Swimmer's Daily

  • 27-year-old Paul Sleeman and 60-year-old Peter Sleeman had been fishing at a beach in Cornwall, Britain when large wave swept Paul off the rocks and into the rough see, his dad trying to save him with a lifebelt before being dragged also into the surf by another huge wave. They were both in the lifebuoy when rescuers arrived 30 minutes later, read the Mirror:

    RNLI volunteer Damien Bolton said yesterday: “We saw the men near the cliff. They were being thrown into the rocks like they were clothes being tumbled around in a washing machine.

    “The son was holding his father and both were in a lifebuoy. The father was face down in the sea.

    “I told the son he would have to let go of his dad and swim towards us.

  • Great Britain is the only major London 2012 medal contender not to be offering any financial bonus to athletes who win gold medals at this summer’s Olympic Games, the athletes instead having to cash in on their triumph after the Games, at a time when post-Olympic corporate interest may wane, or be diluted by the 16-22 expected home team gold medals. Read The Telegraph.

    National Olympic associations bonuses for gold medals
    (not including private sponsorship deals)

    • Italy £116,075
    • Russia £85,791
    • France £41,455
    • China* £34,980
    • Japan £22,847
    • South Korea* £22,000
    • USA £15,736
    • Australia £12,906
    • Germany £12,436
    • Denmark £11,087
    • Great Britain £0

    *Figure relates to bonus paid after the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

    (I’ve included Denmark, since I know the amount … DKK 100,000)

  • London 2012 organizers point out open water swimming as one of the five Olympic venues most vulnerable to disruption by lone pranksters, organized protests or terrorists, and will therefore will rely on thousand of trained stewards lining the course, on top of thousands of Metropolitan Police and military directly involved in Olympic security. The stewards will stand around 25 yards apart on the edges of the race courses, facing the spectators to monitor the crowd for suspicious behavior, and there will even be high security surrounding the Serpentine several weeks before competition to prevent poisoning of the water. Read The Telegraph via GoSwim on Twitter.

  • Via Boston Herald, RT goes even further calling an especially deep cut a ‘suicide attempt’, don’t know if that is overinterpretation, though.

  • The 2012 State King of the Bays is part of a six-race ocean swim series taking place on some of New Zealand’s most beautiful harbours and beaches, see oceanswim.co.nz

    Part 1

    Part 2

  • Impressive live graphics and design by Zspace for Network Ten, used at the 2012 Australian Swimming Championships last month.

  • Photo taken during the closing ceremony of the Rome 2009 World Aquatics Championships.

    Flags around the Roma 2009 Pool

  • Interesting comment here on channelnewsasia.com … $1 million dollar bonus to Kitajima or not, I’m afraid that I’m still rooting for Alex :-)

    One of Kitajima’s biggest rivals for the gold medal will be Norway’s Alexander Dale Oen, who won the 100m at last year’s world championships when Kitajima finished fourth.

    “If it comes down to me and Dale Oen, I’ve got to find a way to get in his head,” Kitajima said of his Scandinavian rival according to Kyodo news agency.

    At Beijing, the Norwegian came second behind Kitajima.

    “It’ll be difficult because he’s mentally tough. But I like to think my time at the championships caught his attention.”

  • Online stock trading company GMO Click, big sponsor of the Japanese swimming federation, announced today that it will provide Japanese gold medal swimmers in London with $366,000 (30 million yen), silver medalists $36,100 and bronze medalists $12,000, relay prizes to be divided by the four relay swimmers. The Japanese Olympic Committee separately offers $36,100 for gold, $24,100 for silver and $12,000 for bronze. And, if Kosuke Kitajima manages the unprecedented third consecutive gold medal in the men’s 100 and 200 breaststroke events, he will earn an additional $1 million. Read SwimmingWorld Magazine.