Swimmer's Daily

  • High quality segment here from the British Gas Swimming Championships, with Rebecca Adlington, Gemma Spofforth, Hannah Miley, Liam Tancock and British record breaker Kerri-anne Payne.

  • On February 24, 2011, Iranian President Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated the National Academy and West Asia Development Swimming Center. This complex contains two 50-meter swimming pools, one indoor and one outdoor with warm water, a diving pool, a 25-meter warm-up indoor pool, ten saunas (steam and dry), ten jacuzzis, ten hydrotherapy swimming pools as well as a dormitory for 300 persons, a restaurant and meeting room for up to 400 persons. The complex was completed with US$20m only in ten months and it is a record-time in Iran. Source: fina.org.

  • Jan Jeppesen executive editor of Amager Bladet lunges out against the his fellow Danish press in today’s editorial, stating that even though Jeanette Ottesen won an European silver medal last summer and a World bronce this winter, she only gets DKK 10.000 (appr. USD 1867) a month from Team Danmark and struggles with finding additional financial sponsors, because her brand is so weak. She could earn more if she participated in shows like Dancing With The Stars, but has chosen to focus instead on the Olympic Games in London 2012, which will then be her last.

    That Ottesen is a bigger name in Sweden, Australia and USA is maybe not surprising, as danish media has grown immune to clearing broadcast channels and newspaper front pages when a Danish swimmer wins a World Championship medal, while gladly using user licens money on 6 hours of buildup for a soccer match. Jeanette Ottesen’s example is not unique. Ambitious and serious athletes drop out because they cannot ‘sell tickets’ as involuntary comedians in prime time. In the old days – and that is not so long ago – Danish sport stars could clear broadcast channels and newspaper front pages. Back then the media had the energy to focus on the sports content.

    Jeanette Ottesen on the podium in Dubai

  • A Sportsvibe TV interview with Mark Spitz at the Laureus Awards in Abu Dhabi, talking about passing the baton to Michael Phelps, and discussing the upcoming Thorpe vs Phelps. They also talk about the famous moustache.

  • A segment here from the national Faroese news broadcast “Dagur & Vika” this evening, where Jón Bjarnason coach of Pál Joensen dismisses rumors that the planned 50 meter pool of their hometown Vágur in the Faroe Islands will be ‘too cheap’, and counters with saying that this is true regional development, not only focusing on elite swimming, but also on helping for instance arthritis patients with spa facilities.

  • 57 percent of Danish kids have never had any kind of formal swimming instructions, according to a study released by Børneulykkesfonden (Children’s Accident Foundation). The municipalities decide if swimming shall be part of the physical education in schools, but still parent expect their kids to automatically learn to swim there. Michael Aller chairman of RÃ¥det for Større Badesikkerhed (Council of Greater Swimming Safety) has difficulties with understanding this, for as he says, if you don’t learn English, German og French, you can always learn it later, but if you don’t learn to swim, you can drown. Source: 24.dk.

  • Olympic Champion Rebecca Adlington cracked 4.03 this weekend, winning the British national championships in Manchester with a time of 4:02.84. Speed Endurance Swimming Blog asked if she was the best 400m freestyler in the World, but then Italy’s Federica Pellegrini responds with a sizzling 3:57.89 in the 400 SCM free, breaking the first national records since the suit law changes, while still in heavy training. My bet’s on Fede.

  • Armed police gave the children a scare when they stormed the Papamoa Swimming Club lesson in Papamoa, New Zealand, apprehending the man they were after, but not before all of the people at the swimming pool were ordered to lay on the ground. Once the man was apprehended, the police took time to talk with the children, showing them some of their weapons including a Taser. Source: sunlive.co.nz.

  • Olympic swimming champions Duncan Goodhew and Rebecca Adlington have joined forces with the British swimming sponsor British Gas and the ASA to support the launch of a new website Pool Watch, to provide a potential lifeline for local communities fighting to keep their local swimming pools afloat.

    Swimming is the UK’s biggest participation sport, and more than 3 million people swim once a week. Nevertheless, 63 UK public sector swimming pools closed in 2009, while only 28 pools opened. There was also a 27% decrease in the number of school pools between 2002 and 2009.

    Source: swimming.org

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