Swimmer's Daily

  • Anthony Nesty becomes a Suriname hero as he shocks the American favorite to win swimming gold at the Olympic Games in 1988.

  • Programme and results here on Microplus

  • Remember the name Clark Kent Apuada.

    Apuada is 10 years old and from Salinas, California, and during the Far West International Swimming Championship on Sunday, he competed in seven events and came in first in all of them. In the 100-meter butterfly, he smashed a record set by Olympian Michael Phelps at the event 23 years ago, breaking it by 1.1 seconds. “Most people just call me Clark, but now, when I beat Michael Phelps’ record, they start calling me Superman,” he told CBS News. “I thought to myself, yeah, if I had positive thoughts, positive things would happen.”

    Phelps congratulated Apuada, tweeting: “Big congrats to #clarkkent for smashing that meet record!!! Keep it up dude!! #dreambig.” Apuada, who began swimming competitively when he was 6 years old, said his goal is to one day compete in the Olympics.

    See for instance The Week and CTV News

  • An entangled whale shark is now free thanks to a group of free divers.

    We first told you last month that the juvenile animal was spotted off Maui, caught in heavy rope.

    Freeing it was difficult because whale sharks are actually sharks, and don’t surface like whales do. That is, until this weekend, when a group of free divers spotted the whale shark off Lanai.

    After about five dives and an hour and a half later, one of the divers was finally able to cut the rope free using nothing but a dive knife.

    “It’s one thing to get down to 40 feet on a breath of air. It’s another thing to get down to 40 feet, jump on a 20-foot whale shark, and start sawing with a knife like it’s your job,” said diver Jon Sprague.

    See KHON2 and Star Adviser

  • Paltrinieri: “The motivation is the same as ever”

    More than 1,000 athletes, more than 200 journalists and more than 40 broadcasters – European Aquatics are ready to put on the greatest show once again, as President Paolo Barelli said in the LEN’s opening press conference on the eve of the European Championships in Glasgow. Two greats from the swimming meet, Olympic, world and European champion Gregorio Paltrinieri and double title-holder David Verraszto are in top shape and keen to continue their respective golden passages.

    Paolo BARELLI, Gregorio PALTRINIERI Glasgow 02/08/2018 Media Hub. Len Press Conference LEN European Aquatics Championships 2018 European Championships 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/ Deepbluemedia /Insidefoto
    Pia HOLMEN, David VERRASZTO, Paolo BARELLI, Gregorio PALTRINIERI, Per RUNE EKNES Glasgow 02/08/2018 Media Hub. Len Press Conference LEN European Aquatics Championships 2018 European Championships 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/ Deepbluemedia /Insidefoto
    Pia HOLMEN, David VERRASZTO, Paolo BARELLI, Gregorio PALTRINIERI, Per RUNE EKNES Glasgow 02/08/2018 Media Hub. Len Press Conference LEN European Aquatics Championships 2018 European Championships 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/ Deepbluemedia /Insidefoto
    Gergely CSURKA, Pia HOLMEN, David VERRASZTO, Paolo BARELLI, Gregorio PALTRINIERI, Per RUNE EKNES Glasgow 02/08/2018 Media Hub. Len Press Conference LEN European Aquatics Championships 2018 European Championships 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/ Deepbluemedia /Insidefoto
    Gergely CSURKA, Pia HOLMEN, David VERRASZTO, Paolo BARELLI, Gregorio PALTRINIERI, Per RUNE EKNES Glasgow 02/08/2018 Media Hub. Len Press Conference LEN European Aquatics Championships 2018 European Championships 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/ Deepbluemedia /Insidefoto
    Gregorio PALTRINIERI Glasgow 02/08/2018 Media Hub. Len Press Conference LEN European Aquatics Championships 2018 European Championships 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/ Deepbluemedia /Insidefoto
    David VERRASZTO, Paolo BARELLI, Gregorio PALTRINIERI Glasgow 02/08/2018 Media Hub. Len Press Conference LEN European Aquatics Championships 2018 European Championships 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/ Deepbluemedia /Insidefoto
    Pia HOLMEN, David VERRASZTO, Paolo BARELLI, Gregorio PALTRINIERI, Per RUNE EKNES Glasgow 02/08/2018 Media Hub. Len Press Conference LEN European Aquatics Championships 2018 European Championships 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/ Deepbluemedia /Insidefoto

