Swim Life

The 29 Confessions of a Distance Swimmer By Chandler Brandes, Swimming World College Intern "I didn't choose the distance life. The distance life chose me." Well, not quite. Distance swimmers are all born the same way: we swam the 500 for the first time around age nine or 10 and didn't do too badly,...

Challenging 9 Swimming Myths That Have Run Rampant By Gigi Picard, Swimming World College Intern For whatever reason, myths just pop to the surface when non-competitive swimmers comment on swimmers and swimming in general. I know I’ve encountered some wild theories like swimmers shouldn’t go on land...

The Age-Old Debate: What is the Hardest Event in Swimming? By Elise Devlin, Swimming World Intern 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 you...

As Cases Rise, Reminders on How to Maintain COVID-19 Safety Protocols In Practice By Madison Hoehn, Swimming World Intern Swim teams around the world have all been struggling with one mutual obstacle: how to safely practice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether it be age group, club, YMCA, college, ...

By Gigi Picard Swimming World College Intern Swimming is a detail-obsessed sport: It’s all about precise qualifying times, strict training schedules, stroke descriptors, a lot of counting and hundredths of a second to crack the podium.  How many of you feel confident you know the history of swimming...

As the Holidays Approach, Maintaining Good Mental Health Becomes a Priority The holidays are always a tricky time for swimmers. Practices are usually interrupted due to school breaks, coaches are pulling out their favorite sets, and the in-laws are coming. However, this year is very different from t...

5 Strength Training Exercises to Improve Swimming Performance By Kayla Riemensperger Weight training is often a highly debated topic in the world of swimming. While there is no clear-cut right or wrong answer to whether or not weights are beneficial for developing swimmers, many year-round programs ...

Don't Violate These 16 Unspoken Swimmer Laws By Allison Peters Once, during a meet, I had a revelation. After almost being jumped on by one of my teammates during warmup, I thought to myself, “Wow, he’s really breaking a norm right now.” Then I realized the way swim meets and swim practices run are ...

12 Quirks of Competitive Swimming By Rachel Helm To most people, swimming is seen as just a sport or having a little splash in the pool. However, to a competitive swimmer, it becomes a lifestyle. Here are 12 quirks of competitive swimming that we all can relate to. 1) Chlorine becomes your natural s...

6 Reasons Why Swimmers Make the Best Students Early alarm clock rings. Morning lifting practice. Breakfast. School. Lunch. Practice. Dinner. Homework. Swimming steals a lot of your time and begs the question as to when is there ever time for school? Our education is an important part o...

10 Things That Should Not Be Said to a Swimmer By Brooke Irving, Swimming World College Intern Swimmers lead a lifestyle that doesn’t make sense to non-swimmers. But can we really blame them for not understanding? Like no other, we voluntarily jump into a cold pool in the dead of winter (most often ...

A Dive Into the World of Swimmers: Going Beneath the Surface By Daniel Zeng, Swimming World Intern Swimmers have been known to think their sport is tougher than the rest. We are expected to perform at our best, all while barely breathing. Although it is true that swimming shares attributes with othe...

Swimming on the TV/Movie Screen: A Character Ranking It’s unfortunately common knowledge that the portrayal of swimming in film and television is relatively uncommon, being overshadowed by sports such as ping-pong (Balls of Fury, 2007), BASEketball (BASEketball, 1998), and bobsled (Cool Runnings, 19...

The Cranberry Sauce Dilemma: How Many Calories Are in My Thanksgiving Dishes? Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching, bringing with it the promise of meticulous cooking and ample food for the dinner table. Though swimmers are often characterized as enthusiastic eaters, they pose little competition to t...

Swimming World provided the opportunity for its Instagram followers to ask Michael Andrew questions about the International Swimming League (ISL). Hear what the New York Breakers superstar has to say about racing in Budapest, Hungary. Q: How many times have you been COVID tested while in Budapest? h...

Who among elite swimmers doesn’t do yoga these days for the flexibility training, core muscle strength -- and most importantly, meditative qualities? Recognizing that yoga has become a popular cross-training activity for many competitive swimmers, SwimOutlet.com has launched its own Yoga for Swi...

Look Out: 18 Types of Swimmers That Are Seen at Practice By Nick Pecoraro Waking up before the sun rises, diving into a cold pool, getting water stuck in your ears; these are a few of every swimmer’s least favorite things. A swimmer’s pet peeve can even take the form of a person. Everyone knows at l...

The Characteristics Found in 6 Different Types of Swimmers Not all swimmers are created equal. Some are sprinters. Some are distance swimmers. Some are everything in-betweeners. Some swimmers like butterfly more than backstroke. No matter their stroke, swimmers come in all shapes, mentalities and sp...

Bringing back this article by Bailey Duran, Swimming World Intern. Giving all the swim parents out there a little love!  Many people have no problem spotting swimmers from a mile away with these telltale features: a bulky bag, messy bun filled with dead hair (for the girls), dry skin, tired eyes, go...

8 Things Only Swimmers Will Understand On average, swimmers spend 12 hours per week training to be the best athlete they can be. That means countless miles following that black line, hundreds of tumble-turns, and plenty of time spent with teammates. What’s certain is that swimming is a sport that re...