Category Archives: Swimming

Greater Sydney council bans ‘revealing swimwear’ sparking debate about double standards

Posted on by

One expert says women’s bodies and attire have long been a source for public debate in a way that doesn’t happen with men

A council in Greater Sydney has announced it is banning G-string bikinis at its public pools without providing further details about how the rule will be policed, sparking debate about gender standards.

Earlier this month, Blue Mountains Leisure Centres (BMLC) posted on Facebook that it had noticed some “confusion” about “appropriate swimwear” when visiting one of their pools.

Continue reading...

Tourism agency deletes ‘pristine swimming spot’ post about unpatrolled beach on Mornington Peninsula

Posted on by

Video removed as Life Saving Victoria carries out 145 rescues – ‘We don’t remember when we’ve been that busy’

Victoria’s tourism agency has removed a social media post that described an unpatrolled ocean beach on the Mornington Peninsula as a “pristine swimming spot” amid almost 150 rescues on the state’s beaches on Saturday.

Number 16 beach, on the Bass Strait side of Rye, is described on the Visit Victoria website as “recommended for experienced surfers only” as it is not patrolled by lifesavers. It has a reputation among local residents as dangerous.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Georgia Bell leads rush of medals as Team GB enjoy super Saturday

Posted on by

The runner, who has set a new British record, only took up sport again to stay fit during pandemic

Georgia Bell, an occasional runner during lockdown who made it to the Olympic final of the women’s 1500m, set a new British record to take bronze as a rush of success including silvers in artistic swimming and taekwondo took Britain’s rivalry with France in the medal table into the last day.

At the age of 30, this was Bell’s first Olympic appearance but in a lightning quick race in the Stade de France that saw Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon set a new Games record, the British runner stayed with the leading pack in the first 800m before finding the strength to kick on in the final leg.

Continue reading...

Competitor at CrossFit Games in Texas dies during swimming event

Posted on by
  • CrossFit CEO Don Faul ‘deeply saddened’ by death
  • Athlete who died named as Lazar Dukic from Serbia

A competitor in the CrossFit Games has died while competing in a swimming event on Thursday morning at a Texas lake.

CrossFit CEO Don Faul said during a news conference that the organization was “deeply saddened” by the death of one of their athletes, and they were working with authorities on the investigation into the death.

Continue reading...

‘Our bet paid off’: Paris celebrates Olympic triathletes’ swim in the Seine

Posted on by

City officials say they have ‘reversed the tide of history’ thanks to completion of €1.4bn sewerage system

French city officials have hailed a “historic day” after the Olympic triathlon competitions were held in the River Seine just a day after it was deemed unsafe for swimming.

Tests on the water showed the men’s and women’s competitions could go ahead on Wednesday morning, resulting in victory – against all odds – for the city as well as for French athletes who took medals in the women’s and men’s events.

Continue reading...

Wednesday briefing: Where France’s €1.6bn plan to clean up the Seine for the Olympics went wrong

Posted on by

In today’s newsletter: The government has spent €1.6bn improving the river, but an ancient sewage system and the climate are muddying the waters

• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First Edition

Good morning.

An ambitious project to clean up the River Seine has left French officials up to their eyes in it.

Israel-Gaza war | Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, has been targeted and killed in Tehran, the group said in a statement early on Wednesday morning. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard confirmed the assassination, which was reported on Iranian state TV early on Wednesday morning, with analysts also claiming Israel killed Haniyeh, the Associated Press said.

UK news | Keir Starmer has said those who rioted in Southport on Tuesday night will “feel the full force of the law” after police vehicles were set alight and missiles hurled at officers. It came after far-right protesters pelted police with glass bottles and bricks and attacked a mosque following a knife attack that killed three children and left five other children and two adults in critical condition.

Conservatives | Kemi Badenoch, the frontrunner to be the next Conservative party leader, has been accused of creating an intimidating atmosphere in the government department she used to run, with some colleagues describing it as toxic, the Guardian can reveal.

