By way of clarification, the global governing body for water sports, including swimming, was founded as the Federation Internationale de Natation Amateur (FINA) in July, 1908, but officially renamed World Aquatics in January, 2023. Furthermore, it is important to make the distinction between the World Aquatics Championships, formerly the FINA World Championships, and what was known, until December, 2022, as the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m).
Both competitions are open to all member federations, but the former features all six aquatic sports overseen by World Aquatics, namely swimming, artistic swimming, open water swimming, diving, high diving and water polo, while the latter is exclusively a swimming championship. At the World Aquatics Championships, swimming events are contested in a long course, 50-metre pool and, at the World Swimming Championships (25m), as the name suggests, in a short course, 25-metre pool;
for this reason, the latter championship is known, colloquially, as the ‘Short Course Worlds’.
The World Aquatics Championships is, by some way, the older of the pair, having first been hosted by the Tašmajdan Sports and Recreation Centre in Belgrade – which is now in Serbia, but was, at the time, in Yugoslavia – between August 31 and September 9, 1973. In terms of scheduling, between 2001 and 2019, the World Aquatics Championships were staged biennially, but the Covid-19 pandemic threw future plans into disarray. The 2021 event, originally scheduled for Fukuoka, Japan, took place in Budapest, Hungary in 2022 instead, with future events planned for Fukuoka in 2023, Doha, Qatar in 2024, Kallang, Singapore in 2025 and Budapest again in 2027.
The first edition of World Swimming Championships (25m) took place in in Palma de Mallorca, Spain between December 2 and December 5, 1993. Like the World Aquatics Championships, the event is staged biennially, in the intervening years, albeit that the 2020 championships, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, were delayed by a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The operative phrase here is ‘in professional golf’. According to Guinness World Records, the lowest, officially recognised, score for 18 holes in the history of golf was the 55 recorded by Australian professional Rhein Gibson at River Oaks Golf Club in Edmond, Oklahoma on May 12, 2012. Gibson, 26, signed for twelve birdies and two eagles in his 16-under-par total on the 6,698-yard par-71 course. However, while he was a member of the Golfweek National Pro Tour – a developmental feeder tour to the PGA Tour – at the time, his ‘unbeatable’ record, while substantiated by witnesses, was set in a non-competitive round.
In competitive professional golf, the record low score for 18 holes was achieved on the Alps Tour – a developmental, third level tour, behind the European Tour and Challenge Tour – in 2019. On September 5 that year, 23-year-old Irish professional David Carey carded eleven birdies, including seven in his first nine holes, in the opening round of the Cervino Open at Cervino Golf Club in Breuil-Cervinia, Italy. His 18-hole total, an 11-under-par 57, on the 5,801-yard, par-68 course gave him a four-shot lead at the end of the first day and, after subsequent back-to-back rounds of 67, he went on to win the 54-hole tournament in a playoff with local player Edoardo Lipparelli.
Prior to September 5, 2019, the record low score for 18 holes was 58. That score was first achieved by Ryo Ishikawa in the final round of The Crowns, on the Japan Golf Tour, in 2010, but subsequently matched, twice, in 2016. That year, German Stephan Jaeger shot a 12-under-par 58 in the first round of the Ellie Mae Classic on the Web.com Tour, now the Korn Ferry Tour, and American Jim Furyk did likewise in the final round of the Travelers Championship on the PGA Tour.
According to Guinness World Records, the heaviest goalkeeper in the history of representative was William ‘Fatty’ Foulke, who was, quite literally, a ‘towering’ figure in English football during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Standing at a height of 6’2″, 6’3″ or 6’4″, depending on which estimate you believe, and weighing in anywhere between 15 and 26 st. during his playing days, Foulke was surprisingly athletic and agile for a man of his size.
Born in Dawley, Shropshire on April 12, 1874, Foulke signed for Sheffield United, with whom he would spend most of his playing days, as a 19-year-old. He helped the Blades to the Football League First Division title in the 1897/98 season and played in three FA Cup Finals at the Crystal Palace Stadium in South London; Sheffield United beat Derby County 4-1 in 1899, drew 1-1 with Tottenham Hotspur in 1901, but lost 3-1 in the replay at Burden Park, Bolton and drew 1-1 with Southampton in 1902, before winning 2-1 in the replay at the same venue. Foulke also played once for England, keeping a clean sheet in a leisurely 4-0 win over Wales at Bramall Lane, Sheffield in the Home International Championship on March 29, 1897.
In 1905, Foulke left Sheffield United and signed for the newly-founded Chelsea Football Club, in West London, for £50. He became the Blues’ captain but, while he retained much of his box office appeal, his goalkeeping ability was in decline and he left after just one season to join Bradford City, where he spent the rest of his career. Foulke died of cirrhosis on May 1, 1916, aged just 42.
In short, the cyclist who was nicknamed, less than affectionately, ‘The Cannibal’ was legendary Belgian Edouard ‘Eddy’ Merckx. The anthropophagic moniker reportedly came about as the result of a conversation between Frenchman Christian Raymond, who was riding for the opposing Peugeot-BP-Michelin team, and his 12-year-old daughter, Brigitte, on the final day of the 1969 Tour de France. Raymond attempted to explain that, as the dominant rider of the day, Merckx was entitled to want to win every race in which he participated but, unconvinced, his daughter retorted, ‘…he’s a real cannibal.’ Later that day, Raymond mentioned the nickname to the press and the rest, as they say, is history.
Indeed, Merckx was a force majeure in the 1969 Tour de France, winning six stages, including the final individual time trial to the Velodrome de Vincennes in Paris, the yellow, green and white jerseys and the title ‘King of the Mountains’; no jersey was awarded for the Mountains Classification until 1975. As the most aggresive rider, he also won the Combativity Classification and his team, Faema, won the Team Classification.
All told, in his entire13-year professional career, between 1965 and 1978, Merckx won 445, or 28%, of the 1,585 races he entered. He was particularly successful in the three major professional cycling stage races, collectively known as the ‘Grand Tours’. He won the Giro d’Italia five times, in 1968, 1970, 1972, 1973 and 1974, the Tour de France five times, in 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1974 and the Vuelta a España once, in 1973, for an unequalled total of 11 wins. With some justification, he is widely considered the greatest professional cyclist in history.
St Andrews Links in Scotland, known as the home of golf, comprises seven courses that have evolved over time with contributions from various architects. The Old Course, believed to have originated in the 15th century, is the oldest and most renowned. The New Course, Jubilee Course, Eden Course, Strathtyrum Course, Castle Course, and Balgrove Course complete the collection. Architects such as Old Tom Morris, Harry Colt, and David McLay Kidd have left their mark on these courses.
Old Tom Morris, a legendary Scottish golfer and architect, designed the Old Course, New Course, and Jubilee Course. Harry Colt, an English architect, contributed the splendid Eden Course among his many international projects. David McLay Kidd, a Scottish architect, added a contemporary touch with his designs for the Castle Course at St Andrews and the renowned Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon.
St Andrews Links, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, stands as one of the most significant golf destinations globally. It attracts golfers of all skill levels, captivating them with its rich history and allure. The architectural brilliance of Old Tom Morris, Harry Colt, and David McLay Kidd has shaped courses that challenge and inspire players from around the world, upholding the enduring legacy of this iconic Scottish golfing haven.
The visionary contributions of architects like Old Tom Morris, Harry Colt, and David McLay Kidd have left an indelible mark on St Andrews Links. Their collective ingenuity has sculpted courses that challenge, inspire, and captivate golfers from every corner of the world, perpetuating the enduring legacy of this iconic Scottish golfing haven.