September 24, 2008 - One of the things we love about athletes is that many of them work as hard for their charities and communities as they do for their respective sports.

When a group of elite level athletes started their events in China last month, they did so with at least two goals. The first, of course, was to exert maximum effort and, with luck, come home with a medal. And the second was to make a good showing for the charities they support.

Toyota calls these athletes Engines of Change and they developed a program last year to support them while promoting healthy living and a commitment to community. The Engines of Change program, a nod to Toyota’s hybrid technology, is designed to interact with various athletic communities, namely triathlon, swimming and cycling by educating and engaging participants, supporters and spectators in the program through a wide range of online and offline activities, including an interactive, on-site display of Toyota’s hybrid vehicles (that last part was from their press release in case you couldn’t tell).

Toyota’s support for athletes comes in several forms. First, there’s a bit of financial support that’s intended to help the athletes focus more on training and less on personal financial concerns. Second, there’s a bit of financial support directed toward the charities and community activities in which each athlete is involved. And third, the company supports their sports, through events and sponsorships, as they train in the U.S.

Among the current Engines of Change are swimmers Dara Torres and Tara Kirk and triathlete Sara Haskins. Dara Torres’ donates money to the Eating Disorders Alliance; Sarah Haskins’ supports Jenny’s Light, a foundation for postpartum illnesses and swimmer Tara donated money to the Bremerton Foundation in support of her high school.

These athletes are interested in doing well at competitions while doing good at home. We’re impressed by their hard work and dedication, and we wish them luck in each magnificent endeavor.

To see what other charities athletes support, check out Random Acts of Kindness

Filed under: Charity/Cause, Swim, Triathlon by jane
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September 8, 2008 -After winning three silver medals in Beijing, Olympic swimmer Dara Torres has mastered another challenge: walking the runway at New York Fashion Week. Torres went for fashion gold on Sunday, when she modeled two looks in Charles Nolan’s newest collection. Nolan’s show is always fun, thanks in part to his use of “real” people on the runway. This season’s show included a holistic healer, a grandmother, a ferry boat captain, and a 12-time Olympic medalist.

The 41-year-old Torres modeled two looks for the presentation of Nolan’s spring collection at the designer’s Chelsea studio. Her first look, an old-style swimsuit featuring a blue-and-white striped tank top and navy swim shorts, which she modeled carrying her two year old daughter, showed off her chiseled legs. Her second look, a dancing dress made of black jersey and silk taffeta, reflected ageless sophistication.

Wonder what’s more nerve-wracking? Walking the runway or swimming at the Olympics?

In other news, Cole Haan announced that  three-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova will be the face of a new sportswear clothing line debuting in the spring of 2009.

The new line, called Cole Haan Sporting, will include men’s and women’s footwear and accessories. Items will include flats, boat shoes, duffel bags and tennis racquet bags and will for between $115 and $550.

Sharapova, 21, will collaborate on the fall 2009 season, the company said. The former world number one has a longstanding passion for fashion and is considered a style icon. So it seems fitting that Cole Haan Sporting (a subsidiary of Nike) will embody sport style with a collection inspired by nautical, court, track, and golf.

“Cole Haan Sporting proves that fashion and technology can work together to change the way women think about and wear sport-inspired product,” said Sharapova. “I look forward to working with Cole Haan to bring new innovations to this leading fashion brand with such a rich history.”

Can’t wait to see some of the pieces in the collection. What do you think of the partnership?

Filed under: Fashion, Maria Sharapova, Swim, Tennis by jane
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Female athletes face some tough hair and beauty challenges, so read on for some revitalizing solutions.

Olympic swimmer Amanda Beard captured her first gold medal when she was just 14 years old, making U.S. swimming history as the second-youngest gold medalist ever. She competed in her second Olympics in 2004 in Athens and is heading to Beijing for the 2008 Games. At the height of her training, she’s in the pool four-plus hours a day. Find out how Shape Magazine helped get her hair back in peak condition.

You may not be in the water four or more hours a day - but if you’re a swimmer, you know the potential hair care problems.

The sun, coupled with chlorinated water, makes swimmers hair dry, brittle and in need of serious attention. For anyone who spends long hours in an outdoor pool, it’s critical to rehydrate the hair. It’s also a good idea to avoid overlayering too much to reduce exposure to lots of ends which eventually will split and look dull and frizzy.

In a quick search for great hair care advice, we came across some common hair-care myths. For example, do frequent trims make hair grow faster? No. Does switching shampoos make your hair healthier? No. Is brushing your hair 100 strokes each night good for your hair? No.

We also found out about some budget-friendly haircare products that can be purchased at the drugstore. These include Garnier Fructis Leave-In Conditioning Cream and Neutrogena Triple Moisture Deep Recovery Hair Mask.

Redbook offers some surprising ways you might be taxing your tresses — along with easy fixes.  Outdoor elements (wind, cool temperatures) can be rough even for dry hair but when hair is wet, it’s actually more fragile and susceptible to breakage so beware.

