• Read Los Angeles Post-Examiner

    Sports needed this.

    Swimming needed this.

    And of course, Baltimore needed this.

    Michael Phelps is back, which means swimming is back and even more importantly, it means one of the most underappreciated sports rivalries is back: Phelps vs. Ryan Lochte.

    You can’t have a sport without a rivalry, which makes fans gravitate to the competition, whether it’s on land or water.

    michael phelps photo
    Photo by cliff1066â„¢

  • Read The Australian

    New ‘ditching procedures’ for 737s instruct cabin crew to tell passengers to jump into the water and “swim away” if a plane goes down and life rafts are not used.

    The document comes as a war of words has erupted between Qantas and South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon, who is critical of the airline because it is considering getting rid of life rafts on some flights.

    According to the regulations, life rafts are not needed on 737s unless they travel more than 400 nautical miles out to sea.

    However, pilots and cabin crew are concerned that if a plane goes down 300 miles out, for example, people would die of hypothermia without a raft.

  • Guest post by Ryan Bach

    As if being a swimmer wasn’t hard enough, managing your swim workouts while also being a full-time student can get pretty hectic. While sometimes it may seem impossible to succeed in both the pool and the classroom, it is necessary to remember that it’s been done before by past swimmers, many of which turned out just fine. Here are some tips to consider when approaching a tough period of training and schoolwork:

    Manage Your Time

    This may seem obvious, but during “crunch time”, temporarily reducing the activities of your day that are not deemed necessary to either school in swimming will make a significant impact on your results in both your practices and your exams. Don’t lounge around in the shower after practice, refrain from playing video games etc; maximize your time to hit the books right after practice so you can get the most out of your studying.

    (more…)

  • See NBC Chicago

    With the unofficial start of boating season on Lake Michigan quickly approaching, officials are warning Illinois boaters and swimmers about a hidden danger lurking in fresh water.

    Electric shock drowning, or ESD, is a rising threat in marinas and popular freshwater areas, and those at risk are often unaware of the potential danger, according to Safe Electricity, which launched an awareness campaign as part of National Safe Boating Week.


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  • Read The Citizen

    Swimming South Africa (SSA) confirmed yesterday it had lifted its sanctions against former 50m backstroke world champion Gerhard Zandberg, though his legal team said he had not yet agreed to drop his appeal.

    The national federation said it had opted to end the legal bout.

    “SSA will rather allocate the funds, which are needed to litigate further in this matter, towards its athletes and furthering the sport as a whole,” the swimming body said in a statement.

    “Consequently and notwithstanding the actions by Mr Gerhard Zandberg, SSA has withdrawn its findings and sanctions against Mr Zandberg.”

    However, Zandberg’s lawyer Karen van Eck said they were still in discussions.

    (more…)

  • See ABC News and CBS 12

    A surveillance video from a condominium complex in Florida shows an invisible, potentially deadly danger lurking in swimming pools.

    The video, shot on April 27 at the Palms West Condominiums in Hialeah, Fla., shows three children shocked while swimming in the condo community’s pool.

    One young girl in the video instantly goes limp after touching the metal rail in the pool’s shallow end.  When a man, believed to be the girl’s father, goes in to save her, he is also zapped but is eventually able to pull her to safety.

    ABC US News | ABC International News

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  • Read Reach For The Wall

    Despite Ryan Lochte‘s total flop in his TV debut with “What Would Ryan Lochte do?” last year, the 29-year-old swimmer may be a better actor than previously believed.

    Lochte scratched from the Charlotte Grand Prix last week, and he told reporters at the meet that it was precautionary after feeling knee soreness in practice that week. Lochte tore his MCL and sprained his ACL in November when a fan attempted to leap into the three-time Olympian’s arms.

    “The knee’s good,” Lochte said Friday night in Charlotte. “That’s all I really need to say about it today. It’s getting stronger, I’m doing a lot of therapy. I’m just getting back to my normal self.”

    Turns out, the knee isn’t good. During an event at Macy’s Herald Square in New York City, Lochte revealed that he had re-tore his MCL in practice ahead of the Grand Prix event in practice, reported Women’s Wear Daily on Thursday.

    ryan lochte photo

     

    Photo by firetwink

  • Scandinavia’s Coolest Swim Meet“, still short course meters in Sentralbadet in Bergen, Norway. This year featuring Daniel Gyurta and Katinka Hosszu (HUN), Cameron van der Burgh (RSA), Rikke Møller Pedersen and Jeanette Ottesen (DEN), Jennie Johansson and Simon Sjödin (SWE), Pál Joensen (FAR) and others. Invitation, Schedule, Start Lists and Live Timing on medley.no

    bergen-swim-festival

  • See Wide Open Spaces

    Uploaded to Facebook by a person who was on the tour, this video shows the bravery (or insanity) of this gentleman who, for some reason, seems to look at ease with this gigantic predatory reptiles.

    We’d never make assumptions about someone’s mental capacity, but we’d also never get into the water with these big boys.