Swimmer's Daily | Fast Fix Blog About Swimming

Cayman’s Brett Fraser receives kudos for brain power

Jun 10, 2011

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by

rokur

in Fun

Two-time NCAA swimming champion and OlympianÂ Brett Fraser from the Cayman Islands has now also earned recognition as an Academic All-American. To be considered for that award, a student-athlete must have achieved a cumulative GPA of at least 3.30, be at least a sophomore academically and be a starter or key player on the team. Brett was named to the third team after achieving an impressive 3.43 GPA in finance, also making it onto the academic honor roll three times.

â€œCongratulations to Brett. He is the ultimate role model. Not only is he pushing the limits with his swimming, but he is showing every aspiring student that academics neednâ€™t lag behind,â€ Sports Minister Mark Scotland said. â€œWe are proud to have someone like Brett represent us on the world stage and wish him well for the future.â€

Read CaymanNewsService and gatorzone.com
This is how swimmers do pushups (!)

Jun 10, 2011

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by

rokur

in Training

Yeah yeah, we are slow and dorky and have no balance. Kudos Wolverines !
Polarized filters are perfect for water shots

Jun 10, 2011

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by

rokur

in Technology

If you want to take photos through surface glare into water, or just want to cut down surface glare, you are going to need a polarized filter. This otherwise beautiful video doesn’t demonstrate exactly that perfectly, so I added a comparison photo that demonstrates it better. By the way, you can get the same effect by wearing sunglasses with polarization, which might explain why so many swimming coaches use them. Via PetaPixel.

Polarizing Filters for Photo and Video from Olivia Speranza on Vimeo.
Someone trying out the new Michael Phelps video game

Jun 10, 2011

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by

rokur

in Fun, Technique

The 17thman has found this video of someone from gaygamer.net trying out the new “Michael Phelps: Push The Limit” game for Xbox 360 with Kinect. My comment is ‘Oh, the humanity, look at those elbows!’ Seriously, if the game allows you to keep up with the world’s best with that technique, then it is more a matter of getting as many as possible to think that they could be there, than to teach anybody anything.
The London 2012 Aquatics Centre is getting there

Jun 9, 2011

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by

rokur

in Competition

Webcam photo from the interior of the London 2012 Aquatics Centre this morning, see the most recent photo here.
Behind The Goggles: Ryan Lochte’s Playlist

Jun 9, 2011

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by

rokur

in Fun

Ryan Lochte talks to USA Swimming about what’s on his playlist. iPhone 4 user alert, with frame case for that extra phone calling functionality. Via the17thman.
Mare Nostrum Canet is LIVE on Sport+

Jun 8, 2011

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by

rokur

in Competition

French channel Sport+ is transmitting LIVE from Mare Nostrum Canet 2011 at this moment, as a TV broadcast and maybe even as a live stream here on sportplus.fr (where I get a “Nom de domaine interdit” / “No domain name” error message in the player window). There also seem to be more dodgy solutions like this one, which I’m quite sure are illegal and therefore not to be used.
Tragedy results in free swim lessons at Shreveport pools

Jun 8, 2011

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by

rokur

in Safety, Training

A Red River tragedy that led to grief and public outcry has resulted in free lessons to teach children how to swim, thanks to a grant that enables Rock Solid Athletics Club to offer 1000 spaces for free lessons at 5 Shreveport city pools. The concept of free lessons was initiated after the August 2010 tragedy in which six teenagers stumbled into a big sinkhole in the shallows of the Red River and, being unable to swim, drowned. Even with this huge amount of free spaces, the club currently has a waiting list that surpassed the limit by 200 spaces. Read more here on shreveporttimes.com.
The strongest fish lead the school

Jun 8, 2011

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by

rokur

in Nature

Fish swim in schools partly to evade predators and partly to improve their chances foraging for food. Until now, it was thought that these groups were egalitarian structures in which all members benefited equally in food terms, regardless of their position. But a study published on Wednesday in Proceedings of the Royal Society B shows that the position of a fish in the school depends on how physically fit it is. The fittest swim at the front, where they get the pic of the best food. Sounds like human swim training to me, only our swimmers don’t get fed while swimming in the pool itself. Via guardian.co.uk.