Swimmer's Daily | Fast Fix Blog About Swimming

Swimmer attacked by squirrel at Torquay’s Riviera Centre pool

May 13, 2014

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by

rokur

in Nature

Read Western Morning News

A squirrel sparked panic today after it dashed into a busy leisure centre before leaping in the pool and biting a swimmer on the finger.

The rodent ran inside the Riviera Centre in Torquay, Devon, before heading towards the pool area.

When lifeguards tried to coax him out the creature leapt into the water and paddled around the deep end for several minutes.

A swimmer tried to fish the squirrel out of the water but was bitten on the finger before the animal scampered off through a fire exit.

Photo by Tomi Tapio
Kiwi sailor falls off yacht while urinating, swims three hours to safety

May 13, 2014

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by

rokur

in Safety

Read The Northern Advocate

Todd Vercoe slogged for three hours through rough seas, thunderstorms, lightning and the threat of sharks.

When he finally reached land he etched “SOS” in the sand with his foot in the hope rescuers would see his plea for help.

It might sound like a scene from a castaway movie but the life-threatening experience was real for the keen sailor, who thought he might not survive the exhausting swim off Northland’s coast on Saturday.

Post by Northland Emergency Services Trust.
Naples’ Katie Kramer completes Strait of Gibraltar swim

May 13, 2014

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by

rokur

in Open Water

Read naplesnews.com

Katie Kramer, 21, completed the 7.8 nautical mile, or 8.9 mile, open water swim on Sunday, according to a family friend and the Marshall University Swimming & Diving Facebook page.

Post by Marshall University Swimming & Diving.
Sun Yangâ€™s return sets up potential legendary race

May 13, 2014

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by

rokur

in Competition

Read NBC Olympic Talk

Comparing early season times can be dangerous, but note that LochteÂ won the 200m free at the Mesa Grand Prix in 1:49.48 on April 25. Lochte finished fourth in the 200m free at the 2012 Olympics and 2013 World Championships and is currently the top rival to Sun as the worldâ€™s best swimmer.

Franceâ€™sÂ YannickÂ Agnel, whoÂ trains with Phelps in Baltimore,Â is the reigning Olympic and world 200m free champion. AustralianÂ Cameron McEvoyÂ owns the fastest time of 2014, 1:45.46.

Sun, who is better in longerÂ distances, won silver in the 200m free at the 2012 Olympics in a national record 1:44.93. He did not swim the 200m free at the 2013 World Championships, where he swept the 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyles.

He did, however, anchor Chinaâ€™s 4x200m free relay team that won bronze. Sunâ€™s split â€” 1:43.16 â€” was the second-fastest in history and 1.82 seconds betterÂ than the other 31 swimmers, including Lochte and Agnel.

So, when could we see Sun, Phelps and Lochte in the same race?
There’s more to chlorine than just swimming pools

May 13, 2014

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by

rokur

in Health, Science

Listen to Marketplace

It keeps your pools clean and safe, it’s half of the compound that makes up table salt, and — in its purest formÂ –Â it can kill you.

And those are only three of the things chlorine can do.

“There are something like 15,000 chlorine-based chemicals that are used in industry,” saysÂ the BBC’s Justin Rowlatt.

Photo by paolotrabattoni.it
Slow Mo Guys demonstrate Swim Cap Trick in Super Slow Motion

May 13, 2014

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by

rokur

in Equipment, Fun

Via Laughing Squid

YouTube teamÂ The Slow Mo Guys, comprised ofÂ Gavin FreeÂ andÂ Daniel Gruchy, have created asuper slow motion videoÂ of the â€œswim cap trick,â€ in which a swimming cap is applied to a head by being filled with water and dropped from a height. Captured by aÂ Phantom FlexÂ camera at 1,600 FPS, the trick takes a few hilarious tries to get right.
It takes a gutsy swimmer to wear this suit

May 13, 2014

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by

rokur

in Equipment, Wow

Via Laughing Squid

Black Milk Clothing, a funky clothing company based in Australia, has created â€œDem Gutsâ€œ, a swimsuit that illustrates the anatomy of the human torso.
Rikke MÃ¸ller Pedersen: The experience was taken away from me

May 13, 2014

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by

rokur

in Competition, Doping

Read SwimmingWorld

WhileÂ many in the Russian swimming community found relief that Yuliya Efimova’s doping ban will end in time for her to make a run at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, not everyone in Europe is totally happy about the situation.

Rikke Moller Pedersen of Denmark, who now officially stands as the European Short Course Champion in the 200-meter breast at her home nation meet in Herning, is not all that enthusiastic about the outcome.

“It has been hard, that this experience was taken from me,” Pedersen told DR Sporten. “I could have stood in front of my home crowd and sung along to our national anthem, and I cannot get that back. That I get a gold medal now is not the same.”

Image courtesy of svoem.dk, CC BY 2.0
Swimming: the worst job in the sporting world

May 13, 2014

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by

rokur

in Health, Psychology, Training

Read The Sydney Morning Herald

It is actually pretty amazing there is not more former Olympic swimmers snorting coke and ice and Stilnox because if there is a sport tailor-made for producing sociopaths and depressives, it has got to be swimming.

Imagine spending endless hours staring at the bottom of a pool, gulping chlorinated water, churning out 20 kilometres while you obsess about the shitty comment your girlfriend made the night before and the fact every person your age’s idea of a good time doesn’t involve a stopwatch and Laurie Lawrence.

Then you get up the next day at 4am and do it all again. For decades.

Photo by shospace