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Video: Swim drills with Olympian George Bovell

Editor's Note: We recently received an email from Gary Hall Sr...the manager of the Race Club in the Florida Keys. He writes, "My son, Richard, and I continue to put out swimming webisodes and the quality seems to be improving." We agree so we're sharing this swim drill video below.

From the videos description, "One of the fastest men on the planet, George Bovell from Trinidad and Tobago shares some of his favorite drills for improving freestyle. Check out this swimming technique videos and swimming techniques of George Bovell. The Race Club is proud to present this series Powered by Platinum with George who is training for his 4th Olympic games with Coach Mike Bottom at Michigan where he is set to compete the 50 and 100 meter freestyle in London. "

8-year-old swimmer crushes 500 freestyle record

The Spokane Waves Aquatic Team hosted the “Last Minute Mile” swim meet Saturday afternoon at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington.  Four events were held starting with mixed open 400 IM followed by mixed open 500 Free, 1000 Free and 1650 Free.  According to 8 year old Emma Thompson’s mother, Jessi, Emma had never swum 500 continuous yards before without stopping.  The record for an 8 year old before today was just under 8 minutes.

Emma dove off the blocks with a full head of steam and swam her first 50 yards in 40 seconds.  She would finish her first 100 in 1:25.  She quickly settled into a rhythm over the next three hundred holding steady at 1:32.  Her final 100 was a full 5 seconds faster.  Emma utilized a strong kick to finish her last 100 in 1:26.

“I think all that love makes me swim faster.” – Emma said after beating the 500 free record by about 30 seconds.

Here are Emma’s splits:

Video: Ever wonder what it is like to swim from Cuba to Florida?

You may recall that during the seventies marathon swimmer Diana Nyad was the greatest long distance swimmer in the world, and one of the most popular endurance athletes in America.

She swam so much and so fast that she broke numerous records including the 50-year-old mark for circling Manhattan Island.

In case your wondering she swam around the island (7 hrs, 57 min) in 1975.

But perhaps her most famous (if unsuccessful) swim was when she tried twice to swim the 103-miles from Florida to Cuba.

Both times she did not make it and almost died trying to overcome the current, waves and sharks.

Fast Forward to 2011 and 60-year-old Nyad once again tried to swim from Cuba to Florida twice.

And as before she didn't make it as she was stung by jellyfish and overtaken by fatigue. In the video below, "she talks about how to prepare mentally to achieve an extreme dream, and asks: What will YOU do with your wild, precious life?" according to the video's description.

Click play if you want to hear about her adventure and her funny and inspirational advice on making the most of your life.

Video: Wake-up, Swim, Eat, Sleep, Swim---the typical day of America's greatest swimmer

Have you ever wondered how Michael Phelps spends his typical day? According to the 8-time Beijing Olympic Gold medal winner his typical day is "nothing too exciting". Check it out for yourself by clicking play and watching the video above.

Follow on twitter @everymantri or view latest videos on YouTube.

Video: The Ultimate Stocking Stuffers for the Triathlete Swimmer in your life (part 1)

Getting that perfect Holiday gift for the triathlete swimmer in your life is not easy...that is until today. In this video EMT contributor  Dave Erickson provides you with the top stocking suffers that will make any endurance athlete jump for joy when they see what Santa brought them.

Christmas shopping for the multisport athlete(s) in the family is actually pretty easy unless they're sponsored, in that case maybe they should be hooking you up?!  If they're not sponsored then you have lots of options and many of the items they want can fit nicely in their stockings over the fireplace.

Below is my list of Christmas stocking stuffers for swimmers plus a direct link to where you can buy each, most from Amazon.com.   Not everything on this list fits in a sock but most of it will.  Happy shopping!

Video of the day: The San Fran Golden Gate Bridge like you've never seen it before

You've probably seen the iconic Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. You may have even driven or walked across it but we bet you've probably never swan underneath it.

Check out the GoPro video above from the recent 3K Golden Gate Bridge Swim to what it is like to swim with the sharks and the fish underneath the Golden Gate Bridge.

Follow on twitter @everymantri or view latest videos on YouTube.

Diana Nyad quits Cuba-to-Florida swim after being stung by Portuguese man o' war

Diana Nyad gave up her attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida today after being stung on the body and on the face by Portuguese man o' war jellyfish.

Nyad said the pain was unspeakable, and doctors warned her that enough toxins had built up in her system that any further stings could be fatal.

The 62-year-old swimmer had finished about 49 miles of the 103-mile open water swim before calling it quits.

Video: Diana Nyad one quarter way to her goal of swimming from Cuba to Florida

Former Olympic swimmer Diana Nyad (62-years-old) is back for a second go. She is trying to swim from Cuba to Florida (103 miles) to break her own open water distance record for an ocean swim without a Shark cage.

"It's been a challenging night and morning," her assistants said through Facebook, "Diana recovered from the multiple Portuguese Man O' War stings enough to swim -- but she is struggling right now. Her usual stroke pace, between 52 and 55 strokes per minute, has dropped to 48, but she is able to swim."

A later tweet said, "Diana seems to be gaining strength. Her rest times per hour are less and less."

