Appears to be an off the blocks 200FR time trial at Texas A&M

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First place swimmer came in at the 1:40.00 mark. Great swimming

Photos of 'LoveSurf's' new 2015 “swim-to-gym” active wear styles along with wetsuits and surf jackets!

I normally don't post cheesecake bikini photos or sexy active-wear very often but when I do the products have to have some direct purpose or design innovation that looks compelling and worthy.

LoveSurf is a Southern California based swimwear company and they have come out with a  Swim-to-Gym line that looks both functional and appealing. In my opinion it would look great at the beach or in an urban setting suck as yoga studio backyard pool.

Cheryl sent this to us:

Hi Tony, LoveSurf is a Southern California based swimwear company located in San Clemente. The brand’s signature trademark is their Swim-to-Gym™ swim suits that fit an active lifestyle.

LoveSurf just launched their new 2015 “swim-to-gym” active wear styles along with wetsuits and surf jackets. The newest collection offers fashionable styles while also meeting the needs of any woman with an active lifestyle as she pushes the limits and pursues a higher level of fitness. Each piece is designed to be on-trend while focusing on the main goal which combining function with fashion while playing close attention to details to compliment a women’s curves. Inspired by the warm colors of a San Clemente sunset and the calm, blue waters of the ocean the collection features tropical prints and solids perfect for a surfing, stand up paddling or a yoga session.

[Link]

A Polluted Canal In Berlin Could Transform Into The World's Largest Swimming Pool - We're talking 800-meters long

This will be a wonderful sports locale for triathletes and equally sublime center for open water swim races.

Recuses would be easier, spectating would provide spectacular views and the neighborhood is stunning:

From FastCoexist: 

The project would transform a side canal that has been closed to boat traffic for the last decade. At one end, a natural filter, made of layers of gravel and pollution-eating plants, would purify the river water flowing into the pool. A bypass would send sewer water in another direction, and the top of the structure would turn into a pedestrian and bicycle bridge. The beginning of the canal would be "re-naturalized" into a refuge for urban wildlife and a new park.

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Massachusetts will now allow swimming in Walden pond -- State to develop rules for Walden Pond swimmers

Walden Pond is is not really a pond at all but rather it is a lake located in Concord, Massachusetts. 

The lake was created some 12,000-years ago as glaciers retreated once the ice age ran its course. Writer Henry David Thoreau best known for his book "Walden" wrote of his year long stay on the northern shore of the "pond" after his friend & mentor, Ralph Waldo Emerson granted him the use of a cabin. Thus the pond has both a geological history and philosophical one as well.

Swimmers and triathletes have been swimming in the "pond" illegally but that is about to change.

From the Boston Globe: 

The goals of the new rules are “managing swimming as a recreational activity at Walden Pond and balancing it with other recreational activities, mainly boating.”

Geigis acknowledged that open-water swimming is already a popular activity at Walden. In an effort to make the pond safer for swimmers and boaters alike, DCR held a series of meetings this summer with swimmers, boaters, and fishermen to draft a set of rules, a set of best practices, and a swimming self-assessment. Public safety officials were also involved in the process, Geigis said, and the Walden Pond Advisory Board approved the draft after it was finished.

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I am so impressed with FINA World Cup points leader Katinka Hosszu!

Katinka has swam in three summer Olympics thus far and the 2016 Brazil Games looks like a given.

Born in Hungry, graduated from University of Southern California (USC) in 2013, her swimming accomplishments were many.

Swimming World has nicknamed her the "Iron Lady" but I think the "Platinum Lady" is more apropos:

"... A four-time Pac-10 champion, she owns USC records in the 200y/scm IM, 200y/scm fly, 400y IM, 200y free and in three relays ... Weeks before her senior year started, she competed at the 2011 World Championships, where she finished sixth in the 200m IM (2:11.24), 15th in the 400m IM (4:42.96), 19th in the 200m fly (2:10.06) and was on Hungary's 800m free relay..." 

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But that just the proverbial tip of the iceberg...

From Wikipedia:

"... She won her first medal at the 2004 European Short Course Championships, a bronze in 400m medley.

At the 2009 World Championships she won two bronze medals in 200 m medley and 200 m butterfly, before becoming World Champion in 400 m medley. She was elected Hungarian Sportswoman of the Year for her achievements.

At the 2010 European Championships held in her homecountry, she won a silver medal in 400 m medley and became European Champion in 200 m butterfly, 200 m medley and as a member of the 4×200 m freestyle relay team.

