John Kapp claims to have found a little piece of the Caribbean off the Sussex coast, about the size of a football pitch and above a foot deep, where he has been swimming for up to three-quarters of an hour in just his swimming trunks in what should be icy waters. He says the water there is about 20ºC (68ºC), and the reason for it being so hot is the nearby Shoreham power station. Read The Argus.
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Abandoned swimming pool turned street art in tribute to Johnny Weissmuller
“In 1929, Johnny Weissmuller inaugurated the Molitor swimming pool in Paris. This wonderfull art deco building is planned to be destroyed in 2012. This giant collage is a giant tribute to the olympic champ aswell as a bridge between this golden era and today.” 12oz via Upper Playground
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CC photo #24: Pál celebrates winning the 2007 IIGA Rhodes 1500 freestyle
Pál Joensen happy after winning the 2007 Natwest Island Games 1500 freestyle on the Greek island of Rhodes. His time was 15:48.25 (short course meters), ahead of Guernsey’s Jonathon Le Noury in 16:11.23 and Jersey’s Samuel Fernandes in 16:21.16. He also won the 200 and 400 freestyle in 1:53.60 and
15:48.254:00.23 respectively.
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Polar Plunge raises $6,100+ for Special Olympics
Saturday January 21, 2012, the 2nd Law Enforcement Torch Run Polar Plunge raised a bit more than $6,100 in pledged donations to the Michigan Special Olympics, when 60 people jumped through a big hole in the ice on Goguac Lake. Air temperature 20ºF (-6.7CºC)), water temperature a bit ‘warmer’ 30ºF (-1.1ºC). See BattleCreekEnquirer.com.
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60-year-old Blomquist logged over 500 miles in 2011
It had been 38 years since Nancy Blomquist had swum a single stroke when she picked it up again in 2007, and she couldn’t even swim one length when she started. She had always lived an active lifestyle but didn’t pick up swimming until she was almost forced to four years ago. A knee injury stopped her from biking and walking at about the same time she retired from her full-time job of 18 years, so she joined the Masters Swim Program at Peak Sports Club in Loves Park, Rockford, and now she’s one of the long-distance swimmers for her age group in the U.S. Her advice is simple:“I just kept working at it and working at it,” Blomquist said. “But 90 percent of this is just showing up. You just gotta keep showing up.”
Good motto … let’s hear this song once more !
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Lance Armstrong 5:08.11 in the 500 yard freestyle yesterday
Longhorn Aquatics was hosting its New Year’s Classic, and Lance Armstrong decided to drop by. The seven-time Tour de France champ finished 7th in his heat and 21st overall, clocking a time of 5:08.11, in what he on Twitter said was his first race in 25 years. Read and watch YNN.
[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/#!/lancearmstrong/status/160842882511667200″]
[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/#!/lancearmstrong/status/161110102735196161″]
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Behold, Bartal’s Google Fusion ‘London 2012 national teams listing’
Bartal has run my OQT spreadsheet through Google Fusion, resulting in this world map listing all swimmers from each country that have reached the Olympic Qualification Times (in individual events) as of January 17th, 2012, and only the two fastest in those cases where a country has more than two reaching the OQT in an event. A sort of ‘virtual national teams’ listing, provided that the countries would indeed choose these swimmers, based on results only until now, and that no-one had to sit over due to injury or doping sentence or whatever. And totally ignoring the possibility of additional swimmers invited by FINA after reaching the lesser OST-standard.
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CC photo #23: Pál being tested at the Kalev Spa in Estonia
Pál Joensen being tested at the Kalev Spa in Tallinn, Estonia, by Rein Haljand, Ph.D, Professor of Kinesiology at the Tallinn University. I highly recommend the service of Mr. Haljand, used by LEN for competition analyses since ‘forever’, and by a multitude of national teams for technique analyses. I also recommend the Kalev Spa facility, as a nice 50 meter pool connected to a hotel that for instance focuses on being asthma- and allergy-friendly, in a cosy city based around the medieval-looking old town, listed on UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites list.
The ‘runner’ is Haljand’s son and technique analysis assistant, Holger.
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Dolphin has ball removed while awake, as they can only breathe when conscious
In this otherwise a bit silly (and sad) story about how a dolphin in captivity at the Nanjing Andover Underwater World in China swallowed a ball while performing, resulting in a 3-hour-long operation involving rope and hook and burning of the ball, a basketball player with extra long and steel wire … we get this very intriguing information:
As human beings, we breathe involuntarily and if we choose not to breathe, the body will take in air automatically. Whales and dolphins however, are conscious breathers and must decide when to breathe. This means they have to be conscious. Such was the case with Jiang Bo, who was sedated but awake, during the multiple attempts to remove the ball from his stomach.
Dolphin swallows rubber ball and ends up in theatre
Read more here on Digital Journal