More on shallow water start dives - Pre-publication excerpt from the Journal of Aquatic Research & Education

A reader who has extensive knowledge on this subject has submitted a pre-publication excerpt from a research paper authored by Joel M Stager and Andrew Cornett that will appear in the Journal of Aquatic Research and Education.

Regarding shallow water mandates:

"...There are, however, two separate desirable outcomes of these water depth mandates:

(1) Having enough water depth to eliminate the chance of a swimmer hitting the bottom and...
(2) Lowering the chances of a swimmer being injured should contact with the bottom occur.

The second outcome seems to be the more achievable and certainly more realistic. With this in mind, we draw several conclusions.

The swimmers at the greatest risk for experiencing a catastrophic injury during the execution of a competitive swim start are the physically mature swimmers with limited practice and start experience. We make this conclusion based on two major findings. First, older, taller, and more massive swimmers have been repeatedly observed performing starts with greater maximum head depth and head velocity (Cornett et al., 2010, 2011). At the same time, swimmers lacking in competitive experience have been shown to be inconsistent in terms of controlling or modifying start depth (White et al., 2011; Cornett et al., 2012). This combination of deep, fast starts and a lack of control can have catastrophic consequences. Surprisingly, the younger, novice swimmers, in general, seem to be at a lower risk in this regard. The young, novice swimmers simply do not attain head depths and velocities great enough to place them at the same level of risk as equally inexperienced but physically mature swimmers. This is certainly not to say, however, that they are risk-free.

Next, we conclude, similar to previous authors on this topic, that the empirical evidence suggests that the current minimum depth of 1.22 m needs further careful consideration. It appears that there is very little margin for error at this depth, particularly for the older, physically mature swimmers due to their depths and velocities. A significant number of swimmers closely approached the pool bottom at this depth (Cornett et al., 2010) such that the potential for contact appears unacceptably high. Unfortunately, data from competitions held in 1.52 m (5 ft) are not yet available making firm recommendations on “how deep is deep enough?” difficult. "

It is certainly possible to require deeper minimum pool water depths than what is called for by current regulations. Doing so would likely help to reduce the risk of injury due to pool bottom collisions during the swim start. The studies presented in this review lead directly to this conclusion. However, while the risk can be minimized, increasing minimum water depth within the range of feasible water depths cannot eliminate it.

Our study of ‘worst-case scenario’ swim starts demonstrated that the potential for catastrophic head and neck injury existed at water depths as deep as 2.5 m (Stager et al., 2013). Thus, changes in minimum water depth requirements are less a matter of eliminating the possibility of contact and more about learning how to reduce the incidence of contact and severity of injury through coach and swimmer training and education. ..."

11-year-old kid loses her two-front-teeth on a failed start dive in the shallow water (3.6-feet deep)

Though this happened in New Zealand it should be a sufficient warning to parents, clubs and governing bodies that a set standard for height & weight versus pool depth be maintained for safe start dives.

From New Zealand at Stuff.nz.co:

Swimming Wellington says it isn't to blame for an 11-year-old losing her two front teeth diving into the pool at the recent Wellington short course championships at the Kilbirnie Aquatic Centre.

Emily Irving was one of four swimmers from Jon Winter's Raumati Swimming Club, who suffered injuries at the meet.

A 10-year-old girl grazed her face and two other juniors suffered scrapes to their back and heels, respectively, after finding the entry points at Kilbirnie shallower than they were used to.

For international competition pools must be a minimum of 1.35m deep out to 6m, according to world swimming body Fina.

Kilbirnie was 1.25m for the Wellington short course champs, however it was not operating illegally because it was only a provincial meet.

[Link]

Americas Cup: Emirates Team New Zealand nearly capsizes 72-foot tall Catamaran in the San Francisco Bay

Note how the sailors are dressed up like armored soldiers. Americas Cup racing in these boats has been known to kill.

USA SWIMMING HOUSE OF DELEGATES VOTES TO BAN COACH/ATHLETE RELATIONSHIPS

This is extraordinary news. I did not think that the USA Swimming House of Delegates would do it but they have seemingly turned the corner.

I applaud the USOC for their use of economic sanctions to facilitate this as well.

I think this vote is a huge win for the kids, my particular side of the issue, and if this policy is executed whole heartedly and aggressively enforced, then this may perhaps be considered sufficient atonement for [...] Chuck Wielgus? Let's see what happens.

From Swimming World:

"... [Rule] R-12 proposed, for the second year in a row, that consensual adult relationships between coaches and athletes be banned from the sport, where coaches have direct control over the athlete. Not only is this standard regarding sexual harassment laws throughout the country, it also is required by the United States Olympic Committee. This item was previously voted down by the House of Delegates, but passed today with zero discussion.

If this item had not been passed, it would have led to a showdown with the USOC regarding high performance funding as well as potential issues with USA Swimming continuing to be certified as the national governing body for the sport of swimming.

[Link]

The article contains more information about loopholes, definitions and what it means for the "Banned for Life" list. ..."

A reader asked me if Diana Nyad cheated on her swim from Cuba to Florida

Got a letter this afternoon asking me what I thought of Diana Nyad's crossing from Cuba to Florida and whether I thought it was legit? - This is my reply.

Hello ******,

The skepticism is looney; If she followed the English Channel ruleset she would be dead. It's a monstrous distance and even refugees in cheap boats with 15-horsepower motors have died trying to make that crossing.

She absolutely swam that 110-mile "channel" and she did it with the aid of a strong current and lots of tech support: She utilized GPS technology, a wetsuit at night I believe, a mask to protect her face from lethal jellyfish stings and some sort of "Soylent Green" drink at feeding stops.

I see nothing wrong with any of the above for we will never see someone swim that "channel" without the aid of technology. Never.

Diana Nyad has essentially created a "Cuba/Florida swim ruleset" and now it is up to someone else to redefine this ruleset or create their own.

The next swimmer may do it as a stage swim with no GPS, perhaps swim it in one of those specialized full body-&-face "techsuits" like the one used in the FX Cable series called American Horror Story. They may even wear fins, or simply float across in some sort jet-stream that some computer software correctly calculated

She deserves credit and those showing skepticism should ask her for process she used and her specific definitions rather than be ad hominem.

I for one would like to see a stage-swim race or perhaps a team stage swim race with set 4-hour rest periods for food breaks, sleeping, and medical exams.

Thanks for writing.


Tony

P.S. I just did a wikipedia search on what those full bodies suits are called. They are called Zentai Suits and they are made out of lycra so they would work as a swim suit.

Three reasons why Tokyo won the 2020 Olympics games.

1. Istanbul is one hour away from a war zone
2. Spain has economic troubles and the build-up to the games could have resembled the Olympic riots in Brazil
3. Though Tokyo has the Fukushima radiation about 100-miles away they were the best looking "horse" in the "glue factory" and have better access to loans to finance the Olympics

Is Michael Phelps teasing with comeback talk?

