To Igor, with love

Though we will never, ever be the same without you, we hope to always be your swimmers…igorswimmers :)

Speaking of the New York Harbor...

Introducing the blog of one of our very own swimmers: Bowsprite. I think it's safe to say that Christina prefers the open water to chlorinated pool water and it definitely shows in her lovely New York Harbor Sketchbook. Check it out, folks!

Watercolor painting by Christina Sun

Olympic Profile: Dara Torres

An extended feature in this weekend’s NYTimes Magazine on Dara Torres’ journey to make Olympic history.

Photo credit: AJ Mast/AP (via Washington Post)

Natalie Coughlin and the 200 I.M.

Check out this article on Olympic favorite, Natalie Coughlin, and her overcoming her fear of the 200 IM.

Photo credit: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images (via NYTimes)

New York Harbor School

A great article on a school that teaches confidence and leadership by connecting students to the water around them. The New York Harbor School’s maritime focus includes basic swimming lessons, hands-on sailing and navigation training on the Lettie G. Howard, “a 125-foot schooner that was used as a New England fishing boat 100 years ago,” and rowing trips on the East river.

Photo credit: Ruby Washington/NYTimes

Beaches and Lakes and Pools, Oh My!

A nice, handy guide to beaches and lakes close to the city. It also mentions a few public and private pools at the end and points to a guide for pools by personality type. Fun, if not necessarily comprehensive.

Photo Credit: Brian Auer/Photoshelter (via NYMag)

Virtual Swim

Found this really fun site created by Steven Munatones that has animations of all four strokes and a very basic start. You can choose how you’d like to view the stroke, be it in slow motion, at race pace, from the front, side, rear, etc. Found this via 10kswimmer, which I found through the SCAQ blog.

Flushing Meadows Meet

The results are not in yet, but the pics are..Enjoy!

2008 USMS Nationals

Congrats again to Fall on her amazing swims at Nationals. She won the 100 back in a blazing 1.00.98! Not all of the races were filmed, but you can see her in the following races:

50 free (lane 5, 24.01)
50 fly (lane 3, 26.95)
100 IM (lane 3, 1.01.87)

I’m going to try to embed the videos in this post, but until then, enjoy them on floswimming.org!

Additional team name and logo options

There is additional option for the team name: Vandy
and an additional one for the logo: Other (vs. bear or no bear)

Since polling has already started on the other two, I had to add a separate poll (we'll just tally the counts later). Look forward to finding out which names and logos will win.

Thanks!

Vote for your favorite team name & logo

In the right scrollbar you will see two polls. The first lets you pick which logo you’d like on the cap. The second poll lets you pick whether or not you’d like the bear on the cap. These images are just mock-ups so the exact shade of blue, typeface, etc. may differ a bit when the caps actually get produced.

Vote by this Friday!

Way to Go, Team!

March 22 Asphalt Green Meet

New Team Pics

Getting ourselves organized… startled by Igor’s sudden urge to take pictures of us!
Ok....SMILE!
About, FACE!

Flushing Meadows Corona Park Pool & Rink

The parks department has a nice page on the new facility including a video of the pool filling up, more pictures of the construction of the pool and yet more of kids enjoying some splashing around in what looks like a test run in mid-January.

According to the site: "This $66.3-million complex features an Olympic-sized pool and NHL-regulation ice rink. It is the first of its kind in the city and includes ADA-accessible features. Flushing Meadows Corona Park Pool & Rink is the largest recreation complex ever built in a city park at 110,000 square-feet.The Olympic-size indoor public pool, the first to open in New York City in four decades, has an adjustable floor and diving tank for public swim and competitive meets."

Membership for adults 18 and up is only $75 for the year ($10 for 55+ and free for kids).

Straight from the website:

Hours of Operation
Monday through Friday 6:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Saturday: 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sunday: 9:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Pool Details
Opening date: February 29, 2008
Size: 25 meters x 50 meters (7’-6” deep to 12’-9” deep) with ten lanes
Diving Boards: 3 (one 3-meter and two 1-meter)

Special Features The tank can be divided into three sections. One has a moveable floor to reduce the depth of the pool, one section at 7’-6”and a diving tank at 12’-9”.
Facility includes a mezzanine bleacher section that seats approximately 450 spectators.
An outdoor terrace adjacent to the pool deck.

Photo credit: New York City Department of Parks & Recreation

It's here!!! It's finally here!!!

Ok, so maybe only a Queens resident like me would be this excited, but given the dearth of 50m pools in the city, I think this is a huge development! The pool which was slated for a late 2007 opening is finally open for swimmers! I'll put up more posts as I find more info and visit the facility myself. But for now, enjoy the pics, the article and the excitement :D

Photo credit: Chester Higgins Jr. for the New York Times