Gigi Picard - (Author)

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,...

13 Popular Superstitions That Swimmers Bring to the Pool By Gigi Picard Swimming World College Intern On National Student-Athlete day back in April, I was voted by my college swim and dive team as Most Superstitious. Part of it involves three words: Peanut. Butter. Bites. I am infamous for having pe...

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...

To all of the swimmers and divers, you all know what it’s like to feel somewhat unmotivated in the pool. This could come from those lovely 6:30 morning practices that make you not want to literally do anything the rest of the day. What keeps you going then? The answer is simple: your team. Why does ...

Journaling By Gigi Picard, Swimming World College Intern We’re called to line up behind the blocks, and I begin my routine. The headphones and warmup comes off, placed in a white basket. Then, I remind myself to leave my goggles alone. I shake out any last nerves, slapping my legs quickly three time...