Commentary

202os Vision - Swimming Culture - Sunday Essay The name’s Shane Gould. Dr. Shane Gould. At 15, she raced to what remains the single biggest solo-swims medal haul at one Olympic Games, three of five orbs the colour gold. Pour a rip tide under that bridge and look up. At 61, she became the oldest winn...

The Athlete Voice has become louder and more effective in forcing change in sports governance of late. It has the likes of Matt Biondi and Adam Peaty as its champion. But what of the Coach Voice? Has it been drowned out by the noise of athletes on the rise? Would swimming not be better off hearing t...

2020s Vision - Matt Biondi & The International Swimmers' Alliance, Part 2 Part 1: Matt Biondi’s Mission To Enrich & Educate Swimmers "It's not a union", says Matt Biondi. Change. Demands. Speaking out. Insisting sports bosses engage, listen, act on the word of the athlete. Moving in numbers. Acting ...

Over the coming year, Swimming World will consider key challenges facing aquatic sports athletes, swimming, swimmers, players, coaches, leaders and others working in this, one of the biggest, Olympic sports and its governance in the decade ahead. In the first quarter, 2020sVision will ask for the co...

2020sVision - The Athlete Voice In The Mirror Moscow Boycott (From January Issue of Swimming World Magazine) Years of hard work went unfulfilled. Dreams turned into nightmares. Sadness and anger abounded. The repercussions of the United States’ decision to boycott the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow we...

Swimming World presents the reprise of the Ross Report, which was formerly a video series on various athletes from around the world. This year, it will be a bi-weekly analysis feature from US Correspondent Andy Ross as he observes and analyses the ebb and flow of  the swimming world. It is officiall...

2020s Vision. Do we have it? Do you have it? Do the athletes and coaches have it? Do parents have it? Do politicians have it? Do investors and sponsors have it? Do guardians and governors have it? Does the swimming community have it? Not always easy but as everyone seeking to unlock the best version...

The End - When the Final Race Looms “Step up.” “Take your mark.” “Go!” Between practices and meets, practically every swimmer grows up having these three phrases ingrained into their heads. We condition ourselves in preparation of hearing the horn of a starting system beginning our race. Age groups....

The International Swimming League has been a huge success this fall with many of the world's best swimmers participating in the exciting league that gives them a chance to race the best and travel around the world more often. It's been a big win for the athletes who have been longing for something m...

Commentary WADA, The Russian Roulette With Clean Sport & The Need For A Blanket Ban The latest report on Russia's systematic doping program screams of attempts to manipulate not only samples in the chain of custody but witness statements and more in a cover-up aimed at implicating whistleblowers and...

Swimming Brains Behind World-Class Braun Should athletes have influence in society? Should they have a say in the way their sports are run? We take a first look, with contributions from Wayne Goldsmith and sportswriter Sabrina Knoll.  Should elite athletes be spokespeople for things they feel strong...

International Swimming League founder Konstantin Grigorishin said in an interview with the Washington Post this week that he is committed to expanding the league following next summer's Tokyo Olympic Games, despite the financial struggles within the first year. The ISL has received plenty of media c...

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Marathon Goes North for runners and walkers - swimmers deserve the same safety protections: time to Go North, move the swim 500 miles upstream Commentary: The Coordination Committee for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is meeting in Tokyo this week. If they have a scintilla of interes...

Fran Crippen Commemoration Day Editorial-Commentary Today marks the saddest day on the world-class swimming calendar: it is the ninth anniversary of the death of Fran Crippen, the first swimmer to lose his life on the watch of FINA and USA Swimming. Tragedy upon tragedy, it is also a day on which we...

The Swim League Editorial Great lights, logos, suits and setting; fine racing. None of that is enough. It's early days. Even so, let's be clear: given all the potential of the International Swimming League to transform the sport and the lives, lifestyles and livelihoods of athletes and other players...

Sunday Essay - Swimming Finding Its Mojo Two weeks to the start of a new era. Expects bumps, turbulence, settling in, fun, thrills, spills and something new. Don't expect an overnight leap for swimming in the pecking order of sports, professional or otherwise, at the heart of a trillion-dollar-a-yea...

The Butt Cheek Of It & How A DQ for 'showing butt cheek' got overturned Commentary “I told her, ‘I need to know how you’re defining this, because this is going to blow up,’” Annette Rohde said after she “froze in disbelief” when she saw the disqualification decision by the meet referee, who has not ...

By Danny Whirlow, Swimming World College Intern.  On August 18, 2018 - fifteen years after he beat leukemia - Dutch Olympian and gold medalist Maarten van der Weijden plunged into the frigid waters of the Netherland's famous Elfstedentocht. Typically used a speed skating course, the Elfstedentocht c...

By Madilyn Sindelar, Swimming World College Intern. When young children begin the basic steps of learning how to swim, the main focus is water safety. Simply becoming comfortable in the water is an important skill. This involves floating, blowing bubbles, playing games and singing songs. With drowni...

By Molly Griswold, Swimming World College Intern. “We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.” -JK Rowling Division can occur both within and between sports teams due to a variety factors. Unification, however, plays a vital role in success for all sports, including swi...