Swimmer's Daily

  • Swimmers from Italy controlled operations in the first leg of the 2017 circuit of the FINA/HOSA 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup, held in Patagones-Viedma (ARG), by taking gold and silver in both the men’s and women’s race. On February 4, Federico Vanelli was the best among men, winning in 1h57m02s42, while Arianna Bridi was the fastest in the women’s field, touching home in 2h11m30s42.

    While Vanelli’s best result in 2016 had been a bronze medal (precisely in the inaugural race of the season, also in Viedma), his teammate Simone Ruffini was the winner of the overall series. This time in Argentina, he was second in a time of 1h57m32s30. The bronze medal went to France’s David Aubry, in 1h58m25s36. It is the first medal at this level for the French athlete, who had made a single appearance in the 2016 circuit, at the Abu Dhabi race.

    Still in the men’s race, the best Argentinean of the field was Guillermo Bertola, fourth in 1h58m28s45, while well-known Allan do Carmo, from Brazil, had to content with the sixth place (1h58m33s67).

    The women’s race was definitively harder to decide. If the triumph of Bridi – who made a brilliant end of the season in 2016 with gold in Lac Megantic (CAN), silver in Hong Kong and bronze in Chun’An (CHN) – was clear, the fight for the silver was outstanding between her teammate Rachele Bruni and Brazil’s Poliana Okimoto. At the end, and after checking the photo finish data, the two swimmers were declared second, in a time of 2h12m13s54. Curiously, the Italian star had been second at the Rio 2016 Olympics, while Okimoto was third in the Copacabana waters. Moreover, Bruni was the overall winner of the FINA/HOSA 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup in 2016, while the Brazilian was the runner-up of the competition.

    Ana Marcela Cunha, also from Brazil, finished fifth (2h12m18s11), while local star Cecilia Biagioli was only ninth (2h12m34m48).

    38 swimmers (equalled distributed between men and women) took part in this initial leg in Argentina. The next stop of the FINA/HOSA 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup will be in Abu Dhabi (UAE), on March 11, 2017.

    Medallists in Patagones-Viedma (ARG):

    Men

    1. Federico Vanelli (ITA), 1h57m02s42; 2. Simone Ruffini (ITA), 1h57m32s30; 3. David Aubry (FRA), 1h58m25s36

    Women

    1. Arianna Bridi (ITA), 2h11m30s42; 2. Rachele Bruni (ITA), 2h12m13s54; 2. Poliana Okimoto (BRA), 2h12m13s54

    Read FINA

  • A trip back to Baltimore to see a young Michael Phelps reveal his brutal training regime shows why the swimming legend won 23 Olympic gold medals and became the greatest swimmer of all time.

  • A young boy has been flown by helicopter to the Royal Children’s Hospital after being pulled from a pool during school swimming lessons.

    The child, believed to be six years old, is in a serious but stable condition after he was dragged from the water in Victoria’s east.

    Paramedics were called to the Swifts Creek School pool on the Great Alpine Road about 1pm.

    The child was with his classmates having swimming lessons during the first week of the school year when the incident happened.

    It is understood the class was from a nearby primary school, which uses the pool at Swifts Creek School.

    Teachers, parents and bush nurses treated the boy before paramedics arrived.

    Read The Age

  • Denmark will be the host of this year LEN European Short Course Championships 2017 in the newly opened Royal Arena, Copenhagen. It will be the first sports event in Royal Arena and will take place from 13th until 17th December 2017.

  • Video showcases many stars from the 2017 Ice Swimming Aqua Sphere World Championships in Wöhrsee, see The Daily News of Open Water Swimming

  • Wen Xu, a senior on the Drury University swimming team, died Thursday after collapsing at practice.

    According to a statement released by the university, Wen experienced a medical emergency in practice Thursday afternoon, and paramedics were called to Breech Pool.

    Wen was taken to Mercy Hospital and pronounced dead shortly thereafter.

    Read News-Leader

    https://youtu.be/4z_Qnmc_IJI

  • A ten meter diving tower. People who have never been up there before have to choose whether to jump or climb down. The situation itself highlights a dilemma: to weigh the instinctive fear of taking the step out against the humiliation of having to climb down.

    See Maximilien Van Aertryck and The New York Times

  • A great white shark was apparently ready for its close up when it photo bombed a 10-year-old Australian boy catching some waves. Chris Hasson says after showing the photo to experts, they determined it was a juvenile great white shark about 8 feet long. His son, Eden says he’s glad he didn’t notice it while he was out on the water. No one was hurt and even though it gave everyone a scare, now that it’s all over Chris and Eden think it’s actually kind of cool.

  • Ippei Watanabe – who smashed the 200-meter breaststroke world record in Tokyo on Jan. 29 – has revealed that improved lower body strength was a key factor behind breaking the world record.

    The 19-year-old swimmer, who managed to chalk up an unprecedented time of 2 minutes and 6.67 seconds during the Kosuke Kitajima Cup at Tatsumi International Swimming Center in Tokyo, decided to work on his lower body strength following the 2016 Rio Olympics.

    Read The Mainichi