Tag: swimming
Mark Ormrod MBE: Triple amputee makes swimming record attempt
Inside Legoland Dubai that has its own swimming pool and 20 waterslides
IT’S the end of October but I’m basking in 36C sunshine – and the skyline towering over me is utterly breathtaking.
After squinting up to the peak of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa — the tallest building in the world — I look down at the information in front of me, which tells me it’s built from a whopping 439,000 bricks and stands proudly at 17m high.
Which is, of course, a far cry from the 828m of the actual Burj Khalifa — but nothing about these Lego buildings is less impressive than the real thing for my nine-year-old daughter Frankie-Beau.
And it’s no wonder — the 1:50 scale replica took more than 5,000 hours to design and build.
We’re in Miniland, the spectacular dome at the heart of Legoland Dubai, which houses smaller replicas of the world’s biggest buildings, all made from 20million Lego bricks.
From here, you can head out in almost any direction to find more than 40 indoor and outdoor interactive rides and play areas in themed lands: LEGO City, Adventure (where you can use 4D goggles to watch a Lego movie like never before), Imagination and Kingdoms.
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The theme park’s star attraction is the twisting, turning Dragon rollercoaster.
It is fast enough to thrill young ones, but slow enough that Mum and Dad will agree to join them on board instead of pulling out the old “carrying the bags” excuse.
This isn’t a VIP guest experience, but it feels like it, because while at Legoland back home in Windsor you’ll queue for hours, probably in the rain, here the average waiting time is just ten minutes.
No sooner had we jumped off a ride than we were leaping back on.
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And there’s no need to panic if you forget the factor 50 as, clearly conscious that this is a park for children, there are sunshades at every turn, covering the queues and rides.
After a day of Lego adventures, on your way out of the park you can visit the biggest Lego shop in the Middle East and watch how bricks are made in the Factory.
Then walk just 130 baby steps back to the hotel, which opened earlier this year and provides the perfect colourful base for budding builders.
As you’d expect, bricks are a recurring theme here, and when it comes to the numbers involved, everything is awesome, as The Lego Movie would say.
There are 2,146 models made with 4.5million bricks throughout the hotel.
We’re greeted at the entrance by a giant version of Legoland’s dragon mascot, Ollie, built from more than 30,000 bricks.
The reception area is quite literally a kids’ playground, with a stunning feature wall made from 4,000 Lego figurines.
As the hotel’s Nermin Abushnaf says: “Normal hotels have a quiet lobby. If it’s quiet in our lobby, something is wrong.”
To our left, a play pit contains more than 1,000 Lego bricks, and behind that is a Creative Workshop room where kids learn to become master builders.
In front of us is a huge soft-play area and pirate ship playground, supervised from 10am till 8pm, which leads into the Skyline lounge bar and arcade area.
To our right, there’s a Lego shop and the Bricks restaurant, serving buffet breakfasts, lunch and dinner.
Whoopee cushion
Like in the UK, each of the 250 rooms and suites has a theme according to which floor you’re on.
On floor one it’s Pirates, two is Adventure (aka Egyptian), three has half Lego Friends and half Ninjago, and our floor, four, is Kingdoms.
As soon as you enter the room, you’re challenged with a treasure hunt to crack the code on a safe containing free bags of Lego.
The rooms are designed to perfection for families, with a king-sized bed beneath a huge Lego model of a sword and shield, a big TV, fridge and tea-making facilities in the parents’ zone.
The kids’ area has its own TV and lighting, a bunk bed and a fifth pull-out bed.
It will all be comfortingly familiar to visitors of Legoland Windsor but, Dubai being Dubai, it’s on a bigger, grander scale, with lots of entertainment staff on hand for some hula-hooping or a game of big Connect 4.
There are some cheeky extras that add to the fun, if you can discover them.
Can you find which chair has a hidden whoopee cushion? How about spotting the whoopee cushion built into the carpet?
And wait till you see what happens when you clap in one of the three “disco lifts”.
Children aged two to 12 are the priority here. Everything from the check-in desk to the restaurant buffet counters are at their height.
