NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Olympic Committee is seeking to revive plans for a cable television network, and plans to start discussions next year with the International Olympic Committee, a top official said on Tuesday.
Scott Blackmun, Chief Executive of the USOC, said at the Reuters Global Media Summit that he also wants to discuss the network with Comcast Corp once it completes the buyout of NBC Universal, a longtime broadcaster of the Games. Read entire report @news.yahoo.com
Remember those old-school underwater viewing windows? One collapsed under the pressure of the pool, blowing inward, sucking a gym teacher and a student into the maintenance room below the pool.
UPDATE: Accident at Jefferson High School Swimming Pool. A bizarre accident this afternoon at the Jefferson High School swimming pool; student airlifted to Madison hospital. VIDEO: Jefferson High School Pool Accident 10pm 11/29/10. Read reportwww.nbc15.com
Monday night, Ryan Lochte won his second-consecutive Golden Goggles award as male swimmer of the year in the United States. The six-time Olympic medalist captured six golds this past summer at the Pan Pacific Championships, the season's major competition for U.S. swimmers. Earlier in the day, Lochte stopped by the SI (Sports Illustrated Magazine) offices to chat about his background, his accomplishments, his laid-back attitude and his sense of fashion.
SCROLL DOWN AND CHECKOUT THE SPORTS ILLUSTRATED VIDEO INTERVIEW at this link: sportsillustrated.cnn.com
Here's Wall Street Journal coverage of Goggles, including Rebecca Soni and Teresa Crippen, Lochte's Florida teammate who was nominated for Breakout Performance of the Year.
Alexander Popov, aka the Russian Sprint Czar, aka the greatest sprinter of all-time, was born November 16th 1971... Until a few hours ago, I did not know that we shared the same birthday.
Presently, Popov's a political animal within the enormous maze of the International Olympic Committee, but back in the day our careers overlapped, mine ending while his was taking off.
When I first saw Popov, I thought he had the prettiest freestyle I had ever seen, and I called him the Prince of Precision. A small part of me was jealous, however, being a side-breathing butterflyer, thrashing a stroke that's supposed to be the most beautiful of the 4 disciplines.
Popov in action:
Popov was funny. He didn't mean to be, not necessarily... He was just so earnest.
My favorite Popov quote: "Why do Americans worship movie stars? They are not real. I am an Olympian. I am real."
Popov still commands a lot of respect among sprinters today, many citing him as their childhood inspiration.
Happy Birthday, Popov! I hope you're well my friend...
via www.universalsports.com: The Australian set out on Tuesday to become the first person to ever swim the 72-mile channel between the Hawaiian islands of Oahu and Kauai. Her first attempt in March was derailed by a run-in with a Portuguese Man-o-War, which left Palfrey with painful stings all over her body.
Unfortunately, attempt No. 2 had a similar outcome.
Palfrey, a 48-year-old mother and grandmother, encountered several Portuguese Man-o-War starting an hour and a half into the swim and was eventually forced to abandon the try at the 7:39 mark, her face, arms, sides and back covered with painful stings. She covered around 16 miles in the vast Pacific Ocean.
FROM www.nytimes.com, by JULIET MACUR: "On paper, the swimmer Jessica Hardy appears to be a lock to compete in the 2012 London Olympics. She broke the world record in the 100-meter breaststroke last year and has swum fast enough to qualify for four events at the United States Olympic trials... But making the Olympic team is not her only goal. A positive drug test weeks before the 2008 Beijing Games cost her the experience of competing there. After serving a yearlong doping suspension, she is looking to clear her name."
SHREVEPORT, La. — Olympic gold medalistCullen Jones was back in the pool Wednesday, sharing his story with a community where six teenagers drowned in the Red River this summer because they couldn't swim.
Jones' appearance was part of Make A Splash, the USA Swimming Foundation's child-focused water safety initiative. Make a Splash partners with cities, schools, swim clubs and non-profit groups across the country to offer swimming lessons.
"Danila Izotov (RUS) shot to the helm of the early short-course season world rankings over 200m freestyle with a 1:42.77 victory at his home round of the arena world cup in Moscow."
"Michael Phelps sounded weary on the other end of the phone line, with good reason.
He had just flown back home from a golf-slash-business outing in China the day before, and now he was off to Las Vegas to unveil a new sponsor he hopes will help increase swimming's popularity — a passion he balances these days with his undisputed talents in the pool."
The LA Times article is all about Phelps getting serious in the wake of Ryan Lochte taking his mantle as the greatest swimmer on earth... Okay, fine, but what's this about "a new sponsor he hopes will help increase swimming's popularity?" Is Phelps starting a swimming channel? A new pro league? Unless the sponsor's backing one of those two ventures, I can't think of any others... Someone help me, please. What's Phelps got up his sleeve? If it's simply more Phelps visibility through sponsorship, sure, that makes sense, but I'd like to see (I hope to see) a bold move made by Mr. Swimming between now and the moment he hangs up his suit.
Canadian swimmer Annamay Pierse was hoping to bring back a handful of medals as souvenirs from the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Instead, all the swimmer brought back from Delhi, India, was a bronze medal and a debilitating case of dengue fever.
"Yes it's been confirmed dengue fever has been the cause of my horrific pain! Now I need to get better stat," Pierse, 26, said on Twitter... Pierse, who trains in Vancouver with the University of B.C. Dolphins swim club, was selected to compete at the short-course world championships Dec. 15-19 in Dubai. She isn't sure if she will be well enough to compete in Dubai, though.
The last weekend of October 2010 came to a close with important words for the swimming world from Chuck Wielgus, CEO of USA Swimming: never again must there be a repeat of events in the UAE that led to the death of marathon swimmer Fran Crippen; and it will take several months of investigations before conclusions can be drawn as to how it happened and how FINA, meet hosts and domestic federations make sure that aquatic sports events unfold in the safest possible environment, the welfare of athletes paramount.