Tomorrow is a new start... Can't wait!!!
— Michael Phelps (@MichaelPhelps) September 2, 2013

Did USA Swimming Executive Director Chuck Wielgus just start a "food fight" with the press and swim bloggers?

Edited to 3:12 PM EST to correct typos, better format and to better articulate my opinions. 

Chuck Wielgus penned a blog-post stating that you should NOT trust the bloggers criticizing his organization since we bloggers are uninformed and are simply editorializing. Without saying his name most, if not all, of Chuck's criticism was leveled at Irv Muchnick.

I view this criticism as an attack not just on Irv Muchnik Irv Muchnick but on any and all social media blogs and swimming related websites that have run articles critical USA Swimming. 

"... I have seen headlines and tweets about "Congress Investigating USA Swimming" and that simply doesn’t accurately reflect what is going on. It’s true that USA Swimming and the USOC had an initial meeting Wednesday with the staff of the Committee on Education & the Workforce, of which Rep. George Miller’s (D-Calif.) is the ranking minority member. This was an informational meeting and Congressman Miller was not in attendance. ..."

[Link]

If there were no whispers or factual information that Congressman George Miller of California was indeed looking at investigating USA Swimming, then why did the USOC and USA Swimming's top executive staff fly to Washington when Congress is not in session to state their case?

The links below are to several credible news organizations that have criticized USA Swimming in a fair and measured manner. One is arguably a blog and the other, the Washington Post Editorial Board, is an obviously an op-ed but the fact remains that there is a lot of anger pointed at how Chuck Wielgus is steering his ship and that is why Congress is interested.

1. Associated Press
2. ABC NEWS 20/20
3. Arizona Central (NBC)
4. The Huffington Post
5. National Public Radio (NPR)
6. The Colorado Springs Gazette 
7. ESPN Between the Lines
8. The New York Times
9. The Orange County Register
10. The Washington Post Editorial Board

I listed ten organizations but there are more. Swimmers, parents, coaches and athletes must realize that USA Swimming is in a poor managerial control and that is why Congress is looking.

Some weeks ago an internal document was leaked within USA Swimming that came straight out of Bruce Stratton and the Chuck Wielgus' office. This "Orwellian" document is titled: Update Safe Sport Action Plan. (I call it Orwellian since there was nothing in there that made the sport any safer.) Therein the document mentions that $200,000 would be budgeted for specific public relations activities. The bulk of it would be spent on a independent review of their Safe Sport program, some of the funds would be allocated towards PR coaching for specific executives such as Chuck Wielgus, and the rest would be allocated to assist any club who is being sued for sexual abuse.

None of this currency was earmarked for victim counseling or medical doctors. It was designated to protect USA Swimming and the Local Swim Clubs only. That policy idea came out Chuck Wielgus' office and it's purpose was not victim oriented or Safe Sport centric at all.

There are many good people in the USA Swimming Safe Sport division. I have dealt with two individuals in that group who were cordial and professional. I am simply not impressed with how their executive director who collects somwhere near $750,000-a-year from the non-profit group does business. Perhaps Congress believes the same.

Brazil: The 2016 Olympics have no support whatsoever from the population and now the Mayor of Rio regrets that they were chosen as a host city.

One must ask, how can the 2016 Olympic Games be a successful Olympics if the host city's mayor wished they were never selected? Above is a photo from the Telegraph of 300,000 protesters. What could 10% of that figure, or say 30,000 protesters, do to cause trouble at the Olympics?

Here is a link to a photo gallery of "fire fights" between the Brazilian Army and the citizens of Brazil.

The population of Rio de Janeiro is more than unhappy with the Olympic Games right now. An astounding 1-million people have protested and rioted over hosting both the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup. In fact FIFA has offered apologies to the citizens the Citizens of Rio and now so has the Mayor.

Brazilians are demanding clean drinking water, sewage services,  better bus service, and schools rather than soccer stadiums Olympic arenas. The rhetoric from protesters is not just anger but is calling these Olympic Games a human rights violation.

Mayor Eduardo Paes' exact quote form the Telegraph was both a  shock and warning to future cities with emerging economies who may want to host an Olympic Games: "..."It is a shame that Brazil is hosting the Olympic Games... We must handle the legacy of the Olympics in the city"... Rio will have to look after the legacy of infrastructure but it's unclear who will run the sports centres after the Olympics. ..."

From the Telegraph:

Demonstrations have continued in recent months in Rio de Janeiro as angry residents accuse state Governor Sergio Cabral of corruption and demand an inquiry into spending on projects associated with the staging of World Cup and Olympic Games. 

[Link]

The IOC has screwed up, and screwed up so badly. These Olympics may become a complete fiasco and all it is going to take is a 1-million-man/mom march to bring the games to their knees.

Is it time for the International Olympic Committee to back out of Brazil and and go with a Plan-B say like London, Bejing or do it on the cheap in Los Angeles?

How the International Olympic Committee avoided standing up to the Nazis in 1933 and Vladimir Putin in 2013

It was 1933 and Adolph Hitler had finally locked himself into place as the dictator of Nazi Germany. First on his agenda was the Olympic games. Hitler was looking forward to using the 1936 games as a vehicle for international stardom.

Supposedly unimpressed by Hitler's anti-Semite rhetoric then President of the American Olympic Committee, Avery Brundage, briefly stood up and declared "The very foundation of the modern Olympic revival will be undermined if individual countries are allowed to restrict participation by reason of class, creed, or race." He was obviously referring to the Jews.

On face value Brundage delivered a very noble comment that was well reasoned and forward thinking for its day but just two years later Brundage changed his mind.  After touring Germany in 1935 he confidently stated: "... I was given positive assurance in writing ... that there will be no discrimination against Jews. You can't ask more than that and I think the guarantee will be fulfilled."

This was an odd statement for Brundage to utter for the political situation in Germany was becoming quite dire for the Jewish population.

One must understand how bad it was for Jews in Nazi Germany circa 1935 to become totally confused why Brundage flip-flopped. Laws were passed that year that mandated that Jews were not considered German citizens anymore. Jews could not marry nor have intercourse with German citizens. Jews could not be a part of civic life and in secret the Gestapo set into a motion a plan to "remedy" the "Jewish problem." This remedy involved releasing waves of violence and muggings to intimidate the Jewish populace. But then it got worse.

In the Fall of 1935 the seeds for the unthinkable were planted. The first mention of Hitler's "Final Solution" or that "solution designed to execute Jews, gays, and the disabled was openly stated. Speaking for Hitler at the Reichstag in Nuremberg, Hermann Göring, dropped this bomb: "if Legislative law can't handle the "Jewish problem" a Final Solution may be needed."

