Swimmer's Daily

  • Four hero ex-servicemen including a Royal Marine and a submariner have become the first amputees to swim the Channel.

    Conrad Thorpe, Jamie Gillespie, Stephen White and Craig Howorth, who have all lost part of their legs, completed the 21-mile crossing in an impressive 12 hours 14 minutes.

    None of the four wore a prosthetic for the swim which made them the first-ever amputees to swim from Dover to Cap Griz Nez near Calais.

    Their achievement has been officially recognised by the Channel Swimming Association.

    Read The Plymouth Herald

  • Olympic champion swimmer Michael Phelps is taking “some time away” from swimming and is entering a six-week, in-patient program less than a week after being arrested for driving under the influence in Baltimore.

    “The past few days have been extremely difficult,” Phelps said in a statement. “I recognize that this is not my first lapse in judgment, and I am extremely disappointed with myself. I’m going to take some time away to attend a program that will provide the help I need to better understand myself.

    “Swimming is a major part of my life, but right now I need to focus my attention on me as an individual, and do the necessary work to learn from this experience and make better decisions in the future.”

    Read for instance USA Today and see Huffington Post

  • Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?

    Dr. Merom: In a cohort of 1667 older Australian men (mean age 76.8 years) data on incident falls were collected every four months by telephone interview. We compared the rate of falling over 48 months of follow-up of men who participated in golf, Calisthenics, lawn balls, aerobic machines and swimming. We found that only swimming was associated with 33% reduction in falls occurrence. We also found that swimmers performed better on balance tests in our baseline measurements. In particular on the postural stability test and for those whose leisure activity was only swimming, apart from walking and other lifestyle activities.

    Medical Research: What was most surprising about the results?

    Dr. Merom: The large protecting effect of swimming! It is similar to the effect of exercise program that specifically tailored to improve balance in older adults.

    Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

    Dr. Merom: I think at this stage it is too early to advise clinicians and patients, except that swimming is an excellent safe sport that confers cardiovascular benefits and strengthens all body muscles. This is because the finding in relation to falls-protection is based on observational study (i.e., it is not an experimental design). In this respect our findings could be also explained by selection processes; for example men with a genetic predisposition to good postural control/ or leg force inclined towards life-long participation in this sport rather that this sport protected them from falling by improving their postural control. Clinicians and patients need higher quality of evidence.

    Read Medical Research and the study published in the Oxford Journal

    man swimming photo

  • An ultra-marathoner trying to “run” from Florida to Bermuda in a human-powered inflatable bubble was rescued Saturday morning after he signaled for help, the Coast Guard said.

    Reza Baluchi, according to his website, has set a goal of running across more than 190 recognized nations to encourage world peace. CNN ran a story about him in 2012.

    The Coast Guard first encountered Baluchi on Wednesday after receiving a report about a man in a bubble off the coast of Miami, disoriented and asking for directions to Bermuda, a Coast Guard press release said. It was not clear when he started his quest.

    A Coast Guard cutter found Baluchi. Officials described the craft as a “hydro pod bubble” and a man in a 2013 YouTube video called a Baluchi bubble “a big hamster wheel.” It moved along the ground as Baluchi ran inside.

    In the press release, the Coast Guard said Baluchi had protein bars, bottled water, a GPS and a satellite phone. The Coast Guard conveyed the voyage’s dangers and asked Baluchi to quit his journey because he didn’t have enough supplies. But he wouldn’t leave his vessel, officials said.

    The Coast Guard monitored his progress and on Saturday morning an exhausted Baluchi activated his personal locating beacon, the Coast Guard said.

    See CNN

    http://youtu.be/HFqiuWHN2Mo

  • Scientists at the University of Southern Denmark have synthesized a crystal which could allow people to breathe underwater.

    Dubbed the Aquaman Crystal – perhaps by fans of the DC superhero – but really called the less catchy “[{(bpbp)Co2II(NO3)}2(NH2bdc)](NO3)2 * 2H2O”, just a spoonful bucketful [corrected by them in a youtube comment, ed.] of the material can absorb all the oxygen from a room.

