By SwimSwam Contributors on SwimSwam

When beginning any project, many people have trouble knowing where to begin and how to focus on getting organized, setting new goals, and being motivated. This can apply to your swimmer’s approach to being recruited to swim in college as well.

Becoming a college swimming recruit can be an intimidating process, especially if you and your swimmer are just getting started. It is never too late to start, though, and it is often helpful to break it down into manageable segments.

Here are some tasks to get the process off swimmingly –

Set Reasonable Goals for Swim Times in Best Events

If your swimmer is struggling to get a Senior Champs time in his best event, it is unlikely for him to expect to achieve a US Open cut and to be recruited at a top 10 swim program. Talking to a club coach can help your swimmer develop realistic goals for time improvements between now and the end of his junior year in high school when coaches begin getting serious about recruiting swimmers.

Most coaches try to recruit swimmers who will score points in the Conference Championship meets. After your swimmer sets some reasonable goals regarding times, he needs to see which conferences he fits in by looking up the times achieved in the previous year’s championships.

Be setting reasonable goals, you will have a better idea time-wise of which schools are viable.

Identify 20 Target Schools

Identify approximately 20 schools that would be of interest based on climate, geographic location and size. If your swimmer hates the heat and humidity, going to school in Florida or South Texas is probably not a good idea as he will only like the climate for about 4 months of each school year.

If your swimmer has an idea of his academic interests, it is helpful, but many students do not at this age. Fortunately, most colleges expect this and offer a wide variety of programs. Approximately 75% of students change their major at least once during college so do not be alarmed if your child does not have career goals in mind yet.

Your swimmer may have grown up rooting for the hometown team and always dreamed of swimming at the state flagship school but most of these schools are very fast and this may not be a realistic goal as your swimmer gets older. There is no need to be discouraged though as there is a school for (almost) everyone – it is a matter of finding the right fit.

Be Sure Social Media is Clean

Some coaches and college admissions officers truly do check the social media accounts of prospective students and athletes and once something is put on the internet, it can be found.

This is the time for your swimmer to check all of her social media accounts and make sure nothing offensive is posted. If a friend frequently posts offensive or off-color material, it is a good idea to unfollow the friend as it can show up on your child’s wall. I always told my kids “you are judged by the company you keep” and your child would hate to be eliminated as a potential recruit based on something that one of her “friends” posted.

Designate Time To Accomplish Reasonable Tasks

Instead of deciding to look at times required to score in Conference Championships for 30 conferences in a weekend or to complete 20 Recruit Questionnaires in one day, your swimmer should decide what is manageable along with homework and swim practice. My son used to take about an hour on Saturday afternoons to complete Recruit Questionnaires (found on most college athletics web sites) and to look up information about schools. He came home from swim practice to eat and sleep (of course!) then woke up and spent some time on recruiting tasks before going on to another activity.

As he got further into the recruiting process, he would use this time to email coaches to introduce himself and to correspond with the coaches he developed a rapport with.  

Executing these first few steps will begin the recruiting process in an organized manner, and help your child get off to the right start.

About College Swimming Guide

College Swimming Guide simplifies the process of being recruited to swim in college by providing sample emails to coaches, lists of questions to ask coaches, a community to interact with other parents, and spreadsheets of colleges and conference championship times to see where your swimmer fits. We also have lots of information available, such as checklists to find the right fit to swim in college, NCAA Rules Summary, NCAA Calendar and more. We will walk you through the process and let you know what to do and when to do it.    

To learn more and to receive the College Swimming Guide Relay, sign up here.

Michelle Lombana is committed to helping parents like her whose children want to swim in college by simplifying the recruiting process through www.collegeswimmingguide.com. Check out her summary of NCAA Recruiting Rules and NCAA Calendar for helpful dates.