The dinner plates are unbreakable and the tablecloths are waiting to be coloured in.
Nermin adds: “The kids are our main focus. We want to encourage them to be independent and we want them to be entertained all the time, so at the end of the day, they just go straight up to bed.”
While the hotel has its own big pool, with lifeguards, and splash pad, the real thrills and spills can be found at the onsite enormous waterpark.
With 20 themed water slides and outdoor attractions, it’s the kind of fun-filled day you’d only be able to enjoy a few months of the year here in the UK.
Just a kiddie-manageable seven hours from London, Legoland Dubai is perfect for a short family break, or as a brief stop before heading into the heart of Dubai or further afield.
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Frankie-Beau and I have spent just two days and three nights, but — and here’s the sign of an unforgettable break — she’s in tears when it’s time to fly back from “the best holiday ever” and wants to move to Dubai.
Wonder if Legoland has got any bricklaying jobs going.
GO: DUBAI
GETTING / STAYING THERE: Five nights’ B&B at the 4H Legoland Hotel Dubai during February half-term is from £897pp, based on a family of four sharing. Includes return flights with Emirates from Gatwick on February 11, 2023, and free access to the park and waterpark.
See bit.ly/3OvIDFd.
BEFORE YOU GO: Keep the kids amused and treat yourself to an airport lounge before your flight. Holiday Extras offers UK airport parking, hotels, lounges and transfers.
Entrance to the Heathrow T3 Club Aspire Lounge is from £34.99 for two adults and two children.
To book, visit HolidayExtras.com or call 0800 316 5678.
Inside incredible plan for enormous 688ft MEGAYACHT ‘TWO10’ complete with tennis court, swimming pool, & helicopter pad
PLANS have been launched for an enormous megayacht more than 200 metres long including its own tennis court, swimming pool, and helicopter pad.
The opulent TWO10 superyacht, designed by German shipbuilder Meyer Werft Group, boasts a beach club spanning two decks, as well as a suspended infinity pool.
A new superyacht has been unveiled more than 200 metres long[/caption]
It boasts a huge infinity pool[/caption]
The helipad at the bow doubles as a full-size tennis court[/caption]
And the firm, based in Papenburg, Lower Saxony, plans to build even larger vessels up to 500 metres in length.
The design for the yacht – which stretches to a length of 210 metres (688 feet) in length – was unveiled at this year’s Monaco Yacht Show.
As well as a full-size tennis court at the bow which doubles as a helipad, the pool features the largest pane of glass ever installed on a yacht.
Beneath the pool is a bar with a gallery-style glass balcony, complete with sofas and coffee tables.
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Speaking at the show, Meyer Yachts’ head of sale Lars Kruse said: “The TWO10 illustrates the capacities of the Meyer Group in every respect and we are currently very satisfied with the response to our yachting activities.”
It is the second design to come from the superyacht division of the shipyard after it revealed plans for the 150-metre ONE50 concept at last year’s Monaco Yacht Show.
The firm, which was founded in 1975, claims it will corner the top end of the yacht market with the aim to build the “world’s largest and greenest mega yachts,” according to BOAT International.
Meyer Group chief exec Bernard Meyer said: “We can realise almost limitless ideas and ship sizes – even the craziest ones.
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“We are currently seeing that the demand for mega yachts is increasing, and there is room for another shipyard in this segment.”
Yachting website autoevolution.com said of the latest craft: “Thanks to the clever exterior styling, with smooth, uniform lines, her length is subtly disguised when seen from the outside.”
This year’s Monaco Yacht Show saw a number of breathtaking displays of opulence from the world of luxury shipbuilding.
They included the remarkable new superyacht split down the middle by glass.
The 280-foot vessel The Slice created by Dutch shipbuilder Feadship is engineered with a glass strip running entirely through it from bow to stern.
We can realise almost limitless ideas and ship sizes – even the craziest ones
Bernard Meyer
It is designed to allow natural light to filter in through multiple decks – tackling one of the main complaints wealthy owners make about their yachts.
