New to the Olympics: marathon swimming, to be held at the Rowing-Canoeing Park in Beijing starting tomorrow, August 20th. The Park is a lake-size sheet of water where the winds can kick up some nasty 2-3-foot whitecaps. The 10K swim for women is August 20, and the men’s swim on August 21. Swimmers will make several rounds of the park for the distance.  The U.S.A.’s Chloe Sutton is a heavy favorite to win, according to one sport swim site I found.

LGBT interest here: Our own Diana Nyad was one of the great pioneers of this daunting sport, so she’s partly responsible for the fact that it has finally been granted Olympic status.