Free Republic

On the way back to the Olympic Village, we pulled into a convenience store to use the restroom. There was no restroom inside, so we foolishly relieved ourselves on the backside of the building behind some bushes. There was a locked door out back and I did not witness anyone breaking it open. I am unsure why, but while we were in that area, Ryan pulled to the ground a framed metal advertisement that was loosely anchored to the brick wall. I then suggested to everyone that we needed to leave the area and we returned to the taxi.

Iran swimmer’s time goes unrecorded: “Her bathing suit was too revealing” An Iranian woman has taken on a difficult challenge: to swim as long as possible in open waters, where she has to wear a diving suit, a full jacket, and a headscarf. However, this was still not enough for the sports authorities, who she claims told her they could not record her latest swim because her outfit was too revealing. In Iran, women swimmers usually compete in all-female pools, and only at the national level, not abroad, to avoid being seen by men. Professional swimmer Elham Sadat Asghari, however,...

On a recent Friday morning, a line of bathing-suit clad students stood beside a campus swimming pool, waiting to jump in. They had come to persuade the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill they were worthy of a college degree — which they were not, in UNC's eyes, until they could swim 50 yards and tread water for five minutes.For many, it was an annoying inconvenience, for others a moment of pride in conquering their fear of water. But the scene also was a small slice of collegiate history. This was the last swim test day at one of...

The Flushing YMCA said four people were killed in an accident on the New York State Thruway at 7 a.m. en route to a swimming meet in Buffalo, N.Y. The victims included a 47-year-old woman, her two sons and a 14-year-old girl, who died when a tanker truck slammed into their minivan, New York 1 reported. Two other passengers in the vehicle were removed from the battered minivan and taken to a local area hospital, New York 1 reported. In addition, the driver of the tanker truck was taken to the hospital, according to New York 1. Neither the Flushing...

Officials Apologize Over Anthem Failure BARCELONA (Reuters) - Embarrassed world swimming championship officials apologized to the U.S. team Sunday after their national anthem failed to play during the medal ceremony for the victorious women's 4x100 freestyle relay team. Natalie Coughlin, Lindsay Benko, Rhiannon Jeffrey and Jenny Thompson stood facing the Stars and Stripes after receiving their gold medals waiting in vain for the anthem to play. The large crowd at the Palau Sant Jordi pool also waited patiently, then began hand clapping and finally whistling as officials struggled off-stage to fix the problem. After about five minutes, the large U.S...