A 46-year-old long distance swimmer from upstate New York attempted to break the world record for swimming around Manhattan—twice—a 57-mile jaunt that requires nearly 24 hours of nonstop exercise. more ›

One athlete has died, and another is in critical condition after competing in today's New York City Triathlon. A 64-year-old man died during the swimming leg of the race, and a 40-year woman was injured swimming the 1.5 kilometers in the Hudson River, and brought to Roosevelt Hospital for treatment, AP reports. more ›

Yesterday, NYC Swim held its annual Brooklyn Bridge swim, a 1K across the East River. About 400 people participated, which apparently was less than in previous years. It seems that some may have been thinking about the warnings about raw sewage which was dumped into waterways after a four-alarm fire that devastated a wastewater treatment plant. more ›

After the Post shamed the Parks Department into resupplying Coney Island's toilet paper coffers, the Daily News seems to have had the same effect when it reported on Monday that kids were "risking their lives" by diving off the Steeplechase Pier at Coney Island. Reporter Michael Daly details the pier's transformation from a dock of impunity to "a border crossing in cold-war Berlin" in the span of a single day. "A dozen uniformed sentries and an emergency vehicle" were on site to keep the pier off-limits to everyone but fisherman. One 47-year-old man whose efforts to relax on the pier were rebuffed, said he remembered diving off the pier when he was 12, "the same summer he was introduced to the ways of love." Great, give them another reason to dive off the pier. more ›

There are some things, when you move to New York, that you give up hope for: silence, dignity, and indoor pools, to name a few. But not everyone has! Some people, very rich people with names like Evelyn McMurray Van-Zeller, have been making at least one of those dreams a reality, what with the 30-foot pool in the middle of her Chelsea living room. And it too can be yours, for the small price of $10.955 million. more ›

[UPDATED BELOW] This may look more Boca than one of the 5 boroughs, but this photo was taken in Brooklyn—can you guess which year, and what neighborhood? more ›

The Lord works in mysterious ways. Sometimes He tells you to kill your son on a mountaintop, other times He commands you to send an army to take out the guy in Iraq who tried to kill your dad. Yesterday God was busy over in Jersey, where He sent an unidentified man on a mission to swim to Liberty Island. Unfortunately, the federal gov'ment stepped in once again to thwart The Almighty's sovereign will. more ›

Sometime this past Sunday a man reportedly took to the waters and swam from Manhattan to Roosevelt Island and back... successfully! Well, sort of. He was handed two summons for his East River swim. The Roosevelt Island blog refers to RI's public safety report from that day (which was quite rainy and windy), it states, "Investigation/ Reckless Endangerment—A male swam from the FDR straight across to Roosevelt Island. NYPD/ESU, and PSD responded. Male was fine. EMS refused. NYPD issued subject two summonses." more ›

Last year we looked at some photos of New Yorkers sweating through summers of the past—images which included plenty of open fire hydrants and man shorts. Today we're taking a look at where locals used to swim in the city: public pools, Coney Island, water fountains in parks, and of course, jumping in to the rivers! more ›

Last night, an hour after lifeguards went off duty, 14-year-old boy was swept out by a rip tide off Jacob Riis Park in Queens. WCBS 2 reports that while "the NYPD and the Coast Guard had choppers in the air Wednesday morning...the effort was downgraded from a rescue mission to a recovery search, as authorities fear that this will be the second drowning this month in unguarded waters." The first drowning is that of Nicole Suriel, the public school student who drowned off Long Beach. more ›

You're warned: The following clip is pretty cute, what with 8-year-old Reese Ronceray revealing how he saved 5-year-old Andrew Gentile from drowning in a manmade lake in NJ, with an assist from SpongeBob Squarepants. Reese, who has known how to swim for two years, told MyFoxNY instinct took over, "I don't know how to explain it. I just kinda knew how to react... I swam over like they did with 'Larry the Lobster' and 'Sponge Bob.' I put him in one of my triangles, got him, we got back in the water and we swam to shore." Andrew helpfully added, "I was the drowner guy. Reece was 'Larry Lobster.'" more ›

Watching TV can be lifesaving, part 2! In April, a Long Island girl saved her choking friend when she remembered the episode where SpongeBob Squarepants performs the Heimlich maneuver on Squidward, who accidentally swallowed his clarinet. Now we learn that an 8-year-old NJ boy pulled a drowning 5-year-old from a lake, thanks again to the wonders of SpongeBob! more ›

The first day of May brought New Yorkers a little of summer early. NY1 reports that it measured 85 degrees in Central Park (the record for May 1 is 87 degrees in 2001) and found many people at the beach. One person said, "You don't get too many hot days like this, this early in the year. This is the first time I've been to the beach this early in the season." But even though it was hot and humid yesterday, "the shore temperatures hovered in the 70s and the water temperatures were in the low 50s." One person said, "I wanted to get wet, but the water is so cold you come out numb; it's crazy. I couldn't feel my legs." However, the city's beaches and pools are not officially open until Memorial Day, which is when lifeguards go on duty. more ›

