1. US Masters Swimming tweets some record breaking swims "Rowdy Gaines (52) blazes a 21.36 in the 50 Free…Men's 100 Breast was #Fast! Ed Moses (30) 53.44, Jeff Commings (37) 55.12, Robert Strand (65) 1:07.71 all USMS National age group records…More USMS National Records in Men's 200 Back! Nelson Silva, Chris Stevenson, Tom Barton and Bob Miller! Miller is 81 went 3:03.89, Amazing…Patricia Murphy (60) swims 29.82 in the 50 fly for a NEW USMS Natinoals Record…Congrats Mathew O'Brien and Josh Davis for Breaking USMS National Records in the 50 Fly (22.09 & 22.26!)…Even without the suits, records are going down. Congrats to Carolyn Boak, Charlotte Davis & Lawrence Day in the 400IM!"
2. From USA Today "USA Swimming partners with child protection firm. USA Swimming is working with a company that specializes in child protection to produce and distribute educational material about athlete protection to its 300,000 members. The national governing body has partnered with Praesidium and will offer the education program free to athletes and their parents. The education program is required for USA Swimming's 30,000 non-athlete members, including coaches and officials."
3. Michael Phelps via Facebook released "5 new photos to the album Shooting with 505 Games today...my video game comes out in June!"
4. The Capital reports "Pasadena swimmer sets mark…Nancy Brown of Pasadena set a United States Masters Swimming and FINA world record in the women's 75-79 100-yard backstroke at the Albatross Open in Bethesda recently."
5. Old news sorta new again. WBAL 11 reports "Phelps Promotes New Swimming Video Game. Game Is Controller-Free…The swimmer stopped by the Baltimore Hilton on Thursday to offer a sneak peak of the game called 'Michael Phelps: Push The Limit.' The game will hit stores in June."
6. BREAKING HEADLINE HUMOR from SCAQ Blog "Thorpedo arrives at Abbey." But sorry folks it was only Westminster Abbey and not the WeHo Abbey!
7. From Gatorzone "Thirty-Three Gator Swimmers and Divers Named to 2010-11 SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll…The University of Florida swimming and diving program placed 33 student-athletes on the 2010-11 Southeastern Conference Winter Academic Honor Roll, announced Thursday by SEC Commissioner Mike Slive. The UF men’s program placed a league-high 19 swimmers and divers on the list, while the Gator women had 14 athletes selected. In all, a total of 395 student-athletes were named to the roll, including 44 from UF, tied for the second-most selections in the conference."
8. io9 reports "How masses of swimming fire ants capture oxygen bubbles to stay afloat…How masses of swimming fire ants capture oxygen bubbles to stay afloat One ant sinks in water, but a bunch of them? It turns out they can link together and become an unsinkable life raft. New research shows that when fire-ants are dropped in water, they quickly form a pancake-shaped floating mass, which traps air beneath them."
9. From Go Swim "All Strokes - Math. In a world where we calculate most things (like money) on a 100-based scale, athletics brings the need for a new type of math, the 60-based scale." Anyone who has swum with me knows some days my math skills are not so great. Okay my math skills are horrible!
10. London 2012 Posts "Photos of the week: London 2012 mascots visit Tower Bridge." Okay with the Beef Eater hats on they look less like walking sperm.
BONUS - Wahoo! Joystiq reports "Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games headed to Wii and 3DS." As someone who owns the Bejing and Vancouver editions I can't wait to play the London version. The games aren't realistic but lots of fun. I still always seem to come in last during the swimming events!