^{Swim News is courtesy of Michelle Lombana, a SwimSwam partner.} 

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Getting Organized To Swim In College

By Braden Keith on SwimSwam

FINA, the international governing body for 6 disciplines of aquatics sports, has put forth a proposal to add high diving to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

High diving, which FINA considers a different discipline from the more traditional indoor, springboard and platform diving, involves divers leaping from heights over twice as high. A standard high diving apparatus incliudes a 5-meter platform, a 10-meter platform, a 20-meter platform (the women’s standard competition height) and a 27-meter platform (the men’s standard competition height). At impact, divers are traveling over 50 miles per hour – so the dives are all feet-first, rather than head-first.

• Read more about high-diving here.

The discipline was added already to the 2013 FINA World Aquatics Championships offering and is contested at the wildly-popular Red Bull Cliff Diving series.

FINA made the announcement of their request at the start of the 4th edition of the FINA High Diving World Cup in Abu Dhabi this week.

If the IOC approaches high diving as a new sport, rather than an added discipline to regular diving, then it would first need to receive as a sport by the IOC. Many sports receive recognition but are not competed at the Olympics – like bowling and chess.

The IOC can then choose to admit it to the Olympics as either a sport, a discipline (branch of a sport), or an event.

FINA’s biggest challenge to overcome would be the Olympic Charter standards of inclusion. According to that charter, to be accepted, that sport must be “widely practiced” by men in at least 75 countries on 4 continents and by women in 40 countries on 3 continents.

High diving would likely clear most of the other hurdles. It would have to increase the “value and appeal” of the Olympic Games, which crowds at the cliff-diving series indicate it would; and must not be a purely “mind sport” or dependent on mechanical propulsion.

On balance, high diving’s only route to the Olympics at present would be as an added event or discipline (as they referred to it several times in their announcement), but even then, the IOC would likely challenge FINA to prove it as a truly-global competition. At the 2015 World Aquatics Championships, only 20 men from 12 countries and 10 women from 7 countries competed.

FINA also presented the addition of new events for pool swimming for the Olympics.

The full announcement, courtesy Pedro Adrega, Head of FINA’s Communications Department, is below:

The FINA Executive Director Cornel Marculescu announced it officially at the opening Press Conference of the 4^th edition of the FINA High Diving World Cup in Abu Dhabi (UAE): our International Federation has formally requested the IOC to include this spectacular discipline in the programme of the 2020 Tokyo Games. “This is an extreme sport and will certainly bring an added value to the Olympic programme. Since the introduction of High Diving in the FINA programme, in 2013, the evolution has been amazing, and the moment has come to go further”, considered Mr. Marculescu.

At his side, one of the most experienced high divers of the circuit, Great Britain’s Gary Hunt was naturally happy. “This is a great opportunity for our sport. If we are successful, we will definitively have an exciting time in Tokyo 2020. Moreover, it will give the important visibility the sport needs”, confessed Hunt, the 2015 world champion.

In a day of training at the Yas Island venue, where the competition is taking place this Friday and Saturday, FINA spoke with several other stars on this important step forward. Jonathan Paredes, from Mexico, is evidently thrilled. At 27, he is emphatic: “We must fight for it! If there is a possibility, we must go and take it! Is this becomes official, a lot more countries will start having athletes in High Diving. Don’t forget that China (very strong in pool diving) is still not present in our discipline…” says the Mexican with a smile.

Bronze medallist at the 2013 FINA World Championships, Paredes adds another dimension to this possible inclusion in the Olympic programme.

“This would generate an additional respect for our discipline. When we started within FINA, four years ago in Barcelona, we were a kind of ‘circus’ artists, a bunch of crazy people. Now, within Aquatics, this perception has widely changed, so I think that the Olympic factor could give the definitive value to High Diving to the general world”.

Positive image

His friend Orlando Duque, an icon from Colombia, perhaps the world’s most known face in this discipline, is also optimistic concerning the Tokyo 2020 horizon.

“It’s a dream for all of us for many years now! Every athlete’s aspiration is to be able to participate in the Olympics one day. People say High Diving is a very dangerous sport, but for the ones that are within the sport we know that we can control those challenges. We have now a good image and the entry in the FINA programme definitively helped a lot”, explains the Colombian, first FINA world champion in 2013.

