimming lessons across the UK. They’ve recently produced several informative videos to help adults perfect their swimming strokes, which can be found here:
https://www.better.org.uk/articles/feel-great-with-four-swimming-strokes-better
Additionally, they are helping children gain confidence and ability in the water with their affordable swimming lessons, which are rolled out across locations such as the state of the art London Aquatics Centre in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Press release
https://youtu.be/eazGWrI6qAE
New kids on the blocks: Wellbrock, Miressi, Milak rock the field
A bunch of youngsters rocked the competition on Day 3, all collecting their respective first ever golds among the seniors at a major event. 21 year-old Florian Wellbrock (GER) stunned the field in the 1500m free, Alessandro Miressi (ITA), 19, hit in first in the 100m free while Kristof Milak (HUN), 18, rattled Michael Phelps’ gigantic 200m fly WR split at the half-way mark before ending up winning with a Championship Record. Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS) set a new junior WR in the semis of the 100m back, to join the party.
The top guns of Europe’s future generations offered some brilliant appetizer what we might witness in the coming decade when something big is at stake. Germany’s Florian Wellbrock upset the field in a couple of highlighted open water events recently before achieving what no other swimmer could do since 2013: he beat the king of the 1500m free Gregorio Paltrinieri in a long-course event. In fact, Ukraine’s Mykhaylo Romanchuk also finished ahead of the Italian, he managed to do that at the short-course Europeans last December in Copenhagen and he was ready to repeat the feat but Wellbrock bettered both of them while clocking the 4th best ever time in history.
Next came the blue-ribband event and Italy’s new teenage sensation Alessandro Miressi whose 46.99 anchor leg in the 4x100m free final already caught the eyes. He was just out of reach for the others this time, gained 0.2sec on Duncan Scott (GBR) and Mehdy Metella (FRA) as he landed his first big title.
Kristof Milak already made his name by clinching silver at the 2017 FINA Worlds in Budapest in the 100m fly, and the Hungarian wonderkid sent a killing message this spring in the 200m with a new junior world record (1:52.71, 0.01sec shy of the senior ER) which was all-time 3rd and second-best ever in textile. Now he was out for more and at the halfway mark even Michael Phelps’ giant shiny WR seemed to be in danger (he was 0.12 sec below the 2009 split). But Milak admittedly began too strong, was out of breath for the finish so he had to settle for a CR (1:52.79), with Tamas Kenderesi coming second, settling another Hungarian 1-2 after six years. Still, Milak’s destiny seems to be set: so far only Phelps and ER holder Laszlo Cseh were able to go under 1:52.8, now he did that twice in a span of four months.
Host Great Britain was delighted again by a great win of Georgia Davies who broke the ER in the heats of the 50m back, now she was just 0.02sec away from another record-breaking performance, good enough for gold. And the home crowd could applaud another victory as the men’s 4x200m free relay also struck gold.
Yulia Efimova claimed gold in the 100m breast, her first European triumph after eight years. She was the one who maintained the Russians’ golden streak here in Glasgow, since in the synchro pool they skipped the free combo event so that title went to the Ukrainians.
For the Russians more will come on Day 4 as Kliment Kolesnikov signed up for the 100m back final with a new junior WR (52.95) in the semis.
For detailed results, medal tables, visit www.len.eu
Press release from LEN, photos courtesy of Deepbluemedia/Giorgio Scala
Erie native Conrad Kubaney becomes the first swimmer to finish the 24-mile trek from Long Point, Ontario, to Freeport Beach in North East in less than 11 hours (10 hours, 56 minutes, 45 seconds).
French double in swimming, Russia makes 2+1 in two pools
French swimmers took a flying start at the European Championships in Glasgow, Fantine Lesaffre’s gold in the 400m IM fired up the team and they added the women’s 4x100m free relay later. The Russians also enjoyed a fine opening, claimed both titles in the synchro pool and their men’s 4x100m free relay returned to the throne after eight years.
Fantine Lesaffre stunned the field of the women’s 400m IM and took over the crown of Katinka Hosszu who opted to skip her dearest event (she won the previous three editions). With the Hungarian being away, Ilaria Cusinato was considered the favourite but Lesaffre never let her moving in front and won by 0.88sec at the end.
Members of the French women’s free relay admitted that their compatriot’s victory had fired them up. Charlotte Bonnet’s brilliant 52.20sec second leg gave them a fine advantage which they could keep till the end, though the Dutch pressed them hard but 0.12sec still separated the two quartets.
The men’s 400m free title landed in the hands of Mykhaylo Romanchuk. The Ukrainian (celebrating his 22nd birthday in four days) clinched his first long-course gold at the Europeans – he won this event last December in Copenhagen at the short-course meet. He was a class apart, his winning margin (1.89sec) tells the story, the battle for the minor spoils was much sharper, 0.17sec separated the next three swimmers as Norway’s Henrik Christiansen claimed the silver.
The last gold went to Russia: after eight years their men’s 4x100m free relay returned to the top. Vladimir Morozov (47.61) and Kliment Kolesnikov (47.39) were the engines behind their fine win, 0.67sec ahead of Italy whose 19 year-old anchor man Alessandro Miressi did a real blast (46.99), securing his team’s silver.
In fact, the Russians landed the first two titles in the pools here in Glasgow – not surprisingly their synchro duets clinched both golds on the opening day. Svetlana Kolesnichenko and Varvara Subbotina were a cut above the rest while Alexandr Maltsev, swimming with a new partner Mayya Gurbanberdieva, managed to take a revenge for their defeat at last year’s Worlds and this time bettered Italy’s Giorgio Minisini and Manila Flamini.
For detailed results, medal tables, visit www.len.eu
Press release from LEN, photos courtesy of Deepbluemedia/Giorgio Scala
The Great British Swim is as much a mental game as a physical one, and as Ross arrives in Scottish waters the enormity of the task facing him begins to hit home. It’s now time for the Great British Swimmer to call on the advice of his good friend and ex-special forces operative, Ant Middleton to help him overcome the ensuing mental battle.
Anthony Nesty becomes a Suriname hero as he shocks the American favorite to win swimming gold at the Olympic Games in 1988.
