I wish I could go to a Speedo launch party/show, but I guess photos of the event from Speedo International on Facebook is the next best thing.

From the album description:

“Setting the trend for summer, Speedo models paraded the striking new suits from the LZR-Inspired, Aqua Active and Originals collections. The remarkable show appropriately concluded with the launching of the new Fina-approved competition suits including the LZR Racer Elite, LZR Racer Pro, and the FastSkin XT worn by the top national and collegiate swimmers led by 2009 SEA Games medalist and Speedo sponsored athlete Kendrick Lim Uy” (source).

What the heck is a FastSkin XT? Hmmm, I don’t think this is being marketed to us North Americans.

> London 2012 Bubble Cloud Will Erupt With “Gusts Of Digital Data” SCAQ Blog
> Tuesday Tweet of the Week: McDonalds and Health? Garrett Weber-Gale
> Dara Torres, Brand New Knee, Ready for a Chance at 2012 The Swimmers Circle
> How salty is your sweat? A home test kit Sweat Science
> Breaking Down The IM Swimming Workout Wizard
> Aussie Whiz Kid Upsets World Champion Swimming World
> Geoff Huegill (24.02) at the Telstra Commonwealth Games Trials! SCAQ Blog
> Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Gaelic Storm Radio on Pandora

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.

Check out this fun blog post on Food & Water by Garrett Weber-Gale! Garrett does underwater bike tricks as a fun way to train for respiratory endurance. It looks like a lot of fun if your aquatics director will let you put a bike in the pool. Training your lungs can be tedious and difficult unless you find a fun way to distract yourself.

I’ve heard of teams playing underwater hockey, pretending to be mermaids, or hosting an epic game of sharks and minnows in the diving well – but underwater bikes looks like a lot of fun! Visit Food & Water by Garrett Weber-Gale for the rest of the photos.

A Google Image search shows that underwater biking is nothing new to SCUBA divers. In fact, there is even a world record for underwater biking. Italy

In a 1949 issue of Mechanix Illustrated, Wilmon Menard describes his “fascinating pastime” in an article titled “Octopus Wrestling Is My Hobby.” Times have obviously changed since the harassment of these remarkable cephalopods was glorified, but the pompous naivety of Menard’s accounts still makes for an entertaining read. Listen to Menard’s choice of words to describe the hunt for this “demon of fury.”

“In a split second our spears would speed into the revolting mass. Then, there would be a human-like moan and the water would be clouded with sepia. The long tentacles would flay the surface of the lagoon in a savage fury, as the monster tried to rid itself of our spears which were firmly imbedded in its head. If necessary, another spear would be dispatched into the writhing hulk.” Menard, W. (1949). Mechanix Illustrated.

Complete with advertisements for tape measures, guns, and spark plugs, Mechanix Illustrated was a manly magazine indeed. Although this 1949 article is arguably the first account of octopus wrestling, in the 1960′s it was decided that a true sportsman should wrangle the beast out of the sea with his bare hands. This approach culminated in a televised World Championship event.

Today, octopus are considered the most neurologically and functionally advanced members of the phylum Mollusca, which also includes bivalves like clams and oysters. As members of the Cephalopoda class, they feature a prominent head and modification of the powerful mollusk foot.

These “repulsive monsters” are so intelligent (likely the most intelligent invertebrates) they have been recognized as honorary vertebrates in the UK, which grants them the same rights of animals such as mice and frogs in the case of scientific testing. According to Wikipedia, some countries require that octopus receive anesthesia before undergoing harmful procedures. There are accounts of octopus exhibiting short and long-term memory, and problem solving skills that allow them to unscrew the lid of a jar.

Contrast our current understanding and respect for marine life to the closing sentiment of Menard’s article: “When you wrestle and kill an octopus, you’re ridding the marine world of a treacherous enemy” (source)

I was checking out an ad for the Tennessee Diving Camp, via the USA Diving Direct e-Newsletter, and I saw a photo of the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center lit up like a rave! No kidding? Do they really have a scaffold of stage lights mounted over the diving well? As you can see by the Pool < Rave Pool < Rave Meter, this natatorium is clearly stepping into new territory.

