• For a man who glides so quickly and effortlessly through the water it seems perverse to think of Michael Phelps confining himself to one room for four straight days.

    Such were the depths of a spiral that would threaten to cripple the comeback of a man widely regarded as one of the greatest sportsmen of all time.

    His self imprisonment followed a second charge of driving under the influence of alcohol, in September 2014, that led to a six-month suspension by USA Swimming.

    If swimming is one of the most individual sports there is, it turns out that behind the world’s greatest Olympian is a support network of family and friends. They were key to Phelps summoning the courage to seek help.

    “I’m so thankful for the support that I have,” Phelps told CNN in an emotional interview with Coy Wire.

    “Those days when I was sitting in my room, where I didn’t move for four days, I had the support team of my friends and my closest family members and everybody who was there — my house was like a revolving door.

    “They were people who matter the most to me and were there because they truly care about me. I was like, ‘That was a really dumb idea, let’s figure this out.’”

    Read CNN

  • Three WJRs, two EJRs to finish, Russia and Hungary tied at 11 titles

    Quite a day to finish an outstanding meet: records were flooding in Netanya at the European Junior Swimming Championships as three junior world marks and two more European records were set by the continent’s best teenagers. Russia and Hungary were tied on gold medals, though the Russians topped the count and won the Championship Tropy. Hungary’s Ajna Kesely closed the event with 6 gold medals.

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  • Final session action of the #SNOC17 from Aberdeen Sports Village.

  • Olympic great Ian Thorpe has revealed he can no longer swim, having lost his famous freestyle stroke after shoulder replacement surgery.

    The five-time Olympic gold medallist, 34, said he had come to terms with what his body was now able to do following the surgery two years ago.

    “When I first retired all those years ago I did not want anything to do with it (swimming), I did not want to go near a pool,” Thorpe, the Specsavers eye health ambassador said.

    “When I retired for the second time I wanted to keep swimming, but I had a shoulder replacement. I had lots of complications with my shoulder and it is a pretty serious operation, not a reconstruction, a replacement, so I can’t swim.

    “I had more than two years of shoulder problems and then I got an infection in hospital, so they had to remove the reconstruction they did.

    “Then I was on antibiotics for 12 months with a completely fractured shoulder before they could operate on it, so I was happy that I got the shoulder that I have and that I can do as much as I can with it.

    “I was told by the doctor before the surgery I would never be able to swim again. I can swim enough to be able to catch a wave, but the stroke it allows me to do is quite horrible and it kind of crunches over, so it is not like I can get into a pool and do some laps.”

    Read the Herald Sun

  • In case there were any doubts, any skeptics, any nonbelievers remaining: Katie Ledecky made clear over the course of five days this past week that there was no post-Olympic letdown. No rust, no physical hang-ups or mental hiccups. Most knew this was coming when she left the Rio Olympics with five medals — four of them gold — but as the sport turns its attention to the 2020 Games in Tokyo, Ledecky is now the face of swimming, certainly in the United States, if not the world.

    Read The Washington Post

  • Double gold for Kolesnikov (RUS), 5th title for Kesely (HUN)

    Russians took home all three men’s titles on offer on Saturday at the European Junior Swimming Championships. Kliment Kolesnikov was the hero of the day as he captured two backstroke wins in 53 minutes, first in the 200m, then in the 50m. Hungary’s Ajna Kesely stroke gold once more, this time in the 200m free, this was her 5th triumph in Netanya.

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  • Final session action of the #SNOC17 from Aberdeen Sports Village.

  • Hungary’s Milak cracks World Junior Record, Britain lands double

    Hungary’s Kristof Milak’s thrashed the World Junior Record and hit the second place on the FINA World Rankings in the 200m fly on Day 3 at the European Junior Swimming Championships in Netanya. Hungary added three more golds, including Ajna Kesely’s 4th title in three days and the Brits also earned two.

    (more…)