Sigh, number one is Dreams Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Well at least my dreams are for free ! :-)
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Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies features new exhibit
Interactive and with 12 different types of sharks that you can face to face with. Available only for a limited time at Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
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Pool chlorine tied to lung damage in elite swimmers
Competitive swimmers who train at indoor chlorinated swimming pools may have lung changes similar to those seen in people with mild asthma, according to an international study. Researchers from France and Canada compared lung tissue and breathing test from 23 elite Canadian swimmers whose average age was 21, to 10 mild asthmatics and 10 healthy people without allergies of same age. Swimmers were more comparable to the mild asthmatics and had similar evidence of scar tissue in the lungs, but there is currently no evidence to suggest that these changes will lead to asthma down the line. Read more here on Reuters
(Totally unrelated shot of a baboon at a pool, courtesy of Jo Fleet, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
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Fort Lauderdale Rough Water Swim
The International Swimming Hall of Fame hosts its annual 1 Mile Swim off historic Ft. Lauderdale Beach … and this is how to do an open water swim video !
Fort Lauderdale Rough Water Swim from Jarret Streiner on Vimeo.
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Jump to can Swim
Guys, that stuff is fun right up until you’ve broken your neck
Jump to can Swim from Jump to can Swim team on Vimeo.
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Janet Evans posts 4:17.27 in the 400 free, qualifies for U.S. Olympic Trials
While other comeback swimmers are struggling with regaining form, the greatest of them all, 40-year-old Janet Evans, clocks a 4:17.27 in the women’s 400 freestyle prelims at the Austin Grand Prix this weekend, easily beating the U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying standard of 4:19.39. Read for instance The Washington Post.
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Targett wins the Victoria 100 freestyle, Klim in the Final, Thorpe no 13
Ouch, Friday the 13th for Ian Thorpe …
“Matt Targett walked away with the men’s 100 free crown in 48.71 after watching Ian Thorpe continue to struggle in his return to competitive swimming during prelims. Competing in Australia for the first time since 2006, Thorpe missed making finals in the 200 free with a 13th-place 51.05, which would not have made the Top 150 in the long course rankings last year. Meanwhile, Cameron McEvoy touched second in 49.66, while James Roberts earned third in 49.77. Also on the comeback trail, Michael Klim placed seventh in 50.46 after posting a 50.15 during prelims.”
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CC photo #14: The Faroese flag “Merkið” flying high in Shanghai
The Faroese flag “Merkið” in the midst of the entire swimming world’s forest of flags, outside the Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai during the 14th FINA World Aquatics Championships 2011. I got to touch it for inspection, no silk expert here, but it seemed like the nicest material possible. Called Merkið or ‘The Mark’ because it was put to use during World War II, to help the Allied powers not bomb our vessels while bringing them fish from Iceland. Still lost a third of the fleet to the Nazi subs, though.
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Whale jumps on boat, boat cannot handle it
This is from back in 2010, when a couple on a yacht off the coast of South Africa had a really close encounter with a southern right whale. Suddenly the 60-ton whale jumped out of the water and crashed onto the boat. Read NYDailyNews via bleacher report’s “20 most unimaginable flukes of nature in sports”