Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. It was only until recently that many (most?) American competitive swimming coaches believed that participating in open water swimming competitions would led to slower times in the pool for their athletes. But 2015 10 km world champion Jordan Wilimovsky and his coach Dave Kelsheimer are slowly influencing
Global Media Attention On Open Water Swimmers Explodes Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. The amount of information that is being posted, printed, and published about the Olympic open water swimmers in Rio de Janeiro is stunning in its scope and frequency. Reporters are covering these open water athletes from a variety of angles: their
Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. Throughout sports history, great athletes have created great athletic moves: * track-and-field: Fosbury Flop * gymnastics: Thomas Flare * gymnastics: Omelianchik * boxing: Rope-a-dope * wrestling: Karelin Lift * marathon swimming: The Illchenko Sports fans have associated certain great moves with great
Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. Three-time Olympic medalist Ous Mellouli of Tunisia and Japanese 2-time Olympian Yasunari Hirai were training at high altitude in Flagstaff, Arizona with coach Bill Rose of the Mission Viejo Nadadores. How fast do these athletes train for their upcoming Olympic 10K Marathon Swim final in Copacabana Beach at
Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. As the Olympic fever starts to build for the 2016 Rio Olympics, Olympians are also cumulating their final preparations after a long 4-year training cycle since the 2012 London Olympic Games. Time and time again, we see rivals in the open water train together. The camaraderie they share is special. They
Courtesy of Yasunari Hirai and Colin Hill in advance of the Chillswim Coniston - 5.25 miles End to End
POW workout plan courtesy of Japan's Yasunari Hirai strategically training Pool Open Water in Tennessee with training partners Alex Meyer, Richard Weinberger, David Heron, and Sam Rice, and coach Tyler Fenwick. Copyright © 2016 by World Open Water Swimming Association
Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. Olympic medalist Martina "Grimmy" Grimaldi and Davy Billiau celebrate the nickname of Olympic swimmer Yasunari Hirai. Below is a small sampling of nicknames of a number of open water swimmers: Yasu: Yasunari Hirai (Japan) The Unstoppable Turtle: Robbie Hudson (UK) Lala: Tipalelupe Lala Toatasi Tu`ua (New
Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. Professional marathon swimmers balance their training cycles around their national and international competitions. Japan's Yasunari Hirai, a Brand Ambassador at Mizuno, has quite the international schedule: Hong Kong, China, Brazil, Hungary, Portugal, U.S.A., United Arab Emirates, Australia, Russia, Japan,
Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California. Jack Burnell of Great Britain made his long trip to Mooloolaba, a tourist resort on the Australian Sunshine Coast of Queensland worthwhile. In the build-up to the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in Rio de Janeiro this August, Burnell and his British teammates are traveling the globe to gain even more experience