Once you get your hair in great shape, you have to decide whether to wear it hair up or down. Marie Claire taps some beauty pros who share what’s absolutely essential to sport each look.

Pretty Tough Tip
Here’s our advice: If you’re a swimmer and chlorine tends to turn your hair green, try squirting lemon juice in your hair. Let it soak in for about two minutes then rinse out in the shower. No guarantees but it’s worked for us!

Filed under: Beauty, Fashion, Health, Swim by maddy
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July 8, 2008 - For eight days, the Qwest Center in Omaha served as the epicenter of heartbreak and elation, as the U.S. Swimming Olympic Trials steadily unfolded.

We witnessed Michael Phelps earn a shot to overtake Mark Spitz and win eight gold medals at the Beijing Games. We watched Natalie Coughlin assert her dominance in the 100-meter backstroke and become the first woman in history to break 59 seconds. We saw Amanda Beard complete an unlikely comeback and make her fourth Olympic team and Katie Hoff qualify for five events plus a relay.

But the swimmer who quite possibly made the biggest splash at the eight-day trials, was 41 year old Dara Torres who won the 50- and 100-meter freestyles. Torres won the 50 in 24.25 seconds, bettering the American record she set the day before. Former Cal star Jessica Hardy finished second in 24.82 to add another event to her Olympic program, which includes the 100 breaststroke and 400 freestyle relay.

With her two year old daughter watching, Torres successfully completed her bid to make a fifth Olympic team. She nabbed her first gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. And she is committed to adding another Olympic medal to the nine she already owns. “I can’t sit here and say, ‘Oh, I’m just glad to be going,’” Torres said. “I want to win a medal.”

Olympic team members now head to Stanford on Monday for two weeks of training before departing to Singapore for another camp. We’ll be watching!

Filed under: Beijing Summer Games 2008, Swim by jane
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July 2, 2008 - The U.S. Olympic Team Trials in swimming began June 29 and will run to July 6 in Omaha, Neb.  The good news is that NBC and sister station USA are providing live and highlighted TV coverage of the event. The bad news for U.S. swimmers is that it’s a tough venue - no more than the top two swimmers in each event, aside from the 100-meter and 200-meter freestyle, are eligible to be named to the Olympic team.

Expectations are high and for good reason. Intense training, combined with the controversial LZR swimsuit, are causing world records to fall on an almost daily basis. In many cases, a sixth place this week would have been worthy of a gold medal last time.

Natalie Coughlin blitzed to a world record in the 100-meter backstroke to highlight another breathless day of action on Tuesday. Coughlin stormed to the wall in a time of 58.97 seconds, trimming 0.06 off her own mark to become the first woman to dip under 59 seconds.  

A day earlier, Hayley McGregory knocked off Natalie Coughlin’s 4 1/2 -month-old mark in the 100 backstroke with a time of 59.15 seconds, only to have Coughlin take it right back in the next heat at 59.03.

Christine Magnuson, a Tennessee swimmer, booked a ticket to the Olympics with a win in the 100 butterfly. The victory was helped by Coughlin’s decision not to swim, even though she holds the American record. Jessica Hardy also claimed her first trip to the Olympics by winning the 100-meter breaststroke in 1:06.87 ahead of 2000 Sydney gold medalist Megan Jendrick.

Teenager Katie Hoff, who has claimed a world record in the 400 medley and two Olympic spots, looks poised to add to more events to her Beijing program after posting the top times in the 200-meter freestyle and 200-meter individual medley. Hoff is from the same North Baltimore club that launched Michael Phelps and is quickly becoming the sport’s other resident superstar.

With the trials as exciting as they are, will we see even more records fall at the Olympics?

Filed under: Beijing Summer Games 2008, Swim by jane
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June 26, 2008 - Via RizzoSports comes a great interview with California’s Jessica Hardy who has a chance to be a shining star for the U.S. Swim Team at the Summer Olympics.

1. Jessica, first off how did you get involved and when did you start swimming?
My mom would take my younger sister and I to my gated community’s swimming pool when I was around 7 years old, when I noticed a team would come in the afternoons and I immediately asked my mom if I “could go beat them.” I guess my competitive nature started young.

2. Do you have a meet-day or pre-race routine?
I usually like to grab a cup of coffee on the way to a meet, so that I can drink it while I stretch and listen to music. I generally do the same warm up before every meet, and do a lot of socializing before my race… so I guess that is as close to a routine as you can get.

3. What events will you swim, or hope to swim at the Olympics?
Hope to swim the 100 breaststroke and the 50 and 100 freestyle.

4. What event is your favorite to swim?
The 50 breaststroke! Too bad it’s not an Olympic event

5. During the final 25 meters can you hear the crowd or sense your position?
I can hear the crowd and sense my position pretty much during the entire race. I feed off of energy so I really like loud crowds; however, I have to remind myself to not pay attention to where others are and focus on myself.

6. You’re an attractive blonde from SoCal, competing in one of the Olympics’ marquee events. You could be the center of attention in August. – Are you ready that?
I’d love it! I am obviously focusing more on my performances at this point, but any attention would be an honor!

