watersportsinfo.net

Swimming is a healthy activity and enjoys a low risk of injury compared with many other sports. Nevertheless there are some health risks with swimming, including the following:

• Drowning, inhalation of water arising from
  • Adverse water conditions swamping or overwhelming the swimmer or causing water inhalation.
  • Actions of others pushing under water accidentally in play or intentionally.
  • Exhaustion or unconsciousness.
  • Incapacitation through shallow water blackout, heart attacks, carotid sinus syncope or stroke.

• Adverse effects of immersion
  • Secondary drowning, where inhaled salt water creates a foam in the lungs that restricts breathing.
  • Salt water aspiration syndrome.
  • Thermal shock after jumping into water can cause the heart to stop.
  • Exostosis which is an abnormal growth in the ear canal due to the frequent, long-term splashing of water into the ear canal. (Known as Surfers’ ear)

• Exposure to chemicals
  • Disinfectant Chlorine will increase the pH of the water, if uncorrected the raised pH may cause eye or skin irritations [6].
  • Chlorine inhalation; breathing small quantities of chlorine gas from the water surface whilst swimming for long periods of time may have an adverse effect on the lungs, particularly for asthmatics. This problem may be resolved by using a pool with better ventilation, with an outdoor pool having the best results.
  • Chlorine also has a negative cosmetic effect after repeated long exposure, stripping brown hair of all color, turning it very light blonde. Chlorine damages the structure of hair, turning it “frizzy.” Chlorine can dissolve copper which turns blonde hair green. Proper pool maintenance can reduce the amount of copper in the water, while wetting the hair before entering a pool can help reduce the absorption of copper.
  • Chlorine will often remain on skin in an anhydrous form, even after several washings. The chlorine becomes odorous once it is back in an aqueous solution (when salivated on, during a shower, etc.)

• Infection
  • Water is an excellent environment for many bacteria, parasites, fungi and viruses affecting humans depending on water quality.
  • Skin infections from both swimming and shower rooms can cause athlete’s foot (boat bug). The easiest way to avoid this is to dry the space between the toes. [7]
  • Microscopic parasites such as Cryptosporidium can be resistant to chlorine and can cause diarrheal illness when swimmers swallow pool water.
  • Ear infections, otitis media, (otitis externa).
  • When chlorine levels are improperly balanced, severe health problems may result, such as chronic bronchitis and asthma.
• Swimmer’s own actions
  • Overuse injury; competitive butterfly stroke swimmers for example may develop some back pain, including vertebral fractures in rare cases, and shoulder pain after long years of training, breaststroke swimmers may develop knee pain, and hip pain, and freestyle and backstroke swimmers may develop shoulder pain, commonly referred to as swimmer’s shoulder (a form of tendinitis).
  • Hyperventilation in a bid to extend underwater breath-hold times lowers blood carbon dioxide resulting in suppression of the urge to breathe and consequent loss of consciousness towards the end of the dive, see shallow water blackout for the mechanism.

• Adverse water and weather conditions
  • Currents, including tides and rivers can cause exhaustion, can pull swimmers away from safety, or pull swimmers under water.
  • Wind enhances waves and can blow a swimmer off course.
  • Hypothermia, due to cold water, can cause rapid exhaustion and unconsciousness.
  • Sunburn severity can be increased by reflections in the water and the lack of clothing worn during swimming. Long-term exposure to the sun contributes to risk of skin cancer.

• Objects in the water.
  • Propeller damage is a major cause of accidents, either by being run over by a boat or entanglement on climbing into a boat.
  • Collision with another swimmer, the pool walls, rocks or boats.
  • Diving into a submerged object, or the bottom, often in turbid water.
  • Snagging on underwater objects, particularly submerged branches or wrecks.
  • Stepping on sharp objects such as broken glass.

• Aquatic life
  • Stings from jellyfish and some corals.
  • Piercings caused by sea urchins, zebra mussels, stingrays
  • Bites from sharks and other fish and snakes, and pinches from lobsters or crabs.
  • Electrocution from electric rays and electric eels.

Organisations publish safety guidelines to help swimmers avoid these risks

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimming#The_risks_of_swimming

Swimming is movement by humans or animals in water, usually without artificial assistance.

Drawings from the Stone Age were found in “the cave of swimmers” near Sura, dating back to 2000 B.C. In 1538 Nicolas Wynman, German professor of languages, wrote the first swimming book. Competitive swimming in Europe started around 1800, mostly using breaststroke. The front crawl, then called the trudgen (now known predominantly as the “front crawl” or “freestyle”) was introduced in 1873 by John Arthur Trudgen, copying it from Native Americans.

Swimming was part of the first modern 1896 Summer Olympics games in Athens. In 1900 backstroke was included as an Olympic Event. In 1908, the world swimming association Federation Internationale de Natation was formed. Butterfly was first a variant of breaststroke, until it was accepted as a separate style in 1952.

 
Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swimming

Champion he may be at swimming, but eight-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps proved like he was like everybody else when he got caught holding a marijuana bong which was published by a British tabloids months ago. It wouldn’t have been such a sensation if Phelps weren’t that big of a sports celebrity. Because of the incident, Phelps lost two advertising deals, one with AT&T, and another with cereal maker Kellogg Co.

