Commentary

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...

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 ...

5 Outside-the-Pool Activities For Faster Swimming When thinking about ways to become a faster swimmer, it makes plenty of sense to consider certain things you can do differently and better IN the water. However, more swimming does not always translate to better results. As a matter of fact, there ar...

Races Without Favorites: Olympic Champions Schoenmaker, Jacoby Set for Return to Crowded Breaststroke Events Less than two months out from the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, several individual races already have clearly-established favorites, but plenty of others lack an obvious choice for g...

3 Habits To Adopt For Better Swim Practices Swimmers have an amazing ability to get better when they put in the correct work at practice. While most athletes use effort as a way to measure their success, they are not always using the right tools to ensure they are getting the most out of pr...

What Makes the Perfect Swimmer's Body? Although swimmers with a wide variety of body types have found success in the sport, most at the international level tend to look similar, sporting tall and muscular bodies - typically with long torsos, long arms and short legs. This begs the question: If you c...

Races Without Favorites: With Peaty Uncertain, Men’s 100 Breaststroke Wide Open Less than two months out from the next edition of the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, several individual races already have clearly-established favorites. Think about the women’s distance races, where Katie Ledeck...

Performance Boosters for Swimmers: What Can Help By Allie Clark and Wilson Josephson, Swimming World College Interns As a new season begins, we’ve taken a look at some interesting foods athletes have adopted as ways of getting the most out of their bodies. These super foods for swimmers may surprise...

5 Things to Consider when Coming Back to the Pool It’s time for summer swim season! No matter the competition level, you might be returning to the pool after a break. Coming back to the sport after some time away can be exciting. However, we also forget some important things after coming back. Here ...

6 Ways To Improve Your Flip Turn By Annie Grevers How many times have you been told to be quicker on your walls? Not to hesitate before flipping? Get your feet around faster? Probably quite a few times. Turns are not merely a fun accessory in swimming. They're a crucial part of our sport. How many t...

Young Swimmers Could Boost American Women Into World Title Hunt in 800 Freestyle Relay One year ago, the American women were longshot candidates to win a world title in the 800 freestyle relay. In fact, finishing off the podium seemed like a more plausible scenario than U.S. gold. The field also inc...

A Taste of Everything: Why Younger Swimmers Should Race Every Event In swimming, the topic of specialization of young athletes is often contentious and controversial. At the beginning of my career, I was extremely fortunate to grow up and participate in a program that put an emphasis on doing all di...

The Coaching Phrase Manual: 10 Things Coaches Say During Practice By Isabelle Robuck No one else compares to your favorite swim coach. Think about it now; what makes your coach the best? Most swimmers deeply relate to their coaches through shared work ethic and discipline, training style, and - most...

An Open Letter to Summer League Swimming With the summer league season arriving in many parts of the country, we rerun this commentary from the Swimming World archive that provides tremendous perspective on the meaning of the summer campaign. By Molly Griswold The palms of your hands grip your elbow...

Decisions, Decisions! By Jennifer Yoo, Swimming World College Intern. Life is full of difficult decisions. There is an inexplicable pressure to make the right one, and each decision determines a different outcome that ultimately leads to even more choices. However, whether the choice was right or wr...

11 Things That Separate the Good Swimmer from the Great Swimmer By Brittany Oxley (Archive) “This is the difference between being good and being great.” That quote has been engrained in my head since I started swimming at 6 years old. I believe every coach I have ever swum for has said those words. ...

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...

15 Truths About Swimming Swimming is a sport like no other. You learn a lot about yourself throughout your years as a swimmer and the sport inherently instills valuable life lessons in you. Even when your time as a competitive swimmer is done, you still continue to learn more about the sport and hav...

Kaylee McKeown, Summer McIntosh Have Strengthened Loaded 200 IM Field For World Champs For the first time in 13 years, an American was world champion in the women's 200 individual medley. And it was not close — Alex Walsh produced a dominating effort in the final, leaving Australian runnerup Kaylee ...

11 Things Your Swimming Coach Is Always Yelling By Allison Peters, Swimming World College Intern We all know what it is like to have your swimming coaches yelling at the top of their lungs during practice, trying to get our attention. Here's a few things that you can improve on to reduce some of thi...