News

Masters

Information for this article was supplied courtesy of Diana Smith (www.mymsc.ca)

Nigel Kemp, President of Masters Swimming Canada (MSC), is also a Master course conductor in Canada’s National Coaching Certification Program and a contributing author to Swim Canada and FINA technical manuals. He is a multiple award-winning coach, as well as a ten-time Canadian Masters champion who competes regularly. Kemp has been in swimming for a total of 55 years. Presently, he both coaches and swims for the Halifax Trojan Masters swim club in the province of Nova Scotia, where he adheres to the “Active for Life” philosophy for the promotion of health and well-being.

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Open Water Grand Prix

Famous open water swimmers Peter Stoychev (BUL) and Britta Kamrau-Corestein (GER) were winners of the fourth race of the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix 2009 series. This event was held at Mexico’s beautiful Sumidero Canyon in the Grijalva River on April 18, where Stoychev imposed a new record for the 15km route with a time of 3h9m49s. 

The men’s competition was a true battle of the titans, marked by vigorous duels between Stoychev, Diego Nogueira (ESP), Ivan Lopez (MEX) and Michael Dimitriev (ISR), as each swimmer alternated in the lead position.

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Synchro World Trophy

Last December in Madrid, the world of synchronised swimming entered into a new era with the introduction of thematic routines at the FINA Synchronised Swimming World Trophy. These routines also allowed participants to perform using accessories and additional equipment – something not permitted at the World Championships or Olympics. This new creative dimension brought added-value to the show and helped seduce spectators, TV viewers and judges. From November 27-29, when the 4th FINA Synchronised Swimming World Trophy 2009 takes place in Montreal (CAN), the innovative trend of this competition will continue. Even more new concepts aimed at improving and promoting the artistic side of synchronised swimming will be introduced, with the aim of boosting the sport’s popularity overall.

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Masters

Mohamed Diop is not only a Masters enthusiast with an impressive amateur career behind him, but also a genuine swimming leader who diligently promotes the sport in Senegal. “I stopped my [amateur] swimming career in 1999 at 35 years of age at the time of the African Games in Johannesburg (RSA),” he recalls. “From that moment, I decided to continue swimming as a Master for two reasons. The first is because I adore the sport, and the second is because I have a tendency to gain weight if I do not regularly engage in sport.”

In reality, Diop’s affiliation with swimming extends much further. Currently he is not only President of the Fédération Sénégalaise de Natation et de Sauvetage, but also a Bureau Member of the Confederation Africaine de Natation Amateur. Also, his positive experiences with swimming have made him particularly interested in engaging young people to get involved.

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Open Water Grand Prix

The promotion of open water swimming in Mexico is very important and in 2009 two international FINA events will be held in the country: a leg of the Open Water Swimming Grand Prix will take place at the Sumidero Canyon on April 18, and a stage of the Marathon Swimming World Cup will be held in Cancun on September 12.

The first open water international competition in Mexico for 2009 is the fourth date of the Grand Prix with a distance of 15km, which will double as the XX Sumidero Canyon Marathon.

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Masters

National Masters swimming champion Beth Eldridge (USA) has a moving story to tell about how love and devotion to a sport can literally save your life. She recovered from extreme treatments for successive brain tumours without ceasing to practice, compete and coach swimming; a lifestyle choice she believes allowed her to overcome her illness.

Getting hooked on Masters

In 1992, immediately after Eldridge (USA) completed her college swimming career, she started coaching age-group kids in South Dakota. But it wasn’t long before she missed competing herself and started swimming in the open lanes at the age group meets. Eventually, when she heard about Masters swimming she started a team in Idaho in 1997. Two years later she competed at the national championships (50m) in Minneapolis in 1999 while completing a Graduate degree in Exercise Science.

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10km Marathon Swimming World Cup

The first race of the FINA 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup 2009, which was held in Santos (BRA) on January 24, has been hailed as a resounding success by organisers and in global open water swimming circles.

The competition doubled as the widely popular Maratona Aquatica Internacional de Santos / Travessia Renata Agondi and the event included festive amateur races in the distances of 1km, 2km and 4km in addition to the premier 10km. More than 1000 athletes participated in front of thousands of spectators.

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FINA World Junior Swimming Championships

Eleven finals were contested in the last championships session. Italy’s Luca Dotto (1990) and Luca Leonardi (1991) went 1-2 in the men’s 100m freestyle final to clinch, respectively, the gold and the silver medal. Dotto won the title in 50.06 - a Championships record, 0.23 seconds faster than that set in the preliminaries by Orinoco Faamausuli - swimming from lane 1, while Leonardi’s second place, with 50.11 (his personal best) came from lane 4. Both swimmers come from Northern Italy, Dotto from near Padua, Leonardi from near Milan. For the bronze medal, Russia’s Oleg Tikhobaev (1990) had a swift final hand touch and conquered the bronze in 50.33, just 0.01 seconds ahead of Germany’s Dimitri Colupaev (1990). 

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FINA World Junior Swimming Championships

The most relevant news from the preliminaries on Day 5 of the 2nd FINA World Junior Swimming Championships taking place in Monterrey from July 8-13, 2008, concern Orinoco Faamausli, the New Zealand swimmer who on Day 4 dominated the 50m freestyle final. This morning he did not swim the 100m freestyle he wanted so much to win and that he would have probably have won seeing that he had set the Championships record in 50.29 swimming the lead-off leg of the 4x100m freestyle relay in the preliminaries of the first day of the Championships. Orinoco was compelled to scratch because of a stomach sickness overnight, which left him in frustration.

For the first time no Championships record was set in the preliminaries.

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FINA World Junior Swimming Championships

On Day 4 (July 11) of the 2nd FINA World Junior Swimming Championships being held in Monterrey (MEX) from July 8-13, 2008, Russia joined the USA at the top of the medal tally with five gold. As described below, Elena Sokolova (RUS) winning the 400m freestyle in an amazing time, was among the day's highlights.

PRELIMINARIES
Seven Championships records were set in the morning session. In the women’s 50m backstroke both the two fastest semi-finals qualifier, Elizabeth Pelton (USA, 1993) and Etiene Medeiros (BRA, 1991) swam under the previous mark, respectively in 29.18 and 29.29. Same thing in the men’s 50m butterfly for Ivan Lendjer (SRB, 1990) and Daniel Bell (NZL, 1990), who swam the distance in 24.12 and 24.17 respectively.

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