More on the Mermaid - Nadya's Tail

Here's an article that ran in a UK paper (Telegraph.co.uk). More detail and a picture of Nadya swimming is included plus a link to the video embedded below.

I love these quotes from the Mermaid, herself, "A prosthetic is a prosthetic, and your body has to be comfortable with it and you have to mentally make it part of yourself." She goes on to say, "I thought rather than just having it as a plaything, I would take it further." What does she mean by that? Triathlon baby!

By her beauty and upbeat manner, one can tell that Nadya has not let being a double amputee ruin her life. She's made the most of it and now can give hope to others. Cheers!



This second video, where she's swimming in the open water, really makes you see Nadya as a real mermaid, what with the surprise peeks of her tail.

Mermaids are now real

My regular readers may recall that I pontificated on the idea of swimming prostheses for double amputees in a prior post after seeing an article about a dolphin that had a new tail made for it.

Well dear reader, my science fiction has come to pass. Check this out! I present the new mermaid.

Just call me Jules Verne or Gene Roddenberry. You choose.

Know Anyone Who Can Do This?

A Jet Pack for the Swimmer

Just when you thought you were too old for water toys, this little thing comes along.

So cool! I know what I want for Christmas, Santa.

What Hasen't Been Said about Michael Phelps and the Pot Thing

You've heard about it all week ad nauseum. Michael Phelps "allegedly" smoked pot. There's a picture of someone that looks like the Eight Gold Wonderkid doing a bong hit, splashed all over the internets. My opinion - Probably is. He's caught crap from the conservative media and some of his sponsors. He's also lost three month's of eligibility in US swim competitions. And as if that isn't enough, now the friends of marijuana legalization are making him their poster boy, saying "If MP can do it, everyone does it. So make pot legal! Now!" Today, the Diggs, Reddits and all the other online opinion aggregators are pushing the envelope in that direction, calling on their minions to boycott sponsor(s) who are pulling their support of MP (think big cereal company).

Here's what's not been said ... Michael, you were stupid. Pot is, if nothing else, smoke. Put it in your body and it goes into your lungs, where some of it stays there. Your lungs are what got you to the finish line first, more times than I'll ever count. Your lungs are as important (if not more important) as your big feet, long arms, and long torso.

Keep up the partying and you can wave goodbye to all that glory, for the sport will pass you, fast. You can count on it.

My final words ... Grow up buddy, and start thinking. By the way, I hope your coach kicks your butt.

NYC to Bermuda Swim Goal Completed

I completed another of my mini-goals today, which I started at the beginning of 2007. This one was the distance from New York City to Bermuda. Sure I did it over 517 swim days, but there it is - 775 miles.

I've set up these goals to keep me going. Seems to be working so far.

Onward to London!