Emma Merrill - (Author)

By Emma Merrill, Swimming World College Intern Many swimmers experience a plateau at some point in their careers. Even worse, the plateau can often closely follow some of the fastest swims of their lives.  Some age-groupers are fast at a young age and then they might never drop much time again. The ...

By Emma Merrill, Swimming World College Intern All swimmers should be well-informed about the best pre-practice foods. It’s important to fuel up appropriately before a morning practice in order to maximize your performance in the pool. According to Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook, pre-exerc...

4 Yummy Foods Proven to Help You Recover Faster By Emma Merrill Most swimmers know that recovery is important after a long practice or multi-day meet. It’s essential to refuel your body with the necessary balance of carbs, protein, and fat to get the most out of every workout and recover faster afte...

By Emma Merrill, Swimming World College Intern Lake Ohrid, the annual site of August's FINA Open Water Grand Prix, is under ecological attack. A recent 10-year urbanization plan threatens to seriously impact the Macedonian lake's water quality and clarity, not to mention destroy an ecosystem of glob...

By Emma Merrill, Swimming World College Intern As we approach the end of August, and therefore the end of the short-but-sweet break from the pool for most NCAA swimmers, it's time to start gearing up for another year of college swimming. No matter what program you come from or conference you compete...

Who is Chuck Wielgus? Worked as the Executive Director of USA Swimming since 1997 as well as CEO of the USA Swimming Foundation from its beginning in 2004. Before working with USA Swimming, served as the executive director of the Senior PGA Tour Tournament Director's Association, the executive direc...

Who is Mike Unger? Currently the Assistant Executive Director of USA Swimming, he has worked six different roles with USA Swimming in 19 years, from Marketing Director to Chief Operating Officer. Involved with every USA Swimming television broadcast since 1996 and worked "on loan" with NBC Sports fo...

Who is Dick Pound? A former Canadian swimmer, lawyer, and author. Earned 6th place in the 100m free at the 1960 Olympics and was a four time medalist in the 1962 British Commonwealth Games in Perth, Australia. Served as a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1978, including as two tim...

By Emma Merrill, Swimming World College Intern Katie Ledecky is the most dominate freestyle swimmer in the world right now, male or female. Her fame began when she shocked the swimming world with an obliteration of the field in the 800m freestyle back in the 2012 London Olympics. And while the 2016 ...

By Emma Merrill, Swimming World College Intern Schuyler Bailar is an extremely talented rising freshman on the Harvard men’s team. He is also transgender. A Sport Where Gender Is Black and White The gender code in swimming is explicit. It's a sport where the line between “male” and “female” is defin...

By Emma Merrill, Swimming World College Intern Hannah Vester and I have been teammates on William and Mary’s varsity swim team for the past year, ever since I first shared her lane during week one as a freshman. From day one I looked up to her like any freshman would to a talented upperclassman, but...