Description
FEATURES
008 MICHAEL PHELPS TO STAR IN HBO DOCUMENTARY, THE WEIGHT OF GOLD
by Andy Ross
Twenty-three-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps will narrate and help produce a new HBO documentary, The Weight of Gold, which details the mental health challenges that Olympic athletes often face. The film will be available for streaming on HBO Max beginning July 29.
009 BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY TO CUT SWIMMING AND DIVING
by Andy Ross
Boise State announced it will be eliminating baseball and its swimming and diving programs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision will save the university an estimated $3 million.
010 YMCA OF CENTRAL FLORIDA TO DISCONTINUE COMPETITIVE TEAMS INDEFINITELY DUE TO COVID-19
by Dan D’Addona
Since Florida has been hit harder than most states during the COVID-19 pandemic, the YMCA of Central Florida announced it would discontinue its competitive aquatic sports programs.
011 SWIMMING & DIVING COACHES ASK NCAA TO DELAY RECRUITING
by Andy Ross
The College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association (CSCAA) is calling on the NCAA to limit recruiting in the upcoming year. The association requested an extension of the current recruiting dead period until December and a prohibition of on-campus visits through March 2021.
012 ADAM PEATY ANNOUNCES CANCELLATION OF 2020 AP RACE CLINICS DUE TO COVID-19 CONSTRAINTS
by Craig Lord
Olympic gold medalist Adam Peaty has been forced to cancel his 2020 AP Race Clinics due to the confines and constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic. He left open the possibility of a few clinics still being possible late this year, and is hopeful that the clinics will take place in 2021—but emphasized that safety comes first.
013 USA SWIMMING AIMS TO KEEP LEVEL PLAYING FIELD WITH JULY TIME STANDARD RESTRICTIONS
by Andy Ross
USA Swimming has taken the initiative of not allowing any times swum in July 2020 to count toward official qualifications above the LSC level. This means that if a swimmer’s time qualifies for Olympic Trials, Junior Nationals, Futures, Sectionals and/or Zones in July 2020, the swim would not count since pool availabilities have been different from club to club.
014 WADA HITS BACK AT USA THREAT TO WITHDRAW FUNDING IF IT FAILS TO IMPLEMENT GOVERNANCE REFORMS
by Craig Lord
The World Anti-Doping Agency has accused the U.S. government of bypassing facts and context when threatening to withdraw its $2.7 million annual funding from the global Fair Play watchdog if it fails to implement recommended governance reforms. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy slammed WADA over its handling of the Russian doping crisis in 2014 after evidence of systematic doping was uncovered by British media outlets and the ARD TV’s doping investigations team.
016 SWIMMING IS ONE OF THE GREATEST CONSTANTS IN LIFE
by Elise Devlin
A constant is something good in your life that you know you can rely on to feel better despite everything else that may be going on. In this commentary, the author suggests that swimming is one of the greatest constants you can find.
018 KYLE CHALMERS SAYS HE “PROBABLY CAN’T TRUST HALF” HIS RIVALS BECAUSE OF RAMPANT DOPING IN SWIMMING
by Craig Lord
In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Aussie Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers spoke candidly about doping in swimming: “There’s a lot of doping that goes on everywhere in swimming. You know it’s going on, and I know that I can probably not trust half of the guys I’m competing against.”
020 U.S. ATHLETES’ LETTER ON IOC RULE 50: “WE WILL NO LONGER BE SILENCED”
by Matthew De George
In a letter to the IOC and IPC, a group of American athletes—led by 1968 Olympian John Carlos—urges the abolition of IOC Charter Rule 50, which bars political protests by athletes at official Olympic ceremonies. Instead, it should be replaced with new guidelines developed “in direct collaboration with independent, worldwide athlete representatives that protects athletes’ freedom of expression.”
022 TWIST IN FINA’S MANTRA OF “MORE” AT OLYMPIC GAMES ALIVE IN PLEA FOR STROKE 50s, BIGGER 10K SHOAL AND HIGH DIVING
by Craig Lord
FINA appears ready to lobby the IOC to add six swimming events in the pool, 10 more competitions for the open water marathon events and a whole new sport—high diving—for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
024 BACK IN SURINAME, RENZO TJON-A-JOE IS HARD AT WORK IN AND OUT OF WATER
by Matthew De George
After leaving his home in Suriname as a teenager in 2014 for the United States to pursue the possibility of an elite swimming career, 2016 Olympian Renzo Tjon-A-Joe has returned home to continue training for Tokyo 2021 and ponder what lies ahead after swimming.
026 ARIZONA SWIMMER HENRY PALMER FINISHES SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL SWIM
by Matthew De George
Henry Palmer, 17, a senior at Brophy Prep in Phoenix, Ariz., has a passion for open water marathon swimming. Having covered 28.5 miles last year at the 20 Bridges Swim around Manhattan Island, Palmer experienced his first cold-water ocean marathon swim by swimming 14.3 miles in 6-1/2 hours across the Santa Barbara Channel—in 59-degree water without a wet suit!
027 2020 AQUATIC DIRECTORY
038 HOW THEY TRAIN EMILY OVERHOLT & MARKUS THORMEYER
by Michael J. Stott
040 PARTING SHOT
