Commentary

A Letter to My College Coach  Dear Coach, As athletes, we spend so much of our careers chasing measurable things. We chase best times, national cuts, conference titles, All-American honors, and records. We learn to define success by numbers on a scoreboard and rankings on a psych sheet. For years, I...

Latest World Record Continues Stunning Ascension of Gretchen Walsh A masterclass at the Sette Colli meet over the weekend in Rome has eliminated all qualifiers to the following statement: Gretchen Walsh is the best sprinter in the world. Not best short course sprinter, not best sprint butterflyer. B...

Built to Win in Court, Paid for Downstream: The NCAA's New Eligibility Rule a Danger to Olympic Sports  The NCAA’s new five-year eligibility rule is built to win in court. The bill may land on Olympic sports.  By Alexander L. Ballard The NCAA Division I Cabinet’s unanimous approval last week of a fi...

How Michael Andrew’s TYR Pro Series Swims Have Set Him Up for Success At the 2026 TYR Pro Swim Series in Indianapolis, Michael Andrew showed signs of his old self. The 27-year-old Andrew swam some of his fastest times in over a year, showing that he is a major threat at this summer's Pan Pacific Cha...

American Women Poised to Topple Australia in 400 Freestyle Relay at Pan Pacs; Aussies Still Tough in 800 Free Relay One year ago, the American women had positioned themselves as gold-medal favorites in the 400 freestyle relay for the Singapore World Championships. Thanks to the speed of Torri Huske,...

Marrit Steenbergen, Anna Moesch Have Changed Landscape of 100 Freestyle Until recently, there had only been two occasions ever when a woman swam the 100 freestyle under 52 seconds. Sarah Sjostrom first broke that barrier on a relay leadoff at the 2017 World Championships, touching in 51.71 to oblite...

Plan vs. Strategy: The Ways to Approach the 200 Freestyle Swimming is not unique in the respect of a sport demanding a clear mind during competition. Overthinking during competition can be the death knell for success. Sports, as constructed, demand on-your-feet (or feet-on-wall) thinking. Overthink ...

How Can Summer McIntosh Break the 200 Butterfly World Record at Canadian Trials? With the 2026 Canadian Swimming Trials fast approaching, all eyes will be on Summer McIntosh. The 19-year-old currently training at the University of Texas will be swimming her main events at the trials in order to qual...

Nutrition: Fix Misfueling Before It Limits Performance By Dawn Weatherwax Whether you’re a competitive swimmer, a water polo player, a diver, an open-water or masters athlete — or the parent or coach of one — you are fueling somehow. And here’s what almost no one tells aquatic athletes: the way most...

As Disclosure Day Opens, a D-III Connection to Famed Director Steven Spielberg In celebration of Steven Spielberg's upcoming film Disclosure Day, opening on June 12, I thought it would be fun to highlight some of the results from Division III swimming from this past year in relation to the legendary...

Is the Australian Men's 800 Freestyle Relay a Contender for Gold Medals in 2026? The 2026 Australian Trials saw a very exciting final in the men's 200 freestyle. Sam Short wound up taking the gold in a time of 1:45.16, with Kai Taylor not far behind at 1:45.30. The top five in the race were all unde...

Commentary: Growing Pains for College Club Swimming - Are Former NCAA Swimmers the Cause, or the Scapegoat? By David Chen During the 2026 TYR College Club Swimming National Championship, controversy arose about former varsity swimmers competing on behalf of Cal Poly Swim Club and UNC (Chapel Hill) C...

Sam Falls Just Short: 3:40-Barrier Continues to Evade Contenders, Even With World Record Gone Sometimes, the longest-lasting world records fall at the least-expected moment. Nineteen years ago, when Janet Evans still held the world records in the 800 and 1500 freestyle, Kate Ziegler claimed the mark...

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...

School is Out: Surviving Summer Doubles and Maximizing Your Swim Training For many swimmers, the final school bell has rung, backpacks have been tossed aside, and summer has officially arrived. While friends are sleeping in, heading to the beach, or enjoying carefree afternoons, competitive swimmers...

Pan Pacs Team Imperfect, But 2026 is Best Year for No U.S. Selection Meet Any list of the world's fastest women in the 100 freestyle must now include Anna Moesch, who ranks third-fastest in history following her American-record-setting performance at the recent AP London International. Isabelle Stad...

Commentary: Swimmers Need Better Choices Than Swimming in Poverty or Going Enhanced Last week in Las Vegas, the Enhanced Games delivered life-changing money for swimmers while making a mockery of clean sport and competitive integrity and using those swimmers to not-so-subtly market controversial and...

How the Enhanced Games Tried - and Failed - to Make Swimming Spectacle It's no secret that swimming is a once-every-four-years event for most people. For all the joys of a competitive championship meet, the leaders who bear the responsibility of running swim meets have understood that obtaining larg...

Oliver Dawson Breaks Two Canadian Records at AP Race London; Provides Relay Hope For the first time since 2012, a long-course Canadian national record in a breaststroke event has been broken. Eighteen-year-old Oliver Dawson put on a record-breaking display at the 2026 AP Race London International sw...

The Real Deal: Anna Moesch Proves Long Course Capabilities in London Breakout The signs have pointed toward a huge breakout summer as Anna Moesch emerged as a national-championship-caliber freestyler in short course yards during her sophomore season at Virginia. Each season has brought significant i...