The universality of countries practicing the sport being one of the main criteria for Olympic inclusion, Duque underlines that while in the men’s field there is already a variety of athletes and nations, the women’s field “is still a bit short”. But this could rapidly change: “There are many girls on the starting blocks. If the Olympic dream becomes a reality, I am sure we can have some more women with a good level until Tokyo 2020”. Born in 1974, the Colombian could be 45 at the times of Games in Japan. “Why not? If until there Colombia does not have a strong team, capable of fighting for medals, I may still compete. It’s not a madness to participate in the Games with 45 years old – if Colombia is good then, I’ll step aside, if not, I could be in”, concludes Duque.

“I’m crossing fingers”
Lysanne Richard, from Canada, winner of the 2016 World Cup also in Abu Dhabi, was evidently a happy woman. “Great, great, and again great! I am crossing my fingers for that! This would be the best tribute to so many athletes that gave so much to our sport. I think on Duque, I thing on Ginger Huber, from USA”, confessed the Canadian star.

At 35, this mother of three, clearly indicates the added value of this discipline in the Olympic programme. “The courage and perseverance are important qualities in our society. I think high divers have those two attributes. We need that in life, to face the danger and believe in yourself”, she considers.

Asked about the quantity of women at high-level competitions, Richard gives her native Québec province as an example. “For a couple of years now, we are organising some competitions in 10m, where athletes must enter with the feet first. If they reach a reasonable level, they then can dive from a higher height. This is something aimed at girls aged 14 and more, and is having a great success in Québec. Another thing we are doing there is that we are sometimes adding a mini-trampoline on top of the 10m board to allow additional rotation for the dives”, she explains. Then, pointing out to the tower here in Abu Dhabi, she adds: “Another idea could be to maintain these structures a bit longer in the organising cities of high diving events. Not only building them for the two of three competition days, but to keep them some months and generate some national interest”.

“Good time to push forward”
Ginger Huber, cited by Lysanne Richard, is the oldest competitor in the women’s field. As with Duque, she is presently 42 years old, but always competing for medals at the highest level. “My feeling? Happiness! High Diving is now very popular. It’s definitively a good time to push forward”, admits the US star, third at the 2016 World Cup. “We are becoming a very international sport – look at the number of countries represented here, 17. Concerning the women’s participation, I believe many of them would come to the sport if they could. If the Olympics will happen for us, it will surely be a cause for further development”, she says.

Huber then presents a very philosophical approach on the added value that the discipline could bring to the Games. “I see it as the Games in Ancient Greece. Athletes then were like gods, they were performing extraordinary things, very few could do what they do. I am not saying we are gods, but very few can do what we are doing. If you take swimming, there are thousands of athletes, with high diving it’s just a restricted group of competitors capable of doing it”.

As with Duque, the age factor doesn’t refrain Huber. “Yes, I would also be 45. But if this is a reality, it would help keeping the flame lit. I am not sure I could go, but I would definitively love to go! I take things as they come, so if I am strong enough, I could try…”

Read the full story on SwimSwam: FINA Proposes Addition of High Diving for Tokyo 2020 Olympics

By Olivier Poirier-Leroy on SwimSwam

Olivier Poirier-Leroy is a former national level swimmer based out of Victoria, BC. In feeding his passion for swimming, he has developed YourSwimBook, a powerful log book and goal setting guide made specifically for swimmers. Sign up for the YourSwimBook newsletter (free) and get weekly motivational tips by clicking here.

Think about the big thing you want to accomplish with your swimming. It’s what you dream about at night, fantasize about when you should be paying attention in class, the tug you feel early in the morning when you are struggling to get out of bed for morning workout.

It goes without saying that for a great majority of us, we screw up a lot. Some of us with more frequency than others, but none of us are perfect, and certainly none of us act perfectly. (Something illustrated recently by a certain Mr. Phelps.)

Here are 5 of the more common ways that swimmers impede progress towards the swimming goals they ache for:

RELATED: 5 Swimming Posters to Motivate You

1. You stubbornly refuse to learn the lessons necessary to progress.

With every step that we take — whether it is a step forward or a step backward — there are lessons to be learned, feedback to be gleaned. Regardless of if we totally nailed it or totally bombed, if we aren’t learning along the way the experience is wasted.

