Former Vol Liam Stone to compete in World Aquatics Championships.
Former Tennessee diver Liam Stone will compete at the World Aquatics Championships.
The event will take place Feb. 3-10 in Doha, Qatar, and NBC Sports will televise portions of the meet. Stone will represent his home country of New Zealand and as Tennessee’s only representative in the diving portion of the event.
Stone competed for the Vols from 2014-18. He competed in the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, finishing No. 20 in the 3-meter and 3-meter synchronized competitions.
Tennessee will have 12 swimmers competing in Doha Feb. 11-18.
Stone will compete in the 3-meter synchronized competition Feb. 4 at 7:30 a.m. EST. He will also be in preliminaries of the 3-meter competition Feb. 6 at 2 a.m. EST.
The 3-meter synchronized will continue Feb. 10 at 5:30 a.m. EST.
Tennessee swimmers and divers earn four SEC weekly awards.
Four members of the Tennessee swimming and diving program earned SEC weekly honors Tuesday.
Jordan Crooks (SEC Men’s Swimmer of the Week), Mona McSharry (SEC Women’s Swimmer of the Week), Bryden Hattie (SEC Men’s Diver of the Week) and Camille Spink (SEC Women’s Freshman of the Week) earned weekly honors for Tennessee.
Crooks won the won the 50 freestyle, recording a time of 18.80 seconds. He also won the 100 fly (45.18) and was a member of the Vols’ 400 free relay team, that earned a victory against LSU.
McSharry won the 50 freestyle (22.12) and the 200 breaststroke (2:06.63).
Hattie won both the 3-meter and 1-meter diving competitions. Spink earned three victories for Tennessee against the Tigers.
Three Tennessee swimming and diving student-athletes received SEC weekly honors for their performances against Georgia.
Lady Vols’ swimmer Brooklyn Douthwright was named SEC Swimmer of the Week. Her teammate, Camille Spink, earned SEC Freshman of the Week.
Bryden Hattie was named SEC Co-Diver of the week for Tennessee.
Dothwright recorded two individual wins, while being victorious on Tennessee’s relay team.
She won the 200 freestyle, posting an NCAA B Standard time of 1 minute, 44.31 seconds.
Spink had four wins against Georgia.
Hattie, who received diver of the week honors for the fourth time this season, won the 3-meter competition with 400.28 points, and the 1-meter competition (365.25 points).
On sunny January days, Brits, Canadians, and other tourists from cooler climes revel in the warmth of Barbados. It’s a welcoming country for visitors.
While Barbados is known as the easternmost Caribbean island, it’s technically in the Atlantic Ocean. The island country is only 21 miles long by 14 miles wide, but there’s plenty to do there on and off the beach. Plus, there’s a surprising amount of geographical diversity for such a small island. The southern and western shores are best for swimmers and beachgoers, while the wilder, hillier eastern coast attracts surfers and cliff walkers. Plan your adventure with this list of the best outdoorsy things to do in Barbados.
When I first heard of the Cudajet (an underwater jetpack), I immediately wanted to try it. The idea is that you can get much farther freediving with a jetpack since we humans can only hold our breath for an average of 30 seconds to two minutes. Underwater jetpacks were originally designed for combat divers and rescuers. But if you’re lucky enough to make your way to Siyam World in the Maldives, you can try one.
My intro to the Cudajet began in the Siyam World dive center. My instructor, Mohamed Raif, who goes by Dan, showed me the sleek jetpacks. He explained that I’d wear a special vest with the Cudajet strapped to my back like a backpack. Oh, and a neoprene hood to cover my long hair. It was crucial not to let my hair get sucked into the Cudajet. I decided not to ask what would happen if it did.
Photo courtesy of Siyam World
Then we loaded up our Cudajets and took a golf cart to the end of a pier. Dan helped me get suited up in a vest, mask, and hood, then strapped the jetpack onto my back. It was a bit heavy. Next, he told me to stand on the end of the pier and jump off, executing a 180-degree turn in midair. I think this was to make sure the pack didn’t hit the piling in case I didn’t jump far enough. It was a little daunting, but I think I made it at least 120 degrees and wound up in the water, still alive and ready to go.
