New Template

After five years of writing this blog, I finally took the plunge (there's a good word for it) and updated this blog's template to something more blog 2.0ish. Hope you like it. Let me know if you find any problems. Thanks for everyone's support!

Your Spouse Wants a Sun Room - You Want a Pool

What's a rich guy to do. The wife wants a sun room and you want a pool. How about a sun room where the floor sinks down at the touch of a button and gives you a pool?!

Check out this web site from Hydrofloors.

Oh, but what about the wet floor? "Honey, can you throw me another towel, please."

Is Swimming Under Water Faster than Surface Swimming?

Is Swimming Under Water Faster than Surface Swimming? Hill Taylor, aka Dolphin Man, from the University of Texas, proves that yes it is. It's just not technically legal in an NCAA sanctioned swim meet. In this video, he beats the world record in backstroke by a full minute (cough cough).

Like my last post, I got this from the Wired feed. Don't know what's up with these geeks. Are they suddenly cool to be around?

Water Jet Packs - How Rich People Have Fun Above It All

Here's a video I found on Wired's RSS feed showing what the rich do when they get bored on the yacht. Yes, this is another jet pack video - Enjoy.

How to Make Your Swim Goggle's Lenses Like New

You can make your swim goggle lenses so they are like new again by following the simple steps in this post.

When you use a new pair of swim goggles for the first few times, you'll find they improve your vision under water dramatically over your old scummy goggles. But over time, pool chemicals and water scum (white film) builds up on the lenses. Try this tip and you'll probably find you see a lot better underwater without forking out another $10 - $20 for a new pair.

Tools: toothbrush with soft bristles (tougher bristles might work, but could scratch the lens ... try at your own risk) and toothpaste (I used Crest paste with whitener).

Just apply a dab of toothpaste to the toothbrush and scrub for about thirty seconds, rinse and enjoy. Be sure to do both sides of each lens.

What's happening? The toothpaste has a mild abrasive which removes the built up scum that will not come off with regular soap and washcloth.

Lifeguard in Action During the Australian Floods

Check it out here. Now that's an Aussie, eh, mate?!

Martin Strel Announces His Next Challenge

Just finished listening to Martin Strel on a BBC audio stream (listen here) discuss his Guinness World Record breaking Amazon swim where he swam the infamous stretch of water from end to end. Martin's portion of the clip runs for about 10 minutes, beginning at about the 11:30 mark.

Featured in the BBC discussion, Martin talks about what started him swimming in the first place (sad story here); why he prefers swimming in fresh water over salt water (I figured the latter would be easier ... he says no and why); How the Amazon swim was his dream accomplishment (no surprise there); what he thinks got him through the Amazon swim alive and kept safe (touching story); how the whole trip came to a near disaster on the final day (didn't know this and I've followed this guy every day during the swim); the diseases he caught; his 24/hr a day elixir (this still makes me laugh); how swimming is a mind game; how long he took to recover; and most exciting ... his next challenge.

Well worth the listen!

Dozens of Talented Divers All at Once

Remember in the 2008 Olympics how the Chinese awed everyone with their huge show featuring hundreds - maybe thousands - of people working in synchronization to create an amazing showcase of talent? Well here it is in a platform diving presentation. Starts getting fun to watch at about the 2 minute mark. Enjoy!

What the Health Department and Scrooge Have in Common

The pool where I do the bulk of my lap swimming in the cold months installed some new bright (LED?) lighting over the Fall months. It became clear over time that there was a new unexpected feature - the lights could change color. They could be set to blue, red, green, yellow or white. Or they could be set to rotate between selected colors. Go one lap and return and the blue is now green. Personally I thought this was a bit over the top. I liked some of the colors, but yellow made the water look like urine through my goggles. What good did it do? Well my attitude changed for the better as time went on - I got accustomed to yellow and the change in colors kept me from being so bored. And even better, as the Christmas season approached, the lights were set to red and green. Cool huh? So what happens? The health department shows up and says that the colored lights have to go. What's that about? Perhaps the Ghost of Christmas Pools needs to pay them a visit! Merry Christmas!

The Most Efficient Swimming Propulsion Device Ever

Who do you go to if you want to develop the most efficient swimming propulsion device ever conceived?  Darpa, of course.  That's the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.  They bring you simple new innovations, like say, the internet.  Anyway, they've put their minds to work and developed a cool way to send the Defense Dept's swimmers through the water faster.  Thinking a better kind of fins?  Think again.  Check out the video below.

Tiger Woods has a Lap Pool - Pic at Link

Tiger Woods has just finished updating his new home that he bought for a mere $35 million and he's put in another $15 million to touch it up.  So did he do what every other gajillionnaire does when they "upgrade" their estates and first thing remove the lap pool?  No!  Tiger has kept his and it's a dedicated lap pool (check out the pic and story here) and appears to be 50 meters!  And yes, ladies, he's single.

Removing a Buffalo from Backyard Swimming Pool - Raw Video

Georgia pet buffalo gets loose and  falls through pool cover.  Gets out at 1:08 with some cowboy action, after that he/she thrashes around a bit acting like, well, a buffalo.  Gets a bit sad as the film progresses.  More to this video than you'll see on the TV news.

