Swimmer's Daily

  • 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.

  • Breaststroke is difficult especially timing the strike phase. One thing all fast swimming techniques in Breaststroke have in common is being streamline during the strike phase. Olympic Gold medalist and World Record Holder Rebecca Soni says, “Dolphin Kick Breaststroke drill is one of my favorites! For me, the biggest benefit of this drill is being able to work on the timing of the stroke. The timing is the most important variable in this stroke! And there is no better way to work on it than through different drills.

    See The Race Club

  • An ode to competitive swimming in 60 seconds.

  • New Zealand freediver William Trubridge has fallen agonisingly short of breaking his own world record for the deepest dive without swimming assistance in the Bahamas. Plunging into a 203m deep sinkhole known as Dean’s Blue Hole, Trubridge resurfaced three minutes and 30 seconds after reaching the target depth but the dive was made void after he required assistance from safety divers just meters from the surface.

    See Shock Mansion

    http://youtu.be/P92LAgXnfnU

  • It’s something you’ve probably never thought about before, but evidently, owls can swim.

    A video published on YouTube on Tuesday by Chicago-area photographer Steve Spitzer shows a great horned owl gliding through the waters of Lake Michigan, according to WGN-TV.

    Spitzer said he was at Loyola Park Beach in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood when the owl was forced down into the water by a pair of peregrine falcons.

    He told WGN-TV a bird rescue team was called to come out to the beach to help the owl, but the bird was able to fly away first.

    See WoodTV

  • Australian swimmer Grant Hackett, a seven-time Olympic medalist, will come out of a seven-year competitive retirement and enter the Australian national championships in April, according to Australian media.

    He hasn’t yet set a goal of making the 2016 Olympics, nor any international team for Australia.

    “That’s not where I am at in my head,” Hackett said, according to the Herald Sun. “I haven’t got that far ahead of myself.

    “I probably haven’t felt this good since 2004. This year I’ve just really got my passion back for it. I do set myself little goals and little times and I’m trying to improve, that’s just the sort of person I am.

    “Where it’s going to lead I really don’t know. My only ambition at this stage is to do a club relay with the boys.’’

    Read NBC OlympicTalk