Swimmer's Daily

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

  • The return of the Netherlands: queens of Europe after 1993

    The Netherlands clinched the title for the first time since 1993: they beat Greece 6-4 to claim the nation’s 5th gold at the women’s European Water Polo Championships. This ties Italy’s record and gives them back the top rank on the all-time medal table. The Greeks had to settle for silver for the third time and yet to earn their first gold. The bronze remained in Spain as the hosts beat Hungary with ease.

    12 DAULE Audrey FRA GER – FRA Germany (white caps) vs France (blue caps) Final 7th-8th Place Barcelona 27/07/18 Piscines Bernat Picornell 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto
    GER – FRA Germany (white caps) vs France (blue caps) Final 7th-8th Place Barcelona 27/07/18 Piscines Bernat Picornell 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto
    LEN_WP_EC_BCN2018/Deepbluemedia
    LEN_WP_EC_BCN2018/Deepbluemedia
    Team Netherlands Gold Medal NED – GRE Netherlands (white caps) vs Greece (blue caps) Gold Medal Match Barcelona 27/07/18 Piscines Bernat Picornell 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto
    LEN_WP_EC_BCN2018/Deepbluemedia
    Team Netherlands Gold Medal celebration NED – GRE Netherlands (white caps) vs Greece (blue caps) Gold Medal Match Barcelona 27/07/18 Piscines Bernat Picornell 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto
    Team Netherlands Gold Medal celebration NED – GRE Netherlands (white caps) vs Greece (blue caps) Gold Medal Match Barcelona 27/07/18 Piscines Bernat Picornell 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto
    Team Netherlands Gold Medal celebration NED – GRE Netherlands (white caps) vs Greece (blue caps) Gold Medal Match Barcelona 27/07/18 Piscines Bernat Picornell 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto
    10 KOOLHAAS Ilse NED, 7 ASIMAKI Alexandra GRE NED – GRE Netherlands (white caps) vs Greece (blue caps) Gold Medal Match Barcelona 27/07/18 Piscines Bernat Picornell 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto
    1 GANGL Edina HUN (Red Cap) HUN – ESP Hungary (white caps) vs Spain (blue caps) Bronze-medal Match Barcelona 27/07/18 Piscines Bernat Picornell 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Pasquale Mesiano/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto
    11 GARCIA Maica ESP HUN – ESP Hungary (white caps) vs Spain (blue caps) Bronze-medal Match Barcelona 27/07/18 Piscines Bernat Picornell 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Pasquale Mesiano/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto
    1 GORLERO Giulia ITA (Red Cap) ITA – RUS Italy (white caps) vs. Russia (blue caps) Barcelona 27/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Women Final 5th 6th place 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto
    Team RUSSIA ITA – RUS Italy (white caps) vs. Russia (blue caps) Barcelona 27/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Women Final 5th 6th place 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto
    6 STOMPHORST Nomi Lisa NED goal NED – GRE Netherlands (white caps) vs. Greece (blue caps) Barcelona 27/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Women Final 1st 2nd place 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto
    Team SPAIN Esp Third place Medal Ceremony Barcelona 27/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Women Final 1st 2nd place 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto
    GREECE Second Silver Medal NED – GRE Netherlands (white caps) vs. Greece (blue caps) Barcelona 27/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Women Final 1st 2nd place 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto
    NETHERLANDS Champions of Europe Gold Medal NED – GRE Netherlands (white caps) vs. Greece (blue caps) Barcelona 27/07/2018 Piscines Bernat Picornell Women Final 1st 2nd place 33rd LEN European Water Polo Championships – Barcelona 2018 Photo Andrea Staccioli/Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

    The Netherlands returned to the throne after 25 long years. The most successful nation of the early days was close in the previous two editions but lost the finals. The Greeks were chasing their first title at the Europeans after similarly lost back-to-back finals in 2010 and 2012.

    The Dutch took the better start and gained a 2-0 lead, the Greeks needed some more time to settle in the game and four more man-ups to make it even in the second period. In a span of two minutes four goals came, Catharina van der Sloot’s 10m shot was a beauty and gave a 4-3 lead to the Dutch. After the electrifying moments the ladies tested the woodworks at both ends (the Greeks hit the post from three consecutive possessions, the Dutch did it twice).

