Swimmer's Daily

  • On Christmas Day 1885 a few hardy souls hobbled across Brighton’s pebbly beach and into the chilly English Channel.

    That first Brighton Christmas Day swim has become a much-copied ritual around the world. But this year it’s been called off. And it seems unlikely the event, which has always been run by the Brighton Swimming Club, will ever be coming back.

    Brighton & Hove City Council – supported by the swimming club – says it’s become too dangerous. It will close off the beach around the Palace Pier to dissuade people from entering the water on Christmas Day.

    “Sea swimming takes skill, stamina and knowledge of the physical dangers and should only be for the very experienced, using suitable wetsuits, in very calm conditions and with a friend,” says the council’s seafront manager Chris Ingall. The council says it has no plans to bring the swim back in future years.

    Read BBC News

    christmas swim photo
    Photo by frvherreweghe

  • The Christmas Day swim on Brighton beach, a tradition for 150 years, is cancelled over health and safety fears.

    A traditional Christmas Day swim on Brighton beach has been cancelled over health and safety fears, following increasing levels of drunkenness in recent years.

    In the past, the “Santa swim” has been called off due to particularly harsh weather conditions or high tides.

    This year, however, Brighton and Hove city council has taken the decision to cancel the event regardless of sea conditions, after growing increasingly concerned for the safety of members of the public, many of them in fancy dress, who join seasoned swimmers for the annual dip.

    The council said it would be closing parts of the beach on Dec 25 to deter people from taking part.

    Health and safety officials fear a repeat of an incident in October, when a swimmer had to be rescued after getting into difficulty near the pier.

    They also cited the death of a Hastings woman who died during a Christmas Day swim in 2012.

    http://youtu.be/UkrhcL3MhjA

  • The Marine Combat Instructor of Water Survival course is a grueling training evolution that requires Marines to swim a total of 59 miles over three weeks. The course that graduated on Nov. 25 started with nine participants, but only six were able to complete the challenge. One of those six had the deck stacked against him from the beginning but overcame adversity and graduated with his classmates.

    Staff Sgt. Adam Jacks, company gunnery sergeant for Headquarters and Service Company at The Basic School, is a motivated, extremely fit, infantry Marine who said he quickly volunteered to attend the course when approached by the chief instructor trainer, Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Marshall. The fact that Jacks’s right leg was amputated at the mid-thigh in 2011 did not faze either Marine.

    Read Marines

    Photo By: Maj. Eve Baker / Marines

  • Olympic 50m Freestyle Champion Ranomi Kromowidjojo talks to us following her 50m free win during the FINA World Swimming (SC) Championships in Doha.

  • Press Release from SwimOutlet.com

    SwimOutlet.com, the web’s most popular swim shop, has partnered with the sport’s national governing body, USA Swimming, to become the exclusive Official Online Store of USA Swimming (http://www.usaswimming.org).

    Launching in January 2015 at shop.usaswimming.org and SwimOutlet.com/USASwimming, the new USA Swimming store will leverage SwimOutlet.com’s award-winning service levels, 24/7 phone customer support, live chat assistance, free shipping on orders of $49 or more, and no-hassle returns.

    “Swimming is so much more than just a sport. It’s a lifestyle, so we want to promote that culture in lifestyle apparel, where swimming families will proudly showcase their association outside the pool deck,” said Matt Farrell, CMO of USA Swimming. “Partnering with the leading online aquatics retailer is the best way to bring that fresh look to our product assortment, market the sport in innovative ways and creatively bring Arena, Speedo and TYR lifestyle apparel to life.”

    The agreement runs beyond the 2016 Rio Games and into 2017.

    “We’re pleased to have the opportunity to develop a USA Swimming brand store within our site and become the exclusive Online Store of USA Swimming over the next few years,” said Alexander Sienkiewicz, CMO of Spiraledge, the parent company of SwimOutlet.com. “We have an enthusiastic customer base, industry-leading customer service and already feature a great selection of USA Swimming partner gear from Arena, Speedo and TYR. We look forward to providing a great retail experience around the USA Swimming brand.”

    The USA Swimming Official Store on SwimOutlet.com will introduce a new assortment of graphic tees and hoodies for teens and parents. Along with licensed-USA Swimming gear and accessories, it will also carry performance, fitness and lifestyle product from USA Swimming partners.

    The two entities will also work on co-promotions around the retail store including digital and social cross-promotions, print ads, sales initiatives and on-site activation at key events. SwimOutlet.com will feature USA Swimming promotions in select shipments and promote USA Swimming events and the USA Swimming National Team during the year on its website.

    “It’s a natural synergy to have the leading retailer in the aquatics category and the most-successful NGB in the country working together as retail partners,” said Rob Penner, VP, Sports Marketing & PR at SwimOutlet.com. “With the 2015 World Championships on tap next year and the sprint to Rio already underway, this is a great time to be working with USA Swimming on building the best possible shopping experience for their members and fans.”

  • Press release from LEN

    Following the decision at the last Congress, LEN moves its headquarters to Switzerland. The new location of the Office is going to be Nyon where a partnership was sealed on Tuesday by LEN President Paolo Barelli and State Councillor of the Department of Economy and Sport, Philippe Leuba.

