the17thman

Sunday's Swim Report - Dip Into The Swim Of Things

Lane 1 - Herald Sun posts "James Magnussen does it his way.  JAMES Magnussen has no clue whether he could have been a rugby league star, but he knows the fickle nature of team sport hurt him so deeply it convinced him to become a swimmer.  The 21-year-old will carry Black Caviar-like favouritism into the men's 100m freestyle in London.  Magnussen remains a fan of the game and has been a member of the Canterbury Bulldogs for years. He cherishes a photo of himself, aged 11, with club legend Terry Lamb.  These days he attends most Bulldogs home matches at ANZ Stadium and is embraced by the players in the dressing-room. But he has no lingering doubts about giving the game up. Not when he is king of the pool."  Another from the Herald Sun "Australian swimmer James Magnussen says he wants to race US star Michael Phelps.  JAMES Magnussen has a vision: US swimmer Michael Phelps, standing on the blocks next to him, both leading off for their respective nations in pursuit of gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay in London."

Lane 2 - The Record posts "Mark Tewksbury takes another dip with Olympic team, this time as Canada’s chef de mission.  Now, the 44-year-old is poised to lead Canadian Olympians into London in the role of the team’s chef de mission. In the volunteer position as official representative and spokesperson, he’ll be the No. 1 cheerleader and head of the group tasked with ensuring the country’s athletes can achieve their best."

Lane 3 - USA Today posts "Swimmer Brendan Hansen has thrown out expectations.  The University of Texas grad, 30, got married during his sabbatical and began training for London in January 2011 with encouragement from his wife, Martha. Hansen, who had stayed in shape with triathlon training, won both of his events at last year's national championships.  "He was probably as ripped as he's ever been," Eddie Reese, his coach, said. "He just picked a way of life that gave him a better chance if he did come back. It may have been in the back of his mind."

Lane 4 - The Telegraph posts "London 2012 Olympics: poster girl Ellen Gandy going for gold in home swimming pool.  Who on Team GB can claim they are part of the reason why the Olympic Games are being hosted in London in the first place? Ellen Gandy, who joins The Telegraph as one of our Olympic columnists, was there right at the beginning. London’s commuters will remember the posters imploring the public to back the bid – perhaps the most memorable was one of young swimmers diving off the Thames barrier. There’s Gandy, front and centre."

Lane 5 - NBC DFW posts (w/video) "Olympic Medalist Promotes Water Safety.  Former Olympic swimmer says swimming is only sport that can save your life.  An Olympic gold medalist promoted water safety on Friday at Lewisville Lake.  Neil Walker, a former Olympic swimmer who now lives in North Texas, joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for Water Safety Week.  Walker was a medalist in both the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games, and few people know water like he does."

Lane 6 - Cleveland.com posts "Medina Masters Swim Club competes in Medina Sprint Spectacular."  News Observer posts "Raleigh swimmer Erika Braun, 40, qualifies for U.S. Olympic Trials.  At age 40, Raleigh’s Erika Braun is off to the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials in Omaha, Neb..  But in April, 2011, she entered the U.S. Masters Spring National Championships in Mesa, Ariz., and won four races and placed second in two others.  Other than Braun and Torres, the only competitor older than 40 in the Trials will be Steve West. West, 40, is the oldest man ever to qualify for the Trials."

Lane 7 - MetroWeekly posts "Splash the boys! A Swimsuit Issue Outtake. An outtake from the behind-the-scenes shoot at Metro Weekly's upcoming 2012 swimsuit issue at VIDA's Penthouse Pool Club. The Swimsuit issue hits stands on Thursday, May 24."

Lane 8 - Florida Today posts (w/video) "South Beaches surfer healing after shark attack.  Medical bills total about $8,000 for student who nearly lost pinkie.  Shark bite victim recovering, describes attack: Justin Ellingham won the NSSA college men's surfing title for Florida Tech in April. Four days later, he was chomped by a shark near Melbourne Beach. He has no health insurance."

Wednesday's Swim Report - It's Time For A Swimcation

Lane 1 - Daily Mail posts "Everyone has their Jaws moment! Brit swimmer Payne reveals perils of open water.  ayne herself has encountered dead dogs in China and jellyfish off Melbourne and poor water conditions as well as a field of ferocious competitors.  The 24-year-old admits the event requires a particular type of character and said: 'I think to be an open water swimmer you have to have a certain amount of 'hard' to you. You just have to expect it.  'So many things are thrown at us on so many occasions, you just have to kind of get on with it."

Lane 2 - ninemsn posts (w/video) "Hackett catches up with Olympic stars.  Grant Hackett catches up with a number of Olympic stars, including basketballer Liz Cambage, tennis player Lleyton Hewitt and long-jumper Mitchell Watt."