Despite the facts of overwhelming Jewish suppression Brundage wouldn't recant or go back to defending the disenfranchised Jews. Rather he went all in with Nazi Germany and according to the The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, "...Brundage alleged the existence of a "Jewish-Communist conspiracy" to keep the United States out of the [Olympic] Games." He also wrote in an American Olympic Committee pamphlet called Fair Play for American Athletes that "American athletes should not become involved in the present "Jew-Nazi altercation." - Similar rhetoric to what we are hearing now regarding the 2014 Sochi, Russia Games.

We did go to the 1936 Olympics and Jesse Owens became an American hero somewhat upstaging Adolph Hitler, however, Hitler did make his point that Germany was once again a world power. But back to Brundage: Last year the New York Daily News published an article regarding a PBS documentary about Jesse Owens which openly stated that Avery Brundage had officially become both a Nazi sympathizer and an anti-Semite. It's hard to believe that the IOC did not recognize this yet they elected him in 1952 as the IOC President a position he held for 20-years.

From the New York Daily News - Article title: Victories for Jesse Owens at 1936 Olympics were just the start of the hurdles he faced

"...As an Olympian he was under the authority of U.S. Olympic Committee chief Avery Brundage, who admired Hitler and infamously replaced two Jewish sprinters on the 4-by-100 relay team because it could have further embarrassed Hitler if they won. 

[Link]

Today's IOC endorsement of Vladimir Putin's anti-gay law is making Putin's gay prejudice politically acceptable at both the political and athletic level in Russia. Consequently this has severely damaged the Olympic movement for it has never occurred in Olympic movement history that artists, actors, athletes and performers are speaking ill of the Olympics. Especially the ones that are gay.

The Russian anti-gay law makes it punishable by jail and a hefty fine to state that "homosexualism" is a behavioral or genetic variation. You may not mention that you are gay and if you promote it whatsoever such as kissing in public, flying a rainbow flag, or placing a bumper sticker on your car you will be fined and jailed. Moreover, you may not tell anyone that you are gay. You may not say that you're are tolerant of gay behavior or that gays are just as equal as anybody else.

These Russian laws rhyme with those laws of Nazi Germany circa 1933. The IOC knows this but this time they are not only siding with the Russian law, they will help implement them as well.

When an IOC official was asked by the Gay Star News what they will do if an athlete brings up their sexual orientation, the paraphrased reply went as follows: "... The games [are] not the place for ‘political’ statements. Any participant who steps out of line may be punished, not by the Russians but by Olympic chiefs themselves."

This leads me to point number six of the IOC mission statement reads:

• To act against any form of discrimination affecting the Olympic Movement

Discrimination is the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people on the grounds of race, age, or sex.  The line is unarguably clear, the gay minority officially qualifies as a victim as a victim of anti-gay Russian laws and IOC prejudice. Consequently, the IOC has completely failed its mission statement. They failed to apply their own credo as a de facto guideline for selecting a proper host city. They are failing to assure that they will protect the athletes and the spectators as well.

Should the Sochi games be boycotted? No, they should not. But the IOC Should be called out for prejudice, greed, and incompetence for choosing cities that could not promise athlete and spectator safety and/or the appreciation of human rights charter.

It is my hope that dozens of Athletes make a statement and make it an issue there. I am starting to see images pop up of athletes making public demonstrations that are extraordinarily promising. I am hoping that the IOC is forced to apologize and take responsibility for endorsing prejudice and emotional harm to the public it serves. Namely the athletes and the spectators.

Sochi, Russia was picked as a host city in 2007 for the 2014 games. The IOC could have picked Pyeongchang, South Korea (Home of Samsung and Gangnam Style) and curious enough South Korea had originally beat out both Salzburg, Austria and Sochi, Russia in the first round of voting but a slim majority favored Sochi, Russia in the second round. Ironically enough Pyeongchang, South Korea was chosen for the 2018 Winter Games.

As for the 2016 Olympic Games, which are not looking too promising due to the negative mood of the public who rioted over Olympic infrastructure spending versus public infrastructure needs, the IOC chose Rio over both Chicago, Illinois and Tokyo, Japan thereby choosing second-world countries over first-world candidates.

Arguably the reason why Rio de Janeiro was chosen over Chicago was due to a petty monetary squabble with the USOC. (The USOC was flirting with starting an Olympic cable channel which the IOC was not happy about) Consequently IOC greed and possible prejudice may have gavin the Games to two countries that were not ready for prime time.

The IOC and the Olympic movement is possibly looking at two failed Olympic Games

(UPDATE to add some statistics and to tighten up my grammar.)

In two weeks from today a team of IOC inspectors and two IOC Presidential candidates are to land in Brazil and take a look around.

What makes this trip so eventful is that the head of the Rio Olympic Public Authority, that agency which is coordinating the building of the Rio Games infrastructure, just resigned today with no reason given for his departure.

It is not the first time there has been a management shake-ups within the Brazilian Olympic Committee (BOC) ranks. According to the Los Angeles Times the BOC has burned through two chief executives, three operation officers, and four marketing directors in just three-years. This turnover illustrates that these former executives either had no confidence in the BOC or that they were fired or resigned due to malfeasance or severe incompetence.

The Rio Games has not been a smooth development project for Brazil - it is now predicted that a cost overrun approaching three-quarters-of-a-billion-dollars is in the works yet nothing has been officially put on paper to prove that this number is accurate or not.

One could argue that the Olympic Games has a "track record" of going over budget and consistently plagued by construction delays. That history has proven that Olympic venues do meet their deadlines and the Games go on as usual, so why should Brazil be any different?

Well, Brazil is different for when tens-of-thousands of rioters take to the streets to protest the construction of the Olympic Game venues, that's not a disgruntled group of outsiders but rather a disgruntled population.

These riots, as stated in an USC Annenberg Business School blog, are due to this prominent theme: "...Brazilians don’t want first-world stadiums with third-world schools [and] third-world hospitals. ..." The blog post goes on to say they want this money spent on basic public infrastructure only. What drove the citizens to the streets was not just the Olympic Games but the Games were just the "final straw."

Next year Brazil will host the 2014 FIFA World Cup of Soccer and this endeavor continues to be an extraordinarily expensive event. Six-stadiums have been built but five-new-stadiums are behind schedule and time is running out at a cost of $3.6-billion dollars.

Even FIFA, the governing body of Soccer has openly stated that Rio may have been a wrong choice to hold a FIFA World Cup. This was stated after riots erupted in one of Rio de Janeiro's main tourist areas just days before a visit by the Pope last July.

Will Brazil be able to deliver a safe, polished, Olympic Games or will infrastructure issues, poverty issues and a disgruntled population brand the Olympics as a "traveling circus" that exploits the poor and enriches only the politicians, contractors and the IOC itself?

With the Brazilian poverty level at about 33%-of-the-population and water quality in the impoverished areas grossly contaminated by sewage, one must realize that the cost of one soccer stadium could have built a water reclamation plant that could have service millions instead of thousands of soccer fans for a few short weeks. This errant use of funds borders upon a human rights issue rather than a sporting one and that brings us to the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

Russia has passed an anti-homosexuality law that is so stringent in nature that any individual or visiting athlete that admits or mentions that they are gay or lesbian will be arrested. One Russian politician has gone as far to declare that gays should be barred from donating blood, donating organs and that their donated hearts and bodies should be burned instead of being buried in the ground.

