Post 5 - The FINA world aquatics championships

My last post is the FINA world championships. The event was first held in 1973 and is now held every two years. The first one was held in Belgrade ,Yugoslavia. And this year it will be held in Shanghai ,China on the 16th July-31st July, which will be the 14th. FINA is the World Championships for aquatic sports: diving, swimming, open water swimming, synchronized swimming and water polo, contested in a 50 m pool. So far in the United States are in the lead with 434 medals ,followed by Germany 262 and China 169.

Post 4- San Alfronso del Mar, world's largest pool

The world's largest and deepest pool is San Alfonso del Mar, in Algarrobo, Chile. Algarrobo is a Chilean city and commune in San Antonie Province, Valparaíso Region. It has a population of 8,601 people.

The pool is 1000 meters wide and up to 35 meters in depth and holds 250 million tonnes of seawater. It took 5 years to build and cost nearly 1 billion.

Since the pollution levels in the ocean could cause all sorts of cancer, mental retardation, birth defects and seriously shorten life expectancy, the Chileans had to come up with a solution that would make swimming safer but just as enjoyable. So they created a computer-controlled filtration system that permanently draws fresh seawater directly from the ocean while pumping out used water. This way, tourists can swim in a clean environment where they can see the bottom even in the deep end, all without polluting the ocean.

The sun warms the water to 26c, nine degrees warmer than the adjoining sea.

Among the activities in San Alfonso del Mar you will find: sailing, kayaking, scuba diving and of course, swimming.

Post 3- Speedo

Speedo International Ltd. is a manufacturer and distributor of swimwear and swim-related accessories. Founded in Australia in 1914, which has a population of 22 million.

The headquarters of speedo is in London. Speedo International Ltd. is a manufacturer and distributor of swimwear and swim-related accessories.

February 14, 2008 Following three years of research that included input from NASA, tests on more than 100 different fabrics and suit designs and body scans of more than 400 elite swimmers, Speedo has launched its most hydro-dynamically advanced - and fastest - swimsuit to date. The Speedo LZR Racer is made from a unique lightweight, water repellent and fast-drying fabric that has been developed to reduce drag and help hold the swimmer’s body in a more streamlined shape. Speedo says the suit has been independently tested as the "world's fastest", a claim that translates to up to 5% more efficiency for swimmers and hopefully, at least for Michael Phelps and other elite athletes donning the suit in Beijing later in the year, more gold medals.

The LZR racer's unique design also provides swimmers with up to 5% more efficiency, in terms of their oxygen intake, enabling them to swim stronger for longer.

The specially engineered, highly flexible fabric called LZR Pulse is ultrasonically welded so as to appear seamless. It incorporates low drag "LZR" panels designed to create a corset-like effect that supports the swimmer in the optimum body position in the water and helps them hold it for longer.

In 2008 there was a controversy when speedo announced their new simsuit the LZR racer. Many olympic swimmers wore it to the Bejing 2008 olympics and it sparked controversy as 38 world records were broken by swimmers wearing it.

My Reflection

This is my reflection on TY. It has been undoubtedly my most eventful year yet. This year I have become a lot closer to some of my friends. TY has given me an opportunity to try out different subjects I haven't done before such as Art, Music and Technology. I really enjoyed doing these subjects because they are different to what I studied for the Junior Cert. Despite all the projects we were assigned through out the year I can say that I have now mastered the production of projects. The projects have helped a lot with my computer skills and made me more confident to present it in front of a class. There are, of course, a lot of highlight of TY such as , Mini company, where my group, The Just Desserts, won the Judges Award in the Enterprise Board Competition. I don't think I can ever forget the look on our faces when our names were called up to the stage to receive our trophy and €100. Mini company certainly has opened my mind for running my own business in the future and also has thought me a lesson to always research and not everyone is truthful! Another memorable moment of TY for me was Carlingford, which was one of the first and longest trip we went on. It was great staying over night with my friends and the activities were fantastic. Nothing beats water recreation! Some of the activities we did included archery, canoeing, climbing and pier jumping!

I found careers really helpful aswell because of the subject choices and career interests. This gave an idea of what career I'd like in the future.

Work experience was one of the reasons why I picked to do TY and I have not regretted it.I went to Twin Oaks Bakery, NUI Maynooth and Dublin Dental Hospital. The places I went to definitely showed what the working world is like, and also what jobs I would like and not want. It was very beneficial and recommend it to students applying for TY .

Overall TY is a year to remember for the random things we did such as swim a mile, percussion workshop, scifest, english workshop, retreat and a lot more.

Post 2 ( Michael Phelps)

Michael Phelps was born June 30th 1985 in Baltimore ,Maryland.

He is an american swimmer thats has won 16 olympic medals, six golds and two bronze at Athens 2004 and eight gold at Beijing in 2008, becoming the most successful athlete at the Olympic Games editions.

Phelp's international titles and record breaking performances has earned him the World Swimmer of the Year Award six times and the American Swimmer of the Year award eight times.

He has won a total of fifty-nine medals in major international competition, fifty gold, seven silver, and two bronze spanning the Olympics, the World, and the Pan Pacific Championships. His unprecedented Olympic success in 2008 earned Phelps Sports Illustrated magazine's Sportsman of the Year award.

Phelps currrently holds seven world records in the 200m butterfly, 400m individual medley, 4x100m medley relay, 200m individual medley, 100m butterfly , 4x100m fresstyle relay and 200m freestyle.

