Swimmer's Daily

  • An Olympic medal winning swimmer linked to Russia’s state-run doping scandal has tested positive for the banned meldonium, the US Anti-Doping Agency announced.

    Nikita Lobintsev was already one of seven Russian swimmers banned from competing in the Rio Olympics by the International Swimming Federation (FINA) and USADA did not impose a new ban over the case.

    On Thursday, the University of South California said it had suspended Russians Lobintsev and Vladimir Morozov from competing with its team.

    USADA said the 27-year-old Lobintsev had been using meldonium for the past seven years. It was prescribed by Russia team doctors, who told him it would help strengthen his heart. Meldonium was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s banned list at the beginning of 2016.

    “The disturbing pattern of use associated with this performance-enhancing drug appears to be one more example of growing practice in sport in which coaches ask for, physicians prescribe, and athletes use pharmaceuticals not for their primary purpose of health and wellness but to enhance athletic performance,” said USADA chief executive Travis Tygart in a statement.

    Lobintsev, who told USADA he stopped using the drug 10 months ago, tested positive for meldonium on June 16 in an out-of-competition test.

    Read Yahoo! Sports

  • Pool noodles didn’t get their start as a toy — or as anything even remotely fun. How did they evolve into the essential splash time accessory we know today?

  • As long as she can remember, Jillian Morris has loved sharks. To get closer to them, she moved to the tiny island of Bimini in the Bahamas—the shark diving capitol of the world. There, she photographs one of the world’s most alluring shark species, the great hammerhead. In addition to her underwater photography, Morris educates kids about the importance of sharks to our oceans. Suit up, jump in and don’t be afraid.

  • At the Scottish National Open Swimming Champs at the start of July we caught up with our Olympians and chatted about their final preparations ahead of Rio, their hopes and aspirations. We also threw in a few random questions!

  • At the Scottish National Open Swimming Champs at the start of July we caught up with our Olympians and chatted about their final preparations ahead of Rio, their hopes and aspirations. We also threw in a few random questions! Here’s Ross Murdoch from University of Stirling

  • At the Scottish National Open Swimming Champs at the start of July we caught up with our Olympians and chatted about their final preparations ahead of Rio, their hopes and aspirations. We also threw in a few random questions! Here’s Hannah Miley from Garioch.

  • Video game ‘Abzû’ wants to take you on an emotional journey into an underwater world. It’s the first game to come from Santa Monica’s Giant Squid Studios, which is being led by Matt Nava. Nava was previously the art director on the games “Flower” and “Journey” for thatgamecompany, creating games that broke from traditional game formats and creating gameplay that’s more about a specific experience.

    Read 89.3KPCC

  • On one side of the cramped outdoor pool, children are taking swimming lessons. Opposite, another group of kids riotously splash around. In the middle, a teenager is desperately trying to train for the Rio Olympics.

    Conditions are hardly ideal for Siri Budcharern Arun, one of just 5 athletes from the poor, communist state of Laos traveling to Brazil.

    She will arrive as a rank outsider in the 50 meter freestyle, hailing from a Southeast Asian country which has few sporting heroes, and none known beyond its landlocked borders.

    It does not help that she is training in a 25m public pool – half the size of an Olympic pool – whose deck is strewn with empty beer bottles from parties the night before.

    “I am very proud,” the 14-year-old told AFP, goggles in hand and catching her breath after a training session at the pool in the capital Vientiane.

    “We may not be a big country but I want the world to know that we do have swimmers,” she added.

    Read Rappler

  • While Suicide Squad is filled with CG, many moments are not, including Margot Robbie’s underwater fight. The Harley Quinn actress told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show she learned to hold her breath for five minutes, even though the scene required she do so only for one.

    “I worked with this amazing free-diver, and he came in and I did four sessions with him. His name’s Kirk,” she said, adding that she called him Captain Kirk. “It’s all about lowering your metabolic rate…You kinda, like, meditate underwater. It’s what free-divers do, but it’s amazing.”

    Admitting to her competitive nature, Robbie described how she would try and hold her breath longer than her stunt double. “I got to five minutes and I was like, ‘You know what? This is above and beyond what I thought I’d get to. I’m good, I’m good with five.’” She says she tried pushing it even further when her double got to five-and-a-half minutes, but she was advised against it.

    Read Entertainment Weekly