Showing posts with label Cullen Jones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cullen Jones. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Ryan Lochte ate in one sitting what you probably ate total the last three days.

The 11-time Olympic medal-winning swimmer (including five golds) shared a photo on Twitter Monday afternoon, showcasing what he was about to eat for, what I presume was, lunch. He offered the caption: "#Streamlining in preparation for my 10,000 calories. Let’s see your best pose. @swimtoday #funnestsport." It was talked about today on ESPN's Pardon The Interruption (near the end of the show, which is how I found out about it; h/t).


As most of you in Charlotte probably know, Lochte moved to the Queen City last October to train with the renowned SwimMAC Carolina and its Team Elite, which is filled with several past Olympic champions and current and future contenders.

You're wondering how far above the recommended daily caloric intake Lochte is, right? Well, according to websites like WebMD and CalorieKing, someone of Lochte's demographic (male, 6 feet, 2 inches tall, 195 pounds, age 29--he turns 30 on August 3) who lives an active lifestyle, should consume about 3,000 calories a day to maintain his weight. Of course, he's extremely active as a world-class swimmer, so it should be expected that his caloric intake would be off the charts. Professional swimmers (i.e. Michael Phelps) are known to consume high amounts of calories to keep up with the extreme amounts they burn when rigorously training.

Lochte's rather active on the social scene as well. Two Saturdays ago I spotted him, and his good friend and fellow Olympic swimmer and Charlottean Cullen Jones, at Vault nightclub at the EpiCentre. He's also a regular at Oak Room in South End. That's why back in December, on my Dusk Till Dawn blog, I included him in my year-end list of "Biggest Moments in Charlotte’s Nightlife and Social Scene in 2013."

Play hard, work hard... or as Lochte would say, jeah!


Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Many of the top male and female swimmers in the country will once again hit the pool in Charlotte this week for the 2013 SwimMAC Charlotte UltraSwim Grand Prix, taking place May 9-12 at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center in Uptown. Several USA Olympic swimmers are competing, including superstar Ryan Lochte (holder of 11 Olympic medals and new reality TV star), Rebecca Soni (six-time Olympic medalist and world record holder), Chloe Sutton (five-time U.S. national champion), and Charlotte's Cullen Jones (winner of a combined two gold and two silver medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics). The swim meets will also feature rising stars like Illinois high school senior Olivia Smoliga.

Chloe Sutton is pretty, fast. Credit: Tumblr 

Find the full list of swimmers scheduled to compete in each event on the Charlotte UltraSwim psych sheet.

Ryan Lochte is scheduled to swim in seven events here.

The Charlotte UltraSwim is the fifth of six stops in the 2012-13 USA Swimming Grand Prix Series. The video below highlights what the Charlotte event has meant to this city and the sport over the years, and it features a Q&A throughout with Charlotte-native and two-time Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Ricky Berens.


Online ticket sales for the Charlotte UltraSwim have ended but a limited number of tickets may be available for purchase at the will call booth at the event. Visit charlotteultraswim.com for complete details.

Monday, June 20, 2011

I found out about this event last night and wanted to spread the word about it. Plus, it happens to be a culmination of two figures I've written about previously.

Tomorrow, (Tuesday, June 21), from 12-2 p.m., Double Oaks Community Pool will celebrate Olympic Day. The event will feature Olympic gold-medal-winning swimmer Cullen Jones, who lives and trains in Charlotte with SwimMAC Carolina and also works with the USA Swimming Foundation’s Make A Splash Program to teach minorities around the country how to swim. The event schedule is as follows:

Double Oaks Community Pool, 1200 Newland Rd., Charlotte, 704-336-2653.
  • 12-12:20 p.m.: Cullen participates in Q&A session with participants.
  • 12:20-1 p.m.: Swim stroke clinic with participants. Park and Rec aquatics will assist.
  • 1-1:30 p.m.: Fun relay races.
  • 1:30-2 p.m.: Autographs session.

Cullen Jones leads a nationwide initiative to teach kids how to swim. Courtesy of newsone.com.

Olympic Day is an annual, worldwide celebration held on June 23, to commemorate the birth of the modern Olympic Games. From June 17-26, 2011, communities across the United States will celebrate Olympic Day through educational programming and other activities, such as the event Double Oaks is holding on June 21. The celebration is an international effort to promote fitness and well-being in addition to Olympic ideals of fair play, perseverance, respect, and sportsmanship.

I've written about Cullen for Charlotte magazine and kept you updated on him periodically here on Grown People Talking. And coincidentally, two and a half years ago I wrote about Double Oaks for the December 2008 issue of Charlotte magazine, in a story titled "The $25 Million Hood." At the time, Double Oaks was one of Charlotte's poorest neighborhoods and was in the process of being torn down and redeveloped by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing Partnership. Over the past year, significant progress has been made, including two large housing units opening and dozens of families have moved in.

