Reuters: Olympic swimmers see gold in inertial navigation system!

Maintaining momentum is the key to pacing and fast swimming - mistakes off the walls, not breathing efficiently, or an asymmetrical kick may be subtleties that go unnoticed.

The Swiss, being Swiss; (read as a culture that is infatuated with cataloging time, money and doing things efficiently. i.e. Rolex, Swiss banks, Swiss army knives),  created the Physilog III, a diagnostic tool filled with gyroscopes, and sensors that send real time data to the their Borg Commander, coaching staff.

From GizWatch:

"... By strategically placing gyroscopes and accelerometers that relay real-time data back to the team on the poolside, the swimmer will get instantaneous data about his speed and coordination along with every other vital stat that will micro-manage his swimming style and help shave off that extra fraction of a second. And as we all know, that could well be the difference between a gold and a silver on an Olympic stage.

There has also been a special snorkel like device created that will measure the swimmers gas exchange ratio and help improve breathing technique as well. ..."

[Link]

Athlete attorney clarifies Samsung lawsuit

Sounds like the US Olympic Committee is about to lose a sponsor? Athletes in this lawsuit are from California where the law protects them. I wonder if other athletes will be excluded due the type of civil laws in their respective states?

God Bless California but here is a thought, why isn't USA Swimming advocating for these athletes since they indirectly fall under their national governing body umbrella? Either their face is red or they supported this sort of exploitation in the first place.

From Business Week:

Richard Foster, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, took issue with Samsung's statement that it "followed USOC procedures in communicating with the athletes" and that "the athletes have had the opportunity to voice their opinions on the program and to control their participation."

Foster said Samsung's procedures "consisted of sending an email to some of the plaintiffs, in which they were told of the Genome Project and advised that they would be a part of the project unless they `opted out.'"

He said several of the athletes returned the opt-out letter saying they didn't want to participate, but were included anyway, while others deleted the email without reading it.

"The project clearly sought to induce sales of Samsung products and sought to build the athletic community around its brand," Foster said.

[Link]

Above Caroline Burckle, one of the plaintiffs

Samsung Lawsuit: USOC seemingly crosses the line and swiftly backpedals - will remove offended athletes from Samsung Facebook app.

USOC spokesperson, Patrick Sandusky, suggests that if the USOC uses an Olympian's likeness they first ask them for permission and if they don't give an answer, they presume the answer is a YES!

 From Bloomberg Businessweek:

"... USOC spokesman Patrick Sandusky said the USOC and Samsung began the Olympic Genome Project so Americans could find connections with U.S. athletes and not as a way to commercialize athletes' names. 

"We have honored the requests of the athletes who have filed suit to remove their names, as we offered to do months ago, and of course we will remove any athletes that do not wish to be listed," he said in a statement Thursday. ..."

[Link] 

If an athlete out there has a copy of the lawsuit brief, please send it to me so I can publish it. I think it would be both a fascinating and educational resource as to how a national governing body franchises your likeness and at what price they procure.

More information on the Olympians versus Samsung lawsuit

Background: 18-Olympians are suing Samung for including their images, likenesses, identity, etc, etc, within a Facebook app without their permission. Samsung is an official U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) sponsor which led me to believe that the USOC may have licensed these athletes to Samsung without their permission.

It appears by the quote below that Samsung most likely had the U.S. Olympic committee's permission. I acknowledge that I may be reading more into the quote but Sumsung seemingly references a procedure via the USOC. The article does include more information about the Facebook app as well.

 From Bloomberg Businessweek:

Samsung has followed the U.S. Olympic Committee’s procedure to communicate with athletes, who had the opportunity express their opinions and make a decision on whether to participate, the Suwon, South Korea-based company said in a statement today.

[Link]

This reference from First Post points to a California Civil Code that suggests the athletes may have legal standing despite any agreement that was signed with the USOC.

From First Post:

The athletes claim the app violates a section of the California Civil Code which makes it unlawful to use without consent another's name, voice, signature, photograph or likeness for commercial purposes.

[Link]

Now this gem from The Economic Times - Samsung will remove the athletes from the app but stated that they are "disappointed" by the lawsuit. I call this a gem for their measured tone and the fact that they may have been assured that everything was all right since the athletes never responded to Samsung before the app was launched

From The Economic Times:

"We have honored the requests of the athletes who have filed suit to remove their names, as we offered to do months ago, and of course we will remove any athletes that do not wish to be listed," Sandusky said in a statement Thursday.