Buoyed by such sanctioned hatred by the upper echelons of Russian politicians, teams of neo-nazi thugs have have been kidnapping, torturing and beating up gays for amusement and posting videos of their "work" on video network channels.

The IOC has responded with a declaration of support for the Russian law stating that: "...The Olympics aren’t the place for “proactive political or religious demonstration.” AS Slate Magazine points out - who knew that holding hands or telling someone you're gay if is considered a propaganda or a political demonstration?

Advertisers for the Sochi Games don't seem to care about these laws and have no intention of pulling out either for there is just too much money to be made.

McDonalds and Coca-Cola and going in large and Buzz Feed explains why:

From Buzz Feed: 

"... Both companies have also made bullish bets on Russia’s rapidly expanding consumer market. Coca-Cola is two years into doubling its investment in Russia through a five-year, $3 billion plan. McDonald’s announced plans in February to add 150 more restaurants across Russia in the next three years, an increase of about 50%. ..."

[Link]

I was curious as to why Coca-Cola was getting a "Free-Gay-Pass" on this subject and I discovered that Coca-Cola received a perfect 100-percent score from a lobby group that advocates for gay and lesbian rights called the Human Rights Campaign. (The award was given out in 2008.) Amazing what money can buy. You can buy both sides of an issue and anger nobody all at the same time because thye have been paid not to care. Reminds me of an old quote by a California politician: "Every man can be bought... and if you can show me a man that can't be bought, well, he can be leased."

With all jokes aside, the IOC is still going to have to justify and address each blood stained $100-bill they accept as to why the impoverished Brazilians, and the disenfranchised Russian gays, Lesbians, and transgendered are secondary to profit, morals, and free speech for the next two Olympics in a row.

This is a blatant execution failure of their mission statement or to be more specific it violates their credo to: "To act against any form of discrimination affecting the Olympic Movement."

But do they really care; I mean really?

In hindsight there were two nations that campaigned for the the 2014 and 2016 Games and both were much better suited to handle the infrastructure and moral responsibilities required to conduct an Olympic games. For the 2014 Games it was South Korea. For the 2016 Games it was Chicago. Both first world countries with the ability to host these events but petty politics within the IOC denied Chicago and poor planning denied South Korea.

The IOC has set themselves up for for two spectacular "fails" and they only have themselves to blame.

Nar Geo: Why Science Can't keep up with Sports Doping

Those that get away with doping are seemingly just as sophisticated as the testers. Take Lance Armstrong as an example:

From National Geographic online:

Athletes have, along the way, figured out how to beat tests. The most high-profile case may be that of Lance Armstrong, the seven-time winner of the Tour de France. Earlier this year he admitted that throughout much of his competitive career, he doped strategically to avoid testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Rather than inject EPO moments before a race--where he knew that testers would be waiting at the finish line--the cyclist scheduled doping during training rides and between races. Working with a group of physicians, some of whom may still face prosecution by federal investigators, Armstrong was also able to keep track of when certain substances would appear in his system and how quickly they would metabolize. 

[Link]

I walked away from the article thinking that those sophisticated to pass tests via timing, off-label, or non-existent usage of some forgotten steroid is mostly done by those that have the most money to gain.

Is swimming clean, NO WAY! But I will say that the majority of swimmers in the United States don' have the income or the infrastructure to finance a medical team of dirty doctors, dirty coaches, and "bag men" to pull it off. Must or all will get caught.

USA DQ-ed: France wins 4x100m medley relay gold as US disqualified

A very unprofessional mistake at that level. Hmmm, do you blame the coach for the lack of coached drilling or the swimmer[s]?

US Track and Field has a long history of this sort of nonsense.

From France 24

The Americans touched first in three minutes 30.06 seconds before the stadium announcer said they had been disqualified "for an early exchange". France clocked a time of 3:31.51 to take gold, with Australia winning silver in 3:31.64 and Japan bronze in 3:32.26. 

The Americans were denied what would have been a 12th triumph in the event in 15 championships since the inaugural edition in Belgrade in 1973. 

[Link]

Has Ryan Lochte become nothing short of "Honey Boo boo in a speedo?"

That is what a reader asked me. In other words has Ryan Lochte become a "child spectacle" rather than a serious brand? How do I answer this dear reader?

Please comment.

USA Swimming Leaked Document - USA Swimming is budgeting $100k - $200 to help clubs with their PR when sued for sexual abuse!

I want to thank the whistle blower who leaked this document. They must remain anonymous because from what I have observed USA Swimming has a penchant for punishing people who speak out.

An internal document was leaked to me by said whistle-blower that came straight out of Bruce Stratton and the Executive Director of USA Swimming, Chuck Wielgus' office. The document is titled: Update Safe Sport Action Plan.

This document is summarily outrageous. In fact it's quite Orwellian with it's language.  When an internal document from USA Swimming is issued that contains the words "Safe Sport" and "Action plan" one presumes the documents sole focus will be about protecting victims. Sadly this document is NOT about protecting victims but rather it is about protecting the assailants and the USA Swimming organization ONLY! - In one section it discussed how Chuck Wielgus and another executive will undergo extensive media training and then cherry pick which sports-media outlets to convey USA Swimming's message to. Wielgus will also start a blog which should be a lot of fun but I wonder if Chuck, or the public relations firm they have just hired, Ground Floor Media will write it?

For instance, as the screenshot states above, USA Swimming is going to budget $100-to-$200k on "public relations." That means if a club is sued, USA Swimming is going to send in a PR team summarily paid six-figures worth of member donated money to protect the club but NOT the victim! Not one thin dime is designated to go towards counseling of a victim or victims, or crisis support but rather it is designated to protect coaches and clubs rather than the dues paying members. 

Now imagine if your son or daughter is the victim of a sexual molestation and USA Swimming suddenly brings in a heavily financed PR team to lessen your tragedy in the public eye or, if you read between the lines, vilify your son or daughter so as to make you go away.

Finally, let me zero in on the Orwellian factor: Paragraph one states that the Public Relations help is for LSCs only. Then in the second paragraph the rhetoric suddenly changes stating that the money will go towards USA Swimming's Safe Sport program and (get this) the victims too by giving the LSC or the coach that is being sued PR help. Tell me how this helps the victim.

To the members of USA Swimming, ask Bruce Stratton and the Executive Director of USA Swimming, Chuck Wielgus, to resign for promoting such an abortion of a child protection policy.

Photos and report from the IB TIMES on Katie Ledecky's 1500m Freestyle World Record

Move over Missy Franklin and quit hogging up the the lime light, Katie Ledecky is tougher than you.

