Swimmer's Daily

  • Read Gawker

    Canadian Man Sorry for Chugging Eight Beers and Swimming to Detroit

    John Morillo, a 47-year-old Canadian man, apologized today for causing an international incident last night when he drank eight beers and then swam across the Detroit River, just to prove to his friends he could.

    Speaking to the Windsor Star after being released from jail this morning, Morillo said in retrospect it was “really stupid” of him to drunkenly swim across the river, but not without adding that he wanted his incredulous buddies to know he’d pulled it off (emphasis ours):

    If I’m going to be in the paper, I’d at least like them to say I actually made it, even though I got in trouble and everything. I gotta pay fines and stuff. But I don’t want it to sound like I didn’t make it, because then my buddies are going to say ‘ha, ha, you didn’t make it.’ Because that was the whole thing, to show them I could do it.

  • Read Independent.ie

    Barry Murphy may be the senior swimmer by some distance in the Irish squad for the World Championships in Barcelona, but he’s in the form of his life as he prepares to take on the very best.

    In the past fortnight, the Dubliner, who didn’t believe he would be picked for Barcelona, has won silver at the French Open in the 50m breaststroke and set a new national record for the 50m butterfly at a meet in Rome.

    Now the 27-year-old, who will be joined at the World Championships by Fiona Doyle and Sycerika McMahon, is eager to prove to himself and others that Rio 2016 is a realistic possibility, having competed in London last summer.

  • Read South China Morning Post

    A falling-out between Sun and his coach over his love affair with a stewardess has rocked the Asian swimming power as it prepares for Barcelona.

    Sun, the tall distance specialist from Zhejiang, rejected coach Zhu Zhigen’s demand that he stop seeing his new girlfriend and concentrate on his swimming instead.

    Despite a public show of reconciliation with Zhu, Sun has been training in Hong Kong under former Chinese head coach Zhang Yadong, and it is unclear which events he will contest this month.

    “Athletes want to get good results, and to do this you need systematic and scientific training without outside interference,” Sun complained on his official microblog.

  • Read Evening Express

    There is now less than one year to go until hundreds of the best athletes from across the globe flock to Scotland to compete in the Commonwealth Games.

    Top North-east sportsmen and women like Hannah Miley and Robbie Renwick will be going for gold in front of their home crowd.

    Sport bosses hope that Aberdeen’s new £24 million Aquatics Centre – which will create around 45 new jobs in the city – will help bring on the next generation of champion North-east swimmers.

  • See SuperSport.com

    As we head into the swimming segment of the Fina World Championships, we are excited to announce that Olympic champion Roland Schoeman has come on board to share behind-the-scenes insight from Barcelona 2013.

  • The Palau Sant Jordi sporting arena in Barcelona, Spain, ready for the FINA 2013 World Swimming Championships.

    Palau Sant Jordi

  • kang-un-taeRead Inside The Games

    Kang Un-tae, the Mayor of Gwangju, has apologised for the “shameful” forgery scandal that marred the South Korean city’s awarding of the 2019 International Aquatics Federation (FINA) World Championships.

    “I deeply apologise for a shameful thing,” said Kang, who also serves as co-chairman of the Gwangju 2015 Universiade.

    “Discovered by the Prime Minister’s Office on April 29, I was informed by South Korea’s Bid Committee secretary general as he briefed me on the matter.

    “In the process of submitting a bid document to FINA by April 2, a mistake by an official led to the signatures on the Government guarantee and contents to be altered.”

  • Read The Washington Post

    For those who might find themselves underwater in their cars, Burton offered this advice:

    • Open the window as fast as possible — before you hit the water, if you can, or immediately afterward.
    • Stay still, with your seat belt on, until the water in the car goes up to your chin. Then take several slow, deep breaths and hold one.
    • Do not try to open the door until the water has stopped flooding into the car. Initially, the water outside will put pressure on the door of up to 600 pounds a square inch, meaning you won’t be able to open it from the inside. The pressure inside and outside the car should equalize about the time you start holding your breath.
    • If you can’t open a door and you’re trying to break a window instead, aim for a side window, never the windshield. Windshields are several layers thicker.
    • Don’t take off your seat belt until you have opened a door or window. Grip the steering wheel before you unbuckle. You’ll need something keeping you tethered so that you can pull yourself out of the car.
    • Once you’re out of the vehicle, let your body take you to the surface. As Burton put it: “Don’t worry about going up or down. When you take all those deep breaths and hold it, it’s like you’re inflating a balloon.”

  • Greece’s Spyridon Gianniotis just after his victory in the men’s 10K at the 15th FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Spain. Apparently very painful finish.