Natalie Coughlin, Rebecca Soni, Dana Vollmer and Missy Franklin demolishing the women’s short course meters 4×100 medley world record with a time of 3:44.55 at the 2011 Duel in the Pool in Atlanta, Georgia. Old record was 3:47.97 from the Duel in the Pool in 2009.
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The Duel in the Pool 2011 in 21 seconds
Finally, the Duel in the Pool online for also us Europeans to see. Could you slow it down a bit, please ?
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SeaWorld killer orca Tilikum is sick
One of SeaWorld’s most famous and controversial killer whales is ill, male orca Tilikum who killed veteran trainier Dawn Brancheau in February 2010. He has been allowed to participate in performances since the incident, mostly to splash audience members with his enormous tail, but no trainer has been allowed to swim in the water with him. Tilikum has a history of violent behavior, with a 20-year-old trainer dying while working with him in 1991, a 27-year-old homeless man dying from jumping into the pool with him in 1997, and then Brancheau being killed in 2010. Read Florida Today and My Fox Orlando.
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Christmas came early, a gift from the Big River Man himself
So I got in contact with Strel Swimming after blogging about their exciting swimming holiday trips in Slovenia and Croatia, and it turns out that ‘Big River Man‘ Martin Strel’s son Borut is also an IT geek professional. Go visit their state-of-the-art webpage www.strel-swimming.com, and notice that there is a special offer on their Slovenian Lake Swimming adventure until 16th January, 2012. I’ll go watch my DVD, signed by Borut and the Big River Man himself, and dream of long swims in cool Slovenian waters :-)
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Building of the Duel in the Pool 2011 Arena
Now that is a lot of effort put into what ultimately ended as a 181.5 – 80.5 trashing of the Europeans (hey, I’m European, I’m allowed! :-)
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Shameless promotion of Faroese knitwear (and women)
Warning, this post has absolutely nothing to do with swimming, but everything with where I and my brother Bartal come from. You might have heard about the sweater in the Danish award winning TV series ‘Forbrydelsen’ (‘The Killing’), it is Faroese from Guðrun & Guðrun, while the knitwear in this video is designed by Jóhanna av Steinum (and friends). -
Ian Thorpe has left it a year too late, says Denis Cotterell
Leave it to legendary coach Denis Cotterell of Grant Hackett and Sun Yang to say what many have thought, that Ian Thorpe is too late with his comeback. Via The Australian.
“”He’s trying to pack into a year what in reality is a two-year assignment. No matter how good you are … he’s been out of swimming for nearly six years and that’s a long lay off. You can stay fit and healthy but that’s a lot different from having a competitive edge at the top level of the game.”
(Ian Thorpe is trying to be realistic too, it is more the media that has gone mad)
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CONI president Petrucci (now) praises Pellegrini
You might remember the story about Italy’s olympic committee president, Gianni Petrucci, mocking Federica Pellegrini for declining to be flag bearer at the London 2012 opening ceremony because of competition the day after, calling her immature and saying “to carry the flag is not the Way of the Cross”. Well, they’ve made up since then, with Petrucci now praising her as ‘one of Italian sport’s monuments’. Read AGI.it.
“We recently met and hugged at an award ceremony at the Aniene club. She is one of Italian sport’s monuments and the whole country expects great results from her. I will always support her.”
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Oussama Mellouli talks to Tunisia Live about the revolution
Interview with Tunesian world champion Oussama Mellouli about the Jasmine revolution about a year ago. In English.