Swimmer's Daily

  • Officials closed an investigation into the boating accident that forced former Miami Dolphins player Robert Konrad to swim about 16 hours to shore.

    An incident report released by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission details the account Konrad gave law enforcement after he reached shore early on Jan. 8, including an estimate that his boatโ€™s damage would be $70,000.

    The Bahamian government notified the U.S. Coast Guard that it found Konradโ€™s vessel in the Bahamas near Dead Manโ€™s Reef on Jan. 9, ABC News said, citing the incident report.

    Konrad, 38, who played for the Miami Dolphins from 1999 to 2004, told emergency responders that heโ€™d fallen off his boat about 1 p.m. on Jan. 7 as it continued on autopilot toward the Bahamas.

    Konrad told authorities that he was taking his vessel from Boca Raton, Fla., to Riviera Beach for โ€œroutine maintenance,โ€ according to the report.

    โ€œKonrad decided he would recreational-fish as he cruised to Riviera Beach,โ€ the report said.

    A police video shows Konrad as he sat huddled in a police car in Palm Beach, Fla., shivering under a blanket with the heat cranked all the way up in the early hours of Jan. 8.

    See Trade Only Today

    SLATER SCOOP: Exclusive police video of Rob Konrad after incident

  • 33 women and 48 men took the departure in Viedma (ARG) with amongst them some big names in the world of open water: Germanyโ€™s Angela Maurer (2013 10km World bronze medallist) and Thomas Lurz (2012 10km Olympic silver medallist), Brazilian Alan do Carmo (2014 overall winner of the Series), Greek Spyridon Gianniotis (2013 10km World champion) and Italyโ€™s Martina Grimaldi (2012 10km Olympic bronze medallist).

    Courtesy of FINA on YouTube

    FINA/HOSA 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup Patagones-Viedma

  • A top Rocky swimmer wonโ€™t be able to compete at state this weekend after district leaders decided not to let him. Allegations of hazing essentially ended his season early.

    Late this week, district administrators decided not to let him compete as they investigate claims that he and three other swimmers hazed a teammate over the past two months.ย  All four swimmers were initially punished. Theyโ€™re not allowed to say how, but a subsequent investigation sparked whenย parent Kristen Kessler addressed the school board this week.

    โ€œSwimmers physically held my son against his will and sucked a hickey on his neck and touched him inappropriately,โ€ said Kessler at the school board meeting.

    This triggered the administration to punish Josh Fleming for theย second time. Fleming admits heโ€™d been involved in incidents in the past. Back in November he claims horseplay, not hazing, brought about a first punishment.

    โ€œI think the punishment is very extreme,โ€ said Fleming.

    See WQAD8

  • In winter or on a rainy day, an indoor pool can be just the way to get moving and to get your heart pumping. However, common chemicals in pool water that can get more concentrated indoors may make it harder on your lungs.

    โ€œThe main concern with indoor pools is the chlorine, which is used as a disinfecting agent,โ€ according to pulmonologistย Rachel Taliercio, DO. While itโ€™s important to keep harmful bacteria under control, it can be potentially irritating, she says.

    Swimming in indoor pools can expose you to higher levels of chlorine in the air and increase your risk for lung-related problems, but the benefits of exercise often will outweigh the risks. Itโ€™s important to consider the overall health of your lungs and the amount of exposure. Also, watch for signs of discomfort; if you cough, wheeze or feel your throat burn, take a break.

    Overall, competitive swimmers are at greater risk than recreational swimmers, she says. After all, they spend a lot more time in pools than the average person.

    Read Cleveland Clinic HealthHub

    Photo by Rennett Stowe

  • The dual Olympic 1500m champion may be on the comeback trail, but he reserves the right to step off at any time if he doesnโ€™t want to continue.

    Having watched the hype that surrounded his great friend and rival Ian Thorpeโ€™s failed comeback for the 2012 Olympics, Hackett is cautious about his own prospects and does not want them overblown.

    He is 34 and has been out of the pool for six years. His last race was the 1500m final at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He knows heโ€™s not the swimmer he was. But the competitorโ€™s heart still beats within.

