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> Rob D, the Discovery Channel

A few hours ago, the Arena Water Instinct page on Facebook posted photos from their global print campaign featuring a “Dream Team” of 11 top swimming stars. This is the first time an international line-up has appeared in the same Arena ad campaign, and it is quite the diverse group!

From the press release, the “dream team” includes:

“Brazilian Cesar Cielo, … German Paul Biedermann, … Frenchman Alain Bernard, … Americans Aaron Peirsol, … Rebecca Soni, … and Eric Shanteau, … the Dane Lotte Friis, … Swede Therese Alshammar, … British sprinter Francesca Halsall, … Tunisian Oussama Mellouli, … and the Serb Milorad Cavic” (source).

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

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> National Geographic: Drain The Ocean, Aug. 11, 9PM National Geographic

It feels like we haven’t had a swimming Grand Prix event in months! … oh right, it’s been since the Austin Grand Prix back in the first week of March. Well thank goodness for the Charlotte UltraSwim! If there was ever a meet to shake me out of the no-swim-meet blues, this is surely it.

The meet website can be found here, and you can also check out a copy of the preliminary psych sheet. Are you ready for a parade of superstars? The UltraSwim meet site boasts a scrolling list of the 120+ Olympians who have competed at this meete in the past. And, according to the psych sheet, there will be no shortage of star-power this year.

Let’s do some name dropping: Katie Hoff, Peter Vanderkaay, Mary DeScenza, Ryan Lochte, Eric Shanteau, Mark Gangloff, Davis Tarwater, Aaron Peirsol, Elizabeth Beisel, Amanda Weir, Cullen Jones, Matt Patton, … oh and some guy called Michael Phelps who I hear is pretty good.

This will be the first meet for both Jones and Phelps since the Beijing Olympics, and, as reported by Swimming World Magazine, the event will be broadcast LIVE on the Universal Sports television network and webcast LIVE on Swimnetwork.com.

My friend Mike, of The Adventures of Travelin’ Mike, sent me this info just now. It looks like the next Great Turtle Race will be launching this Thursday, April 16th. The race is put on by Conservation International and National Geographic, and will track 11 leatherback sea turtles from the Canadian Atlantic coast all the way to the Caribbean.

There is a website that allows you to sign up for updates on the race (link). “All 11 turtles are tagged with a satellite-tracking device that will allow you to follow them, in real-time.” According to the educational website GreatTurtleRace.com, “U.S. Olympic swimmers Amanda Beard, Janet Evans, Jason Lezak, and Eric Shanteau will “coach” our competitors and post notes of encouragement to the turtles throughout the race.”

It is also rumored that Aaron Piersol and Rowdy Gaines have signed on to help out with this conservation awareness event, as well as rock bands REM and Pearl Jam.

For more information, and to track the turtles online, sign up on the Conservation International page here.