Read The Local
A new cold-water bathing craze has spread so fast on Norway’s social media since it was imported from the Faroe Islands a week ago, that the man who started it now fears no one in the entire country will escape.
The ‘Jump in the Sea Challenge’ sees victims dared to throw themselves into icy waters to avoid a penalty, which normally involves buying the challenger large amounts of alcohol. They then nominate others with their own challenge.
(warning, Borat mankini)
See TED
When you look at sporting achievements over the last decades, it seems like humans have gotten faster, better and stronger in nearly every way. Yet as David Epstein points out in this delightfully counter-intuitive talk, we might want to lay off the self-congratulation. Many factors are at play in shattering athletic records, and the development of our natural talents is just one of them.
Read Vocativ
Last week, I was eating lunch with a friend and her dad in Manhattan on 23rd Street, directly across from what used to be the McBurney YMCA, when my friend’s dad had a sudden recollection.
Apparently, in 1968, as part of a freshman requirement for the city college he attended, all male students took a swim class at the YMCA. For reasons somewhat unclear to him at the time (and, we joked, probably repressed until now) the Y had a particular rule: If you’re going to swim, you must swim nude.
“Nude-nude?” I asked. “Totally nude,” he said.
See ESPN
University of Alabama officials confirmed Tuesday that a member of the school’s men’s swimming and diving team was killed Monday night when violent storms and a tornado struck the Tuscaloosa area.
John Servati, 21, a junior swimmer and dean’s list student at Alabama, was killed, according to school officials.
“John Servati was an extraordinary young man of great character and warmth who had a tremendously giving spirit,” UA coach Dennis Pursley said in a statement. “During this incredibly difficult time, our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and to all who had the good fortune to know him. He will forever be in our hearts and a part of the Crimson Tide legacy.”
http://youtu.be/rZHxQO5kY9w
Read BusinessDay
Michael Phelps might not have been good enough to win a comeback race in the US at the weekend, but he did shunt Chad le Clos down the world rankings.
Ryan Lochte out-swam the American legend at a gala in Phoenix, Arizona, winning the 100m butterfly final in 51.93sec.
Swimming great Ian Thorpe should leave hospital within days after successfully fighting a number of serious infections.
The 31-year-old five-time Olympic gold medallist fell ill after undergoing a series of surgeries on his shoulder at the start of 2014.
The world record-holder has spent the past three weeks receiving treatment and recovering at an intensive care ward.
“He’s doing well, he’s recovered very well in fact,” Thorpe’s manager Will Erskine told the MailOnline website.
Photo by Doha Stadium Plus 
See The Australian Olympic Committee
The AOC President and IOC Vice President, John Coates, has described Rio’s preparations for the 2016 Olympics as “the worst I have experienced” and “worse than Athens” (2004).
http://youtu.be/95_u72XT0Mo
See for instance The Australian
Former swimming star Geoff Huegill has made a public apology after being allegedly caught with cocaine at Sydney’s Randwick races on Saturday.
Huegill and his wife, Sara, were charged with possession of a prohibited drug, believed to be cocaine, at the star-studded autumn racing carnival.
“Some people feel that they have been let down and I deeply apologise for that,” the 35-year-old Olympian told the Nine Network on Tuesday.
