the17thman

Speedo USA - Introducing Goal Mapper - Speedo Pace Club

For more information visit http://paceclub.speedousa.com/

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."

SpeedoUK - Swim workout using the Speedo Biofuse Power Paddles

Swimming workout using the Speedo Biofuse paddles to increase distance per stroke rate and improve technique. Hosted by Ben Titley and Liam Tancock

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!

Thursday's Swim Report - Taking The Pool Party To The Streets

Lane 1 - nine/msn posts "Aussie Olympians to get recovery boost.  Australian athletes are set to reap the benefits of a bigger and better recovery centre for the London Olympics, with hopes it can bridge the all-important gap between silver and gold or making the podium at all."

Lane 2 - Evening Standard posts "Power is my secret weapon for London 2012 Olympics glory, says Fran Halsall.  Swimmer shatters perceptions of the stereotypical athlete but has the talent to be Britain’s golden girl of the Games."

Lane 3 - sport24 posts "Road to London: Chad le Clos.  In the eighth in a series of Q 'n A style interviews with South African sportsmen and women ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Graeme Joffe chats to SA swimming sensation, Chad le Clos."

Lane 4 - Houston News posts "Cancer survivor, Olympic athlete featured speaker at CanCare lunch.  At 24 years old, Eric Shanteau was feeling a bit like Superman.  A swimmer with Olympic aspirations, he was in the best shape of his life and feeling the competitive edge as he faced the 2008 Olympic trials.  Then a six-letter word nearly stopped him in his tracks.  On June 19, 2008, Shanteau was diagnosed with testicular cancer."

Lane 5 - SI posts "Phelps discusses early retirement, training, London Games and more."

Lane 6 - Gay Star News posts "Soho Speedo splash!  Our reporter dons a pair of Speedos and hits the streets of London’s Soho – all for a good cause...This summer my swimming club, Out To Swim, is holding a pool party at the Brockwell Park Lido in South London.  As with any community-based organisation, getting the budget right on something like this is essential – not only do we need to sell enough tickets to cover the costs of the event, but we’re raising money (to provide dedicated swimming lessons for people living with HIV and AIDS), so we also need to sell enough tickets to make it worthwhile."  More info at http://www.eventelephant.com/OTSsummerpoolparty2012 .  The Gay Games Blog posts "London Orcas brave the cold streets of Soho to promote coming pool party.  A message from Gareth Johnson from the Out to Swim London swim club:  Well that was an interesting experience!  As part of our PR drive for the Out To Swim Pool Party 2012, our social rep Ming organised a Soho Speedo Splash!  It was the Sunday evening of the May Bank Holiday weekend, and at 19:00 a hardy group of eight OTS-ers assembled at Rupert Street. In the squad were Ming, Ian E, Gareth W, Andrejus L, Tommy T, Stephen L, Tristan G (our official photographer) and myself. It wasn't really until we were all there that it kind of hit me that it was only Ming and myself who had agreed to strip down to speedos, everyone else was keeping their OTS t-shirts (and jeans) safely on…"

Lane 7 - WTSP posts "SHARK ATTACK: German tourist Karin Ulrike Stei in hospital after Vero Beach attack.  German tourist was bitten by a shark at Humiston Beach.  Vero Beach Police report it happened near at 3000 Ocean Drive. Police identified the victim as Karin Ulrike Stei, 47, of Konstanz, Germany. Her bite wounds go from her thigh to below her knee -- eyewitnesses say the shark attack severed her femoral artery and removed a large portion of her upper thigh."

Lane 8 - SI posts "American Olympic hopeful Jessica Hardy is peerless in the pool."

Search for a Speedo Star with Keri-anne Payne

In an aim to inspire the nation to swim, we've launched a national 'Search for a Speedo Star' competition which will give everyday people the opportunity to become an athletic superstar; raising money for Cancer Research UK in the process!

Tuesday's Swim Report - Sonified!

