Swimmer's Daily

  • Russia has undertaken systematic doping in swimming for years, the Times newspaper said on Wednesday, as the nation battles a drugs problem that could prevent the country’s track and field squad from competing at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

    The English newspaper said its investigation had unearthed “systematic” drug use in the sport, where more than a dozen Russian swimmers were suspended in the past three years for doping.

    The Times said Dr Sergei Portugalov, Chief of the Russian Athletics Federation’s Medical Commission, who was said to have provided banned substances to Russian athletes, was also involved in swimming.

    Dr Portugalov was named in a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) report on systematic doping in Russian athletics a few months ago.

    “Calls for Russian swimmers to be excluded from the Games will grow after the investigation revealed that Portugalov, the doctor recommended for a lifetime ban by WADA as a key player at the heart of Russia’s doping scandal, actively encouraged the national swimming team to adopt a systematic doping policy,” the newspaper said.

    Read Reuters

    Also on Reuters: “Russian swimming federation denies doping use allegations: R-sport”

    The R-sport story

  • After being allotted $18 million for improvements, the City of Wichita’s Parks and Recreation Department has outlined a 7-year plan for its aquatics facilities.

    The city currently owns ten aquatics parks, including a swimming pool at Edgemoor Park that has been closed due to maintenance issues since 2012.

    In a plan that was presented to Wichita City Council members on Tuesday, the Edgemoor swimming pool would receive a significant remodeling, with an opening date in 2020.

    The plan would also replace four swimming pools—McAdams, Orchard, Boston and Linwood—with water playgrounds.

    Wichita Aquatics Manager Brian Hill says the splash pads combine large fountains and jungle gyms, and will save the city money.

    “[Water playgrounds] reduce our cost of water, it reduces our chemical costs, and the big one, obviously, you don’t have to staff them with lifeguards,” Hill says.

    Read KMUW, KAKE and The Wichita Eagle

  • Guest post by AJ Earley

    Some of my earliest memories are of the municipal pool in Meridian, Idaho. Sometimes my grandparents would babysit us during the summer, and my grandfather would take me to the pool with him when he taught the Red Cross lifeguard class.

    (more…)

  • First time ice-swimming (actually just a quick dip)

    https://youtu.be/apPBS0IE740

  • Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori Aho Matua in Auckland gathered today to compete in an inter-school swim meet. With Māori over-represented in drowning statistics, it was an opportunity to showcase the positive steps Māori communities are taking to reduce these statistics.

  • Team GB Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington OBE cuts the red ribbon at Yorkshire Wildlife Park’s new Giant Otter reserve. See more at www.YWPFoundation.com

  • 1 in 5 adults in the UK can’t swim and, as it’s the only sport that can save your life, we are on a mission to change that! Fusion Lifestyle is offering 1:1 free adult assessments in all our centres and free swim school assessments for children of all ages who want to learn how to swim. Simply visit www.fusionswimschool.com to find out more!

  • South African endurance swimmer, Theodore Yach has completed his 100th Open Water Swim from Robben Island to the mainland.
    Yach completed Monday’s swim in just over three hours in difficult conditions. He previously successfully crossed the English Channel.

  • My experience windsurfing in the Faroe Islands is something that will stick with me forever. For starters, the place is utterly beautiful. Everywhere you look seems like it was taken right from post card. However, I must admit that I wasn’t prepared for the arctic conditions. It was brutal, to say the very least. The waves, the currents, the wind, the large cliffs, the rocks, the harsh weather… it was all so overwhelming. I really believed that if something went wrong, I would be gone forever. It was a relief to feel solid ground under my feet again.

    Read The Inertia and The Red Bulletin

    https://youtu.be/ePeJI_h-18Q