Swimmer's Daily

  • ‘Swim For Melissa’ volunteers transformed JayCee Way into a ‘Miracle Mile’.

  • The news hit Kennedy Gilbertson like a tidal wave.

    The 2019 Stevens Point Area Senior High graduate had just returned to the University of Iowa campus in Iowa City on Friday and had moved in to her near-campus housing to begin her sophomore season as a member of the Hawkeyes’ women’s swim team when she learned of the school’s decision to discontinue the sport.

    Three other sports – men’s gymnastics, men’s swimming and diving, and men’s tennis – were also cut due to funding issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The school said the four programs will have the opportunity to compete in their upcoming 2020-21 seasons, if the circumstances surrounding COVID-19 permit, before they are discontinued.

    It all left Gilbertson in a precarious position with regards to her future. 

    “I’m sitting in my empty room and I was like, ‘What am I going to do?’ ” Gilbertson said in a phone interview Saturday. “There’s no way to prepare for that.”

    Read Stevens Point Journal

  • Swimmers (athletes), coaches, parents this channel is for you!

    I will be uploading WEEKLY videos about coaching, workouts, competitions, meditation. I will explain and share with you my personal experiences and things that I have learned and shared already with my swimmers that will help you understand better how you can be better not just in the water but in anything you do in life.

  • It is a Southern Ring-neck Snake. Characterized by mostly gray or black coloring, the Southern Ring-neck usually has a red, yellow or orange underbelly in addition to the ring around its neck. It is a non-poisonous snake that subsists on earthworms, slugs, small frogs and other garden pests. When handled, these snakes rarely bite, though if startled, they may curl up and coil their tails to show off the bright warning colors of the scales on the underbelly. These snakes are small, usually no more than 10 to 15 inches long.

  • Some 1,700 swimmers swam from Asia to Europe in the 32nd edition of the Bosphorus Cross-Continental Swimming Race in Istanbul. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the race was held without spectators this year.

  • In this short documentary The Swimming Club, UK directors Cecilia Golding and Nick Finegan offer a sweet yet staunch defence of the importance of safe spaces, in this case the pool used by the London Trans and Gender Non-conforming Swimming Group (TAGS). The film profiles several members as they describe how swimming together – including wearing the swimsuits of their choice without prejudice – has allowed them to find a sense of freedom and ‘serene power’ that rarely exist in the world outside the pool.

    The phrase ‘a safe space’ emerged from the women’s and LGBT movements of the 1960s and ’70s, and has since been taken up by a broad swathe of identity-based communities. But it has also increasingly been viewed with derision by those who think that it represents an overly sensitive culture.

  • The purpose of Torpedo Push-Offs is to help develop kick technique by developing a balance between propulsion and drag reduction. With one hand on top of the other and both arms extended above the head, push off wall about 2 feet under the surface of the water. Kick hard and intentionally with long straight legs until you are out of breath then stop (big toes may even rub or tap each other). The goal is to travel at least 10-25 yards. This type of kicking is very taxing and only recommended for sprint swim events. Swim back to the wall with a normal freestyle stroke and focus on minimal effort with the kick and legs.

    Helpful Tidbits:

    – Keep your body stretched long and taut from fingertips to toes.
    – Keep the core and lower back tight.
    – Maintain a hard and fast kick as long as possible with pointed toes.
    – Maintain long straighter legs and smaller yet quicker kicking.
    – Toes can even be pointed slightly inwards (pigeon-toed).