These team videos just get better and better, footage from the 2011 and 2012 swimming seasons of Allegheny College, using really interesting angles.
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Bruce Hayes: Behind the Olympics
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.
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Breathtaking bird’s-eye view of London
Beautiful London flyover footage taken by aerial photographer Jason Hawkes. Via PetaPixel.
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For lower-profile Olympians like Berens, social media is key to branding success
Interesting article here on Mashable:
“Ricky Berens is a world-class athlete, but he’s no Michael Phelps. The two teamed up to help the United States win a relay swimming gold medal at the 2008 Olympics and will probably both participate in the 2012 Games. But outside the pool their lives couldn’t be more different.” …
“You’re not getting all the TV time, so you have create your own story,†Berens told Mashable in an interview. “Social media gives me a chance to do that.â€
Berens began boosting his social presence, primarily on Twitter and Facebook, about a year ago with consulting help from the new media marketing company Spiracle Media. Since then, he’s says he’s secured sponsorship deals with BMW, Got Chocolate Milk and TYR. Those deals were made possible by a number of factors, but Berens says he’s sure his social media efforts played a crucial role.
Read more here on Mashable
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British military testing their missile systems in London
A chilling site for London residents, the British military rolling out Rapier surface-to-air missile systems on a field in London. Via Geekosystem.
Speaking to the Associated Press, retired Dutch Navy captain and director of the Wiser defense consulting firm Jan Wind had this to say about the Rapier system:
“When you launch a Rapier missile and shoot down an aircraft, it’s not like the whole thing vanishes. It’s 100 tons of metal, scraps, and other stuff that is coming down […] If a Rapier is used, the damage could be just about the same as the intentions of the terrorist — only on another spot. The goal of the terrorists will be met in a certain sense[.]“
According to that video, ‘the military insists that the measures are prudent and proportionate to the threat’. Struggling here to see how that is supposed to comfort us.
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Michael Phelps Foundation IM Program 2011
Recap of the Michael Phelps Foundation IM Program Impact in 2011. For more information on the Michael Phelps Foundation visit www.facebook.com/MichaelPhelpsFoundation. Via the17thman
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Russian taxi driver runs car into huge pothole, fortunately knows how to swim
As Dave puts it here on Daily Picks and Flicks: “A taxi driver in the city of Kirov, Russia, is having a really bad day.”
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Thomas Fraser-Holmes toughs it out after two drowning tragedies
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Thomas Fraser-Holmes was part of the search party to recover the body of 14-year-old Matthew Barclay, who drowned at the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships on March 28 on the Gold Coast, just 10 days after Thomas-Fraser had beaten Thorpe and all other rivals in the most publicised event of the Australian Olympic swimming trials, the men’s 200m freestyle. Even more poignant for Fraser-Holmes, it was two years since his great mate Saxon Bird had drowned in an almost identical situation, in the same event, on the same beach. Read more here on smh.com.au.
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Sexually graphic emails led to firing of former UT swim coach John Trembley
Pornographic images and sexually explicit emails are to blame for the firing of the former University of Tennessee head swim coach, but no criminal charges will be made. UT record don’t make clear whether John Trembley ever acted on his online offers of sex or whether that double life extended past a few days in May and June, the whole issue sparked a complaint on December 2 that Trembley had asked former UT swimmer and double Olympic gold medal winner Melvin Stewart for a check made payable to him personally. In a response to these news, Trembley sent the following statement via his lawyer:
“For the past several years, I have been treated for depression,” Trembley wrote. “More recently I have struggled with substance abuse and addiction to fantasy communications with others through the Internet. … I continue to seek and receive treatment and have been substance- and destructive behavior-free for 2012. … I deeply regret any harm leveled on anyone. … It is a beautiful day and it is great to be alive.”
Read wbir.com, knownews.com and SwimmingWorld Magazine.