Tragedy struck an open-water swimming competition in Cebu province over the weekend when a master sergeant of the Philippine Air Force died while participating in the activity.
Eduardo Oriondo, 54, lost consciousness and drowned while taking part in the Olango Challenge, an open water swimming competition, on Saturday, GMA Cebu’s Vic Serna reported Monday.
Oriondo had been a veteran of Ironman triathlons, the report said.
See GMA News
The answer can be summed up in three words: Watch your children.
Don’t rely on lifeguards. On a busy day at many pools there are easily 20 children for every lifeguard.
Don’t count on water wings also known as swimmies- those inflatable rings that go around a child’s arm. They are NOT lifesaving devices.
“A lot of people rely on that way too much especially waterwings,” said Kayla Austin, Aquatics Manager at Carilion Wellness Roanoke. “I’ve seen kids jump in the pool arms straight up and the wings just come right off.”
Water wings also give children a false sense of security. Lifeguards say if you’re going to put water wings on your children stay in the pool with them.
The bottom line is your children are your responsibility. Stay close by and watch them when they’re in the pool.
See WDBJ7
On Thursday, baby hippo Devi made a big splash with visitors at the San Diego Zoo.
The 8-week-old hippo, who was born to mom Funani in late March, is beginning to venture out to the deepest part of the 150,000 gallon pool, now that her mom isn’t as protective of her.
Due to the protective nature of Funani, the Zoo staff was only recently able to verify that Devi was a girl and estimate she weighs between 90 and 100 pounds. “Funani often had her tucked into vegetation near the shore, and kept her body between the calf and the public,†the Zoo said in a statement released Thursday. “Funani would also place her body between the baby and the viewing area.â€
For all Zoo visitors, mother and daughter can be seen in the hippo’s pool on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturdays and Sundays while father, Otis, can be seen the other days.
See msnbc
Certified lifeguards were eliminated from almost all state owned beaches back in 2008. Since then, six people have drowned.
Senator Rob Teplitz (D-Dauphin/Perry) is now working to revive legislation that would restore lifeguards at beaches on state properties.
See ABC27
When it comes to boys’ high school swimming in Colorado, there is no one faster in the 100-yard backstroke than Jack Thorne.
He just racked up his third consecutive state championship for Thompson Valley High School in Loveland. He did it by breaking his own state record in the process.
But what makes his story even more special isn’t for what he did competing in the pool last weekend.
It’s what he did last summer, and the role model he has become as a result.
See FOX31
Jonathan Sunnex is part of a small group of elite freedivers who plunge hundreds of feet underwater, all on a single breath of air.
See CNN
https://youtu.be/axz0cudHZTc
A naked man had to be rescued by firefighters in Florida after the drawbridge he was walking across began to rise.
The swimmer was walking along the Florida East Coast Railway railroad bridge in Fort Lauderdale on Friday morning when it was raised up 100 feet and he got stuck at the top, Firehouse reports.
He had been swimming the New River.
See AOL
https://youtu.be/1B3-9OZkWAY
The Baku Aquatics Center took a step into the future, as 20 young swimmers from Baku took part in the first training session in the main competition pool.
A man from Brighton training to break a cross-Channel swimming record has found himself involved in the dramatic rescue of another swimmer.
Simon Cooke is aiming to complete the earliest and coldest Channel swim next week for local charity Amaze.
He helped lifeguards tow a man to safety who had been spotted drifting with the strong current.
See BBC
