• Swim Speed Strokes is a new swimming technique book by swimming coach and 4-time Olympian Sheila Taormina. Her book Swim Speed Strokes reveals the freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly technique of elite swimmers. Master elite technique in all four swimming strokes. Learn more at swimspeedsecrets.com.

    Courtesy of VeloPress on YouTube

  • Michael Phelps was the world’s greatest swimmer for much of this century. Ryan Lochte, too, has held that crown. There is little doubt that the title now belongs to Japan’s Kosuke Hagino.

    And Hagino, who just turned 20 and is short of 6 feet, has his sights set pretty high.

    “Michael Phelps is my role model, and I’m trying to become like him,” Hagino told Agence France-Presse after winning the 200m freestyle at the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, on Sunday. “I want to catch up with Phelps someday. But I have to put up the results, and this is a big step. First I will try to win as many medals as I can at these Games.”

    Read NBC Sports

    http://youtu.be/IjgqgsbfEx0

  • A Miami man won an open- water swimming competition in the Florida keys which attracted hundreds of swimmers.

    Yoelvis Pedraza completed the eight-mile Swim for Alligator Lighthouse Saturday in 3 hours, 35 minutes and 5 seconds.

    The race attracted 310 swimmers and was staged to raise awareness of a need to preserve Alligator Lighthouse and five other aging lighthouses off the Keys.

    Read CBS Local

  • The Hotel Terme Millepini in Montegrotto Terme, Italy is home to Y-40, the world’s deepest indoor swimming pool. The pool, which has a maximum depth of 137 feet, is designed for dive training, leisure diving, and underwater film and photo shoots. It features four underwater caves and an underwater viewing tunnel for onlookers.

    See Laughing Squid

  • She got to keep swimming after her wonderful theatrical performance. No dogs’ hearts were actually broken in the making of this video.

    Courtesy of Laura Gibbs on YouTube

    Photo of another water-loving German Shepherd by 2Tales

  • Danish swimming is practically in shock after Shannon Rollason announced that he is resigning after the World Championships in December.

    – At this moment we are very disappointed and saddened. We have to just collect ourselves a bit, says Pia Holten, director of the Danish Swimming Federation.

    Jeanette Ottesen, who just three weeks ago won two gold medals at the European Championships in Berlin, is so shaken that she is unsure of what will happen now with his career.

    – I am totally speechless. The last six months have been the best in my career, and now I’m just terribly sad. He is the greatest coach I’ve had. He understood me and knew how I should train. Right now, I know nothing, says Jeanette Ottesen.

    Asked if this means that she is straight out contemplating to stop her career, Ottesen says:

    – I don’t know. I just know that he is the best coach, and that there is no-one who can compare with him. So I do not know what the Swimming Federation can come up with, for me to keep on swimming, says Ottesen and continues:

    – I’ll have to get a coach who measures up to him. Otherwise I will have to move to Australia with him, she says.

    It is because of family reasons, that Rollason returns home to Australia around New Year. His family is not settling well in Denmark, and that has made him to stop prematurely.

    – He has proved to be a huge capacity and helped us now to have the best Danish European championships ever. We just have to pick up the pieces and find out what to. Right now, we must be allowed to be a bit sad, comments Pia Holten.

    The Federation Director was as surprised as the swimmers when she was told that Shannon Rollason was quitting almost two ahead of time.

    – We had hoped that he would be with us all the way to the Rio Olympics. And therefore, we of course have no plans for what will happen now. But, we have previously shown that when we are touched by adversity, we’ll find a solution. We did that also when Paulus Wildeboer quit. It’s not good, but we will find a solution. We have an attractive team, says Pia Holten.

    Read and listen to the interview (in Danish) here on dr.dk

  • Olympian Grant Hackett is back training under master coach Denis Cotterell on the Gold Coast but is adamant he is not making a fully fledged comeback for the 2016 Rio Olympics despite registering for drug testing.

    “Because I’ve been through so much this year, I just wanted to get back into the squad and enjoy a bit of time with the boys and the camaraderie,” Hackett said.

    “I just want to get really fit. That is kind of my goal over the next six or seven months — get to a good level of fitness again. Having a bit of time to put into a bit of swimming and gym work is good fun, that is all.

  • Tired of their sport being seen as underwater ballet, Australia’s synchronised swimmers have stripped off their ornamental image in pursuit of a racier reputation in the build-up to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

    Australian national team members have dumped the sequins and thick, China doll makeup in favour of smoky eyes, designer swimsuits and sexier routines.

    A promotional shoot for Sony’s new waterproof MP3 player, leaked to The Courier-Mail, has revealed a more playful, and saucier, side of our dedicated synchro stars.

    “We’re not a high-profile sport so I’m happy to get synchro out there,” London Olympian and Brisbane resident Bianca Hammett said. “Synchronised swimmers are often associated with loud costumes and makeup, so it was nice to portray a classier look and have fun with some contemporary dance moves.

    See Courier Mail

  • A video posted on YouTube three days ago claims to show a hippopotamus swimming in the Chicago River.

    Why do we question the veracity of the video?

    First, this section of the Chicago River is very well traveled by a wide variety of watercraft, including many sightseeing boats filled with tourists. As the very busy summer tourism season wraps up, there has not been one report of a ”hippo” in the river.

    Speaking with Officer Jose Estrada of the Chicago Police Department, we were told, “There have been no reports of wild animals roaming the streets or the rivers of Chicago.”

    Additionally, the video from September 15 is the only one posted by YouTube user “Chris O.” TheBlaze attempts to contact the person who posted the clip have not gotten a response.

    Could a hippopotamus live in this river? TheBlaze called Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo to ask if this was possible. A zoo representative told us that it was highly unlikely that a hippo could survive in the Chicago River, “especially considering the harsh winters we experience.”

    See The Blaze