From an event we arranged for kids in Sørvágur, when Pál Joensen and Jón Bjarnason were enroute to the South African Championships in 2010. They unfortunately have no swim club there, yet, so we tried to inspire. That kid in the Manchester United hat points to (approximately) where they were going, and to Australia and the Melbourne 2007 World Championships.
Touching article here on Aftenposten, in Norwegian but worth running through Google Translate. I’ll translate a few excerpts here, as well as I can:
His eyes could seem heavy and sleepy. They possibly become that way by being opened at 5 AM every day and spending countless hours in the pool. But his head was alert and his stare intense when he started telling the story of a frog. Maybe this was the mystery that he solved for us right there and then: How can a boy from the sea on the west coast, in a country almost without pools, become the best in the world in a sport that everyone masters?
– Have you heard about the frogs? They try to jump up on a pole, again and again, but no one reaches the top. They slide down every time. Every day people walk past and say “Frog, forget it.” Most of them give up eventually, but one doesn’t. One day it is at the top. The human comes by and asks “Frog, how did you accomplish that?”. But the frog doesn’t answer. Do you know why? Because the frog was deaf.
…
OK, her breaststroke technique is not 100% perfect, but wow, the colors and the wildlife.
Sprinter Josh Schneider talks about what he’s looking forward to most in Omaha this summer and how he plans to handle distractions at the the Olympic Trials.
These team videos just get better and better, footage from the 2011 and 2012 swimming seasons of Allegheny College, using really interesting angles.
Bruce Hayes won America’s hearts at the 1984 Olympics by winning an unexpected gold medal as last man on the U.S. men’s 4×200 freestyle, but there’s more to his story.
Beautiful London flyover footage taken by aerial photographer Jason Hawkes. Via PetaPixel.
Interesting article here on Mashable:
“Ricky Berens is a world-class athlete, but he’s no Michael Phelps. The two teamed up to help the United States win a relay swimming gold medal at the 2008 Olympics and will probably both participate in the 2012 Games. But outside the pool their lives couldn’t be more different.” …
“You’re not getting all the TV time, so you have create your own story,” Berens told Mashable in an interview. “Social media gives me a chance to do that.”
Berens began boosting his social presence, primarily on Twitter and Facebook, about a year ago with consulting help from the new media marketing company Spiracle Media. Since then, he’s says he’s secured sponsorship deals with BMW, Got Chocolate Milk and TYR. Those deals were made possible by a number of factors, but Berens says he’s sure his social media efforts played a crucial role.
Read more here on Mashable
A chilling site for London residents, the British military rolling out Rapier surface-to-air missile systems on a field in London. Via Geekosystem.
Speaking to the Associated Press, retired Dutch Navy captain and director of the Wiser defense consulting firm Jan Wind had this to say about the Rapier system:
“When you launch a Rapier missile and shoot down an aircraft, it’s not like the whole thing vanishes. It’s 100 tons of metal, scraps, and other stuff that is coming down […] If a Rapier is used, the damage could be just about the same as the intentions of the terrorist — only on another spot. The goal of the terrorists will be met in a certain sense[.]“
According to that video, ‘the military insists that the measures are prudent and proportionate to the threat’. Struggling here to see how that is supposed to comfort us.
