On Being a Gay Olympic Champion
The following are excerpts from a review by Laura Robinson on 1992 Olympic champion, Canadian Mark Tewksbury’s new book Inside Out: Straight Talk From a Gay Jock.
In the early 1990s, bus shelters in the Church and Wellesley area of Toronto sported posters of a fabulously built Mark Tewksbury wearing only Bugle Boy jeans and his […]
Total Immersion - A Good Resource for Inexperienced Swimmers
Total Immersion is a new approach to the hydrodynamics of the human body when swimming. The aim of this approach is to swim like a fish, undulating/oscillating the whole body, rather than propelling only with the arms and legs.
Total Immersion claims to be a new way of swimming, to make the rewards of swimming available […]
Lance Armstrong to Attempt the Ironman Triathlon?
If the following ends up being true it will be quite a treat for us swimming, running, and cycling fans. Thank you to Larry Weisenthal for this juicy rumor:
Recently, Chris Carmichael (Lance Armstrong’s coach) was a speaker at Yale. My younger daughter eagerly went to hear him speak. I’d asked her to ask him a […]
Gary Hall Jr. on the Art of the Taper
I think Gary Hall Jr. has got this taper idea right. For a little background, I first met Gary during training in Pasadena in the summer of 2000, just before the Sydney Olympic Games. I had heard stories about him and yes, some were not good, but it turned out that Gary was […]
The Next Thorpedo?
Is this a new Thorpedo? It is a question that was asked in Sydney this past weekend about 14-year-old Gold Coast swimming dynamo Daniel Smith after he collected an amazing eight gold medals at the national age championships.
According to reports, not since Ian Thorpe in 1996 — when Australia’s greatest Olympian won 10 Australian age […]
Using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics to Speed Up Swimmers
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, or CSIRO, and the Australian Institute of Sport are using mathematics in a bid to speed up our top swimmers by testing changes to swimming strokes. The research will make use of the same software CSIRO uses for other fluid simulations such as animating water for movies and […]
Thorpe to Possibly Train With Dave Salo at USC
As I stated in an earlier report, Ian Thorpe is quite possibly relocating to Los Angeles to train and compete in the United States. New reports indicate that Australian head swimming coach Alan Thompson has endorsed Ian Thorpe’s plan to move to and race in the US and one of the options he would […]
FINA To Make Some Changes
At the next Swimming World Championships in Melboune in 2007, the Federation Internationale De Natation (FINA) has decided that all of the participants (not just swimmers) will get plane tickets, hotel accomodations, and 3 meals per day (hotel and meals for a total of 17 days) for free.
This decision was made during the FINA […]
How-To: The Basics of Backstroke
The backstroke is quite different than the other four competitive strokes because you typically cannot see where you are going, hence you are on your back looking towards the sky. The object of the stroke is, quite obviously, to try and swim on your back with body on or close to the surface of […]
Thorpe Injured In Bathroom Accident
Australian swimming star Ian Thorpe has broken a bone in his hand when he slipped and fell in his bathroom last week at his home. This is yet another setback for one of the greatest swimmers of all time, having missed the Commonwealth Games in March.
Is Jenny Thompson Coming Out of Retirement?
Exclusive: In 2004 Jenny Thompson said she was retiring from swimming. Thompson, the all-time leader in Olympic medals for the United States with 12 (8 gold) from 1992 to 2004 seemed content to just walk away from the sport, but it seems like she may be back.
She competed this weekend in Italy at a meet […]
How To: The Basics of Freestyle
Freestyle, or “the crawl” is normally the fastest stroke and can give you the feeling of being powerful and fast in the water. It can be hard to get the hang of freestyle (or any stroke) at first because the rhythm of breathing can be a difficult task to master.
Freestyle is swum with your entire […]
World’s Swimmers Choosing To Train in the United States
Bridget Hunter, a Washington File Staff Writer, wrote an incredible article about foreign athletes (swimmers specifically) training in the United States. Hunter says, “to be the best, you need to train with the best. That adage has been taken to heart by hundreds of swimmers and divers who left their home countries to […]
Neethling to Take a Hiatus
According to SwimNews Online, Ryk Neethling will be taking a break from heavy training and competition until July 1, 2006. At that time he will begin preparation for the March World Swimming Championships.
According to Neethling, “This is my 16th consecutive nationals and I don’t think I have anything to prove. I wanted to come […]
Kitajima Rebounds. Wins Ticket to Pan Pacific Champs
Double Olympic breaststroke champion Kosuke Kitajima salvaged his pride on the final day of the Japanese national swimming championships, rebounding from a pair of losses to stretch his winning streak in the 100 meters breaststroke.
“I’m relieved that I got a ticket for the national team in the very end,” Kitajima told reporters.
Kitajima must truly make […]
Gold Medal Mel Mel Stewart
The Swimmers' Ear Mike Gustafson
Top 5 Tuesday David Cromwell
In My Mind Nathan Jendrick