Swimmer's Daily

  • Members of the veterans service organization Wounded Warrior Project took a detour during an annual South Florida bike ride to swim with the dolphins.

    Dozens of veterans spent the day at the Dolphin Research Center in Marathon on Saturday. They has the opportunity to learn some training techniques before joining the animals in the water.

    “It was like giving a puppy to a roomful of kids. We all just wanted to touch it, play with it,” said Wounder Warrior Neil Boekel. “We just wanted its attention as much as it wanted ours. It’s kind of funny; we all just turned into big goobers, playing with the dolphin in the water, really.”

    See WSVN-TV

    WSVN-TV – 7NEWS Miami Ft. Lauderdale News, Weather, Deco

  • We had 35 dippers show up this year (up from about 25 last year, it keeps growing!)… and about the same number of supporters as dippers. Of course, by supporters I mean friends and relatives that were too sane to dip… but weren’t going to miss a chance for a good laugh!

    See L.O.S.T Swimming

    http://youtu.be/5GXvBvV66tk

  • It was in November when CBS 3 first told you Anna Strzempko’s story of alleged rape.

    “I remember once Anna told me it was like cocaine, she would do anything for his approval,” her mother Monica Strzempko told CBS 3 in November.

    They were words from a mother desperate to get her daughter’s alleged story of rape into the public eye after years of what she described as being ostracized from a swimming organization her daughter once loved so much.

    On the other side, there’s 61-year-old Randy Smith – a former swim coach at the Holyoke YMCA for three decades who denies any allegations of sexual misconduct.

    According to Anna Strzempko’s mother, in 2011 when Anna was 16 and dramatically losing weight and isolating herself, she came forward with allegations of rape against Smith saying that between between 2008 and 2010 she had been sexually abused by him anywhere from six to 10 times.

    Reports would be filed over the next three years with the Department of Children and Families, USA Swimming and Holyoke police, but charges were never brought forth.

    Finally, on Nov.17, 2014, years after the initial accusations, Smith and Anna Strzempko’s testimony unfolded before an independent national review board, charged with finding out whether there was enough evidence to ban Smith from the sport.

    CBS 3 obtained the board’s official findings.

    In a 2-1 vote released this week, the panel members found they did not have enough to bar Smith from coaching in the sport.

    CBS3 Springfield

    CBS 3 Springfield – WSHM

  • Kauai beachgoers saved three people from drowning in waters off Kauapea Beach on Tuesday.

    Officials say a 42-year-old Austrian man initially found himself in distress, which prompted a 24-year-old Kilauea man to help him. Then a 50-year-old Kauai woman entered the water after seeing the men both struggle.

    Firefighters say upon their arrival, they found nearly a dozen beachgoers had formed a human chain to pull the two swimmers back to shore.

    “The quick-thinking and cooperation of this group of strangers likely saved three people from drowning on Tuesday,” fire chief Robert Westerman said. “The rescue tube placed at Kauapea had apparently been damaged. The lanyards were cut off, making it unsafe for anyone to use in a rescue. This is yet another example of how vandalism hurts our entire community.”

    Fire crews were able to help the third swimmer from the water.

    KITV

  • According to the U.S. Coast Guard, Konrad fell into the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday and only survived because he was able to swim nine miles to shore. The Coast Guard told WPTV in West Palm Beach, Fla., that Konrad was picked up at 4:40 a.m. on Thursday and taken to the hospital to be treated for hypothermia.

    Konrad had been fishing by himself when he fell in the ocean. According to the Coast Guard, Konrad’s boat was on cruise control when he went overboard, so the boat continued on its predetermined route.

    Read CBS Sports

  • FINA is pleased to announce the calendar of the FINA Swimming World Cup 2015, running from August to November, and distributing over US$ 2 million in prize money. This prestigious 25m-pool circuit will comprise eight meets distributed over three clusters.

    Immediately after the conclusion of the FINA World Championships in Kazan (RUS), the best athletes of the planet will travel to Moscow, also in Russia, to compete in the initial leg of the series, on August 11-12. Three days later, a new location – Chartres-Paris (FRA) – will certainly attract many stars.

    The competition then proceeds to the Asian cluster, with events in Hong Kong (HKG), Beijing (CHN) and Singapore (SIN). Finally, the FINA Swimming World Cup comes to an end in the third cluster, comprising stops in Tokyo (JPN), Doha (QAT) and Dubai (UAE).

    The complete calendar of the FINA Swimming World Cup 2015 is as follows:

    Cluster 1
    Moscow (RUS), August 11-12, 2015
    Chartres-Paris (FRA), August 15-16, 2015

    Cluster 2
    Hong Kong (HKG), September 25-26, 2015
    Beijing (CHN), September 29-30, 2015
    Singapore (SIN), October 3-4, 2015

    Cluster 3
    Tokyo (JPN), October 28-29, 2015
    Doha (QAT), November 2-3, 2015
    Dubai (UAE), November 6-7, 2015

    “The 2015 edition of this World Cup has definitively a very attractive calendar, and will be attended by our best swimmers. Everything will be put in place to ensure great excitement and superb performances during this circuit, which became an important reference in the international swimming calendar”, considered the FINA President Dr. Julio C. Maglione.

