swimming

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Phelps Gives $1M to Young Swimmers

Foundation will promote water safety, healthy living

(Newser) - Michael Phelps says he'll use the $1 million bonus from his sponsor Speedo for tying Mark Spitz's seven gold medals to encourage youth swimmers and water safety. The 23-year-old is starting a foundation "to really help to grow the sport," Phelps told the Today Show. The first initiative...

Swimmer Torres Set for Shoulder Surgery

41-year-old won three silvers in pain during Beijing Olympics

(Newser) - Dara Torres will finally get some relief after swimming to three silver medals with a damaged shoulder, CNN reports. The 41-year-old is scheduled today for a surgery she put off before the Olympics. Torres went to Beijing armed with anti-inflammatories, but started having intense pain while there. She plans to...

Spitz Starts Life as Second-Greatest

1972 Olympic champ stays gracious after record falls to Phelps

(Newser) - Outspoken and prickly in the best of times, Mark Spitz is slowly adjusting to being the second-greatest Olympian of all time, the Wall Street Journal reports. Mustering a little grace for the occasion, Spitz says he's relieved at the downgrade. "He's got the burden of inspiring the youth as...

Public Recreation Suffers as China Pays Olympic Bills

Exercise options include illegal swims in a frozen lake

(Newser) - While elite athletes reap the benefits of Beijing’s lavish Olympic spending, Chinese citizens complain that public recreation programs are suffering, reports NPR. The government has directed $430 million to public sports facilities since 2000, but that’s only half its annual budget for training athletes. “Government resources aren't...

'Supermom' Torres Won't Rule Out 2012 Games
'Supermom' Torres Won't Rule Out 2012 Games
olympics
Aug 18, 2008 1:25 PM CDT

'Supermom' Torres Won't Rule Out 2012 Games

3 Beijing silvers—and close call with gold— may push swimmer to try for London

(Newser) - Though Dara Torres says she’s looking forward to hanging with her 2-year-old, the US swimmer’s three silver medals in Beijing have some asking if she’ll aim to compete in the 2012 Olympics—when she’ll be 45. "I don't know," Torres told the Philadelphia Inquirer....

How Phelps Saved the Games
 How Phelps Saved the Games
OPINION
Aug 18, 2008 7:43 AM CDT

How Phelps Saved the Games

Swimmer inspired America to love the games again

(Newser) - If the Chinese invented organized sports 6,000 years ago, writes Pat Forde on ESPN.com, then how appropriate that Michael Phelps came to Beijing to prove he was “the apotheosis of the athlete.” And America knows it. In a year when the Olympics had become “passe,...

Phelps' Quest Perfectly American
 Phelps' Quest
 Perfectly American
OPINION
Aug 17, 2008 4:01 PM CDT

Phelps' Quest Perfectly American

Swimmer balanced domination with near-misses

(Newser) - Michael Phelps’ quest for eight gold medals was a perfect sports story for America: we like our athletes to either dominate or come from behind at the last minute, and Phelps delivered on both counts. He was both “the juggernaut and the ninth-inning home run with two outs and...

Phelps Ties Spitz With 7 Golds
 Phelps Ties Spitz With 7 Golds 
olympics
Aug 15, 2008 9:41 PM CDT

Phelps Ties Spitz With 7 Golds

(Newser) - Michael Phelps beat Milorad Cavic of Serbia by the thinnest of margins to win the 100-meter butterfly yesterday, tying Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals at a single Olympics. Phelps, seemingly destined for second at the finish, somehow touched the wall first, a scant .01 seconds ahead of Cavic....

Phelps' Winning Personality Separates Him From Spitz

Golden-boy swimmers are only similar in the pool

(Newser) - Michael Phelps has passed Mark Spitz's record number of career gold medals, and is dead set on eclipsing the seven golds Spitz won in Munich in 1972. But apart from their metal preferences the two men are very different people, observes the New York Times. The detached Spitz matched his...

The Greatest Athlete of His Generation?
 The Greatest
 Athlete of His
 Generation?


OLYMPICS
Aug 13, 2008 9:29 AM CDT

The Greatest Athlete of His Generation?

Phelps' sport is underappreciated

(Newser) - With his 10th and 11th gold medals making him the most decorated Olympian in history, Michael Phelps is also arguably the greatest American athlete of his generation, writes Alan Abrahamson of NBC. And despite the Olympic hype, he’s underappreciated. That's because his sport is not, say, golf, but swimming,...

