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’.â€
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East Tennessee professors to spend 73 days in underwater lab
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
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Freediving the plane wreck at NDAC
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
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LEN moves its HQ to Geneva
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
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Mermaid Ilaria Molinari trying out the Y-40 Deep Joy deepest pool in the world
Via SwimmingWorld
A week ago, we reported on the pool being completed along with some amazing video footage from the facility.
Today, we’re back with another beautiful image from this artistic location as Ilaria Molinari took to the pool in a mermaid outfit.
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G-Shock Gravitymaster ad filmed here on the Faroe Islands
Awesome G-Shock Gravitymaster ad featuring Atlantic Airway’s rescue team here on the Faroe Islands. These helicopter guys are the real deal, not actors. And that accent ! :-)
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Australian teen becomes youngest swimmer to cross Ka’iwi Channel
A new record has been set for the youngest swimmer to swim the Ka’iwi Channel.
15-year-old Cameron Keith from Cairns, Australia completed the 26 mile swim from Molokai in 13 hours, 55 minutes.
He made it through the shore break at Sandy Beach Park and walked up onto the sand at around 4 p.m. On Tuesday afternoon.
Keith was born blind in his left eye, but he says he’s learned to overcome it, so much that he practically shrugs it off. He’s been a competitive swimmer for eight years, but left the pool behind for open water competition to feed his love for adventure.
The young Australian says he didn’t see any sharks, but he did get stung by lots of jellyfish.
See Hawaii News Now
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Standout Niles North Swimmer Shot, Killed
Family and friends are mourning the loss of a Niles North High School student who was fatally shot Sunday night.
Max Gadau, 17, and another person were either standing next to or inside a Honda Civic in the 9200 block of Kedvale Avenue when they were both shot. Gadau died in the attack and the other person was listed in critical condition at Evanston Hospital.
The victim’s mother, Patricia Gadau, said her son was asked by a classmate, who’s allegedly involved in drugs, to accompany her for “protection.”
“Max went to front of the house, to the car, where they were approached by two men on foot and they shot him,” Gadau said. “She wanted him to protect her and he did, and he lost his life for it.”
Students gathered at the scene of the shooting Monday night to pay their respects. Max was a standout swimmer who instructed others at a local gym.
“To shoot somebody through a window over marijuana is just petty,” the victim’s longtime friend, Sunair Ibrahim, said.
See NBC Chicago
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Japanese swim team threatens SA – Ryk Neethling
We caught up with Olympic gold medalist, Ryk Neethling, he tells us why he thinks the Japanese swimming team should be on every professional swimmer’s radar.
Neethling tells us that at the moment Chad le Clos is among the top two swimmers in the world, but he has to be careful of the Japanese swimmers because of their outstanding technique.
Neethling says he thinks the Japanese will be a big force at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, but will be a ‘world power in the pool,’ by the 2020 Olympics to be hosted by Tokyo. Watch.
See News 24