    LEN is to set up its new headquarters in the city of Nyon – the move from Luxembourg is due in the next spring. The Bureau favoured to have the Office in Switzerland where LEN is registered and the LEN Congress approved the proposal back in September at Lake Garda.

    LEN President Paolo Barelli and fellow Executives, General Secretary David Sparkes and Treasurer Tamas Gyarfas had studied several options and later in October, in the company of Executive Director Paulo Frischknecht, they travelled to Switzerland to find the best choice.

    “We’ve found the future site of the LEN Office in Nyon where the conditions offered are ideal” LEN President Paolo Barelli said upon signing a partnership agreement with local State Councillor of the Department of Economy and Sport, Philippe Leuba.

    “Since LEN is the continental governing body of aquatics, one of the most important sports in the world, we feel it’s inevitable to be close to other international federations whose headquarters are mostly located in Switzerland” the President added. “Sharing the knowledge, experience with other IFs and exploring new ways to promote our sport can also be among the benefits we’ll enjoy here.”

    Access to the new Office will be really easy in the future as one of Europe’s most important airports, Geneva is located nearby and a direct rail-connection takes the visitors from the airport to Nyon where the LEN Office building is just a few metres away from the railway-station.

    Image courtesy of LEN / Jean-Bernard Sieber

  • Press release from the Danish Swimming Federation

    The new coaching set-up for swimmers has to win Olympic medals for Denmark

    On top of a successful World Championships, which resulted in six Danish medals and many impressive results, the Danish Swimming Federation now continues their work towards achieving excellent Danish results at the Rio Olympics which is now less than two years away. The Federation’s sporting set-up will be modified in the run up to the Olympics.

    It has long been known that the World Championships in Doha would be the last competition for Shannon Rollason, the Head Coach of the national swimming training centre (NTC). After a fantastic World Championships, the Danish swimmers have said goodbye to the 42-year-old swimming coach who, because of family reasons, wished to return to his home country.

    Looking for a new Director of Sport
    The World Championships in Doha was also the last competition for Mikkel von Seelen, who has been the Danish Swimming Federation’s Director of Sport for the last two years. Mikkel has chosen to accept a very attractive job in the more project-oriented event sector in Jutland.

    The role of the Director of Sport has been to take overall technical and organisational responsibility for the Federation’s competition activities and high performance work, and the Danish Swimming Federation is in the process of recruiting a new Director of Sport. At the forefront of this work is Pia Holmen, Director of the Danish Swimming Federation.

    “Since Shannon Rollason announced that he wanted to return home, we have spent a lot of time making a thorough evaluation of the sporting set-up, and in the process we have worked closely with the swimmers who are associated with NTC and Team Denmark on a daily basis. We are very sorry that both Shannon and Mikkel are leaving. This means that we must modify our set-up in the run up to the Olympics in two years,” says the Director and continues:

    “Mikkel von Seelen has to be replaced and one very important parameter in the process of finding his replacement is that we find someone who both understands the needs of the very best swimmers and the clubs’ role in our joint strategy, the 2016 Swimming Plan. It is now our highest priority to find a new Director of Sport,” says Pia Holmen.

    The coaching team has to ensure continuity
    The Danish Swimming Federation, in consultation with NTC swimmers and Team Denmark, has decided that the solution will be that the current NTC Assistant Coach, Stefan Hansen, and the current National Head Coach, Nick Juba, will jointly manage the training at NTC.

    “We are very pleased that a decision has now been taken on the future set-up of NTC, and that in connection with this decision, the Federation has listened to the swimmers. By continuing training at NTC with Stefan and Nick we get the continuity that is needed in the run up to the Olympics,” says Jeanette Ottesen, four-time medal winner from Doha.

    At Team Denmark, who is an important partner for the Danish Swimming Federation, Director Michael Andersen is pleased with the results from the recent successful World Championships, and he looks at the time in the run up to the Olympics in 2016 with confidence.

    ”The excellent short course results at the World Championships in Doha show that the Danish swimmers have a high international level when medals are to be awarded. It is our responsibility to ensure that the swimmers continue the goal-orientated process in the run up to the World Championships in 2015 and the 2016 Olympics. I believe that the solution chosen to have Stefan Hansen and Nick Juba poolside at NTC is the right decision, which will ensure the necessary continuity for our very best swimmers up to and during the Olympics in Rio,” says Team Denmark’s Director.

    In regard to the National Head Coach Nick Juba directing some of his focus to the NTC, the Danish Swimming Federation will recruit an additional person to the sports department who has a coaching profile.

    “We are very aware that the constellation chosen for NTC should not mean less focus on high performance work in the clubs, on the contrary, we would like to reinforce this. Therefore, in addition to a new Director of Sport, we definitely have to find another coaching profile that can strengthen the overall set-up in the Danish Swimming Federation’s sports department,” concludes Director Pia Holmen.

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  • Following her 50m Breaststroke win at the FINA Swimming World (SC) Championships in Doha, Ruta Meilutyte lets us know what fuels her before a big race!

  • Swim Smooth Head Coach Paul Newsome explains why Critical Swim Speed (CSS) training improves you distance and triathlon swimming.