Swimmer's Daily

  • Read Chicago Tribune

    A world-class swimmer and 2016 Olympic hopeful showed up at a Crystal Lake banquet hall Sunday morning to surprise a 13-year-old boy who in February was the target of an alleged hate crime in his Crystal Lake middle school.

    BJ Johnson, 26, a USA National Swim Team member, flew in to Chicago on Sunday morning from his home in California just to tell Omid Babakhani that his “swim family” from across the country supports him in his recovery and encourages his return to swim.

    “We all wish you the best,” Johnson said.

    (more…)

  • Read ABC

    The closest Eamon Sullivan had come to the Australian swimming team in the last two years was as their host at his Perth restaurant in January.

    No wonder he was surprised he had booked a Glasgow Commonwealth Games berth at the national titles in Brisbane on Sunday night.

    And it seems “Stilnox Six” member Sullivan will be welcomed back to the team with open arms after Swimming Australia high performance manager Michael Scott claimed everyone would arrive at the Glasgow team camp with a clean slate.

  • Image courtesy of Smiley8889, CC BY-SA 3.0
    Image courtesy of Smiley8889, CC BY-SA 3.0

    Read BBC

    Hannah Miley will attempt to record the times she needs to qualify for a further two Commonwealth Games events at next week’s British Championships.

    Miley has won five titles at the Scottish National Open Swimming Championships at Tollcross in Glasgow.

    But she did not post the 400m freestyle and 200m breaststroke marks needed to race in those events at the Games.

    “I will have a lot more competition, so that might push me a bit more,” Miley said of next week’s event at Tollcross.

    “We’ll see how that goes as I need to get back into my training now as well.”

  • Read The Age

    Cate Campbell won the 100-metre freestyle at the Commonwealth Games selection trials at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre on Saturday night in a blistering time of 52.68 seconds, but the world champion’s night was made special by the performance of her sister Bronte, who pushed her to the limit in a race that could reveal her coming of age as a contender.

    The Campbell sisters had already secured their places on the Australian team in the 50 freestyle, but Bronte Campbell’s time for the 100 of 53.02, which included a second lap that was 0.01 fast than her elder sister, showed that she was keeping the more-credentialled Cate within sight.

    “This time I managed to hang on, but I’m not sure about next time,” Cate said.

  • Read Herald Sun

    Twelve months before Grant Hackett’s life unravelled at Melbourne’s Crown casino complex on the evening of February 21, the Olympic champion knew he was coming unstuck.

    Hackett’s now infamous night at the Crown, during which he was photographed by casino patrons wandering in the foyer after midnight searching for his young son while wearing only his underpants and clutching a singlet, would become the catalyst for a five-week stint in a rehabilitation clinic for sleeping pill dependency; a problem that has reared its head before, during his Olympic career.

    After battling through — “white knuckling” as he calls it now — for more than a year, the retired athlete finally ­informed his parents Neville and Margaret in early February that he simply wasn’t coping with his bitter and drawn-out divorce from singer Candice Alley. It had taken its toll on him mentally and emotionally.

    Last week, the dual Olympic gold medallist was discharged from The Meadows in Arizona — an exclusive rehab facility that specialises in 30 types of ­addiction, including drugs.

  • Read and watch video here on 9MSN

    It wasn’t quite revenge of the nerds in the men’s 100m freestyle final at the national swimming titles in Brisbane.

    But academically gifted, socially awkward students across the country would have been forgiven for unleashing a rare triumphant air punch when 19-year-old physics fanatic Cameron McEvoy upset dual world champion James Magnussen on Friday night.

    In a result sure to shock the swimming world, McEvoy (47.65 sec PB) comfortably held out Olympic silver medallist Magnussen (47.92) to clinch the 100-200 double at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games trials in Brisbane.

    Remarkably, McEvoy’s 2014 best time would have pipped Magnussen for last year’s 100m world title and snapped up London Olympic bronze.

    It seemed fitting that a kid who is no stranger to rocket science ensured Magnussen “the Missile” misfired.

  • See Sunny Skyz

    A dying tiger shark off Australia was nursed back to life by divers who took turns swimming with the shark for one and a half hours in an effort to keep it upright and to get oxygen into its gills. Just as the conservationists were about to give up, the shark kicked, indicating new life.

    After a couple more strong kicks, the tiger shark regained its strength and swam off on its own, The Australian and WA Today reported Wednesday.

  • Image courtesy of Bidgee / Wikimedia Commons
    Image courtesy of Bidgee / Wikimedia Commons

    Read The Age

    Eamon Sullivan cringes a bit when he sees stories published about him nowadays. It is not so much because of the many injuries that have marred his career or out-of-pool controversies in which he was involved but more because of a simple word that often precedes his name.

    ”I keep seeing ‘veteran’ written down next to my name,” Sullivan said.

    “I don’t know if I like that yet, but I am certainly feeling a veteran today, a bit sore and achy.”

  • Read The Citizen

    South African swimming duo Thane Williams and Jonno Proudfoot have completed a 459km swim in 24 days, their spokespeople said on Friday.

    The two swam from Mozambique to Madagascar.

    “This is an incredible feat and by no means ordinary,” they said in a statement.

    In one day Williams and Proudfoot swam the same distance as the English Channel.

    “[They swam] battling jelly fish stings, swimming with sharks and whales, and being detained by French military on a French island after some confusion.”