7. With that said, do you feel the extra pressure or think about the opportunities that could come along with winning Olympic medals?
No. I have a performance-based contract with some of my sponsors, where the better I do, or the more medals I win, the more I get paid….which could lead to anxiety. The way I handle it is to honestly block all of that out while I am training and competing. I think about what’s to come after I finish my races and only assess what it means then.

8. What do you enjoy doing when you’re not swimming?
I am very easy going. I really like am happy doing almost anything as long as it’s in the sun. I love the beach and spending time doing water activities. Also enjoy shopping and fine dining, what girl doesn’t! I’d be happy doing anything as long as I’m with my family or friends.

9. Ok, final question – If, hopefully when, you win a Gold Medal how will you celebrate?
I’ll worry about that after it hopefully happens! I don’t think I’ll have a problem celebrating, though!

Follow-Up: Jessica also swims for the University of California Berkeley, where she is a stand-out athlete. Every Olympics the USA seems to have a break out star in the pool, if Jessica can bring home gold, she surely will be one of the most popular athletes in any event. Most of the swimming events take place during the first week of the Games, so be sure to look for Jessica.

More at RizzoSports

Filed under: Beijing Summer Games 2008, Profiles, Swim by admin
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March 28, 2008 - More than a dozen records have been broken since Speedo introduced the Fastskin LZR Racer earlier this year. Coincidence? Maybe.

The impact of Speedo’s new swimsuit is causing some serious waves in the sporting world. A recent article tells how this hi-tech swimsuit threatens to move the sport forward by seconds in the next few months.

Unbelievably, the LZR swimsuit, which uses technology developed by the rocket scientists at NASA, is the common denominator in all world record performances so far this year. This flurry of records has driven a lively debate, which seems to be polarizing former swimmers, administrators and coaches of elite athletes.

What is the big deal with the LZR suit?

According to websites and recent news articles, the suit appers to have three innovations:

• A tighter, corset-like midsection that is reported to reduce fatigue at the end of races.
• A new material that is water repellant and reduces drag by 5% compared to older, slower swmsuits.
• Seamless construction, consisting of special panels of the repellant material that further reduces drag.

Olympic swimmer Katie Hoff told the Today Show audience that when wearing the suit she “feels like a bullet speeding through the water.”  Natalie Coughin, Dara Torres and Katie Ziegler are also fans of the new LZR.

Officials from the International Swimming Federation (FINA, the sport’s governing body), want to speak with Speedo even though the company apparently met with FINA and adhered to all the regulations for swim-suit design. With the Olympics looming you can expect the terms ‘unfair advantage’ and ‘performance enhancing’ to show up on the agenda.

What do you think?

Filed under: Swim by jane
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ATHENS, Ga, March 20, 2008 - ­ The Georgia women’s swimming and diving team will wrap up the 2008 campaign this week at the NCAA Championship in Columbus, Ohio.

The Lady Bulldogs will have 17 student-athletes participating in the event, which will take place Thursday through Saturday at Ohio State’s McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. Live results can be found at ohiostatebuckeyes.com. Prelims will be at 11 a.m. and finals will be at 7 p.m. each day.

(more…)

Filed under: College Athletics, Diving, News Bytes, Swim by admin
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College Corner

NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming & Diving Champions

Filed under: College Athletics, Diving, Swim by jane
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Feb. 17, 2008 - Who said you can’t swim fast in the morning? Certainly not Kirsty Coventry, the former Olympic gold medalist who added “world record holder” to her impressive credentials yesterday at the Missouri Grand Prix.

With the normal meet schedule flipped around to simulate the schedule for the upcoming Beijing Summer Olympics - prelims in the evening, finals in the morning - Coventry proved that records can go down before the sun.

Yesterday morning at the Mizzou Aquatics Center, Coventry smashed the 18-year-old world mark in the women’s 200-meter backstroke, finishing the same event in which she won gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics in 2 minutes, 6.39 seconds.  Coventry, who lives and trains in the United States, topped the world record of 2:06.62 set by Hungary’s Krisztina Egerszegi in August 1991.

That wasn’t the only long-standing record toppled during the Missouri Grand Prix’s first of three finals sessions. After coming within a second of breaking Janet Evans’ 20-year-old American record in the women’s 400 freestyle during Friday night’s preliminaries, Katie Hoff eclipsed the mark yesterday, finishing in 4:02.20.

Evans’ previous record of 4:03.85, set during the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, was the longest-standing U.S. swimming record. In fact, the record had stood longer than Hoff has been alive. Hoff, the youngest member of the American Olympic team at the 2004 Athens Games, turns 19 in June.

In the 200, Hoff defeated five-time Olympic medalist Natalie Coughlin for the second time in two days with a gold-medal winning time of 1:56.08.

But Natalie was breaking records too. She swam the 100-meter backstroke in 59.21 seconds Sunday, breaking her own women’s world record. Coughlin, who won five medals at the 2004 Olympics, set the mark during a preliminary race in the competition.

Filed under: News Bytes, Olympics, Swim by admin
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