1. Universal Sports rewinds the year with "Best of 2010: Five takeaways from swimming."
2. The Sydney Morning Herald is partying like it's 2000, huh? The paper looks back at
Australia's greatest moment of 2010 which just happened to be looking back at 10 years ago and the summer olympics in "Strumming air guitars, swimming the blues: golden days resurface." In looking back I get to post this photo of Ian Thorpe.
3. The Jakarta Globe reprinted an article entitled "No High-Tech Suits in 2010, No Problem in Swimming." The first paragraph states "Sanity returned to swimming in 2010, and if that made for fewer fireworks, there was plenty of pop to be found in the pool from the likes of emerging US star Ryan Lochte and a resurgent China." I don't know I think 2010 was a big problem without the tech suits as the record smashing blitz came to whimper. Maybe all those outcries about the tech suits were with merit?
4. About.com looks at holiday crazy swimming in "Swimming in Hyde Park on Christmas Day!" According to the post "The 100 yards swimming race started in 1864 with a gold medal as first prize but in 1904 the novelist J.M.Barrie presented the first Peter Pan Cup and the tradition has continued. This was the year Peter Pan first appeared in London theatres and the swimming race is now just as legendary." All I can say is "Brrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!"
5. The Daily Telegraph looks at "Top 10 swimming spots." Look at the dragon at the
"Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre is one of Sydney's best spots to cool down on a hot Summer's day." So cool!
6. The Adelaide Now reports on the crazy idea of one swimmer going alcohol free for 2010. "The new year can't come quick enough for Karina Leane. It marks her first alcoholic drink in a year. The former Australian swimmer is coming to the end of a one-year alcohol ban for charity and she's hanging out for that first drink once the clock strikes midnight." All I can say is "Cheers"!
7. ESPN's New Jersey Jets Blog reports "Humphries beat Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps when he was 10…Kris Humphries beat Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps in a race 15 years ago…Humphries, the starting power forward for the Nets, was a standout swimmer when he was young, but told People.com in a wide-ranging interview: “I was so good at a young age [he outraced Phelps when he was 10 years old] that I got a little burnt out."
8. The Bleacher Report released it's "The Sexiest Moments in Sports This Year" and according to the blog "Honorable Mention: Brittny Gastineau and Michael Phelps…When you're a socialite, reality television star and daughter of a former NFL player, people watch your every move. Especially if the paparazzi spot you hanging out with an Olympic superstar, such as Michael Phelps. That said, Phelps and Gastineau is a hot hookup."
9. Take a trip down my lane at Swimming World Magazine's "2010 Swimming World Magazine Covers in Review."
10. Wishing Everyone A Happy New Year. Keep Swimming In 2011! - Joel