Swimming

Actor Nick Nolte has put a Malibu compound up for sale that has seen a galaxy of stars come through its arched entryway. Besides Nolte, other notables to have owned the house include comedian Tommy Chong, Don Felder of the Eagles and music producer David Foster. Priced at $8.25 million and set in the Bonsall Canyon area, the two-acre retreat is covered with sycamore and pine trees. The main house, built in 1963, features 19-foot vaulted ceilings, skylights, six stone-and-carved-wood fireplaces, marble floors and mahogany French doors.

ABC's "Splash" keeps piling up a body count -- and belly-flopping in the ratings. The celebrity diving contest has lost another contestant, as swimsuit model Katherine Webb bowed out on Tuesday's show due to an injury. Her doctor "told me I'm out of the competition," Webb told viewers. She was replaced by comic Louie Anderson, who had already been eliminated from the competition. The hazards of diving are taking a toll on the celebs. Kendra Wilkinson was reduced to tears and quit the show because she was afraid to do a high dive.

Victor Davis, Canada's flamboyant Olympic gold-medal swimmer, died Monday from injuries incurred Saturday in an accident that Montreal police still are trying to unravel. Davis, 25, was pronounced dead at 11 a.m. PST, said Jacques Charbonneau, a spokesman for Notre Dame Hospital in Montreal. Doctors gave Davis little chance of surviving after suffering a severe skull fracture, brain and spinal damage and multiple bruises from being hit by a car.

The majestic landscape of Yosemite National Park - carved out of granite and shaped by powerful natural forces over the eons - is timeless and untouchable. Other attractions in the park … not so much. Some of Yosemite's much-loved amenities, including swimming pools, bike, horse and raft rentals, and an ice skating rink, would be jettisoned under a plan to restore the Merced River corridor to a more natural state. The Merced Wild and Scenic River Plan would reconfigure much of the Yosemite Valley by removing or relocating familiar concessions.

With more than 4 million people visiting Yosemite National Park last year ? and that number expected to increase this year ? it's no wonder lodging inside the park is snatched up quickly. "We typically sell out during the summer season," Delaware North Cos. spokeswoman Lisa Cesaro said of its Yosemite accommodations (Ahwahnee Hotel, Yosemite Lodge at the Falls, Curry Village and the housekeeping camp on the Merced River; the Wawona Hotel, and in the back country, Tuolumne Meadows Lodge, White Wolf Lodge and the High Sierra camps)

Retired Huntington Beach firefighter Robert LaFever, 61, and his wife, Gaye, 57, a retired dental hygienist, wanted to stay fit with daily swimming and water running, but didn't like the heavily chlorinated water at the gym and didn't have the budget and backyard space for their own full-size pool. The solution? Last year they got a swim spa -- essentially an elongated hot tub with a current emanating from one end.

The fastest 50-meter freestyle swimmers in the world last year were Americans Matt Biondi, Tom Jager and Steve Crocker. But only two of them will advance from the Olympic trials, March 1-6 in Indianapolis, to the Olympic Games, starting July 25 in Barcelona, Spain. In response to U.S. swimming dominance, FINA, the world governing body of the sport, decreased the number of entrants allowed each country from three per event to two in 1980. Other international meets followed suit.

German Franziska Van Almsick broke her four-day-old world record in the women's 100-meter short-course freestyle race at the Beijing '93 ATV Swimming World Cup, swimming it in 53.33 seconds, the Xinhua News Agency reported. The 16-year-old swimmer finished in 53.46 seconds four days ago in Shanghai.

Lance Armstrong won't be returning to competition this weekend after all. The disgraced former cyclist, who has been banned for life from all events sanctioned by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, decided not to take part in three distance events in the Masters South Central Zone Swimming Championships at the University of Texas after objections were raised by FINA, the sport's international federation body. “He doesn't want to cause any more harm to any more organizations,” U.S. Masters Swimming executive director Rob Butcher told Associated Press.

Though Lance Armstrong has been banned from competing in any events sanctioned by U.S. Anti Doping Agency, the disgraced former cyclist has found another avenue to feed his competitive hunger: swimming. Armstrong, 41, is set to race in three events at the Masters South Central Zone Swimming Championships at the University of Texas this weekend, according to the Associated Press. He's set to participate in the 500, 1,000 and 1,650-yard freestyle in the 40- to 44-year-old age group.

USC's Vladimir Morozov won the 100-yard freestyle in record time and led the Trojans to victory in the 400-yard relay on Saturday at the NCAA men's swimming and diving championships at the IU Natatorium/IUPUI Sports Complex in Indianapolis. USC finished fourth behind champion Michigan, California and Arizona. Morozov, a junior who won the 50-yard freestyle on Thursday, won the 100 in 40.76 seconds, breaking the NCAA record of 40.92 set by Auburn's Cesar Cielo in 2008. The former Torrance High star teamed with Cristian Quintero, Dimitri Colupaev and Jack Wagner to win the 400-yard relay in 2:48.33.

Vladimir Morozov went to Indianapolis this week with designs on completing his collection. Last summer, the USC junior won an Olympic medal swimming for Russia. In November, he won two events at the European championships. And on Thursday, he added an NCAA title, winning the 50-yard freestyle  at the men's swimming and diving championships at the IU Natatorium/IUPUI Sports Complex. On Saturday night, Morozov will try to add more titles when he swims in the 100-yard freestyle and 400-yard relay.

Between the brouhaha of the winter holidays and the end of the school year is that coveted halfway point known as spring break. To gear up for that last lap of the academic year, grab the kids and significant others and go recharge at some posh pools. Many Southern California hotels have cerulean gems that allow you to escape from it all without traveling too far or breaking the bank. Seeking pools outside Los Angeles? We have some destinations that may surprise you, but first, perch-worthy pools close to home.

PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands - Sixty feet below the surface of the aquamarine western Atlantic, my 12-year-old daughter, Maddie, glided gently along the reef, her arms crossed in Buddha-like meditation. To the left, where the sea dropped off hundreds of feet, a black-tipped shark cruised ominously in the distance. A curious parrot fish, a school of yellow-striped grunts and a bug-eyed squirrel fish swam an arm's length away, perhaps hoping for a handout from our group of six divers and our guide.

This 1920s Spanish-style house had its beginnings in old Hollywood. The villa, which features a rotunda entry, stenciled ceilings and a tower room, was built for early film producer William Sistrom and designed by art director Harry McAfee. Location: 7475 Hillside Ave., Los Angeles 90046 Asking price: $4.995 million Year built: 1926 House size: Seven bedrooms, six bathrooms, 5,500 square feet Lot size: 17,432 square feet Features: Courtyard with fountain, inlaid wood floors, stone fireplace, French doors, den, two-room staff wing, guest apartment, swimming pool, terrace with pergola About the area: Last year, 290 single-family homes sold in the 90046 ZIP Code at a median price of $1.025 million, according to DataQuick.

Seth Green slumps on a bench seat in a 1970s Winnebago that's parked inside of Stoopid Buddy Stoodios in Burbank. A nasty case of strep throat has him feeling low. But the fact that "Robot Chicken," the off-color stop-motion animated series Green created with Matthew Senreich was renewed for a seventh season, perks him up a bit. "We thought it was the same generation as us who grew up watching the same TV shows and eating the same cereal," says...