Commentary

The Positives/Negatives of Swimming Short Course Yards: An International Perspective By Jinq En Phee (Archive) For many of the NCAA's international swimmers, training and racing in short course yards is a new experience. These swimmers have focused primarily on long course meters, and often not race...

An Appreciation For Swimming From Someone Outside the Pool When it comes to swimming, it’s something I know how to do. But if you were to put me in my university's swim practice for a day, I would absolutely be beat by the warmup. Personally, I think swimming is such a cool sport and I regret not co...

The Pros and Cons of Being a Versatile Swimmer By Maggie Lasto Being a versatile swimmer is like being the jack of all trades. It means you are decent at everything but not necessarily great at anything. This experience resonates with many swimmers as they struggle with finding their true path. Lear...

Swimmers are renowned for their dedication to their sport. We train long hours at ridiculous times and spend all day at meets only to spend a few minutes actually racing in the pool. However, all swimmers reach a point in their careers when they question why they're still doing it. Although many rel...

Whether you learned about it in school, or you’re like me and had a giant Greek myth phase when you were little (just ask my mom, she’ll tell you all about it), many know about the Twelve Labors of Hercules. For those not brushed up on their ancient mythology, the goddess Hera decided to make life t...

What Would it Mean if Ryan Lochte Made Another Olympic Team? By any measure, Ryan Lochte is one of the greatest swimmers in history, a part of any reasonable list of the top 10 male performers ever. His already impressive résumé—12 Olympic medals, six of them gold, plus 18 long course world titles—w...

A Look at Swimmer Muscles by Stroke By Bri Groves, Swimming World College Intern, in collaboration with the creator of Swim Science, Dr. G. John Mullen It’s no surprise that swimmers keep their bodies in peak shape and their commitment comes with an added benefit for fans. Not only can we watch them...

The 3 Types of Swimmer: What Mold Do You Fit? By Annie Grevers (From the Archive) After watching the Minneapolis Arena Pro Series this past weekend, I could not help but empathize with those swimmers who seemed to be swimming through mud. Coaches try to convey to age group parents routinely-- this i...

Lilly King, the Killer Instinct Competitor and the Goofball (From April’s Swimming World Magazine) Five years after her public introduction to the world at the Rio Olympics, little has changed about Lilly King. She will still speak her mind, she will still tell you how she really feels, and she’s st...

By Tera Bradham The magical, two-syllable word that brings more excitement to a swimmer than any other: taper. It’s the only time of the year when swimmers get to experience the energy level of a normal human being; yet we aren’t allowed to utilize any of that pizzazz to which we are so unaccustomed...

Three Tips for Aspiring Swimmers of All Ages One of the most positive aspects about competitive swimming is that anyone can do it. No matter what level you're at or what age you are, swimming can provide an excellent form of exercise. It can also function as a stress reliever from other daily activi...

11 Things Your Swimming Coach Is Always Yelling By Allison Peters, Swimming World College Intern We all know what it is like to have your swimming coaches yelling at the top of their lungs during practice, trying to get our attention. Here's a few things that you can improve on to reduce some of thi...

By Michaela Morrison If you're in between seasons or looking for an alternate dryland program, take a moment to consider adding kickboxing to your training regimen. What is kickboxing? At its core, kickboxing is a cardio sport with the intent of working your whole body. Sound familiar? There is an e...

13 Thoughts Every Swimmer Has During Practice By Isabelle Robuck Staring at a black line for two hours can be pretty grueling sometimes. With long sets, the alone time gives our mind a chance to wander far beyond just swimming. Here are 13 thoughts that every swimmer has during practice! 1. Ouch! [c...

By Brie Harnden, Swimming World College Intern. Recovery is a swimmer’s favorite word in the middle of a difficult training cycle. At a championship meet, it is the tedious but still welcomed process of long warm-downs, leg drains and stretching. But another common practice of ice bath recovery - al...

COVID Pandemic Has Opened Olympic Door For Rapidly Developing Youngsters In less than a minute Saturday evening at an under-the-radar swim meet in Cary, N.C., two teenagers changed the complexion of the women’s 100 butterfly in the United States. 16-year-old Claire Curzan swam a time of 56.20, and 1...

Any meet featuring a large collection of the country’s best swimmers just two months out from the Olympic Trials can provide a large swath of information regarding the eventual makeup of the Olympic team. Even if few swimmers are swimming close to their best times at this point in the season, the TY...

Katie Ledecky and Her Unbeatable Mystique Pushing Towards Tokyo Katie Ledecky is not “back.” That would imply she was ever anything but history’s most dominant freestyler and the world’s best female swimmer, which is simply not the case. But this weekend, at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Mission Viejo,...

The Dynamics of a Swim Family Behind every great athlete is a great support system. This rings true across all sports. The dynamics of a swim support system are unique in many ways, especially when your family is a swim family. There are multiple layers that, when peeled back, expose a complicated s...

10 Ways to Easily Spot a Swimmer As swimmers, we all know we have some defining traits. From the wet hair to the smell of chlorine, here are some surefire ways to spot a swimmer out in the wild. 1. Eau de Chlorine We all know this one. As athletes, we spend WAY too much time in the water, and we beg...