Lane 3 - Vancouver Sun posts "Swimmer hardwired to win.  Top of the podium is the spot Ryan Cochrane is aiming for at the Summer Olympics."

Lane 4 - NPR posts "She's 100 (Almost) And Still Swimming: Another Centenarian To Admire…Marie Kelleher in Virginia, who at the age of 99 is still setting swimming age-group records. Counted as being 100 because United States Masters Swimming rules "use the swimmer's age as of December 31 for competitions held in 25-meter courses," according to Virginia Masters Swimming, she just became "the oldest known American woman to have competed at a USMS-recognized meet."

Lane 5 - ninemsn posts (w/video) "Going for gold.  Four years ago our synchronised swimming team finished 7th at the Beijing Olympics. When the ladies line up in London, they're hoping for a medal and as TODAY reporter Alison Ariotti discovered they're putting in long days to make it happen."

Lane 6 - Guardian UK posts "Top 10 swimming holidays.  Long-distance outdoor swimming was once the preserve of elite athletes or eccentrics such as 'Big River Man' Martin Strel, but a growing number of us are making swimming the focus of a holiday, be it by joining a boat-supported tour of lakes and coasts, or entering a race abroad. Here's our pick of swim trips to suit all levels."

Lane 7 - All Africa posts "Virgin Active Joins Forces With Ryk Neethling and Chad Le Clos to Develop Virgin Active Swim. Virgin Active launched its latest training innovation - SWIM. Developed by Olympic Gold medalist Ryk Neethling and endorsed by Commonwealth Games and world champion Chad le Clos, SWIM is a coaching programme designed for just about every one - young, old, fit or unfit."

Lane 8 - London24 posts "Leading swimwear brand Speedo announces its Forman’s Fish Island base during Olympics.  Speedo has booked two adjoining suites at the entertainment venue, overlooking the Olympic Stadium, to cater for its corporate guests and swimming stars."

Tuesday's Swim Report - Who Moved The Laneline & Other Tales Of Swimming Zen

Lane 1 - USA Today posts (w/video) "Freestyler Cullen Jones makes teaching swimming a priority.  Cullen Jones almost became a statistic. Now he's a pioneer.  At age 5, he nearly drowned at a water park when his inner tube flipped over at the bottom of a slide.  Cullen Jones almost became a statistic. Now he's a pioneer.  At age 5, he nearly drowned at a water park when his inner tube flipped over at the bottom of a slide."

Lane 2 - ESPN posts "Hansen taking different approach to Games.  At a time when comebacks appear to be all the rage in swimming and the likes of Janet Evans and Brendan Hansen have returned to the pool in the hopes of returning to Olympic glory, there's one man who has decided to stay home. And there's nothing Hansen or anyone else can do about it."

Lane 3 - ESPN posts "Coughlin's run a bit under radar.  There are mornings when Natalie Coughlin is so jazzed to see what's happened overnight in her garden that she goes outside to inspect it while she is still brushing her teeth.  The 11-time Olympic swimming medalist, Cal-Berkeley graduate and Bay Area resident has one bed for strawberries, one for herbs, one for salad greens and another one she rotates seasonally that currently features tomatoes and summer vegetables. She tends her own mini-orchard of citrus, fig and stonefruit trees, and keeps five chickens, three that lay blue-green eggs and two that produce brown."

Lane 4 - The Miami Herald posts "Age now is just a number for Olympic athletes.  Improvements in sports science, nutrition and financial compensation have led to Olympic athletes extending their careers.  Michael Phelps intends to make the 2012 London Games his third and final Olympics while gymnasts Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson hope to be Olympians for the second time this summer. Shooter Kim Rhode will compete in her fifth dating to 1996.  Athlete longevity in the formerly amateur Olympic sports was a major topic of discussion at the three-day U.S. Olympic Committee Media Summit, which concludes Tuesday.  Even First Lady Michelle Obama, who made a special appearance with some of the 110 athletes in attendance, emphasized the importance of making sports a “lifelong habit.”

Lane 5 - NY Times posts "Reaching for Zen With Each Stroke and Lap…But however many of these tales I can recall, I’m no match for a fellow journalist, Lynn Sherr, author of a new book, “Swim: Why We Love the Water.” Ms. Sherr celebrates the culture, history and physical and mental rewards of this ancient sport, second only to walking as the nation’s most popular recreational activity.  Among Ms. Sherr’s eclectic collection of watery adventures was a four-mile swim at age 69 across the storied Hellespont (now called the Dardanelles), the channel dividing Europe and Asia Minor. She earned a medal for finishing in 1 hour 26 minutes 16 seconds."

