Commentary

What Makes the Perfect Swimmer's Body? Although swimmers with a wide variety of body types have found success in the sport, most at the international level tend to look similar, sporting tall and muscular bodies - typically with long torsos, long arms and short legs. This begs the question: If you c...

Challenging 9 Swimming Myths That Have Run Rampant By Gigi Picard, Swimming World College Intern For whatever reason, myths just pop to the surface when non-competitive swimmers comment on swimmers and swimming in general. I know I’ve encountered some wild theories like swimmers shouldn’t go on land...

11 Things That Separate the Good Swimmer from the Great Swimmer By Brittany Oxley (Archive) “This is the difference between being good and being great.” That quote has been engrained in my head since I started swimming at 6 years old. I believe every coach I have ever swum for has said those words. ...

7 Memorable and Meaningful Coaches' Gift Ideas Our swim coaches give us so much during our swimming careers: inspiration, guidance, counseling, education, skill enhancement, planning. The list goes on and on. Sometimes, swimmers and parents fail to realize just how much time, expertise, dedication, ...

4 Key Exercises to Help Improve Performance Over the past few months, practices have been shortened and pool space has been limited. With health department guidelines and social distancing rules, dryland workouts cannot be completed as efficiently as they have in the past. This has led to dryland tr...

9 Motivating Movies to Watch During Swim Season By Gigi Picard Swimming World College Intern Swimmers have different ways to get pumped up for a meet or to stay motivated through the season. The go-to, pump-up music playlist is perhaps the most familiar, as we’ve all seen Michael Phelps and others f...

From the Paint to the Pool: The Events Your Favorite NBA Stars Would (Probably) Swim For those living inside of a bubble for the last few months (no pun intended), the NBA Bubble finished off a somewhat miraculous run Sunday night, as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Miami Heat, four games to two...

By Devin Javens Only swimmers know and understand the feeling of a fast pool. Something about the feeling can resemble that of euphoria, leaving you feeling as if you possess the swimming capabilities of Michael Phelps or Katie Ledecky. Swimmers constantly refer to pools as either fast or slow; howe...

One week ago, Fernando Delgado was elected to a four-year term as president of the Federación Puertorriqueña de Natación (FPN). It's an auspicious moment to take over Puerto Rico’s national governing body for aquatic sports; the past few years the island has been buffeted by a string of unfortunate ...

10 Ways to Occupy Yourself and Stay Sharp While Out of the Pool If you're unable to get to the pool for the time being, largely due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, here are 10 tips to help you stay sharp, active and ready for game day in the future. 1. Stay hydrated! In addition to being the...

Important Life Lessons We Learn From Swimming By Megan Balbo, Swimming World Intern Swimming teaches and lends each of us so many important messages. We all know the stereotypical things that you learn from swimming like time management and life saving skills, but these are just the surface level le...

10 Things Coaches Say During Practice By Isabelle Robuck No one else compares to your favorite swim coach. Think about it now; what makes your coach the best? Most swimmers deeply relate to their coaches through shared work ethic and discipline, training style, and - most importantly - their infinit...

In Honor of World Mental Health Day (Oct. 10) By Proteeti Sinha Researchers have found that swimming promotes both physical and mental well-being; this isn't news to anyone who regularly frequents the pool deck. But there are additional benefits that you may not be aware of that extend beyond the ob...

Soreness and Recovery Tips That Can Benefit the Body By Daniel Zeng, Swimming World Intern Discomfort is not an uncommon feeling. We use it to motivate ourselves to be better, or as a sign that we are actively trying to get out of our comfort zone, literally and figuratively. One thing swimmers know...

Rooming with a College Swimmer 101 By Kristy Kinzer, Swimming World College Intern. Many college athletes elect to room with another athlete, particularly a teammate, for the big transition to college life and sports. But those who room with non-athletic regular people (NARPs for short) must inform ...

3 Things to Remember Before Your First Virtual Meet By Mauro Pacsi, Swimming World College Intern As sports slowly return to competition while the COVID-19 pandemic is still at large, many people in the swimming world have wondered, what lies ahead for the future of meets? The answer is here with US...

7 Time Management Tips for Student Athletes By Kelsey Mitchell Time management has always been important in the world of athletics. With the academic year in full swing and collegiate teams across the country working hard, student athletes are busier than ever. Balancing academics, athletics and a s...

A Conversation with an Unlikely Best Friend: The Black Line By Jamie Kolar Swimming is unlike any other sport. It is the only sport where you cannot talk to any other person or coach during most of the practice or during a race, allowing for a lot of time alone. Being alone for those extended period...

Which Pre-Race Routine Fits Your Style? By Nick Pecoraro Before almost every race, you will see swimmers either flailing their arms back and forth or rocking out with headphones on before they hop on the blocks, ready to go. To the untrained eye, this might look silly or unnecessary. To swimmers, th...

Can the United States Men Break the Legendary 400 Freestyle Relay World Record In Tokyo? How fitting would it be to see a legendary relay record fall at a historic Olympic Games? As swim meets safely resume all over the world, all signs indicate to Tokyo 2021 happening as (re)scheduled in a little u...