Once in a while you see something that causes your jaw to drop. This is one of those moments…
How long can you hold your breath? It reminded me of an ALSC training drill. You know the one; you’re asked to swim underwater as far as you can without breathing. A full length is an amazing feat, a real sight to behold. Well this clip takes it to another dimension; it’s a real mind bending experience. Fasten your seatbelt and hold on.
This is world champion free diver Guillaume Nery base jumping at Dean’s Blue Hole, filmed on breath hold by Julie Gautier.
Dean’s Blue Hole is the world’s 2nd deepest blue hole or underwater sinkhole. It plunges 202 metres (663 ft) in the bay west area of Clarence Town, Bahamas. If that’s not a big enough challenge check out Zacaton, Mexico, which is even deeper at 335 metres (1,099 ft).
Sorry to spoil the illusion, Nery said he never reached the bottom; the distance is so far as to make it impossible. Nery says, “…This movie is an artistic project, a fiction…” It was shot over the course of four afternoons. Swimming 25m underwater is nothing to sneeze at after all!
Oh, just to let you know the song is called “You make me feel” by Archive.
Irish national record holder and Aer Lingus swimmer Barry Murphy spoke with The Morning Swim Show a few days after settling in his new training base in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Barry talks about moving from the University of Tennessee to train with Mike Bottom at the University of Michigan.
He talks about his goals leading up to this summer’s European championships and how Ireland is slowly becoming a more recognizable force in the global swimming community.
We are reaching the business end of the swimming year. Galas coming along like your banana bus route, none for ages and a bunch arrive together!
The time invested by parents, coaches and most importantly the children comes together at Gala weekend. The children have a great time, pre-race heeby jeebies, post race injuries and the odd disappointment apart.
But for the parents, whilst we love watching our children achieve, it can be a long weekend.
We are used to getting out of bed early to get the bag ready: the energy bars, the sports drinks, the pastilles,Oh …and the swimmers food as well!
We turn up full of anticipation, but we know there is an hour and a half warm up. We buy the programme and scroll down and down and down and down, our swimmer is not in till event 12 ! , only four hours time!
Now I have sat through Ireland Egypt in Italia 90, Arsenal Aston Villa in the autumn of George Graham the last day of a Cricket test match that is destined for a draw. So I am not a” two minute warning” sporting person.
All photographs courtesy of: Brian Whelan.
From Coach Hayley;
“…Brilliant performances from all who competed! I’ve counted 152 pb’s altogether, Emma Garret made division 1 time on her 200im in 2.50 and a few others qualified for Division 2. Huge pb’s from B Groupers knocking up to 20secs off times and others swimming events for the first time, in particular those who swim in lane 1 who have not swam a competition yet but handled Sunday with no hesitation and showed great potential. Unfortunately some swimmers goggles/hats came off on the dive of theirs races but fair play to each of them for keep on swimming…and in some cases pb-ing despite the disadvantage!-great to see!
Some photos from the team in action at the Irish Nationals earlier this month at the NAC.
We’ll be adding photos from our own ALSC gala which took place yesterday. They should be going up on the website later this week. Full report will also be included, just a short note in the meantime to say well done to all swimmers who took part. Great performances all round, given the distraction of the good weather outside!
Thank you also to our generous sponsors who donated great prizes and kindly supported our gala programme. Many thanks also to all the teams who participated, some travelling long distances to take part .Last ( but certainly not least ) a big thank you to all the ALSC volunteers who put in tremendous time and effort to make the gala a successful and enjoyable event for all swimmers.
Finally don’t forget our AGM takes place this Wednesday in the main ALSAA building. We encourage all members to come along and get involved in your club. Only with your participation will ALSC thrive and continue to grow in the future…
After seeing the swimmers from the elite US National Club Swimming Association (NCSA ) in action at the Nationals last week, we thought it would be fun to profile some US college swim teams. Check out these 3 short but inspirational video clips and then vote for your favourite one on our website. All 3 have a really different look and feel, but all share the same powerful message of how important team spirit is.
The first is a brilliant video clip from the University of Miami who are known affectionately as the U. It could’ve been made by a big budget Hollywood film director and really captures the raw emotion as the “Hurricanes “ battle against not only their rivals but also the forces of nature. The dramatic commentary describes their ” desperate kicks” as the team stretches for final victory. They face the ultimate test, from pouring rain to scorching sunshine. It shows the team overcoming everything that nature can throw at them. Ultimately it captures the poetry and pursuit of the perfect stroke.
The next clip is from Brigham Young University or BYU. This is a much edgier clip, with a Gothic twist. It’s almost like “Twilight ” meets the local swim team. Above all it captures the pride and passion a BYU swimmer feels for their team. You can’t ignore the dedication, you can’t fool yourself in the pool plus you get back what you put in. It challenges you to be “all that you can be”.
The last clip is from the Sun Devils of Arizona State University. It shows how they rebuilt their legendary swim team which was under threat from state cut backs. Sound familiar? Our swimmers who roll out of bed before sunrise will relate to this one. It has some great underwater shots which explode onto the screen. Their coach confirms that your achievements in the pool serve you well throughout life. It’s a great lesson.
Hope you enjoyed all 3 clips and you see yourself and the ALSC team spirit in them. Now go and vote, tell us which is your favourite!
If you come across any other inspirational swim videos please let us know and we’ll try to post them on the site….
Barry Murphy from Aer Lingus Swim Club brought the curtain down on a memorable event, posting a dazzling 22.67 seconds in Mens 50m freestyle .A last gasp touch qualified him for the European Championships being held in Budapest later this year.
Having just barely missed out on qualification in the semis, Barry made no mistake in the final beating his nearest competitor by almost 1 second.
In a championship of many highlights, ALSC added another by breaking the Irish Womens 400m IM Junior record.
The record was already held by Aer Lingus SC but the team managed to knock almost a second off the previous time, clocking in at 4.36.25. It was a great team effort as all swimmers covered the distance at a blistering pace , pushing themselves to the limit.
Well done on a fantastic achievement to;
Katie Byrne, Sarah Taaffe, Catrina English and Rachel Nevins…
After his heroics in the 1500m free ALSC swimmer Andrew Meegan captured the 800m free title in another close finish. In this interview he pauses for breath and speaks with US Swimming World Magazine, giving us an insight into his race tactics.
Clearly catching the American’s attention they describe Andrew as;
“…The Irish distance star who has twice out touched American swimmers. The first time, in the 1500m, it was a 50 meter blast to the finish, but in the 800m Andy had to push it for 300 meters to come away with the win…”