A Samsung spokesperson said the company was "disappointed" by the lawsuit.

[Link]

This is my question and it is not a rhetorical question either: Does the USOC or USA Swimming force athletes to surrender their likeness and such so it can be commoditize and licensed out to the highest bidder? If so, are these athletes forced to sign or they can't swim or receive a stipend?

Here is my three-thousandth post to this blog - "thirteen Olympic swimmers are suing 'Samsung' over a 'Facebook' App

I can't steal the heart of the article but Samsung has a Facebook app that is at the heart of this legal matter.

If Samsung did this to me, I would sue too. 

From the Washington Post: "...Along with Spitz, Evans and Louganis, 13 other swimmers [...] Amanda Beard, Jessica Hardy, Dara Torres, Jason Lezak, Cullen Jones, Eric Shanteau, siblings Caroline and Clark Burckle, Brooke Bennett, Kristy Kowal, Kim Vandenberg, Aaron Peirsol... " 

[Link]

Now here is the burn - did the USA Olympic Committee sell them out? Samsung is an official partner. Did the USOC allow their their names or otherwise to be used?

Jessica Hardy Video: Hardy starts off the blocks like a "boss!"

Priority PR, an L.A. based public relations firm sent me this video after reading my Jessica Hardy post. Normally I don't publish press releases but the quality of the video is quite excellent and I felt compelled to share it. My favorite part is watching Jessica Hardy dive of the blocks. Watch and you will see that Jessica Hardy starts off the blocks like a "boss!"

200m Free: Can Phelps repeat in London? - The previous four winners could not.

Superstition or biological in nature, the last four men; (excluding Michael Phelps), to win gold in the 200m Free at an Olympic games were not been able to defend that title in a subsequent Olympics. Will Michael Phelps break that trend?

Here is the list:

4. 1992 - Evgeni Sadovyi, Russian: Dominated both the 200m Free and the 400m Free

3. 1996 - Danyon Loader, New Zealand: Also dominated both the 200m Free and the 400m Free

2. 2000 - Pieter van den Hoogenband, Dutch: Dominated the 200m Free and the 100m Free

1. 2004 - Ian Thorpe, Australian: Dominated the 200m Free and the 400m Free 1. 2008 - Michael Phelps, American: Dominated EVERYTHING!

Phelps and Yannick Agnel own the fastest times in this event if you include the past year.

Carved in stone: Jessica Hardy is eligible for the 2012 Olympics if she so qualifies.

The IOC is going to let Jessica Hardy into the 2012 Olympic Games if she qualifies. For background on the original positive drug test see this link: [Link]

From The Los Angeles Times:

 "... Though the AAA found that a sanction longer than a year's suspension would be "disproportionate to the facts of the case," Hardy still had to wait for the IOC executive board to determine her Olympic eligibility for 2012.  

 It came almost a year ago when the IOC ruled she was eligible and Hardy said in a statement that she was "ecstatic the IOC has recognized my unique situation and that the rule [Rule 45] does not apply to me. ..." 

[Link]

A couple of years ago I would have said she should be indefinitely suspended. She endorsed a product by a supplement company that was allegedly "dirty" according to the NCAA and she should take responsibility for what she ingested. How often have we heard, "you are responsible for what goes into your body so watch out." However, with that said, I am waffling....

Swimmers make SO LITTLE MONEY that one has to ask what does a national governing body; (International Olympic Committee), have to gain by DQing a swimmer over a drug that barely registered in her test samples and was so minute it probably did nothing to increase her abilities and perhaps even hindered her?

Swimmers are exploited to an amazing degree and I don't mean just the Olympians. Even the 12-to-14-year-old girls and boys on the pool deck are as well as they send in their dues to USA Swimming so an executive or two can make nearly a million-dollars-a-year and yet provide little in return.

[UPDATE] I want to qualify the above statement. Simply putting on competitions for USA Swimming kids to possibly qualify for the Olympic Games does not justify the salaries the top execs make. I say that because less than 99.999% of these kids will make the team. When a swimmer has no chance at all at making the national team, why should they have to pay any dues? Why not simply pay meet entry fees? Perhaps the LSCs should carry their own insurance too?

Hence, I don't want to see a swimmer get ruined after spending about 20-years in the pool in all sorts of weather busting her ass trying to get on the Olympic team and then lose it all over a questionable test.

CBS Market Watch: "USA Swimming Partners with Social Intelligence Corp"

USA Swimming is playing hardball now with background checks. When one thinks of a back ground check they usually presume a simple criminal and/or employment history... Not these guys. 

