Australian marathon swimmer Chloe McCardel has made a New Year’s resolution to top them all: to conquer a world-first crossing from Cuba to the US without a shark cage.
‘I think my mum will faint when she hears about this,’ McCardel said.
The 27-year-old Melburnian, who has already completed six solo crossings of the English Channel, is planning to embark on the 170-kilometre, 70-hour swim in June which, if she completes it, will become the longest continuous solo swim in history without assistance.
In August, 62-year-old US endurance swimmer Diana Nyad quit her third attempt at the crossing after suffering severe jellyfish stings following 60 hours in the water.
A month earlier, Australian-based British swimmer Penny Palfrey was just 43 kilometres from the US coast when she abandoned an attempt because of brutal currents.
Read for instance BigPond News
According to news.com.au, Grant Hackett has launched Supreme Court legal action against his former solicitors for drafting his pre-nuptial agreement with Candice Alley in a way that did not comply with legal requirements back when they wed in 2007, for failing to take the opportunity to fix the problem when changes were made to the agreement in 2009, and for failing to tell him there was any “defect”. He says he was never told each party was required to have independent legal advice in order for the 2009 changes to comply with law. “As a result of the breaches … the Plaintiff has suffered loss including legal costs,” court documents say. “The Plaintiff’s loss is continuing.”
Via Financial Review
“Manatee ride ends badly. As a FYI; Manatees in Florida are protected by both state and federal law. They are protected by two federal laws: The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 and the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Manatees are also protected by the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act of 1978.”
http://youtu.be/EISt5nFFSuE
“236 competitors raised over £8000 for the Lions Club, Weldmar Trust, MV Freedom and 20 other charities. The day started with torrential rain but cleared up to dazzling sunshine by the start of the race. My nephew, Karl Wall, from the Cumberland Hotel, took part, though he was hampered by his Santa Suit disintegrsting in the water.”
This video captures the buildup to and execution of the 1997 Polar Bear Swim on the beaches of Atlantic City, NJ; January 1, 1997
“Don’t miss this exclusive interview with Roly Crichton, the well-known swim coach of Paralympian Multi-Gold Medalist, Sophie Pascoe. Here he shares with us his experience in coaching and thoughts about the athletes.”
Cloudy skies did not deter just over 500 people from stripping off in Gisborne to break the world skinny-dipping record.
The record, which stood at 413, was broken by 506 revellers at Midway Beach on Sunday afternoon, organisers BW Camping Festival, ZM and Skinny Mobile say.
“We were overwhelmed with how respectful and well-behaved the skinny-dippers and spectators were,” festival manager Toby Burrows said.
ZM presenter Luke Taplin roused 14,000 campers on the beach to participate while police and Surf Life guards watched on.
Read more here on NZCity
There is a video here, if you care about stuff like that