Lane 6 - Herald.net posts "50-year-old swimmer Olliges makes quite a splash  50-year-old Lake Stevens swimmer Paul Olliges has set his sights on becoming a national record holder.  Paul Olliges of Lake Stevens, turning 50 was an opportunity.  Olliges, a former elite national swimmer, decided he had better things to do than sit around and mourn his 50th birthday last October. So 18 years after he took up triathlons, and five years after resuming a regular swimming regimen, Olliges set out to become one of the nation's premier masters swimmers."

Lane 7 - The Statesman posts "U.S. breaststroke stars Hansen, Shanteau set to renew rivalry.  The U.S. Olympic swim trials are a little more than a month away, but the two competed in Charlotte this past weekend; Shanteau won both the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststrokes, while Hansen was second in the 200 and third in the 100."

Lane 8 - Orlando Sentinel posts "Foundation backs swimming lessons for Broward kids.  The battle to prevent child drownings in Broward County has received a big boost from a local philanthropist — and continued attention from one of its better-known politicians.  The Harry T. Mangurian Jr. Foundation announced Monday that it will be donating $500,000 toward swimming lessons in Broward County over the next three years, with preference toward children 9 and younger who are on free or reduced-priced school lunch programs."

Olympic Triathlete Jarrod Shoemaker and U.S. Masters Swimming

Saturday's Swim Report - Rowdy Swimmers Splash Neighbor's Sweet Dreams

Lane 1 - SI posts "Former Olympian Ervin attempting a comeback after mysterious layoff.  Anthony Ervin isn't revealing everything about the last eight years of his life. The parts he does share make you wish he would…He doesn't know where either 2000 Olympic medal is now after a cryptic eight-year retirement. Ervin resurfaced in masters-age meets late last year.  It's been reported he took up rock music in New York, rode motorcycles and started smoking. He auctioned the Olympic gold medal on eBay for $17,100 and gave it all to 2004 Asian tsunami relief. He simply lost the silver medal. Ervin said he hasn't lived in the same place for longer than nine months over the last nine years. He looks nothing like the 19-year-old baby face from Sydney.  From the top down, his buzz cut's been replaced by unsettled brown curls. He wears black Ray-Ban glasses when not goggled. The silver-looped earrings from 12 years ago are gone, but the piercings haven't closed. And then there are the tattoos."  Check him out now from USA Swimming "Olympic gold medalist Anthony Ervin talks about his reasons for getting back in the pool 12 years after his trip as a member of the Sydney Olympic team as well as what he hopes to gain from this experience." via youtube

Lane 2 - Fox Sports posts "We are the country of Hall Jr. and Mark Spitz, Matt Biondi and Johnny Weismuller, who are the legends of the speed events in swimming. Now the Australians and French are faster. This is blasphemy. Sprinting should be our Olympic domain given our propensity for short attention spans and immediate gratification. We are the country of drive-thrus and TiVo-ing through commercials. We speed date and speed read. We like everything fast and preferably faster.  So why aren’t we better at this?  This is the question Olympic hopeful Nathan Adrian and I were discussing on the pool deck a couple of weeks ago at a meet in Indianapolis. There are two things you need to know about Adrian:  1) He’s America’s best hope to medal in the sprint events in London.  2) He’s pretty awesome in that laid-back, Cal-student, swimming way of not quite realizing just how good he is."

Lane 3 - Canberra Times posts "Speedo designer lets trip the kite fantastic.  Peter Travis is best known for designing the Speedo ''budgie smugglers'..The internationally-known designer will display his kites at the Belconnen Arts Centre from May 18 to June 10."

Lane 4 - Rock Bridge Weekly posts "Small Team, Big Finishes.  atrick Bradley, Jenny de Hart, Pieter de Hart, Hank Mierzwa, and Deanne Moosman, members of the Stonewall Masters Club in Lexington, Virginia, swam in U.S. Masters Swimming 2012 Spring National Championship, April 26-29, 2012, at the Greensboro Aquatics Center in Greensboro, North Carolina. This is the first year that Stonewall Masters competed on the national level.  The U.S. Masters National Championship is held annually and this year was comprised of 173 clubs, which included over 1,800 swimmers from across the country."

Lane 5 - "Canada's 2012 Olympic Swim Team - Mother's day" via youtube

Lane 6 - Herald Sun posts "Swimmers' urine to blame for 500 fish deaths, Germany fishermen say.  "Swimmers who urinate in the lake are introducing a lot of phosphate," fishermen's spokesman Manfred Siedler told Bild newspaper. "We're calculating half a liter of urine per swimmer per day."

Lane 7 - Reuters posts "Australia to host 2014 Pan Pacific championships.  Australia will host the next edition of the Pan Pacific swimming championships in 2014 in a still to be determined venue in the state of Queensland, Swimming Australia said on Friday."

