PoolTalk

Why Ian Thorpe Quit

"Thorpe did not win because of his height (Popov was taller), or his feet (which ensured a stupendous kick), but because he was driven. And that drive has dissipated. Fans may feel bereft, believing he had one more Olympics to completely halt the argument on the greatest swimmer ever, but you sense Thorpe was never driven by that. To himself he had nothing left to prove in the water." ---Great Ian Thorpe post by Philomath. Worth reading the entire entry on the blog.

Instant hot tub

OhGizmo writes about a new hot tub liner that can give you an instant hot tub in your pool. It connects  to a backyard pool heater. The liner is like a tub floating in your pool. Excerpt: "If you’ve already got a backyard pool but at times would prefer the warmth of a hot tub then the Hot Pod is the way to go. It’s basically a floating hot tub made of flexible but sturdy “heavy duty” nylon that connects to your pool’s already existing heater system." I found this Hot Pod for $589. Any reviews yet?

Pool rehab project

This isn't our pool, but another blog is tracking a rehab project. Check out the "before" photos.

Backyard pool demographic

One community in Australia, coping with a summer drought, still has a steady pace of backyard pool construction. The Border Mail report quotes a local official, Peter Marshall. Excerpt:

“Wodonga attracts families with kids, and generally they are the people that use back yard pools,” Mr Marshall said.

“The demographic coming to Wodonga is 25 to 50-year-olds and the pool is an important part of their life.”

Jenny Smith, from Wodonga’s Country Wide Pool and Spas, said they were busy building pools.

“We consistently build 40 pools a year, some can cost up to $80,000,” Mrs Smith said.

Ian Thorpe rumors already

"As a swimmer he is the greatest athlete I've ever worked with or watched and I'd be very surprised if he doesn't reappear, in fact I hear rumours about that already."
--Bill Sweetenham, the Australian in charge of British swimming, speaking about Ian Thorpe

A dog alone, and danger

From Celebslam: Pink (aka Alecia Moore) is mourning the loss of her bulldog, Elvis, after he drowned in her backyard pool. Given to her by friend Lisa Marie Presley, Pink had described the dog as being “like a child” to her. From Splash News:

“Pink went to run an errand and left Elvis in the backyard of her L.A. mansion,” said a source. “An hour later she returned and found him floating in her swimming pool. She tried to see if he could be resuscitated, but there was no luck.

12,000 yards

One swimmer working to be a high school state champion, in Indiana, aims for 12,000 yards a day on a tough training day. Excerpt from an article on Sara Decker:

"And so Decker trains. A normal day of training includes about 6,000 to 7,000 yards of swimming. A day of intense training means 12,000 yards. That is nearly seven miles through the water.

The one thing she recalls above all else about the records she set, aside from the deep sense of pride, was the burning in her legs during the race. More, even, than usual, because she has not yet tapered her training to optimize her times for the end of the season.

She says that pain makes it more satisfying when her teammates and family are there to applaud her, and that was especially true of the relay record."

Frozen backyard pool

How cold was it in the bay Area? Cold enough to freeze a 35,000-gallon backyard pool in Los Gatos.

Building a faster pool

Can a pool be built to help swimmers swim fast? Read more about the pool planned for the world championships, in Melbourne. From The Age:

"The pool itself will be a record: the biggest temporary pool constructed. Having taken six weeks to be transported from Spain to Melbourne in 40 shipping containers, it will be erected from the first week of February.

Built by the AstralPool company, it will take three weeks to assemble the three-metre deep, 50 x 25 pool, and the company's marketing director, Pedro Arrebola, said everything possible had been done to appease those with a need for speed."

Greatest disaster since tofu

"The greatest disaster to befall our nation since tofu: the early retirement of our greatest Olympic swimmer."

"Is there anything more un-Australian than those gold medal-hungry Yanks who tried to poison a big-hearted Aussie champion with the lure of Hollywood just to stop him racing?"

"It's like Phar Lap all over again. That's the danger of too much L.A. and not enough L-A-M-B."

--Sam Kekovich