Elise Campbell - (Author)

13 Popular Superstitions That Swimmers Bring to the Pool By Gigi Picard Swimming World College Intern On my college swim and dive team, I was voted Most Superstitious. Part of it involves three words: Peanut. Butter. Bites. I am infamous for having peanut butter bites on hand at swim meets. Before e...

Name That Teammate: Swimmer's Edition By Gigi Picard Swimming World College Intern What makes a swim team click, really? Well, it helps to begin with a roster of super-fast athletes to fill out all the events, coaches who know how to teach and motivate, and trainers who bring their magic to keep eve...

7 Favorite Moments From Past Olympic Games (Videos) By Gigi Picard Swimming World College Intern Six world records and 24 Olympic records in swimming later, the 2020 Tokyo Games have ended – albeit in August 2021! Despite the lingering pandemic, and the disturbing “sounds of silence” in the empty st...

5 Reasons the Tokyo Olympic Games Will Be Special By Gigi Picard Swimming World College Intern We’re two weeks away from the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games in Tokyo, and I feel like I’m personally being whistled up to the blocks. The United States Trials were emotional and exhilarating for sp...

7 Father's Day Gifts for the Swim Dads By Gigi Picard Swimming World College Intern One month ago, we celebrated the world’s swim moms. What would we ever do without them? But now it’s time to turn our attention to dads. They share in the agony of driving to the pool for those 5:45 a.m. practices - ...

The World of Water Polo: How Much Do You Know? By Gigi Picard Swimming World College Intern  An official blows sharply on a whistle and 12 anxious players, six per team, dash wildly toward the middle of the pool. Two of the 12 sprint for a bright yellow polo ball plopped between the racing teams bec...

7 Mother’s Day Gifts Perfect for Swim Moms By Gigi Picard, Swimming World College Intern Mother’s Day is coming up this Sunday! Every year, families dash to get brunch reservations and flowers for the special woman in their lives. But have you ever really thought about what to get a swim mom? She de...

Title IX's New Watershed Moment for Women in Sports By Gigi Picard Swimming World College Intern On June 23rd, 1972, a law famously known as Title IX went into effect, prohibiting sex discrimination in any educational institution receiving federal funding. From an athletics point of view, the intent...

Never Have I Ever: Swimming Edition By Gigi Picard, Swimming World College Intern Every swimmer has to follow the dos and don’ts of swimming. I’m not talking about how to swim strokes or perfecting the start and flip turn. But, any decent swimmer has broken at least one rule.  Let’s see how rebellio...

7 Ways To Make Valentine’s Day Special With Your Team By Gigi Picard, Swimming World College Intern February 14, aka Valentine’s Day, is right around the blocks. It is such a delicious holiday: the only way most of us can justify sneaking a chocolate fix midseason. While Valentine’s Day celebrates r...

What's Your Choice? A List of Swimming Options By Gigi Picard Swimming World College Intern After a certain point in their career, swimmers develops their own preferences. During quarantine, This or That posts started floating around on social media. I even took part in my college swim team’s This o...

Barrier Breakers: Women Who Have Elevated the Sport By Gigi Picard Swimming World College Intern It is easy to look back on the year 2020 in sports and feel a measure of disappointment: seasons were cut short, championships were canceled, stands stood empty, athletes were quarantined. It all felt a ...

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...

By Gigi Picard Swimming World College Intern Swimming is a detail-obsessed sport: It’s all about precise qualifying times, strict training schedules, stroke descriptors, a lot of counting and hundredths of a second to crack the podium.  How many of you feel confident you know the history of swimming...

What's on a Swimmer's and Diver's Thanksgiving Menu? By Gigi Picard Swimming World College Intern What is Thanksgiving all about? Most years, it is considered simply “Turkey Day,” when you get to choose between light and dark meat at the dinner table and little kids paste colored turkey hands all ov...

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...

7 Swim Meet Tips for Spectator Cheering Squads By Gigi Picard Swimming World College Intern For any swimmer’s cheering squad, and maybe especially for parents, there is nothing more thrilling than stepping into the viewing gallery of a competitive swimming pool, breathing in the chlorinated atmosphe...

The Reasons Why Five Lakes Became New HOMES for Swimmers By Gigi Picard Swimming World College Intern This summer was quite literally a dry spell for swimmers all over the world. A majority of swimmers in the United States lost access to school, club, community pools – and even local gyms dried up. ...

5 Reasons Why MVP Stands For Most Valuable Practices In College Swimming and Diving By Gigi Picard, Swimming World College Intern For college athletes, the future fall of 2020 has brought new meaning to the phrase "you never know what you got till it's gone." In case you’ve been living under a rock,...

5 Things Coaches Should Know About Recruiting in a Virtual World A swarm of butterflies flutters through your stomach and your heart races. You tap on your spiral notebook and scan your checklist one last time. Why are you so nervous? You’ve done your research and more importantly, no one can see yo...