Swimmer's Daily

  • Through much of 2011 and 2012, American record-setting swimmer Dagny Knutson was, by her own admission, in “kind of a fog.”

    Just months after leaving her native North Dakota in the summer of 2010 for an Orange County-based USA Swimming elite training program designed to serve as a pipeline to the Olympic Games, Knutson found herself without a coach and financial support, and battling severe depression and an eating disorder.

    In April 2011, Knutson, encouraged by her attorney, accepted a financial agreement with USA Swimming that was worth less than her original deal with the sport’s national governing body, she said.

    Knutson filed a lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court this week against that attorney, Richard J. Foster, the former USA Water Polo president and longtime powerbroker in national and international swimming and aquatic sports. The suit alleges fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and financial abuse of a dependent adult.

    Knutson alleges in the suit that while counseling her to accept the 2011 settlement, Foster failed to reveal to her alleged conflicts of interest stemming from his representation of the original contract’s architect, then-USA Swimming national team director Mark Schubert, in contract negotiations and a civil suit.

    In filing the suit against Foster, Knutson said she wanted to get “my story out there because I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”

    Read The Orange County Register

    Photo by bloomsberries [/caption]

  • The central government and Budapest’s council will jointly finance a development of the Dagaly spa in the city’ northern 13th district from a budget of 17 billion forints (EUR 54.5m), the deputy mayor of Budapest said on Wednesday.

    Gabor Bagdy said the project will consist of two phases, one to complete the facilities for the swimming and water polo world championships in 2021, and the other to refurbish the popular spa itself.

    Read Politics.hu

  • After three World Records were broken following outstanding performances at the FINA Mastbank Swimming World Cup 2014 – Doha, the capital is set for a thrilling Festival of Swimming from November 29 to December 7, 2014, as preparations for the 3rd FINA World Aquatics Convention and the12th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) continue.

    The FINA Convention is scheduled from November 29 to December 1 at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Doha, and precedes the World Swimming Championships (25m), which will be held from December 3 to 7 at Hamad Aquatic Centre.

    The Convention will place Doha once again at the centre of sport development, uniting world leaders in aquatics during a comprehensive conference programme and exhibition. The third edition includes the FINA Extraordinary Congress, a session to determine future innovations and rule changes in the sport, and the 2nd FINA Gold Swimming Coaches Clinic, a knowledge-sharing opportunity for top-level coaches.

    “We are delighted to welcome FINA back to our city,” said Khaleel al-Jabir, President of Qatar Swimming Association and CEO of Doha 2014. “Both the Convention and Championships offer a chance for businesses to network and share best practice with the international Aquatics industry, and to promote FINA’s disciplines to the Qatari population, engaging them in aquatic sports. We look forward to demonstrating and celebrating Qatar as a hub for Aquatics and a destination for all sport.”

    Read Gulf Times

  • The Danish Swimming Federation today announced that they have received NTC head coach Shannon Rollason’s resignation, to leave his position as head coach of the National Training Center in Bellahøj after the World Short Course Championships in Doha in December.

    Rollason has been head coach of the Danish NTC since 1 March 2013, and was contracted to stay until after the 2016 Olympics in Rio. But family reasons made him cancel his contract, and leave Danish swimming ahead of time, for Australia.

    Director of the Danish Swimming Federation Pia Holmen is distressed by the decision, but understands that family well-being must take precedence over everything else, even if it means that the Danish Swimming Federation now faces a huge challenge.

    – “We have to admit that Shannon’s dismissal was certainly not part of the plan leading up to Rio 2016. At the same time, we must respect the fact that private interests can affect the professional life, and that has unfortunately been the case here. We have now begun finding solutions, so that we also in the future have an ideal set-up around the swimmers at the National Training Center NTC”, says the Danish Swimming Union director.

  • A U.S. citizen was caught trying to cross a river border between South and North Korea, government sources said Wednesday.

    The man, who appeared to be in early his 30s, was taken into custody by South Korean Marines at around 11:55 p.m. on Tuesday in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province. He had been attempting to swim across the Han River to go to the communist country.

    The man allegedly told the officials that his purpose was to meet the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

    “The American man was swimming northward with the current when he grew tired and laid low near the riverside. This was when he was discovered by the Marines,” the source said.

    Read The Korea Herald

    Photo by tommy japan [/caption]

  • Arena challenged World 100m Butterfly Champion Sarah Sjostrom & European 800m & 1500m Freestyle Champion, Gregorio Paltrinieri to a fun 50m freestyle race! Who do you think won?

    Watch and find out!

  • When it comes to the possibility of Boston hosting the 2024 Olympics, at least one idea is all wet — and we’re not talking about the debate over the feasibility of the city hosting the games.

    Historic Harvard Stadium could host swimming events in a prospective Boston Olympiad, according to The Boston Globe. A temporary pool apparently could be constructed at the stadium, which has a 30,323-seat capacity for football games.

    Read NESN

    Photo by Robert Raines

  • Via SwimmingWorld, featuring Frédérick Bousquet

  • Chris Coates was holding his breath and filming another diver on a spearfishing adventure film shoot off Ascension Island when the unusual accident happened.

    Mr Coates, who was focusing on the action in front of him, failed to spot the enormous shark approaching him from behind and by the time he was warned by the other diver there was no time to move.

    According to the filmer, a fellow spearfisher, Chris took most of the impact on his lower torso and was hit in the head by the shark’s dorsal fin but was not seriously injured and managed to go out diving the next day.

    See The Telegraph