Power vs. Efficiency

A retired NCAA swim coach I've quoted here from time to time has added another aha moment to my life-long lesson in swimming.  It was late in the summer and the morning sun was blinding as I tried some backstroke kicks.  The old coach was in the next lane and watching all us regulars as he is inclined to do.  He saw me weaving in my lane as I had my eyes closed to keep the sun out of my eyes.  He advised turning to my side with one arm extended, lifting my butt and kicking from the hip.  The first instantly solved the blinding sunshine/lane weaving problem as I wasn't facing the sun so directly anymore; the rest of the advice seemed odd as it virtually did away with my flutter kick.  "Is that for more power?" I asked.  "No more power," was his reply, "but you'll be more efficient."  He's right.  It took me a while to really get the feel for it as the whole position, leg kick thing was new to me, but after one and half months I can say, I go further with each kick than I did before.  Am I more powerful?  No, but perhaps with the strengthening of my core by lifting my but (back muscles here), and using my hips more (more core and more whole leg), I will eventually be more powerful.  Time will tell.

Marathon Swimmer Dies of ...

Fran Crippen, a marathon race swimmer (10K swimmer) from Philadelphia died earlier this week due to some undefined complications related to a swim he was participating in the United Arab Emirates.  This article, courtesy of CNN, cites several causes 1) severe fatigue 2) heart attack and 3) water and air temperature, oh and let's not forget 4) they took two hours to find his body (2-hours ??? on a pre-determined race course ???).  Anyhow, I can't but help to think that a primary cause had to have been the temperature.  Water temps over 80 degrees F. in any race, much less a race of endurance, is asking for trouble.  The water temp was cited at 87 F. and the air temp, 100 F.  The race organizers are lucky others did not fall out.  It is my opinion that to hold a race of endurance in such conditions is unconscionable.

Look like crap in a bathing suit? Get in line

Get your butt off the couch, out of the chips bag, and in to the pool.  Your excuses are over.  OVER.  You can't give yourself excuses.  If you do, you won't go.  Go to the pool for five straight days.  Give yourself two days off as a reward and repeat (no, not the two days off ... the five days at the pool).  Don't worry about your speed, don't worry about what you look like.  Honestly, no one at the pool in the off season really cares.  None of us have a real tan by November.  Those who swim indoors know, if you do fit in your swim suit and can still look good, you are the exception.  Once you are in the water no one really notices anyhow.  Wear a towel like everyone else until you jump in.  Indoor swimming is not the beauty contest outdoor swimming between 10am and 4pm can be.  Indoor swimmers are usually only there because they want to work out, loosen up, or cool down from a dry land workout.  The time of day does not matter.  The pool temperature does not matter.  The intensity of the sun ... does not matter.  Indoor swimmers have no excuse.  Just swim, people.  Swim!

Lifeguard Makes Pool Rescue - All Caught on Film

Click this link to see a play-by-play water rescue.   Notice the refined use of the frog kick to get extra power.  Note:  Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Want Ad - Female High Diver. Must like Horses.

Beware of the Death Ray at this Swimming Pool

Do you like those fancy glimmering buildings in Las Vegas?  You know, the ones with beautiful swimming pools at the foot of them?  Beware.  One of them has what some are calling a "death ray" that appears when the sun hits the building and reflects down onto the pool area creating a super hot spot you are strongly advised to avoid.  Read more here.

Yes, You Can Dunk in this Swimming Pool

I found this video to be one of the most fun I've ever posted on this blog.  Enjoy!


Pool Domination 2010 - Watch more Funny Videos

Tips to Dry your Swimsuit

A reader asked me for tips on drying a swimsuit and I figured the question would certainly make for a good post, since if you don't do it right, or at all, you'll lessen the life of your swmsuit many times over.

Well, there are probably a million ways to dry one's swimsuit, but I have my preferences, some of which I've learned the hard way.  Here is my swimsuit drying Do's and Don'ts list and a few tips to go with them:

Do Not:

• Leave your swimsuit in your bag if it is damp - the bacteria that survives the chlorine will eat away at the elastic and will thrive in the warm dark place that is your bag (do this just once and you'll see what I'm talking about)
• Let your swimsuit dry in direct sun light - this will fade the pattern/colors faster than you might imagine
• Routinely dry your swimsuit while you are wearing it - this will stretch the fabric and you won't even notice it until one day when you get out of the water and it falls off your a**.
• Hang your suit from a clothes line or hook as this too will stretch the fabric (duh).
• Wring (ring?) your swimsuit out - this will stretch the fabric

Do:

• Rinse the suit in cold clean water to get out the chlorine and other pool chemicals (I just do it in the shower after my workout)
• Dry the suit on a flat surface - I use the shower floor at home works great, or on a dry towel which you one can do just about anywhere (e.g., in the back of your car, etc.).  Sometimes your suit won't be dry in 24 hours but will almost always be dry in 48 hours, so I keep a second suit in my bag for the next day's swim.  Then I just swap out suit from the drying place when I'm done.
• To speed things up try using a spinner.  They work like a salad spinner and do a great job whicking the water away from the swimsuit.  Spin the entire cycle, i.e. don't stop until you hear the unit click.

If you must get the water out of your suit manually - maybe because you don't have a spinner, or a plastic bag or towel to wrap the suit up in when you leave the pool - I suggest scrunching it into a ball and squeeze the water out (once again, do not wring it out).

These are just a few of the things I do and/or recommend.  Other suggestions always welcome.