Swimmer's Daily

  • Bunke was a beloved teammate for U.S. Paralympics Swimming. Her brave, strong fight against cancer did not go unnoticed by teammates, friends and family. Several teammates would honor Bunke’s fight against cancer by writing GRACE on their hands.

    “Today is a very sad day for the entire Paralympic community,” said Julie Dussliere, vice president of U.S. Paralympics. “Grace was an incredible friend, teammate and young woman who had a bright future ahead of her. Grace faced cancer with wisdom beyond her years, and she touched the lives of everyone in our program who crossed her path.”

    Read Team USA

  • Katie Ledecky’s spectacular swimming career at Stanford is over.

    The five-time Olympic champion announced Monday she will forgo her final two years of eligibility and pursue professional opportunities while continuing her training and classes at Stanford.

    The sophomore was expected to leave college swimming at some point to train for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. She also had given up potentially significant endorsement and sponsorship deals by competing as an amateur the past two years and leading the Cardinal to back-to-back NCAA championships. Last year’s title was the program’s first in 19 years.

    Ledecky made it clear she treasured the camaraderie of the Stanford team and her general college experience.

    “I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to train and swim collegiately for two years alongside some of the greatest women swimmers of this generation — swimmers who are not just great athletes, but great people as well,” Ledecky said in a statement released by the school.

    Read SFGate

    Photo by jdlasica

  • News 5 has confirmed the Good Samaritan who helped save two children from drowning in Navarre has died. According to Fire Chief Danny Fureigh with Navarre Beach Fire Rescue, the man died Saturday at the hospital.

    Fureigh states in a news release:

    On Saturday March 24th at 6:14 pm, Navarre Beach Fire Rescue was dispatched to lifeguard tower 3 for multiple patients in the water. Once onscene the crew located several patients in the water and launched the Waverunner to rescue the patients. Crew was enroute to an unconscious victim just past the surf break but the rough surf hindered their progress. Navarre Beach resident and avid surfer Alexander Julio was surfing and rescued a 10 year old swimmer who the victim was attempting to rescue. Bystanders and Santa Rosa Sheriffs Deputies pulled the unconscious man from the surf and Firefighters and the Deputies administered CPR and transported the victim to a nearby ambulance. The waverunner with 1 firefighter pulled in 3 additional victims who were in distress and unable to make it back to shore. Fort Walton Beach Medical center confirmed the passing of the original would be rescuer.

    Read WRKG

    Photo by mamamusings

  • We met up with swimmer, Ellena Jones who is representing Team Wales in this years Commonwealth Games!

  • In Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, Florida, there’s a mermaid show — and there has been for 70 years. It’s one of the United States’ oldest roadside attractions, and it still does three shows a day. At least, provided the local wildlife doesn’t get in the way.

  • Amy Desir, 30, and another woman told the staff at Dulwich Leisure Centre in south London that they had every right to join the session because they ‘identified as male’.

  • We met up with swimmer, Alex Rosser who is representing Team Wales in this years Commonwealth Games!

  • Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski has confirmed they shot down an unauthorised drone flying close to a Commonwealth Games exclusion zone.

    The incident, which occurred yesterday, gave the the security operation put in place for the event an early test after Gold Coast 2018 chairman Peter Beattie claimed the “safest place in Australia during the Games is actually going to be in the Games”.

    The drone was not breaching the zone, Gollschewski said, but its operator has been reported to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).

    Police were able to track the object through new technology established as part of security plans.

    “Last night we detected an unmanned aerial system that was within a few hundred metres of one of the prescribed exclusion zones,” said Gollschewski.

    “We were able to track down that operator and refer that matter to CASA for the breaches that have been committed by that person operating that unmanned aerial vehicle.

    “The message is there, leave your drone at home, we will detect them and we will take action.”

    Read Inside the Games

  • Questions remain as to whether medals won by US relay teams during the World Juniors last year will stand, after the international federation of swimming associations (FINA) sanctioned a team member with an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV). FINA revealed that US college swimmer Matthew Willenbring has served a four month ban, after testing positive for hydrochlorothiazide at the World Juniors in Indianapolis on 28 August 2017. His sanction began on 19 October and FINA states that all results from 28 August 2017 will be annulled.

    It would therefore appear that the silver medal won by the US mixed 4x100m freestyle team at the World Juniors will stand despite the involvement of Willenbring, as that medal was won on 25 August. FINA’s site still lists the US men’s 4x100m medley relay team as gold medal winners despite the involvement of Willenbring in the final, which took place on 28 August. It also still lists Willenbring as bronze medal winner in the 100m freestyle, which also took pace on 28 August.

    Read The Sports Integrity Initiative

     

    Photo by smith_cl9