From the Swimming World website... By RUTH BEADLE As much as swimming is a team sport, most races are only completed by one person. However, the training often organized by coaches applies to many teammates instead of one person. Even though this practice is effective and makes sense for helping coach large groups, the individual can sometimes forget they have a voice in how they train. One of the hallmarks of an athlete growing up is learning how to use their voice to ask for what they need. Here are...

From the Swimming World website... By Jamie Kolar, Swimming World College Intern. Since the beginning of time, humans have been asking a simple existential question: Who am I? This question can be followed with subsequent questions of what makes me special? What is my purpose? These questions all get down to our deep desire to know who we are and what we are made of. Read more >>

From the Swimming World website... By BRI GROVES Swimming fast requires intense physical and mental exertion, which is all the more reason for competitive swimmers to focus on what goes into their bodies. It’s no wonder then that providing your body with the proper nutrients it needs to perform, recover, and reset comes with a hefty reward. Read more >>

From the Swimming World website... By Julia Czentye (formerly Warnken) If you were a swimmer, you should remember your first coach, right? Or like any sport you played when you were young, some of the most memorable older figures were your first teachers, coaches, or babysitters. Those were the fun days where everything was so simple and life was so easy. Don’t you wish you could have a day in memory lane? I do. Read more >>

From the Swimming World website... By Summer Finke The first practice of the New Year always feels a little different. The pool deck maintains the same chlorinated smell. The water is just as freezing. The beep from the clock on the wall still seems louder than it should. But something about January brings a quiet sense of possibility with new goals and a new sense of motivation. Read more >>

From the USA Swimming website... By Truesport Since he was only a few years old, Trevon Jenifer has focused on athletic goals and how to achieve them. With that focus and some strategic goal setting, Jenifer has gone on to become a four-time Paralympian in the sport of wheelchair basketball. Read more >>

From the Swimming World website... By Temarie Tomley After celebrating my recent birthday, I realized just how old I’ve gotten and how long I’ve been in this game. I’ve been swimming for 15 years, and in those 15 years I have learned so much. Everyone’s journey through this sport is different, and here I just want to share a little bit of what I wish I’d known when I was a young age group swimmer. Read more >>

From the Swimming World website... By KATIE WINGERT As swimmers, we can be quick to jump 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 off a full second off of even the shortest of races. However, we are not always eager to reach for the more long-term aids to our performance. One of those aids is related to mindset: how coachable are you? Read more...

From the USA Swimming website... By TrueSport As an Olympic weightlifter, setting incredibly specific goals is nonnegotiable for Abby Raymond. Because a single pound of weight on the bar could be the difference between a win or a loss, the granular focus on numbers is key to success. But it's not always easy to predict performance like that, so Raymond has had to learn to balance ultra-specific goals with a more global vision of success. Here, she shares her best goal-setting tips for anyone who's in a data-heavy sport. Read...

From the Swimming World website... By Summer Finke “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 thank the swimming gods that distance swimming allows lap counters. Read more >>