Commentary

'Men Between Worlds': End of Unprecedented Era of Nathan Adrian, Anthony Ervin, Ryan Lochte, Matt Grevers, Cullen Jones and Michael Phelps It appears to be the end of an era in men’s swimming in the United States. It was known as the “Phelps Era” for so long, but the era was so much more — it was a ...

U.S. Olympic Trials: Promising Trends Developing for Women’s and Men’s 400 Medley Relays Most of the news out of Omaha on the relay front this week has been less than promising for the Americans. The women’s freestyle relays are in much worse position than expected after no one broke 53.5 in the 100...

Who's Coaching Team USA? The Candidates for the Tokyo Olympics Staff With six out of eight days at the United States Olympic Trials complete, the Olympic team has begun to take shape, and enough swimmers have begun to qualify in multiple events to allow second-place finishers to be added to the wome...

U.S. Olympic Trials, Day 7 Notebook: How Erika Brown Reinvented Herself to Make Tokyo In the fall of 2017, University of Tennessee sophomore Erika Brown was one of the feel-good stories of college swimming as she propelled herself from a non-NCAA qualifier as a freshman to one of the country’s top s...

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 - ...

U.S. Olympic Trials: American Women’s Freestyle Relays Looking Shaky on Road to Tokyo While many Americans have asserted themselves or defended their status as Olympic medal contenders this week in Omaha, few events have seen more of a dropoff from the pre-meet status quo than the women’s freestyles...

Matt Grevers got out of the pool somewhat disappointed, but before he could think about what could have been his last 100 backstroke on the big stage,  a wave of jubilation overtook him as he reached the pool deck. Grevers, who was aiming for his third Olympic team, fell four spots short of qualifyi...

Yes, Michael Andrew is Really a Contender for 200 IM Olympic Gold Michael Andrew going out under world record pace in the 200 IM? At this point, that’s become the norm for the 22-year-old. He blasts out on the butterfly, backstroke and breaststroke, but the field comes back and catches up on freesty...

U.S. Olympic Trials, Day 6 Notebook: Caeleb Dressel From 2012 Trials to Gold Medal Favorite Today, Caeleb Dressel is the world’s best swimmer, a 13-time world champion already and freshly qualified for his second Olympic team after a victory in the 100 free in the world’s second-fastest time, 47.39....

An Explanation Of How Tech Suits Benefit Swimmers When it comes time to race, many swimmers, especially those racing in high-level competitions, wear specialized knee-length swimsuits known as tech suits. They're everywhere in the swimming world. But how do tech suits work? And do they actually make...

10 Thoughts That Cross the Mind While Watching the United States Olympic Trials One of the cool things about the United States Olympic Trials is the way it brings the swimming community together. Fans, athletes, parents and coaches have the opportunity to watch the festivities from Omaha on nightly ...

Dressel and U.S. Men Set for Intense Duel with Russia for 400 Free Relay Gold Since the beginning of the Caeleb Dressel era in 2016, the American men earned one Olympic gold medal and two world titles in the 400 free relay. The only slip-up came at the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships, when the team w...

U.S. Olympic Trials, Day 5 Notebook: Does More 200 Breast Madness Await? In three previous Olympic Trials in Omaha, the men’s 200 breast has included a wild finish every time. In 2008, Brendan Hansen was the undisputed top breaststroker in the United States, and he led through 150 meters, but then, ...

U.S. Olympic Trials: Omaha Is the Hollywood and Red Carpet of USA Swimming By Annika Hobson, Swimming World College Intern Walking around the streets of Omaha, Nebraska while the United States Olympic Trials is being conducted, swim fans have many chances to see their favorite swim stars. The swimme...

Nathan Adrian Missing Tokyo Would Be Huge Loss for Team USA As the swimmers in the first semifinal of the Olympic Trials men’s 100 freestyle reached the home stretch, everyone inside the arena in Omaha realized the significance of the moment. Nathan Adrian, one of the best sprinters in American hist...

U.S. Olympic Trials, Day 4 Notes: Virginia Women Poised for Huge Night at Trials In the first four year’s of Todd DeSorbo’s tenure as head coach at Virginia, the Cavaliers have skyrocketed up the national rankings, particularly on the women’s side. After finishing 12th at the NCAA championships the ...

A Shoutout to the Olympic Trials' Wave I Swimmers By Mauro Pacsi, Swimming World College Intern It is not news that the U.S. Olympic Trials are taking place. Wave II began this week while Wave I took place a week before. The Olympic Trials contains the top 1% of swimmers in the nation. It is a meet ...

Transitioning From The Pool to Open-Water: A Guide For Pool Swimmers to Master The New Element By Vanessa Steigauf, Swimming World College Intern Many pool swimmers do, at some point in their careers, switch to open-water swimming. It might be the curious swimmer who wants to try something new, the ...

American Men in Trouble for Men’s 800 Free Relay at Olympics Outside of the boycotted 1980 Olympics, the American men have won a medal in every single swimming relay ever contested at the Olympics. Every single one. The vast majority of those teams have been gold medalists, but third place has been ...

Pressure Off for First Two U.S. Men’s Olympians Kalisz and Smith At Start of Pivotal Week Chase Kalisz was beaming. The first final of the 2021 Olympic Trials was a mirror image of the first final in 2016, with Kalisz taking first in the 400 IM and Georgia teammate Jay Litherland, just when his hope...