Lane 1 - Mercury News posts "Swim world champ from Norway, 26, dies in Arizona.  Alexander Dale Oen, a world champion swimmer who was one of Norway's top medal hopes for the London Olympics, died from cardiac arrest after collapsing in his bathroom during a training camp in Flagstaff, Ariz. He was 26.  The president of the Norwegian swimming federation, Per Rune Eknes, confirmed the death to The Associated Press in a phone interview on Tuesday. He said it was still unclear what led to the cardiac arrest."

Lane 2 - AZ Central posts "Gary Hall Jr. among inductees into U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.  Gary Hall Jr. confirmed Monday that he has been informed he's among the new inductees into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame."

Lane 3 - The Independent posts "Pools for US Olympic trials arriving in Omaha.  The pieces of the Italian pools that will be used for the 2012 Olympic Swim trials are on their way to Omaha.  Werner Enterprises says the containers holding the pieces of the competition and practice pools are expected to arrive in Omaha in late April. They were shipped from Genoa, Italy.  The pool assembly process will begin inside Omaha's downtown arena on May 25. The trials will be held from June 25 to July 2."

Lane 4 - ESPN posts "McDonald’s to unite world for little while.  McDonald’s, a hamburger shoppe of considerable global renown, is set to open its largest restaurant ever in London for six weeks during the 2012 Summer Olympics. The structure will be 3,000 square meters (9,842 gallons) in size, giving Mayor McCheese more than ample jurisdiction for hawking his vittles…Anyone who can finish 20 McNuggets faster than the men’s 200-meter butterfly gold medal time will be awarded with a flight back to America, as it’s the only country that will tolerate such behavior."

Lane 5 - CBC posts "When swimming becomes a team sport.  For all intents and purposes, swimming is an individual sport.  Even when you're part of a four-woman relay, no one can help you but you once you stand up on those blocks for your leg. During a race, it's just you against the other seven lanes, and that's the way it's been for your entire career. So it's sometimes hard to feel like a "team" when you arrive at a meet as team-oriented as the Olympics."

Lane 6 - NPR posts (w/ audio) "Swimmer's Recipe For Olympic Gold: Add More Fun.  Four years ago, swimmer Rebecca Soni won a gold medal in the 200 breaststroke at the Beijing Summer Olympics. She hopes to add to her medal collection at this summer's London Games, where she'll be competing in three events.  Now 25, Soni looks graceful when she stands at the edge of the pool. And when she jumps in, it seems to take her just a few strokes to get to the other side of a 25-meter pool."  Meanwhile Omaha.com posts "Soni's brilliant stroke.  Rebecca Soni's most vivid memory of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha wasn't winning the 200 breaststroke or making the American team for Beijing.  It was working out in the practice pool inside the Qwest Center when a storm packing 115-mph winds ripped off part of the roof. She and other swimmers were herded to shelter while civil defense sirens wailed.  “That was a Midwest experience,'' Soni said with a laugh."

Lane 7 - Australian Financial Review posts "The tweet smell of sponsorship…Swimmer James Magnussen, nicknamed “the missile”, is another giving regular information that includes nods to his sponsors to his fans via social media. Ever since his star turn at the Australian swimming championships in Adelaide in March, Magnussen has provided regular updates of his relationship with sponsors via his Facebook page.  Magnussen has “liked” 11 other Facebook accounts on his page, mostly sponsors such as Mitsubishi, jac5 clothing, Coles and Speedo Australia. He’s also provided links to a competition run by Mitsubishi for fans to ask questions of Magnussen via Facebook and posted pictures of himself at a photo shoot for equipment maker BodyScience…"

Lane 8 - PR Week posts "Speedo calls in Iris PR to refocus as lifestyle brand.  Speedo has charged Iris PR with refocusing Speedo as a lifestyle choice and moving the brand from the back pages to the front.  The appointment sees the swimming brand part with five-year incumbent Brandnation, which pulled out of the pitch process."

