Swimmer's Daily

  • The first-ever United Nations (UN) Resolution on Global Drowning Prevention (A/75/L.76) has been passed at the UN General Assembly’s 75th Seventy-fifth session on Wednesday 28th April.

    This is a historic occasion and a sign that the UN is deeply concerned that drowning has been the cause of over 2.5 million preventable deaths in the past decade but has been largely unrecognized relative to its impact. The Resolution was proposed by Bangladesh and Ireland, and co-sponsored by over 25 member states.

    In welcoming the Resolution, the International Life Saving President Mr. Graham Ford AM said, “The International Life Saving Federation welcomes the UN Resolution on Global Drowning Prevention, and expresses its extreme gratitude to Bangladesh and Ireland, all nations who co-sponsored and supported this historic and lifesaving resolution”.

    The UK lifesaving charity, and ILS Associate Member, the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI), has been a driving force in support of the Resolution. ILS wishes to acknowledge their leadership and thank them for their tireless efforts.

    The Resolution invites the World Health Organization (WHO) to assist the Member States in their drowning prevention efforts and to coordinate actions within the UN system among relevant UN entities.

    “ILS commits to working in partnership with WHO, UN specialized agencies including UNICEF and other global, regional and subregional organizations to raise awareness of drowning and increase global drowning prevention action in all regions of the world”, said Mr. Ford.

    The Resolution proclaims 25 July each year as the ‘World Drowning Prevention Day’ to raise awareness of the importance of drowning prevention and the need for urgent coordinated multisectoral action to improve water safety, with the aim of reducing preventable deaths.

    The Resolution affirms that drowning is preventable and encourages all UN Member States to develop drowning prevention programming in line with World Health Organization recommended interventions, namely, barriers, supervision, swim skills, rescue and resuscitation training, boating regulation, and managing flood risk and resilience.

    ILS encourages all Members to review the UN Resolution on Drowning Prevention, draw it to the attention of their members, stakeholders, and communities, and factor its recommendations into their plans and efforts for drowning prevention. The resolution can be found in the six UN languages here: https://www.undocs.org/en/A/75/L.76

    See the press release from the International Life Sving Federation
    woman and three children playing water
    Photo by Yulianto Poitier on Pexels.com

  • “Michael was my hero. I loved the guy, worshipped the guy. And then I had to beat the guy.”

    It’s been nearly 10 years since South Africa’s Chad Le Clos out-touched swimming legend – and his childhood hero – Michael Phelps in the men’s 200m butterfly at the Olympic Games London 2012.

    Le Clos, who recently qualified for his third Olympics in Tokyo 2020, remembers that race like it was yesterday.

    “I wouldn’t trade that moment” for anything, Le Clos said in Episode 4 of Time Machine, an original series that takes Olympians back to their biggest achievements. “If I could go back right now in a time machine, I would do that. I want to do that – for real.”

    See Olympic Channel

  • This week on our Tagline podcast, we unpack one of the great sports ads of the past decade, Droga5’s Michael Phelps spot for Under Armour, made for the 2016 Olympics. We look at how the spot shed new light on the world’s greatest swimmer, how it was expertly concepted and crafted, and how it was ahead of its time in broaching the difficult subject of Olympic athletes and mental health.

    Listen to Tagline

  • Experienced cold water swimmer Joe Kennelly shares how he and his friends Joe (76), David and Kevin safely enjoy freshwater swimming in cold water.

  • A Houston County High sophomore recently beat a US record for Paralympics Swimming.

  • An old swimming pool repeatedly targeted by vandals is now being used to help catch them.

    Police dogs are undergoing training at Bon Accord Baths in Aberdeen, which has lain empty for ten years.

    Officers frequently called out to investigate criminal activity realized the derelict leisure center was the perfect place to put the pups through their paces.

    Trainers use vents in the huge drained pool to plant drug samples for the paw patrol’s next generation to sniff out.

    With great acoustics, lots of different smells and a variety of surfaces, the site is the perfect place for the 16 police dogs to train.

  • Triathlon Scotland are excited to launch Open Water Swim Week, where we aim to engage, educate and empower our community through a series of 10 online webinars with fantastic guest speakers from across the UK. Throughout the week we hope to engage with participants, members, coaches and clubs to educate and inspire on a variety of aspects of open water swimming. Our ultimate aim is to empower people to safely enjoy open water swimming.

  • Bill Sweetenham, 5x Olympic Head Coach of 3 different countries, was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2018. He has led Australia, Hong Kong, Great Britain, and Argentina’s national swimming programs. Great Britain went from just 3 Finals swims to Top 3 in medal count at the Olympics. In his early days he coached the likes of Tracey Wickham, Stephen Holland, and Michelle Ford.

    He has had a hand in an Olympic podium appearance at every Olympics since 1976.