Swimmer's Daily

  • The International Aquatics Federation says that air conditioning should be installed at the Olympic Park aquatics center, but the city continues to assess the situation.

    FINA Executive Director Cornel Marculescu described the venue to ATR as an “indoor, outdoor pool complex,” that could use more ventilation at the pool level. Marculescu remains impressed with the venue after seeing it in use, saying athlete feedback remains positive.

    In order to save money on energy costs, the aquatics venue has no artificial ventilation system. The temporary venue is wrapped in a fabric that will facilitate a natural cooling system for spectators and athletes.

    “The only thing for us now is to be sure that the level of the pool can have this artificial ventilation so the athletes have the necessary air and it is not too hot or too cold depending on the weather outside,” Marculescu added. “In general what I hear is the athletes are happy, the water is okay, and they feel good in the pool. No news is good news.”

    The aquatics venue is currently in control of the Rio 2016 organizing committee. Rio city hall is currently assessing the need for a potential air conditioning system, but has no timeline for when that decision will be reached, a spokesperson told ATR.

    Read Around the Rings

  • Considering the provisional suspension imposed by FINA to swimmer Yulia Efimova (RUS) and the recent WADA recommendations on the use of Meldonium, the FINA Doping Panel decided to maintain the provisional suspension of this athlete, until a hearing of Ms Efimova is held by the FINA Doping Panel.

    Read FINA

    Photo courtesy of svoem.dk, CC BY 2.0

  • Disgraced former Olympic swimming champion Park Tae-hwan remains undecided on entering the upcoming national team trials, after he has been ruled out of this year’s Summer Games, his agency said Tuesday.

    Park has registered to compete in the men’s 100m, 200m, 400m and 1,500m freestyle races at the 88th Dong-A Swimming Competition starting on April 25 in Gwangju, some 330 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the meet organizers.

    The competition will double as the second round of the national team trials for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics.

    The deadline to register falls at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Swimmers may still withdraw after the deadline.

    Park, who recently completed an 18-month ban for doping, is training in Australia, but there may be little point to him in racing in Gwangju because he is ineligible for the Olympics.

    Read Yonhap News Agency

    Photo by KOREA.NET – Official page of the Republic of Korea

  • Streamed live on Apr 12, 2016

  • Tyler Pidde is a member of the YMCA Stingrays Swim Team and one of the nation’s best swimmers who has grown up at the Y. He started with swim lessons more than 10 years ago, qualified for nationals twice this past year and is now pursuing a goal to swim in college. He credits his growth and maturity to the Y and its core values of honesty, respect, caring and responsibility.

  • Brian Bencomo took a look at USC head swim coach Dave Salo and how he coaches not only Trojans, but Olympians as well.

    https://youtu.be/93ouvpCdL_U

  • Katie Ledecky chats with the media ahead of the 2016 Arena Pro Swim Series at Mesa on April 13, 2016.

  • Live from SA Aquatic & Leisure Centre.

  • The presence of less than one microgram of meldonium in doping samples in tests conducted on athletes before March 1 this year is acceptable, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said on Wednesday.

    Meldonium was added to WADA’s list of banned substances on Jan. 1, 2016, with athletes around the world being informed of the decision in the autumn of 2015.

    Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, who had recently said 40 Russian sportsmen and women failed dope tests for meldonium, including tennis player Maria Sharapova and swimmer Yulia Efimova, welcomed the decision by the world body.

    “The Russian Sports Ministry supports and welcomes the decision made by WADA because it has showed a willingness to understand the situation, rather than stick to the rulebook,” Mutko said in a statement on Wednesday.

    “They were ready to study how long it would take for meldonium to be eliminated from the body of an athlete.

    “… WADA has demonstrated impartiality and being objective in the fight against doping.”

    Read Reuters