Swimmer's Daily

  • Vertical kick is one of the best ways to get better at kicking in freestyle, backstroke and butterfly. On this video we will tell you why.

  • There are free events across the Valley at Aqua Tots Swim Schools.

  • On 17th of March EURASIA SWIM CUP began 2018 season! Amazing Cyprus!

  • Rob Brydon stars as jaded accountant Eric, disillusioned with life, who finds unlikely solace in an all-male synchronised swimming team. Initially keeping their personal lives in the locker, the ramshackle squad and coach Susan slowly reveal their inner lives. As they embark on a journey to compete in the World Championships, will they sync or swim?

  • University of Florida swimmer Caeleb Dressel sets another American record, this one in the 100 fly (42.80).

  • Traveling by plane greatly increases our chances of getting sick, or so many of us are wont to believe. To be fair, it’s not uncommon to come down with a nasty illness after we return from a vacation or business trip. But is flying the culprit? The latest research suggests the answer is no—but much of it depends on where we sit.

    New research published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that airline passengers infected with influenza—a disease that spreads through the air—aren’t likely to infect other passengers who sit more than two seats to the left or right, or more than two seats in front or back. In other words, your chances of contracting the flu from an infected passenger are slim—unless you’re sitting within about three feet (one meter) of them.

    Read Gizmodo

    Photo by MattHurst

  • An extremely interesting article here on Zwemza, on when and why Ian Thorpe decided quit and on what he thinks we should to for our athletes

    After a long stint away from the prying eyes of the Australian media, including a much-publicised training stint in Los Angeles, Ian Thorpe is preparing to return to Australia-based training for a possible tilt at the 2007 World Swimming Championships in Melbourne.

    Thorpe thinks the pool is his little secret but is blindsided by what he encounters.

    “I was ready to go, and there was this crowd of media and paparazzi at the pool. I love training, but I need privacy around it,” he tells The Weekend Australian more than a decade later, during an unusually candid and in-depth series of interviews.
    The chaotic media scene drives Thorpe over the edge: “I said to myself, ‘That’s the final straw. If you’re not prepared to give me that, it’s over.’ ”

    The next day, Thorpe shocks the nation by announcing that not only will he not swim at the world championships, he will not swim again at all.

    […]

    More than 11 years on, Thorpe, now 35, believes that with the helicopter view of hindsight on his ­career, he has finally gained an understanding of why his time in the pool came to such an abrupt end.

    As the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games loom, he also thinks he has the answer to why many other elite athletes in Australia are not achieving their ­potential.

    He is proposing a breakthrough elite mentoring program under the auspices of the Australian Sports Commission, using a community of Australian sport’s biggest names — Tim Cahill, Cathy Freeman, Pat Rafter, Lleyton Hewitt, Steve Smith and himself, for example — as a community of mentors across all sports to help high-performing athletes.

    Thorpe wants no elite Australian athlete to feel the same isolation and helplessness he felt when he ended his career: “The whole external infrastructure is there, from psychologists to physiotherapists to physiologists, dietitians and the latest technology and data collection on performance. But for some of our top athletes, the inside game is under-utilised.”

    With respect to that “inside game”, Thorpe believes that many athletes are underprepared for everything from the pressure of favouritism to the massive media scrutiny around their performance in big events.

    […]

    Thorpe believes a new era is emerging when sports around the globe need to raise the bar on the duty of care they provide to ­athletes.

    Endemic issues are emerging that show athletes are not coping with the pressures of professional sport: with mental health issues, disabling behaviours and a lack of coping capabilities.

    All can lead to athletic under­achievement and problems ­out­side of sport: “Sports adminis­trators and funding bodies want elite athletes to deliver world-beating performances, but their support for athletes has not kept pace with the demands they are making. This is creating a sense of unprecedented pressure and isolation for athletes, and the results are there for all to see. There is the need for a total mindset change.”

    Read Zwemza

  • When the hot summer rolls by, there’s nothing better than having a dip in the ocean or in a sparkling, crystal-clear blue swimming pool! After watching this video today, you’ll probably want to keep choosing the swimming pool option over the beaches because as inviting as what some of these beaches look, they are also extremely dangerous.

  • Ambassadors from across the world have highlighted the need for global drowning to be tackled if the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals are to be met by 2030.

    In an open letter on World Water Day (22 March), members of a newly formed UN group on drowning prevention, launched today, have called on the international community to recognise safe access to water as a global development priority alongside access to safe water.

    With drowning claiming 360,000 lives a year across the globe, the UN Group of Friends on Drowning Prevention – with founding members including the governments of Bangladesh, Vietnam, Fiji, Thailand, Tanzania and Ireland – has called for drowning to be recognised and resourced in line with its impact on communities worldwide.

    This comes as the UN launches the International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development, focussed on addressing water-related challenges including access to safe water and sanitation.

    Read Modern Diplomacy