I’d like to see more of this kind of lighting treatment in world class facilities. Can you imagine walking in to the final heat of the 400 Freestyle Relay with these lights swirling overhead and “Sandstorm” blaring over the PA system? Other than at the latest Duel In The Pool, swimming hasn’t seen its fair share of dramatic lighting.

Because of the high demand for speedsuits this championship season, many of the popular sizes and styles of technical suits took longer than usual to come in. While working in customer service, I heard the expression worth it’s weight in gold thrown around – as in: “that LZR jammer must be worth it’s weight in gold because nobody has them in stock!”

That got me thinking. It’s common knowledge in the swimming world that tech suits are pretty expensive, especially considering the fact that they don’t have high definition screens and can’t send text messages – it’s “just a swim suit” to some, but a modern marvel to others. Is the LZR Racer Elite really worth it’s weight in gold?

Step one was to weight the darn thing. I grabbed a Speedo LZR Racer Elite size 32 jammer off the shelf and weighed it out of the box on our shipping scale. The suit (plus the tag) weighed in at a featherweight 0.22 pounds. For the sake of comparison, I also weighed the much more affordable Speedo FS Pro size 32 jammer and found that it actually weighs the exact same: 0.22 pounds.

Next, I found the latest price of pure silver, gold, and the extremely rare but extremely fictional element unobtainium from the movie Avatar. Currency rates came from XE.com on Wednesday, March 10, 2010. Here’s what I found!

The Speedo LZR Racer Elite jammer was worth it’s weight in pure silver 4.5 times over. If the suit actually were made of pure gold, it would be a steal at the retail price of $260.00, because a real gold suit would run over $3,500. Of course, gold is never traded in 100% pure form. If you wanted to make a LZR Elite jammer out of 10k dental gold, it would be worth a more reasonable $1,478 – but who wants to wear dental gold, ew! Finally, a LZR Elite jammer made of the fictional element unobtainium ($20 million per kilo) would run you close to $2 million – quite the bargain considering you have to fight off the local Na’vi tribes just to get it!

In conclusion, although this tech suit may seem difficult to track down at times, it certainly isn’t worth it’s weight in gold. However, it is worth it’s weight in silver 4.5 times over! So unless you would leave a bar of solid silver lying around at a swim meet, keep this suit in your bag so no one walks off with it!

My friend @TravelinMike sent me this trailer for the 20th Commonwealth Games. According to the upload by Rob Chiu on the Vimeo page, the trailer was “created as a launch vehicle for the new Glasgow 2014 identity as designed by Marque Creative the short piece places athletes in and around urban Glasgow. The film depicts the symmetry between the city and the games culminating in the final reveal of the new identity” (source).

The Commonwealth Games is a multi-sport competition held every 4 years between territories of the former British Empire. According to Wikipedia, the 6 territories that have competed in every Commonwealth Games are Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales. Unlike in the Olympic Games, where the United Kingdom sponsors a single team, the Commonwealth Games brings teams from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and other regions that are not identified as their own country in the eyes of the Olympics.

The next Commonwealth Games will be held in October 2010 in Delhi, India.

Malibu Wellness has some new products specially designed for swimmers. Check out this chlorine test that puts the Malibu After-Swim Solution to work against chlorinated pool water. Notice how just a few grains of the powdered solution is effective at neutralizing the chlorine.

Also, the end of the video shows how the product works. It starts as a powder (fresh-dried vitamin complex), then turns into a gel solution in the palm of your hand. If just a pinch of powder removes the chlorine from a cup full of water, just imagine how effective the entire packet is at removing chemicals from your hair.

The Malibu After-Swim Solution packet featured in this video is available online from Kast-A-Way Swimwear. We also recommend a Malibu MakeOver hair service at your local salon.

Last night, I got an email with a big announcement from Rob Aquatics. This summer, Rob Dumouchel will be taking his blog and his enthusiasm for open water swimming on tour across this great nation. Can Masters swimmers go on tour? Rob says why not!

You can read more about Rob’s big announcement on his blog, where he talks about turning the vision into reality.

With the support of blueseventy as a corporate sponsor, Rob’s busy summer kicks off with the USMS 1 Mile Open Water Championships at Lake Norman in Charlotte, NC on May 29th, and will wrap up with a September 11th swim at Big Shoulders (5k) in Chicago, IL.