Are Swimmers or Technology Swamping Speed Records?

Cascade of new world records sparks debate

(Newser) - Swimming world records are going under so fast at this Olympics that some officials are questioning what's going on, the New York Times writes. Ten records have fallen in Beijing so far—four in the space of 80 minutes yesterday—causing controversy over concerns that advances in swimsuit and pool...

Phelps Nails 3rd Gold, New Record
 Phelps Nails
 3rd Gold,
 New Record
OLYMPICS
Aug 12, 2008 2:58 AM CDT

Phelps Nails 3rd Gold, New Record

Swimmer smashes 200-meter freestyle record, matches Spitz in career medals

(Newser) - Michael Phelps racked a third gold medal today, this one in the 200-meter freestyle, and obliterated another world record in the process. His time of 1:42.96 seconds shaved nearly a full second off his previous best, reports the Baltimore Sun. The gold, his ninth overall, ties him with...

Phelps Seeks Redemption for '04 Athens Loss
Phelps Seeks Redemption for '04 Athens Loss
OLYMPICS
Aug 11, 2008 4:59 PM CDT

Phelps Seeks Redemption for '04 Athens Loss

Olympian favored in 200-meter freestyle, on track for 8 medals

(Newser) - Michael Phelps is gunning for a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Games, but the one that would mean the most is in the 200-meter freestyle, his hometown Baltimore Sun reports. He insisted on competing in the event at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and it was the only individual...

US Freestyle Team Grabs Gold by a Fingertip

Phelps inches closer to eight gold medals

(Newser) - Jason Lezak pulled ahead in the final moments of the 400-meter freestyle relay to win a gold for the US men’s swimming team and push Michael Phelps one step closer to a record eight golds, ESPN reports. Lezak, 32, swam the fastest leg in history—46.06 seconds—finishing...

Phelps Off to Quick Start with Record Swim

Wins 400-meter individual medley preliminary

(Newser) - Michael Phelps has set a new Olympic record before the race for medals has even begun, the Washington Post reports. The American swam the 400-meter individual medley preliminary in 4 minutes, 7.82 seconds. “I'm happy to get the first-race jitters sort of out," the swimmer said. "...

10 Buzz-Worthy Olympians
 10 Buzz-Worthy Olympians
OLYMPICS
Aug 7, 2008 11:49 AM CDT

10 Buzz-Worthy Olympians

Phelps, Bolt, Xiang take sport's center stage

(Newser) - Competing in 20 Olympic events and going for a record eight gold medals, American swimming phenom Michael Phelps is first off the block in the BBC's list of 10 to watch in Beijing. Here are some of the others:
  • Natalie du Toit: This South African swimmer and Paralympic gold-medalist will
...

Phelps: Growing Into All Those Golds

(Newser) - At 23, Michael Phelps is poised to win the most gold medals ever by an individual at the Beijing Games, and earn some $5 million in endorsement deals for companies such as Visa and Speedo. Yet Phelps’ journey—from an 8-year-old throwing a temper tantrum after his first swimming loss...

US Swimmer 'Tests Positive for Banned Substance'

Source: Jessica Hardy has failed pre-Olympics doping test

(Newser) - American swimmer Jessica Hardy's Olympics may already be over. The 50-meter breaststroke world record holder has tested positive for a banned stimulant, insiders told the AP. Hardy has the right to pursue appeals, but if they fail she could face a 2-year ban and Team USA will suffer a major...

Swimmer Dies During NYC Triathlon
Swimmer Dies During NYC Triathlon
Jul 21, 2008 4:19 AM CDT

Swimmer Dies During NYC Triathlon

First death in race's 8-year history may be due to cardiac arrest

(Newser) - An Argentinian man died after experiencing difficulties midway through the swim portion of the New York Triathlon yesterday, the Daily News reports. He was pulled out of the water after fellow swimmers noticed him struggling, and was pronounced dead at a hospital. Initial reports indicate that cardiac arrest was the...

Olympic Swimmer Has Cancer
 Olympic Swimmer Has Cancer 
Jul 11, 2008 4:11 PM CDT

Olympic Swimmer Has Cancer

US breaststroker Shanteau putting off testicular surgery until after Beijing

(Newser) - US Olympic swimmer Eric Shanteau has testicular cancer, he tells the AP, but will put off surgery to compete in next month's Beijing Games. Shanteau, 24, unexpectedly locked in the 200-meter breaststroke July 3—just days after he was given the diagnosis. "I made the team, so I had...

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