• A group of female 20-somethings in Kalmar, Sweden, have taken it upon themselves to patrol the local swimming pools in efforts to protect women from sexual attacks by migrant men.

    “We are tired of men thinking they can come to Sweden and molest women when all we want is to be left in peace to swim without being felt up,” Siri Bernhardsson, an assistant nurse, told the Daily Mail.

    She and her girlfriends formed the vigilante group “Groping Guards” in response the town’s major influx of refugees. Kalmar has already opened 34 asylum centers with more planned for 6,000 new arrivals. At least 15 women reported being groped by migrants in the town’s main square on New Year’s Eve, the Daily Mail reported.

    “Loads of women write to us and say that they have been groped by young men,” Ms. Bernhardsson said. “It happens at concerts, in train stations and in swimming pools. Most of the victims feel ashamed and don’t report it to the police. We know that there have been attacks in our swimming pool that have not been reported.”

    Read The Washington Post

    https://youtu.be/bFhuALjwgxE

  • The calm, clear water beckoned Caeleb Dressel, who stripped to his swimsuit and jumped into an unoccupied lane for the 6-and-under boys’ 25-yard freestyle race. Upon reaching the other side of the pool, he climbed out of the water and cried: “I won a medal! I won a medal!”

    In the stands, his mother, Christina, was mortified. Her son had not been entered in the race. He was at the River City recreational league meet in Jacksonville, Fla., to watch his brother, Tyler, who is five years older, compete for Chimney Lakes.

    “I die laughing when I think about it now,” Dressel’s mother said, “but at the time I remember going, ‘Oh, my God, my kid just jumped in the water.’ I had no idea what possessed him to do it.”

    Read The New York Times

  • The Australian men’s water polo team, featuring a number of #teamnswis athletes, take on current Olympic silver medalists Italy, in Sydney harbour in Water Polo by the Sea

  • Body Rotation is one of the key ingredients to a fast freestyle swim technique. At The Race Club, we believe a swimmer should rotate the shoulders maximally during most races. One of the most important drills we have found in teaching swimmers how to rotate their body for freestyle swim technique is the body rotation swim drill.

    Courtesy of The Race Club on YouTube

  • Ian Thorpe will host a confronting new series aimed at tackling the issue of bullying by taking audiences to the frontline. The project is looking for Queenslanders to get involved.

    https://youtu.be/MthNiJvpKOM

  • Six champions united at the Mardi Gras Film Festival to share their stories of coming out and changes they want to see in their sporting codes.

    Audience members listened Sunday evening to Ian Thorpe, Matthew Mitcham, Sally Shipard, Daniel Kowalski, Shelly Gorman-Sandie and Casey Conway at a special screening of Out To Win: a film by Malcolm Ingram, examining the lives of aspiring and professional gay and lesbian athletes.

    Questioned about his sexuality since the age of 15, Thorpe said more support was needed for young professional athletes who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or inter-sex.

    “I had told that lie I didn’t want to go back on that as well, and I think if I had a little bit more time, I think I could have come out because I would have been comfortable,” Thorpe said.

    See SBS

  • Aussie Olympic swimming great Ian Thorpe will open up about his own experience of being bullied as a teenager in a three-part documentary which aims to tackle all sides of the issue of bullying in schools.

    “More than a quarter of school children in Australia claim to have been bullied on a regular basis, which is unacceptable,” says the 33-year-old out gay former Olympian, whose series will air on the ABC later this year.

    “I have some personal experience around the issue of bullying so I want to share my insights to help Australian kids,” he adds.

    See same same

    https://youtu.be/MthNiJvpKOM

  • 13 -17 December 2017. These are the dates of the LEN European Short Course Swimming Championships in Royal Arena the new state of the art multi-purpose arena in the capital of Denmark, Copenhagen.

    When the Danish Swimming Federation, Sport Event Denmark and Copenhagen in the autumn 2015 won the LEN European Short Course Championships to Copenhagen ahead of Poland and Italy the date still had to be clarified. Together with its Danish partners and the European Swimming Federation (LEN) Danish Swimming Federation has worked to find the optimal date for the event.

    – Following discussions with Sport Event Denmark, Wonderful Copenhagen, TV and LEN we have chosen the dates from Wednesday 13 to Sunday 17 December, says Mads Bang Aaen, tournament director, LEN European Short Course Championships 2017.

    LEN European Short Course Swimming Championships 2017 will be the first sporting event to be staged in Royal Arena the brand new state of the art multi-purpose arena,

    – We are really looking forward to being the first sporting event in Royal Arena. In 2013 we created a festive celebration of swimming at the LEN European Short Course Championships in Herning, and we now look forward to building on this past experience in order to add yet another world class layer to the event, says Mads Bang Aaen.

    The event will attract more than 850 swimmers, coaches and team officials from more than 40 countries.

    Press release from the Danish Swimming Federation

  • After a near death experience and diagnosis with a form of heart disease (ARVC), TCU swimmer Evan Schmitzberger has a new role with the team and a new look on life.