A trip back memory lane, courtesy of Bourbon Street Productions
USA Swimming – Rome from Bourbon Street Productions on Vimeo.
-
-
Federica Pellegrini ‘dumped’ by coach Bonifacenti
Warning, my Italian is really lousy (/non-existant), but according to Taiwan News, Federica Pellegrini has split from her coach Federico Bonifacenti, third coach since the death of her former trainer and mentor Alberto Castagnetti in October 2009, adding a quote from her website: “Unfortunately it is not easy to work with me”. Google Translate quotes her for writing on her blog: “I was hoping not to be dumped in 2 weeks from the Europeans, but it’s ok”.
Picture courtesy of Simona Dalla Valle, cc by-nc-nd 2.0
-
This much water !
This much water is enough for an infant to drown in. If you care, share!
-
Man survives bushfire by going scuba-diving in a swimming pool
Now that is a twist on life saving that I didn’t expect: While others in the town of Margaret River, Western Australia fled their homes, Peter Fabrici got his wife to safety and then went back to fire-proof his home. Seeing houses in the distance going up in flames, he donned an oxygen tank and goggles, and jumped into his neighbour’s pool when they got too close. And apparently it worked, the fire didn’t destroy his home, and the scuba-gear saved him as well.
“Without the clear vision and without a clear source of oxygen, there’s no way of staying in a situation like that. But as it turned out, it all worked beautifully and the house is still there and I’m still alive.”
Via Nothing To Do With Arbroath (see video link if the one above doesn’t work)
-
Orcas kill Great White, eat its liver, no news on the nice Chianti
Off the coast of San Francisco, whale-watchers witnessed a stunning act of nature as a killer whale rose to the water’s surface with a great white in its mouth and held it there for 15 minutes, upside-down in a state of tonic immobility, until the shark suffocated. It and another whale then ate the liver of the shark, before leaving the rest to the birds. Bad-ass! Read National Geographic Daily News
-
Strel Swimming Adventures expands to the US
Exciting news, Strel Swimming Adventures have opened a new tour at Lake Powell, Arizona, which looks just great. See www.strelswimming.com for other tours in Slovenia and Croatia as well. Gee, here is something for both me the swimmer and my brother the geologist.
-
Kenrick Monk won’t face charges over invented hit-and-run incident
Olympic swimmer Kenrick Monk has escaped a possible three-year jail term after lying about being victim of a hit and run incident, but has frontline police officers furious, as for instance Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers:
“Swimming Australia now being caught red-handed being complicit in orchestrating Mr Monk out of being charged by police has to be the final nail in the coffin of (its) fast-sinking credibility.”
“The public rightly expect that no one should deliberately waste the time of police, whether they be wannabe B-grade celebrity athletes like this modern day ‘boy who cried wolf’, or just regular people.”
“What this decision to not charge Mr Monk shows is that a very clear double standard is alive and well in Australia.
“It appears Swimming Australia has succumbed to the hypnotic allure of trying to win gold medals rather than to be concerned with the calibre of people who will wear the green and gold to represent our once proud nation.”
Read couriermail.com.au and The Herald Sun
-
Otter learns to swim in bath tub
A 3-month-old otter is being taught how to swim and socialize with other animals after he was found alone on a building site in Wales. I just spent 3 hours unclogging our bathtub here at home, so this is very relevant to me :-P
-
Michael Klim makes strong comeback in the 100 free
Despite confusion over his 100 freestyle time, 34-year-old Michael Klim is pleased what he was able to produce in his first competitive race in more than 4 1/2 years, at Swimming Victoria’s Qualifying meet at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre this morning. Klim swam a 100 time-trial as part of the 200 freestyle, officially clocking 51.03 (and then 2:23.30 the full 200), though apparently with the clock not registering properly when he touched the timing pad. His coach recorded 49.80, which they find quite encouraging. Read The Herald Sun and The Australian.
“I was really disappointed that I couldn’t get an official time to my hand, it was only to my feet. But that’s all right, I’ll have another crack at the Queensland state titles. My coach got me a 49.8, which is a good start. The 50sec barrier in my mind is broken, so I can progress from there.
“In terms of the way I raced, and managing my nerves, it was good to be able to get it out of the way.
“Most of the guys here are half my age, that’s the most shattering thing. But it’s really enjoyable racing again.”