One of the new developments in Double Oaks. Courtesy of charlottemechanical.com.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

There's a great article running in the sports section of Thursday's New York Times, "Tension Boils Over Between Sprint Rivals" (posted online today), about two swimmers going head to head tomorrow at the Charlotte UltraSwim for a spot on the U.S. team in this summer's FINA World Championships in Shanghai. Cullen Jones, who I've interviewed and written about before for magazines and this blog, is competing against his SwimMAC Carolina teammate Josh Schneider in a 50-meter freestyle swim-off on Thursday during the first day of the 27th Annual Charlotte UltraSwim, which takes place May 12-15 at Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center in Uptown.

                                                                                                 The New York Times.

This Charlotte event has become one of the most popular of the USA Swimming Grand Prix meets over the last few years, and it's once again attracting the biggest names in the sport: Michael Phelps, Natalie Coughlin, Ryan Lochte, Charlotte native Ricky Berens, and several others. For more details, visit www.charlotteultraswim.com.

And you're in luck. WCNC channel 36, our local NBC affiliate, will air Jones and Schneider's swim-off live during their 6 p.m. newscast. The race, which will only last about 22 seconds but is uber important because it's the winner's path to the national team and 2012 Olympics, is scheduled to run at 6:20 p.m. You'll also be able to watch several of the competitions over the three days online on USA Swimming's Ustream channel.

Swimmers train harder than athletes from many other sports, but they don't often receive recognition outside of an Olympic year (2012 is highly anticipated for the U.S. because of what they did in 2008). So it's great to see Charlotte-based SwimMAC Carolina getting such well-deserved media coverage. The swim club puts on this annual event, and several of the swimmers competing this week are trained by the club and its legendary director David Marsh. Click here to read the article I wrote about him and SwimMAC in 2009 for Charlotte magazine.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

3 Charlotte Swimmers to Compete In Rome

Posted by Jarvis Holliday On 7/11/2009 No comments
Ricky Berens, Mark Gangloff, and Cullen Jones are among the male swimmers who will represent the U.S. at the FINA World Championships (2009 World Aquatics Championships), being held July 17 to August 2 in Rome. The swimmers qualified after competing in the USA Swimming National Championships in Indianapolis during the past week.

Berens is a Charlotte native who is a student and member of the swim team at the University of Texas. He grew up swimming for Charlotte-based swim club SwimMAC Carolinas. Gangloff and Jones are both professional swimmers who moved to Charlotte during the past couple of years to train at SwimMAC. Gangloff set an American record in the 100-meter breaststroke earlier this week. All three of the guys are Olympic gold medalists.

Ricky Berens, Mark Gangloff, and Cullen Jones will compete in the swimming world championships in Rome, which begin Friday.

In Rome, Berens will compete in the 400m and 800m freestyle relay, Gangloff in the 100m breaststroke, and Jones in the 50m freestyle. Among the 20 other swimmers on the USA men's team, they'll be joined by Michael Phelps, who qualified for the 100m, 200m fly, and 200m freestyle.

I've interviewed and written about Charlotte's great swimmers a few times during the past six months. You can read my articles online in the following publications:

-"Stroke of Genius" (profile of Cullen Jones in the July 09 issue of Charlotte magazine)

-"Michael Phelps Brings Attention to Charlotte Swim Club" (article in the May 13-19 edition of Creative Loafing)

-"Making a Splash" (in-depth look at SwimMAC in the February 09 issue of Charlotte magazine)

You can stay up to date with the competitions at www.swimnetwork.com.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Michael Phelps Will Compete In Charlotte

Posted by Jarvis Holliday On 2/24/2009 No comments
Three weeks ago I blogged about the possibility of 14-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps competing in Charlotte after his three-month suspension for Bong-gate ends ("Michael Phelps' Suspension Could Be Good for Charlotte"). Well, it's now been confirmed. Phelps will compete in the Charlotte UltraSwim May 14-17. The annual event, now in its 25th year, is hosted by SwimMAC Carolina. Here's an excerpt from the press release I received yesterday.

According to Phelps' coach Bob Bowman, “Michael is focused on practicing and regaining the mental and physical momentum that he had achieved going into the Beijing Olympics. He is committed to a very demanding and rigorous training schedule as he prepares for upcoming meets and the FINA World Championships.”

Phelps will be joined by other 2008 USA Olympic team members and other gold medalists such as Charlotte’s own Mark Gangloff and Cullen Jones as well as Ryan Lochte. Mary DeScenza will look to keep expanding her lead as the highest scorer in the USA Swimming Grand Prix Series, having just earned five gold medals at the Missouri Grand Prix. Many more world class swimmers and national team members will be on deck to join these champions as well.


Click here for more on the Charlotte UltraSwim.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Cullen Jones Is a Star

Posted by Jarvis Holliday On 8/12/2008 No comments
Cullen Jones, who lives in Charlotte and trains at the Mecklenburg Aquatic Club, has become a media darling since winning an Olympic gold medal (Monday Beijing time, Sunday our time) as a member of the U.S. 4x100 relay swim team. Jones is only the second African-American swimmer to ever win an Olympic gold medal. His relay team, which includes swim god Michael Phelps, also set a world record with their time.

Below are videos from a couple of his recent interviews. The first is from the Today Show and the second is from the Associated Press.




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