Big Shots for April 7, 2009

Before March Madness basketball overwhelms me, Big Shots suffers the heat in Morocco at the 24th Marathon des Sables in the Sahara Desert before cooling off in Croatia at the Synchronized Skating World Championships in Zagreb. Then it's on to Malaysia for the rain-shortened Malaysian Grand Prix before joining Sara Campbell 314 feet under water for her record breaking free dive off the Bahamas. Hold your breath, Big Shots is bringing you March Madness this week on Wednesday after both the men's and women's champions have been crowned. Note for regular Big Shots readers: for the weeks of April 13 and 20 I leave Big Shots in the very capable hands of fellow Globe picture editor Lloyd Young while I'm on vacation. We've got a deep bench. ( 37 photos total)

A competitor climbs a dune during the 24th Marathon des Sables in the Sahara desert in Morocco April 1. 812 participants walk along more than 124 miles during seven days in the Sahara. (PIERRE VERDY/AFP/Getty Images)

Bulgaria's fans light flares during their 2010 World Cup qualifying soccer match against Cyprus at Vassil Levski stadium in Sofia April 1. (REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov) #

Professional bodybuilders take part in a competition in Kolkata April 4 for the title of Mr. India. (REUTERS/Parth Sanyal) #

Jose Mourinho, coach of Italian Serie A soccer team Inter Milan, attends the taping of television program "Chiambretti Night" in Milan April 1. (REUTERS/Paolo Bona) #

Team Canada 1 performs their short program during the Synchronized Skating World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia April 3. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic) #

Competitors race dragon boats during the annual Summer Seasports Festival to commemorate the start of the summer season in Manila Bay March 29. (REUTERS/John Javellana) #

Runners start the 33rd Paris Marathon on the Champs Elysees with the Arc de Triomphe seen in the background in Paris April 5. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) #

South Koreans take their seats at the Seoul World Cup Stadium in Seoul April 1 before a football match of the FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers between South Korea and North Korea. The game comes amid the rising cross-border tension over the North's plan to test launch a rocket. (KIM JAE-HWAN/AFP/Getty Images) #

About 2,500 competitors prepare before the Travessia dos Fortes swimming competition in Rio de Janeiro April 5. (AP Photo/Ricardo Moraes) #

Riders turn a corner at the 2009 Superbike Championship at the Ricardo Tormo racetrack in Cheste, Spain April 5. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz) #

The American Le Mans Series Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg April 4 powers along the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. (Doug Benc/Getty Images) #

Rain in Sepang, Malaysia April 5 shortens the Malaysian Grand Prix. (AP Photo/Bazuki Muhammad, Pool) #

Quick Step rider Stijn Devolder climbs the Geraardsbergen wall during his win in the ProTour Ronde van Vlaanderen/Tour of Flanders cycling race in Meerbeke, Belgium April 5. (REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol) #

Skaters pass the Brandenburg Gate during the 29th Berlin half-marathon April 5. Around 25,000 participants were expected to start the event running, skating and in wheelchairs. (AP Photo/Gero Breloer) #

Monte Meier skis in the Men's Standing Skier Downhill at the 2009 US Adaptive Alpine Nationals at Winter Park Resort March 31 in Winter Park, Co. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images) #

(Left to right) ski racers Maria Riesch, Lindsey Vonn, and Thomas Vonn compete in the 10th Verbier High Five, a fun competition organized by a beer producer, in the ski resort of Verbier, Switzerland April 4. 300 fans compete against real ski stars in a variety of events. (AP Photo/Keystone/Jean-Christophe Bott) #

The Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James pretends to take a picture during pregame introductions before their NBA game against the Washington Wizards in Washington April 2. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst) #

Klagenfurt's Jeffery Shantz poses for photographers after the final of the "Erste Bank Eishockey Liga" in Klagenfurt, Austria April 5. (AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson) #

A Bosnia and Herzegovina fan cheers during their World Cup 2010 qualifying soccer match against Belgium in Zenica April 1. (REUTERS/Danilo Krstanovic) #

Uruguay's Diego Lugano (right) listens to referee Hector Balsasi at the end of their 2010 World Cup qualifying soccer match against Chile in Santiago April 1. (REUTERS/Victor Ruiz Caballero) #

Aston Villa's goalkeeper Brad Friedel, kneeling, remonstrates with teammate Luke Young after conceding a free kick against Manchester United during their English Premier League soccer match at Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester, England April 5. (AP Photo/Jon Super) #

Two wrestlers wearing traditional costumes called Chookheh compete at the traditional wrestling match in the village of Fariman, Iran April 2. The traditional Iranian competition is held at the northern Khorasan province on the 13th and 14th of the Iranian new year. (REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl) #

De Luain Gorm falls and loses jockey G Gallagher during the John Smith's Fox Hunters' Chase during the first day of the Grand National horse race meeting at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England April 2. (AP Photo/Peter Byrne/PA) #

South African player Chase Minnaar is caught by the Kenya defense in the Cup Final at the International Rugby Sevens Adelaide tournament in Adelaide, Australia April 5. (WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images) #

Emese Szabo (top) of Hungary wrestles with Francine De Paola of Italy in the quarter final Women's Freestyle 51 kg category during the European Wrestling Championships April 2 in Vilnius, Lithuania. (JANEK SKARZYNSKI/AFP/Getty Images) #

Salzburg's Darryl Bootland, left, and Walter Lee Sweatt celebrate after scoring during the final of the "Erste Bank Eishockey Liga" against Klagenfurt in Salzburg, Austria April 2. (AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson) #

Germany's Andy Kapp watches his shot during the World Men's Curling Championships against the Czech Republic in Moncton, Canada April 6. (REUTERS/Andy Clark) #

Brittany Lincicome celebrates in the water surrounding the 18th green after winning the Kraft Nabisco Championship at Mission Hills Country Club April 5 in Rancho Mirage, Cal. (Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) #

Tom Goegebuer of Belgium strains in the Men's 56kg category of the European Weightlifting Championship in Bucharest, Romania April 5. (DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP/Getty Images) #

The Portland Trail Blazers Nicolas Batum, left, reaches for a rebound in front of the Oklahoma City Thunder's Thabo Sefolosha during an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City April 3. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) #

Simon Terry from Britain aims in the Recurve Men's Individual event during the Archery World Cup in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic April 5. (REUTERS/ Eduardo Munoz) #

Kenya's Duncan Kibet lies on the ground after crossing the finish line to win the 2009 Rotterdam Marathon April 5. (REUTERS/Paul Vreeker/United Photos) #

Kobe 9 Cruise's Eri Yoshida delivers a pitch during a game against the Osaka Gold Villicanes at Osaka Dome in Osaka, Japan March 27. Japan's first female professional baseball player made her debut, striking out one batter in her team's first game of the season for the Kansai Independent League. (AP Photo/Kyodo News, Yohei Fukuyama) #

Final preparations for the Boston Red Sox opener at Fenway Park continue as ironworker Erik Anderson welds a steel bar into the railing of the stands April 2. (John Tlumacki/Globe Staff) #

A cave explorer squeezes through a steel tube during an international competition among speleologists in Raubichi, Belarus April 4. The competition is held every year to practise skills needed when exploring caves. (REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko) #

Candace Schepperle lines up a putt on the tenth green during the Kraft Nabisco LPGA golf tournament in Rancho Mirage, Cal. April 3. (REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson) #

Sara Campbell breaks the world record in free diving at the Vertical Blue competition off Long Island in the Bahamas April 2 with a dive of 314 feet on a single breath in the "constant weight" discipline, completing the dive in three minutes, 34 seconds. (AP Photo) #