What Social Intelligence Corp does is search through any publically accessible social networking sites, which includes posts one has made to the comments section of an article, posts made to any forum, newsgroups, blogs, etc, etc, etc. so as to catalog potential sticky topics like racism, legal transgressions, or otherwise.   

From CBS Market Watch: 

"... Social Intelligence can assist local member clubs in conducting social network and media searches to gain greater insight into the professional and personal conduct of those entrusted with the safety of club members. "The purpose of providing resources and recommendations on providers is to help clubs conduct a thorough pre-employment screening for potential employees," said Susan Woessner, USA Swimming's Director of Safe Sport. "Social Intelligence Corp. provides expertise in the social media space, and could serve as an excellent addition to a club's hiring process. ..." 

[Link] 

A writer for Gizmodo.com subjected to himself to a background check from the same provider and the results were eye-opening. His article entitled: "I Flunked My Social Media Background Check. Will You?" is a wake-up call for some and a reminder to others why one should watch what they post online.

Apparently, this particular writer had an enormous online presence and subsequently posted early, often and unmeasured. read as 'way unmeasured.' His online profile was not flattering to say the least.

From Gizmodo.com: 

"... We ran background checks on six Gizmodo employees, including our editor in chief Joe Brown, and all but one came back clean. When it doesn't find anything incriminating on a potential employee, it simply issues a notice that the employees passed (see below) and doesn't generate a file 

And then there's me. I flunked hard. When that happens, Social Intelligence creates a report, which it would then send to an employer. And if you don't get a job because of your social media report, you can request a copy. Mine's filled with delightful details, like "subject admits to use of cocaine as well as LSD," and "subject references use of Ketamine." 

Basically, I may never work again. Yet the report is fascinating to look at. So privacy be damned, we've posted the entire thing online, you can read it at the bottom of this post. We've also annotated it and called out some interesting highlights in the gallery on this page...."

[Link]

This tells me that USA Swimming is offering tools and services so as to make sure teams have the sort of coaches they want - that USA Swimming does not want to litigate but rather put up "a show of force" so to speak to prevent creepy coaches from coaching on deck.

Is it a perfect answer? I don't know? It is definitely a message that the standards are high for coaches which leads to this question - How will ASCA and their membership respond?

Here is a suggestion: Merit badges for USA Swimmers!

I'm serious! if a kid swims a 400-IM in a meet and does not get disqualified, he should get a merit badge that looks like a "Badass" badge of accomplishment - I suspect this would encourage kids to swim different events and allow kids to create their own swimming goals rather than be pushed where needed. Perhaps it would keep kids from burning out after swimming the same event year-after-year. Remember, this is about the kids.

Above is a San Jose Sharks hockey logo from many years ago that I tweaked for a fast, illustrative, example of a swimming merit badge or patch.

Three drunk idiots break into Seaworld, steal a penguin, go for a swim with dolphins...

This happened in Australia. The penguin nearly dies after being chased by a dog among other things; no word about the dolphins but the three jerks involved have a court date.

From ABC News:

After waking up with a penguin guest, police said one of the men panicked and let Dirk go in a waterway known to have sharks. Witnesses who found Dirk said something chased him out of the water. On land, the frightened penguin was chased by a dog before witnesses came to his rescue.

[Link]

Swim coach Trent McNicol of Whitby, Ontario arrested for sexual assault. IS INNOCENT - ALL CHARGES DROPPED!

Charges dropped against Trent McNicol, [Link]

Yikes - another award winning coach arrested for sexual assault. The club that McNicol coached for, the Whitby Dolphins,  has put it's website in a state of Limbo so to speak only offering up an email address.

This sport has a systemic problem that needs radical action to fix. I suggest other states and communities look at California Assembly Bill 1628 as an option.

According to the Whitby Dolphins website, McNicol was named Ontario swim coach of the year in 2001 and has coached 40 provincial champions over the course of his career.

The Whitby Dolphins Swim Club announced on Thursday that McNicol was relieved of his duties on Wednesday and has been absent from work since last week. 

"The Whitby Dolphins Swim Club is fully cooperating with law enforcement officers during this investigation," president Jean Francois Potvin said in a statement. 

"We feel that every child that sets foot onto our pool decks has the right to a safe environment and that every parent should feel confident that competent and model citizens look after their child." 

