Streamlined News: USA Sectionals Begin; Quadruple Amputee Crosses Strait of Gibraltar; Hansen Expecting First Child

PHOENIX, Arizona, July 13. A couple of USA Swimming sectional meets got underway last night on the East Coast. In Greensboro, North Carolina, Carlos Almeida is doing some final Olympic preparation, winning the 200 IM in 2:05.80. Almeida will be swimming the 100 breaststroke for his native Portugal at the Olympics, and is the reigning NCAA champion in the 200 breast. Gator Swim Club won the distance events on the first night of competition in Fort Lauderdale, with the bulk of swimming starting today. The Fraser brothers, Brett and Shaune, are scheduled to race in their final pre-Olympic race preparations. You can read full recaps of the meets on swimmingworld.com.

How about this for an inspirational story. Philippe Croizon, a Frenchman who lost his arms and legs in an accident 18 years ago, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar yesterday with the help of prosthetic flippers and a snorkel. Croizon finished the nine-mile swim in a little more than five hours. Croizon has also traversed the English Channel, as well as bodies of water between Asia and Africa and Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, in an effort to have link up the continents. Next up is a swim across the Bering Strait from Russia to Alaska, which is a short swim but one of the most dangerous and the waters there are just a couple of degrees above freezing. Croizon hopes to complete the swim next month.

And some good news coming out of the US Olympic training camp yesterday. Brendan Hansen and his wife, Martha, are expecting their first child later this year. The two are waiting until after the Olympics to find out the sex of the baby. The news was published today in The New York Times, in which Hansen said he found out just before going to a workout last May. Congratulations to the Hansens.

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