A team photo before the “Skálafjarðarsvimjingin 2005”, a swim we arranged twice here in the local swim club. We’re situated at the mouth of Skálafjørðurin, the longest firth on the Faroe Islands, some 15 kilometers long and only 600 across here at the mouth, so it is only natural to dream of taking the short route. This one was rough, weather-wise, some swimmers made it in about 10 minutes, while others struggled for up to an hour against the head-on current.
From an event we arranged for kids in Sørvágur, when Pál Joensen and Jón Bjarnason were enroute to the South African Championships in 2010. They unfortunately have no swim club there, yet, so we tried to inspire. That kid in the Manchester United hat points to (approximately) where they were going, and to Australia and the Melbourne 2007 World Championships.
Touching article here on Aftenposten, in Norwegian but worth running through Google Translate. I’ll translate a few excerpts here, as well as I can:
His eyes could seem heavy and sleepy. They possibly become that way by being opened at 5 AM every day and spending countless hours in the pool. But his head was alert and his stare intense when he started telling the story of a frog. Maybe this was the mystery that he solved for us right there and then: How can a boy from the sea on the west coast, in a country almost without pools, become the best in the world in a sport that everyone masters?
– Have you heard about the frogs? They try to jump up on a pole, again and again, but no one reaches the top. They slide down every time. Every day people walk past and say “Frog, forget it.” Most of them give up eventually, but one doesn’t. One day it is at the top. The human comes by and asks “Frog, how did you accomplish that?”. But the frog doesn’t answer. Do you know why? Because the frog was deaf.
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OK, her breaststroke technique is not 100% perfect, but wow, the colors and the wildlife.
Sprinter Josh Schneider talks about what he’s looking forward to most in Omaha this summer and how he plans to handle distractions at the the Olympic Trials.
These team videos just get better and better, footage from the 2011 and 2012 swimming seasons of Allegheny College, using really interesting angles.
Bruce Hayes won America’s hearts at the 1984 Olympics by winning an unexpected gold medal as last man on the U.S. men’s 4×200 freestyle, but there’s more to his story.
Beautiful London flyover footage taken by aerial photographer Jason Hawkes. Via PetaPixel.