From You Tube:

American teenager Katie Ledecky smashed the world record in the women's 1,500 metres freestyle final by more than six seconds during a glittering session for the United States at the world championships in Barcelona, Spain on Tuesday (July 30).

10-slam dunk swimming pool videos at 'Mashable'

Put your hands up, who has done something like this in their lifetime.

[Link]

Wayne Kramer of the pre-punk, pre-metal period band Mc5 is a swimmer!

Won't tell you what pool I was at but Wayne Kramer was there looking good and ready to do a swim workout.  Was very excited to see that a Rolling Stone magazine, top 100-all-time guitar-players, knows all four strokes and is a competent swimmer.

Mark and Craig had a conversation with him for Mark had photographed him for a Los Angeles paper a few years back and Craig use to swim with him at one of the SCAQ pools. I must say it was awesome.

There would have been no Black Sabbath or Sex Pistols if Kramer hadn't of done it first.

Australian Olympic Swimmer Scott Miller arrested for possibly dealing meth

Scott Miller won a silver and a bronze in Atlanta in 1996. If the allegations that he was dealing meth are proven true then this guy deserves some serious jail time.

It is listed as a possession charge in The Telegraph headline but who walks around with $1,900 with cash on hand and has over $14,700 waiting in their car parked nearby.

He also was busted four-years-ago for supplying ecstasy and promised in exchange for not going to jail to turn his life around. So much for that promise. News.Com.au wrote that "...He's accused of either stealing the two sums of money or obtaining them by some other illegal means. ..." They Also included this gem: "...He had been arrested on the morning of June 18 at a home in Mascot, after police allegedly found on him three small, resealable bags of methylamphetamine totalling 1.04g. ..."

Would be interested to see if he himself tests positive for meth. If not, what does that say to you?  It suggests to me he was dealing.

I just did the math on meth; in Australia a gram-of-meth cost $40 on the "cheap end" or about the same price as a gram of gold. Yeah, imagine how rich "tweakers" would get if they bought gold instead of destroying their lives, mangling their faces and terrorizing their families.

So, divide $40-into-$16,600 (the amount he was busted with) and that's a lot of meth if Miller was exclusively selling meth. A gram of meth will keep a "tweaker" up for days. Imagine what devastation 415-pounds-of-it would do.

From The Telegraph: 

"... Miller cut a forlorn figure on the video screen of Parramatta Bail Court yesterday as he was told he would remain in custody until at least Wednesday following his weekend arrest.

"I thought it was a possession charge," Miller told the court in his first moment on screen, before the charge of supplying a prohibited drug was confirmed to him. He told the court his lawyer was away and unable to represent him in court yesterday...."

[Link]

A whisper campaign to boycott the Sochi Olympic Games in Russia?

Senator Lindsay Graham got the the "B-word" or the term "boycott" out in front when he complained about Edward Snowden fleeing to Russia for political asylum. Snowden is the NSA contractor who leaked "gigabytes" worth of documents proving that our secret FISA court and its secret judges, have allowed the NSA and the FBI the complete right to spy on the citizenry of the United States without a search warrant. (Yes, we are all suspects now.)

Graham recently ranted that we should boycott the Olympics unless Russia turns Snowden over. When a noted polling college found that more Americans view Snowden as a whistle-blower rather than a traitor the concept of threatening a boycott of the Olympics unless Russia complied became nothing short of a dead duck floating face down in the water.

Now, I am seeing an article from the Windy City Times that states LGBT groups (Lesbian Gay Bi-sexual, Transgendered) are calling for a boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

I am curious to see if  President Obama will now use LGBT issues to "mull over" a possible boycott for "human rights purposes" of course as a disingenuous reason to negotiate over Snowden return to the US; It seems like something he would do.

From the WIndy City Times:

"... Legislation prohibiting the dissemination of "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations" in Russia passed in late June. Activists suggest that the law will give authorities a wide berth in interpreting what "propaganda" actually entails, and fear that even so much as a public declaration of being gay would be in violation of the law. Foreigners are subject to the rule as well; they can be fined, detained for 15 days and deported.

Some organizations had been urging IOC to come out more forcefully against the laws. In mid-June, after the legislation had passed the Duma, Boris O. Dittrich, advocacy director of the LGBT Rights Program at Human Rights Watch, asked IOC to "to press the authorities to state publicly that, as Olympic Host, Russia will ensure, without distinction, the safety and the freedom of expression and association of all athletes, coaches, fans, and others who will attend the Sochi Games. ..."

[Link]

The purpose of the Olympic Games is to promote peace through sport and get us talking to one another. Their official phrase for this endeavor is:

"...To cooperate with the competent public or private organisations and authorities in the endeavour to place sport at the service of humanity and thereby to promote peace..." 

The IOC fired up their PR department to discuss this. They said this:

"...The International Olympic Committee is clear that sport is a human right and should be available to all regardless of race, sex or sexual orientation," the statement said. "The Games themselves should be open to all, free of discrimination, and that applies to spectators, officials, media and of course athletes. We would oppose in the strongest terms any move that would jeopardize this principle. ...” 

 [Link]

They don't state any action they would take but I suspect they feel the same way most of us do and would maintain a clearer head than Lindsay Graham. I suspect if any athlete mentioned they were gay or whatever, the IOC would have their back.

Boycotting the Olympics is always a bad idea. It does nothing but drive nations apart. Currently our Russian relations are strained enough and to boycott now would be a blow not just to Russia but a blow to the LGBT issues, American commerce, and most especially the athletes themselves. Nobody would win except for Lindsay Graham.

Let me back up, how would it be a blow to LGBT issues? The best avenue for those with LGBT issues is to go to the Olympics and anytime they get a forum to speak, mention that they miss their significant other or their LGBT parents. This in itself will make it a bigger and a more accessible issue since it would be televised globally and the IOC would protect them.

Next, why do I have a "push-up bra" ad from Germany in the upper-right of this post? Meet Andrej Pejic, a MAN who models womens' clothes and accessories. He would be outlawed for "promoting" his "whatever" in Russia under current laws.

YouTube: Wavepool Lifeguard Rescue: Can you find the victim fighting for their life before the lifeguard does?

I nailed it, can you? Make sure you watch it in full screen. I am very impressed with how fast the lifeguard reacted. He had no warning this was going to happen when we the viewer do.

I found this on Reddit and it has a great drowning thread on this video: [Link]

Death by swimming - Open water deaths happening again thissummer!

I hate drowning stories especially when the people who drowned were skilled or were suppose to know what they were doing.

Coroner: York County man drowned during Harrisburg triathlon Sunday:

The individual was declared to have died by way of a pre-existing medical condition. This could have been avoided if the athlete knew before hand via a thorough medical examination.

Next, the distance was short, less than a 1000-yards. That's barely a warm-up for most of us but a formidable swim for 50% of the triathletes doing that sport.

