Swimmer's Daily

  • It has to have consequences if Danish national team swim coaches in the future quit prematurely, says Team Danmark.

    Team Danmark will not accept any more premature resignations from coaches of the Danish swimmers, says CEO Michael Andersen after Shannon Rollason quit his job at the Danish Swimming Federation a year and a half before time.

    “Team Danmark can not live with the fact that we can get burned off like this. We support Danish swimming with more than 8 million Danish kroner (USD 1.35 million) each year”, says Michael Andersen.

    Shannon Rollason is head coach of the Danish national training center, in charge of swim stars like Jeanette Ottesen, Rikke Møller Pedersen and Pernille Blume. His contract was until the summer of 2016, when he was thought of as a key role at the Olympics in Rio. Rollason, however, has terminated his contract, and will go back to Australia after the World Short Course Championships in December. The reason is that his family is unhappy in Denmark.

    “It has to have a price to resign. We will not stand for such a situation again. Therefore, we have to require the new coach to think twice before running off. First, we must be even better to ensure ownership of the project towards 2016, and secondly, it has to have a price if you still choose to stop. This is quite normal when you bind yourself to a contract,” says Michael Andersen.

    The Sports Manager of the Danish Swimming Federation, Mikkel von Seelen, understands Michael Andersen’s frustration with the termination. He believes, however, that it is difficult to tie a future coach more that was done with Shannon Rollason.

    “In swimming we don’t licenses like in football, where you can tie people to a contract.

    The Danish Swimming Federation neither owns swimmers or swimmers like that, and have absolutely no intentions to do that. We hire people in normal salaried employment. We can not tie people to the job, but we can give some incentives to stay,” says Mikkel von Seelen.

    One of the things that the Danish Swimming Federation can do in the future, is to adjust the conditions for terminating the contract. But Mikkel von Seelen still thinks that it would not have solved the problem of Shannon Rollason.

    “When you do not thrive because of family reasons, I will not be the man to stand in the way of it. I do not think that anything good comes out of forcing people to stay. We are firstly not able to do that, and secondly I do not think that the end result would be good,” says Mikkel von Seelen.

    Mikkel von Seelen doesn’t think that the problem with Shannon Rollason was lack of ownership of the project leading up til the Rio Olympics. But on the other han, he agrees with the CEO of Team Danmark, Michael Andersen, that they now have to find a coach who is guaranteed to last until 2016.

    “Shannon was among the world’s best coaches, and that is what we need again. We are going to have 4-5 medal candidates at the Olympic Games in Rio, so their sparring needs to be top-notch. I am convinced that we will find the right one. Very few countries can offer swimmers at this level. We are in the top five of the women, so we have a very attractive squad,” says Michael Andersen.

    Read Jyllands-posten (in Danish, here translated probably badly with the help of Google Translate)

  • Chloe McCardel talks about her upcoming attempt to swim 128kms between islands in the Bahamas.

    http://youtu.be/TNQGBSUozUk

  • The guys from Complete Strength & Performance in Sydney take me through a tough, but awesome CrossFit session. Watch me win both challenges!

  • The Japan Swimming Federation on Tuesday suspended Naoya Tomita until March 31, 2016 for stealing a camera during the recent Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.

    The 25-year-old swimmer admitted to stealing a camera owned by the Yonhap News Agency left at poolside in the press section by a South Korean reporter. He was kicked off the Japan team and paid a fine of 1 million won (about ¥100,000). On the same day his ban was announced, Tomita’s employer, sports apparel manufacturer Descente Ltd., announced the swimmer had been dismissed.

    Masafumi Izumi, the federation’s executive director, Koji Ueno, the federation’s standing director and national team manager Norimasa Hirai were censured for their lack of supervision.

    Read Japan Times

    http://youtu.be/DD-zzMBukCk

  • Many swimmers, cyclists, runners, and body builders shave their bodies in an attempt to perform better. Does it actually help? Trace is here to discuss.

  • An autopsy performed on Newport Beach lifeguard Ben Carlson has determined that he died from accidental drowning during a rescue on July 6. The autopsy found scrapes and bruises on Carlson’s forehead and nose.

    Ben Carlson, 32, attempted to rescue a swimmer in distress in the water off 16th Street on July 6. Carlson, a 15-year Newport Beach lifeguard veteran, went into the water off a boat. Carlson was hit by a massive wave and never came up.

    The swimmer made it back to shore safely.

    Read ABC7

  • Convicted dope cheats such as sprinter Justin Gatlin could still be benefiting from having taken banned substances long after their bans have expired.

    Research by University of Oslo  scientists has established that muscles can retain the advantages given by anabolic steroids decades after the point at which they were taken.

    The data casts another shadow over once-banned athletes such as controversial US athlete Gatlin, Tyson Gay – the second fastest man in history – and Britain’s Dwain Chambers.

    This summer, 32-year-old Gatlin ran the fastest ever 100m and 200m times by a man in his thirties despite twice having served suspensions.

    The study has vast implications for the existing anti-doping system, where a first-time offender is unlikely to be suspended for more than two years and may well serve less than half that.

    Kristian Gundersen, Professor of Physiology at the University of Oslo, who conducted the research in October 2013, told BBC Sport: “I think it is likely that effects could be lifelong or at least lasting decades in humans.

    “Our data indicates the exclusion time of two years is far too short. Even four years is too short.”

    Read BBC Sport

    http://youtu.be/_ksl1G7w5ak

  • Presented by Arena, the exclusive outfitter of the USA Swimming National Team, “Being Frank” is a web series featuring the insights of USA Swimming National Team Director Frank Busch.

    As part of Arena’s ongoing dedication to servicing coaches and teams, the series is geared toward helping coaches take their game to the next level – not by implementing the latest workout, but by taking a look at the business of coaching.

    Courtesy of USA Swimming on YouTube

  • Olympic Gold medalist Claire Donahue and National Team Members Brad Craig and Katie Meili made a big splash at Pleasantville high school Sunday.

    “We’re really excited just to be here and come to South Jersey,” said Claire Donahue, a 2012 London Olympic Gold Medalist in the 400-medley relay.

    “For them to come out here is such an honor,” said clinic participant.

    The trio spent the day teaching young swimmers how to enhance their competitive swimming skills.

    “For us we get to teach them not just about technique and about drills, but we get to kind of talk to them about what it’s like to be a swimmer, you can kind of connect,” said Donahue.

    “It’s not like everyday you get to meet Olympians and them like teach you these things,” said clinic participant.

    See NBC 40

    NBC40.net