Swimmer's Daily

  • Nearly nine million dollars spent in four years and two medals to show for it.

    That’s the meagre return on investment for Swimming New Zealand following a lean Commonwealth Games display in Glasgow that would have been disastrous if not for Lauren Boyle.

    New Zealand’s four-medal haul in the pool was only given weight by Boyle’s freestyle gold and silver, and para-swimmer Sophie Pascoe’s two gold. The two medals gained by the country’s 14-strong able-bodied team – both won by Boyle – harked back to similar low returns from the 1998 and 2002 Games.

    This country hasn’t won an Olympic swimming medal since Danyon Loader won two gold at Atlanta 1996, and only the most optimistic fan would predict that drought will be broken in Rio in two years’ time.

    Read opinion on stuff.co.nz

  • Commonwealth Games and FINA officials insist records set in the Glasgow pool will stand despite revelations that a technical hitch has left the floor stuck in an uneven position.

    The Tollcross pool has a moveable floor that allows the depths to be changed. But the floor became stuck fast the day before competition began on Friday and can’t be fixed until the completion of the swimming program for fear of rendering it unusable.

    Because of the defect, the pool depth wouldn’t be legal at a world championships or Olympic Games, which require a minimum depth of two metres for the entire 50 metres. But FINA, swimming’s governing body, only requires a depth of 1.35m for other competitions, including the Commonwealth Games.

    As it stands, the pool is currently two metres deep at the start, before sloping upwards to 1.88 metres at the 12-metre mark, at which point it drops off rapidly back down to two metres. The dip is clearly visible from the stands.

    Glasgow 2014 spokesperson Jackie Brock-Doyle confirmed on Sunday there was an issue with the pool floor but was adamant it complied with regulations and no records would be called into question. Organisers have been in deep discussions with FINA technical delegate and vice-president Sam Ramsamy, who is in Glasgow.

    “It’s fully compliant. We’ve discussed it with the FINA technical delegate. It’s fully compliant with FINA rules for the Commonwealth Games,” Brock-Doyle told Fairfax Media. “There will be no impact on the competitors and records set here.”

    Read The Age

  • In addition to being a 1936 Olympic gold medalist, Kiefer’s contributions to the sport of swimming go beyond his abilities in the pool. He talks about developing a manual for teaching soldiers how to swim, and starting his company of swim products. These accomplishments are just some of the reasons why Swimming World continues to push for Kiefer to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Be sure to visit SwimmingWorld.TV for more video interviews.

    See the Swimming World Morning Swim Show

  • A team Scotland supporter was escorted out of her seat by police at the swimming event in Glasgow for holding up a Saltire with the word Yes on it.

    The woman – who the Daily Record would like to hear from – also had a Yes badge on her handbag and was escorted from her seat at Tollcross by two officers.

    Police Scotland later issued a statement saying that officers were acting in line with the ticketing terms and conditions laid down by the Games organisers and that political messages or symbols are not allowed within venues.

    The statement said: “Comments suggesting Police Scotland does not allow Saltire Flags into venues is inaccurate. Saltire Flags are allowed into venues as are flags associated with other competing nations.

    “However, flags from non-competing nations or flags affiliated with to other organisations or causes, political or otherwise, are restricted.

    Read the Daily Record

    A campaign video …

    http://youtu.be/NclkfOjQle0

  • A 20-year-old man died after lightning from a rare summer thunderstorm jolted a Southern California beach, injuring or rattling more than a dozen people, authorities said.

    Witnesses said they saw a glare of light and heard a tremendous boom as lightning struck the water off of Venice Beach around 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Swimmers cooling off on a muggy day, volleyball players on the sand and people strolling the famous boardwalk were jolted.

    A 20-year-old man was taken from the beach to a hospital where he died, Los Angeles County coroner’s Lt. Larry Dietz said. His identity was not immediately released.

    Confirmation of the cause of death was pending an autopsy. Dietz said he also can’t confirm whether the man was a swimmer who was pulled from the water and given CPR.

    Twelve other people, including a 15-year-old boy, were examined after they felt the effects of the lightning, ranging from anxiety to a man who needed cardiopulmonary resuscitation. However, not all were necessarily actually struck by lightning, said Katherine Main, a city fire spokeswoman.

    Read Mashable

    http://youtu.be/wZB75yPuZbk

  • In this web extra, Van Dyken-Rouen shares how she stays optimistic during her recovery from an ATV accident that severely injured her spine.

  • NAZ Today’s Alex Lucero reports on NAU’s Hypo2 training program for Olympic athletes. Currently, NAU is hosting the Brazilian and Japanese National Swimteams at their Aquatic Center to train for the 2016 summer Olympics in Brazil.

    Brazilian swimmer Henrique Rodrigues says this is his second time training in Flagstaff and thinks the high altitude training is effective for him. Brazilian Head Coach Fernando Vanzella says that Flagstaff has everything they need for their training and the NAU facilities are comfortable and improves performance.

    Japanese Head Coach Norimasa Hirai says that the swimmers’ times improve every year they participate in this training. He is of the opinion that Flagstaff is the best place in the world for the swimmers to train.

  • Via GoPro on Google+

    A group of marine conservationists get crazy with the aquaball. Video by Christopher Cilfone. 

  • South Africa’s Chad le Clos solidified his status as the world’s best 200m butterfly swimmer as he retained his Commonwealth Games title on Saturday, while Australia added another four golds in the pool. […]

    Le Clos nearly came a cropper before he even got into the pool on Saturday after twisting his ankle when slipping off a bus as he arrived back at the athletes’ village on Friday night.

    However, once he was in the water he sped clear of the field in the final 50 metres.

    “Last night I slipped off the bus, so I was a bit worried, my ankle was a bit swollen,” said Le Clos.

    “It wasn’t too bad, so I just iced it. This morning it was quite bad in the heats so I was a bit worried, but we had 10 hours to strap it up and needle it a little bit so thanks to the physios.”

    Read The West Australian