    “This is the last time that my body will be young enough to do this,” he said between training sessions at the Gold Coast yesterday.

    However, he will not commit to a full campaign to qualify for a fourth Games in Rio next year until he is certain he still has the speed and stamina to match the younger generation.

    “I am not getting ahead of myself in any way. If I canโ€™t get to a level that I find satisfactory I will shut up shop.”

    And those hoping to see him back swimming the 1500m are destined for disappointment.

    “I have no desire to swim the 1500m again.” […]

    Hackett revealed that it was a conversation with the American superยญstar Michael Phelps (who came back last year) at the Pan ยญPacific championships on the Gold Coast last August that made him reconsider. “Michael said โ€˜You should swim againโ€™ and it was the first time that I felt like I wanted to get back in the water,” Hackett said.

    Read The Australian

    http://youtu.be/Ohfi79LD_WE

  • One reason for my love of underwater swimming was my failure on the surface. My college roommate, Cromwell Anderson, was captain of the swim team, but I was simply a flop at the crawl or backstroke. I could, however, swim farther underwater than he could. I was able to make it twice the length of our Olympic pool, 100 meters in all, before surfacing. I thought this was great until another friend did three laps.

    It turns out, I now learn, that we were doing something very foolish. And I exacerbated that foolhardiness by often swimming those laps alone in the pool. There is an effect associated with this kind of underwater swimming so important that it has been assigned a name, shallow water blackout. People die from it. Last summer, Annapolis Midshipman Kyle Hurdle passed out while doing so and lifeguards were unable to revive him.

    Read The Buffalo News

    Photo by ctsnow

  • Yesterday at the CRASH-B Sprint World Indoor Rowing Championships in Boston, USA, Faroe Island’s Dรƒยกnjal Martin Hofgaard won the men’s open lightweight discipline.

    Get this, Dรƒยกnjal Martin born 1989 is a childhood friend of Pรƒยกl Joensen born 1990, from the same tiny street of Skรƒยกlabeiti in Vรƒยกgur (population 1361) in Faroe Islands (population 49,709). They grew up training under first coach Johan Martin Thorsteinsson in the local swim club Vรƒยกgs Svimjifelag (VS), and then under coach Jรƒยณn Bjarnason in the merged swim club Suรƒยฐuroyar Svimjifelag (SuSvim).

    One is currently the European vice-champion in the 800 and 1500 meter freestyle. The other is the World Champion in indoor rowing.

    We don’t care about odds. Framรƒยก Fรƒยธroyar !

  • Every elite athlete is looking for an edge, and Emily Seebohm has found hers while hanging upside down from a pole.

    After beginning her year with unprecedented speed, the worldโ€™s No 1-ranked 100m backstroker has revealed that twice-weekly pole dancing classes have contributed to her outstanding form.

    “Iโ€™ve done that for about a year now and I find that it gives me something outside of the normal gym that really works my core muscles and my strength, which is exactly what I need,” Seebohm explained. “Leading into the Olympics, you need to find those little bits that arenโ€™t fine-tuned, and for me, this is one of the few things that I can work on other than my swimming skills, so itโ€™s been really good.”

    “Itโ€™s fun and itโ€™s easy to do when youโ€™re strong. The first couple of sessions I was so unco-ordinated because I was used to doing other things but Iโ€™ve nailed some of the tricks now.”

    Read The Australian

  • Generic, non-Olympic advertising by athletes during the Olympics will be allowed if an International Olympic Committee executive board proposal is approved in July.

    The board proposed changes to Rule 40 and Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter, the IOC said Thursday.

    โ€œIt has to do with advertising around the games, on a social media site, or newspaper, or whatever,โ€ IOC spokesman Mark Adams said, according to The Associated Press. โ€œSo if someone has a contract with a watch manufacturer, that may continue as long as the advert doesnโ€™t relate to the games.

    โ€œAthletes have wanted this changed for a very long time. Itโ€™s been a very long discussion.โ€

    The Olympic Charter currently restricts that for about a month period around the Games.๏ปฟ๏ปฟ

    Read NBC OlympicTalk