…FINA has begun posting the confirmed entries for their Olympic Qualifying Open Water 10km swim that will take place in Setubal, Portugal in June. The American womens’ entries have been confirmed as Haley Anderson and Ashley Twichell. The Brits already have a woman (Keri-Anne Payne), but will send defending Olympic silver-medalist David Davies as well as young 1500m champion Daniel Fogg. Defending gold medalist Maarten van der Veijden won’t be on the Dutch contingent, as he’s now retired from professional swimming, leaving the defending spot open. South Africa is sending a star-studded group of Troy Prinsloo and Chad Ho on the men’s side, and Jessica Roux and Natalie Du Toit on the women’s. But the most notable entry to date hails from Tunisia, where the great pool-swimmer Ous Mellouli is entered. Just a few months after swimming his first sanctioned 10km swim, Mellouli is now set to take a shot at an Olympic qualification. All entries available here…
…Two-time Australian Olympian Travis Nederpelt has announced his retirement from professional swimming after an impressive career that spanned two Olympics. In 2004, when he was only 18, the distance specialist finaled in the 400 IM. He’s also a two-time Commonwealth Games medalist (a silver and bronze in 2006) and a bronze medalist at the Pan Pac Championships in the same year. At 25, he failed to make the Australian Olympic Team this year…
…At the Venezuelan Championships, Cristian Quintero became the first big champion after winning the 200 free in 1:49.66. The USC swimmer has been a bit faster, but not much. National Record holder Daniele Tirabassi was a bit slower in 1:50.50, which is a time he probably isn’t happy with…
…Two more coaches have been added to the USA Swimming “Banned for Life” list – Sean Mendoza out of Georgia and David Teel out of North Carolina. Both were suspended for violations of rule 304.3.5, which reads “Violation of any of the Sexual Misconduct Reporting Requirements set forth in Article 306.” Article 306 is the section of the rule book that requires reporting and protects good faith reports. Read more in the 2012 rule book here. There were no available news reports on either…
