> Muslim woman barred in French pools if they choose to wear a Burquini SCAQ Blog
> Michael Phelps Swims Into Immortality: Wake-Up Video “Fireman” MTV Newsroom
> Ripped Olympians Go to Rehab TMZ RT @swimstars
> Competition wraps up with four more titles – and rain USA Diving
> Diving And Dancing On The Morning Swim Show SwimmingWorld.tv
> TYR Triathlon Video TYR Sport on Facebook
> Dolfin Viva Brief, I love it! Kast-A-Way Swimwear
> Sicily Part 1 Garrett Weber-Gale

What’s a trip to Italy without swimming in the fastest swim meet in history AND getting a job in an Italian kitchen? Following the conclusion of the 2009 FINA World Championships in Rome, Garrett’s dad, Mark, began filling us in with blog posts about what his son is up to:

“He’s spending a couple weeks in the kitchen at a Castello delle Regine in Umbria. Friends from the Bartollota Restaurant Group here in Milwaukee made the connection. Garrett’s task? Learn as much as he can about cooking, restaurants, Italian food, the production of olive oil and wine. It’s a rare and privileged opportunity.” (source)

It looks like Garrett has found a way to continue blogging since the start of his new job, because he has written some more recent updates. You can follow Garret’s cooking adventure on his blog: Food And Water With Garrett Weber-Gale

Or on SwimNetwork.com: Garrett’s Blog

After numerous behind the scenes TwitPics came in last night, it’s good to finally see some real production shots of the Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay accepting their ESPY for Best Moment in 2009. Check out the rest of the photos posted on Food & Water with Garrett Weber-Gale.

According to @daratorresswims, @Jones41 and @G_WeberGale, the athletes hopped a jet with beds on it to sleep during their last-minute flight to Rome.

It kind of reminds me of a swim mom’s worst nightmare: you have to get a kid from their high school musical’s closing night to a swim meet in Pennsylvania that starts the next morning–only on a global scale with a lot more on the line… and your mini van is a private jet.

I dunno what you’d call this, a Twitter Leak? A Tweak? Either way, thanks to this TwitPic uploaded by G_WeberGale (and other tweets from the event), we’ve learned that the Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay has officially won the ESPY for Best Moment in 2009.

Remember to act surprised on July 19th at 9pm when the show will air on ESPN.

“Ohhhh Dang this Shrimp Etouffee is an amazing recipe” – GWG YouTube Channel

> Topping Point DVD Cover Artwork via Topping Point on Facebook
> Garrett Weber-Gale Grouchy Reaction to 50 Free by Garrett Weber-Gale
> FINA’s Swimsuit List: Pure Genius by Gold Medal Mel
> The Swim Aids Agree With Me: “Dear PVK…” by The Swim Aids
> World’s Highest Springboard–876 Feet High! by Springboards and More
> Korea Earns 2015 World University Games Hosting Duties by Swimming World
> Natalie Coughlin Gives Freestyle Tips to SELF Magazine Readers at SwimStars.org
> USA Diving Merch Designed By Actual Designers! What A Concept.Sugar and Bruno

> Rowdy Gaines Settin’ Records and Now Sponsored by blueseventy from SCAQ Blog
> Gold Medal Minute with Ryan Lochte by Gold Medal Mel
> UNO Rallying Support by The Screaming Viking!
> Beating the Downturn by Aquatics International
> About Trifonic on Trifonic.com
> Clean-up of Olympic Park Waterways Begins from London2012.com
> Garrett Weber-Gale Blogging for SwimNetwork from SwimNetwork.com
> The Double Underwater Pull Drill from GoSwim.tv

The U.S. National Swim Team participated in Navy SEAL training last week. Why? I don’t know. For fun, for a good workout, for mental toughness.

After a team meeting Tuesday night, the entire national team drove to the Navy base in Coronado, CA for one day of intense military training. The Navy SEALs Blog by US Navy SEAL Store(.com) said that “it was a day when the best trained with the best.” Well the Navy SEALs definitely train in the water, but I’m not sure how comfortable our swimmers fared on land, and in the air–dangling from a huge suspended cargo net!

Garrett Weber-Gale’s account of the adventure on his blog, Food & Water, is very entertaining. You can tell he has an intense “bring it on” personality. Here’s an excerpt from his blog post:

I woke up Wednesday morning with a big smile on my face again. As I ate breakfast most people looked tired, nervous, annoyed that we had to do this…no way baby…I was pumped! As we pulled up near the Navy base I saw this huge cargo net in the air that was draped between two huge logs. I thought to myself, “Uh oh…I hope I don’t have to climb that…I’m terrified of heights.” Oh yeah, heck yeah we climbed that thing.

SwimNetwork.com has a great photo album of the experience, with large images of your swimming all-stars drudging through an obstacle course. Here are a couple images from the gallery.

True story, Garrett looks as intense in this picture as he sounds in his blog post. Here is something interesting I found on Google Maps, on Coronado’s beach there is what looks like a large pile of rocks that spell out “Coronado.” I also grabbed this group photo from Garrett’s blog. All in all it sounds like a great experience for our USA National Swim Team.

> How will FINA rules affect blueseventy? by the blueseventy blog
> Women’s NCAA’s Lead To Toughening of Recruit Rankings by Swimming World Magazine
> Follow the Athletic Foodie Garrett Weber-Gale on Twitter
> Diving: Zhou’s Victory Powers China to Eight-Medal Sweep by Universal Sports
> Will Napoleon Conquer Rome in 2009? via the17thman
> Cal Wins The Relay in Record Time, And Meet by CollegeSwimming.com
> Phelps on Video Talks About The Past by USA Today from SwimNetwork.com
> Catch Your Athletes Doing Something Right by Chris DeSantis