Swimmer's Daily

  • Now in what seemed just the blink of an eye, she’s already the past – or at least swimming for her is.

    That Gráinne Murphy never got to really be or have the present is something of a sporting and personal tragedy that only she and her family and inner circle will truly know and feel.

    But it is a story and lesson that needs to resonate further, because the retirement of 22 of such a talent must also be seen as a failure of sorts by Irish sport – and Sports Ireland – and especially her own sport’s national governing body.

    Read Irish Examiner

    Ireland's London Olympian Grainne Murphy Retires

  • Visitors at an Australian creek witnessed a man tossing a snake back and watching it slither back as the two went for a swim.

    Musician Indy Davies of Brisbane shared video of the man and his pet carpet python to Instagram, as he repeatedly tossed the snake while drinking a beer at Tallebudgera Beach in Queensland.

    “There’s currently a bloke down here drinking a VB tally and chucking his pet snake around. Amazing,” he wrote.

    Screams can be heard on the video as Davies told the Brisbane Times that many parents and other beachgoers evacuated the area after witnessing the man’s strange behavior.

    “Everyone split from the beach, kids were screaming, lots of parents screaming ‘Get out of the water! He has a snake!’” He said.

    There's currently a bloke down here drinking a VB tally and chucking his pet snake around. Amazing

    A video posted by Indiana Bones (@indy.bones) on

    Read UPI

    Photo by golgarth

  • A group of female 20-somethings in Kalmar, Sweden, have taken it upon themselves to patrol the local swimming pools in efforts to protect women from sexual attacks by migrant men.

    “We are tired of men thinking they can come to Sweden and molest women when all we want is to be left in peace to swim without being felt up,” Siri Bernhardsson, an assistant nurse, told the Daily Mail.

    She and her girlfriends formed the vigilante group “Groping Guards” in response the town’s major influx of refugees. Kalmar has already opened 34 asylum centers with more planned for 6,000 new arrivals. At least 15 women reported being groped by migrants in the town’s main square on New Year’s Eve, the Daily Mail reported.

    “Loads of women write to us and say that they have been groped by young men,” Ms. Bernhardsson said. “It happens at concerts, in train stations and in swimming pools. Most of the victims feel ashamed and don’t report it to the police. We know that there have been attacks in our swimming pool that have not been reported.”

    Read The Washington Post

    https://youtu.be/bFhuALjwgxE

  • The calm, clear water beckoned Caeleb Dressel, who stripped to his swimsuit and jumped into an unoccupied lane for the 6-and-under boys’ 25-yard freestyle race. Upon reaching the other side of the pool, he climbed out of the water and cried: “I won a medal! I won a medal!”

    In the stands, his mother, Christina, was mortified. Her son had not been entered in the race. He was at the River City recreational league meet in Jacksonville, Fla., to watch his brother, Tyler, who is five years older, compete for Chimney Lakes.

    “I die laughing when I think about it now,” Dressel’s mother said, “but at the time I remember going, ‘Oh, my God, my kid just jumped in the water.’ I had no idea what possessed him to do it.”

    Read The New York Times

  • The Australian men’s water polo team, featuring a number of #teamnswis athletes, take on current Olympic silver medalists Italy, in Sydney harbour in Water Polo by the Sea

  • Body Rotation is one of the key ingredients to a fast freestyle swim technique. At The Race Club, we believe a swimmer should rotate the shoulders maximally during most races. One of the most important drills we have found in teaching swimmers how to rotate their body for freestyle swim technique is the body rotation swim drill.

    Courtesy of The Race Club on YouTube

    Swimisodes – Freestyle Swim Technique – Body Rotation

  • Ian Thorpe will host a confronting new series aimed at tackling the issue of bullying by taking audiences to the frontline. The project is looking for Queenslanders to get involved.

    https://youtu.be/MthNiJvpKOM

  • Six champions united at the Mardi Gras Film Festival to share their stories of coming out and changes they want to see in their sporting codes.

    Audience members listened Sunday evening to Ian Thorpe, Matthew Mitcham, Sally Shipard, Daniel Kowalski, Shelly Gorman-Sandie and Casey Conway at a special screening of Out To Win: a film by Malcolm Ingram, examining the lives of aspiring and professional gay and lesbian athletes.

    Questioned about his sexuality since the age of 15, Thorpe said more support was needed for young professional athletes who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or inter-sex.

    “I had told that lie I didn’t want to go back on that as well, and I think if I had a little bit more time, I think I could have come out because I would have been comfortable,” Thorpe said.

    See SBS

  • Aussie Olympic swimming great Ian Thorpe will open up about his own experience of being bullied as a teenager in a three-part documentary which aims to tackle all sides of the issue of bullying in schools.

    “More than a quarter of school children in Australia claim to have been bullied on a regular basis, which is unacceptable,” says the 33-year-old out gay former Olympian, whose series will air on the ABC later this year.

    “I have some personal experience around the issue of bullying so I want to share my insights to help Australian kids,” he adds.

    See same same

    https://youtu.be/MthNiJvpKOM