Commentary

The Importance of Non-Swimmer Friends: Why We Need These Pals The friends you make while swimming will be lifelong pals. However, the ones you make outside the sport are also important and, in some ways, better for you while you are competing. Here's why. They Know Nothing About the Sport These fri....

Swimming is a unique sport that adapts to our changing bodies, supporting fitness and competition. From youth to the golden years, swimming evolves to meet our physical needs at every stage of life. The sport offers the opportunity for competition while also providing the choice of fitness for those...

Maggie Mac Neil Produced Many Golden Moments During Brilliant Five-Year Run The list of Canadian women to capture Olympic gold in swimming stands at just four: Anne Ottenbrite was the lone member of the club for 32 years after topping the 200 breaststroke at the 1984 Olympics, but since 2016, one sw...

Following the Olympic Games in Paris, there is room for reflection on the British swimming team. Paris showed a significant drop in podium places compared to the achievements of Tokyo 2020. The medal comparison from Tokyo to Paris tells a story, as the team placed third on the table in Tokyo, but wa...

Understanding the Potential Heartbreak of Chasing the Olympic Dream Will Licon is a world champion, Pan American Games champion and 11-time NCAA champion. Over the course of his career, he has proven his talent as a spectacular athlete. In 2016, he finished third in the 200-meter breaststroke at the...

How to Avoid Burnout as a Collegiate Student-Athlete Burnout: A feeling of disinterest or dissatisfaction that many student-athletes feel at some point during their athletic career. As unfortunate as it sounds, burnout is a common feeling that athletes commonly face. For some athletes, burnout may b...

A Distance Swimming Renaissance, and Why Today's Athletes Offer Can't-Miss Action In arguably the greatest male race for the U.S. team at the Paris Olympics, Bobby Finke defended his 1500 freestyle Olympic gold medal in stunning fashion, taking down controversial Chinese swimmer Sun Yang’s 12-year-o...

By Katie Wingert, Swimming World College Intern Swimming alone can be a struggle between staring at the black line and wanting to smash your incessantly beeping tempo trainer with your fins. Ideally, we swimmers would always have a team to practice with. Sometimes, though, life gets complicated. Sch...

In many of my previous articles, I have emphasized the importance of change. You are never going to improve by constantly doing the same things all the time. It is so important to reflect on your past season and think about the things that went great, as well as the things that could have been done ...

Racing for Gold: Tips and Tricks for the College Swimming Recruiting Process The nerves wash over you, as you look upon an intimidating field of competitors. This event is one that will change your entire future, with turns and difficult stretches that will surely test you. But with a strong finish,...

How American Men Struggled in Paris, Lost Out on Olympic Medals This summer in Paris, the new stars of men’s swimming took their places atop the world. Leon Marchand was the most prominent of those stars with his four gold medals, all in Olympic-record time, while David Popovici, Pan Zhanle and Hube...

Overcoming Performance Plateaus: How to Break Through and Achieve Personal Bests (Video) Performance plateaus are common for swimmers, but can be turned into growth opportunities with the proper approach. To overcome plateaus and achieve new personal bests, consider adopting the following strategies...

Training Pool Bucket List: 8 Unique Pools Around the World The pools we train in are pretty universal. Whether you're indoors or outdoors, they mostly consist of the same things. Picture the pool you train in daily, and I'm going to guess the basics. There's probably a pool deck infested with variou...

Why Being an IMer is the Perfect Situation (From the Archive) By Cathleen Pruden Full disclosure: I am a 400 IMer and I absolutely love it. It took me a while to come to terms with my fate as an IMer. I struggled with the fact that I didn't have a "prime" stroke. It wasn't until being well rounded s...

Lessons to Learn When Swimming Seems So Cruel From the Swimming World Archive The 400 IM is a race I only had to swim once to decide it was not my calling. Now when I watch people race it, and love all 16 laps of it, I cannot relate, but I certainly can respect. One such swimmer was shooting for his...

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...

Why You Should Train Your Off Stroke: The Benefits of Mixing Things Up (From the Archive) “What is the hardest swimming event?” There are many answers to this question. Many would say the 400 IM. Why? You start off with a 100 fly, which can easily tire you out, followed by a 100 back. Next you have ...

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...

The Future of Swimming: Emerging Trends and What to Expect in the Next Decade As swimming evolves, several trends are set to shape the sport in the next decade. First, data-driven training is revolutionizing performance analysis with AI-powered tools and wearable technology, both providing precise i...

The 'Why' In Coaching: The Importance Of Providing An Explanation Three minutes into the coach’s monologue on butterfly technique, ninth grader Sam raised his hand and asked, "why?’" “I thought I was a good coach,” says his Middle Atlantic mentor. “I had state-championship teams, high school All-Ame...