The lessons learned can come in a variety of forms: You realize that yes, you can’t get away with half-nights of sleep for the week leading up to the big meet. Or that how you treat your body outside of the pool makes a difference. Or that your coach’s instruction — that went largely ignored — could have made the difference in placing 1st instead of 5th.

Thinking that you have all of the answers might make you feel nice, but you know what feels even better? Being great.

2. You’re afraid of standing above the crowd.

Doing something special with our swimming is threatening to the complacent among us. It opens a window into what is possible, and for some of our peers they’d prefer that window be shut so that they can brush aside their own failed aspirations.

As a result people will tell you that it cannot be done, that it will never be done, and that you cannot do it. Don’t buy into this small-minded group think.

If you are serious about doing something special with your swimming it’s crucial that you understand that to do so is abnormal. It’s weird. It goes against what is typical, what is average, what is common.

3. You’re giving up way too early.

It’s frustrating when things don’t come together the way you expect them to. You train your butt off in the pool, and yet when it comes to race time the results come up short of your expectations. As a result you beat yourself up mentally, the race having reaffirmed all of the fears and doubts you had of yourself. Not talented enough. Not deserving. Not good enough. And so on.

At this point it is normal to feel like giving up. To let those doubts sink in and take firm root.

We tend to take our failures too personally. We take a perceived lack of progress as a sign that the goal is impossible, and give up on things way too soon. In those moments remember that anything worth having doesn’t come easy.

Strife is a normal part of the process, so take a deep breath, and bounce back twice as focused and determined.

4. You’re not willing to do what it takes.

Our brains are inherently lazy. It’s why we have to motivate ourselves to go train, it’s why we need to instill habits that override our brain’s instinct to do the least amount of work possible. Your brain is like this, so is mine, and so is everybody else’s.

To do what you have never done before, you will have to do more than you are currently doing. This means getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.

If you see what has to be done, and are still unwilling to do it, that’s fine. Interstellar swimming isn’t for everyone. But if it is something you do want, get into the mindset that you are going to have to do it better and more gangster than the next swimmer.

5. You’re not capitalizing on your successes.

You banged out a solid cycle of training. Nailed the taper. Stood up on the blocks and cranked out the swim of your life. But then when training resumed the following week you felt yourself adrift, aimless, and with the afterglow of a successful meet fading fast you discover that you aren’t that interested in putting the work in anymore.

After a little while the momentum you generated heading into that big meet has evaporated and you find yourself struggling to simply get back to where you were.

So what happened here?

A common reason this let-down happens is that you invested yourself completely in the outcome of the meet. You laid it all on the line for that one performance, letting the outcome of that particular race define you and your swimming.

Instead of focusing on being a championship swimmer at meet time, focus on being a championship swimmer every day in practice.

Once you take care of the process, the day-to-day grind of showing up and laying a whooping on your workouts, than the results seem to take care of themselves.

About YourSwimBook

YourSwimBook is a log book and goal setting guide designed specifically for competitive swimmers. It includes a ten month log book, comprehensive goal setting section, monthly evaluations to be filled out with your coach, and more. Learn 8 more reasons why this tool kicks butt.

NEW: We now have motivational swimming posters. Five of ’em, actually.

Join the YourSwimBook weekly newsletter group and get motivational tips and more straight to your inbox. Sign up for free here.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: 5 Reasons That Swimmers Fail

By Daniela Kapser on SwimSwam

FFN Golden Tour Camille Muffat– Amiens

• Dates: Friday, April 28 – Sunday, April 30, 2017
• Prelims 8 am GMT+1 (2 am EST/11 pm PST); finals 5 pm on Friday and Saturday (11 am EST/8 am PST), 3 pm on Sunday (9 am EST/6 am PST)
• Meet Central
• Brochure
• Psych sheets
• Live results

Dates of the Golden Tour Camille Muffat:

• Nice – Friday, February 3 through Sunday, February 5, 2017
• Marseille – Friday, March 3 through Sunday, March 5, 2017
• Amiens – Friday, April 28 through Sunday, April 30, 2017

Leader board:

The actual leaderboard shows that many swim stars from allover Europe participated in one or two stops of the Golden Tour Camille Muffat so far – but  the start lists for this weekend present only a few international swimmers like Hungary’s  Katinka Hosszu, and David Verraszto, Belgium’s Pieter Timmers or Jeremy Desplanches (Switzerland, trains in France).

