Get your news fix on happenings outside the pool with the latest ‘Beyond the Lane Lines.’ With each edition, we collect personal stories, little known facts and general items of interest from around the world. Read on and learn something new this week.
#1 – New York City Seeks Floating Pool for East River
The Guardian is reporting that the city of New York City is seeking to be home to one of America’s first urban river swimming facilities. Manhattan is inviting proposals for a ‘self-filtering’ pool to be situated between Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, enabling the public to safely swim in the middle of the city.
This plan has been in the works since at least 2013, when we first reported on it, but seems to be grabbing a renewed push.
The vision for the floating pool in the Easter River includes separate sections for sports, relaxing, laps and a specific area for children.
The idea is that the pool’s chlorine-free filter system pushes river water through the walls of the pool, acting as a “giant strainer” that removes bacteria, odors, and contaminants without removing the water’s salt content, and pushes clean water out. The organization estimates the system can clean over 600,000 gallons of water per day. (The Guardian)
The proposed project is in the pre-development stage, with proposed designs next being presented to the appropriate committees and organizations for approvals and permits.
#2 – Lithuanian Record Holder Tadas Duskinas Retires
25-year-old Tadas Duskinas of Lithuania has announced his retirement from competitive swimming.
“I made the decision to end my career because I, as a person, needed to keep moving forward and pursue new goals and challenges. After evaluating the situation, I realized that I had squeezed everything I could, so I no longer made sense to exercise the kind of workloads that professional athletes had to endure.
“Swimming has given me many opportunities to improve. I even used a few of them (laughs, ed. Comment). Thank you to my family, my many coaches, the Lithuanian Swimming Federation, friends, colleagues, and the Lithuanian swimming community. Thank you.”
Duskinas competed for Arizona State University from 2013-2018 and was an NCAA Championships qualifier.
Most recently he lowered his own Lithuanian national record in the 50m fly, dropping his former lifetime best of 23.72 from 2014 down to 23.58 at this past April’s Lithuanian Championships.
#3 – South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker Nominated for FISU Award
South African breaststroking ace Tatjana Schoenmaker has been nominated for the ‘best athlete’ award by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). FISU is the organization that puts on the World University Games/Universiade every 4 years.
At this summer’s Games in Naples, Italy, Schoenmaker took 2 gold medals, standing atop the podium in the 100m and 200m breaststroke events.
On her nomination, 22-year-old Schoenmaker stated, “I consider it a huge honor. It actually feels unreal. It does not feel like it should be me who is being nominated for international awards. I still got to get used to the idea. I hope this will inspire other young swimmers. They should realize that nothing is impossible if you are prepared to put in the long hours.”
As far as her competitive outlook, Schoenmaker says, “Penny Heyns proved during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta that it is possible to win gold in both events. That is why I don’t want to only specialize in the 200m-breaststroke. I might end up being more successful over 200 meters, but I will never give up on the 100m breaststroke.”
The FISU Awards will be announced on 15 November in Turin, Italy.
Quotes courtesy of University Van Pretoria.
#4 – Dorsey Tierney-Walker Enters Louisville Catholic Sports Hall of Fame
Former Arizona State University head coach-turned-University of New Mexico head coach Dorsey Tierney-Walker will be entering the Louisville Catholic Sports Hall of Fame.
Joining the likes of legendary American Olympic swimmer Mary T. Meagher and San Francisco 49ers great Bubba Paris, Tierney-Walker will be formally recognized for her outstanding contributions in athletics at the highest level, while holding steadfast to Catholic education and faith.
As an athlete, Tierney-Walker was a finalist in the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Trials and won a pair of national championships as a member of the University of Texas women’s swimming team. She took gold in the 200m breaststroke at the 1987 Pan American Games.
In addition to coaching at ASU and New Mexico, Tierney-Walker served as the women’s head coach at Indiana for 7 years before moving on to Auburn where she led the Tigers to two SEC titles.
The ceremony takes place on December 9th.
#5 – Millward & Vorontsov Inducted Into University of Bath Hall of Fame for Sport
Paralympic champion Stephanie Millward and Olympic swimming coach Dr. Andrei Vorontsov have become the latest inductees into the University of Bath Hall of Fame for Sport,
Millward has won 49 medals across her storied international career, including 10 while representing Great Britain at the Paralympic Games.
For Vorontsov’s part, he has had a host of Olympic and World Championships athletes under his tutelage from around the world, including Great Britain, Sweden and his native Russia. He has also produced more the 130 research papers and books in the field of biomechanics and its impact on swimming.
Stephen Baddeley, Director of Sport at the University of Bath, said of the inductions, “Stephanie and Andrei are two thoroughly deserving inductees into our Hall of Fame.
“Andrei is the kind of guy who goes about his daily business without fuss or fanfare and yet, as a visiting high-performance swim coach said to me just yesterday, he is a living legend within his sport. It is a real privilege to have him on our coaching staff.
“Stephanie continues to enjoy an incredible swimming career but to be considered for the University’s Hall of Fame, people have to also contribute to our sporting environment – and Stephanie does that every day. Not only is she an inspiration to others but she supports and cares for those around her, especially aspiring young swimmers and those in the Team Bath AS club with whom she trains and is an ambassador.”
Millward said of the honor, “Thank you to all at Team Bath and the University of Bath for this honor. To be inducted into the Hall of Fame and, through that, find myself linked to some of the country’s greatest swimmers, athletes, coaches, and performance directors is truly humbling.
“I remember so well returning from the 2013 World Championships in Montreal to find a banner across the STV entrance congratulating me on my four gold medals and it made me cry, I was so happy – this is my home. The environment, the staff, and the culture here really does make a difference to us as athletes.”
Vorontosv echoed the sentiment, “I am very pleased, honored and overwhelmed to be here at such a ceremony.
“The 20 years since I first came to Bath have gone in an eye blink and I am very grateful to all the swimmers and athletes I have worked with. Thank you for this honor.”
There are now 26 inductees into the Hall of Fame for Sport, which was established in 2014 to recognize the outstanding contribution made by athletes, coaches and administrators to sport at the University of Bath. Visit www.teambath.com/hall-of-fame to find out more.
“I made the decision to end my career because I, as a person, needed to keep moving forward and pursue new goals…”
How many swimmers have same feelings that the life goes by till you are looking at the black line at the bottom of the pool hours by hours.
Paris has a floating pool.
Farida Osman has been named as one of the top 100 women of 2019 by the bbc.