USA Swimming is the national governing body for competitive swimming in the United States. It is charged with selecting the United States Olympic Swimming team and any other teams which officially represent the United States, as well as the overall organization and operation of the sport within the country, in accordance with the Amateur Sports Act. The national headquarters is located at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The motto of these sport in USA is: "Build the base, promote the sport, achieve competitive success"

If you are interested in history of swimming of USA, click there:

http://www.usaswimming.org/ViewMiscArticle.aspx?TabId=1599&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en&mid=7128&ItemId=3511

There are several parts and levels that make up USA Swimming. There is the National governing body (national) level, the Zone (regional) level, and the Local Swimming Committee (local/state) level.

Michael Phelp is considered to be the world's best swimmer.

It was really interesting for me to learn about his proffecional life, you can also find this information on this site:

http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/8-27-2004-58516.asp

All time top 100 in USA

http://www.usaswimming.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabId=1487&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en

Badminton

Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players (singles) or two opposing pairs (doubles), who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net.
Since 1992, badminton has been an Olympic sport with five events: men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, and mixed doubles, in which each pair consists of a man and a woman. At high levels of play, especially in singles, the spor
t demands excellent fitness: players require aerobic stamina, agility, explosive strength, speed and precision. It is also a technical sport, requiring good motor coordination and the development of sophisticated racquet movements.

I am not a professional player, but I do like this game. It was just really exciting for me to discover, that the beginnings of Badminton can be traced to mid-18th century British India, where it was created by British military officers stationed there.
If you are interested in its history, click there:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badminton#History_and_development

As every other sport, badminton has its own rules. Interesting? You can find them there:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badminton#Rules 



Some outstanding participants from England: 

Emma Jackson, Jenny Meadows, Marilyn Okoro, Jemma Simpson. If you want to see the list of all  participants, click there:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Britain_at_the_2012_Summer_Olympics
And, of course, our own pride and hope:
 Vasyl Lomachenko, Denys Berinchyk, Taras Shelestyuk, Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Oleksandr Usyk.
For more information, you can visit this site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine_at_the_2012_Summer_Olympics

James Madison, Jr. (March 16, 1751 (O.S. March 5) – June 28, 1836) was an American states
man and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States (1809–1817) and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being instrumental in the drafting of the United States Constitution and as the key champion and author of the United States Bill of Rights. He inherited tobacco land and owned slaves although he spent his entire adult life as a career politician.

After the constitution had been drafted, he became one of the leaders in the movement to ratify the constitution. He was also a delegate to the Virginia constitutional ratifying convention, and was instrumental to the successful ratification effort in Virginia. Like most of his contemporaries, his political views changed over his life. During the drafting and ratification of the constitution, he favored a strong national government, though later he grew to favor stronger state governments, before settling in in between the two extremes late in his life.

After his election to the presidency, he presided over renewed prosperity for several years. As president (1809–17), after the failure of diplomatic protests and an embargo, he led the nation into the War of 1812. The war was an administrative nightmare without a strong army or financial system, leading Madison afterwards to support a stronger national government and a strong military, as well as the national bank that he had long opposed.

If you're interested in his personality and contribution to the development of America, I advice you to visit these sites:

• http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/jamesmadison
• www.ipl.org/div/potus/jmadison.html
• www.presidentsusa.net/madison.html
• millercenter.org/president/madison
• www.uspoliticalhistory.com/Madison_1.html