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Video: Watch 61-year-old Diana Nyad start her record making swim from Cuba to Florida

Diana Nyad is set on proving that 60 is the new 40. Yesterday, she jumped into the calm ocean waters and began her 103-mile swim between Cuba and Florida.

"When I walk up on those shores of Florida, I want to prove to the AARP crowd that it's not too late to go back and write that book or adopt that child," she said.

"The joke is the 60s are the new 40s, and it's true," she added. "I want to be there to say we have many, many years of vitality and strength and service left in us."

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Exposed: The newest and fastest triathlon wetsuit of the year

What's the best and fastest wetsuit in the triathlon biz this year?

In this exclusive EverymanTRI video report from Bike Dealer Camp 2011 in Utah Ben Greenfield tests the year's newest wetsuits to find out.

Check it out below as Ben swims in some of the newest and best wetsuit on the market and of course struggles, like all of us,  to peel them off.

Photo of the day: Phelps waves after winning 200m Butterfly final in Shanghai

Michael Phelps has not had the best 2011 World Swimming Championships.

Earlier this week he was beat by Ryan Lochte who caught Phelps in the second half of the men's 200m freestyle final to win gold...leaving Phelps with a silver.

But at least in his signature race (the 200m Butterfly) Phelps beat Japan’s Takeshi Matsuda over the last 50 meters while at the same time holding off China’s Wu Peng.

After the race Phelps said, "I didn’t want to lose that race again, Having a number of defeats this year, that was extremely frustrating for me. I didn’t like that feeling. I kind of wanted to have the feeling of winning a race again."

In this photo Phelps waves to the fans after winning the 200m Butterfly final in Shanghai.

While he may have lost some of his speed from the last Olympics he still has has about a year left before the 2012 games in London.

“I want to be faster," Phelps said after the tight win. "That was a little too close for comfort. . . . This is just a small step for my next year."

Follow on twitter @everymantri or view latest videos on YouTube.

 

 

How to swim 30 miles in just 3 days and not go crazy or blow up

Editor's Note: We just got this email from our friend Brett over at www.zentriathlon.com.

"In my training for swimming across Tahoe, I swam 30 miles in 3 days.  It. was. BRUTAL!  Anyway, I wrote a blog post about it." (see below) Congrats Brett...that's something you'll remember for the rest of your life.

I tried beating Jamie Patrick's challenge of 29 miles of swimming in three days and it was BRUTAL.  I learned a lot during the process, including a tremendous amount of respect for ultra swimmers who do this on a regular basis.  There where many, many times when I thought, "This is freaking CRAZY!  I'll never finish this!"  But, I finally did and here's the breakdown:

• I took my estimated pace and then slowed it down by a bunch.  Using that, I figured that I would have to swim 5 hours every day for three days in a row to do it.  That's around 10.2 miles or 16,500 meters per day!
• Swimming 5 hours is a lot like a 5 hour bike ride.  It's zero impact, so it's all about pacing and fueling.

Top 10 Indoor Pools For Triathletes Who Have Won The Lottery.

I’m sure it’s something we’ve all dreamed about.

When I win the lottery I’m going to buy a big house with an indoor pool.

No more public pools for me! No more sharing a lane, no more getting stuck behind someone swimming breaststroke slowly, no more floating band aids (and other foreign objects), no more lane rage.

Use the Force, Become a Swimming Master

 

Worried you swim like a wounded duck looking for shore?  Afraid your first triathlon will result in DNF due to being picked up by the swim patrol boat?  Sweating the bottomless depths of the pond, lake, river or ocean?  Don’t worry, it’s just you.  Everyone else is in a masters swim group and you’re the only one not taking advantage…

 

Ok, maybe not, but there are a LOT of triathletes that HATE and DREAD the swim.  Instead of facing their fears head on, a lot will focus on hours on the bike and run and spend 1 to 2 hours a week splashing around in the pool unsure if they are working towards the ultimate goal of surviving the swim.  How do you improve your swim and more importantly your confidence in the water?  Use the force, Luke, and take advantage of your local masters swim group!

Dave Erickson's Road to Ironman 70.3 California: Swimming Form

 

I'm coming down the final stretch of training before Ironman 70.3 California, less than two weeks.   Today I logged 3,850 yards in just under an hour and 20 minutes.  This morning's workout was a pyramid of pull and paddle sets  along with a few balance drills to break it up.

 

Today (Friday) wraps of 12,000 yards of swimming for the week.   I've been swimming about 4 times a week but this week was only three.  My Sunday swim-run brick is being replaced with a bike-run brick.  I'll end up with about 17 hours of training by the end of the day Sunday.  I must admit, I'm very happy with my fitness level up to this point.

Is Aussie swimmer & Olympian Ian Thorpe on the London 2012 comeback trail?

By all indications it looks like Australia's most famous swimmer, Ian Thorpe, is back in the pool and perhaps training for the 2012 Olympic games.

According to published reports the 28-year-old five-time Olympic gold medalist has lost weight and is once again training seriously in Australia.

Thorp's manager, Dave Flaskas, told The Associated Press on Sunday that while "it's a long way from here to London," Thorpe is enjoying swimming again and "never say never."