During the shooting of a documentary in arctic Norway, we got up close and personal with killer whales. Rather than ferocious killers, orcas are gentle and inquisitive, at least when it comes to human encounters. Hundreds of orcas and humpback whales gathers in the Tromsø region in the period of November to January, to feed on the overwintering herring.
Via Lonely Planet
Former sprinter Frankie Fredericks quit Tuesday as head of the IOC commission monitoring candidates for the 2024 Olympics amid a probe into money he accepted from a sports marketing chief accused of corruption.
Fredericks, 49, strongly denied any wrongdoing in accepting nearly $300,000 (283,000 euros, Sh30 million) around the day that Rio de Janeiro was awarded the 2016 Olympics.
But said he had “personally decided that it is in the best interests of a good functioning of the International Olympic Committee candidature process that I step aside as chairperson of the 2024 Evaluation Commission, because it is essential that the important work my colleagues are doing is seen as being carried out in a truthful and fair manner.”
The Namibian athletics great went on: “I do not wish to become a distraction from this great contest.”
Read Daily Nation
Ian Thorpe will host a controversial new hidden camera documentary series exposing schoolyard bullying, to air on the ABC later this month.
“Bullied†is a new social experiment that follows two high school students who have been bullied at their schools, with the incidents captured on hidden camera footage that is then shown to their parents, peers, school teachers and the bullies themselves.
“I have some personal experience around the issue of bullying so I want to share my insights to help Australian kids,†Ian shared when the series was announced last year.
See qnews.com.au
The Bahamas are famous for sun, sand—and swimming pigs.
Seven of the feral animals, which are popular as a tourist attraction, have been found dead on Big Major Cay, one of the islands, according to the Bahamas Humane Society. The death toll may be up to 10, which leaves eight or nine of the famous swine remaining—only a handful of which are adults.
Though initial reports suggested that tourists had given the pigs fatal doses of alcohol, Humane Society inspector Ventoi Bethune told National Geographic that the dead swine had likely ingested sand.
Veterinarians who visited the site found large quantities of sand in the deceased animals’ stomachs, which Bethune says may have been caused by a recent influx of visitors throwing small amounts of food on the beach.
“The pigs have been on the island so long, they are used to foraging for natural food,†Bethune says. The pigs would only go the beach for an occasional treat.
But with the increase in tourism, the pigs are relying on humans more than ever.
Read National Geographic
“Canottieri Ortigia” sports club in Syracuse has started a cycle of free swimming lessons for young migrants. The course is open to unaccompanied minors who arrived in Sicily on board barges, after crossing the Mediterranean.
https://youtu.be/eq83q89DGuI
People love to have debates about who’s the greatest of all time in any given sport; maybe it’s because you don’t even have to be an expert to get in on them. All you need to know is the yardstick for success. Serena Williams or Steffi Graf? Tom Brady or Joe Montana?
That’s what makes Michael Phelps special. There’s no debate. He’s the greatest swimmer and most decorated Olympian of all time: 28 medals won over four different Olympic Games, 23 of them gold.
The question is, how? Well, Michael Phelps is not a fish. Doctors have shot down the notion that his abnormal wingspan and flexible joints give him an out sized advantage.
It turns out, Phelps worked hard on his craft. He also does a few mental exercises that the rest of us would do well to emulate. Fortt Knox sat down with him to get some of his best insights.
Read CNBC
Beijing, host of the inaugural leg of the 2017 FINA/NVC Diving World Series, landed a two-meet deal sponsorship agreement for the first time with car and vehicle manufacturer giant BMW Brilliant Automotive Ltd.
BMW has supported the first meet from March 3-5 and will be back next year in the Chinese capital for the same event as the Official Presenting Sponsor of the Series, providing cars to the Organising Committee.
FINA Executive Director Cornel Marculescu expressed his gratitude to the sponsor:
“We are very grateful for BMW committent to the sport of diving in China. China has historically been one of the best nations in the sport and has been the dominant force for many years now. Chinese divers represent excellence in this discipline, just as BMW symbolises excellence in the car industry.
We are extremely happy to have landed this groundbreaking deal which undeniably add more value to this top-notch annual event.”
BMW promoted the new BMW X1 xDrive 25Le iPerformance which was displayed on podium at the
venue this weekend.
Press release from FINA
Wrecks, manta rays, beautiful reefs – I had a lot of fun getting to know some of the dive spots around Bali and Nusa Penida. This video was shot and edited by Luca Vaime and Mike Veitch at Underwater Tribe.
Look. If you are of a delicate disposition, best not take up swimming. Don’t venture down to your local pool, strip off your clothes, wade through a slightly wet and dirty changing room and immerse yourself into what is, effectively, a communal bath full of the hoi polloi and all their bodily fluids. Just don’t do it.
If you are of a delicate disposition, you won’t end up feeling relaxed, with a sense of wellbeing and a healthy glow. You’ll be too concerned about verrucas, or cross and suffering from “lane rageâ€. You’ll complain about everything from people peeing in the water – which scientists have found is a frequent occurrence – to the quantity of the pool chemicals needed to counteract the peeing, to the water being too cold (or too hot).
You’ll be unhappy about the plasters and miscellaneous hairs that have sunk to the bottom of the pool. You’ll be irritated by the kids screaming and about swimmers splashing arrogantly; or women slowly breaststroking in twos and chatting while still in full makeup. You’ll feel as if your swim has been ruined.
I’ve swum in many pools – probably more than 100 – and I can tell you that every one has its fair share of annoyances. And they all, undoubtedly, have users who pee in the water. Every pool in the UK (where, for some reason, we don’t require swimmers to wear bathing caps) has great billowing clouds of hair floating around waiting to get caught repulsively between your fingers.
Many pools aren’t as clean as we’d like, but public pools are often underfunded. The staff who work at these places are often poorly paid and on casual shifts. The lifeguards who keep order, and whom we trust to save our lives, if necessary, are often required to do most of the cleaning, and to regulate the chemicals and temperatures of the water. Cut them some slack.
In most pools, just as there are cleanliness issues, there are people issues too. Every leisure centre has a weirdo who spends too much time in the shower. Every swim features a strange encounter with a near-naked stranger.
[…]
But I don’t get exercised. I don’t complain to the lifeguards. It’s not my pool, I think. It’s there for us all to share. Live and let live. Your swim is just as valid as my swim. I embrace your chattering, your free-diving, your breaststroke screw-kick and your bikinis. I embrace the floating plasters and the overwhelming smell of chlorine. And if your kid (or you) have peed in the water, I don’t really care about that either.
But if the thought of urine, sweat and snot (and worse) appals you, and if you don’t want to swim too close to someone who is almost naked and cooperate with them, then do yourself – and me – a favour. Walk up a deserted mountain instead.
Read The Guardian
