Commentary

What Makes a GREAT Coach? An Athlete and Coach Perspective The best coaches are people who are influential, motivational, supportive, caring, positive and willing to help their athletes. Many mentors might display some of these qualities, but it takes someone special to represent them all. Great coa...

Surging Torri Huske Shakes Up Indy and Paris Status Quo The 2023 World Championships did not go as planned for Torri Huske. Individually, she swam only the 50 and 100 butterfly, and she fell to bronze in the 100-meter race after swimming almost one second off her American record. After racing on fou...

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...

As Hype Builds for Paris Olympics, Men's 100 Butterfly Could Be a Race to Remember At the last Olympics, the men’s 100 butterfly unfolded as a showdown of two world-record-holding, Olympic-gold-medal-winning swimmers with very different racing styles. The United States’ Caeleb Dressel, already the g...

Great Britain Relay Analysis: Four Teams Head to Paris as Medal Favorites Three years ago in Tokyo, Great Britain won Olympic gold in the men's 800 freestyle relay, the country's first gold medal in any swimming relay since the inaugural Olympic relay at the 1908 Games in London. Now, with British T...

United States Building Case as Men's 400 Free Relay Favorites When we last checked on the U.S. men's 400 freestyle relay, there were trouble spots that needed addressing. After an undefeated run during the five major meets when Caeleb Dressel was leading off the squad, the Americans ended up with br...

Five Qualities That Define A Competitive Swimmer Commentary by Jim Lutz (From the Archive) FOR years I have had conversations with people who claim to "know someone" in high school or during their childhood years that "could have gone to the Olympics ... but didn't want to." How ridiculous to assume...

Credit to Cal as Destin Lasco, Liam Bell Lead Bears to Yet Another Top-Two Finish The Cal men could not pull off a third consecutive national title, falling by 79 points to a dominant performance from Arizona State. It would have taken miraculous performances from the Golden Bears plus disappointing...

NCAA Championships: History Was Made, But Who Was Watching? Both versions of this year's NCAA championships - women and men - were nothing short of amazing. Between the Walsh sisters (Alex and Gretchen), Leon Marchand and Josh Liendo (and more), records fell or were at least in jeopardy in the major...

Why Swimming Is Worth the Sacrifice and Time Demands By SuSu Almousa (From the Archive) Swimmers become “swammers" and swammers typically stay swammers but the sport doesn’t leave us as easily as changing a vowel in our titles. In retirement, we watch meets and there is typically a yearnin...

Dressel, Douglass, Marchand, Walsh: Comparing Transcendent Performances at NCAA Championships When Caeleb Dressel concluded his collegiate swimming career in 2018, his accomplishments seemed unlikely to be matched anytime in the near future. After all, Dressel's last NCAA Championships saw him becom...

As the short course season wraps up, many swimmers are taking their well-deserved break from the pool. After a long season full of rigorous practices, early mornings and numerous meets, it is natural to want to exercise your body in different ways. Cross training during the offseason is not only ben...

Why Have 2024 NCAA Men's Championships Been The Fastest Ever? Fans who attended the NCAA Men's Championships during the mid-2010s might not recognize the meet in 2024. For one, the event lineup has changed, with the 800 freestyle relay and then the 200 medley relay moved to Wednesday night (through ...

An Open Letter to the Unsung Swim Parent Swimming World runs this tribute to parents on occasion to recognize the impact that parents have on the sport, and as an appreciation for their dedication to their children's pursuits. By Lillian Nelson, Swimming World College Intern Swimming is tough. It is...

Motivational Monday: How a Senior Beat Challenges During Grueling Championship Meet By Elizabeth Kelley, Guest Contributor Breathe, it's only a 200, I tell myself. Eight laps butterfly — that’s all it is. A shiver runs down my spine as I think about the amount of pain my body is about to experience....

NCAA Women's Championships: Virginia Four-Peat Seems Inevitable But Storylines Abound Barring a dramatic upset, the University of Virginia will wrap up a fourth consecutive NCAA team title in women's swimming and diving this week. Even with the graduation of two-time NCAA Swimmer of the Year Kate Do...

What is the Hardest Event in Swimming? By Elise Devlin There’s nothing worse than getting a wide eyed, worrisome expression from your friend after you answered their question, “So, what event do you have next?” We’ve all been there. Lurking somewhere in your meet lineup is only the worst event to ex...

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. ...

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...

The Big Deal About a Swimmer's Nutrition By Bailey Duran Swimming requires massive amounts of energy, whether it’s an elite-level practice or an age group practice. Because of this high energy expenditure, swimmers need to take the right steps to replenish the nutrients lost. According to wellness c...