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California, the Golden State, is renowned for the beautiful weather that draws people to its stunning landscapes and multiple sports opportunities.

Californians are frequently out in the open thanks to their sunny climate, running, hiking, climbing, cycling, paddling, skating, golfing, swimming and surfing. People play beach volleyball at the seaside, or steel their bodies in open-air gyms. The Pacific coastal state in the west of the United States is a paradise for active holidaymakers.

Santa Monica is the Mecca of the body cult. Bikers, inline skaters and joggers prefer to do their sport bare-chested or in extremely skimpy outfits on its lengthy cycle path. With a backdrop of the Los Angeles skyline, the beach is a catwalk for all those who have trained to chisel their bodies to the common ideal of beauty – some perhaps aided by a good dose of silicone.

Everyone meets on the beach

The hustle and bustle on the beach is lively, colourful and diverse. New performances are put on every minute on the free stage. Sometimes muscle packs run through the deep, fine sand in front of the lifeguards’ red Baywatch towers. Then a whimsical bon vivant skates past in the direction of Malibu, where the Hollywood stars from Beverly Hills have their beach villas.

Everyone meets on the beach – celebrities and no-names, up-and-comers and drop-outs, rich and poor. Just like on the parallel Ocean Avenue, the parade mile for horsepower freaks.

Customized souped-up cars with screeching tyres pull away from classic cars and rusty clunkers at traffic lights. Behind them, Harley-Davidson bikers with long beards chug away after casting a longing glance over to the Santa Monica Pier. After all, this is where the famous Route 66 ends, which begins almost 4,000 kilometres in Chicago to the east. Route 66 will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2026.

Surfing hotspot and ‘small sharks’

For those not into motorcycles, there’s a great alternative: Surfing, the most Californian of all sports. At the Aqua Surf School, coaches like Chad Bonsack get beginners on the board in just a few hours. All you need is a bit of fitness, a little talent and some courage. “There are actually only ever small sharks in Santa Monica Bay,” Bonsack tries to reassure his students, who naturally ask about the infamous great white sharks first.

The feeling of happiness when you ride the first small wave for a few metres will dispel any doubts. Until then, countless failed attempts to get onto the board from the lying paddle position to the bent standing position require perseverance and willpower.

“Don’t get discouraged,” says Bonsack. “The ocean always shows us who’s boss!” Gradually, the plunges become fewer and the surf rides longer. Bonsack knows his trade. After all, the surf instructor has already guided two young wave riders into the top 20 in the world.

Where bodybuilding and beach volleyball grew up

To get anywhere near there, most of his surfing students would first have build up their body strength. The place for this is Muscle Beach, a legendary open-air gym originally built in Santa Monica in the mid-1930s. Arnold Schwarzenegger also trained there when the beach area was the centre of the bodybuilding boom in the 1970s. As one of the most successful bodybuilders of all time, Schwarzenegger became a Hollywood star and later governor of California.

But there’s not only body-building on Muscle Beach. There is also beach volleyball, a game invented in Hawaii in 1905. The first club was founded in Santa Monica, where the first official beach volleyball tournament was held in 1944. Beach volleyball will return to Santa Monica for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

The climate in south-west California is perfect for sport, usually sunny and warm, but never hot and humid. If it does get too hot, head to the mountains for climbing, rafting or hiking. From Death Valley to Yosemite, California has nine national parks, more than any other state.

More choices: Skiing or golf?

And when it gets a little chilly on the coast in winter, some sports fans head go skiing at for well-known resorts such as Heavenly and Palisades on Lake Tahoe or Mammoth on the edge of the Sierra Nevada.

Others, namely golfers, are drawn to the warm desert. Their destination is Palm Springs, around 180 kilometres east of LA. The city in the Coachella Valley at the foot of the more than 3,300 metre San Jacinto Peak was long the home of Hollywood stars such as Ava Gardner, Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra.

Sven Wiedenhaupt worked there as managing director of the Indian Wells Golf Resort, one of the top golf addresses in California.

Golf is very popular in the US and Pebble Beach on the cliffs of the the Monterey Peninsula is one of the most beautiful courses in the world. But the choice is huge in the greater Palm Springs area, with around 100 golf courses, Wiedenhaupt says.

If all this physical activity is not your thing, there is still the classic way of enjoying California’s stunning scenery and way of life: Motoring on the legendary coastal road Highway 1.

