This waterscape was "painted" on a computer and inspired by Shane Gould's comment about speedsuits!

I bought Corel Painter and a Wacom tablet that lets me use a pen or stylus to draw freehand instead of using a mouse. This is my first ever digital painting and consequently I fully endorse this software since it was so easy to use. I spent about an hour or two on this and if this was an oil painting it would have taken me three times that long.

Once I get use to the "brushes" I am going to start doing paintings of swimming and swimmers. [Link]

Here is what Shane Gould said about speedsuits that gave me the idea to paint lily pads: "What are the protocols? How exactly do they test the suits? What are the specific scientific tests they do to determine whether these suits float or not? I've done tests myself and they float higher than a lily pad. ..." [Link]

Shane Gould on Speedsuits: "... I've done tests myself and they float higher than a lily pad!"

eWhat a classic quote in regards to the technological advancement of fabric.

Shane Gould on speedsuits and fairness, From the Sydney Morning Herald Online: "... The FINA Handbook of 2005-2009 states: "No swimmer shall be permitted to use or wear any device that may aid his speed, buoyancy or endurance during a competition."

Gould added: "What are the protocols? How exactly do they test the suits? What are the specific scientific tests they do to determine whether these suits float or not? I've done tests myself and they float higher than a lily pad. ..." [Link]

Shane Gould won 3 golds, a silver and a bronze in the 1972 Munich Olympics. "... She is the only person, male or female, to hold every world freestyle record from 100 m to 1500 m simultaneously, and the first female swimmer ever to win three Olympic gold medals in world record time. ... wikipedia"

Arguably she could be considered the greatest freestyle swimmer ever.

A paralympian swam an amazing 1500!

From Swim News: "... The most heartening victory came from Natalie du Toit, who set a Games record of 17:09.05 over 1,500m freestyle. That makes the paralympian faster than the abled-bodied world record that stood before the advent of a young Australian called Shane Gould. An amazing effort. Silver went to Maroua Mathlouthi, of Tunisia and sibling of the men's medley winner, in 17:22.83, and bronze to South Africa's Dominique Dryding in 17:31.51. ..." [Link]

I may swim a 1500m free in Mission Viejo quite soon and I am hoping my time is in the low 20's. From her website:

"...Having competed at the Kuala Lumpur Games in 1998 as an able bodied athlete at the age of 14, she lost her leg in a motorcycle accident in 2001. Despite this setback, she was determined to compete at the Manchester Games both as an able bodied and disabled competitor just to prove it could be done. She achieved her goal, swimming into a creditable eighth place in the able bodied 800m Freestyle, and winning gold in the 50 and 100m Elite Athletes with a Disability (EAD) events." [Link]

You know what? I love motor cycles, I use to race them at Indian Dunes and I want to get a Ducati someday to race at Riverside but off the track or off the raceway motorcycles are nothing short of being "donor cycles."

I learned that word from a nurse who, while working in an ER, shouted, "where are his legs, I need his legs."

Then came the reply, "they are in the bucket!" The room went quiet,

"A bucket of legs? Where is the bucket of legs?"

"They are on their way; they are in the back of the truck that hit him."