The ABCs of Swimming

Photo Courtesy: Brian Jenkins-UVM Athletics

By Chandler Brandes, Swimming World College Intern.

All the essentials of the sport we love.

A…Alarm clocks.
Because who doesn’t love hearing this go off at 5 in the morning?

B…Bus rides.
Some of the best memories are bus rides with your team to and from meets.

C…Coaches.
Or chocolate milk. You can decide which one is more important.

D…Disqualified.
A DQ only means a trip to Dairy Queen, right?

E…Energy.
The energy on deck at finals, at a meet in your home pool, or after a big win is electric.

F…Food.
Finishing practice means immediately shoving as much food into your mouth as possible.

G…Get out swims.
We’ll do anything to try and cut practice short.

H…Hard practices.
You hate the sets during them, but successfully finishing a difficult practice feels so rewarding.

I…Ice.
Your shoulders’ best friend, especially if you’re a butterflier.

J…Journal.
Keeping a swim journal has many benefits and is a great place for you to keep track of your goals and progress.

K…Kickboards.
Kick sets are 100 times better when you’re allowed to use boards, mostly because it makes it easier to talk.

L…Lane lines.
Imagine doing backstroke without having anything to pull on.

M…Michael Phelps.
Can you say G.O.A.T.?

N…NCAAs.
Be sure to follow along with the women’s meet and the men’s meet for some insanely fast college swimming.

O…Olympics.
Every four years our sport gets the world recognition it deserves.

P…Pasta.
And more pasta. And even more pasta.

Q…Qualified.
Nothing beats finally getting that cut time or making it back for a second swim at night.

R…Running.
Every swimmer’s worst nightmare.

S…SwimmingWorld.
Obviously your go-to (and best!) source for all swimming-related news.

T…Teammates.
Your team makes the hard days a little easier and you wouldn’t want anyone else by your side during the good moments.

U…Underwater.
Where we’d rather be when coach is explaining the main set.

V…Vengeance.
If you had a bad race or an off meet, come back with vengeance to crush the next one.

W…Warmup.
Whoever said swimming isn’t a contact sport has never seen a crowded meet warmup.

X…Exciting.
Having the race of your life, anchoring the winning relay, or watching a record-breaking swim are just a few of the many things that makes our sport so exciting.

Y…“Why am I doing this?”
You probably ask yourself every morning on the way to practice.

Z…Zzzzzzz.
Because the only thing to do after practice is to sleep forever.

All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.

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Tedd Van Duyne

7 years ago

Bridget Camblin, Gabby Braman, Lindsay Whiting – some cool thoughts for next year. Bridget and Gabby in particular – study the photo!!

Bridget Camblin

7 years ago

Reply to Tedd Van Duyne

Perfect form

Andrew Matejka

7 years ago

Matthew Shriner shriner abc