Competing in the 2012 Summer Olympics, she finished fourth in the final of the Women's 400 Meter individual medley, with a time of 4:33.49.

At the 2013 World Championships, she pulled out of the 100m backstroke after qualifying second in the heats, to concentrate on the final of the 200m individual medley which she subsequently won with a time of 2:07.92.

At the 2013 World Cup she set world records in 100m IM, 200m IM and 400m IM, breaking 200m record two times and 100m record three times during the World Cup series. ..."

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From Swimming World Magazine this morning:

Headline: FINA World Cup Money List: Katinka Hosszu Nears $225K in Winnings 

"... The last two years, the Iron Lady Katinka Hosszu has turned some heads by winning about half-a-million in cash on the FINA World Cup circuit along. She’s doing more of the same this year. ..."

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I am rooting for her no matter who she swims against.

In Seattle open water swimmers go on expeditions and they call these athletes "wild swimmers"

Led by a paddle boarder, a pod of swimmers parade through the veins and outlets of Puget Sound all the while taking in the majesty of Washington coastline.

The swims are 1500-meters long (a metric mile) and nobody is racing they're just enjoying the adventure and the term adventure is what is is delivered.

Summer water temps only get as high 55-degrees but the "wild swimmers" as they call them are multiplying and the sport is growing.

Voice of America has a glorious piece on these "wild swimmers" that is worth a read. Also mentioned are several notable open water swims throughout America:

From Voice of America: 

"...In late October, the salt water of the Puget Sound off America's northwest coast is 13 degrees Celsius and the air isn’t much warmer, but that does not deter a group of swimmers gathered on Seattle, Washington's Alki Beach for a group swim. 

The first one to dive into the waves is 43-year-old tech worker Mike Tanner, who said he swims in open water from May until the end of November.

"Then I go back to the pool and wait for May again," he said...."

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Australian Marathon Swimmer Chloe McCardel Interviewed while Recovering From 42-hour World-Record Swim

Chloe was summarily "mugged" and deeply lashed by Jellyfish stings all across her lips, mouth, shoulders, ankles and legs. Imagine blisters almost the size of golfballs perforating your body that hurt 24/7?

The girl risked her life swimming from Eleuthera island to the capital of Nassau and was has had to visit the hospital twice for treatment and stays. A courageous swim but it's time to allow tech-suits in open water swimming for swimmer protection and to move open water swimming forward. Do we really want to see someone killed by trying to set a world record?

From Fox News:

"... The 29-year-old athlete from Melbourne set out from the southern tip of Eleuthera island and reached the capital of Nassau at about 1 a.m. local time Wednesday. 

She made the attempt under rules that included not being permitted to intentionally touch her support boat or hold on to anything. ..." 

 [Link]

Jason Leezak still a hero with kids!

Jason Leezak & Gabe Woodward gave a swim clinic in  economically depressed Riverside, California. He was very well received by the kids who knew him well.

From The Press Enterprise:

“I’ve been coaching for a long time, and what struck me even last night was when several of these teenagers said things like, ‘I have Jason’s poster on my wall.’ They were watching him in the Olympics when they were 8 or 9. They are going to remember this day, too.”

Moore is new to the RAA – he started as head coach about seven weeks ago – but he is an old friend of Lezak and Woodward. He coached Woodward in Bakersfield, and has been traveling in the same swimming circles as both athletes for a long time.

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Dolphin physically harasses Irish swimmers!

Feisty dolphin goes territorial on Irish swimmers but he did give a warning in a shrill dolphin whistle speak: "My beach, my chicks, my waves, go home, Valley!"

From Discovery News:

"... A handful of swimmers in Ireland's Galway Bay got a dose of excitement and a bit of pain with their frolicking Wednesday when they were confronted by, of all the unexpectedly unfriendly creatures in the sea, a dolphin. 

The large adult dolphin surrounded five swimmers and then moved in close, slapping and butting two of them ..." 

[Link]

How rich people swim on the 52nd floor in London

Pictured above is the swimming pool at the Shangri-La Hotel at the Shard.  The word "Shard" is British "slanguage" for "Shard of Glass" This building is tallest there is within the European union coming in at 87-floors. It was designed by an Italian, partially own by Qatar and located in London. Seems like everything is outsourced these days including design, ownership and location but still it's a "swanky" place in a great location.

