Swimmer's Daily

  • Read Outside

    For most people though, the GoPro will be the camera of choice. It’s versatile and relatively inexpensive. But make sure you think about how to mount the camera before taking it on an underwater trip. Snorkelers should avoid chest, wrist and mask mounts because they’re difficult to aim.

    My wrist mount captured great video of my fellow snorkelers but rarely captured any whales. I found the best option is a pistol grip—a short stick you can attach the camera to. And I would suggest using just one camera at a time—for your own sanity. I took some stills with the GoPro, but I wasn’t impressed.

  • See WHAS11

    Jefferson County Public Schools made the call early Friday morning, Feb. 14, to close because they were worried about deteriorating conditions in the evening commute.

    That decision came down just before a regional swim meet at the University of Louisville’s Natatorium, meaning a late scramble for parents who have come in from across the state.

    “There was going to be a thousand kids in the water today,” Eric Bunnell, a parent of three children said.

    http://youtu.be/3a7dDXV_zAw

  • si-cover-2014See Swim Daily

    If the cover of SI Swimsuit is some of the hottest real estate a supermodel can inhabit, the 50th Anniversary Issue cover is the Tribeca triplex of American newsstands. And if the featured models Nina Agdal, Lily Aldridge and Chrissy Teigen are to believed, they are delighted to occupy that space together.

    “We really, honestly liked each other,” said Chrissy earlier this afternoon. “Of course you are going to hear that from anybody who does a group shot, but this time it’s true. The connection was natural and the mood was fun.”

  • See Daily Picks And Flicks

    A dramatic crash video from the 2013 edition of Karkonosze Rally in Poland. Everyone was OK.

  • bronx-polar-bears-2Read NY Daily News

    An 80% chance of snow and freezing 13-mile-per-hour winds won’t deter Bronx Polar Bears Saturday from plunging into Long Island Sound’s chilly depths for a Valentine’s swim.

    Dozens of swimmers are expected to eschew gloomy forecasts in order to don bathing suits for a dive just off Orchard Beach for the Polar Bear Club’s annual fitness plunge.

    “We are very committed,” said Liga Freimane, among nearly 30 people expected to dive. “If it snows, all the better.”

    http://youtu.be/y5Trgt6c-DY

  • Read equities - Mark Spitz and Ryan Lochte featured, yay!

    Image courtesy of Doha Stadium Plus Qatar, CC BY 2.0
    Image courtesy of Doha Stadium Plus Qatar, CC BY 2.0

    Mark Spitz

    America’s best swimmer not named Michael Phelps, Spitz dominated the 1968 and 1972 Summer Olympics, setting multiple world records on his way to winning eleven Olympic medals, nine of them gold. Spitz abruptly retired from the sport at age 22 to get into show business.

    He found modest success, notably as a commentator, endorsement machine, and pin-up. Unique among Olympian swimmers with his Selleck-esque mustache, a poster of the swimmer wearing his nine golds became one of the best-selling posters in the 1970s.

    Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
    Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

    Ryan Lochte

    Another good-looking swimmer, Lochte was tailor-made for endorsements. Specifically, he was really, really, ridiculously good-looking. While a successful Olympian like Carl Lewis had immense trouble finding sponsors on account of his flamboyancy, his brash attitude, or his skin color (opinions vary) Lochte was as harmless and pretty as a pony.

    Lochte reportedly made over $2.3 million in endorsements in 2012 alone.

  • Ian ThorpeRead BizNews

    The very nature of a world champion’s job increases the risk of imbalance, or an unbalanced perspective on life that leads to a state of “dis-ease”. Depression is just one symptom.

    Thorpe made one glaring mistake common to great sporting champions:  he surrounded himself with coaches, but few or no mentors. Mentors are those who have gone before, who have their charge’s best interests at heart. They can guide champions and ensure that their “game plans” are “made of the right stuff ”, as they move from good to great to greater.

    Most important of all, mentors are often best placed to restore balance and paint the bigger picture of life – that life is indeed bigger than sport.

  • See WTSP

    For more than 60-years tourists have been flocking to Weeki Wachee to see the park’s world famous mermaids.

    Yet, Weeki Wachee would never be if not for its first magnitude spring. At times, more than 200-cubic-feet of fresh water per second rushes up from deep underground.

    The mermaids call it their fountain of youth.

    “I would love to go cave diving and just see what’s down there,” said park mermaid Marissa Perez.

  • See CNN

    For most people plunging into the ocean’s cold, dark depths without an oxygen tank would be an alarming experience. But for Ahmad Tahilmet and his friends its one of life’s greatest pleasures.

    They are freedivers — one of the growing number of young Emiratis who pursue the extreme water sport that is growing in popularity.