National Post Sports

Michael Phelps still hops in the pool these days, but only to escape questions about whether he’ll swim competitively again.

The most decorated Olympian is too busy enjoying retirement to think about a Michael Jordan-like comeback. Phelps is filming a reality TV series for the Golf Channel with swing coach Hank Haney. He visited the Orioles on Thursday. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

A little over a year after setting the world record for surfing the highest wave at 24 metres off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal, Garrett McNamara may have topped himself.

The 45-year-old American surfed a wave that has been reported as being 30.5 metres high at the same location on Monday.

McNamara told CNN’s Anderson Cooper “it was one of the longest, hardest drops” he had ever dealt with.

“It was just this endless drop and my feet were popping out of the straps,” he said. “It was like my whole body was shattering and it was really difficult.” (Photo: AP Photo/To Mane/Nazare Qualifica)

This is how every Monday should begin: Competitors, one dressed as The Hulk, get ready to take part in the UK Cold Water Swimming Championships at Tooting Bec Lido on Saturday in London, England. Open to all comers the Championships involve swimmers of all ages and abilities. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

In September, six members of the Canadian synchronized swimming team that finished fourth at the London Olympics announced their retirement. One of them, Tracy Little, a two-time Olympian, moved almost immediately into a new career: Pole dancing.

The 26-year-old from Pointe-Claire, Que., ended her two decades in the pool to become marketing and communications manager for Milan Pole Dance, based in Montreal. The company explains itself on its website: “Just some years ago, sexy pole dancing was associated with strippers. Now, it is a combination of dance and acrobatics for anybody looking for excitement as well as health benefits.”

Little, a member of the synchro team that claimed gold at the Pan American Games in Mexico last year, discussed her move, her motives and her new career in an interview with the National Post:

Water polo players warm up before their training in a public swimming pool in Sao Paulo on September 18. The temperature reached almost 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday, during the last week of winter in Brazil.

When Alan Trivett heard about the diagnosis, he flashed back to that morning in London last month, to the image of Paula Findlay sobbing as she finished the triathlon. She was in last place, and Trivett saw her mouth the words “I’m sorry” as she passed the friends and family who were watching her struggle from the stands.

Moments later, she apologized to all of Canada.

The 23-year-old was the 52nd and final woman to cross the line, betrayed by a poor swim and dead legs in her Olympic debut. She thought about quitting when she was still on the course, but kept fighting, telling reporters: “My legs weren’t working … stupid legs.”

On Tuesday, it became clearer why they were not working. Findlay revealed she has been diagnosed with iron deficiency anemia, a common condition, but one with symptoms that include a lack of energy.

Another amazing photo from the Paralympics: China’s He Junquan bites on a towel to aid his start in the men’s 50m Backstroke S5 race at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park. The S5 category is for swimmers with major limb loss of two limbs or with full use of their arms and hands but no trunk or leg muscles; swimmers with moderate coordination problems. 

The Canadian synchronized swimmers were a hit with the crowd, but not the judges. They finished fourth at the Olympics on Tuesday.