I did the Ironman in Kona a million-years-ago and I had to have a resume of accomplishments to be accepted into that race. I do not think it would be unreasonable for triathlon directors to expect and/or demand some swimming experience via Masters Swimming.

From The PA Patriot News:

... Reed was taken to a local hospital after he was pulled from the water around 7:30 a.m. Sunday and was later pronounced dead.

On Sunday, a representative from the coroner's office said it did not appear Reed had drowned, but that he had a pre-existing medical condition. When prompted about that today, a county spokeswoman said the coroner would not elaborate, citing medical privacy laws. ..." 

[Link]

South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham is willing to boycott the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi Russia!

Lindsay Graham is  the senior Senator for the state of South Carolina. Politically he voted for the recently overturned Defense of Marriage Act. (He is not married and has no children.) In 2008, he served as national co-chairman of John McCain's failed 2008 presidential bid and later supported the bank bailouts instead of those with underwater mortgages.

Generally speaking you can't get more Republican than Lindsay Graham and this Republican dropped the following "bomb" yesterday:

On July 16, 2013, Graham suggested the United States should consider boycotting the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia because of "what the Russian government is doing throughout the world." Source NBC News: [Link]

Then he upped his game with some by serious "carpet bombing" of the Olympic ideal and our strained relations with Russia here:

“I would. I would just send the Russians the most unequivocal signal I could send them,” Graham (R-S.C.) said when asked about the possibility of a boycott.

“It might help, because what they’re doing is outrageous,” he said. “We certainly haven’t reset our relationship with Russia in a positive way. At the end of the day, if they grant ... [Edward Snowden, NSA whistler blower] asylum it’s a breach of the rule of law as we know it and is a slap in the face to the United States.”  Source: The Hill: [Link]

Wow, a leading member of the US Senate wants to boycott the 2014 Olympic Games over a guy that most Americans consider a whistle blower rather than a traitor. (Is this really 2013?)

"a new Quinnipiac University poll... Snowden — who is currently seeking political asylum while holed up in Russia — is viewed as a "whistleblower" by 55% of poll respondents. Only 34% view him as a "traitor. ..."  Source Business Insider: [Link]

I would not put it passed the Obama administration to float this idea given the lengths they are going to catch this whistle blower.

Again, the US government is at odds with the people, the athletes, and what is a moral good for our world at large - Lindsay Graham is leading that charge.

FINA preparing to set open water temperature limit and it is irrationally high!

Cruel, stupid and dangerous! What "genius" at FINA even remotely thought that 88-degrees-Fahrenheit is a safe temp to swim in?

From Associated Press:

ROME (AP) Swimming's governing body is preparing to set a fixed maximum water temperature that doesn't meet U.S. standards that were introduced after the death of American swimmer Fran Crippen.

At meetings in Barcelona this week, FINA is about to set an upper limit of 31 degrees Celsius (87.8 Fahrenheit) for open water events. 

USA Swimming set a domestic limit of 29.45 Celsius (85 Fahrenheit) in the wake of Crippen's death during a sweltering 10-kilometer race in the United Arab Emirates in October, 2010. 

[Link]

Here is a question: When USA Swimming purchases the services of a lobbyist does some of that money make its way into a politician's coffers?

If so, would love to know which political party USA Swimming prefers. According to a reader email it appears to be the Republicans.

When I mentioned that USA Swimming had purchased the lobbying services of  Nielsen Merksamer a Sacramento based lobbying firm hired to kill Senate Bill 131; a bill that would extend the statute of Limitations on child sex abuse lawsuits, one reader had something to say and it is a curious thought too.

This reader mentioned to me in a private email; (they wanted to remain very anonymous), that two California politicians named Steve Knight out of Antelope Valley and a former trial lawyer named Don Wagner in Orange County, California did the following to suppress SB 131 probably at the behest of USA Swimming and the Catholic Church.

 "... [Steve] has two kids in USA Swimming. If anyone should have common sense it should be Knight. Last year, as vice chair of the Republican Caucus he was on board to kill Beall's bill. His committee vote was chicken S*** and cowardly. He abstained. He knew that it took a majority of the committee members to get it out of committee so his abstention was really a NO vote. Would be interesting to see which California legislators, if any, have received money from Colorado Springs. That's one of the first orders that will come from the lobbyists. Send money to key legislators. ..." 

Don Wagner out of Orange County. He is a former lawyer who made millions suing people and now claims this holier than thou attitude about these bills. He blames trial lawyers, says they are job killers, etc..."

There you have it... Has USA Swimming hired lobbyists with member donations to make the requisite political "donations" for them to get this billed killed or "modified"?

Translating "Emoji" into a Giant Light Show at the Beijing Water Cube

By using Chinese social network data, artists are using color to reflect the current moods of the Chinese public via a light show at the Beijing Aquatics Center or Water Cube

From YouTube:

"... Ancient Chinese texts and social media meet in a new giant light show at the Beijing National Aquatics Center. "Nature and Man in Rhapsody of Light at the Water Cube," an installation created by artist Jennifer Wen Ma and lighting designer Zheng Jianwei, uses a computer program to translate I Ching and the collective mood of the Chinese people into a stunning real-time light display on the building's exterior. ..." 

You can learn more here: [Link]

Scan: Gwen Stefani signs the yearbook of fellow swim team member in high school

If this scan is real I am just loving the fact that Gwen Stefani loved being on a swim team.

Allegedly this image is a scan of what she signed in a fellow swimmer's yearbook.

Loving the drawing of Stefani's toes; very Picasso. ;-)

Shoot iPhone Swim Selfies with a GoSwim Waterproof Case

Look at what deal i missed out on...

From GoSwim:

The Optrix XD5 Waterproof iPhone 5 case, along with a monopod, has allowed me to film swimmers during lessons and in workouts, with more ease and clarity than I've experienced with any other products. Period. This inexpensive combination of products gives me the ability to "track" swimmers better than anything I've ever used. The "magic" of this case is the wide-angle lens on the back of the case. It's like having an Olloclip on your phone, but with a waterproof case. With the Optrix combination, you're now able to shoot video of your swimmers in Lane 1, and get the entire body in the frame.

[Link]

English Channel Swimmer dies: "Channel swimmer was 'just wonderful', says her devastated father" - The Telegraph

Susan Taylor Channel Swimmer from Stuart Ritchie on Vimeo.

I HATE drowning stories and every summer they haunt me but the worst of all are when an accomplished swimmers drowns while carefully attacking our favorite discipline.


From the Telegraph:

The 34-year-old accountant from Barwell, Leics., undertook the challenge to raise money for Diabetes UK and Rainbows, an East Midlands children’s hospice. 

Arthur Wright, 68, described his daughter as "just wonderful" and said he was devastated by her death. The family had celebrated Mrs Taylor's and her brother's birthday at a restaurant last Thursday, he said, and he last saw his daughter on Friday night.