US election 2024 | Donald Trump has repeated his weekend remarks to Christian summit attendees that they would never need to vote again if he returns to the presidency in November.

Health | The hidden cost of rising workplace sickness in the UK has increased to more than £100bn a year, largely caused by a loss of productivity amid “staggering” levels of presenteeism, a report warns.

Continue reading...

Heartbreak for Adam Peaty on disappointing day two for Team GB

Posted on by

Swimmer narrowly misses third successive Olympic gold, as Andy Murray keeps tennis alive in doubles comeback

World record-holding swimmer Adam Peaty was left in tears after being beaten to gold by the smallest of margins on a day of disappointment for Team GB at the Paris Games.

The 29-year-old had been seeking to join American legend Michael Phelps as only the second man to win three successive Olympic golds in the same discipline, but trailed Italy’s Nicolò Martinenghi by just 0.02 of a second in the men’s 100m breaststroke.

Continue reading...

Paris mayor swims in Seine as river is cleaned up just in time for Olympics

Posted on by

Anne Hidalgo fulfils pledge after cleanup operation makes water quality safe enough to host events at Games

It has been the dream and promise of Paris mayors for decades and a nightmare for Olympic organisers: could the Seine be cleaned up enough to swim in and hold triathlon and other events?

For the last 100 years and up until a few days ago, the answer seemed to be no.

Continue reading...

Life saving lessons: multicultural leaders urge education in ‘second language’ of water safety after latest drownings

Posted on by

With one-third of drowning victims in Australia born outside the country, advocates say more funding is needed to reach diverse communities

As Supt Joe McNulty explained the circumstances behind the drowning of two women in Sydney, he said they hadn’t come from a “swimming background”.

That meant someone who was not a strong swimmer, or “wasn’t from a culture that taught you to swim early”, he explained.

Continue reading...

Olympic Games’ €1.4bn clean-up aims to get Parisians swimming in the Seine

Posted on by

Organisers expect 75% of identified bacterial pollution will be gone by the time the starting gun fires for the open water events

Beside a sign saying “No swimming”, Pierre Fuzeau defiantly pulled on his swimming cap, slipped into the green water of the Ourcq canal on Paris’s northern edge, and set off with a strong front-crawl.

The 66-year-old company director regularly joins his open-water swimming group for well-organised illegal dips, including in the River Seine, where swimming has been banned since 1923 largely as a result of the health risk from unclean water and bacteria from human waste.

Continue reading...

Swimming boss defends athletes lobbying national gallery to take down Gina Rinehart portraits

Posted on by

Swimming Queensland chief Kevin Hasemann says ‘I’ve never been to a gallery’ and furore has ‘evolved into something I could never have imagined’

The head of Swimming Queensland has defended a campaign that saw Olympic champions lobby the National Gallery of Australia to take down portraits of their patron, Gina Rinehart, because they were deemed “offensive”.

An acrylic colour portrait by Vincent Namatjira of Australia’s richest woman was the target of the campaign along with a second black and white portrait by Namatjira in ink and pencil.

Continue reading...

More than 90% of marine animals caught in NSW shark nets over summer were non-target species

Posted on by

Exclusive: New documents reveal NSW government division over controversial program as data reveals death toll

More than 90% of marine animals caught in shark nets off New South Wales beaches over the summer were non-target species, with new documents revealing division within the government over the controversial program.

More than half of the 208 non-target species – such as turtles, dolphins and smaller sharks – that were caught in the nets over the past eight months were killed, data obtained by conservationists show.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Israeli swimmer Gorbenko booed at world championships as GB’s Colbert wins gold

Posted on by
  • 20-year-old won silver in 400m individual medley
  • Jeers were partially drowned out by cheers and applause

Israeli swimmer Anastasia Gorbenko was jeered by some of the crowd after finishing second in the women’s 400m medley on the closing day of the World Aquatics Championships in Qatar on Sunday.

The 20-year-old Gorbenko was being interviewed after the race when the jeers rang out at the Aspire Dome in Doha. She smiled and then sighed when she was booed again, this time as she mounted the podium at the medal ceremony. Others in the crowd clapped and cheered, partially drowning out the jeers.