[Link]

Jowan Qupty, who holds the best Israeli result in the 100m breaststroke, was excluded from the Israeli team that will compete at European Swimming Championship because he is an Arab?

Even the Israelis on his team are perplexed by the perceived bigotry. the Israel Swimming Associations is denying the prejudice but this article poses the right questions.

If the allegations are true, this is a black mark on the Israeli swimming body.

From an Israeli news outlet known as Ynet News::

The nationalistic undertone is not new to Israel's swim scene. Swimmer Gal Nevo said after beating his Syrian and Lebanese competitors during last summer's world championships in Shanghai that "Every Israeli knows you must defeat Arabs." 

"When I heard what Gal said, I was shocked," Qupty recalled. "Why does it matter if you're competing against a Jewish, an Arab or an Indian?" 

Officials at the Greater Jerusalem Swimming Club, to which Qupty belongs, speculated that Ganiel was picked because he belongs to the Hapoel Jerusalem team, which is said to be groomed by the Israel Swimming Association's president, Noam Zvi. 

"It's unacceptable for the association to forgo our fastest swimmer due to politics," Greater Jerusalem Swimming Club Chairman Manu Maye said 

Officials at the Israel Swimming Associations denied discriminating against Qupty. 

[Link]

Ryan Lochte looking rather sharp in the USA Olympic uniform designed by Ralph Lauren

Found this in my inbox when I got back back from lunch. Quite an endorsement for Ryan Lochte. Perhaps this could be a new sponsor?

Here is a link to the Ralph Lauren site if you want to see more athletes looking rather dapper:
[Link]

Yahoo Sports: Natalie Coughlin frustrated that Olympic Trials are held too late in the year.

Coughlin's reasons are related toward athletic performance and focus. I could not agree more but there is also that little detail known as drug testing and athlete selection.

In 2008 USA Swimming held trials so close to the Olympics; (as they usually do), that when Jessica Hardy tested positive for a banned substance both Lara Jackson and Tara Kirk were not allowed to attend the 2008 Beijing Olympics despite racing clean for there was too little time to sort out an appeal, a clarification and most especially the politics... Lara Jackson and Tara Kirk were essentially robbed of a lifelong dream they both earned. [Link]

From Yahoo Sports:

Coughlin, who earned six swimming medals at the 2008 Olympic Games, acknowledges that there are arguments for and against holding Olympic trials earlier. She just doesn't necessarily agree with all of those arguments, she said.

For instance, the end of the college swimming season could interfere with trials, and some coaches believe that allowing swimmers to qualify for the Olympic team too early makes swimmers complacent.

[Link]

Yahoo Sports: Top Five Ways Swimming is Beneficial to People With Multiple Sclerosis

Jennifer Flaxon, is living with multiple sclerosis. She writes for Yahoo Sports regarding how her swimming has improved her quality of life. 

From Yahoo Sports - Here is my favorite:

Benefit number five: 

My multiple sclerosis has caused me to have balance issues, which is another reason I have turned to swimming three times a week. Swimming allows me to work on my balance, which overtime has started to get better. In 2006, just days before I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, my balance hit its worst peak to date. I was not able to get out of my hospital bed and walk around, or even make it to the shower. After a few days, I was able to graduate to the use of a walker, and later a cane. I vowed to myself that I would regain my balance and see to it that I never had to feel embarrassed like this ever again. 

I asked my doctor what type of exercise would allow me to regain my strength, and he recommended swimming. I have since started back to swimming after a two-year layoff from the sport that I love so much. With my return to the pool I have regained my balance and no longer require the use of a cane on a daily basis. 

[Link]

For more information on what multiple sclerosis is please see this article at Discovery Fit & Health: [Link]

Auto Channel: BMW Developing New Motion Tracking Technology for Swimmers

The title was confusing to me at first, I thought it was an effort to GPS track open-water swimmers but it is much more technical and more nuanced than that:

 Auto channel:

WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J., April 18, 2012 -- After successfully deploying cutting-edge technology to help America's long jumpers go farther, faster, BMW is now turning its attention to USA Swimming. This latest effort will provide quantitative analysis of swimmers' starts and turns -- critical to success in the sport -- via a unique motion tracking system. This technology initiative is central to BMW's comprehensive U.S. Olympic program which endeavors to advance the performance goals of Team USA while bringing communities across the country closer to the excitement of the Olympic Games. 

[Link]

Personally, to get to the level that our Olympic swimmers are at, I suspect tweaking starts and turns 100-days away from the 2012 games may be something that is either too late to "monkey" with or summarily unnecessary.

