Duncan Laing

Andrew James Duncan Laing CNZM OBE (20 June 1933 – 13 September 2008), generally known as Duncan Laing, was a New Zealand swimming coach based in Dunedin. He coached Olympian Danyon Loader, winner of two gold medals at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and a silver medal at Barcelona in 1992, and Philip Rush, current world record holder for the fastest two and three way swim of the English Channel. He began teaching at Moana Pool in 1966, and over forty years training in Dunedin included 11 Olympic athletes. In 2003, Michael Phelps visited New Zealand to train under Laing. He had since retired from professional coaching, and received treatment in 2006 for melanoma on his leg and a brain tumour.

He married Betty Burgess in 1951, and they had six children, 4 sons and 2 daughters (1 deceased). Besides coaching he was an Otago rugby selector in the 1980s, and ran the Moana House rehabilitation centre with his wife.

Laing was awarded the OBE in 1993, and made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in June 2006.

Laing

Laing may refer to:

People

Laing (band)

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Laing is a German band currently consisting of Nicola Rost, Larissa Pesch, Johanna Marshall, and Marisa Akeny.

Career

Laing was founded in 2007 by lead vocalist, songwriter, and producer Nicola Rost, vocalists Johanna Marshall and Susanna Berivan, and dancer Marisa Akeny. The group's name comes from the surname of Rost's adoptive mother. Their breakthrough came in 2012 when they represented Saxony in the 2012 Bundesvision Song Contest with the song "Morgens immer müde". They placed second and the song went on to reach the Top 10 and Top 50 in the German and Austrian charts, respectively. They competed in Unser song für Österreich with the songs "Zeig deine Muskeln" and "Wechselt die Beleuchtung". The group qualified to the Top 4, but did not make it to the Top 2 and were eliminated.

Members

The founding members of Laing consist of lead vocalist Nicola Rost, vocalists Johanna Marshall and Susanna Berivan, and dancer Marisa Akeny. In 2012, Berivan left the group in favour of a solo career and was replaced by Atina Tabé. Tabé later left the group as well in 2014 and was replaced by Larissa Pesch.

Taro

Taro (/ˈtɑːroʊ, ˈtæ-/, US /ˈtæroʊ/) is a common name for several plants in the Araceae family which are used as vegetables for their corms (thickened underground stems), leaves, and leaf-stems (petioles).

Of these, Colocasia esculenta is the most widely cultivated, and the way it is used is discussed here. More specifically, this article describes the "dasheen" form of taro; another variety of taro is known as eddoe.

Colocasia esculenta is thought to be native to Southern India and Southeast Asia, but is widely naturalised. It is a perennial, tropical plant primarily grown as a root vegetable for its edible starchy corm, and as a leaf vegetable. It is a food staple in African, Oceanic and South Indian cultures and is believed to have been one of the earliest cultivated plants.Colocasia is thought to have originated in the Indomalaya ecozone, perhaps in East India, Nepal and Bangladesh, and spread by cultivation eastward into Southeast Asia, East Asia and the Pacific Islands; westward to Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean Basin; and then southward and westward from there into East Africa and West Africa, whence to the Caribbean and Americas. It is known by many local names and often referred to as "elephant ears" when grown as an ornamental plant.