occupation duncan laing
England is a country that is part of the ___MASK79___ . It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west . The Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest . England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south . The country covers five - eighths of the island of Great Britain ( which lies in the North Atlantic ) in its centre and south ; and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly , and the Isle of Wight . Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 local government council areas . Located in Lothian on the Firth of Forth ' s southern shore , it is Scotland ' s second most populous city and the seventh most populous in the ___MASK79___ . The 2014 ___MASK33___ population estimates are 464 , 990 for the city of Edinburgh , 492 , 680 for the local authority area , and 1 , 339 , 380 for the city region as of 2014 ( Edinburgh lies at the heart of the proposed Edinburgh and South East Scotland city region ). Recognised as the capital of Scotland since at least the 15th century , Edinburgh is home to the Scottish Parliament and the seat of the monarchy in Scotland . The city is also the annual venue of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and home to national institutions such as the National Museum of Scotland , the National Library of Scotland and the Scottish National Gallery . It is the largest financial centre in the UK after London . Michael Fred Phelps II ( born June 30 , 1985 ) is an American former competitive ___MASK99___ and the most decorated Olympian of all time , with a total of 28 medals . Phelps also holds the all - time records for Olympic gold medals ( 23 ), Olympic gold medals in individual events ( 13 ), and Olympic medals in individual events ( 16 ). In winning eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games , Phelps broke fellow American ___MASK99___ Mark Spitz ' s 1972 record of seven first - place finishes at any single Olympic Games . At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London , Phelps won four gold and two silver medals , and at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro , he won five gold medals and one silver . This made him the most successful athlete of the Games for the fourth Olympics in a row . The Southern Alps ( Mori : K Tiritiri o te Moana ) are a ___MASK83___ range extending along much of the length of New Zealand ' s South Island , reaching its greatest elevations near the island ' s western side . The term " Southern Alps " generally refers to the entire range , although separate names are given to many of the smaller ranges that form part of it . Wellington is the capital city and second most populous urban area of New Zealand , with residents . It is at the south - western tip of the North Island , between ___MASK88___ Strait and the Rimutaka Range . Wellington is the ___MASK21___ population centre of the southern North Island and is the administrative centre of the Wellington Region , which also includes the Kapiti Coast and Wairarapa . As the nation ' s capital city , the New Zealand Government and Parliament , Supreme Court and most of the civil service are based in the city . The Tasman Sea ( Mori : " Te Tai - o - Rehua ") is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean , situated between Australia and New Zealand . It measures about across and about from north to south . The sea was named after the Dutch ___MASK100___ Abel Janszoon Tasman , who was the first recorded European to encounter New Zealand and Tasmania . The British ___MASK100___ Captain James Cook later extensively navigated the Tasman Sea in the 1770s as part of his first voyage of exploration . The South Island or Te Waipounamu (" Mori ") is the larger of the two ___MASK21___ islands of New Zealand , the other being the smaller but more populous North Island . It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait , to the west by the Tasman Sea , and to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean . The South Island covers and is influenced by a temperate climate . Scotland ( Scots : ) is a country that is part of the ___MASK79___ and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain . It shares a border with England to the south , and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean , with the North Sea to the east and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the south - west . In addition to the mainland , the country is made up of more than 790 islands , including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides . Tonga ( or ; Tongan : " Puleanga Fakatui o Tonga "), officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a Polynesian ___MASK14___ state and archipelago comprising 169 islands of which 36 are inhabited . The total surface area is about scattered over of the southern Pacific Ocean . It has a population of 103 , 000 people of whom 70 % reside on the main island of Tongatapu . France , officially the French Republic , is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories . The European , or metropolitan , area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea , and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean . Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic , Pacific and Indian oceans . France spans and had a total population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017 . It is a unitary semi - presidential republic with the capital in Paris , the country ' s largest city and main cultural and ___MASK31___ centre . Other major urban centres include Marseille , Lyon , Lille , Nice , Toulouse and Bordeaux . The 2012 Summer Olympics , formally the Games of the XXX Olympiad and commonly known as London 2012 , was a ___MASK21___ international multi - sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Olympic Games , as governed by the International Olympic Committee ( IOC ). It took place in London and to a lesser extent across the United Kingdom from 25 July to 12 August 2012 . The first event , the group stage in women ' s football began on 25 July at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff , followed by the opening ceremonies on 27 July . 10 , 768 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees ( NOCs ) participated . Danyon Joseph Loader , ONZM ( born 21 April 1975 ) is an Olympic champion , former world record holder ___MASK99___ from New Zealand , based in Dunedin . He remains the national record holder in the 400 and 1500 metre freestyle short course . The English Channel (" the Sleeve " [ hence ] " Sea of Brittany " " British Sea "), also called simply the Channel , is the body of water that separates southern England from northern France , and joins the southern part of the North Sea to the rest of the Atlantic Ocean . New Zealand is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean . The country geographically comprises two main landmasses  that of the North Island , or Te Ika - a - Mui , and the South Island , or Te Waipounamu  and numerous smaller islands . New Zealand is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia , Fiji , and Tonga . Because of its remoteness , it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans . During its long period of isolation , New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal , fungal and plant life . The country ' s varied topography and its sharp ___MASK83___ peaks , such as the Southern Alps , owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions . New Zealand ' s capital city is Wellington , while its most populous city is Auckland . The North Island or Te Ika - a - Mui (" Mori ") is one of the two main islands of New Zealand , separated from the slightly larger but much less populous South Island by ___MASK88___ Strait . The island ' s area is , making it the world ' s 14th - largest island . It has a population of Philip Rush ( New Zealand - born 6 November 1963 ) is a ___MASK73___ and long distance ___MASK99___ who is the current world record holder for the fastest two and three way swim of the English Channel which he completed in 1987 in a time of 28 h 21 mins ( he completed the two way in a time of 16 h 10 mins ) 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 . He was born in New Plymouth on 20 June 1933 , and died in Dunedin on 13 September 2008 at the age of 77 . Mark Andrew Spitz ( born February 10 , 1950 ) is an American former competitive ___MASK99___ , nine - time Olympic champion , and former world record - holder in seven events . He won seven gold medals at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich , an achievement surpassed only by Michael Phelps , who won eight golds at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing . Spitz set new world records in all seven events in which he competed in 1972 . Spitz holds more medals than any other Jew in the history of the Olympics . The 2016 Summer Olympics , officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad and commonly known as Rio 2016 , was a ___MASK21___ international multi - sport event held in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil , from 5 August to 21 August 2016 . Tectonic uplift is the portion of the total geologic uplift of the mean Earth surface that is not attributable to an isostatic response to unloading . While isostatic response is important , an increase in the mean elevation of a region can only occur in response to tectonic processes of crustal thickening ( such as ___MASK83___ building events ), changes in the density distribution of the crust and underlying mantle , and flexural support due to the bending of rigid lithosphere . Moana Pool is the largest swimming pool in the southern half of New Zealand ' s South Island . It is located at the corner of Littlebourne Road and Upper Stuart Street close to Otago Boys ' High School , on the slopes of Roslyn , overlooking the centre of the city of Dunedin . The pool complex can be seen from much of the city , and commands extensive views over central and coastal Dunedin . Dunedin is the second - largest city in the South Island of New Zealand , and the principal city of the Otago region . It is named for the capital of Scotland , generally Anglicised as Edinburgh ( with " burgh " being a literal ___MASK7___ of the Gaelic " dun ", meaning " fort "). While Tauranga , Napier - Hastings and Hamilton have eclipsed the city in size of population since the 1980s to make it only the seventh - largest urban area in New Zealand , Dunedin is still considered one of the four main cities of New Zealand for historic , cultural and geographic reasons .