Swimmer's Daily

  • During the Shanghai 2011 World Aquatic Championships, fans of swimming were treated to the most extensive exhibition of aquatic memorabilia ever displayed outside of the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Didn’t have time to go see it while in Shanghai, so nice to see a bit of it here.

    ISHOF Shanghai Exhibition from Jarret Streiner on Vimeo.

  • At the recent ASCA Convention in San Diego, during a demonstration of the Endless Pool Elite, GoSwim tested the LifeProof waterproof iPhone case. Nice sci-fi sound while underwater, but that is maybe just the pump.

  • Nice video (and great soundtrack), but as a father of teenage daughters, I’m sure this was one of those days that daddy chose to stay at work, rather than suffer the noise of 20 giggling girls.

    Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Chiron Swim Party from Davey Orgill on Vimeo.

  • Zhang Nan was bathing with live eels to cleanse his skin at a beauty spa in China, when suddenly he felt a sharp pain and realised a small eel was working its way up his urethra and into his bladder. “I tried to hold it and take it out, but the eel was too slippery when held and it disappeared up my (bleep!)”. He had to undergo a three-hour operation to remove the six-inch eel, which turned out to be dead by then. Read more here on Metro.

  • According to the London Evening Standard, the host nation’s cycling and swimming teams are set to miss the extravaganza at the 80,000-capacity Olympic stadium on July 27, meaning that at least 150 of the 550-strong team will not be there. Coaches are worried that the hours-long ceremony, which will finish at 11pm to accomodate US primetime TV, will sap competitors’ energy. British cycling is set to announce an outright ban, while David Sparkles, chief executive of Brittish Swimming says: “It is unlikely much of the team will be there. If a swimmer wants to participate we need to be convinced that it is not going to compromise performance.”

    DSC_2670

  • During (I guess) the San Francisco Bay 10K Bridge-to-Bridge Swim last Saturday, a harbour seal bit John Reichmuth from Berkely so badly that it left a large, gaping wound above his left ankle and punctured four holes in his right leg, just below the knee. “I had my hands on it and punched it, and it was kind of a melee, and then it took off”. But he was actually quite relieved that it was a harbor seal and not a sea lion, because he’s had encounters with them, and “they are huge. They’re like 400 pounds. They look like bears”. Read more here on abc7.

  • Breaking news on Ekstra Bladet: Danish world champion Lotte Friis got her foot stuck during a jump over some booms yesterday, and fell so badly that she afterwards couldn’t move her hand and fingers. It took 4-5 hours to get a diagnosis, while she feared to be out for 2 months because of something broken, but luckily she had only sprained her wrist and some fingers.

    Lotte Friis World Champion - Arena Swimwear

    This is not the first time that she hurts herself during dryland training, as last year she first sprained both her feet during a football (soccer) match in September, and then in November got a concussion from throwing a medicine ball into a wall and then looking away when it bounced back. So no worries, she is used to it, and expects to be back in full training in a few days.

  • Excuse me for saying this, but swimming with a pack of Orcas is just stupid. Those things are intelligent predators that know how to work as a team, and you are not safe even when on a boat, if you are constantly leaning overboard on it. Via Buzzfeed.com.

    Below is a small example of how they can make out a plan, communicate it amongst each other and do some serious teamwork. I guess they would hesitate attacking humans … but if not, you would be toast compared to the seal.

  • Actor David Walliams today finished his 140-mile swim (225km) of the River Tames, raising more than one million pounds ($1.58 million) for the charity Sport Relief during this eight-day challenge. In unusual cold, windy and rainy conditions (even in British standards), enduring a serious stomach upset and severe exhaustion, while still managing stuff like rescuing a drowning Labrador. Read more for instance here on the BBC and the Guardian.

    “I was hit by rowing boat oars, attacked by swans and got covered in insect bites from all the bugs that live in the weeds. It was also very, very cold,” he said before embarking on the charity swim.