Swimmer's Daily

  • Director of ECA2 spoke about the Opening Ceremony of the 17th FINA World Championships.

  • The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has no interest in helping the city of Rio de Janeiro clear a debt of roughly $35-40 million from last year’s Olympic games.

    Per the Associated Press (via Sports Illustrated), the organisation’s executive board made the decision after a meeting in Switzerland on Sunday. In a statement, the IOC pointed at the “record” $1.53 billion contributions that were already made.

    Per the report, host cities and countries are contractually obligated to pay Olympic debts. In the case of Rio, the nation of Brazil could struggle to help, with the country caught in a major recession.

    Read Bleacher Report

     

  • Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike will push for a law banning smoking in public places, to make the Japanese capital smoke-free ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics, media said, defying national politicians who failed to pass a similar law this spring.

    Tokyo risks being one of the unhealthiest cities to host the Olympics in years, but efforts for a national ban died in the face of opposition from pro-smoking politicians – many in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling party – as well as restaurateurs and Japan Tobacco, which is one-third government-owned and paid the state $700 million in dividends in 2015.

    Although passive smoking kills thousands of Japanese each year, the Health Ministry’s watered-down proposal – which would have allowed indoor smoking in smaller establishments with adequate ventilation – could not make it to a vote in parliament this spring.

    Koike, her hand strengthened by a sweeping victory over Abe’s party in weekend local elections, told the Nikkei Shimbun daily that a law banning indoor smoking could be submitted to the assembly, where her party and allies now have a strong majority, for a vote as soon as this autumn.

    “The country is slow, but we will carry out our duty as the host city,” the paper quoted Koike as saying.

    Read Reuters

    Photo by taqumi

  • He may be one of the world’s most famous swimmers, but three weeks on, Chad le Clos still has not been reunited with his “lost” suitcase containing his racing kit, despite the efforts of his coach, his London agents and the media.

    He was forced to compete in the Mare Nostrum series event in Canet-en-Roussillon, France, on Sunday, June 18 in borrowed costumes and goggles, after Turkish Airlines lost his luggage.

    He’d arrived in Barcelona on a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul three days earlier, and was horrified to discover that his checked-in suitcase, containing all his competition kit, swimming equipment, shoes and other clothing, had not.

    On the Saturday night he tweeted: “Dear @TurkishAirlines Always had good service, my luggage is still missing for two days, need my kit asap #racingtomorrow #helppls???”

    The airline’s “help desk” responded within half an hour, saying they were “deeply sorry” to hear that, and asking him to DM them his lost luggage reference number.

    But the suitcase never materialised and Le Clos and his coach flew on to Rome to compete in the Sette Colli (Seven Hills) competition the following Friday.

    Read Times Live

    Photo by Doha Stadium Plus

  • Hungarian Olympic swimming star Katinka Hosszu announced Tuesday the launch of a union to represent swimmers against FINA, the sport’s governing body, that she accuses of ignoring athletes.

    The membership of the Global Association of Professional Swimmers (GAPS) represents “all continents of the globe”, Hosszu, a triple Olympic gold medal winner in Rio last year, wrote in a Facebook post.

    Among 14 Olympic champions in the list of 29 founding members with Hosszu are Japan’s Hagino Koszuke, Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom, and American swimmers Katie Meili and Conor Dwyer.

    “We expect swimmers to be treated as equal partners. We expect that (leaders of FINA) will sit down and start talking to us, we expect that they will listen to the voice of the professional swimmers and we expect to have a say in important decisions about the future of our sport,” said Hosszu.

    Read The Times of India, Reuters and Xinhua, and see swimmingprofessionals.org

    Photo by Doha Stadium Plus

  • A whale gave a free diver off the coast of Tasmania a once-in-a-lifetime experience when it swam up to him and said hello with what he described as a “nose boop”.

    Kaeo Landon Lane was filming in the water at Bicheno when two southern right whales drifted slowly towards him, appearing through the soft murk of the sea. One of the whales came right up to Lane, who stuck out his hand.

    See IBT

  • Need some motivation? Look no farther than five-time Olympic swimmer and 12-time Olympic medalist Dara Torres. Torres has teamed up with SHOW MORE OF YOU from Celgene and Otezla — a campaign that is shining light on the psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis.

  • Adam Stern, a 28-year-old professional freediver from Copacabana, Australia, dived some 30 meters deep to explore the gigantic Boga wreck in North East Bali. Not being the one to miss an opportunity for a cool photo, Adam posed at the wheel of the ship.

    The Boga wreck is an old decommissioned ship that was purposely sunk in September 2012 to create an artificial reef for marine life and a new dive destination. The vessel measures about 50 meters in length; it is adorned with a Volkswagen car, treasure chest and a Buddha statue.

    See Sputnik News

  • Olympic swimmer Maritza McClendon got together with her sorority, Sigma Gamma Rho, to teach a free swim clinic over the weekend in New Orleans.​