The pool has an infinity-edge practically right up to the window view of the 52nd floor. A photo of the view is up at the Telegraph Travel page (see link below).

The writer from the Telegraph described the view described the view as follows:

"... OMG. The views. To the left, the pods of the London Eye; panning right, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, followed by St Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London. In between there were monuments testifying to more recent works of architectural genius: the Gherkin and the Cheesegrater – and yet further (round the huge bend in the Thames), the ever-winking light on top of a Canary Wharf tower still smarting at being eclipsed by the Shard as London’s tallest building. ..." 

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Synchronized swimming with assault riffles at the Rio De Janeiro Olympic Village?

At least that is what I thought it was when I saw the photo above. (Now, this post is for real, it is not a satire piece.) Looks like armed thugs decided to go swimming at the Rio Olympic Village pool. What were they thinking? "Hey sport, let's go grab our military grade assault weapons and celebrate our "...victory in a turf war over the rival Comando Vermelho, or Red Command, ... to commemorate [our] new zone of influence." Believe it or not that is what they were thinking.

From FOX News Latino: 

“I loved the pool, man. What a complex, it's all ours," purported drug trafficker Celso Pinheiro Pimenta, AKA Playboy, said on a recording obtained by Folha de Sao Paulo..." 

After splashing around and posing for some group photos, some of the gang members went to social media to post their shots, which were quickly picked up by local law enforcement. An advisor from the Municipal Secretariat of Sport told local media that the sports complex had indeed been broken into and that the police have been asked to increase security. ..." 

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Sights and sounds: Men's Swimming and Diving vs. Texas A&M [Oct. 17, 2014]

Nice montage of some serious diving and swimming at Texas A&M University. (Their womens swimming page is: here.)

The techno-music is a bit boring and I would have preferred that they just leave in the natural or ambient back ground noise of the actual swimming. That would make it more immersive and less illustrative.

Swimming with Icebergs by National Geographic - Man free dives in and around floating icebergs

The crux of the video is how the swimmer can lower their pulse rate at a moments notice. It is known as mammalian response. Our bodies are designed to lower our blood pressure when our faces get submerged in water. Nonetheless I just enjoy the swimming.  No wonder swimming is a great sport for those with high blood pressure.

The FBI writes USA Swimming after pressure from congress tells them that they suck!

Irv Muchnick has carried the torch for cleaning up USA Swimming after I faltered from fatigue due to outside demands of my time and efforts.  I applaud him.

I am very happy with Irv Muchnick and I won't forget that one little favor he did for me that brought a totalitarian coach to his knees; a coach whose 15-minutes of fame are up and his star swimmer is preoccupied with other more pressing problems. But I digress: Yes, I like Irv Muchnick.  He has been accused of being hyperbolic, writing articles that are filled with puffery & distortions, telling nothing but lies, damn lies and outright lies. Well I am here to tell you that his articles about a congressional investigation and FBI intervention have proven to be 100% true and though USA Swimming will not suffer any consequences it is now in the public that record that congress did indeed contact the FBI and the FBI contacted USA Swimming with a warning letter.

The spinners will say the FBI letter was no big deal and that they applauded the SAFE Sport mechanism and moved on. What the spinners can't spin is that every sordid incident that USA Swimming knowingly and intentionally failed to investigate or tell the police about is mention by the Congressman George Miller letter to FBI director James B Comey's.  Comey outlines each failure and the consequences therein and it is not pretty. One day a victim is going to pin that letter to Wielgus' gravestone reminding him and others what he left behind. Again, not pretty.

Remember when Wielgus apologized for not acting on all the sexual abuse complaints? Well here is a lesson in manners: When you apologize, you say you are sorry. Then you admit that it was your fault. Finally you say, I have to make it up you, what can I do so as to take responsibility. What you don't do is spend an ungodly amount of money on lobbyists suppressing laws that would make you take responsibility and you don't water your apologize down with explanations. Did he even apologize the victims personally? The answer is no.

Here is a link to the Congressman George Miller letter to FBI with all it's truth & glory. Below are some snippets:

“[T]he alarming allegations and high-profile reports of sexual abuse in the ranks of USA Swimming necessitate closer scrutiny by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.” 

“Together, USA Swimming’s historical failures to address child abuse, the existence of ‘non-compliant victim’ files that leave children exposed to future harm, and the fact that the Safe Sport Program appears not to work for all victims raise significant concerns around USA Swimming’s ability to police its ranks sufficiently.” 

