• It’s every athlete’s dream to make it to the Olympics and one Athens High School swimmer is one step closer to that dream.

    Kobie Melton started swimming at the age of six and now at the young age of 15, she’s getting a shot to swim at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

    Melton qualified for the Olympic trials and in June, she’ll try to make the cut for the Olympic team.

    “I would go crazy,” she said. “That’d be my number one dream. That would be so cool.”

    See WAFF

  • Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death in children. American Red Cross is diving in and kicking off free summer swim program that’s getting high marks from Atlanta’s first family.

  • When Rio won the rights in 2009 to host the summer Olympics, Brazil planned a blitz of projects to showcase how far it had risen. But when tourists start showing up in 2 months to attend the games, it will be the bust and not Brazil’s best that will be on display. Bloomberg’s David Biller reports on “What’d You Miss?”

  • If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times (or more): There is the Coral Triangle, the Sulu-Sulawesi Seascape, and then there is the Verde Island Passage (VIP). The VIP is THE most important body of water in the world. It is the global epicenter of marine biodiversity. And it is a mere 2 hour drive from Manila!

    https://vimeo.com/170452068

  • Medal hopeful Paddy Barnes started boxing at age 11 and, despite losing his first 15 fights, never took a backward step. Rower, Sinead Lynch (nee Jennings), began her rowing journey at 23 years of age, and despite becoming a doctor and having three children in the meantime, is realising her dream of becoming an Olympian at 39.

    Gymnast, Kieran Behan, was told twice that he’d never walk again, yet never gave up hope. Swimmer, Fiona Doyle, takes inspiration from her identical twin sister who had to give up swimming due to a back injury. When Fiona is standing alone on the blocks, she is swimming not only for herself but for her sister and her entire family who have helped her get to where she is now.

    Each and every member of Team Ireland have reached within themselves to unearth The Power Within. Electric Ireland, proud sponsor of Team Ireland wants to inspire the Irish public with these powerful stories and encourage people to look within themselves to find out what drives them. Whether it’s the strength to plough through the final kilometre of a 10km run or to find the courage to go for that job promotion, we can all use The Power Within to realise our dreams.

  • Graduates and women’s rights activist took a stand against injustice during the 2016 Stanford University Commencement. Graduates used the graduation as an platform to broadcast their anger over the light 6-month prison sentence that former Stanford University swimmer received after raping a unconscious female student. During the schools “Wacky Walk”, a procession of graduates dressed in eccentric outfits and costumes that takes place before the ceremony, a group of students held signs up in protest.

    https://youtu.be/bAPtI25eBVw

    https://youtu.be/NHsevbShjNY

  • A fast moving mango, weighing 454 grams, fell into a Calgary family’s backyard on Tuesday afternoon. It narrowly missed Lisa Egan while she was rolling up the cover on the family’s pool.

    “All of a sudden, out of nowhere, something hits the top of the blanket – approximately in the centre – (it was) extremely loud, it scared me,” she said.

    Egan noticed a gaping hole in the plastic cover before spotting the mango floating in the pool, under the cover.

    See Global News

  • It’s pool season, the grandest of all seasons, or so you might think. Sure, days are longer, clothing is skimpier, and the beer is colder, but with pool season comes high risk, especially if there’s poop in the water. Which, it turns out, there is. A lot of it.

    According to the CDC, every year thousands of water-associated outbreaks get reported, all stemming from poop-related bacteria. And poop in the pool can cause several diseases, all of which you can very realistically catch. The good news: despite what that ignorant guy at your office says, herpes and HIV are two diseases you CANNOT catch in a pool.

    Read Thrillist, via Neatorama

  • Mathijs takes one gulp of air before diving into a magical world of sardines in Moalboal, Philippines.

    Captured and submitted by GoPro Awards recipient Mathijs van den Bosch.