[Link]

I personally know three channel swimmers; two English Channel and one Catalina. No swimmer approaches a channel swim halfheartedly. This is a devastating loss of a women who was trying to help others.

What can be done?

Devices called "smart watches" are about to become more ubiquitous. They will measure all sorts of bodily rhythms. blood pressure, breathing, heart rate and oxygen saturation. I encourage all open water swimmers to use them and for their support crews as well for these watches will be able to relay data via Bluetooth or WIFI to support boats

Does USA Swimming & the Catholic church have sinister or benevolent interests in killing California Senate Bill 131?

Here is some history behind California Senate Bill 131, and when you know the history of this legislation suddenly the motives become clear as to why USA Swimming and the Catholic Church wants this bill amended or more accurately "crucified and buried."

It's my opinion that USA Swimming, the Catholic church and their lobbying firms are using a lobbying strategy that claims they want SB 131 to be a tougher bill but really they want to add an amendment so tax dependent and expensive that the bill can NEVER pass.

To condense the purpose of SB 131 into one sentence:  "... This legislation would provide a one-year revival window from 2014-14 for certain victims who were previously barred [due to a legislative error] the right to seek justice for the abuse they suffered as children. ..." [Link]

USA Swimming and the Catholic church argue that SB 131 does not go far enough, that the child abuse offenders should be jailed as well as sued. Now, that sounds commendable and noteworthy however this bill was never meant to be a child protection bill - It was meant to correct an error in a previous bill from 2002 known as SB 1779 which accidentally barred certain adults from filing lawsuits against the Catholic church. This bill would fix that error and that is the sole purpose SB 131. Once again this is a bill to correct a mistake that segregated certain victims from seeking civil justice.

The California Coalition Against Sexual Assault which supports SB 131 and explains it as follows:

"... In 2002, SB 1779 ...opened a one year window commencing on January 1, 2003 for those whose claims had been previously barred, to bring their claim. However, due to a California Supreme Court decision (Quarry v. Doe), one group of victims was not able to avail themselves of either the one year window or the amended statute of limitations. For those victims, who in 2003 were over the age of 26 and had not yet made a causal connection between their adult injuries and their childhood sexual abuse, there was no time period within which they could bring a claim. SB 131 would revive a one year retroactive window that captures these Quarry-type victims, so they can have their day in court and seek justice against their abusers.

Let me "land this plane" and summarize my opinion as to why both USA Swimming and the Catholic church are using non-candid or disingenuous reasons.

What is not stated or broadly known about California politics is that California has a severe incarceration problem. Read as overcrowding and health costs. It's cost between $52,000-and-$82,000 per adult or child to "cage" an individual per year. California jails are overcrowded and the legislature doesn't like it.

The costs of jailing people is prohibitive. So with a clever angle to stall this bill in the appropriations committee both organizations are going to try to get the concept of "incarceration costs" into this bill which as stated above would get it killed.

Both organizations have no problem with victims that were accidentally excluded from seeking justice. So, by making SB 131 an incarceration bill, both organizations can lament in public when it goes down in flames that the poor, poor victims got no justice but they will toast in private with donor sponsored Champagne that many victims were denied the right to sue.

So, when USA Swimming increases member fees, perhaps the money is going to lobbyists?

USA Swimming hires two mercenaries to "Kill Bill" - or more specifically California Senate Bill 131

Before the California Senate is a Senate Bill numbered SB 131 - This legislation would extend the statute of limitations for child sex abuse victims to file lawsuits against their abusers. It is wonderful legislation and California elected officials up and down the state in some pretty serious swimming communities are all for it.

Jim Beall, a Democrat from San Jose, is SB 131’s principal author. Ricardo Lara, Democrat from Long Beach, and Assembly member Nancy Skinner, a Democrat out of Berkeley, are both co-authors.

Why is this bill important? Diana Nyad said it best, sometimes children are not allowed to come forward or are afraid to come forward. In Nyad's case it was both:

From Out Magazine:

"... Her anger was no tantrum played out on a tennis court. “I was swimming every stroke with anger at that man and that sexual abuse,” she says. “That man” was her high-school coach back in Florida, an Olympian and Hall of Fame vet, and “that sexual abuse” was the four years of rape she endured under his tutelage. “I was so naïve. I hated him and loved him and felt humiliated and denigrated and so afraid, so terrified to be the last one left or the first one there in case I might be taken or attacked. ..." 

[Link]

Now here is where USA Swimming comes in: Two political mercenaries, otherwise known as lobbyists, have been hired by USA Swimming to help "Kill Bill SB 131. Their names are Jim Gross and Gene Urbin from renowned lobbyist firm Nielsen Merksamer.

Instead of endorsing this bill, USA Swimming wants it erased. One has to question why would they want child victims to summarily lose the right to seek the justice or compensation they so deserve? This bill is between victim and abuser yet USA Swimming wants to get into the middle of and run this bill of the California Senate floor. One must ask why?

The short answer is that they fear liability but why do they feel liability? The only logical answer I come up with is that there are individuals or a specific individual at the "top of the food chain" at USA Swimming that is directly involved or directly knew such abuse was occurring.

Correct me if I am wrong.

Ice hole swimming: This should cool you off on this hot summer day!

Don't try this at home or at all - these guys are NOT professionals but they are really good at being crazy.

Britain's Swimming Stars turn GB Superheroes for an Aquatics Promotional Poster

British Gas did a 'Free Swimming' campaign last year whereas those who signed up in some registry that declared their support for the British aquatics team would be able to "...take the plunge" for free in more than 700-pools across the country.

I wonder if it boosted more participation in British pools?

This video is a behind the scenes look at the photo shoot and how they got their dramatic images.

From Digital News Agency:

Swimmer Rebecca Adlington, open water swimmer Keri-anne Payne, diver Tom Daley, water polo captain Fran Leighton, disability swimmer Sascha Kindred and synchronised swimmer Katie Dawkins teamed up to produce a stunning image, which shows that Britain’s best aquatic talent is ready for the challenge ahead.

[Link]

Miami Fashion Blog: Mercedes-Benz Fashion Swim at the LUXE show

Hey any swimmers out there born in the middle or late 1990's, they make a reference in this video to swim designs of the 1970's. What I found so amusing is that the models they chose to model these swimsuits have the same bodies as the average girl did in the 1970's I kid you not. Bagels, burgers and donuts, were half the size as well.

If you don't swim, start! You you do swim, don't stop!

The overriding reason minority parents gave for not allowing their kids to participate in swimming lessons, even if they were free, was fear.

I like the way the YMCA approached this problem. Instead of finding out that minority children or poor people can't swim, the YMCA finds out why they can't swim and addresses it. Good job on them. 

The YMCA has seemingly found a way to get the whole family involved and that shared or communal learning experience binds families together as well as educates them.

Cullen Jones above who had a similar story to those featured in the article.

