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Yuliya Efimova tests positive for doping

Jan 17, 2014

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by

rokur

in Competition, Doping

According to sovsport.ru (and originally Vedomosti), Russian breaststroker Yuliya Efimova tested positive for dehydroepiandrosterone in an unannounced test in October, while preparing for a FINA meet. Dehydroepiandrosterone is a natural steroid found in dietary supplements, that apparently is used to normalize body weight and balance hormones. According to sovsport.ru, the B-sample has not yet been examined.See also rsport.ru and rianovosti

At the Herning 2013 European Short Course Championships in December, Efimova won gold in the 50 and 200 meter breaststroke,Â plus silver in the 100. In the 200 breaststroke, she set a new World record of 2:14.39, breaking Rebecca Soni’s 2:14.57 from the Duel in the Pool in Manchester in 2009.
Gidropark in Kiev, Ukraine is the manliest gym ever

Jan 16, 2014

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by

rokur

in Dryland

Behold the “Gidropark” free-access outdoor gym in Kiev, Ukraine, nicknamed “Cook’s Island” after founder and for almost half a century maintainer Yuri Cook. All equipment built out of scrap metal and stuff and chained to avoid theft. Awesome!

http://youtu.be/GW3XZmigQBw

Gym Gidropark Kiev in kiev

Featured image found here on Panoramio
A swimmer, a coach and two crushed Olympic dreams

Jan 16, 2014

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by

rokur

in Competition

Read The Stanford Daily

Chad La Tourette is five laps away from making the Olympics.

Itâ€™s the 1,500-meter freestyle finals on the last day of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb., where the nationâ€™s top 2,000 swimmers have gathered to compete for just a handful of spots on the U.S. Olympic team. […]

But he wonâ€™t. La Tourette has led the field for the first 12 minutes of the race, but in the next three, his dream turns into a nightmare â€” the very same one he lived in 2008.

La Tourette climbs out of the pool, a third-place finisher once again. The first person he finds is Bill Rose, his coach.

â€œIt was the worst thing thatâ€™s ever happened to me in my 45 years of coaching,â€ Rose will later remember. La Tourette will have trouble forgetting, too.

For now, all he does is stare at his coach.
Olympic swimmer Krayzelburg visits Skokie

Jan 16, 2014

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by

rokur

in Competition, Organization, Technique

See Skokie Review

Itâ€™s the same sun over California as it is over Skokie. And a tanned Lenny Krayzelburg, four-time Olympic U.S. gold medalist from Los Angeles, was in his element Jan. 12 bringing summer gold to the wintry North Shore. […]

â€œIâ€™m very excited about opening our Learn to Swim Academy here in Chicago, specifically at Kaplan JCC,â€ said Krayzelburg, who spoke to Sun-Times Media poolside as future students took free swim evaluations required before group or private lessons.

Video autoplays, therefore pushed below the break

(more…)
Behold this bird’s eye view of Banzai Pipeline surfers

Jan 15, 2014

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by

rokur

in Nature, Wow

“Happy new year everyone!

Thought I would put together some of my aerial footage of 2013.

All shots were on the North Shore of Oahu, Pipeline.

More winter swells to come!”

Pipeline Winter 2013 from Eric Sterman on Vimeo.
London Olympic Park Aquatics Centre to open

Jan 15, 2014

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by

rokur

in Swimming Pools

Read BBC

The Aquatics Centre used in the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics is to reopen for the first time since the games.Â […]

Visitor ticket prices for the Aquatics Centre will start from Â£4.50 a session when it opens in March, according to the LLDC.

The centre, which has two 50m pools, a diving pool and a newly installed gym, will also host the 2014 Diving World Series.
Blow for Brazil as Laureus cancels Rio awards

Jan 15, 2014

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by

rokur

in Organization

Read for instance BBC

The Laureus World Sports Awards, due to be held in Rio de Janeiro this year, have been cancelled.Â […]

The news represents another setback for Brazil in its struggles to prepare for the World Cup and 2016 Olympics.

It comes afterÂ the cancellation of the Soccerex conferenceÂ last month and amid ongoing delays in the preparation for the football World Cup, which begins in June.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has saidÂ Brazil is the least-preparedÂ of any World Cup host he has known, while the International Olympic Committee has also expressed concerns thatÂ Rio 2016 organisers have no time to loseÂ .
Busan 2014 Polar Bear Swim Festival

Jan 15, 2014

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by

rokur

in Uncategorized

A wonderful aerial view of the ‘Polar Bear Swim Festival’ in Busan, South Korea, 12 January 2014.

ë¶ê·¹ê³°ìˆ˜ì˜ì¶•ì œ polarbear swimming festival from paul oh on Vimeo.
Two children rescued from icy pond in Gaithersburg, third dies from cold

Jan 15, 2014

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by

rokur

in Safety

See ABC7

Three Gaithersburg boys, all between ten and 12 years old, were yanked from a bitter cold retention pond Monday afternoon. On Monday evening, it was confirmed that the 10-year-old in critical condition has died.

Around 4:15 p.m., an eyewitness called 911 to report seeing the trio plunge through a thin sheet of ice along the edge of the pond, near the corner of Diamondback Drive and Reprise Drive in Gaithersburg’s Crown Farm neighborhood.

Firefighters managed to rescue two of the boys within five minutes. However, it took more than half-an-hour to locate the third child. According to eyewitnesses, firefighters pulled him from the pond unconscious and not breathing.