Swimmer's Daily

  • Haenyo literally means ‘sea women’, and is a centuries old tradition on the island of Jeju, 53 miles south of mainland Korea. Women diving for conch, octopus, urchin and abalone, because if their men did it, they’d have to pay taxes, and that wouldn’t make it profitable. The reason for them being mostly grandmas today, is because it unfortunately is a dying trade.

    Imagine, 17 meters down, holding your breath for two minutes each time, having to be able to ride a wave for 3 meters, if you want to be called a real ‘haenyo’. Only once a day, but for 7 to 8 hours :-)

    A Haenyeo Grandma, Seafood Diver of South Korea

    Kuriositas via Neatorama

  • At the 2011 Golden Goggles yesterday evening, two-time Olympian Ryan Lochte capped a stellar season by winning the Male Athlete of the Year and the Male Race of the Year award over Michael Phelps, while teenar Missy Franklin won the same two female awards. Read The Washington Post.

    The Female Athlete of the Year Award

    Female Athelete of the Year Melissa Franklin 2011 Golden Goggles Award Show

    The Male Athlete of the Year Award

    Male Athlete of the Year Award Winner Ryan Lochte 2011 Golden Goggles Award Winner

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  • I like every bit of this video, except maybe that guy in the beginning messing up the speech because of having had too much wine during dinner :-P

    Perseverance Award Winner Peter Vanderkaay Golden Goggles Award Show

    Watch more videos on USA Swimming’s YouTube channel

  • Peter Busch, host of The Morning Swim Show, speaking with Chad Le Clos about choice of new car and stuff now after winning 23 gold medals and some US$ 146.000 on the FINA/Arena World Cup 2011 circuit.

  • Crazy, WADA has now declared the British Olympic Association (BOA) “non-compliant” with the WADA Code, which means that the host nation is technically unable to compete at London 2012. The row is over CAS/WADA lifting the ‘Osaka Rule’ that bars from the next games anyone who has served a doping suspension of 6 months or more, and Great Britain insisting on maintain a lifetime ban for own drug cheats. The WADA decision was made yesterday, and now BOA takes it back to CAS. Read SwimNews.com., The SportReview and The BBC

  • Mexican freediving champion Estrella Navarro Holm describing the pleasures and challenges of her sport. With English subtitles.

    ESTRELLA NAVARRO MEXICAN FREEDIVING CHAMPION (click CC for subs)

    She’s a looker, by the way, as in hot d***

  • Soccer players are applauded for doping, while cyclist are censured for it, 2006 Tour de France winner Óscar Pereiro claimed on the Spanish television show “Punto Pelota” this weekend.

    “Giovanella tested positive, Gurpegui, Guardiola … And all are because they take an energy complex. If a cyclist takes it, he has doped. Everyone at San Mamés, Balaidos, Barcelona shouts ‘innocent’ and I have to put on a mask to walk down the street.”

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  • Warning, no pool shot this time. Follow them like crazy on Facebook. See also behind the scenes day one and two.

    SWIM – Behind the Scenes / Day Three from SWIM. – Short Film on Vimeo.

  • This spooky footage was taken on October 21 by a stationary Fisheries camera at a popular dive spot knows as D9 in Cockburn Sound, Western Australia, where a sunken barge lies 3km offshore in 12m of water. The camera was set up to monitor snapper spawning, but shows a big great white circling four times within just a meter of it. It was posted on the WA Divers website and YouTube, but removed a few days later, and now local divers post angry comments, saying they should have been told of the shark sighting. Department spokepeople say that local council rangers and Water Police were alerted, but not the general public, because the creature was a long way offshore and posed no immediate public hazard. Read more here on PerthNow