    Katinka Hosszu (HUN), among women, and Chad Le Clos (RSA) in the men’s field, were the overall winners of the 2014 edition. Some weeks after their consecration in the series, they were voted the FINA Best Swimmers of Year and were also the athletes in evidence in the 12th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m), in Doha (QAT).

    Press release from FINA

  • Like watching freediving videos filmed on GoPro cameras? Well, the company announced this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas the launching of the GoPro Channel app for LG Smart TVs.

    See DeeperBlue

  • lars-green-bachThe Danish Swimming Federation appoints a High Performance Manager

    The new High Performance Manager comes from a position at Team Denmark and he also has many years of experience working for swimming clubs behind him.

    It is with great pleasure that the Danish Swimming Federation can announce that the Federation’s new High Performance Manager from 1st February 2015 is Lars Green Bach.

    Lars has a long background in swimming. He has, among other things, been head coach at Swimming Club 68, Hjørring (2000 – 2003) and West Brøndby Swimming Club (2006 – 2008). Over a three-year period (2003 – 2006), Lars was also the high performance coach and head of Lyngby Swimming Club. However, in 2008, Lars changed his many years of working poolside for a job at Team Denmark, where he currently works as a team leader for talent and skills development.

    Over the years, Lars has been directly affiliated with the Danish Swimming Federation in the work to develop the Federation’s coach programme, and since 2003 he has been an instructor on the Federation’s coach programme, and since 2011, as programme functional manager for the Federation’s coach programme. He has also completed the highest coach programme in Denmark in the form of the Sport’s Coach Academy (ITA).

    As head of the Danish Swimming Federation’s sports department, Lars will have overall responsibility to continue the implementation of the 2016 Danish Swimming Plan and so ensure that there is a common thread from the smallest national championship to the largest international championship (World Championships and Olympics). The new High Performance Manager will have overall technical and organisational responsibility for the Danish Swimming Federation’s competition activities, as well as national and international high performance, just as he will have overall management responsibility for the Sports Department.

    Lars Green Bach has this to say about his future job:
    “I’m so pleased to have the opportunity to lead the Sports Department of one of Denmark’s traditional sports. There is a fantastic foundation of sporting potential in swimming, both in the short and long-term, and I’m looking forward to collaborating with Denmark’s many passionate swimmers, coaches and leaders to realise this potential and translate it into international results,” says the Danish Swimming Federation’s future High Performance Manager, and he continues: “High performance sport is undergoing rapid development. This also applies to swimming. The challenges place great demands on all of us for a focused and unified contribution to our daily work. I believe that we, in Danish swimming, are able to further develop the strong framework for the sport of swimming that there is in Denmark.”
    The Danish Swimming Federation is pleased to have signed a contract with Lars Green Bach:
    “The process of finding the right person to lead the prospective work of the Sports Department has, of course, taken up much of our time over the last couple of months. It’s vital that we have a person with the right profile for this position. In this respect, I’m really pleased we have Lars Green Bach on the team. He has the right background to fill the position and I’m convinced that Danish high performance swimming will be further strengthened as a result of Lars Green Bach’s contribution in the coming years,” says Pia Holmen, Director of the Danish Swimming Federation.

    There are also good expectations at Team Denmark for the new High Performance Manager:
    “At Team Denmark, we are proud that the Danish Swimming Federation has appointed Lars Green Bach as High Performance Manager. We are also delighted that Lars’ skills will continue to benefit high performance sport. We are convinced that the Danish Swimming Federation will benefit greatly from Lars’ professionalism and experience in the position of High Performance Manager. Lars joined Team Denmark in 2008, when he also qualified as a biologist. Combined with his duties at Team Denmark, a coaching accreditation at the highest level (ITA), and previous coaching appointments for various swimming clubs, Lars is now ready for the job of High Performance Manager on his own “home ground”. Team Denmark wishes Lars and the Danish Swimming Federation all the best in their collaboration,” says Per Boldt Jørgensen, head consultant and acting head of Team Denmark.

    Lars Green Bach has a master’s degree in biology from the University of Copenhagen, he lives in Skovlunde, near Copenhagen, is married and father to three children.

    Press release from the Danish Swimming Federation

    Photo courtesy of Team Danmark

  • Jennifer Aniston’s fear of going underwater stems from a childhood trauma.

    “I was a kid and I was riding this tricycle around a swimming pool and I drove my tricycle into the swimming pool and I didn’t let go and my brother tried to [help me],” the actress told E! News.

    “I basically have a real fear of going underwater,” said Aniston, adding that “no one” believes the phobia is real.

    The 45-year-old had to face her fear head-on while filming her new movie “Cake,” in which she plays a woman suffering from chronic pain and an addiction to prescription painkillers who partakes in water therapy.

    See Page Six