Swimmer's Daily

  • A dog died last weekend shortly after swimming in a Sherburne County lake that had developed areas of heavy algae growth.

    “We noticed that Copper went on shore, began vomiting and panting very hard, and just looked very sick,” the owner said. “I carried him to my truck and brought him to the vet’s office.”While the cause of Copper’s illness has not been confirmed, the veterinarian who examined him believed that he became ill after ingesting toxins from blue-green algae.

    Read PostBulletin

    Photo by Andrea Pokrzywinski

  • Though relatively uncommon, it’s important to be aware of two types of health risks that may occur in the aftermath of a close call at the beach or pool.

    “It is an unusual phenomenon,” Dr. Holly Phillips told “CBS This Morning.” “Basically there are two forms of out-of-water drowning. The first one is called dry drowning. That’s after maybe they’ve had a struggle in the pool, you’ve inhaled a little water. It creates irritation in your airway. That causes muscle spasms, so you start to choke and you have trouble breathing.”

    Similarly, after a drowning incident, there can be a build up of fluid in the lungs, which may cause the person to have trouble breathing, a condition known as secondary drowning.

    “It can happen up to 24 hours after you’re already out of the pool and what’s happened is you’ve inhaled some water,” explained Phillips. “Usually, again, it’s after a bit of a struggle and it irritates the lung tissue itself and causes inflammation of the lung tissue and starts to make fluid and creates something called pulmonary edema. So the lungs themselves create the fluid and you’re drowning even though you’re not in the water.”

    See CBS News

  • Before kids makes a splash at the aquatics centers in town, parents will have to put away the camera. A policy in place by the City of Midland Aquatics prevents any picture taking at their facility.

    “We are restricting them some ways and we hate to be but it is for the safety of the kids,” according to Executive Director Brad Swendig.

    See NewsWest9

    KWES NewsWest 9 / Midland, Odessa, Big Spring, TX: newswest9.com |

  • Olympic swimmers Michael Phelps, Nathan Adrian, Missy Franklin, and Mel Stewart appeared at the Santa Clara Arena Grand Prix on the weekend of June 19 and shared their thoughts on juggling academics, extracurricular activities, personal health, and sports.

    Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time with 22 medals, said that it’s important to set a goal and stay dedicated to it.

    “I can pick something, set my mind to it, and not let anything stand in my way of me being able to achieve that,” said the three-time Olympian, who tied for first with UC Berkeley’s Tom Shields in the 100 fly, placed second in the 100 and 200 free, and placed third in the 200 IM at the meet.

    The journey won’t be easy, Phelps said, but the results will be rewarding.

    “There are sacrifices that you do have to make from time to time. For swimmers, that is getting up at 6:30 or 6 o’clock in the morning and going to the pool,” he said.

    Read San Jose Mercury News

    Photo by marcopako 

  • In many parts of the world, shark attacks are a very real possibility for anyone entering the ocean. While suspended nets do help keep the toothsome fish separated from swimmers, they’re far from from 100 percent reliable, plus sharks (along with other marine animals) regularly get caught in them and perish – as sharks are one of the ocean’s apex predators, removing them from the ecosystem could have disastrous consequences. The Clever Buoy, however, may prove to be an effective method of keeping humans and sharks apart, with no harm coming to either.

    Read http://ift.tt/1qCpu3f

    http://youtu.be/Wv5b4jwABiw

  • See Today Health

    Six-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Amy Van Dyken-Rouen may have been badly injured in an ATV accident, but she is “not afraid” of the hard road to recovery that lies ahead.

    “This is a new challenge, and I’m taking it head-on,” Van Dyken-Rouen told Matt Lauer on TODAY Friday. “This is more than just for a gold medal, this is for my life; our life. And so, I’m here and I’m working as hard as I can for that.”

  • Read ideas.ted.com

    In 1949, a stocky Italian air force lieutenant named Raimondo Bucher decided to try a potentially deadly stunt off the coast of Capri, Italy. Bucher would sail out to the center of the lake, take a breath and hold it, and free-dive down one hundred feet to the bottom. Waiting there would be a man in a diving suit. Bucher would hand the diver a package, then kick back up to the surface. If he completed the dive, he’d win a fifty-thousand-lira bet; if he didn’t, he would drown.

    Scientists warned Bucher that, according to Boyle’s law, the dive would kill him. Formulated in the 1660s by the Anglo-Irish physicist Robert Boyle, this equation predicted the behavior of gases at various pressures, and it indicated that the pressure at a hundred feet would shrink Bucher’s lungs to the point of collapse. He dove anyway, delivered the package, and returned to the surface smiling, with his lungs perfectly intact. He won the bet, but more important, he proved all the experts wrong. Boyle’s law, which science had taken as gospel for three centuries, appeared to fall apart underwater.

    freediver photo
    Photo by jayhem

    Featured photo by jayhem

  • Read WSET

    You may want to check the beach water before you get in to swim. Researchers with the Natural Resources Defense Council monitored more than 3,000 beaches and according to the annual “Testing the Waters” report, 10% of U.S. beaches failed the government’s swimmer safety standards.

    Virginia had one of the lowest failure rates of water samples. The report says beach water pollution can cause illnesses like Hepatitis, pink eye, stomach flu and more.

    Photo by cat1788

  • Read The Baltimore Sun

    If you’ve ever said you’ve seen enough of Towson-born Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps for one lifetime, I submit to you evidence that you may have spoken too soon.

    Phelps, the record-setting Olympic swimmer, is one of 22 athletes appearing nude in ESPN The Magazine’s The Body Issue, which features photo spreads of the world’s top athletes, well, out of uniform.

    Photo by marcopako 