Nations like Japan and Great Britain just held their World Championships Trials and swimmers are preparing now for the season highlight in Budapest, nations like Germany focus with first priority on their upcoming qualification in 7 weeks.

But nonetheless, the French, Hungarian and Swiss swimmers showed solid perfomances tonight:

Katinka Hosszu won the women’s 800m freestyle in 8:38,39, this race started at 5 pm and she stood on the block again at 5:55 pm and also took the win in the 400m IM in 4:36,19 – her season best are 4:3546, swum at the Euro Meet in Luxembourg at the end of January.

France’s Fantine Lesaffre touched second in 4:43,01 (400m IM) – her season best is 0,01 seconds faster and means a FINA A-cut.

Damien Joly (FRA) clocked the fastest time of 15:07,23 in the men’s 1500m Freestyle. Joly finished 14th at the Rio Olympic Games with his personal best time of 14:48,90.

Hungarian David Verraszto grabbed the win in the men’s 400m IM in 4:14,77, he is the actual number ONE in the FINA World ranking with his season best time of 4:10,01, only 0,11 seconds slower than his personal best time he set at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan 2015 when he won the silver medal.

Switzerland’s Jeremy Desplanches finished second in 4:16,04 tonight, he was not far off his personal best time (4:15,46) – he now ranked 13th in the world  and his time also is an A-cut.

It became easier for the Iron Lady in the next three races – perhaps a little bit:

Katinka Hosszu set the pace in the 50m backstroke with the winning time of 28,58, then she came back less than 10 minutes later to win the B-Final of the 50m breaststroke in 33,13 and jumped again into the pool 15 minutes later for a fifth place finish in the 50m butterfly with a time of 27,11.

Belgium’s Fanny Lecluyse took the win in the 50m breaststroke in 31,59 ahead of France’s Charlotte Bonnet (31,87).

Jeremy Stravius (FRA) won the men’s 50m backstroke in 25,48, winner in the men’s 50m breaststroke was Jeremy Desplanches (SUI)  in 28,30.

France’s Mehdy Metella touched first in the 50m butterfly in a personal best time of 23,58 – fast enough for the 11th place in the world ranking.

Katinka Hosszu ended today’s “iron show” with a win in the 1500m freestyle, her winning time: 16:35,97. France’s Adeline Furst swam a personal best time in 16:36,29 and always was on Hosszu’s heels.

Prize Money

The top three finishers in each race will be awarded medals and monetary prizes, as follows:

In addition, athletes who participate in all three stages are eligible for bonuses for their finals standings on the leaderboard, based on the number of points they have amassed throughout the series. Points are awarded for each podium: 1st place = 5 points; 2nd place = 3 points; 3rd place = 1 point.

Leaderboard after the first two stages of 2017 FFN Golden Tour

Order of Events

Friday Finals

• Women’s 800 Meter Freestyle – Fastest Heat
• Men’s 1500 Meter Freestyle – Fastest Heat
• Women’s 400 Meter IM – Fastest Heat
• Men’s 400 Meter IM – Fastest Heat
• Women’s 50 Meter Backstroke Final
• Men’s 50 Meter Backstroke Final
• Women’s 50 Meter Breaststroke Final
• Men’s 50 Meter Breaststroke Final
• Women’s 50 Meter Butterfly Final
• Men’s 50 Meter Butterfly Final
• Women’s 1500 Meter Freestyle – Fastest Heat
• Men’s 800 Meter Freestyle – Fastest Heat

