Swimmer's Daily

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

    Read Herald Sun

    Eamon Sullivan believes he can get back to his best as a one-lap specialist as he targets a fourth Olympics in Rio in 2016.

    Sullivan will return from the swimming wilderness to compete at a key meeting for the first time since the London Olympics at next week’s Commonwealth Games trials in Brisbane.

    The 28-year-old former world record holder took a year off after a disappointing London campaign — headlined by the dramas surrounding the men’s 4 x 100m freestyle relay team — to recover from two rounds of shoulder surgery and consider his future in the pool.

    He determined that he wasn’t finished as a swimmer and has been back in training since September last year in his home town of Perth.

    Sullivan has entered the 50m freestyle and 50m butterfly for the trials, which he hopes will provide a springboard for more international competition this year, although he is going into the meet without expectation.

  • Read for instance zeenews

    Ian Thorpe`s much-publicised battle have prompted many to believe that success and depression often go hand in glove in swimming, but nine-time Olympic champion swimmer Mark Spitz feels the psychological disorder today is not just limited to his sport but rampant in other disciplines as well.

    The multiple American Olympic champion was here as one of the academy members of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. Talking about Australia`s retired swimming star Thorpe, Spitz said he could understood the problems faced by the latter after having won a bagful of medals over the years.

    “I can understand why he may have been depressed, he probably didn`t complete his career in the way he wanted it to. I think Ian (Thorpe) didn`t have a chance to gracefully retire and a lot of athletes don`t retire gracefully, they hang around for one too many years and then they start to not do as well,” Spitz said ahead of the 15th Laureus World Sports Awards here last night.

    mark spitz photoPhoto by Doha Stadium Plus

  • Former United States swimming legend, Mark Spitz held a motivational talk for the Malaysian athletes and coaches at the National Sports Institute (ISN) yesterday.

  • See ABC

    Cotterell recalls the first time he laid eyes on a very young Grant Hackett.

    He was not convinced Hackett, eventually a gold medallist at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, was even the best swimmer in his family.

    “He was the younger brother of a very good swimmer, his older brother Craig, and I probably didn’t notice Grant’s talents until more like nine or 10,” he said.

    “The pedigree was in the family but Craig at that stage was more athletic and looked to have more potential.”

  • Pro-skater Bob Burnquist has skated on almost every surface imaginable. Now he can add the crystal blue waters of Lake Tahoe to that list. Hope it floats.

    http://youtu.be/FmHDfTBXEE0

  • A record number of 95 clubs including 47 foreign clubs will be competing in Copenhagen this week, at the 2014 Danish Open in Bellahøj Svømmestadion, doubling as the Danish trials for the Berlin 2014 Europeans and Dordrecht 2014 European Juniors.

    danish-open-on-dr-dk

  • jacco-verhaerenRead SBS and ABC

    Jacco Verhaeren won’t see out the year as Australia’s head swimming coach if the team fails to perform at the Commonwealth Games and world championships, says Olympic legend Dawn Fraser.

    Verhaeren took over the role from Leigh Nugent in January after a seven-year stint as technical director for the Dutch Swimming Federation.

    With five Olympic Games under his belt, the 44-year-old has guided some of The Netherlands’ greatest swimmers, including Pieter van den Hoogenband, Inge De Bruin and Ranomi Kromowidjojo.

    His first big test will come next week when Australia’s best head to Brisbane for the national titles.

    (more…)

  • james-magnussenRead brisbanetimes

    James Magnussen says Australia’s 4x100m men’s freestyle relay team needed an overhaul after the London Olympics, but believes the new-look line-up is capable of returning to a world-class standard.

    The controversial team were the face of Swimming Australia’s much-publicised review into a “toxic” culture in the squad during the 2012 Games.

    (more…)

  • Olympic gold medal-winning Missy Franklin visits a local Kuala Lumpur pool to give a swimming clinic of a lifetime with some young people ahead of the 2014 Laureus World Sports Awards in the Malaysian capital.

    http://youtu.be/TVDY1y_Iz_4