Alyssa Blair - (Author)

By J.P. Mortenson, Swimming World College Intern. As swimmers, we all have days when we show up to practice and are completely fatigued before even getting in the water. Days when making even the warmup interval is a struggle. Your body just can’t do what you want it to, and you feel like you aren’t...

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...

14 Ways To Tell You Come From a Swimming Family By J.P. Mortenson Due to the sport's all-consuming nature, swimming inevitably becomes a family affair. And once your family becomes a swimming family, the sport will affect your home life in more ways than you could have ever imagined! Here are 15 way...

By J.P. Mortenson, Swimming World College Intern. Regardless of how your season went, most swimmers need to take a break after the season is over to recover and prepare for the next season, both mentally and physically. This offseason break is sacred to most swimmers, as it is the only time that the...

How the Underwater Dolphin Kick Evolved and Revolutionized the Sport By J.P. Mortenson (Archive) Underwater dolphin kicking transformed the sport of swimming. These days, swimmers at the NCAA and international level routinely push their kicks to the 15-meter mark. However, this was not always the ca...

7 Things That Swimmers Fear Will Go Wrong on Race Day By J.P. Mortenson, Swimming World College Intern. After months and sometimes even years of training for what will hopefully be the fastest swimming of your life, race day has finally arrived. Race day is a nerve-wracking time for swimmers, as the...

What Happens To Your Body During Taper? By J.P. Mortenson Taper is the time leading up to a big competition where swimmers decrease their training volume while increasing their rest in order to prepare their bodies to go best times. So what exactly happens to your body during taper that allows it to...

By J.P. Mortenson, Swimming World College Intern. For the most part, swimming outdoors is pretty great. These swimmers get to train in the sunshine and breathe fresh air every day, all while their counterparts are stuck inside their humid indoor dungeons. However, not everything about swimming outdo...

By J.P. Mortenson, Swimming World College Intern. If you want to improve as a swimmer, you’re going to have to learn how to make the connection between your body and mind. Plenty of swimmers just go into the water and do what the coaches tell them to do. However, the best swimmers are the ones who s...

By J.P. Mortenson, Swimming World College Intern. Having a bad prelims swim is disappointing at every level of the sport. Whether that means you gained time, did not place into the heat you wanted or you didn't even make it back, it always leaves you dwelling on the “what if” hypothetical situations...

By J.P. Mortenson, Swimming World College Intern. Getting injured is one of the most devastating things that can happen to a swimmer. It is immensely frustrating to have your own body give out on you. The recovery process is often a very lonely time, as you are forced to sit out while all of your te...

By J.P. Mortenson, a Swimming World Intern. Recruiting trip season is officially upon us. These trips are an extremely exciting yet unfamiliar experience for high school seniors who are about to decide where to call home for the next four years of their lives. If you are going on a visit, either off...