'California AB 1628' - would extend the statute of limitations on juvenile sex crimes and mandate background checks!

Assemblyman Jim Beall who represents San Jose, Santa Clarita, Los Gatos and other communities has written a comprehensive California sex abuse bill that would lengthen the statute of limitation on child sex abuse crimes and mandate that those who rent or lease a public facilities do a comprehensive background screening, including employment & reference checks, for all individuals having access to children.

Now for those outside of California this next concept may seem odd or foreign but considering that one of Jim Beall's communities, San Jose, suffered through the Andrew King sex abuse case, it will not seem surprising – California AB 1628 would do away with secret settlements in civil cases involving molestation.  The victim's identity is still protected; the accused is not.

The purpose of this "Scarlet Letter" is exactly that, to openly brand and prevent clubs, teams and other youth organizations to secretly hide a nefarious history with a non-disclosure agreement.
 
The bill has just moved out of the Public Safety committee and now goes to the Judiciary Committee next Tuesday.

From Around the Capitol:

"... This bill would delete those provisions and instead would prohibit any confidential settlement in a civil action seeking damages that is based in whole or in part on an act of childhood sexual abuse. The bill would make an agreement entered into on or after January 1, 2013, containing a confidential settlement provision void as a matter of law and against public policy, and would make a violation of those provisions by a party or any attorney a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $1,000. The bill would also specify that an attorney who demands a confidential settlement agreement as set forth above shall be subject to disciplinary action by the State Bar. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. ..."

[Link]

I am the SCAQ Blogger and I support this bill.

Wall Street Journal profiles Rebecca Soni: Perhaps her previous heart condition was more serious than reported?

The Wall Street Journal has a feature story on Rebecca Soni and her many accomplishments; namely overcoming a heart condition technically termed: supraventricular tachycardia and of course her gold medal in Beijing.

Supraventricular tachycardia is pretty darn serious. Imagine going for a walk and having your heart rate shoot up to 180-beats-per-minute?

The article catalogs her diet, a cross training program which includes yoga and other slices of her active life.

It is a must read - From the Wall Street Journal:

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, she gets to the pool a bit earlier so she can teach a 9 a.m. spin class for the University of Southern California swim team. "I love spin class," she says. "I get some extra cardio, but this is more about the music and being in a group and motivating others."

She returns to the pool by 2 p.m. for another two-hour session. The afternoon usually is dedicated to strength exercises that use TRX suspension training and Plyometric drills such as walking lunges and box jumps which develop power, speed and agility. "We might do core work or shoulder strengthening exercises," she says.

[Link]

Juvenile Justice Information Exchange: "Swimming Pools, Not Prison"

John Lash writes that when public money is spent you get what you pay for. Ergo, if you spend more public money on more-and-more police services, you fill up more cells. If you spend the money on swimming pools, you get kids filling their time during the hot summers in a pool rather than a back alley with a can of spray paint.

He poorly argues his conclusion but what I have experienced in my own personal life in regards to kids is that "Idle hands, oiled with boredom, is the "devil's industrial complex."

From Juvenile Justice Information Exchange:

One friend was telling me how miserable the summers in that part of the country are. They have a lot of days in the 90s, and often even crossing the 100 mark on the thermometer. The humidity is oppressive. I told my friend how much it sounded like the place where I grew up, and I was reminded of this when I read a recent story at Examiner.com, a Baltimore area news site, titled, “Schools and pools shuttered while city officials advocate for cells and bells. ...”

[Link]

Above is a photo of some urbanized, impromptu swimming pools that have all been well received. See a whole gallery of them at DorNob.com:  [Link]

Last week I criticized the London 2012 Olympics Swimming poster - Here is my version in response!

If I am going to criticize the work of another artist than I have to 'throw my hat into the ring' and see if I can submit a better version.

The premise of the poster was to resonate swimming. Howard Hodgkin chose blue, thrashing, brush strokes to resonate the ferocity of our sport. I chose to graphically  illustrate the objective.

I gave myself one-hour to come up with completed concept poster design: I lost; took 1-hour-10-minutes.

Above is my version; below is the official London 2012 Version.

Flame away, I am open to constructive criticisms and well crafted insults.

2012 London Olympics swimming poster - Was going to post this on April Fools day but it is no joke!

I have been completely unimpressed with all of the design and graphic offerings for the 2012 Games.

