David Sheaves - (Author)

Why Swimmers Have a Favorite Stroke By Lina Matera Ask a swimmer their favorite stroke. Now, ask which one they swim fastest. You might get two different answers. A swimmer’s favorite stroke is not always their strongest. Preference can depend on physical comfort, confidence, past experiences, and t...

The Events Nobody Volunteers to Race: How Swimmers Are Valued Swimmers who regularly take on demanding or less popular events give their teams flexibility. They fill gaps in the lineup, compete outside their specialties, and accept combinations of races that others would rather avoid. But when that ...

When Swimming Stops Being Your Whole Identity You touch the wall, look at the scoreboard, and immediately wish you hadn’t. The time is slower than you wanted. Maybe slower than you thought was possible after all the hard work you put in. You think to yourself. Bad turns? Slow rate? Went out too fast...

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...

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 ...

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.....

More Than the Clock: Why Team Culture Matters in College Swimming A swimmer can survive a hard practice. What is harder to survive is feeling alone in a lane full of people. Swimming is often treated as an individual sport. When we step onto the block, no teammate can swim the race for us. The score...

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...