Continue reading...

‘I just count the laps’: Canadian swimmer, 99, breaks three world records

Posted on by

Betty Brussel sets records in the 100- to 104- year-old age class in Saanich, while inspiring members of local swim club

By the time an exhausted Betty Brussel finally swims to the finish and pulls herself from the pool, an Olympic athlete could have covered the same distance at least three times. But the 99-year-old Canadian’s quiet determination has led her to shatter world records and transformed her into an unlikely celebrity within the amateur swim community.

At a weekend swim meet in the British Columbia city of Saanich, Brussel broke the existing world record in the 400-metre freestyle, knocking nearly four minutes off the previous standard in the 100- to 104-year-old age class. She repeated her record-breaking performances in 50-metre backstroke and the 50-metre breaststroke that same day.

Continue reading...

Drowning deaths: kayaker dies off Victorian coast amid spate of deadly water incidents

Posted on by

Search crew finds body of man near Rosebud beach on the Mornington Peninsula after two-hour search

A kayaker has died in waters off Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.

Emergency services were called to Rosebud beach about 3.30pm on Thursday. There were reports a man on an inflatable kayak had got into trouble and gone into the water up to 800 metres off shore.

Continue reading...

NSW drowning deaths climb to four since Christmas as lifesavers send holiday warning

Posted on by

Royal Life Saving Society chief says Australians may not be ‘as strong swimmers as we believe’ as December toll hits 22

Another person has drowned in New South Wales, adding to the rising drowning death toll that has prompted a warning from lifesavers at what is considered the deadliest time of year.

Four people were pulled from the water at Port Stephens on Wednesday afternoon, including a 33-year-old man who could not be revived and died at the scene.

Continue reading...

Olympic swimming champion Ariarne Titmus shares relief after benign tumours removed from ovary

Posted on by

Swimming great describes ‘scary time’ after chance discovery during MRI scan for hip injury

Australian swimming champion Ariarne Titmus has had surgery to remove benign tumours from an ovary.

The women’s 400 metres freestyle world record holder discovered the tumours by chance when having an MRI scan on a sore hip.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Seine to open for public swimming after Paris Olympics, mayor says

Posted on by

Three monitored river bathing zones in the French capital will open in 2025, said the mayor, Anne Hidalgo

A quarter of a century after the late president Jacques Chirac promised Parisians they would be able to swim in the Seine within three years, the French capital’s mayor has confirmed three river bathing areas are to open in the city in 2025.

The sites – opposite the central Île Saint-Louis in the centre, by the Quai de Grenelle in the 15th arrondissement to the west, and at Bercy in the eastern 12th arrondissement – will be monitored by lifeguards and marked by buoys, Anne Hidalgo said on Sunday.

Continue reading...

Swimmers poised for biggest mass trespass so far at Kinder reservoir

Posted on by

Sunday’s event in Peak District will mark anniversary of Kinder Scout protest, seen as crucial in establishing right to roam in UK

Up to 1,000 swimmers are expected to head to Kinder reservoir in Derbyshire on Sunday in the biggest trespass of the water to date. The turnout will mark the anniversary of a mass trespass that helped establish the principle of the right to roam in the UK.

The swim trespass of Kinder reservoir, situated below Kinder Scout where the 1932 protest took place, has become an annual event and is growing rapidly with the boom in wild swimming.

Continue reading...

Swimming Australia CEO Eugenie Buckley resigns with immediate effect

Posted on by
  • SA on search for third chief executive in less than two years
  • National championships start on Monday on the Gold Coast

Swimming Australia is searching for another new chief executive after the shock resignation of Eugenie Buckley with immediate effect on Friday.

With less than 18 months to go to the Paris Olympics and the national championships starting on Monday on the Gold Coast, Buckley has left “to take up opportunities outside of the sport”, after taking over the top job in swimming in late 2021.

Australian Associated Press contributed to this report

Continue reading...