    LEN President Paolo Barelli was happy to announce that the upcoming European Championships would see more than 1,000 athletes participating in the four aquatic disciplines. “Alone in swimming we will have 47 national federations with 645 swimmers and let me emphasise that LEN has 52 members and 47 are here with competitors, this is a brilliant number” Mr Barelli said at the opening press conference. In diving 23 NFs entered while the artistic swimming and open water swimming events are to feature athletes from 22 NFs apiece.

    The President emphasised that LEN was convinced that the new format of the European Championships with six sports in Glasgow and athletics in Berlin would be a tremendous hit in the sport market. “We are expecting outstanding viewing figures and great media coverage and of course fantastic performances from our athletes. Now, the field is yours” Mr Barelli said, giving the floor to the two swimming greats sitting next to him at the conference.

    Gregorio Paltrinieri clinched – or rather swept – all titles on offer in the past five years and enjoys an unbeaten run in the 1500m free in long-course majors, the Italian’s motivation is still the same. “I’m here to win again as I enjoy the challenge as much as ever” the Olympic champion said. “Recently Mykhailo Romanchuk from Ukraine have starting pressing me, and this is great as I feel that I have to improve every year.”

    Greg has already got some adventures in open water swimming, though his European Championships premiere will not happen here. “The lake is just too cold here but I’ve started racing in open water and perhaps next year I will test myself at the World Championships and maybe make a try to qualify for the Olympics. I love open water but you need a lot of experience in order to be successful.”

    Another title-holder, David Verraszto, whose success story also began in 2014, aims to become the oldest ever winner of the 400m IM. “This is one of the big challenge for me here in Glasgow” the 30 year-old said. “I think I’ve managed to reach a good shape, this I have to also thank to Gregorio whom I was training together in Sierra Nevada.”

    LEN Bureau Members and swimming liaison Pia Holmen talked about the global premiere of a new event, the 4x200m mixed free relay which surely give an extra value to the championships. Media liaison Per Rune Eknes added that this event with all the new features in broadcasting and in media shapes the future of sports and said he was happy to see LEN was among the first ones to embrace the new ideas.

    Press release from LEN, photos courtesy of Deepbluemedia/Andrea Staccioli

  • “It saved the hotel from World War II,” Bob Tagatz said of the Williams’ movie.

    During those lean war years, the Grand Hotel faced the same dismal predicament shared by many resorts: A long-term lack of paying guests.

    The war years saw the hotel’s business drop 90 percent. Perhaps the darkest day came when 400 employees were on staff to serve just 11 paying guests, he said. Still, the owners held on.

    “We’ve never closed, through wars and the Depression,” Tagatz said, an undercurrent of pride detectable.

    Yet the timing of the Hollywood movie was impeccable.

    “The Esther Williams’ film put us on the map.” The years after its October 1947 release saw the Grand Hotel’s guest registers begin to swell. “The hotel filled up. We started making money.”

  • For Muslims, when participating in the Olympics or other sporting events, it will be easier for them to find a place to worship.

  • Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said turning the clocks forward one or two hours during the Olympics “may be one solution” to combat potential heat-wave temperatures in two years, according to Japanese reports.

    Yoshiro Mori, president of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, said he and Abe discussed the possibility Friday, according to Kyodo News.

    “We were working under the premise that temperatures wouldn’t exceed 40 degrees [Celsius, or 104 Fahrenheit],” organizing committee CEO Toshiro Muto said, according to Kyodo. “We’ve now recognized how serious this is.”

    Read NBC Sports and The Japan Times

    Photo by wuestenigel

  • Watch day six finals of the British Summer Championships live from the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre, Sheffield.