Commentary

A Voice For the Sport: Countdown to Home Olympic Games in Full Effect There’s a selection meet this week, with some of the top names in American swimming descending on the FMC Natatorium in Suburban Chicago for the United States World Short Course Championships Trials. Invitations to December’s Worl...

The Survival Guide to a 12-Hour Swim Meet: Preparation is Key An emergency manual for competitive swimmers facing the ultimate endurance test. WARNING: The following conditions may include extreme hunger, uncontrollable shivering, psychological warfare, and an overwhelming desire to go home. Proceed...

Three Words, Three Worlds: How Coaches Describe Their Different Swim Teams Describe an entire swim team in three words. Simple enough, right? Until you try to sum up thousands of laps, exhausting practices, team traditions, and the people who make showing up to the pool worthwhile. When I asked coac...

The Importance of Showing Up: Why Being There Matters More Than You Think  In swimming, we spend a lot of time talking about hard work, dedication, and consistency. We talk about the importance of getting to practice on time, putting in the yards, and doing everything we can to get a fraction of a s...

Caeleb Dressel Ready for U.S. Short Course Trials; What Can We Expect from American Star? A little more than a week ago, at the Virginia Pro Short Course Meters Pro-Am, American star Caeleb Dressel was back in the competitive pool for final tuneup work. With the United States hosting its first-ever ...

Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh Leading Speed Revolution in Women's Freestyle At the start of 2026, no one would have considered the 50 freestyle as the best event for either Kate Douglass or Gretchen Walsh. Douglass had gone on a two-year run to establish herself as the world's dominant force in the ...

The Courage to Find Your Limit: Trusting Yourself When Swimming Gets Hard There is a moment in a hard practice or race when the question changes. You stop wondering how fast you can go and start wondering how much more you are willing to give. Your arms feel heavy. Your legs burn. Your lungs feel li...

The Moment of Truth: How a Swimmer Reacts to the Scoreboard The pool deck is cold beneath your feet as you pull off your parka. You stand behind the block, watching the swimmer in front of you race while trying to squeeze in a few last minute stretches. Your heart is pounding, your goggles are tight...

As swimmers, we can look for quick fixes. We know that we can adjust a flip turn here, tweak a breath there, and throw in a few extra dolphin kicks off of our start—and that could shave time off of even the shortest of races. However, we are not always eager to reach for the more long-term aids to o...

Swimming Because You Want To: Finding New Reasons to Love the Sport As swimmers, saying “I have practice” and “I get to practice” could be differentiated by a good night's sleep. Other times, it takes a little more reflection. Swimming tests a lot of us, in terms of time, energy, discipline and the ...

Egor Kornev vs. Kyle Chalmers: World Record Comparison (100 Freestyle) During the first stop of the World Cup Silk Road Tour, 22-year-old Egor Kornev of Russia tied the 100 freestyle world record set by Kyle Chalmers of Australia. Like Kornev, Chalmers broke the 100 free world record at a World Cup ...

When Are Swimmers 'Sick Enough' to Rest Swimmers are trained to be uncomfortable. We wake up before sunrise, dive into cold pools, train through soreness and finish sets when our bodies beg us to stop. Learning to push through discomfort is part of becoming a successful athlete. But that mentality.....

Balancing High School Season: It Might Not Be Perfect, But It's Manageable For year-round swimmers, high school season can be one of the most fun parts of the year. It can also make your schedule a little crazy.  You still have your club practices, your club coach and the goals you have been working...

A New Deal for College Sports? How the Protect College Sports Act Would Work By Alexander L. Ballard The Protect College Sports Act would change college athletics by altering compensation, transfer, and eligibility  rules, establishing protections for non-revenue sports, limiting antitrust liability...

I Asked Swimmers What Their Version of the “Worst Set Ever” Would Look Like There is a certain moment in practice when the pool deck gets unusually quiet. Warmup is over, the pre-set is done, and everyone has finally earned a short break. For a few minutes, the deck feels almost peaceful. Swimmers g...

Building a Swim Community: I Let My Whole Swim Team Pie Me - Here’s Why My fellow coaches and I stood in a line, about to meet our fate. Our young swimmers and their parents roared with laughter as pies flew through the air. One by one, they hit each coach in the face. With whipped cream in my hair ...

Ilya Kharun's Path to a Historic NCAA Championships Arizona State senior Ilya Kharun has been one of the most successful swimmers during his time in the NCAA. Going into his senior season, Kharun will look to achieve things that only a few have achieved before. After strong performances this past su...

The Start of the Season: 5 Ways to Embark on a Successful Campaign There is something different about the beginning of a swim season.  The first few weeks feel new and exciting. New goals are written down, the chase for championship cuts starts again, and everyone seems a little more motivated. Mayb...

12 Questions You Should Ask During College Recruiting Process By Ashley Illenye (Archive) Each year, high school seniors must make one of the biggest decisions of their young adult lives: Where they will spend the next four years of their lives and educations. Recruiting trips primarily decide where...

Welcome to College Swimming: Forget What You Thought You Knew About Being the Best  Before college, many swimmers are used to being exceptional.  They were team captains, school-record holders, state qualifiers, or the swimmer their relay depended on. Their name was written across record boards, ann...