Read globalpost
A Chinese entrepreneur from Zhejiang offered a senior official of the local Communist Party about $32,000 to swim in a polluted river for 20 minutes.
“If the environmental protection bureau chief dares to swim in [Ruian’s] river for 20 minutes, I will pay [him] 200,000 yuan,†Jin posted on Weibo, the South China Morning News reported.
Voice of America reported in January that up to 40 percent of China’s rivers are seriously polluted.
Read Bloomberg
Australia’s London Olympics swimming team was beset by “culturally toxic incidents†including misuse of prescription drugs and bullying that highlighted a failure of culture and leadership, a report said.
The so-called Bluestone Review, commissioned by Swimming Australia after the nation’s worst performance in the Olympic pool in two decades, found that a culture existed within the team which “did not appear to assist or support high-level performance for most people.â€
“There were enough culturally toxic incidents across enough team members that breached agreements (such as getting drunk, misuse of prescription drugs, breaching curfews, deceit, bullying) to warrant a strong, collective leadership response that included coaches, staff and the swimmers,†the report said. “No such collective action was taken.â€
See also The Australian
“Thousands of dolphins spanning across 7 miles of ocean were sighted off the coast of San Diego on Thursday, a boat captain told NBC 7 San Diego. Capt. Joe Dutra of Hornblower Cruises said he saw a “super mega-pod” of common dolphins Thursday around noon while he was on his daily tour. He said the pod was more than 7 miles long and 5 miles wide.”
“Astonishing underwater footage of Deadly 60 main man Steve Backshall swimming with a Humboldt Squid – which repeatedly squirts ink at him! From series 2 of hit wildlife show Deadly 60.” Via Laughing Squid
Read swimming.org
With a world-class field of nearly 750 entries, next month’s British Gas International Swimming Meet (7-10 March) promises to be one of the most memorable competitions in the UK this year.
Great Britain’s top swimmers will be in attendance including Olympic silver medallist Michael Jamieson, world champions Liam Tancock and Keri-anne Payne and World Short Course champion Hannah Miley.
Adding international spice to the field are Olympic champions Ruta Meilutyte (Lithuania) and Ranomi Kromowidjojo (the Netherlands), 12-time Olympic medallist Natalie Coughlin (USA), world champion Jeanette Ottesen (Denmark) and former world and Olympic champion Anthony Ervin (USA).
The 2013 issue featuring zero (0) traditional aquatic athletes, meh
“In 2012 we were lucky enough to go swimming with the Whale Sharks at Ningaloo Reef out of Exmouth in Western Australia. It is one of the best things I think I’ve done so far and wanted to share it with you.”
Uh oh
Oh my, I know exactly how it feels
