The outdoor Olympic swimming pool in Barcelona (Piscina Municipal de Montjuïc) boasts stunning panoramic views of the city and costs only £4 to visit. Pro-diver and Barcelona native José Marillo shows us round his ‘office’. Via the Guardian.
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Ian Thorpe relieved to have avoided embarassment
Yup, that is right, 7th spot in a World Cup final is OK if you’ve been out of the sport for 5 years and are participating in a for you ‘weird‘ event. Or as he puts it himself:
“(I was) not as bad as I thought I would be though, I didn’t vomit or anything”
Read for instance Yahoo! Sport, see this recap on 9News and listen to what he had to say yesterday evening.
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World’s Longest Water Coaster: Wildebeest
Looks fun, Wildebeest begins with a conveyor ride up the water coaster’s lifthill. Following the four-story drop at a 45-degree angle, linear induction motors (LIMs) propels the four-person boats up seven additional hills, through two underground tunnels, and around a helix. Wildebeest covers more than two acres; its top speed is 36 feet per second. Wildebeest’s tallest elevation is 64 feet higher than its lowest drop. See Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, Santa Claus, Indiana.
See also
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Ryan Cochrane is Canada’s aquatic athlete of the year
Swimmer Ryan Cochrane and diver Jennifer Abel have earned male and female athlete of the year awards from the Aquatic Federation of Canada. Cochrane captures silver medals in the 800 and 1500 meter freestyle events at the world aquatic championships in Shanghai, and is ranked No. 2 in the world in both events. Via cbcsports
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Girl on surfboard has close encounter with a feeding whale
Yeah yeah, ‘almost swallowed’, don’t believe that bit, since whales have really fine-tuned echolocation systems. If that humpback wanted to swallow her, it would :-)
Via Geekologie
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Forerunner® 910XT: Swim metrics (video)
This is so sweet, and I’m sure gonna upgrade my 4½-year-old Forerunner® 305 runner’s watch with this one, when I get a chance. Via the17thman
Don’t know how yet how good it is at counting the strokes and yardage, but here is someone reviewing the competing FINIS Swimsense Performance Monitor.
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Rebecca Soni visits Wales with Team USA: Britain Bound
Team USA: Britain Bound sent Olympic swimmer Rebecca Soni to Wales Friday, and she soaked up the capital city, Cardiff, from sun up to sun down. Read more here on USA Swimming.
(video moved below the break because it autoplays)
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The Steroid-Dealing, Ecstasy-Smuggling, Dead-Body-Burning Swim Coach
… that parents still want to coach their children. Wild story!
I was told to tread carefully. I was told that the man in the headline above could be litigious, and that he had deep pockets. There’s also the matter of him burning and burying a dead body on his own property… During the trial when this dark detail emerged, an attorney said of this coach: “If he has a conscience, it would be a very hard thing to find.†Fair warning. Careful what you write. I’ll just tread in the facts.
Read more here on Cap & Goggles
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Michael Phelps used to be scared to put his head in the water
There you go, anything is possible: “I started swimming at seven. The first couple of years I was afraid of putting my face in the water. I just wasn’t comfortable. Eventually I just put it in and off I went.” Via 2012olympicsblog.co.uk