According to Feadship, the most common grievances among yacht owners are the “long hallways, dark interiors, and stacked living spaces”.
It went on: “The brief to the engineer and design team was to challenge the very zeitgeist of typical yacht layouts by investigating natural light and vertical spaces.
“More specifically, the brief asked for a linear ‘transition from the mountain to the sea’.
“Having a slice running down the middle opens up countless spatial and lighting possibilities.
“Corridors become so much more than just hallways transitioning from one space to another – they have their own purpose and become enjoyable spaces in their own right.”
Another eye-catching design unveiled ahead of this year’s Monaco Yacht Show is a 425ft “floating mansion” complete with an infinity pool, beach club, and cinema.
The Dutch-created vessel Poetry’s designer Sander Sinot said the aim is to make the yacht feel “more like a home” than a cruise liner.
Its design combines a perfect contrast of light and shadows and includes ambient-controlled lighting to allow the owner to set the mood.
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A minimalistic look aims to change the shape of the normally-cluttered top deck.
It has space for up to 14 guests and 47 crew members.
Underneath the infinity pool is a bar with a view out the stern[/caption]
The ship was unveiled at this year’s Monaco Yacht Show[/caption]
Swimming instructors REFUSE to help child stuck in public pool railing
Tom and Luke Stoltman Take Swimming Lessons from Ross Edgley
It might be impossible to have familiarity with strongman as a sport and not know the exploits of the Stoltman brothers. Among their individual achievements, Tom Stoltman is the two-time defending World’s Strongest Man (WSM) champion (2021-2022), while his older brother Luke won the 2021 Europe’s Strongest Man (ESM). In a shift from their usual … Read more
The post Tom and Luke Stoltman Take Swimming Lessons from Ross Edgley appeared first on Breaking Muscle.
French Tax Authorities Used Google AI to Snuff Out More than 20,000 Undeclared Swimming Pools
They say the only two certainties in life are death and taxes. That seems especially true in France where tax authorities have begun deploying artificial intelligence to snuff out thousands of undeclared swimming pools reportedly worth around $10 million in uncollected tax revenue. The country could soon expand its…
Scarlett Moffatt praised by fans as she ‘normalises her boob gap’ while wearing swimming costume on holiday
SCARLETT Moffatt won praise from her followers as she shared a candid holiday video.
The 31-year-old, who is currently abroad with boyfriend Scott, vowed to normalise her ‘boob gap’ in the body positive clip.
Looking amazing, Scarlett showed off her holiday snacks, declaring: “Fanta Lemon, Cheetos & sunshine… PERFECT!!”
She added: “Also don’t forget normalising the old boob gap #holiday.”
Her fans rushed to tell her how great she look and thank her for her honesty, with one person writing: “You are my inspiration.”
Another added: “You are a Beautiful young woman and don’t ever forget it!!! X”
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While someone else wrote: “You look amazing, thanks for helping me with my body confidence xx.”
The former Gogglebox star’s confidence is in stark contrast to just a few years ago when she refused to wear a bikini on holiday.
Last year she opened up about accepting herself, explaining: “It’s took me so many years to gain confidence with my body. I’ve let it down at times and missed out on holidays and nights out because I’ve not liked what I’ve seen in the mirror.
“But hey after 5 years of not daring to wear a bikini I’m actually doing it!”
The reality star has been outspoken in the past about her body.
Scarlett lost a whopping three stone and slimmed down from a size 18 to a size 8 for a fitness DVD that was released in 2018.
But in an interview on Frankie Bridge’s Open Mind Podcast, Scarlett revealed she wanted to put on weight after the DVD was released because the 700 calorie a day diet was “detrimental” to her mental health.
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She went on to slam the extreme diet DVD as the “worst thing I’ve ever done” and wanted to “stop people buying it”.
“I slowly realised it was quite detrimental to my mental health,” she said.
“I’ve also deleted all my before and after pictures…Not only were they bad for my peace of mind it wasn’t really good for other people because now I look like my before picture again.
“I sort of rebelled against the DVD because I just didn’t like how it happened and I just wasn’t for it anymore.”