Next, I had to learn to operate the hand control. The jetpack has to be submerged in the water to work. So, if you want to move on the water’s surface, you lie on your back and cruise around looking up.
Dan introducing me to the Cudajets. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
The main way to use the Cudajet is to duck dive straight down. Once the jetpack is submerged, you turn it on and power down to your desired depth, then go horizontal, holding your breath and going as far as you can before releasing the button and surfacing. Easy, right? While Dan swam around like a dolphin, my first attempts involved more sputtering and confusion. I’d go down too fast, my ears instantly plugging, feeling out of control and having a hard time leveling out. Dan kept telling me to look up instead of down, but my neck didn’t seem to want to comply.
After a while, Dan had me try Plan B: starting on my back, leaning my head back, and going faster and faster until I was underwater face up, then turning over so I was prone. This worked better, and I became slightly more dolphin-like.
It was fun, and a little frustrating, but satisfying when I got it right. However, as I powered past three gorgeous eagle rays, I realized a jetpack was too fast for me. I’d rather slow down and watch the marine life than speed past it. But if you are a motor enthusiast who loves being in the water, this is the high-tech toy for you.
Photo courtesy of Siyam World
According to the Cudajet website, you can use it to dive down to 40 meters, and its top speed is 10 feet per second! You’d better practice holding your breath before you try this. And equalizing, or your ears will be in trouble. It weighs about 30 pounds and costs nearly $18,000. I definitely recommend visiting Siyam World and taking a lesson from Dan to see if you need a Cudajet.
Disclaimer: While this article was not sponsored, Outdoors Wire did visit the Maldives during a press trip with Sun Siyam Resorts. As always, Outdoors Wire operates independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
I’m all geared up with snorkel and flippers, ready to jump off a boat beside a sea lion colony near Baja California’s Coronado Island. About 100 of them are barking their heads off. It’s deafening. I’m a little leery, as I’ve heard stories of sea lions elsewhere being less than welcoming. But my guide, Ivette Granados Marines, assures me that the local sea lions are friendly. They only bite rude people who stick Go Pros in their faces.
I let go of the boat and fall into the deep warm water. An enormous sea lion torpedoes under me, staring with round black eyes. Sure enough, I am watched but unbitten while snorkeling in the unreal turquoise waters of Parque Nacional Bahía de Loreto. Here’s what you should know before visiting the park for yourself.
Photo by Teresa Bergen
The marine park
Parque Nacional Bahía de Loreto, which translates to Loreto Bay National Park, includes five uninhabited islands and 510,000 acres within the Gulf of California. The Mexican government established the park in 1996. Since then, it’s gained the added distinction and protection of being declared a Ramsar site in 2004 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. Ramsar sites indicate internationally important wetland areas.
Approaching Honeymoon Beach on Danzante Island. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
The Gulf of California, also called the Sea of Cortez, is the Pacific Ocean inlet between the Mexican mainland and the eastern coast of Baja California. I spent three days exploring Loreto Bay National Park and the nearby Baja town of Loreto.
Wildlife in the Sea of Cortez
Locals and tourists alike enjoy taking boats out to snorkel, swim, fish, dive, and kayak in the park. While the moniker “aquarium of the world” has made the area vital to the local tourism economy, the point of being a park is to protect the area’s many non-human inhabitants. In addition to friendly sea lions, other big mammals who swim here include dolphins, orcas, fin whales, and humpback whales. The world’s largest mammal, the blue whale, migrates through the park in February and March.
Shells of some of the smaller Sea of Cortez residents. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
As we boated back from a glorious kayaking and paddle boarding excursion on Danzante Island, Ramon Arce told me about blue whales, his favorite Sea of Cortez animal. “They are huge,” said Arce, an elite kayaking guide with Sea Kayak Baja Mexico. “Sometimes when they show up and you don’t expect them, maybe you get scared for a few seconds. But then they just pass nearby.” While it’s against marine park rules to intentionally go whale watching in a kayak, sometimes they’ll come towards you, Arce said. “In February and March, it’s pretty common to see them.”