    Then the sides entangled into a tactical battle, the zone-defending took over and teams didn’t risk too much. The Dutch could earn a man-up after four minutes and Maud Megens’s blast did the harm. Two minutes later they could have gone +3 up but Megens hit the post from the next man-up, still, Greece continued struggling in front. Their drought lasted embarrassingly long, 15:33 minutes, and even if Nikoleta Eleftheriadou broke their silence with 4:21 to go in the last period, van der Sloot replied immediately with a magnificent lob from 7m for 6-4 (she was named the MVP of the tournament).

    Time started running out for the Greeks, since they lacked the precision which helped them ousting Spain in the semis. They took 22 shots but 11 were either missed or hit the post – just like in their last 6 on 5, when the ball jumped over the bar. This also credited the Dutch defence which did a tremendous job by killing 7 out of 8 Greek extras, headed by the tournament’s best goalkeeper Laura Aarts. Soon the Dutch started celebrating: they were over the (red) moon.

    The other games turned into lopsided contests. Spain needed eight minutes to take a decisive 1-5 lead against Hungary. The hosts slowed down a bit later and the Hungarians even had a man-up early in the third to come back to two at 6-3 but missed it, and a Spanish double in 52 seconds settled the game once and forever (the shots taken tell part of the story: it was 21-31 to Spain). It means that Hungary missed the podium for the 4th time in the 17 editions since 1985.

    Russia beat the Italians with surprising ease for the 5th place, after a relatively balanced first half, the third period proved decisive when the Russians jumped to a 6-goal lead and never looked back. The French also thrashed the Germans for the 7th place.

    European Water Polo Championships, Day 14

    Women’s final
    Netherlands v Greece 6-4

    Bronze medal match
    Hungary v Spain 6-12

    For places 5-6th
    Italy v Russia 8-14

    For places 7-8th
    Germany v France 5-13

    Final rankings

    1. Netherlands
    2. Greece
    3. Spain
    4. Hungary
    5. Russia
    6. Italy
    7. France
    8. Germany
    9. Serbia
    10. Israel
    11. Croatia
    12. Turkey

    Top scorer: Beatriz Ortiz (Spain) with 25 goals
    Most valuable player: Catharina van der Sloot (Netherlands)
    Best goalkeeper: Laura Aarts (Netherlands)

    All-time medal table

    Netherlands 5 4 3 12
    Italy 5 2 2 9
    Hungary 3 5 5 13
    Russia 3 2 3 8
    Spain 1 1 2 4
    Greece 0 3 0 3
    France 0 0 2 2
    Germany 0 0 1 1

    Fixtures, Day 15

    Men’s final
    22.15 Serbia v Spain

    Bronze medal match
    20.30 Croatia v Italy

    For places 5-6th
    18.15 Montenegro v Greece

    For places 7-8th
    16.45 Hungary v Russia

    Press release from LEN, photos courtesy of Deepbluemedia/Giorgio Scala

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

  • Imagine enduring two days stranded in shark-infested waters. That is the premise of a new Shark Week special, ‘Sharkwrecked,’ airing Thursday on Discovery. Two divers took part in what’s said to be “the most dangerous experiment ever,” spending 48 hours in open water and facing off against whitetip sharks, which are considered the most aggressive in the ocean. They’re allowed to use life jackets only at night, in case they fall asleep.

  • These six baby giant otters have one of their swimming lessons, an otter’s number one skill for survival.

  • The longest distance swam underwater by a female with one breath using fins is 160 m (524 ft 11.21 in), achieved by Veronika Kravtcova (Russia) in Porto Koufo, Halkidiki, Greece, on 3 September 2017.

    See Guinness World Records

  • Swimming fast is a combination of fitness and technique, one is about physical hard work the other more mental. We are going to be looking into the catch part of front crawl and showing how you can improve this important part of the stroke.

  • Strangers at a beach in Emerald Isle, North Carolina, linked arms and stretched out into the waves to successfully rescue swimmers caught in a rip current.