Up to 90 pupils and staff from schools across West Dunbartonshire took part in open water swimming activities at Loch Lomond, which ultimately helped teach the participants about being safe in and around open water, ahead of the summer holidays.
Every summer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention turns its attention to the disgusting state of American swimming holes — and their latest investigation traced thousands of infections back to lakes, rivers, and the ocean.
A team of researchers analyzed 140 outbreaks that made nearly 5,000 people sick, and even killed two swimmers between 2000 and 2014. Public parks and beaches accounted for roughly two-thirds of the outbreaks, according to the CDC’s latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. And the majority of those outbreaks occurred over the summer months — right when the water is most inviting.
The most common infections the CDC turned up came from swallowing poop-tainted water. Most of them cause diarrhea — norovirus, bacterial infections like Shigella and E. coli, and parasites like Cryptosporidium were all reported. People also got itchy rashes thanks to parasites called avian schistosomes, which usually infect birds and a specific species of snail. But the worms can also wiggle into human skin and cause a rash before the misguided parasites die. And toxic algal blooms sickened swimmers in a handful of outbreaks.
It’s not all diarrhea and rashes; two people died from infections with a brain eating amoeba called Naegleria fowleri. To avoid it, the study authors say, use a nose clip to keep your nostrils shut and don’t dunk your head underwater while swimming in warm freshwater and hot springs.
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The prosecution of U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte for filing a false police report during the 2016 Olympics is back on after a Brazilian court decision this week.
During the games in Rio de Janeiro, the 12-time Olympic medalist told NBC that he and fellow swimmers were robbed at gunpoint in a taxi by men with police badges as they returned to the Olympic Village from a party. But prosecutors said Lochte invented the story to cover up the swimmers’ vandalism of a gas station and an ensuing confrontation with security guards. The confrontation was captured by surveillance cameras at the gas station.
Lochte later acknowledged he was intoxicated at the time and his behavior led to the confrontation.
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Rasovszky made it again, beat French world champs
Hungary’s Kristof Rasovszky won his second race in the season, just as in last year he came first in Barcelona, ahead of France’s world champions Marc-Antoine Olivier and Axel Reymond. Italy’s Aurora Ponsele won the women’s competition, ahead of Spain’s Paula Ruiz Bravo and another French world champion Aurelie Muller.
Every day in Australia, 30 people are rescued from drowning.
And saving lives is about to get easier.
Later this year, during the Southern Hemisphere summer, drones will be used to help rescue stranded swimmers and to spot sharks that might be getting a little too close for comfort.
Al Jazeera’s Andrew Thomas reports from Mooloolaba.
A smiling mermaid! Zhang Chunmei, 21, lost both her legs in a powerful earthquake that hit China’s Wenchuan in 2008. But the survivor-turned-professional swimmer says she has since learned to smile a lot.
An unexpected encounter of a military kind greets Ross this week as he continues to battle waves and jellyfish along the South Coast of England.
With his injuries behind him and Rhino Neck secured as a nickname, Ross and the crew have themselves a bit of fun out in the English waters. It begs the question – how many people do you know who’ve raced against a Navy boat?
Pope Francis received a delegation of swimmers in the Vatican on the occasion of the traditional Rome meet Trofeo Sette Colli. The delegation was headed by LEN and Italian Swimming Federation President Paolo Barelli and included some of the brightest stars like Olympic champion Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED), Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA) and Chad le Clos (RSA).