Saturday Finals

• Men’s 400 Meter Freestyle Final
• Women’s 200 Meter Freestyle Final
• Men’s 200 Meter Breaststroke Final
• Women’s 200 Meter Breaststroke Final
• Men’s 100 Meter Backstroke Final
• Women’s 100 Meter Backstroke Final
• Men’s 200 Meter Butterfly Final
• Women’s 200 Meter Butterfly Final
• Men’s 200 Meter IM Final
• Women’s 200 Meter IM Final
• Men’s 100 Meter Freestyle Final
• Women’s 50 Meter Freestyle Final

Sunday Finals

• Women’s 400 Meter Freestyle Final
• Men’s 200 Meter Freestyle Final
• Women’s 100 Meter Breaststroke Final
• Men’s 100 Meter Breaststroke Final
• Women’s 200 Meter Backstroke Final
• Men’s 200 Meter Backstroke Final
• Women’s 100 Meter Butterfly Final
• Men’s 100 Meter Butterfly Final
• Women’s 100 Meter Freestyle Final
• Men’s 50 Meter Freestyle Final

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Katinka Hosszu takes 4 events on the first day of Golden Tour, Amiens

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

With the majority of the major international trials meets wrapping up in April, including Australia, Japan and Great Britain, Brazil remains one of the few yet to take place (along with the U.S. who traditionally have their trials much later than everyone else). The Brazilian Maria Lenk Trophy will take place from May 2-6 and will serve as the trials for both the 2017 World Championships and Junior World Championships, though the selection criteria remains up in the air.

According to the General Director of the Brazilian Confederation of Aquatic Sports, Ricardo Prado, the qualification criteria won’t be defined until May 11th during a meeting after the competition takes place. This will be the first time in “many years” that athletes won’t know whether or not they have qualified for the biggest international meet of the year upon conclusion of the Maria Lenk Trophy.

Per Globo.com, there was a bulletin issued last year that would limit the number of Brazilian swimmers at Worlds to eight due to lack of funds, but leaders of Brazilian swimming expect this criterion to change. For a point of reference, they sent 26 to the 2015 World Championships in Kazan and 33 to the Olympics last year in their home country.

The meet will feature Brazil’s top swimmers, including Cesar Cielo who will look to redeem himself after shockingly missing the Olympic team last year. Cielo will compete in the 50 free, 100 free and 50 fly. Take a look at a breakdown of the psych sheets here.

After a four medal performance at the 2015 Worlds, the Brazilian swimmers will face a little bit of pressure in Budapest after delivering zero medals on their home soil at the 2016 Olympics. They have lost three-time World Championship medalist Thiago Pereira to retirement, but have a good chance of earning medals in non-Olympic events such as the 50 back with Etiene Medeiros and potentially the 50 fly with Cesar Cielo.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: World Championship Qualifying Criteria Remains Unclear For Brazilians

By Braden Keith on SwimSwam

2017 Belarus Open Championships

• April 26th-29th, 2017
• Brest, Belarus
• Live results

22-year old Belarusian Ilya Shymanovich broke the Belarusian National Record in the 50 breaststroke on Friday at the 2017 Belarusian Open Championships.

Shymanovich swam a 26.96 in prelims, followed by a 27.14 in finals, both of which cleared the old National Record of 27.30.

He’s also just the 5th European to go faster than 27 seconds in the race.

5 Fastest European Performers in 50 Breaststroke

1. Adam Peaty, Great Britain, 26.42
2. Damir Dugonjic, Slovenia, 26.70
3. Hendrik Feldwehr, Germany, 26.83
4. Ilya Shymanovich, Belarus, 26.96
5. Nicolo Martinenghi, 26.97

Shymanovich also won the 100 breaststroke in 59.97 earlier in the meet, which makes him Belarus’ first swimmer ever under 1 minute in that event.

Belarus’ most famous swimmer, Aleksandra Herasimenia, hasn’t raced at this week’s meet so far.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Ilya Shymanovich Swims Sub-27 50 Breaststroke at Belarus Open

By SwimSwam Partner Content on SwimSwam

Courtesy of advertising partner Original Watermen

There are many things a long distance swimmer can do to improve his or her performance in an endurance race. A few of them are simple, often overlooked, changes you can make to your routine that can get you closer to the front of the pack while training and competing. Outside of constant and rigorous training these simple mental and strategic adjustments can make your next race or practice a huge success.

