Swimming

Hamburg Ballet's visionary artistic director, John Neumeier, is the rare dance-maker who also dreams up his own magnificent lighting, set and costume designs, which accounts for the scenic sumptuousness of his two-act ballet “The Little Mermaid,” performed this weekend at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. In this instance, alas, “Little Mermaid's” visual complexity was not enough to overcome the ballet's multitude passages of unison, danced monotony. For though Neumeier quite cleverly marshaled artistic traditions from around the world for this 2007, two-act retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's indelible fable, the choreography's pallid neo-classicism and illustrative mimicry undermined his larger ambitions.

Missy Franklin, the teenage swimming sensation at the London Olympics last summer, will finish her storied high school career before a sold-out venue this weekend in Ft. Collins, Colo. Since 90% of the tickets to the Class 5A state meet are allocated to schools, there was a huge demand for a small number of tickets to the 900-seat stadium. Now, you might be thinking what many others have: Why is an Olympic medalist bothering to compete against high school athletes? The senior at Regis Jesuit High in Aurora, Colo., does have four gold medals, two in individual events and two from relays, as well as a bronze on another relay team.

Faye Resnick of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" has purchased a home in the Hollywood Hills for $1.605 million. The traditional-style house is surrounded by mature landscaping and sits on slightly more than half an acre with fruit trees, patios and a swimming pool. Features include an open floor plan, with hardwood floors, a living room fireplace and a wall of French doors in the dining room that open to a balcony with treetop views. There are three bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms and 2,567 square feet of living space.

Missy Franklin won five medals at the London Summer Olympics, proving that she's one of the top swimmers in the world. This may be just as impressive. After a recent high school swim meet, the 17-year-old balanced a water bottle on her forehead as she swam the backstroke. It's an exercise that helps with head stabilization. The water bottle sat still on her head the entire length of the pool. ALSO: Tim Tebow won't play for Jaguars next season Rob Chudzinski is hired to coach the Cleveland Browns Pittsburgh Steelers put Chris Rainey on waivers after his arrest    

Missy Franklin has gone from swimming for a Olympic gold medal to swimming for her high school team in Colorado. And she is loving every minute of it.  Franklin swam for the Regis Jesuit High School swim team on Tuesday during a meet in Aurora, Colo., and said she was just as nervous then as she was when she swam for a gold medal at the London Olympics. "All my teammates were like, 'What is wrong with you?'" Franklin said. "I was so nervous and I love that. It shows me that the excitement of the sport is still there, no matter where you go. It can be here or the Olympics, but I still get so excited to get in the pool every single time.

Actress Brooke Mueller , a.k.a. a former Mrs. Charlie Sheen, has sold her compound in Tarzana for $3.15 million. She bought the property less than a year ago from Scary Spice, a.k.a. singer Melanie J. Brown , for $3 million, public records show. The main house, a guesthouse, a detached movie theater and a swimming pool sit on more than half an acre. Outdoor living spaces include a dining room with chandeliers, a living room, a kitchen and a cabana. There are four bedrooms, six bathrooms and 9,200 square feet of living space.

Yosemite Valley would have more camp sites and parking spaces - and the number of daily visitors would not be reduced - under a National Park Service plan intended to ease congestion in one of the country's most scenic spots. The proposal is the agency's third attempt to produce a legally acceptable management plan for the Merced River and the ever popular valley that it flows through. Environmental groups have twice sued the agency, winning court orders that compelled the park service to draw up new blueprints.

Actor Matt Damon may have been a neighbor to "Good Will Hunting" pal Ben Affleck for several months now, but his purchase of an estate in Pacific Palisades for $15 million just appeared on the Multiple Listing Service after the first of the year. Damon's contemporary three-level house features 35-foot vaulted mahogany ceilings, an atrium, a floating stairway, an office and a gym. Including staff quarters, there are seven bedrooms, 10 bathrooms and 13,508 square feet of living space.

Madonna has put her mansion in Beverly Hills up for sale in the Multiple Listing Service at $22.5 million. During her nearly decade of ownership, the pop icon has extensively remodeled and expanded the estate, which sits behind gates on 1.25 acres of landscaped grounds. The compound includes a 500-foot tree-lined driveway, a nine-bedroom main house, two guesthouses, a resort-size swimming pool and a tennis court. There is a two-story dining room, a gym, a theater/screening room and 17,000 square feet of living space.

Topping any L.A. area home sales last year, a 9.5-acre estate in Malibu owned by billionaire Howard Marks and his wife, Nancy, has sold in the $75-million range in an off-market deal. The exact sales price and sales date have not been disclosed. It can be several weeks or more before a transaction appears in the public records. The property includes a 15,000-square-foot main house of eight bedrooms and 14 bathrooms, two guesthouses, a gym, a swimming pool and more than 300 feet of beach front.