Ramon Arce leading our paddling excursion. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
Each of the five islands — Coronado, Danzantes, Santa Catalina, Del Carmen, and Montserrat — has slightly different species of the same animals. Santa Catalina Island, the most remote, has seven endemic reptile species found nowhere else in the world. These include the leaf-toed gecko, the desert iguana, and a very disconcerting rattlesnake.
The critically endangered Santa Catalina Island rattlesnake lacks a functioning rattle. Instead, the buttonlike base of the snake falls off every time it sheds its skin, preventing a rattle from growing. “The snake doesn’t need that rattle,” said Granados Marines, a geologist by training who is now operations manager for the central-northern region of Visit Baja California Sur. “Why? Because no one on the island is going to attack the snake.” Uh, but isn’t their courteous warning one of the best things about rattlers?
Photo by Teresa Bergen
The importance of algae
While few people would question the awesomeness of a huge creature like the blue whale, sometimes it’s the lower-profile organisms that make a difference. As we sit offshore in our boat, admiring Isla Coronado, Granados Marines tells us a story of the hero of the marine park: algae beds called rhodoliths.
“Those algaes are like the nurseries of the Gulf of California,” she said. If you cut into a rhodolith you can find up to 140 species of different eggs of fish, nudibranchs, shrimp, sea stars, and other critters, Granados Marines explained. “That was the motivation that the community wanted to create the marine park. To defend the bottoms of the sea here. Because without rhodoliths, we don’t have a place for some of the species of fish to put their eggs.”
Photo by Teresa Bergen
Snorkeling the Sea of Cortez
While I love paddleboarding and kayaking, there’s nothing like being in the water with whatever animals live in the area or are passing through. After visiting the sea lion colony, we went ashore for some beach time. I spent my time in the water, cruising around looking for critters. Colorful king angelfish and surgeonfish are beautiful, but I especially enjoy the surprising fish. I got a shock when a long, tubular trumpetfish silently passed beneath me. And when I was examining some rocks on the sea floor, I realized one had eyes. It was a stonefish, an ambush predator that zaps its prey with highly venomous spines on its back!
Taking a look inside the turquoise water. / Photo by Teresa Bergen
If you go
The small town of Loreto is the best base for visiting the marine park. You’ll need an outfitter to take you to the islands on a boat. There are many choices, but both options I went with — Dolphin Dive Baja and Sea Kayak Baja Mexico — were excellent.
Loreto offers many lodging options, too. If you want to stay in the town square amid all the action (and near La Route bike and espresso shop), I recommend Posada de las Flores. It features an airy courtyard and rooftop pool. For a beachier experience, Hotel Oasis is right on the malecon, so you can gaze at the Sea of Cortez from your hammock.
Disclaimer: While this article was not sponsored, Outdoors Wire did visit Loreto on a press trip hosted by Visit Baja California Sur. As always, Outdoors Wire operates independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
It’s hard to sleep in when you’re staying in a hotel overlooking one of Japan’s most beautiful lakes. Especially in summer, when the sun rises around 4:30 a.m. and brings shifting colors, jumping fish, and diving osprey.
Lake Shikaribetsu is the highest-altitude lake in Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido. Tucked up in the Daisetsuzan mountain range, it was formed by a volcanic eruption damming the Yanbetsu River approximately 30,000 years ago.
In addition to being a prime recreational area within Daisetsuzan National Park, the lake also attracts fans of “Spirited Away.” Its lake-bottom railroad tracks resemble those from the wildly popular 2001 anime movie. There was never actually a railroad going into the lake, though. Instead, the tracks help bring sightseeing boats ashore before the winter freeze.
Senior Bella Cothern picked up two first-place finishes in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle, and graduate Alessia Ferraguti notched two wins in the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke. Sophomore Betsy Wizard also won two events, claiming the 100-yard and 200-yard butterfly.
Freshmen swimmers Gracie Colvin and Bara Matoskova were also victorious in their first collegiate meet, as Colvin won the 100-yard backstroke and Matoskova took the 200-yard freestyle.
In the diving tank, sophomore Malea Martinez and freshman Lauren French posted second and third place finishes, respectively, as both competed in the 1-meter and 3-meter diving competitions. Fellow freshman Isa Perreira took fourth-place in the 3-meter event.
