StateOfSwimming - News and Views on the State of Swimming from Craig Lord and Guests

News

Girl Power In The Pool - celebrating swimmers, advocates and those they advocate for on International Women's Day

IWD: Girl Power In The Pool – The Swimming Sorority In Celebration, Commemoration, Their Call For Healing & Reconciliation Ignored Yet

SOS celebrated and commemorated International Women’s Day (IWD) with a series of features on high achievers, educators and advocates from the swimming sorority today. There are plenty of reasons to be cheerful, and too many reasons to feel quite differently […]

Craig Lord 2021-03-08 10 minutes

News

Ada Van Der Linden at 70 (courtesy of Ada)

IWD: Ada Of Amsterdam – ‘Gentle Giant’ Of Perseverance Who Rode A Mexican Wave To Gold

International Women’s Day (IWD): a fine moment to highlight the achievements and work of women pioneers and pathfinders in swimming, including Ada Kok, who devoted more than half a century to excellence in...

Craig Lord 2021-03-08 7 minutes

News

IWD: Nancy Hogshead-Makar, Rape Survivor & Fighter For An End To Abuse in Sport

International Women’s Day (IWD): a fine moment to highlight the achievements and work of women pioneers and pathfinders in swimming, including Nancy Hogshead-Makar, advocate for Safe Sport, athlete’s rights and women’s sport, founder...

Craig Lord 2021-03-08 5 minutes

News

Simone Manuel - back to back world titles beyond Olympic gold - by Patrick B. Kraemer

IWD: Simone Manuel & Why Sorry Is Not The Hardest Word For Those Telling The Truth

International Women’s Day (IWD): a fine moment to highlight the achievements and work of women pioneers and pathfinders in swimming, including Simone Manuel, advocate for an end to racial discrimination and 2016 Olympic...

Craig Lord 2021-03-08 16 minutes

News

IWD: The Swimming Voice – When Cate Campbell Labelled FINA Leaders “Strange & A Bit Arrogant” For Placing Money Ahead Of Athlete Interest

International Women’s Day (IWD): a fine moment to highlight the achievements and work of women pioneers and pathfinders in swimming, including Cate Campbell, the Australia sprinter who spoke truth to power in...

Craig Lord 2021-03-08 10 minutes

News

International Women’s Day: Debbie Meyer & Memories Of Momentum & Magnitude

International Women’s Day (IWD): a fine moment to highlight the achievements and work of women pioneers and pathfinders in swimming, including triple-gold legend of the 1968 Olympics, Debbie Meyer story. Over the course...

Craig Lord 2021-03-08 10 minutes

News

Mel Marshall with her charge Adam Peaty - courtesy of Mel Marshall

IWD: Mel Marshall On Why Great Coaches Bring Female & Male Strengths To The Party, Including An Ability To Shed A Tear & Be Proud Of It

International Women’s Day (IWD): a fine moment to highlight the achievements and work of women pioneers and pathfinders in swimming, including coach Mel Marshall, who says the great coaches are those who can...

Craig Lord 2021-03-08 16 minutes

News

Shane Gould, then and now, as Olympic champion and Forbes Carlile pupil, champion Survivor and a leader, lived experience and a life of learning having led to a name change - Dr. Shane Gould

IWD – Dr. Shane Gould On Swimming Culture After A Lifetime Of Learning

International Women’s Day (IWD): a fine moment to highlight the achievements and work of women pioneers and pathfinders in swimming, including Dr. Shane Gould. Over the course of the day, SOS will...

Craig Lord 2021-03-08 15 minutes

News

Golden Thrones - Cornel Marculescu, left, in discussion with Margo Mountjoy. Inset - Pipat Paniangvait. Main image by Patrick B. Kraemer

FINA Treasurer Resigns To Follow Cornel Marculescu Out Of The Door, Leaving Swimming In A Hosting Rut Relying On Just Five Countries

When Cornel Marculescu penned his resignation letter to FINA after 35 years as the director and then executive director of the global regulator for swimming, his self-assessment placed the federation...

Craig Lord 2021-03-05 13 minutes

News

Whatever the sport, whatever the level, governance counts - but who measures performance of the blazers? - Photo by Craig Lord

Why Sports Governance Needs A New Start: Pooling Lessons From A Senate Hearing

As a parallel part of our SOS look at swimming in a pandemic, the Swimming Voice (coming soon) and how the sport has been affected by its low status in...

Craig Lord 2021-03-04 28 minutes

News

Swimming Coaches & Clubs Fight For Survival As Impact Of Covid-19 Pandemic Starts To Bite

Swimming coaches and programs are locked in dire financial trouble and struggling for survival a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of long periods of lockdown, pool closures, understandable...

Craig Lord 2021-03-04 11 minutes

News

Cornel Marculescu Steps Down After 35 Years As FINA Director

Exclusive: Cornel Marculescu, the executive director of FINA who turns 80 this year, has stepped down from his role as the boss of the international swimming federation after 35 years...

Craig Lord 2021-03-03 18 minutes

News

Covid Controls Likely To Bar Foreign Fans From Delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

The postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games look set to take place without any foreign fans when (or if, given that confirmation is pending) they get underway on July 23. According...

Craig Lord 2021-03-03 2 minutes

News

Duncan Scott and teammates are the cream of the crop but Scotland wants to harness its plough out of a pandemic to sport and seize the moment to show a nation how it can help itself back to fitness in better times - image courtesy of Scottish Swimming

Scottish Swimming To Help Put Scotland On The High Road To Recovery From Pandemic

Scottish Swimming CEO Euan Lowe was among leaders from a spectrum of sports invited by the national Health and Sport Minister Mairi Gougeon to join hands in an effort to...

Craig Lord 2021-03-02 3 minutes

News

British Championships Scaled Back By A Day, Restricted To Tokyo 2020 Olympic Hopefuls & Renamed 2021 British Swimming Selection Trials

British Swimming has dropped the name British Championships from the masthead of its showcase event in April in favour of 2021 British Swimming Selection Trials after having to scale back...

Craig Lord 2021-03-02 3 minutes

News

André Brasil - of Brazil - a Paralympic champion removed from the sport through mid-cycle reclassification athletes are fighting against - image courtesy of André Brasil social media

Global Athlete Backs Para Swimmer André Brasil In Call For Para Swim Bosses To Revoke Career-Ending Mid-Olympic Cycle Reclassification

Global Athlete, one of the leading representative organisations campaigning for athlete rights, has backed Brazilian 14-time Paralympic medallist André Brasil in his battle against mid-Olympic cycle reclassification that has cost...

Craig Lord 2021-03-01 3 minutes

News

Swimming - a sport frozen out of its element by a pandemic that highlighted the weakness of amateur foundations in a professional era

Swimming In A Pandemic: Chlorine Kills Corona, So Why Were Swimmers Frozen Out By The Bug?

Swimming has been frozen out of its element by the coronavirus pandemic for a number of reasons, including those that forced all sports, all of us, in private, educational and...

Craig Lord 2021-02-23 21 minutes

News

FINA Doping Tests: Number Of Checks Dropped By More Than Half In First Half Of Covid-19 2020

The rate of FINA doping tests conducted by the Independent Testing Agency (ITA) across all aquatic sports fell by more than a half year-on-year in the first half of 2020,...

Craig Lord 2021-02-22 2 minutes