Swimmer's Daily

  • Aussie swimmers Emma McKeon, Tommy Fraser-Holmes, Emily Seebohm and Aussie water polo player Ed Slade launched the 2015 BHP Billiton Aquatic Super Series on Monday 10 November in the Perth CBD – See Australia v China, Japan and the mighty USA on Jan 30 & 31 at HBF Stadium outdoor 10 lane pool – tickets on sale NOW from www.ticketmaster.com.au

  • James Magnussen’s war with Swimming Australia has gone public after the sport’s bosses rubbished the world champion’s decision to ignore their advice and choose little known swim coaches Mitch and Lach Falvey to guide his pursuit of 2016 Rio Olympic gold.

    As revealed by The Courier-Mail last month, Magnussen was at loggerheads with head coach Jacco Verhaeren and high performance boss Michael Scott over his plan to train at Ravenswood swim club in Sydney’s north under the Falveys.

    Magnussen ignored their advice and confirmed yesterday he would train with the Falveys through to Rio, sparking a fierce rebuke from the swim team who “do not support” the decision but will assist him by providing some funding to help him to Rio.

    It is understood Magnussen has almost completely cut ties with all the regular support networks for athletes, including the NSW Institute of Sport program, and is effectively going it alone with his own team in the race to Rio.

    “From the outset Swimming Australia has wanted what we believe is best for James to fulfill his potential and to be ready for next year’s World Championships and the 2016 Olympics in Rio,” Scott said.

    “We do not support the training environment James has chosen going forward and there are a range of factors that have led us to that decision and we are not about to go into them.

    “But in saying that we have nothing against the young coaches Mitch and Lach Falvey – at the end of the day we respect James’ right to make his own decision – although we haven’t got to agree with it.

    “However we will still provide financial support to James. This support will need to be targeted at specific gaps that Jacco as Head Coach has identified.”

    Read The Courier Mail

  • A 9-year-old competitive swimmer from Wausau born with hand and feet deformities is helping promote a documentary that highlights the power of the mind in athletic performance.

    Sydney Wagman was born with polysyndactyly, a congenital condition in which some of the fingers in her hands were fused, and the bones in her toes are malformed and growing together. A surgery early in her life repaired her hands, and when she’s older she’ll need to undergo more operations to mend her feet.

    In the meantime, she swims.

    “I would like to swim in the Olympics some day,” Sydney said.

    See Wasau Daily Herald

  • With the German Short Course Championships and Doha 2014 World Short Course Championships Trials starting in Wuppertal tomorrow, reigning 400 freestyle world champion Paul Biedermann has announced that he will probably not go to Doha, even if he qualifies. “He has trained 200 kilometers less than he would have liked”, says national coach Henning Lambertz, while Biedermann’s own coach Frank Embacher says that it would take a “firecracker time” now in Wuppertal for Biedermann to contemplate Doha.

    Read swimsportnews.de

  • Le Clos was admitted to hospital in Durban on Monday to have four wisdom teeth removed, just two weeks before the biennial spectacle.

    While he was not undergoing a major operation, his management team remained cautious about his recovery.

    “We haven’t even booked yet for Doha because we’re not sure what to expect,” said his father, Bert le Clos.

    “Surgery is surgery, so we don’t want to confirm until we’re sure, but we should know by tomorrow whether he’ll recover in time.”

    Le Clos said previously he would target three gold medals in Doha, in the 50m, 100m and 200m butterfly events.

    Read The Citizen

    Photo by Doha Stadium Plus

  • Great Britain’s Tom Daley won bronze at the London 2012 summer games in the 10-metre men’s platform diving individual event. Since then his life has undergone massive changes both in and out of the pool. He explains the benefit of sports psychology as well as the sacrifices that come with training and being a famous athlete.

  • Many freestylers swim with their heads too high. In a crowded swimming pool, swimmers often look forward, hoping to avoid a collision with one of their teammates. These defensive swimming techniques create a bad habit that slows them down. In this Swimisodes, world record holder and Olympic champ Roland Schoeman and Open Water Swimmer Lexie Kelly show how head elevation slows their swimming techniques while Japanese champion, Junya Koga, swims freestyle the way we teach at The Race Club almost effortlessly with his head in the correct swimming technique.

    See The Race Club

  • Lotte Friis has together with the Danish Swimming Federation and her American coaches decided to cancel her participation at the Doha 2014 World Short Course Championships next month, because of not so successful start of this season, a minor shoulder injury and sickness. She will be participating at the Danish Short Course Championships this weekend, and then return to Baltimore to prepare for the Kazan 2015 World Championships. Read the press release (in Danish) here on svoem.dk

  • Watch fun behind the scenes footage of Olympic 200m Butterfly Champion, Chad le Clos, as he promotes his ‘unbelievable’ new surf collection designed by arena. This beautiful photoshoot took place at Atlantis The Palm, Dubai!