From the London 2012 Olympics Shop:

Howard Hodgkin - Swimming
Howard Hodgkin describes his paintings as representational pictures of emotional situations. For his Olympic print Hodgkin has created Swimming – a deep, swirling mass of blue flooding across the page. The fluidity of the brushstrokes perfectly captures the movement of water and the sensation of swimming.
Format: premium poster 60cm x 80cm printed in the UK on 200gsm FSC paper. 

[Link]

Citi’s $500,000 donation creates 'Every Step of the Way' program which will support future Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

I hope that at least 51%-or-more of this donation makes it to the athletes. Here is a press release regarding Citi's donation:

April 2012: In New York City, Olympic greats Sanya Richards-Ross (Gold/Bronze Medalist, track & field), Cullen Jones (Gold Medalist, swimming, 2008 Olympics), Christie Rampone (Gold/Silver Medalist, soccer), Amanda McGrory (Paralympic Gold/Silver/Bronze Medalist, track & field), and Dominique Dawes (Gold/Bronze Medalist, gymnastics), along with Citi CEO Vikram Pandit unveiled the “Every Step of the Way” program to support US Olympics and Paralympic athletes and hopefuls of all ages in communities across America.

Through the Every Step of the Way program, Citi’s $500,000 donation is being represented by 50 million ThankYou® Points -- the currency of the Citi ThankYou® Rewards program. This unique program allows the American people to help allocate these ThankYou® Points to Sport Programs through activity on Facebook and Twitter, allowing Team Citi athletes to say “thank you” to the Sport Programs that have inspired them.
Each member of Team Citi has identified a Sport Program that inspired his or her journey to the Olympic and Paralympic Games. These U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Sport Programs have specific needs that will help a wide range of athletes at different ability levels in communities across the country.

Polish swimmer Mirela Olczak banned for 6 months after testing positive for methylhexaneamine

Polish swimmer Mirela Olczak banned for 6 months after testing positive for banned stimulant.

This stimulant has bee found in body building supplements according to Wikipedia:

In February 2012, the deaths of two U.S. soldiers who collapsed during physical training in the last few months have prompted a military investigation of the popular bodybuilding supplement that was found in their systems. This prompted the Department of Defense to pull products containing methylhexaneamine from on-base store shelves pending an investigation. 

[Link]

The drug was originally created as decongestant by Eli Lilly in 1944 but it seemingly has no medical uses whatsoever but don't let that stop the supplement people:

Patrick Arnold reintroduced methylhexanamine in 2006 as a dietary supplement,after the final ban of ephedrine as a dietary supplement in the United States in 2005. Arnold introduced it under the trademarked name Geranamine, a name held by his company, Proviant Technologies. Other supplement names which have been mentioned as containing methylhexamine include Jack3d, Oxyelite Pro, Hemo Rage Black, Dexaprine, M5 Extreme, Muscle Meds Code Red, Lipo 6 Black, 1 M.R., DynaPep, Anarchy Covalex, Muscle Spike, Noxipro, Isatori PWR, Muscletech Neurocore, Muscletech Hydroxystim, Fahrenheit Nutrition Lean EFX, Muscle Warfare Napalm, SNI Nitric Blast, BIORhythm SSIN juice, Gaspari Nutrtion Spirodex, MethylHex42, Grenade Universal Grenade, M.A.P. (iovate) Arson, or Geranamine.

[Link]

So, here we have a swimmer with a 6-month ban for inadvertently  ingesting a chemical by way of what: a nutritional supplement? Seems plausible!

Jaime Caballero is now swimming from Catalina Island to Palos Verdes (21 miles) for Augie’s Quest and ALS research.

I have been following this privately, I understand Jaime is now 4-miles from shore. Augie’s Quest is named after businessman, Augie Nieto who was diagnosed with ALS in 2005. ALS is the same nerve disease that astrophysicist, Steven Hawking, has. :-(  Caballero and Augie Nieto are friends and he is swimming for him.

From our good friend Steve:

Dear Tony,

Long-distance swimmer Jaime Caballero will be attempting to swim from Catalina Island to Palos Verdes (21 miles) for Augie’s Quest and ALS research. He will begin his swim at midnight Tuesday morning and is expected to be done by 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

If he accomplishes his goal, he will become one of nearly 50 swimmers who have successfully completed the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming.

He already has completed the English Channel (21 miles) in 2007 and the Manhattan Island Marathon (28.5 miles) in 2010.

Caballero, 37, is a native of San Sebastian, Spain, and speaks English and Spanish.

Send him a message at his website and he would be thrilled! - [Link]