Sunday's Swim Report - More Ho Ho Ho Speedo Running

Lane 1 - TampaBay.com posts "Second-annual Santa Speedo Run draws 130 participants.  The chance to raise money for charity brought a lot of people out to Clymer Park on Saturday afternoon for the second annual Santa Speedo Run. The sun and nearly 80-degree weather helped, too.  The run, the biggest so far with 130 participants, raised more than $30,000 for kids affected by HIV or AIDS."  The Capital posts "Santa sans pants: Speedo, bikini-clad joggers run in event.  There were absolutely no thongs allowed, but few other rules in effect regarding wardrobe for Saturday's Santa Speedo Run.  So, wearing only pair of red, skin-tight boxer briefs trimmed with white fur and a pair of suspenders, Jon Rovendro fit right in on Main Street in downtown Annapolis.  They were there to take a 1-mile jog around downtown, including a turn around City Dock, for the charity event to raise money and collect toys for Toys for Tots."

Lane 2 - Fox Sports posts "Lochte ready for his own Olympic glory.  Which is why in December, in the meat of the NFL season, I am in Atlanta. I am here to watch the most interesting man in the swimming world. At least he is to me. This disclaimer is necessary because I am not talking about Michael Phelps, the most accomplished man in swimming, the biggest name and quite possibly still the greatest swimmer going at the moment.  But Phelps is not in Atlanta. There are theories as to why he has been a little reclusive on the pre-2012 London Olympic slate, but really, there's just one reason. And his name is Ryan Lochte. And he is why I am in Atlanta in the middle of football season."

Lane 3 - Fox Sports posts "Ian Thorpe struggles into 10th placing in the 200m freestyle at the Italian Winter Open.  Five-time Olympic gold medallist Ian Thorpe endured a second disappointing outing on his return to long course swimming after a six-year absence when he was 10th in the 200m freestyle at the Italian Winter Open."  Sydney Morning Herald posts "London still in Thorpe's sights - don't write him off, says patient Nugent.  IAN THORPE'S comeback is not on life-support, nor are his London Olympic aspirations in tatters, according to the national head coach, Leigh Nugent, who said such suggestions were ''ill-informed''."

Lane 4 - Delco News Network posts "Sports Flashback: Remembering Delco Olympian Carl Robie.  With the recent passing of Olympic gold medalist Carl Robie, I thought it would be appropriate if I ran an article I wrote about Robie back in 2007. The following is that column as it appeared in Town Talk on June 27, 2007.  Besides winning a silver and gold medal at the Olympics, Carl was a holder of five world records and 22 national championships. Two of those world records came in separate races on the same day in August of 1962. He also captured a total of nine AAU titles, two NCAA championships and a Pan American gold medal.  Carl Robie was truly one of the greatest Olympians our county has ever produced."

Lane 5 - Only in Berkeley!  Berkeleyside posts "A “funeral” for a much-loved Berkeley swimming pool.  Berkeley’s Warm Pool at the Old Gym on the Berkeley High campus filled with swimmers Wednesday night for probably the last time ever, as scores of pool loyalists gathered for a mock funeral. The Old Gym is being shuttered and is slated to be demolished in 2012. Above is a video shot last night, which includes some images taken of the pool in use on other days. It is by L.A. Wood. Robert Collier, Co-Chair of the Berkeley Pools Campaign, filed the report.  Hanging over the Warm Pool debate is a wild card — a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, in which Warm Pool swimmer Terry Cochrell is seeking an injunction to keep the pool open and operating until a replacement pool is provided. A ruling is expected later today."

Lane 6 - The Bay Citizen has "Swimmers to Protest America's Cup by Occupying the Bay.  Members of the Dolphin Club object to plans for big boats and a giant floating TV screen.  As they have been doing since 1877, members of the Dolphin Swimming and Boating Club plunged into the water. About a dozen swimmers, clad only in regular swimwear — no wet suits — did laps from their beachside clubhouse to the other side of the cove and back.Now some of the club’s 1,200 members believe the city needs an attitude adjustment — and they intend to do exactly that by disrupting plans for the coming America’s Cup yacht races in 2012 and 2013.  Specifically, the swimmers object to a proposal to transform this tranquil cove into party central for the races, complete with a floating giant TV screen. The plan has received preliminary approval.  Evoking recent citizen uprisings on Wall Street and elsewhere, the Dolphins have named their protest Occupy the Bay."

Lane 7 - Huff Post has "Babies Swimming Underwater (PHOTOS) Forget attachment parenting. At London Baby Swim, parents are letting go in a big way. They're teaching babies, as young as six weeks old, to somersault, float and even dive underwater.  Terrifying? Maybe. But, founder and instructor Phil Shaw tells nervous parents that babyhood is a perfect time to get comfortable in the water."

Lane 8 - NINE posts "Multiple shark sightings close to shore in Western Australia's southwest have forced the closure of some beaches.  Surf Life Saving WA (SLSWA) says Bunbury and Dalyellup beaches were closed on Sunday morning after eight sharks were sighted between 30m and 50m offshore in the area."