Swimmer's Daily

  • Swimming under the ice january 16th 2016 on Brakstadvatnet a little north of Bergen. The air was -10 c below and the ice was around 15 cm thick.

  • Orenda Experience through the eyes of a Coach & Swimmer

  • Olympian and mom, Amanda Beard explains what sets Aqua Sphere products apart – comfort, quality, versatility

    https://youtu.be/-xKXvBJ-G6Y

  • Jim Phillips is a Deadwood local, who is raising money for area swim teams, by doing something not many of us could. Next Monday, Phillips will swim from sun up to sun down at the Deadwood rec center. But, it’s not just a Monday… it will be his 70th birthday.

    See Black Hills FOX

  • Serbia: as usual, Greece: second time after 1999

    An extraordinary day in the Kombank Arena, with the first penalty shootout of the tournament which might be decisive on the spots in the Olympic Qualification Tournament (the Germans won over Slovakia). Followed by three women games, all ended with exactly the same result: 11-10! And finally the two quarter-finals in the evening which saw the Greeks defending brilliantly against Spain while host Serbia was back in form and downed the Russians with ease.

    LEN European Water Polo Championships 2016 Netherlands NED (White) Vs Greece GRE (Blue) Women 11 PLEVRITOU Eleftheria GRE Kombank Arena, Belgrade, Serbia Day09 18-01-2016 Photo P. Mesiano/Insidefoto/Deepbluemedia
    LEN European Water Polo Championships 2016 Malta MLT (White) Vs Romania ROU (Blue) Men 13 TIC Marius Florin GK ROU 4 GHEORGHE Mihnea Andre ROU Kombank Arena, Belgrade, Serbia Day09 18-01-2016 Photo P. Mesiano/Insidefoto/Deepbluemedia
    8 KESZTHELYI Rita HUN LEN European Water Polo Championships 2016 Women HUN – RUS Hungary (White) Vs Russia (Blue) Kombank Arena, Belgrade, Serbia Day09 18-01-2016 Photo G. Scala/Insidefoto/Deepbluemedia
    10 FILIPOVIC Filip SRB LEN European Water Polo Championships 2016 Men SRB – RUS Serbia (White) Vs Russia (Blue) Kombank Arena, Belgrade, Serbia Day09 18-01-2016 Photo G. Scala/Insidefoto/Deepbluemedia
    12 MARIANI Naida POR LEN European Water Polo Championships 2016 Women POR – TUR Portugal (White) Vs Turkey (Blue) Kombank Arena, Belgrade, Serbia Day09 18-01-2016 Photo G. Scala/Insidefoto/Deepbluemedia
    TEAM GERMANY LEN European Water Polo Championships 2016 Men SVK – GER Slovakia (White) Vs Germany (Blue) Kombank Arena, Belgrade, Serbia Day09 18-01-2016 Photo G. Scala/Insidefoto/Deepbluemedia
    LEN European Water Polo Championships 2016 Spain ESP (White) Vs Greece GRE (Blue) Men 5 FOUNTOULIS Ioannis GRE Kombank Arena, Belgrade, Serbia Day09 18-01-2016 Photo P. Mesiano/Insidefoto/Deepbluemedia

    (more…)

  • Wildlife officials are trying to figure out exactly how a shark got into the swimming pool at a South Florida condo complex.

    The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports that Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers responded to the Mariner’s Cay condominium in Hypoluxo last week after a woman found a live five-foot blacktip shark in the pool.

    The woman told officers she saw two young men running from the pool, which is located near the shoreline of the Intracoastal Waterway. The officers removed the shark from the pool and returned it to the ocean.

    Read CBS News

    Photo by jbylund

  • A typical day in the life of a swimmer.

    https://youtu.be/ERnwlzC7FDQ

  • A suburb of the German city of Bonn has forbidden adult male refugees from visiting the town’s public pool, a city spokesman announced on Friday. After women at the municipal pool in Bornheim had begun complaining of sexual harassment, said the spokesman, it was clear that immediate action should be taken to protect the rights of the women.

    Initially the men, who live in a shelter in Bornheim while they await the results of their asylum applications, were given access to the municipal pool as part of a small package of benefits. Soon, however, women began going to the manager saying the men’s behavior was unacceptable.

    While none of the incidents amounted to anything illegal, the city said it was important first and foremost to make it clear to the men that in Germany, the rights of women are sacrosanct.

    “Once our social workers tell us that they have got the message, we’ll terminate the measure,” said Markus Schnapka, head of Bornheim’s social welfare office.

    Read Deutsche Welle (in English)

  • Read the interview with Danish national coach Dean Boles here on svoem.dk (mostly in English)

    What is the idea behind the Kicking Performance Ranking?

    – My belief is to do an inventory (opgørelse, red.) of strengths and weaknesses – I have observed that many programs don’t value kicking an important ingredient for world class swimming and in particular here in Denmark (it is prevalent (almindeligt, red.) in North America, and my years with Canadian Swimming was to influence and improve the level of kicking – I believe the impact has been realized as the Canadian Junior program is making good progress and feeding the Senior Team). I did much of the kicking influence through camps I conducted over 6 years, so not really knowing how things worked here in Denmark I thought I would convey a template (udforme en skabelon, red.) and a bit of a nudge to get on to it, and what a better way to motivate than create a national ranking?

    – That is one of many positive things here in Denmark: It is possible to move or shift toward improvement because of its size and the close knit coaching group. After discussions with my colleagues in the Federation I decided to shoot for the ranking of the 50 and 200 meter kick – the 50 to recognize speed and seeing the preference to short distance swimming here in Denmark. But we can’t hang our hat on the short stuff, we must build the endurance side of the equation as well, since there is only one 50 meter event at the Olympics but 10 other individual events which are 100m and higher.

    How does it work, and how do you “sign up” to get a time on the ranking (if you are fast enough)?

    – It’s pretty easy to sign up and see the ranking – go to the svoem.org website, look for the new tab where we have created a “coach’s tool box” or this link both English and Danish:

    Danish: http://www.svoem.org/Discipliner/Svoemning/Talentudvikling/Traenervaerktoejskasse/
    English: http://www.svoem.org/Discipliner/Svoemning/Talentudvikling/Traenervaerktoejskasse/Coaches-tool-box/

    – Follow the instructions, some basic rules in how to keep a relatively level playing field – and go create sets with a fast 50 timed kick and or 200 timed kick – so not to interfere or take away from the practice.

    Where does the idea come from?

    – The idea came with my thinking and observation, how can I help create something to have a positive impact without being invasive in the training environment and at the same time make it competitive.

    Where can we follow the rankings?

    – The results will be posted on the Federation website early to mid February with a second challenge in the May/June time frame. One of my key messages and foundations in my role is to encourage and have all embrace the idea of not only improvement (individual) but also progression (swimming performance as a whole on the world level).

    Photo by simplyswimuk