Swimmer's Daily

  • It was only this season that 20-year-old Jack Marriott started to train seriously, increasing from 3 to 6 sessions a week, while studying engineering at Oxford University. He had swum a little when he was younger, but this was only his 2nd time competing in long course 50 butterfly, when he on Sunday became British champion with a time of 24.33, best time in Britain this year, and 6th best time ever. His very first attempt landed a title as British university champion, with a time of 24.56, qualifying him for the 2011 British Gas Championships. Britons don’t accept non-olympic events as qualifications for Shanghai 2011, but tomorrow there is the 100 butterfly.

    Here is a video with the swim and following interview (at approximately 8:52)

  • According to USA Today, marketers of genetic tests claim that they can predict if kids are born to be elite athletes. Some customers say the test results help them steer their children to appropriate sports. But skeptical doctors and ethicists say the tests are putting profit before science and have a much greater price tag — potentially robbing perfectly capable youngsters of a chance to enjoy activities of their choice. Read USA Today.

  • With Teradek Cube you can stream directly from any camera in HD quality via Wifi, Ethernet or 4G to Livestream.com, no laptop required. It is small enough to be carried on top of your camera, and still encodes professional grade H.264, using only 2.5W of DC power, which can be from a battery pack. Type in Lifestream username, password and channel using the Cube’s WebUI, and you can go live by pushing a single button. Price approximately $1600-2100, depending on model, including 1 month’s Lifestream Premium subscription. Works with Ustream too.

    Cubeâ„¢ native integration with Livestream.com from Teradek on Vimeo.

  • High quality segment here from the British Gas Swimming Championships, with Rebecca Adlington, Gemma Spofforth, Hannah Miley, Liam Tancock and British record breaker Kerri-anne Payne.

  • On February 24, 2011, Iranian President Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated the National Academy and West Asia Development Swimming Center. This complex contains two 50-meter swimming pools, one indoor and one outdoor with warm water, a diving pool, a 25-meter warm-up indoor pool, ten saunas (steam and dry), ten jacuzzis, ten hydrotherapy swimming pools as well as a dormitory for 300 persons, a restaurant and meeting room for up to 400 persons. The complex was completed with US$20m only in ten months and it is a record-time in Iran. Source: fina.org.

  • Jan Jeppesen executive editor of Amager Bladet lunges out against the his fellow Danish press in today’s editorial, stating that even though Jeanette Ottesen won an European silver medal last summer and a World bronce this winter, she only gets DKK 10.000 (appr. USD 1867) a month from Team Danmark and struggles with finding additional financial sponsors, because her brand is so weak. She could earn more if she participated in shows like Dancing With The Stars, but has chosen to focus instead on the Olympic Games in London 2012, which will then be her last.

    That Ottesen is a bigger name in Sweden, Australia and USA is maybe not surprising, as danish media has grown immune to clearing broadcast channels and newspaper front pages when a Danish swimmer wins a World Championship medal, while gladly using user licens money on 6 hours of buildup for a soccer match. Jeanette Ottesen’s example is not unique. Ambitious and serious athletes drop out because they cannot ‘sell tickets’ as involuntary comedians in prime time. In the old days – and that is not so long ago – Danish sport stars could clear broadcast channels and newspaper front pages. Back then the media had the energy to focus on the sports content.

    Jeanette Ottesen on the podium in Dubai

  • A Sportsvibe TV interview with Mark Spitz at the Laureus Awards in Abu Dhabi, talking about passing the baton to Michael Phelps, and discussing the upcoming Thorpe vs Phelps. They also talk about the famous moustache.

  • A segment here from the national Faroese news broadcast “Dagur & Vika” this evening, where Jón Bjarnason coach of Pál Joensen dismisses rumors that the planned 50 meter pool of their hometown Vágur in the Faroe Islands will be ‘too cheap’, and counters with saying that this is true regional development, not only focusing on elite swimming, but also on helping for instance arthritis patients with spa facilities.

  • 57 percent of Danish kids have never had any kind of formal swimming instructions, according to a study released by Børneulykkesfonden (Children’s Accident Foundation). The municipalities decide if swimming shall be part of the physical education in schools, but still parent expect their kids to automatically learn to swim there. Michael Aller chairman of RÃ¥det for Større Badesikkerhed (Council of Greater Swimming Safety) has difficulties with understanding this, for as he says, if you don’t learn English, German og French, you can always learn it later, but if you don’t learn to swim, you can drown. Source: 24.dk.