Swimmer's Daily

  • Martha the golden retriever is rescued by crew from New Brighton lifeboat station as she was being swept out to sea.

  • Australian swimming great Grant Hackett believes his country has unearthed its next Olympic 1,500 metres freestyle champion in 18-year-old Mack Horton.

    Horton confirmed his status as Australia’s new long-distance king with an easy win in the 1500 final at the national championships on Friday.

    Horton cruised to victory in 14 minutes 44.09 seconds, the fastest time in the world this year and the quickest ever by an 18-year-old, blowing away Hackett’s previous age record.

    Hackett, who won successive 1,500 golds at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and Athens in 2004, has been watching Horton’s progress and feels the teenager can make a splash in Rio de Janeiro next year and set new world records.

    “I always said Mack is the real deal,” Hackett told local media. “Not to put too much pressure on him, but he can win that (2016 Rio Olympics) race.”

    Read Reuters

  • “This happened about two years ago when he was forced to immediately leave Melbourne to live in Sydney. The truth about this has never come out.

    “That’s what really caused the Stilnox abuse and the addiction.

    “I know he used Stilnox while he was swimming but he wasn’t hooked on it. It was when his life was threatened and he couldn’t sleep at night from all the worry.”

    Hackett snr, a former police inspector, said the death threat was never reported to police but would not explain why. He said the family took it very seriously.

    “Grant was on his way to the gym in Melbourne when he was threatened,” he said.

    “He phoned me straight away because I’m an ex copper. I told him to jump straight on a plane back here to the Gold Coast.

    “He arrived in his gym clothes with no luggage. We took the threat seriously and we still do. We didn’t say anything about it at the time because we didn’t want it out there.

    “Look I’ve said enough. He hasn’t had it easy. I just want the truth to come out. To come through what he has is just unbelievable. We’re so proud.”

    Read The Daily Telegraph

    https://youtu.be/iohvR0q51J0

  • Cameron is an Olympic champion. He won a gold medal in 100 meter breaststroke at the London Olympics 2012.

  • Martin is coaching in the national swim team of the Netherlands. In this interview he gives us information about their road towards Kazan, Rio and also where he finds his motivation as a coach.

  • Taylor Prather looks like every other kid on the Stockdale High School swim team but that is a testament to how far she’s come since her life was turned upside down 7 years ago.

  • “FÔLEGO” is a journey to discover the ocean in the purest and most radical way: by freediving. Freediving is diving without any artificial equipment using only the air of our lungs. During the different episodes, the freediving record holders Flavia Eberhard and Pepe Arcos will travel to incredible underwater paradises and will experience challenging and unique moments in a quest of the most wonderful creatures of the ocean.

    https://vimeo.com/seadragons/folego

  • A notable part of the session sees Adam do stand-ups – 4x100m breaststroke at maximum speed with no swimdown in between, the lactate building each time.

    After the second he is bright red, his eyes closed and he is blowing.

    By the time he has done his third 100m pain is etched on his face, he leans his head on his upper arm and eventually hauls himself out to sit down on poolside.

    When he has completed the fourth all colour has drained from his face.

    Where does that session rank in terms of physical demands?

    He grimaces: “That is one of the hardest.

    “You can’t naturally get any faster, your body has already been pushed to the limit.

    “It’s harder to do grueller sets – 10x100s, 10x75s, 10x50s – just because your body is already knackered.

    “Those sets you need to be about 110% velocity and it’s harder to get up there.”

    Read Arena Water Instinct

    Image courtesy of deepbluemedia.eu

  • When it comes to creatures of the deep, it isn’t uncommon for swimmers to be afraid of things like sharks and alligators.

    However, one woman’s underwater encounter left her screaming after she ran into a manatee.

    See Click Orlando

    https://youtu.be/yLmfgK8adXk