Technique is everything– undoubtedly the most important aspect to swimming that often gets overlooked. You could take some of the best ultra marathon runners in the world and throw them into a body of water to a race against casual weekend  ‘masters’ swimmers, who have had some training on technique; and the masters swimmers would win every time.

The goal of distance swimming isn’t to slap your arms onto the surface of the water as quickly as possible. Instead, the goal should be to glide through the water as streamlined as possible while exerting energy at a constant rate and rhythm. I won’t get into the nitty gritty techniques but rather the much larger concepts of both mental and physical discipline that are often ignored because of the adrenaline come race time.

Know your equipment– This is another factor that often goes under the radar. If you’re not comfortable in a race then you will surely be distracted, constantly thinking about how uncomfortable you are in a swimsuit rather than the race at hand. There is a lot of science showing how compression can benefit athletes on land, but now some watersports and apparel companies are beginning to take note and offer compression swimwear for triathletes and long distance swimmers alike. All the benefits of traditional compression shorts carry over into the water with these Watermen Shorts.

Get a good wetsuit that fits and will not choke you during a race. Experiment combining your wetsuit with compression swimsuits and other compression swimwear such as performance rash guards. And if you race in warmer waters or wetsuits are not allowed, these rash guards and Watermen Short Jammers can be worn on their own.

Goggles are nice to have so be sure to select a pair that suit the conditions of the day; ie: clear lenses on cloudier days and darker lenses for sunny days.

Reach and Glide – Stretch your body out each stroke. Remember, this is not a sprint, so each stroke you take should be carefully timed with a glide and some kicking. Think streamlined like a dolphin and see if you can gain a few more inches each stroke just by gliding longer; then try synchronizing the glide with your kicks.

Breathing– Listen to it, try and time your breaths with your strokes. i.e. three long gliding strokes to one breath. Some of the best distance swimmers I have interviewed try and tune out the task at hand once they reach a rhythm and in a sense make a music beat out of their kicking, breathing and stroking. Also, breathing plays a very important role with staying on course while on long distance swims. Many new swimmers will stray off course toward the opposite side from which they are breathing from. Try to alternate your breathing from side to side if you have trouble keeping a straight line. Try not to look up and around to see where you are in the pack or where you are located on the course. This completely stops your momentum and you can cause yourself more unnecessary stress.

Kicking– Don’t forget to kick. This may seem simple enough but it’s a major factor when you’re trying to remain as streamlined as possible and stay on top of the water. It’s a lot easier to swim with your legs helping you push through the water rather than dragging behind you. However, legs burn a tremendous amount of oxygen and energy so find a balance that keeps you in tune with your body’s needs.

Pace yourself– Remember to pace yourself. Don’t go out too strong only to flop in the second half, pace yourself for the entire distance of the event.

Drafting– Call it what you want but everyone does it. Drafting is very important in big events with lots of swimmers in the water. Use it to your advantage to conserve valuable energy and bring yourself up with the top competitors. This practice helps reduce the natural drag you get from your swimwear. Following closely to someone who’s faster than you also pushes you to try to keep up with him or her, whereas otherwise you would just be staring into the void that is often encountered on long ocean water swims. Keep your head down. Looking up at someone’s feet creates drag so keep that head down and think like a tuna fish drafting off another tuna in a school.

Know the course – The course and constantly changing conditions are what make open water distance swimming so much fun. Go down to the course location before the day of the event and look for problem areas you could encounter on your swim; kelp or algae patches, rocks, shallow spots, murky water, etc. You should begin checking weather, tides and wind predictions at least a week before the event.

Tides play a huge role in harbor swims and you can either use the tides to your advantage or suffer the disadvantage. Water encounters friction when it runs along rocks, so if you’re swimming against a current try to safely swim close to the rocks. The opposite goes for swimming with a current. Find the deepest part of the channel and that’s where will be the strongest current.  