BRENDAN HANSEN, U.S. BREASTSTROKE STAR, SIGNS WITH SPEEDO®

BRENDAN HANSEN, U.S. BREASTSTROKE STAR, SIGNS WITH SPEEDO® Two-Time Olympian, National Team Veteran, and World Champion Swimmer Joins Team Speedo

LOS ANGELES (April 10, 2012) - SPEEDO® USA, a division of The Warnaco Group Inc. (NYSE: WRC), today announced that 30-year-old swim star Brendan Hansen has signed a multi-year agreement with the company through 2013. A two-time Olympian and U.S. National Team veteran, Hansen returned to the pool last year after retiring from professional swimming at the end of 2008. With wins in the 100m and 200m breaststroke at the 2011 ConocoPhillips National Championships and three gold medals at the 2011 Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool, Hansen is making waves on the comeback trail as he aims to qualify for his third Olympic team and represent Team USA in London. - via speedousa.com

Speedo sponsor Keri-anne Payne Q&A

Wednesday's Swim Report - Swimmer's Dunk Speedo Dive Into Adidas

Lane 1 - The Australian posts "Official sponsor's swimsuits rejected.  THE row over swimming suits erupted again yesterday with Australia's Olympic swimming sisters, Cate and Bronte Campbell, criticising the new official Speedo suits as being too slow.  Speaking at the launch of the Australian Olympic competition uniforms yesterday at Sydney Olympic Park, the sisters said some swimmers were worried about having to wear the official Speedo suit rather than the one made by Adidas, which the Campbell sisters believe is faster."

Lane 2 - ninemsn posts (w/video) "Aussie swim star James Magnussen has flown to London on a reconnaissance mission ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games."

Lane 3 - Baltimore Sun posts (w/video) "Michael Phelps checks in for the Indianapolis Grand Prix.  Michael Phelps' surprising decision to swim the punishing 400 individual medley at the Indianapolis Grand Prix on Friday was a topic of discussion today as elite swimmers began arriving for one of the last meets before the London Olympics four months from now.  Phelps, who flew from his Baltimore home Wednesday morning, practiced with a few teammates from the North Baltimore Aquatics Club and then headed to an event at a local Boys and Girls Club to announce an expansion of his charitable foundation's youth programs."

Lane 4 - ESPN W posts "Annika Dries: 'I'm doing my best to keep fighting'.  Annika Dries will be blogging for espnW throughout her training for this summer's London Olympics. Check back in April for more from Annika on the journey."

Lane 5 - The Huffington Post has "I Survived A Shark Attack.  Early one summer's morning, I was taking part in an Australian Navy counter-terrorism exercise, swimming on my back through the waters of Sydney Harbor.  All was going smoothly until suddenly I felt something smack me hard on the leg. I rolled over and looked down... straight into the cold black eyes of a massive bull shark, one of the most ferocious predators ever to stalk the world's oceans…"

Lane 6- Livescience posts "Students' Device Taps Swimming Pool for Power.  Most American teens may see a pool as a chance for a swim or lazy summer relaxation, but one group of California high school students envisions swimming pools as a new source of electricity to power U.S. schools, homes and businesses."

Lane 7 - Waikato Times posts "Swimmer Matt Stanley's trusting parents made their London Olympics bookings early.  Ruth and Kevin Stanley were so confident their son Matt would qualify for the London Olympics that they booked tickets in advance.  "We did have confidence in our child's ability – as parents you have to have faith," Mrs Stanley said.  Late yesterday the Matamata woman left Cambridge for the West Wave Aquatic Centre in Henderson hoping to see her son notch up another Olympic qualifying event at the New Zealand Swimming Championships."

Lane 8 - Marketwatch posts "USA Swimming Announces Partnership with Master Spas®.  Master Spas to provide swim spas and hot tubs to top U.S. swimmers.  As part of the partnership, Master Spas will provide a hot tub and a swim spa for swimmers competing in the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials -- Swimming, which will take place June 25 to July 2 in Omaha, Nebraska; Master Spas will also be a part of the USA Swimming Aqua Zone fan experience in Omaha, which offers its attendees the ultimate swim-fan experience. Master Spas will hold the “Michael Phelps Swim Spa Challenge,” which will enable fans to see how they measure up against the training speed of Michael Phelps in a Michael Phelps Signature Swim Spa by Master Spas."