Swimmer's Daily

  • Meet Townley Hass, a member of your USA Swimming 2016 Olympic Team representing the stars and stripes in Rio. Townley will compete in the 200m freestyle.

  • Brazilian open water swimmer Poliana Okimoto previews the Women’s Marathon Swimming event at Rio 2016.

  • 2016 U.S. Olympic Swim Team Head Coach Bob Bowman and team captain and three-time Elizabeth Beisel play a musical duet during training camp.

  • Meet Sean Ryan, a member of your USA Swimming 2016 Olympic Team representing the stars and stripes in Rio. Sean will compete in the 10K open water event.

  • The International Olympic Committee has said a three-member panel will make the “final decision” on which Russian athletes can compete in the Rio Olympics, set to begin in less than a week.

    The panel will examine each case individually and make the “final decision” before Friday, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said late on Saturday.

    A ban on individual Russian athletes followed a report by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) stating that Russian doping of athletes had been organized by the sports ministry and aided by the Russian secret service at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

    Rejecting calls for a blanket ban on Russia, the IOC decided on July 24 that individual sports federations should investigate athletes implicated in the report and decide who should be excluded.

    So far, at least 117 individuals from the 387 that the Russian Olympic Committee wanted to enter have been excluded.

    Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko said Saturday he expected 266 athletes to compete. Boxing, golf, gymnastics and taekwondo federations have yet to report their decisions.

    The three-member panel is made up of Ugur Erdener, president of World Archery and head of the IOC medical and scientific commission, Claudia Bockel of the IOC athletes commission, and Spanish IOC member Juan Antonio Samaranch.

    – Russia swimmers challenge ban –

    Two Russian swimmers, Vladimir Morozov and Nikita Lobintsev, on Saturday launched the first challenge against the IOC sanctions excluding them from the games.

    The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will hold an emergency session in Rio on Sunday to hear their appeal, according to sources close to the case.

    Morozov, 24, and Lobintsev, 27, have called on CAS to declare “invalid and unenforceable” an IOC order for federations to exclude athletes implicated in the investigation into Russia’s state-run doping system.

    They were among seven Russians banned by the International Swimming Federation (FINA) last week after the order was published.

    Read Yahoo! Sports

  • Six days until Olympic Games in Rio start, so here are the places you need to know: Barra, Deodoro, Maracana and Copacabana.

    https://youtu.be/eTA0kJ9W-dY

  • Egyptian swimmers talked to SNTV on Saturday (30th July) about their aspirations for the Olympic Games in Rio.

    https://youtu.be/jKdmsEXMvV8

  • 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?