Sprint News 7/19/12: Bolles’ Lopez Gets Big Honor; Kuwait’s Swimmer Changes Entry

…The Royal Spanish Swimming Federations on the hosting committee for the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, Spain has named a symbolic 13 ambassadors for the event from across the aquatic disciplines, including 4 from swimming. While none are active elite competitors, the most familiar of the group will be Sergio Lopez, the head coach of the Bolles School Sharks: perennial one of the top 5 high school programs, with little debate, in the United States. The other three representatives from pool swimming are Lourdes Becerra, Maria Palaez, and Nina Zhivenevskaya. Zhivenevskaya was a Russian born swimmer who swam in five Olympiads, under three different flags – the Unified team in 1992, the Russians in 1996, and after marrying a Spaniard, Spain in 2000, 2004, and 2008. Palaez is also a 5-time Olympian, with Becerra competing in three…

…After the so-called “Arab Spring” that has rolled through the world in the last two years, we are seeing a number of pioneering women make the first ever female appearances for their countries at this year’s Olympic Games. But one of the most embattled Olympic Committees of late has been Kuwait, with the IOC going so far as to declare that though Kuwaiti athletes could qualify and compete, they could not compete under the flag of their country and instead would have to fly the Olympic flag. They may have gone a long way toward correcting their issues with the IOC, though, by saying that the government wouldn’t meddle in sporting affairs, and by extension have admitted their first-ever female swimmer to the Olympics. That is in the form of Faye Sultan, a 17-year old who has been training in Ireland under coach Jose Baltar Leite. She was originally scheduled to swim the 100 free, but has since been switched to the 50…