On September 5, 1942, United States Navy Petty Officer First Class Charles Jackson French, of Omaha Nebraska, swam through the night for 6 – 8 hours pulling a raft of 15 wounded sailors with a rope around his stomach through shark infested waters after the USS Gregory was hit by […]
Ralph Mohr
A doctor I once saw loved the Finns. Finland has a homogeneous population, not too large (five and half million), and medical record-keeping that goes back to at least 1910. Finland is perfect for longitudinal studies on health, diet, and practically anything else you’d want. A recent article in “Scientific […]
Swim Bits – April 2021
1 It seemed appropriate after this year’s Super Bowl (with apologies to Connie Shuman and Mike Carew who can’t stand TB) to discuss Tom Brady’s approach to keeping fit at the advanced football age of 43. There’s lots of information on line about the TB12 system, but I was curious about […]
Swim Bits – March 2021
1 Dick Hannula is the most successful high school swimming coach in Washington State ever. His teams at Wilson High School in Tacoma won 24 straight State Championships. Hannula coached at the Olympics and several times at the Pan-American games. He also sold swim suits which I used at Marshfield High […]
Swim Bits – January 2021
A Book Review by Ralph Mohr In Iceland everyone swims. It is a government requirement. Bonnie Tsui in her book, Why We Swim, starts with the story of Guthlaugur Frithorsson, an Icelandic fisherman, who, when his fishing boat capsized and sank, swam three and a half miles to shore in […]
“Why We Swim” written by Bonnie Tsui
1 A list of coaches from the 1961 North Bend Invitational Swim Meet. Why is it here? Check the names. You might recognize some of them. Grants Pass Swim Club Alan Takashima McMinnville Swim Club Bob Gregson Medford YMCA Ken Lyons North Bend Aquatic Club Mike Popovich Reedsport Swim Club Don […]
A Historical Note
4 It was not planned. After the Eel Lake OMS Open Water Swims were cancelled this summer, despite Matt Miller’s constant attempts to get the Oregon Parks Department to change their mind, local swimmers on the Oregon coast continued to swim in near-by lakes. It turned out, though, there were numerous […]
Flash Mob at Eel Lake
With pools opening up and lakes warming up in Oregon, swimmers are emerging from a required break. Hopefully everyone will remember to use sunblock, not sunscreen, when swimming outdoors. The rules for sunblock while swimming are simple: use nothing that is only chemicals, especially oxybenzone. The only real sunblocks are […]
Swim bits – July 2020
1 As we are all waiting to get back in the water, this gives us time to consider what we will do once we get wet again. There are all sorts of workouts available online. What about our mental approach? With the 2020 season so changed, what are your new goals? […]