Niall Quinn - Lilyhammer TV - Hyde Park on Hudson 2012 - Ian Hislop TV - Alan Partridge - Hall of Fame TV - William Shakespeare - Lord Byron - Faster Higher Stronger TV - REM - Medical Mysteries TV - BBC Business News TV - The Office US TV - Sporting Greats TV - Amputating Alice TV -
Tony Fernandes is in that goldfish bowl and he’s swimming against the tide. Niall Quinn, football commentary
Nothing clears the mind like an early-morning swim. Lilyhammer III: Guantanamo Blues starring Steven van Zandt & Trond Fausa Aurvag & Marian Saastad Ottesen & Steinar Sagen & Anne Krigsvoll et al, Frank, BBC 2012
I thought I might have a swim. Hyde Park on Hudson 2012 starring Bill Murray & Laura Linney & Samuel West & Olivia Colman & Elizabeth Marvel & Olivia Williiams & Elizabeth Wilson & Andrew Havill et al, director Roger Michell, president to king
No-one would repeat [Matthew] Webb’s achievement [cross-channel swim] for thirty-six years. Ian Hislop’s Stiff Upper Lip – An Emotional History of Britain II: Heydey, BBC 2012
Four children in thirty will piss in the pool. And one in a hundred will go further. Alan Partridge: Welcome to the Places of My Life, Alan takes swim, Sky Atlantic 2014
Swimmer Mark Spitz already had a perfectly lovely moustache when in 1972 he decided to go for perfection in an unprecedented seven Olympic events. And that was up against some very stiff competition. Hall of Fame: In a League of Their Own
Like an unpractised swimmer plunging still,
With too much labour drowns for want of skill. William Shakespeare, The Rape of Lucrece 1098-1099
A solitary shriek, the bubbling cry
Of some strong swimmer in his agony. Lord Byron, Don Juan
American Michael Phelps attempts to win his first of eight gold medals. Faster Higher Stronger – Stories of the Olympic Games IV, BBC 2012
Alick Wickham ... swam like no-one had swam before ... This stroke was brand new ... the Australian crawl. ibid.
The Duke may have smashed world records but some barriers [racial] could not be broken. Johnny Weissmuller found fame as Tarzan but only after winning five Olympic gold medals. ibid.
The first Olympian to swim a 100 metres under the magic minute: 59.00 seconds. ibid.
1956 Melbourne: Australian started claiming the free-style for themselves. ibid.
A true swimming phenomenon: 19-year-old Dawn Fraser was something quite new. ibid.
The butterfly ... took a special kind of swimmer to perfect this unnatural stroke. ibid.
Mark Spitz 1972: This time everything went according to plan ... He took a second off [Michael] Wenden’s 1968 world record: 51.22 ... seven gold medals; he broke world records in every single one. ibid.
Aged just 22 Spitz retired. ibid.
1976: Scottish breaststroker David Wilkie: 2.15.11. ibid.
Moorhouse attempted to emulate his hero at the Seoul Olympics: 1.02.04. ibid.
In the women’s events East German won ten out of fifteen ... Rumours circulated they weren’t clean. ibid.
East German women dominated throughout the eighties ... A state-sponsored programme had been supplying athletes with performance enhancing steroids. ibid.
Talbot [coach] had a trump card ... Ian Thorpe ... He was six foot five with size fourteen feet. ibid.
2008: swimming reached new heights ... Michael Phelps set out to become the first man to win eight golds in one games ... The medley: 4.03.84. A masterclass in modern swimming. ibid.
He set new world records in six events. ibid.
Night swimming deserves a quiet night … REM, Nightswimming lyrics
Swimming induced pulmonary oedema is a potentially fatal condition. Medical Mysteries: The Woman Who Smells of Fish, Channel 5 2016
The sporting legend Michael Phelps of course who has announced his retirement from Professional swinging … BBC Business News 5.44 a.m. 15th August 2016
When can I introduce you to my grandson? He’s a wonderful swimmer. Shallow end, deep end, he does it all. The Office US s8e18: Last Day in Florida, old lady to Erin, NBC 2011
‘As a ten year old I had 17 national age-group records.’ Sporting Greats: Mark Spitz, Sky Sports 2017
1968: ‘A four-medal flop … two gold medals, a silver, a bronze.’ ibid.
1972: ‘The first day I would get two gold medals …’ ibid.
‘Seven gold medals and seven world records.’ ibid.
‘Outstanding, some very natural skills.’ Sporting Greats: Ian Thorpe, coach
Thorpe’s Olympic dream came true. ibid.
World records continued to fall. ibid.
Alice Tai is an elite athlete. She’s a paralympic gold medallist and a world record holder. And a lot of other cool things as well. Amputating Alice, Channel 4 2023
Alice has a condition known as Bilateral Talipes, or ‘Club Feet’. Something she was born with. ibid.
Alice decided to have her right leg amputated seven months before the start of the games. ibid.