Swim Life

The Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide for Swimmers, Coaches, and All Aquatic Athletes Throughout the season, we shared three Holiday Gift Guides highlighting some of our favorite products for the aquatics community. Now, we’ve compiled them into one master gift guide for anyone still looking to check off ...

7 Fun Holiday Gift Ideas for Swimmers (Last-Minute Shoppers - Hurry!!!) With the holiday season in full swing, the stress of gift shopping is well underway. For any last-minute shoppers, here are seven gift ideas for swimmers to place under the tree.  The Magic5 Card Game Cost: $24 (on sale from $30...

Which Mile Are You Swimming? The Many Ways Distance Swimmers Count a Mile “50, 100, 150, 200… wait, was that the 200 or the 250?”  Whether we like to admit it or not, most distance swimmers have been there. You’re in the middle of racing a mile when your mind suddenly goes blank, and you silently th...

Cold Water and the Mind Behind Speed There is nothing worse than one of those first outdoor summer practices in May when the air has not touched 80 degrees yet. The pool sits there cold. Colder than cold. Jumping in feels like punishment, and getting through the set becomes the hardest part of the d...

The Art of a Negative Split: How the Tough Take Over Negative split. What does it mean? What is its significance? A negative split in swimming means the second half of the race is faster than the first half. It is a pacing strategy built around discipline. Start strong and controlled to conserve ene...

The Moments Before a Race and How to Prepare We all know the feeling moments before the starting sound comes from the officials’ tent. The muffled splash of a race finishing in the lane next to you, the hum of teammates talking between heats, an official’s whistle cutting through the noise and your ...

Staying Motivated Through Holiday Training  The holidays are a time filled with warmth, festivities, and celebration. But if you are a swimmer, December and the holidays also come with something else: Holiday training. This time consists of long practices, tired muscles, early alarms, and a heavy st...

A Swimmer's Guide to Chlorine Hair: How to Keep Your Locks Healthy Anyone who has swum since they were little knows the struggle of chlorine hair — dry, frizzy and bleached. “Swimmer hair” is a tell-tale sign in every group, the kind of signal that says, "oh hey, she definitely swims." From the outs...

4 Reasons To Be Thankful For Your Swim Parents By Nicole E. Johnson Behind all of the hard work and dedication that swimming takes, there are swim parents who have stood by you and pushed you to be your very best. Most athletes would agree that they would not have come as far in their sport if it we...

A swimmer’s favorite words to hear from a coach are “Good job.” But nothing compares to hearing, “We are starting our taper.” That moment feels like the first breath after the final turn in a 200-meter backstroke. The grind of a swim season is hard, and swimmers feel it all year. The work is necessa...

Why We’re Thankful for Swimming  As Thanksgiving rolls around, swimmers, families and coaches across the country naturally find themselves thinking about what they are thankful for. Between the early mornings, the long meets, and the endless hours spent around the water, the sport has a way of shapi...

How Can Swimmers Deal With Adversity? As an athlete, you are always on display. Every time you go out to compete, you are under a microscope. Rivals assessing your results. Friends and coaches hoping for the best. Neutrals looking for an exciting race. It is a pressure cooker of an environment. Ever...

5 Drills to Improve Your Underwaters: Improving a Key Aspect of Racing Underwaters are one of the most important parts of a race. That fact is confirmed by watching any elite-level swim. The fastest swimmers stay underwater for an extended period, using strong, powerful kicks to propel themselves fa...

Motivational Monday: 5 Ways to Stay Motivated - A Letter to Those Who are Stuck in the Mud Dear Struggling Swimmer, You’re tired and sore all the time, you’re not getting anywhere, and all you want to do is eat a tub of Ben and Jerry’s, get into bed, and nap for the next few weeks. If you have been ...

Six Ways Swim Parents and Coaches Can Work Together In A Beneficial Manner The coach-parent relationship is critical as athletes work toward improving and achieving their goals. In many cases, this relationship is smooth and proves beneficial. Unfortunately, there are times when parents do not give ...

From Tim Duncan to Joe Thomas: How the Pool Can Be an Athlete's Greatest Ally The pool does not care who you are. Whether All-Pro or All-American, the second you dive in, you can be humbled. The water has no favorites. In the pool, everyone is equal. It does not matter how tall you are or how much y...

As swimmers, we can look for quick fixes. We know that we can adjust a flip turn here, tweak a breath there, and throw in a few extra dolphin kicks off of our start—and that could shave time off of even the shortest of races. However, we are not always eager to reach for the more long-term aids to o...

The Power of a Positive Mindset: How Your Thoughts Can Change Your Swimming  You can train harder than anyone else in the pool, but if you don’t believe in yourself, it’s tough to reach your full potential. The truth is, your mindset matters just as much as your physical strength. What you tell your...

6 Ways to Swim Tall: Advice for the Vertically Challenged By Delaney Lanker My whole swimming career people have been telling me to swim tall. Standing at 5'0", I wouldn’t really consider myself “tall.” I don’t fit the typical swimmer mold, but I’m okay with that. While my height might be a disadvan...

10 Hidden Benefits of Swimming Everyone wants to be an Olympic swimmer. But luckily, you don’t have to be an Olympic swimmer to benefit from the sport. People of all ages, from all backgrounds, and with various levels of experience can benefit from swimming. Swimming is one of the few sports you can...