Lane 8 - The Capistrano Dispatch posts "Residents, JSerra and Swimmers at Odds.  Daylight is barely an hour old by the time Belinda “Bee” Eschenwald begins swim practice…Out of respect for the residents, Eschenwald, with her feet flush with the pool’s edge, bends down from her waist to whisper her instructions to her pupils…"  Seriously the more I read the article the nearby residents of the pool/school seem like a bunch of crank pants.  "It’s non-stop…The weekends are really bad, and they go until 8 to 8:30 at night.”  Yeah 8:30 at night is non-stop!

Tuesday's Swim Report - Swimmer's Got Talent!

Lane 1 - STV posts (w/video) "Britain’s Got Talent: Olympics themed synchronised swim inspires Simon.  A quartet of synchronised swimmers brought out Simon’s patriotic side as they took to the water.  Aquabatique, made up of former international synchronised swimmers for Great Britain – Emily, Zoe, Jazmine and Elizabeth – performed in their outdoor “human aquarium” in the pouring rain for the Britain’s Got Talent judges."

Lane 2 - The Sydney Morning Herald posts "Nick D'Arcy fulfilled selection criteria: AOC.  Even if Swimming Australia had struck a deal with Nick D'Arcy, it would not have guaranteed him a place at the London Games, the Australian Olympic Committee says.  Swimming Australia has denied allegations made by former swimmer Simon Cowley that it agreed to include D'Arcy in future teams after he allegedly threatened to sue the body for excluding him from the 2009 world championships."

Lane 3 - Diana Nyad posts "Got Ensure? Diana Nyad Xtreme Dream 2012" via youtube.

Lane 4 - Juneau Empire posts "Olympic champ Gaines plunges into Pillars series.  Masters swimmer Rowdy Gaines has maintained his love of the sport and drive to compete three decades after winning three Olympic gold medals.  “It’s the continued passion,” Gaines said."

Lane 5 - Arena & Swim Outlet posts "Day In The Life - Janet Evans" via youtube.

Lane 6 - MSNBC posts "New ad gives Olympic (and regular) moms their due.  When you think of Olympic heroes, you think of those gold-medal winning performances. That record-setting swim race. The lightning-fast relay. The nerve-wracking penalty kicks that resulted in goooooaalll, and victory.

But a new ad from Procter & Gamble puts the spotlight on an entirely different  hero: The Olympic mom. The ones who got up earlier than everyone else to feed and drive their little athletes to pre-dawn practices for all those years."

Lane 7 - nine/msn posts "Australia's Sharks shooting for gold.  Australia first competed in the Olympic men's water polo when the Games were last in London in 1948 and are yet to win gold in the event."

Meanwhile, The Washington Post has "FINA announces water polo draw at London Olympics, groups defending champion Hungary with US.  Swimming governing body FINA has announced the draw for water polo at the London Games, grouping men’s Olympic champion Hungary with the United States, Serbia, Romania and host Britain."

Lane 8 - International Business Times asks "Shark Attack: Would You Dare Dive to Save a Dead Mate’s Body from a Killer Shark? Friends of an Aussie man who died while free-diving off Moreton Island in Queensland did not need much time to second guess themselves on whether they would retrieve their mate's body in the ocean. They jumped in to dive down 24 metres despite being aware that the shark that attacked their friend was circling their friend's dead body. They were determined to not leave their mate on the sea floor."

2012 U.S. Masters Swimming Spring Nationals - Day 4

http://www.usms.org/comp/scnats12/ Day 4, the final day of the 2012 U.S. Masters Swimming Spring Nationals. USMS Executive Director Rob Butcher and Eney Jones brings us great interviews with Families and Friends who come together for this event as well as coaches giving us their insights on the meet.

2012 U.S. Masters Swimming Spring Nationals - Day 3

http://www.usms.org/comp/scnats12/ Day 3 of the 2012 U.S. Masters Swimming Spring Nationals. USMS Executive Director Rob Butcher and Eney Jones brings us great interviews with Legendary coach turned Masters Swimmer David Marsh, Olympian Cullen Jones and more from the Swim MAC team, as well as Jeff Roddin and Family while Eney finds out "What's in your swim bag?

This is my favorite video so far as a few of my ol' swim mates are featured. 

USMS Nationals AllStar Men's 200 Free Relay

At Masters Nationals, here is Nick Brunelli, Josh Schneider, Cullen Jones and Coach David Marsh swimming in the 200 Free Relay

2012 U.S. Masters Swimming Spring Nationals - Day 2

http://www.usms.org/comp/scnats12/ Day 1 of the 2012 U.S. Masters Swimming Spring Nationals. USMS Executive Director Rob Butcher and Eney Jones brings us great interviews with Olympian Amanda Beard, inspirational swimmers, masters world record holders and we get live audio from coach Scott Bay as he instructs his swimmers.