2025 FRENCH ELITE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Men’s 100 Fly – Finals

• World Record: 49.45 – Caeleb Dressel, USA (2021)
• World Junior Record: 50.62 – Kristof Milak, HUN (2017)
• French Record: 50.14 – Maxime Grousset (2023)
• French World Championship Qualifying Time: 51.67

Maxime Grousset broke his own French national record in the 100 fly to defend his title at the French Elite Championships, closing out his week of racing in style.

Grousset threw down a 50.11, shaving .03 off of the previous record (50.14), which he set at the 2023 World Championships in Japan. He took it out in 23.32, a few hundredths slower than his previous record-setting swim, but managed to come home .11 faster in 26.79 to pull ahead of the record line.

Split Comparison 

Grousset’s performance marks the fastest time in the world so far this season, bumping him ahead of Noe Ponti‘s 50.27 by .16. It also marked a significant improvement for him this season, as the fastest he had been before tonight was 50.86 back in December.

Grousset maintains his place as the sixth-fastest performer ever.

All-Time Performers, Men’s 100 Butterfly (LCM)

1. Caeleb Dressel (USA), 49.45 – 2021 Olympic Games
2. Kristof Milak (HUN), 49.68 – 2021 Olympic Games
3. Michael Phelps (USA), 49.82 – 2009 World Championships
4. Milorad Cavic (SRB), 49.95 – 2009 World Championships
5. Josh Liendo (CAN), 49.99 – 2024 Olympic Games
6. Maxime Grousset (FRA), 50.11 – 2025 French Elite Championships
7. Noe Ponti (SUI), 50.16 – 2024 Swiss Nationals
8. Matthew Temple (AUS), 50.25 – 2023 Japan Open
9. Joseph Schooling (SGP), 50.39 – 2016 Olympic Games
10. Ian Crocker (USA) / Shaine Casas (USA), 50.40 – 2005 World Championships / 2022 U.S. Nationals

Taking the runner-up spot in finals tonight was Clement Secchi, who was almost a full second behind Grousset in 51.06, while Michel Arkhangelsky took 3rd in 51.24.

Grousset’s record-breaking win in the 100 fly marked his fourth victory and 2nd national record of the meet, having already won the 50 fly (22.70 – French record), 100 free (47.50) and 50 free (21.68).

Privacy Manager

In what may be a sign of more to come, WSU Athletic Director Anne McCoy this week announced that the school will eliminate all field events from its track & field program. WSU will also limit sprint and hurdle events.

Here’s the entire brief announcement:

Earlier today, WSU Athletics leadership met with members of the men’s and women’s track and field team to inform them that the program will be shifting to a distance-focused approach. This change gives the WSU Track & Field program the best opportunity to remain competitive at the conference and national levels in distance events in cross country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field. It does mean, however, that field events (e.g., jumps, throws) will no longer be supported, effective immediately, and the number of sprint and hurdle opportunities will be limited moving forward.

Impacted student-athletes will have their scholarships honored should they choose to remain at WSU. WSU understands the significant impact this decision has on Cougar student-athletes, coaches, and fans. Transition support and services will be provided to those student-athletes who choose to seek to continue their academic and athletic careers at other institutions.

That’s all we’ve heard from WSU and McCoy, as neither she nor track head coach Wayne Phipps have commented publicly.

John Blanchette, writing for The Spokesman-Review this week, talked to former athletes and legendary coach John Chaplin for their reactions. Let’s just say their feelings aren’t great, especially Chaplin’s:

“I feel like going over to the alumni center and chopping that tile with my name on it out of the floor,” former Cougars coach John Chaplin said.

And then this:

Most of the track and field alums grasp the realities of today’s college landscape, even if they don’t like it or understand. They’re more saddened than disgusted.

That doesn’t make this wholesale gutting of the program easier to swallow. Chaplin, a long-time donor as well as the builder of the program, insisted he’s taking the Rono statue project he’s ramrodded off campus.

“I don’t want my name attached to the university in any way,” he said. “I’m embarrassed to be a graduate of WSU.”

The brief statement—which, again, is all we’ve heard from anyone at the university—tries to put a positive spin on things: “This change gives the WSU Track & Field program the best opportunity to remain competitive at the conference and national levels in distance events in cross country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field.”

That’s a lot of digital ink that could have been spared and replaced with, “Look, we just don’t have the funds anymore.”

And that’s what this is all about (and why not just come out and be honest about it?). It’s not like the WSU brass woke up one day and felt the urge to gut the field events and become a distance-only school (much like Gonzaga). To remain Division I, schools have to field a minimum amount of sports. With the perilous financial situation WSU is in, cutting positions and spending is the only way out, but if they want to remain Division I, hard decision like this have to be made. It’s awful for the athletes affected by it.