A Connecticut couple David and Elana Barnes have been widely criticized after they posted online a video of their 5-year-old daughter, Anaia, swimming with sharks in the Bahamas.
Read more here on Digital Journal
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Electrocution kills 3 children swimming in 2 separate incidents
On the Fourth of July, Alexandra Anderson, 13, and brother Brayden, 8, were killed while swimming near a private dock in the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri around noon Wednesday. Two hours later, at Cherokee Lake outside Knoxville, Tenn., a 10-year-old was killed and another boy was seriously injured in an eerily similar incident. Read more here on ABC News
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Florida lifeguard fired for saving out-of-bounds swimmer
Thomas Lopez, a lifeguard at Florida’s Hallandale Beach, was fired Monday for leaving his official work zone in order save the life of a drowning swimmer. Apparently two other lifeguards have been fired for backing him, and four others have quit.
“I ran out to do the job I was trained to do,†Lopez, 21, of Davie, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “I didn’t think about it at all.â€
I say give the man a medal, and give his boss the boot.
(Update – Actually they did end up giving him a kind of medal)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu4D_O2tSgU
Read for instance NY Daily News and International Business Times
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USADA allegedly allows confessed dopers to ride in return for testimony
Confession, I used to be a cycling afficionado following the classics and the tours religiously up until the mess with first Festina and then Bjarne Riis obviously doped before confessing, me turning to Marco Pantani because he looked too tiny to be doped, just to have my newfound hero first caught doping and then dying from a bleeding cocaine overdose. My heart for cycling in shatters, watching Le Tour by habit only to realize that so many of those guys just won’t quit theirs.
Well, now the story goes that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has struck a deal with still active riders George Hincapie, Levi Leipheimer, David Zabriskie, Christian Vande Velde and team director Jonathan Vaughters, to start a 6-months doping ban after their participation in the Tour De France and Vuelta a Espana, in return for turning on their former teammate and 7-team Tour de France champion, Lance Armstrong. Read for instance road.cc and NBC Sports
Vaughters makes his and his team’s official statement in the video above.
I guess we’ll know in September.
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Antwerp 2012 day 2: Carli takes down Heidi Grein’s (GDR) record from 1986
After two days of racing at the Antwerp 2012 European Junior Championships, Russia’s youngsters are dominating the event with 7 gold medals and 1 silver (out of 14 gold possible till now), ahead of Italy’s 3 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze, and Germany’s 1 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze. Most winning swimmers are Russia’s Iuliia Larina and Italy’s Gabriele Detti, having won 2 gold medals each. And Italy’s Diletta Carli took down East Germany’s Heidi Grein’s 400 freestyle European Junior Championships record from 1986.
Boys 100 backstroke
Russia’s Andrei Shabashov took the gold in 55.24 and 831 FINA points ahead of Italy’s favorites Fabio Laugeni in 55.31 (827 FINA points) and Niccolo’ Bonacchi in 55.63 (813 FINA points), Shabashov ranked third with a time of 56.08 on the entry list before clocking 56.72 and 6th in the prelims and then 56.15 and 3rd in the semifinal.
Detti winner of the 400 free, yesterday. Photo courtesy of Jákup Jacobsen -
Arena Smart Cap – On in just 5 seconds
Winner of the prestigious 2012 ‘reddot’ design award. Sweet.
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Sullivan and Targett pose with Moulin Rouge dancers
That is just so sweet / awesome / why-don’t-i-swim-faster. And don’t worry, it is okay! Better quality picture here on Zimbio
Lucky enough to get backstage to meet all the Australian Dancers. Such a tough day! http://t.co/fNLOy8OC
— Eamon Sullivan (@Eamon_Sullivan) July 3, 2012
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Australian athletes slam sleeping pill ban
Oh my, now Olympic champion shooter Russel Marks criticizes Australia’s decision to ban sleeping pills and says it will cost the country medals at the London Olympic Games. Given the long distance Australian athletes have to travel to London and the jet-lag that will go with it, Mark says it will be unfair for Olympic team members like him to suffer for Hackett’s dependency problem.
“This will affect the amount of medals the team wins,” Mark told media outlets on Wednesday.
“If John Coates tells me I can only use sleeping pills for three nights in London, it will have an effect on my performance.
“If I don’t get a good night’s sleep it’s not worth me going, I need something to get me eight hours sleep.” -
Antwerp 2012 day 1: Russia leads the medal table
After this first day of the Antwerp 2012 European Junior Championships, Russia leads the medal table with 2 gold medals ahead of Germany’s 1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze, and Spain’s 1 gold and 1 silver. Italy’s Gabriele Detti won the boys’ 400 freestyle in 3:49.27, arguably the best performance of the day, while Spain’s Maria Vilas Vidal hauled most medals by securing both medals that her country won.
Girls 50 breaststroke
Young Margarethe Hummel (GER, born 1997 against girls born 1996) was favorite with an entry time of 31.91 ahead of Anna Stankovics (HUN) in 32.02 and Julia Willers (GER) in 32.28. Sophie Tyler (GBR) clocked the best time in the prelims (32.07) and semifinal (31.71) before Hummel hit hard in the final with a time of 31.55 and 842 FINA points ahead of Taylor in 31.76 and Sztankovics in 31.98.
