Swimmer's Daily

  • After years of COVID disruptions, bushfires, and floods, plenty of Australians have been hitting the beach this summer and enjoying the water. But surf life savers say they’ve made thousands of rescues in a matter of weeks, with most drownings occurring at unpatrolled beaches. This report from Hannah Bowers and Emily Jane Smith.

  • Some of America’s fastest swimmers are in Knoxville this week and hundreds of athletes and national team members are making waves at the TYR Pro Swim Series.

  • As the wild weather eases across the country “unsuitable for swimming” signs are also going out at many popular beaches, and as Demelza Leslie reports it is a sign of what’s to come with global warming.

  • The University of Florida is making sure its newly hired president, former Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska can dive into the job: It is spending $300,000 to build a new swimming pool behind the stately mansion where Sasse will live with his family, the school confirmed.

    Construction on the expensive addition to the 7,400-square-foot, four-bedroom mansion – provided to Sasse at no cost – started in November and is nearly complete, ahead of his first day as UF’s new president on campus next month. Beyond a perimeter fence, mounds of dirt and pallets of pavers were set to the left of the house, promising a finished pool in the coming weeks.

    A university spokesman, Steve Orlando, said Sasse did not ask for the pool to be built and provided no input over its design. Sasse had no pool at his family’s home in Fremont, Nebraska. Orlando said the estimated $300,000 to cover its cost came from the mansion’s donors, John and Mary Lou Dasburg of Key Biscayne, and other private sources he did not identify.

    The university decided last year, shortly after Kent Fuchs announced he was retiring as UF’s president and before Sasse emerged as the finalist to succeed him, to add the pool to the residence, Orlando said. The university’s original, smaller president’s house also had a pool.

    It wasn’t immediately clear why the new pool for Sasse was so expensive, or how much it will cost the university to maintain. The average cost for an in-ground residential pool in Florida is just under $60,000, although features such as tanning ledges, beach entries, hot tubs, lighting, gas-fired heating systems, and more can increase design and installation costs.

    See 10 Tamba Bay

  • A group of midwives in Northumberland have a secret to their ongoing determination and positivity: sea swimming. Wind, rain, or shine, they venture to the Northumberland Coast and unwind in the waves. We interviewed them and found how this is crucial in order to destress after a hard day’s work. Using our drone and underwater camera housing, we followed them into the water to capture these health professionals in their element.

  • It’s been dubbed ‘Sydney’s first city beach’ after a ban on swimming at Barangaroo Reserve’s Marrinawi Cove was lifted. Guardian Australia went to test out the waters in the heart of the CBD and found the cove teeming with swimmers and even some snorkellers. It’s the first swimming spot to open in 50 years west of the Sydney Harbour Bridge as water quality improves in what was once a heavy industrial maritime site. A shark net is in place to allay fears of an encounter with one of the many bull sharks in the harbor and there are showers to wash off the water after a dip. The new swimming area is aimed at improving access to the water for more Sydneysiders  Water worlds: the magic of New South Wales’ ocean pools

  • A tiger shark has been filmed close to swimmers at a popular beach in Perth, Australia.

    In stunning aerial footage, the shark can be seen weaving between two apparently oblivious people close to the shore at Mullaloo Beach.

    Toby Nicol, who shared the video, said lifeguards “quickly jumped in their buggy and sped down the beach to evacuate the water” after being alerted.

    According to Sky News, the beach was then closed due to the shark sighting, for the second time in less than a week.