Thursday's Swim Report - It's Speedo Season, Speedo Santa Run Season!

Lane 1 - Chicago Pride posts "Most Fabulous Santa Speedo Run comes to Boystown.  Halloween and Christmas converge on Saturday, December 1, when the second annual Most Fabulous Santa Speedo Run comes to Boystown, bringing with it hoards of swimsuit-clad runners jogging a mile through the chilly streets of Chicago's gayborhood.  They expect over 300 to attend the event, which will once again raise money for Vital Bridges, a program of Heartland Health Outreach that strives to help people throughout metropolitan Chicago who are impacted by HIV/AIDS through programs such as food distribution, nutrition counseling and housing coordination."  Meanwhile Project Q Atlanta posts "Smirnoff studs strip for Speedo Run.  Now Calisto Harvalias brings the Smirnoff studs together as an Atlanta Santa Speedo Run team and flaunted their assets on Sunday to benefit the charity event.  The guys will be wearing even less as the Dec. 8 annual event races half naked through Midtown to benefit Cure Childhood Cancer. But before then, the team is raising donations the best, chest-exposing way they know how. And Sunday’s Smirnoff Studs Santa Speedo Party at Blake."

Lane 2 - CNN posts "Blazing a trail for young black swimmers.  On the cinder-block wall in the manager's office of the Adamsville Natatorium are photos of two heroes: Martin Luther King Jr. and Sabir Muhammad.  Here, at this pool in a predominantly black neighborhood of southwest Atlanta, it's easy to see why Muhammad, 36, looms large.  He was the first black swimmer to set an American record. He broke U.S. short-course records in the 50- and 100-meter freestyle and finished his swimming career with seven Pac-10 championships titles, 25 All-American honors and three NCAA, U.S. Open and American records.  But perhaps more importantly, Muhammad helped shatter a myth that black people couldn't swim."

Lane 3 - Herald Sun posts (w/video) "Breaststroke queen Leisel Jones set to announce retirement Friday.  LEISEL Jones, Australia's most successful female swimmer of all-time, is today expected to end her glittering 13-year career.  Jones, who equalled Ian Thorpe's Australian record as a nine-time Olympic medallist in London this year, will announce her retirement at a press conference at Brisbane's Valley Pool this morning.  Amazingly Jones will end her career with a record almost identical to Thorpe with as many Olympic medals, an identical Commonwealth Games record and one extra world championship medal with a tally of 14."

Lane 4 - People posts (w/video) "Hey Now! Ryan Lochte (and His Canine Wingman) Bare All. With the twinkle in his eye and his apple-pie smile, not to mention that fat-free torso, Ryan Lochte is fully-equipped to get anybody's attention. Still, a little extra never hurt.  Meet Carter, a 5-year-old Doberman pinscher and the Olympic swimmer's lady magnet.  "He is a good wingman because he's a beautiful dog," Lochte tells PEOPLE. "Girls come up to me and go, 'Oh my god, where's Carter? He's so good looking!'"

Lane 5 - Bethesda Magazine posts "Katie Ledecky: Bethesda’s Golden Girl.   Katie Ledecky became an overnight sensation at the Olympic Games in London this past summer. And it took the 15-year-old from Bethesda just 8 minutes, 14.63 seconds to do so.  Although Great Britain’s Rebecca Adlington had been favored to capture gold in the women’s 800-meter freestyle, Ledecky dominated her and the rest of the competition—maintaining the lead through 16 laps and breaking Janet Evans’ 23-year-old American record."

Lane 6 - Youtube "Gangloff Making his Mark at Mizzou.  wo-time Olympic gold medal winning swimmer Mark Gangloff is now an assistant coach at Mizzou."

Lane 7 - Australian Olympic Team posts via youtube "London 2012 Olympians visit St Peter's Lutheran College.  Leisel Jones, Rhys Howden and Cate Campbell discussed their Olympic journeys with the students of St Peter's Lutheran College in Indooroopilly, Queensland."

Lane 8- Express posts "OLYMPIC SPECIAL FOR TV'S SUPERSTARS.   IT was staple viewing in the 1970s – and now, 40 years on, the TV hit Superstars is to be revived with a new generation of Olympians.  For this year’s Olympic special, swimmer Rebecca Adlington will mentor the athletes in the pool and pundits will include athletes Iwan Thomas and Denise Lewis.  The 90-minute special will be shown during the festive season on a date yet to be fixed."