From glacial ice to the Jordan River, the April 2010 issue of National Geographic Magazine will be a special issue about water on Earth. By pairing NatGeo’s comprehensive global perspective with stunning photography, the issue will look at both the science and politics of water throughout the Blue Planet.

To get a sneak peak, check out the online table of contents here at nationalgeographic.com. Even if you’re not a science buff, you will still find some incredible wallpaper-sized photos – and if you happen to learn about desalination technologies and the decline of freshwater species along the way, all the better.

The Winter Olympics are in full swing in Vancouver, Canada. If you want to get the most out of watching the Winter Games, sign up to receive news and results straight from Team USA and the US Olympic Committee.

Although swimming and diving aren’t featured in the Winter Games, sports fans will still be interested to learn that you can now follow Team USA directly by subscribing to TeamUSA.org. Team USA will also use this e-mail list to send updates on the upcoming London 2012 Games.

Swimmers understand that traditionally non-revenue Olympic sports need our support. I’ve provided links in the sidebar to the right that will take you to the official Team USA donation website (support.teamusa.org) where you can learn about different ways to donate.

Bloggers, visit teamusanews.org for a social media press release that includes widgets and banners that you can use on your own site to promote Team USA.

Brian Brode, author of the TriBoomer blog, is a self-described “husband, father of four, endurance sports writer, podcast host, 4x Ironman triathlete for charity, ultra-marathoner” (@TriBoomer). A few hours ago, Brian tweeted his support for the American Stroke Association with a pledge to donate $1 per unique Twitter account that mentioned “@TriBoomer”.

Then, just minutes ago, Brian announced that he is doubling-up in order to keep the tweets coming! Now each unique tweet sends $1 to the American Stroke Association and $1 to The Sportsgrants Foundation (@sportsgrants1).

Copy and paste the following text onto Twitter, or mention @TriBoomer to help Brian reach his goal:

Every unique Tweet of @TriBoomer today will donate $1 (up to $1k) to American Stroke Assn. and $1 to Sportsgrants Foundation. Please RT!

Be sure to check out the TriBoomer blog and follow Brian on Twitter @TriBoomer.

Wow! I just saw this shared via Topping Point on Facebook. It’s a simple Facebook event with an open invitation for Hug A Swimmer Day on December 1, 2009. As of right now there are 34,280 confirmed attending this worldwide event. Feel the love!

Open question to the 5,595 people ‘Maybe Attending’… what are you waiting for?

Looking for Hug A Swimmer Day 2010? Read my latest post: Hug A Swimmer Day Grows In Popularity

Check out this great SWOT Team video … SWOT is a partnership among Conservation International (CI), the IUCN Marine Turtle Specialist Group (MTSG), Duke University

In the spirit of giving, Kast-A-Way Swimwear, Inc. will be holding its First Annual Food Drive at all Kast-A-Way retail locations.

From November 10 through December 31, 2009, Kast-A-Way Swimwear’s seven retail stores will be collecting non-perishable food items to give to each of their local Food Banks. You can help by bringing in 3 items to donate, and when you do, we will give you $5.00 off your total purchase of $20.00 or more. (limit one discount per visit).

Our Cincinnati, OH/Headquarters store will be collecting for the Freestore Foodbank. Our Indianapolis, IN store will be collecting for the Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana. Our Raleigh, NC store will be collecting for the Catholic Parish Outreach Program. Our Columbus, OH store will be collecting for the Mid-Ohio Foodbank, and our Marrietta, GA locations will be collecting for MUST Ministries.

Help us give to those in need.

Yesterday’s Open Water Wednesday on SwimNetwork.com featured Lewis Gordon Pugh and his upcoming extreme open water swim. Pugh plans to swim 1 kilometer in a glacial lake at an elevation of 17,000 feet in the Himalayas.

From SwimNetwork.com:

“His purpose is to highlight the impact of global warming and the melting of glaciers. Armed with traditional swim trunks (i.e., no wetsuit or technical swimsuit), goggles and a single swim cap, Pugh is training to swim about 20 minutes in the frigid waters of the Khumbu Glacier.” (source)

Pugh is no stranger to freezing conditions, however, because he has previously conquored both the North and South Pole (videos on 10kswimmer.com)

You can read about Lewis Gordon Pugh’s North Pole swim on World Culture Pictorial, which is also where I found the photos for this post.

Pugh’s real open water swims put the previous events of the Photoshop Winter Olympics to shame:

On September 2nd, Laura Wilkinson’s website announced that Laura had cut 8 inches of her hair off! She used the hair to make a donation to Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths. This organization, similar to Locks of Love or Wigs for Kids accepts donations of hair to make wigs for charitable causes.

The Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths website states:

A real-hair wig allows a woman to look in the mirror and at least see a familiar face while she fights to regain a sense of normalcy in her life.

The Entertainment Industry Foundation is pleased to collaborate with the American Cancer Society to distribute the Pantene Beautiful Lengths real-hair wigs for cancer patients around the nation. While this program aims to assist as many cancer patients as possible, ultimately the number of free wigs that become available will depend entirely on the number of ponytail donations received. (source)

It takes 6 ponytails to make a wig, and Pantene has received 115,395 ponytail donations so far!

This isn’t the first time Laura Wilkinson has donated her long blonde hair to a charitable cause. Following the 2004 Olympics, she cut off 12 inches of hair for Locks of Love!

This story also proves that, although world class divers practice in chlorine for 30 hours per week, they can still have beautiful hair!

Chris Swain swims in polluted waters to raise awareness about global issues concerning the safety and future of our oceans and harbors. He has survived collisions with boats, giant storage dams, industrial chemicals, nuclear waste, oil slicks, raw sewage, toxic blue-green algae, and repeated Sea Lamprey Eel attacks (source).

Chris is currently swimming the 1000+ miles from Marblehead, Massachusetts to Washington D.C. Check out Chris’ homepage Swim for a Healthy World (.org) or visit his Changents profile.

Hmmm, does this remind anyone else of the Seinfeld episode when Kramer swims in the East River?

If you went to swim practice today, or if you’re lucky enough to be on vacation, you may have already inadvertently celebrated TOM’S One Day Without Shoes. Today, spend as much time as you can without shoes. Although you consider it relaxing now, we often take shoes for granted–and being without such a basic necessity can cause big problems. Could you walk for miles with no shoes to bring your family safe drinking water?

That’s why TOM’S is hosting their awareness event today, April 16th, to promote their mission to donate a pair of shoes to those in need for each pair of shoes they sell.