A 59-year-old man died shortly after beginning the annual Brooklyn Bridge Swim in the East River. Richard Harley, a 59-year-old California resident, apparently started having problems a few minutes into the 1K swim. Newsday reports that the race began 9:45 a.m, "He was pronounced dead at Downtown Beekman Hospital at 10:10 a.m." NYC Swim's Monty Berger said that kayakers, boaters, emergency personnel and even another swimmer were trying to save him. The swimmer, Melody Baglione, told the Daily News she saw him floating near the South Street Seaport, "He was definitely unconscious," and tried to give him CPR. Harley was raising money for a girls' school in Kenya. Berger said Harley had been recently certified with swimming 3.3K in 54 minutes, "This guy wasn't slow. For his age, he had some nice speed... I am saddened this happened. We work really hard to put on these events for people from around the world. This is not how you want to this to end up." more ›

Yesterday, a number of beaches, including Coney Island and Manhattan Beach, were closed after concerns that raw sewage, which overflowed from a sewage plant, had contaminated the water. But one beachgoer at Coney Island ignored the many announcements and actually decided on a swim—only to be "cited for failing to comply with an officer" (the Daily News also has a photo of him being restrained from possibly heading back to the water). Others were disappointed, telling the Daily News, "We were looking forward to this day all week. It takes two hours to get here from the Bronx. The water looks okay to me," and "In New York, they exaggerate. They see a mosquito flying near the water, and they make a big deal." Beaches are reopening, but swimming is not allowed. more ›

It may be cooler today, but with the heat sure to return and McCarren Park Pool renovations not set to be done until 2011, what's a sweltering Williamsburg hipster to do? Kiddie pools are barely even ironic anymore, but perhaps a dip in the stagnant mud water of a future luxury condo would cool you down. Restless points out two such swimmin' holes, one on the North Side and one on the South, and both likely "chock full of heavy metal mineral bath goodness." And look, barely any flies! more ›

Yesterday the Chinese Winter Swimming Delegation met up with the Coney Island Polar Bears for a little swim, the first international dip for the locals. The group was contacted by the Chinese swimmers when they heard they were the oldest winter bathing club in the States, and asked if they would host them. One big difference: the out-of-towners are real deal cold water swimmers, who do long swims year round. However, one Polar Bear who expected for their guests to swim laps around them said, "They hit the water and were out in a matter of minutes. Maybe under 5? And the CIPBC stayed in for their usual 10 minutes." more ›

There are some really cute quotes from kids who got to swim with Michael Phelps at the McBurney YMCA yesterday. A little girl who told the Sun that Phelps is "the fastest swimmer in the world" said of her own speed, "I don't swim fast or slow — I'm just medium." The NY Times overheard children saying, “I want to ask him if he can make more medals, really" and “He was like a person who was as great at swimming as a shark" while an instructor said, “This made, like, all of our years.” Phelps himself informed reporters he had a snack before the press conference (he was presenting a check from Visa to the Y's youth swimming programs), "How much more American can you get than having a hot dog, drink and a pretzel?" more ›

Michael Phelps, 14-gold medal Olympian and future SNL host, was at the McBurney YMCA earlier today to encourage swimming at a young age. He helped present a $20,000 check from Visa to the YMCA of Greater New York. The money will go to expanding its aquatic facilities in Brooklyn and Queens as well as its 2nd Grade Swim program. more ›

Wow. Michael Phelps won his seventh gold medal in these Beijing Olympics with a 0.01 of a second edge over Serbia's Milorad Cavic in the 100 meter butterfly, with a time of 50.58 (not a world record, but an Olympic record and a personal best). Phelps is now tied with Mark Spitz for having won the the most gold medals--seven--in one Olympics. more ›

After setting yet another world record last night in the 200m freestyle, swimmer Michael Phelps racked up his third gold medal at these Beijing Olympics. And he has two finals, the 200m butterfly and 4x200m freestyle relay, which will air tonight in the United States--the 200m fly at 10:18 p.m., the 4x200m relay at 11:16 p.m. more ›

At the National Aquatics Center in Beijing, the U.S. men's swimming team for the 4x100m freestyle relay provided a stirring, come-from-behind win over France in the final moments of the race. While Michael Phelps, who won the 400m individual medley already, is still on track to win eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the real story was the relay's anchor leg swimmer, Jason Lezak. more ›

Newsday called yesterday a "deadly day for the Island's ocean beaches," given two people drowned and two are still missing after being dragged into the waters. Two men went missing off Jacob Riis Park in Queens; one 21-year-old was rescued by divers, bu a 23-year-old is still missing. At Long Beach, 18-year-old and 22-year-old cousins were swept out; the older cousin was rescued but later died while the younger is still missing. And 25-year-old man drowned off Southampton. The Coast Guard said "riptides were particularly strong [yesterday]," and a meteorologist told Newsday, "If you become caught in a rip current, stay calm and don't fight it. Swim parallel to the shore until you break free from the current," and when you're out, swim at an angle towards the beach, "A lot of people panic. You should float or tread water." more ›