After the 2008 Beijing Olympics Michael started the Michael Phelps Foundation which focuses on growing the sport of swimming and promoting healthier lifestyles. He is regularly tested to ensure that his system is clean from performance henancing drugs , being a participant of the US Anti-Doping Agency 's "Project Believe" programme, after the controversy that he was using performance enhancing during the 2008 olympics as the media thought his feats were 'too good to be true' but he passed all the tests.

Geography Project- Swimming( Post1 )

My hobby is swimming. I will include five countries, starting in Greece , then USA, followed by London and Chile and finally China in my map.
Swimming has been recorded since prehistoric times; the earliest recording of swimming dates back to Stone Age paintings from around 7,000 years ago. Swimming was derived from the necessity to survive immersion in water that is to deep to stand in.
It became an official olympic sport in 1896, in Athens,Greece but it was a man only competition. For events were contested for swimming, 100m,500m,1200 m freestyle and 100m for sailors. The first gold medal was won my Alfred Hajos from Hungary in the 100m freestyle and 1200m event. The 500m event was won by Austrian Paul Neumann.
In 1912 swimming olympic was opened to women in Stockholm.

In 1583, Nikcolaus wymann, german professor of languages,wrote the first swimming book , 'The swimmer dialogue on the art of swimming'.

My Sister's Keeper

The book that I am going to review is My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult.

It is about a family the Fitzgerald , how they deal with a very sick child in the family. It is an uplifting, emotional , sad and a powerful story.Sara Fitzgerald a mother of three and an ex lawyer is a very hardworking and loving mother. But her daughter, Kate was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia at the age of two. They rush to the hospital where they learn that Kate suffers from APL,a subgroup of myleoid leukemia and the percentage of survival is 20-30%. Kate needs stem cells and bone marrow but noone in the family is a match for her, so Sara has no choice but to persuade her husband Brian to try for a perfectly engineered baby that would be the exact DNA match to Kate, as she is in desperate need for bone marrow in order to survive.Throughout the years Kate manage to stay alive because of her concieved sister, Anna. Anna has a very close bond and is a loving sister to Kate. From the day she was born when the doctors took the blood from Anna umbilical cord she has not question why she has to go to the hospital or refused whenever Kate needs her bone marrow. Then at the age of thirteen Anna realises that she does not want to donate a kidney to her sister anymore after the countless surgeries that she has undergone. So she seeks a solicitor, Campbell Alexander to file a lawsuit for medical emancipation. He agrees to help Anna. When Sara finds out she is furious with Anna and demands her to drop it, but Anna is determined for the medical emancipation. Sara has no choice but to represent herself and her husband in the lawsuit. Brian who is a firefighter but also has a passion for astrology understand how Anna is feeling. Meanwhile Kate is back in hospital again in need for a kidney transplant. Dr Chance said that she will need one soon or else she will die too, he also says that Kate is too weak for the operation and the stress of it could also kill her. Despite that Sara still wants Anna to donate the kidney to her sister. Ignored for most of his life because of her sister's illness is Jesse who is a delinquent and spends most of his time setting buildings on fire. In the novel we understand why he is ignored and near the end Brian discovers that he is setting fires to buildings but forgives him. Since Anna is not old enough to help make decisions a guardian ad litem is assigned for her by Judge DeSalvo. In the novel we see that her guardian ad litem ,Julia , had a romance relationship with Campbell Alexander during their high school years. But Julia was heartbroken when Campbell left her without an explanation. There are some heated moments and loving moments between the two throughout the book. While in hospital Kate meets a guy , Taylor who is two years older than her and has AML. They soon get to know each other very well and ends up going to the hospital's dance together. Tragically Taylor dies and Kate is left heartborken.

During the trial it is that revealed that Kate persuaded Anna to sue for emancipation because she believes that she will not survive the operation. Judge DeSalvo rules in favor of Anna and grants Campbell medical power of attorney. After the trial Campbell drives Anna home but their car is hit my an oncoming truck. The incident leaves Anna with brain damage and Campbell suffers from an arm injury. The doctors informs them that the machine keeping Anna alive may aswel be switched off and they should consider organ donation. Campbell, being the medical power of attorney for Anna says Anna would want her kidney donated to her sister. Kate survives the operation and goes into remission. Most of Anna's organs are used for transplant in the future.

Jesse, whom has been involved in so many crimes changes and graduates from police academy.

For six years Kate stays in remission and Campbell marry his love, Julia.

Anna dies for her sisters life.

Personal Opinion:

Every now and again I read a book that really gets to me, one that touches me deep to the core and leaves me thinking still thinking about the book long after reading it and really breakout your emotions, well my sister's keeper is definitely one of them. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and have to say it is one of my favorite. I still feel joy and love for the family even though it ends with a sad ending. It really is an uplifting and emotional novel and i would recommend it to anyone.

Swim a mile

The friday before the easter holidays we went to The National Aquatic Centre for the Ian Daly Swim A Mile with a Smile challenge. It was great. There were groups of 2, 4 or 6 that swam a mile or people that just wanted to do it on their own. I was surprised that a managed to swim a mile on my own. We all recieved a t-shirt and those who swam on their own also got a hat. Afterwards they opened the slides for us! It was fun :) For lunch we were allowed to go to Blanchardstown for a few hours. One of the best days of TY :D