Thursday's Swim Report - More Fun, Less Swim.

It's been a slow swim news week or two around the pool...

Lane 1 - SI posts "Olympics predictions for 2012.  The Michael Phelps-Ryan Lochte duel is too close to call, but if I have to pick now ... it's Phelps, barely. The world's two best swimmers should go head to head in two events -- the 200-meter freestyle and the 200 individual medley. Phelps is the defending Olympic champion in both, but Lochte won both world titles this year, becoming the alpha male of the pool in the process."

Lane 2 - Perez Hilton posts "New Stills From The Next Episode Of Glee!  Seems Sam Evans isn't the only Gleek heading in a new direction. Seems the whole club is getting in on the sycronized swimming action!"

Lane 3 - NewHampshire.com posts "‘Accordion-playing merman’ takes plunge in another swim for charity.  Dubbed the “accordion-playing merman,” Gary Sredzienski, known for his “surf rock” fare, will undertake a sizable swim in January to raise money for the New Hampshire SPCA."

Lane 4 - Mail Online posts "Still going strong: World's oldest triathlete continues to swim, run and bike-ride - at the age of 90.  Super-fit pensioner Arthur Gilbert prefers the swimming pool to the bingo hall - because at the age of 90 he is the world’s oldest triathlete.  While most people his age prefer a gentle stroll, since 1989 Mr Gilbert has raced in more than 40 of the gruelling events, which are made up of a 500 metre swim, a 12-mile bike ride and a three-mile run."

Lane 5 - This is a great video "Swimmer's Unique Tactic to Win Race Hill taylor The Dolphin Man Denied Record" via youtube

Lane 6 - Focus Taiwan posts "Swimming may improve bone resistance to impact: local scholar.  Swimming may be able to improve bone resistance to impact, a local scholar said Wednesday, citing the results of his research on rodents.  Huang Tsang-hai, an associate professor at National Cheng Kung University, said his experiment was carried out on rats that were made to swim for an hour a day, five days a week.  After eight weeks, the rats in the swimming groups showed lower bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC) than those in the control group, he said."

Lane 7 - CHEETAH GATE?  Tampa Bay Online posts "Tarzan co-star Cheetah dies at Palm Harbor sanctuary.  Cheetah the chimpanzee, who acted in classic Tarzan movies in the early 1930s, died of kidney failure Saturday at Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in Palm Harbor, a sanctuary spokeswoman said.  Cheetah acted in the 1932-34 Tarzan movies, Cobb said. Movies filmed during that timeframe starred Johnny Weissmuller and include "Tarzan and His Mate" and "Tarzan the Ape Man," according to the Internet Movie Database."  Meanwhile LezgetReal.com posts "Cheetah Dead At 80 – Well, Not Quite.  The original Cheeta, who appeared in the first two Johnny Weismuller Tarzan movies, was a chimpanzee named Jiggs who was brought to America in 1929 and died in 1938. He was owned and trained by Tony and Jacqueline Gentry. The Gentrys owned several chimps who portrayed Tarzan’s primate companion, including Jiggs Jr.  Gentry created a myth about one of his chimps, which lived at a sanctuary in California, so one of them was alleged to be past 70 years of age.  None of these are the Weismuller chimp who died on Christmas Eve of kidney failure."

Lane 8 - io9 posts (w/video) "Killer whale vs. shark brawl will make you happy to stay out of the water.  Last Tuesday at New Zealand's Tuatapere's Blue Cliffs beach, bystander David Evans witnessed an orca getting into a shallow water tussle with a gang of sharks. The whale was likely herding the sharks toward the shores, where the fish next encountered an overeager pooch."