    The crystal can collect oxygen from the surrounding environment, bind it and store it in high concentration much like an oxygen tank, but without the size and weight. A small amount of heat can then release the oxygen.

    “This could be valuable for lung patients who today must carry heavy oxygen tanks with them,” said Professor Christine McKenzie in a statement. “Also divers may one day be able to leave the oxygentanks at home and instead get oxygen from this material as it ‘filters’ and concentrates oxygen from surrounding air or water.

    “A few grains contain enough oxygen for one breath, and as the material can absorb oxygen from the water around the diver and supply the diver with it, the diver will not need to bring more than these few grains.

    See International Business Times and Syddansk Universitet

    http://youtu.be/co0a3RtGSvE

  • When Michael Phelps stepped onto the starting block in Lane 6 for the 200m butterfly final at London 2012 he had in his sights a 15th Olympic title and a third consecutive gold in the event. Standing next to him in Lane 5 was a 20-year-old South African by the name of Chad Le Clos, who had already fulfilled a dream by lining up alongside his idol in an Olympic final. Everything went according to plan for the mighty Phelps in the early stages of the race. Ahead at 50m and 100m, he had stretched his lead out to 0.38 seconds over Japan’s Takeshi Matsuda at the final turn, with Le Clos a further 0.2 seconds further back in third.

    Le Clos clawed back some of the deficit but, with just five metres remaining, was still trailing the American. The South African takes up the story: “I remember touching the wall and not knowing what had happened. I knew I was very close to the gold, but I felt like Phelps had got it still. I just thought to myself: ‘You’re not racing anybody else. You’re racing the greatest finisher of all time’. I just remember those last two strokes when I put my head down: ‘I have to hit this perfectly. I have to hit this spot on’. I just remember how perfect it actually was. I remember just looking at the wall and I was like: ‘No way. Come on. I could never have won this race’.”

    See the interview here olympic.org

  • Two professors at an East Tennessee community college plan to spend 73 days in an underwater laboratory in a unique educational endeavor that will also attempt to break a world record.

    The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that beginning Friday, 63-year-old Bruce Cantrell and 25-year-old Jessica Fain will live in a special habitat called Jules Undersea Lodge that is 25-feet down in an ocean lagoon in Key Largo, Florida.

    During their time underwater, they will interview marine science experts and others for a weekly live online broadcast called “Classroom Under the Sea.” Among those who plan scuba-dive down to the laboratory is 84-year-old Buzz Aldrin, the second astronaut to set foot on the moon.

    “The opportunity to sit down with Buzz Aldrin makes 73 days underwater worth it,” said Cantrell, a former state representative who has been teaching at Roane State Community College since 1992.

    The professors hope that their underwater experiment and the weekly broadcast will help raise awareness about issues affecting the oceans and inspire young people to pursue science, technology and math careers.

    Read timesfreepress.com

  • Freedivers Tim Money and Daan Verhoeven at the NDAC in Chepstow, diving the plane wreck. Tim discovers that his monofin is wider than the door to the cockpit, and momentarily gets stuck.

    Courtesy of Daan Verhoeven on YouTube

  • The LEN Congress held at Lake Garda (ITA) approved the LEN Bureau’s proposal to move the organisation’s headquarters from Luxembourg (LUX) to Geneva (SUI). LEN President Paolo Barelli presented his vision on LEN stepping into an extensive development period from the summer of 2015.

    At the annual Congress held at Lake Garda (ITA) delegates of the LEN member federations approved the LEN Bureau’s proposal to move the organisation’s headquarters from Luxembourg (LUX) to Geneva (SUI). As LEN President Paolo Barelli and Executive Director Paulo Frischknecht underlined this step would put the organisation to an even better environment.

    “Several major sport federations – including FINA – set up their respective HQs in Switzerland just as some of LEN’s main partners. For instance Eurovision is also settled in Geneva, which is a more accessible location for most of the federations and officials and some financial aspects also pushed us to take this wise step” LEN President Paolo Barelli said.

    Read LEN’s press release on Facebook

    Post by LEN.

    Photo by Damian Morys Photography