Swimmer's Daily

  • A decision will have to be made by the end of next month as to whether next year’s Island Games go ahead, according to Guernsey’s chief minister.

    The Channel island is hosting the event, which is currently set to be held from the 3rd – 9th July 2021.

    See Energy FM

  • A man jumped onto a great white shark and punched it to save his wife when it attacked her at a beach in Australia.

  • That old cliché about the Southwest—“It’s hot, but it’s a dry heat”—is so firmly rooted in Arizona that when it’s muggy outside, locals are wont to demand an explanation. In Phoenix, they have been known to blame artificial lakes and swimming pools for unwanted humidity.

    “Like folk wisdom everywhere, this line of reasoning is widely accepted as true because the evidence seems overwhelming,” the Arizona Republic wrote in 1985. “In short, so the theory goes, excessive use of water has ruined the quality of desert living.”

    The idea is more than a little paradoxical. Pools and lakes are supposed to offer some relief from summer heat. Could they actually be making Phoenix more miserable? It’s an apt question during the city’s hottest summer on record. Just on Friday, the mercury there soared to 117, tying the highest temperature on record in August.

    For decades, scientists have investigated how land-use affects Phoenix’s blistering desert climate.

    In the 1980s, scientists at Arizona State University looked into the matter, charting measures of humidity over time. If pools were changing the air’s moisture content, the city should have grown more humid as it developed. But their analysis found that humidity hadn’t actually risen at all.

    “Many residents thought atmospheric moisture was increasing due to the increase in golf courses, man-made lakes, and swimming pools,” Sandra Wardwell, lead author of the 1986 analysis, said in an email. But that idea was wrong, she said. If anything, absolute humidity had actually declined.

    Read The Washington Post
    two women in swimming pool
    Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

  • A missing teen swimmer was taken to the hospital in critical condition after being rescued from the American River on Saturday, the Sacramento Fire Department said.

    The department said the female swimmer was pulled from the river near 28th and B streets shortly before 9:15 p.m.

    A witness on the scene said the swimmer was a teenager and fire officials were able to confirm she is 17.

    See CBS Sacramento

  • An experienced free diver who explored the waters at Lynn Canyon last weekend has now returned a lost item that he found at the bottom of a dark pool.

    Christopher Samson, a certified freediver, posted a catchy video online of his trip to Lynn Canyon. The narrated video includes footage of him and his young family as they made their way down the canyon trails, as well as underwater footage that he and a diving partner took during their exploration.

    While he was filming his underwater dive, Samson’s flashlight happened upon something unusual.

    “I went down and scooped it up and realized it was a top-model GoPro 8, the brand new one that was just released,” he said.

    He tucked it inside his wetsuit, and when he got home, found a trove of footage. The camera contained video of a young man cliff-jumping at Lynn Valley.

    See CTV News

  • As children who have been cooped up indoors seek refuge in the waters this summer, water safety becomes all the more important. That is why twin brothers Torrence and Thurman Thomas of Texas are providing free swimming lessons to kids, years after Thurman himself almost drowned. Janet Shamlian reports.

  • The coronavirus pandemic has forced many athletes to find unique ways to stay in shape while training facilities are shut down due to public health measures — and at least one celebrity is lending a helping hand during the situation.

    In a new piece for the New York Times, five-time Paralympic medalist Rudy Garcia-Tolson reveals that Californication star David Duchovny has been allowing him to use his home’s pool to train.

    Garcia-Tolson, 31, said that in early July — after reading a previous Times article about the athlete’s efforts to find a place to train — a rep for Duchovny reached out on Instagram.

    “[The message] was from a woman who said she worked with the actor David Duchovny, telling me to get in touch with her about finding a pool to train in,” the swimmer explained. “She gave me his number and told me to reach out. When I did, he told me he had a 25-meter, one-lane pool in his backyard. I was welcome to use it whenever I wanted. I just needed to give him a little notice.”

    And so the Paralympian — who was born with popliteal pterygium syndrome and is a double above-knee amputee — took him up on the offer. He’s used Duchovny’s pool 12 times, sometimes chatting with the star, 60, but often just getting straight to business.

    Read People

  • It could be dangerous this weekend in waterways around western Washington as people seek refuge from the heat.

    There are a few swimming locations around the Seattle area, like Magnuson and Madison parks and Green Lake’s West Beach, where lifeguards are staffed. However, statistics from the American Red Cross show 63% of people swim in places without a lifeguard present.

    Some communities around western Washington are not using lifeguards in swimming areas because of budget concerns or to promote social distancing. The Red Cross is concerned that not having a lifeguard could be a factor that leads to more drownings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Another issue is that many swim schools are closed, and people will not have access to improving or learning how to swim. The Red Cross moved its water safety and CPR classes online during the pandemic.

    See King5

  • While the temperatures soar into the triple digits, it’s no surprise to find people drawn to the water at the Elk Grove Aquatics Center.

    “Kids need a place to cool off, get some exercise. So this is great,” said Lou Crofoot.

    Nicole Curran is not the only parent wanting to get the kids out of the house.

    “We’ve been able to socially distance and the lifeguards have gone over and beyond to keep the community safe,” said Curran.

    See CBS Sacramento