From Minnesota Public Radio:

Lindsay Mondick, aquatics director for the Greater Twin Cities YMCA, helped researchers convene focus groups in the Twin Cities. She says the overriding reason minority parents gave for not allowing their kids to participate in swimming lessons, even if they were free, was fear.

"If a parent was very fearful of the water, they're not going to bring their child to the water because, one, they will have a fear that they won't be able to get in and help them. And then that translates to the child. So it's kind of a cycle that isn't ever fixed because that parent will never seek out resources to have them swim," she said. 

[Link]

On a side note, I suppose the dominating population in Minnesota is white so to hear the term "minority" is so funny and actually an obsolete concept in Los Angeles where English speaking only is just 40% of the population and a language other than English is 59.8%.

Largest algae bloom ever or biggest 'algae 'ka-bloom' ever has plagued swimmers at China beaches!

The image above is not a golf course fairway but rather an algae bloom of "biblical proportions."

How do I define "an algae bloom of "biblical proportions?" This 'ka-bloom' is so large that is is about half the size of Rhode Island or twice the square area of Los Angeles.

The bloom is not dangerous but who wants to swim in grass; though it might make make for a fantastic photo of a group fo swimmers doing butterfly with a turbulent contrail streaming behind them.

From APF:

"... The State Oceanic Administration said on its website that the algae, enteromorpha prolifera, started to appear a week ago and had spread across an area of 28,900 square kilometres (7,500 square miles). The previous largest bloom was in 2008 when it affected around 13,000 square kilometres, it said. ..." 

[Link]

I am told that algae blooms are attracted to lots of phosphorus and China has lots of it and somehow it's finding it's way into the water. Personally I feel that if China is going to accept large amounts of phosphorus to sink into their water via run-off or whatever, they should perhaps consider harvesting the algae and aggressively protect the ocean life they depend upon.

You can do interesting things with algae and one of them is that you can convert into oil simply by cooking it. (It only takes one minute to convert algae into oil.)

This algae bloom is safe to swim and swimmers are not at risk. However, when this algae runs it's course and dies, imagine an area twice the size of Los Angeles smelling like rotten eggs? Yep, it's "swan song" will be named sulphur.

Elham Asghari: "My [open water] 20km record has been held hostage"

Elham Asghari: gave an interview to The Guardian regarding her 20km national open water record
that was rejected by Iranian swim officials simply because of their considerations regarding her body shape.

From The Guardian:

"...On a Tuesday morning in June, Elham Asghari stepped into the tidal waters of the chilly Caspian sea in northern Iran to swim 20km in full Islamic dress. But her record-breaking nine-hour feat has not been recognised by national authorities because she is a woman.

"Although I [stuck to] the full Islamic dress code and had swimming officials present at all times, [the authorities] said no matter how Islamic my swimming gear, it was unacceptable," she told the Guardian. "They said the feminine features of my body were showing as I came out of water. ..."

[Link]

The thing about sports is that they are not suppose to be politically correct. If you followed the rules, wore the right uniform, and committed no violations you're gold despite how you looked doing it.

I have no problems with Islamic dress but how can a society like this prosper when their female population has rules placed upon it that can be interpreted by personal consideration or whim rather than by a set of definitions?

Imagine if an IOC official or officials disqualified Dara Torres because she looked like a 15-year-old boy rather than their own the personal definition of an adult woman as illustrated in a Renoir painting?

Personally I think Dara Torres is amazing and extraordinarily alpha but these hypothetical officials would be disqualifying her on the basis of their own personal bias and opinion rather than by a set of rules.

The SCAQ blog wishes Elham Asghari the best luck and hopes that the Iranian swimming regime she swims under comes to their senses.

Happy fourth of July!

To their credit SwimSwam apologizes for copy/pasted Swimming World article - It will never happen again.

The best part is the quality control aspect of the apology: 

"...EDITOR’S NOTE: Today, SwimSwam became aware, through a post that appeared on blogger Tony Austin’s site scaq.blogspot.com, that an article which appeared our site, “Six 2012 Olympic Swimmers Nominated for Ten Espy Awards”, was copied, in large part, from an article that appeared on SwimmingWorldMagazine.com.  SwimSwam’s Contributor Agreement is clear on this point, and each contributor must agree that anything he or she publishes on SwimSwam.com is their original work; in this instance, it was not. 

We apologize for this and any confusion it may have caused.  Please read the original article on Swimming World here. ..."

"SwimSwam" obviously plagiarized and the person that plagiarized from "Swimming World" should issue an apology ASAP

Above are two screenshots, one from Swimming World and the one below it is from SwimSwam. (Click to enlarge.)

On June 27th 2013: Swimming World published the following article: [Link]

On June 30th 2013: SwimSwam copy/pasted the above article from Swimming World and by making just a few modifications called it their own. [Link]

SwimSwam obviously plagiarized and the person that plagiarized from Swimming World should issue an apology as soon as possible and the article should be taken down with said apology in it's place.

I know all about plagiarism, not only have I had work stolen from this blog twice that I know of and I watched my father go from a used car salesman in the San Fernando Valley to the International Editor of the Hollywood Reporter.

I wrote this blog post and I am updating here about my father and his plagiarism some years ago. It applies to this recent incident and the behavior of a lazy writer at SwimSwam:

Texas Swimmer spanks Timed Finals [For Plagiarism]

My dad started out as a used car salesman and eventually became the international editor for the Hollywood Reporter. He had a syndicated radio program in Australia and Lee Marvin once tried to punch him out. A pilot TV show was made from one of his books, and he broke the story that Walt Disney was dying of cancer before the mainstream media knew how ill he was.

Every morning before school he would get me up at 5:30 A.M., throw some clothes at me, and we would drive from newsstand to newsstand to see which one had gotten the Hollywood Reporter or the Daily Variety first. He would hand me 50 cents so I could buy them for him and then we would return home for breakfast.

At the kitchen table or sometimes a diner he would underline sentences from the Army Archerd column in The Daily Variety, and then do the same thing to the guy who wrote the gossip column for The Hollywood Reporter. I forgot his name.

One morning, I got fed up with getting up so early so at breakfast I asked "what are you doing, you underline these sentences every morning?" He replied back, "I am writing my column." And I said, "No you not, you're copying, you're cheating!" (I was in the 2nd grade.) It didn't go over well and I never asked again. Ultimately my dad plagiarized his way into entertainment journalism. 

Well, that is what Scott Goldblatt, the editor of Timed Finals, is being accused of doing by the swim blog, Texas Swimming. I have accused him of it too and I understand that a particular writer for the Australian press is getting wind of this sort of nonsense as well.

All Scott has to do to alleviate this criticism is to ensure he credits his sources. If he doesn't, he and the parent company of Timed Finals, the Wasserman Media Group, are going to become irrelevant to swimming.

My dad shamefully got away with it circa the 1960's, but in the age of the internet whereas everything is databased, that isn't going to happen.

Here is a link to the Texas Blog spanking. The photo to the right is the Texas swimmer himself: [Link]