McClain Hermes - (Author)

Sink or Swim: How Your Training Environment Can Affect Swimming Performance  The environment in which a swimmer trains is crucial in determining their performance in the water. Their environment can significantly impact their overall capabilities and achievements, whether it is a positive and suppor...

Swimmers' Path to Personal Wellness with 21 Body Care Strategies Swimming is a sport that demands dedication from its athletes. It's not uncommon for swimmers to wake up before dawn and jump into a cold pool as part of their daily routine. Weekends are often spent at competitions, where athletes pus...

The Role of a Captain on a Swim Team: How To Be An Effective Leader A swim captain is a leader and mentor within a swim team.  They are responsible for fostering a positive team culture and helping to organize and motivate team members. They may also help the coach lead the team in a warmup or run a...

Leaving the TYR Pro Series In Westmont, What Five Champions Had to Say About Where They Stand The TYR Pro Swim Series meets have consistently showcased an array of exceptional swimmers, and this past weekend’s event in Westmont, Illinois was no exception. Featuring record-breaking performances and s...

The Second Swim Speed Boost: Why Do Swimmers Perform Better in Finals? Meets featuring a preliminaries/finals setup are an expected part of the competitive swimming journey. Swimmers in these competitions frequently compete twice daily, the morning critical to extend action into the evening. Many sw...

The Home-Pool Advantage: Is It Real or Just a Myth? In the world of competitive swimming, the idea of the "home-pool advantage" has been debated for a long time. Coaches, swimmers, and fans have long discussed whether swimmers do better in their home pool or another pool. The argument is based on th...

The Age of Underwater Racing: How Hypoxic Training Can Make You a Better Swimmer Swimming has traditionally been an above-the-water sport. With new tools and techniques, swimmers can spend more time underwater, which speeds up their race times. This shift toward underwater racing has caused some swi...

Take Your Swimming to the Next Level: How to Pursue a Collegiate Career For many swimmers, competing at the collegiate level is a dream. However, navigating the recruiting process may be difficult and daunting, and many aspiring athletes need to be made aware of the steps they must take to make thei...

Core and More: 4 Core Exercises to Improve your Swimming Having a strong core is one of the most important components of swimming, as it increases stability and mobility for your strokes. Here are four exercises that can help build your core strength: Plank Position While Using Swimmer's Arms This e...

21 Common Pre-Race Rituals That Swimmers Utilize Rituals before a race help swimmers mentally get ready for the action ahead, and can put them in the best state of mind to achieve their best. Some rituals including visualization, listening to certain songs, or doing stretches or exercises to warm up...

Fun and Effective Kickboard Exercises to Enhance your Swimming Kickboard exercises are a fun way to improve your swimming skills, as well as your strength and endurance in the water as a whole. At first glance, swimmers may get the impression that the only way to use kickboards is for traditional ki...

New Year's Swimming Resolutions: How to Improve your Swimming for the Upcoming Year As a new year begins, New Year's resolutions are an excellent way for swimmers to set goals and work toward improving their performance. Whether you're a seasoned veteran or a new swimmer on a team, there are always ...

An Inside Look At Swimmer Emotions on Race Day You are awakened in the morning’s early hours by an alarm blaring for you to get up and prepare for today’s swim meet.  “Oh man, I wish I could sleep in today." Though it would be nice to sleep in a little longer, you know you have to get up and start g...

Forget Me Nots: Essential Items Needed For Every Swim Meet Too often, swimmers need to remember their swim meet essentials. Coaches always have swimmers who may have forgotten the items they needed to race and found out too late. Swim meets can be hectic, and it's normal to forget specific equipment...

The Pros and Cons of High School Swimming Swimmer will gain fresh perspectives and skills if they have the opportunity to swim in high school. When entering high school, a swimmer can continue to swim with their club program, even though high school swimming offers its own set of benefits. There is ...

A Day in the Life of a Swimmer: Just Keep Grinding Your alarm goes off at 5 o'clock in the morning, yelling at you to get up and get ready for practice at 5:45 a.m. Come on, let’s get up and go! The thought of staying in bed for a bit longer is tempting, but you know you must wake up and prepare for...

It's Cool To Cooldown: The Importance of Caring For the Body “Do a cooldown.” Whether it be after a race or practice, every swimmer has heard these words from their coach. Cooling down is a lower intensity level of activity and it should be done after strength training, practice, and competition. Co...

Taper Time: Common Misconceptions When Tapering For Swimming Reducing yardage, getting extra sleep, eating better, and getting faster: Every swimmer knows this combination as taper. Telling a swimmer that their taper is starting will make their day, I promise. They won't stop smiling. Although almos...