Swimmer's Daily

  • Andreas Selliaas has written the most touching blog post here in Norwegian. I’ll allow myself to translate most of it here, as well as I can, but if you read this and like it then you should visit that post and tweet it or whatever to pay tribute to the author. Beautifully put, in a very sad way.

    Sleepless: On each side of me my children lie and cry quietly. They cannot sleep. They are very sad. They find it difficult to say what they are thinking. Many thoughts run through their minds. The only thing they know is that they are sad, really sad. So sad that they have to cry and not sleep. My daughter wonders if she can take on everything at the next swim practice. She is afraid of dying. Did Alexander die because he swam too fast? My son says he cannot sleep because he’ll never see his biggest idol again. It wasn’t just Alexander who looked forward to the Olympics. Alexander is the only real idol he’s got, the one he has a passionate relationship to and who did that swimming was accepted among the pals at school. And now he is gone.

    (more…)

  • Haven’t got much strength to write anything yet, so here’s a quick list out of Twitter. Just a quick list where I’ve favorited RIP tweets about Alex, favoriting felt wrong but it was the solution I could find. And the widget won’t let me list more than 20, so here is the rest.

  • Tough one to watch, good that SwimmingWorld Magazine put it out, though.

  • Norway’s Alexander Dale Oen and Iceland’s Jakob Jóhann Sveinsson on top of the Shanghai World Financial Center supertall skyscraper, on a day off at the Shanghai 2011 World Aquatics Championships. So sad today, my thoughts go out to his family, the Norwegian swimming community, especially those who endured those days in Shanghai, you guys over in Flagstaff, and to all his friends around the world.

    Alexander and Jakob Jóhann on top of Shanghai

  • Silver medallist Alexander Dale OenAccording to a press release from the Norwegian Swimming Federation, world champion Alexander Dale Oen was found dead in Flagstaff, Arizona, this morning. He had been talking on Skype to his family back in Norway, just moments before being found lifeless in the shower. They rushed him to Flagstaff Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Everyone is in shock, we’ll probably here a lot more, for now my deepest, utmost condolences from a friend in the Faroes. Aftenposten, VG, NRK, BBC.

    Image courtesy of Helgi Halldórsson, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

    Bartal made this video after his Shanghai win, makes me cry again. Don’t know if it is appropriate or not, right now, but you know we love him. Please tell me it is not true.

  • “This Doberman’s life changed dramatically on the day it figured out she could slide down the water slide into the pool. Dobermans are known for having a lot of energy and this looks like a great way for her to burn off the miles. The owner posted in YouTube that “she enjoys the pool more than I do.” Make sure to watch this one all the way through to catch the dog’s reaction to a change in water flow. She chases it.” Read mmn.com

  • Short raw clip of a surfer taking advantage of the amazing conditions thanks to the Bioluminescence blue waves that hit San Diego back in 2011, read mmn.com

  • This SVT segment discloses from Greg Salter himself, that the Swedish Swimming Federation repeatedly tried to get him to resign, before finally firing him today. Most of the speak is in Swedish, but Salter comments in English, so you’ll understand that part at least. The Swedish journalist goes on saying that the reason for the firing of Salter was primarily because of a growing distrust among the swimmers, where the stars felt a lack of clear leadership, and where the conclusion of the federation points to Salter having failed in motivating the squad. Via www.simma.nu/se

  • Elliot Almond of SJ Mercury interviewing Natalie Coughlin. “If they gave medals for being a foodie, Olympic swim champion Natalie Coughlin would win a gold. She’s even appeared on Iron Chef.”