But Phelps is back on track now, despite doubts he entertained about his future before. He admitted to reporters in a small press conference in the Olympic Village that he had been skipping practice and thinking about quitting. But he said he woke up one day and saw that he was making a mess of things, and decided to clean up his act. Phelps is now training for the 2012 Olympic games.

The recent introduction by Speedo of the shark-skin mimicking swimsuit has been getting criticism due to the fact they are bending the laws of the swimming community. The world of competitive swimming has always been a lucrative one with swimmers going as far as shaving off all body hair and others in efforts to get the few milliseconds that may signify a win. The introduction of the suit has resulted in a few seconds of speed but many nations who could not afford such expensive swim wear are calling it foul.
Research into such types of clothing that reduces drag in the water has been considered to be the next step in the evolution of the swimming industry when the shark’s skin caught their attention. With barbs that point opposite the direction of the water, they act as mini-wings that dissipates drag and turbulence making swimming less tiresome and minimizing drag.
Water is denser than air thus harder to go through which makes each and every second count when it comes to competition swimming. Live in the pool would never be the same right after these high-tech suits were introduced, just hope everybody can afford them so all could swim a bit faster, for the record that is.

Rising temperatures around the world has renewed interest in the many types of water sports out there. Imagine combining a high-performance kite and a surfboard, get the picture? Surfboarding is categorized as an extreme sport for it combines the complexity of kite flying and surfing all bundled into one heck of a ride. One bright guy figured that surfing was more of the waiting than the surfing itself so they got hold of a kit and used it to propel them through the water. Don’t get it wrong, it is a very difficult sport for wind is kinda’ unpredictable and so is standing on water without proper skill.
The sport was brought about by the almost reinvention of the kit into a sail that was light, powerful yet controllable enough to hold while on the board. With cutting edge materials that are light and tough, they made it happen and the sport took off like a storm allowing acrobatics that seem impossible.

画像転載元:latimesblogs.latimes.com

NCAA女子水球でUCLAが優勝しました。 同校が獲得した 4番目の伝統的なタイトル となりました。 日曜日の決勝戦でUSCを6-3で下しました。 UCLAはこれで10の女子水球の全国大会で優勝しており、NCAAのタイトルでは101個めを獲得したことになります。 今シーズン33-0という好成績のブルーインズは、第一クオーターのみで3-0でリードする好調な出だしを見せました。 対するトロヤンズは12対戦でわずか2点を入れるに留まりました。 第一クオーターの先取点はマシューソン、ガンディ、ドメニックの3選手に活躍によるものでした。 このクオーターで、同チームは強力なディフェンスを見せました。 ブルーインズはリードのまま5-1で前半を終えました。 同チームのディフェンスは第3クオーターでさらに強力さを増しました。 両チームとも無得点のまま、しばらく攻防が続くました。ガンディは準決勝と決勝で合計5ゴールを決め、MVPに輝きました。

Image Source: bigisland.org

The Hawaiian Iron man Triathlon was the first long distance triathlon event. The event covered 2.4 miles or 77 laps of swimming, 112 miles of biking and 26.2 miles of running. The concept was born during the the awarding ceremony at the Oahu Perimeter Relay in 1977. It was always debated on who was more fit to join the event, swimmer or runner? In connection with this, Us Navy Commander John Collins cited that a recent article revealed that a cyclist has the highest recorded maximum oxygen uptake and so deemed the cyclists to be more fit than the swimmers. Ultimately, they tried to settle the debate by combining the three long distance competitions.

写真提供:outdoor-sport-leisure.net

クイーンズランドの海洋安全主導は、ムーチイ河とヌーズ河の商業用ジェットスキー指定ゾーンに置け折る安全問題に責任を持ちます。 両方のエリアは黄色のブイでマークされています。

何年も存在するシステムを正式化したため、操業士のために除外エリアが設定されるようになりました。 この区域は新ジェットスキーライダーのために安全天国を提供し、休暇で訪問した人々は、自分達だけの遊び場を持つことになります。この区域はいままで「灰色の領域」だった商業用操縦士が行ける範囲を明確にし、ジェントスキーとその他の河の使用者の間に安全な距離を置きます。このため、河を訪問した人の安全が保証されます。

Image Source:latimesblogs.latimes.com

UCLA won the Women’s Water Polo NCAA title again. Its fourth consecutive title on Sunday evening. They defeating USC, 6-3, in the championship match. UCLA now has 10 national title in women’s water polo and 101st overall NCAA title. The Bruins scored 33-0 this season, it jumped out to a 3-0 lead in just the first quarter. The Trojans scored a mere 2 of 12 in the competition. First quarter advantage was led by the goals of Mathewson, Gandy and Domanic. The team played strong defense in the quarter. The Bruins continued to lead at 5-1 in the half. Playing hard defense more in the third quarter. No one between teams scored for quite sometime. gandy totaled five goals in the semi and the finals and eventually named the MVP.

Image Source:outdoor-sport-leisure.net

The initiative of Maritime Safety in Queensland was responsible for maritime safety issues to set out new designated zones for the commercial operation of jet skis on the Moorchy River and Noose Rivers. Both areas have been marked with a series of yellow buoys.

Operators will now have exclusion zones because it enshrined a system that had been in place for a number of years. The zones will provide a safe haven for novice Jet Ski riders. Holiday makers now have their own playground and have a blast. It would help clear up “grey areas” around where commercial operators could go, and keep a safe distance between jet skiers and other river users. This would also enhance the safety for all who visit the rivers.