“USA Swimming is regularly failing to address abuse allegations in a complete and timely manner, even though, according to the organization, no statute of limitations exists for abuse cases within its ranks.” 

“[L]eadership and other staff within USA Swimming possess information about previous and presumably present cases of abuse, that, if ignored or improperly investigated, leave children at risk of abuse.” 

“Because basic information about predatory coaches may be kept secret and not shared, predatory coaches banned by USA Swimming may pursue and abuse additional victims.' 

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Finally in closing a comment from Robert Allard, The attorney who carried the water for the victims and their case to Congress.

“This is the culmination of five years’ worth of collective efforts on behalf of countless brave sex abuse victims across the country to shine a bright light on an organization which is corrupt to the core.

As Congressman George Miller has now concluded after an extensive investigation that USA Swimming has for literally decades utterly and completely failed to protect minors from sex abuse and has engaged in great lengths to cover up knowledge that it possessed of known pedophiles.  We first went to USA Swimming to air our grievances.  

They laughed in our faces and spent millions and millions of dollars at defense lawyers and lobbyists to make us go away.  We refused.  We then went to the Scott Blackmun of the United States Olympic Committee, who told us to scram because, in his words, he has “high regard” for the leadership capability of the USA Swimming brass.  Little did we know at the time that Mr. Blackmun’s incestuous relationships with USA Swimming’s leaders and lawyers prevented him from maintaining even a semblance of objectivity. 

So, as a last resort, we engaged Congressman Miller who we wholeheartedly commend for listening to our plight and doing the “right thing” by taking steps to ensure that childhood sex abuse is eradicated from our society.  We extend our sincerest appreciation to Congressman Miller and his staff, specifically Michael Zola and Scott Groginsky, for restoring our faith in the American political system and by refusing to be deterred by unscrupulous influences.  We can only hope that the FBI takes the next step and holds those criminally accountable for unconscionably turning a cheek while children were being raped by swim coaches. ..."  -- Attorney Robert Allard

In closing: USA Swimming has more 2/3s-more-girls in their ranks than boys - Why is that women are not running that organization but corrupt old men are?

USA Swimming: Suspend Michael Phelps for a complete year and not allow him participate in the 2015 FINA World Championships!

Look at him: hasn't shaved in days, his hair is uncombed, and his eyes look dull, brown and lost.

In 2004 when Michael Phelps was 19-years-of-age he received his first DUI arrest. He acted contrite, look down a lot and issued the following statement:

"... Last week, I made a mistake. Getting in a car with anything to drink is wrong, dangerous and unacceptable. I’m 19 but was taught no matter how old you are, you should always take responsibility for your actions, which I will do. I’m extremely sorry for this. ..."

Phelps read a carefully parsed statement calling his arrest a mistake rather than the crime that it was. It was probably written by a handler so as to make this offense sound more like an "error" or a "goof" rather than a crime. Stating that his age was 19-years-old was also a subtle way of "dog whistling" to men who run the sport that his "mistake" should be blamed on Phelps being a "teenage kid" rather than an underage drinker.

A more accurate apology would have gone as follows:  "... I engaged in a criminal act by driving drunk. I am an alcoholic and I need help." Subsequently he may have received the therapy and rehab he needed. Instead he got a three-month suspension during swimming's "off season" and it appears he did not get any better.

The whole world knows by now that Phelps has been arrested for a second DUI — There are alcoholics in this world (8%-of-the-population from what I read) and then there are dumb-ass alcoholics. Any dumb-ass that drinks and drives and knows that they have an alcohol issue and won't do anything about it is the worst kind of alcoholic. Those are the ones that drunk drive often.

Has Phelps ever been thrown out of a bar at closing time? Has he ever fallen down drunk and injured himself? Few people know that answer but we all know this: Gambling, pot, and two drunk driving arrests are bullet points on his resumé.

Phelps does not belong on the USA Swimming's national team. He belongs in both rehab & therapy. He needs to work on himself, his reputation, his business relationships. After that he needs redeem himself with his fans and sponsors. Allowing Phelps to compete next year after a second token suspension will just validate what we all know, sports bodies are corrupt and will let Phelps circle the drain while they profit.

When looking at Phelps' brand predicament I suspect the executives at Speedo, Arena and TYR are glad they did not sign him. I bet the executives for his new suit line are feeling let down and disgusted that somebody so gifted and iconic may have just tossed both his and their livelihoods in the trash.

Michael, capitulate and accept the truth. Get help now!