Wind and waves– Wind and waves can be your friend or your worst enemy. If possible try to conserve energy when swimming into the wind and waves, so you’ll have a greater advantage when you turn the corner on a course and have some stored energy. You can then use the wind and waves to your advantage. Waves are usually a big problem with flat water swimmers when they do races that involve crossing the surf zone. A lot of times I will see people just swim straight into oncoming waves expecting to blast on through. Waves are thousands of pounds of moving water… even equipped with streamlined compression swimwear, you simply will not win! Getting pummeled by a wave and trying to fight it underwater burns insane amounts of energy and can even end a competitor’s race if they’re not comfortable in the surf zone to begin with. Try diving down early before the wave approaches you and swim underneath it. Try to grab sand if possible to help hold your position. Wait until you hear the wave pass overhead and push off the bottom with both feet. This will give you a push start versus your competitors who are trying to fight the wave that just separated half the pack. Learn how to identify rip currents and use them to your advantage when going out; watch out for and avoid them when you’re coming back in to finish the race.

Remember to glide with the waves.

Hope this helps YOU Earn Your Salt.

Your friends at Original Watermen

About Original Waterman

Like so many great things in the 70’s, we started in the back of a VW bus. Surfer and lifeguard, Ken Miller and future wife Jen, began making and selling water trunks. The first customers were Carlsbad locals and eventually the State of California lifeguards signed up for 36 red shorts.

Since those early days we have evolved and grown and eventually outfitted over 1700 organizations from local and state agency lifeguards and fire fighters to military special forces. Original Watermen, as a company, was created with a singular vision: provide the best quality, fit, and performance in every garment. Few industries have the opportunity to test their mettle each time a great set rolls in. We’re fortunate; we do.
At Original Watermen we measure our success by the performance of our products and the satisfaction of our customers. If you’re new to us, welcome aboard…it’s time to earn your salt.

^{Courtesy of Original Waterman, a SwimSwam partner.}

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Techniques, Methods and Swimwear To Keep Up With The Pack

By Gold Medal Mel Stewart on SwimSwam

Courtesy of Gary Hall Sr., 10-time World Record Holder, 3-time Olympian, 1976 Olympic Games US Flagbearer and The Race Club co-founder.

One of our favorite butterfly swim drill to practice is the left, right, front drill where the swimmer tries to keep the body more horizontal during the breath stroke to the front. For swimmers that are not adept at swimming butterfly and are more accustomed to swimming freestyle, this drill is a great way to get started on butterfly. The technique of using one arm at a time for two out of three swimming strokes makes it easier to perform butterfly and improve your chances of developing a technically more correct stroke. Butterfly is one of the most difficult swimming techniques to master. At The Race Club swim camps and in our private instruction, we like to work on several swim drills that make the butterfly easier to do. Developing a strong dolphin kick is an important part of swimming a fast butterfly, so we recommend doing this drill with fins on in order to strengthen the kick. When the swimmer’s kick gets stronger, the fins can come off for the drill.

Olympic champion Roland Schoeman shows us a beautiful example of this butterfly swim drill. By elevating and extending the neck forward, Roland is able to keep his shoulders closer to the water and minimize frontal drag. For some swimmers that are challenged with keeping their shoulders lower on the water, Roland also demonstrates a similar butterfly swim drill using a side breath. Using the side breath can help keep the body flatter and enable the swimmer to get the breath in more quickly. Side breathing takes quite a bit of practice to perfect, so don’t be discouraged when you first try it. An important part of side breathing correctly is keeping the swimmer’s ear flat on the water during the side breath. Also, the side breath should be slightly backward toward the rear to avoid taking in water or choking.

Hopefully, with this butterfly swim drill, you can develop a more efficient and faster butterfly technique, whether you choose to breathe to the side or to the front.

Gary Hall, Sr., Technical Director and Head Coach of The Race Club (courtesy of TRC)

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THE RACE CLUB

Because Life is Worth Swimming, our mission is to promote swimming through sport, lifelong enjoyment, and good health benefits. Our objective is for each member of and each participant in The Race Club to improve his or her swimming performances, health, and self-esteem through our educational programs, services and creativity. We strive to help each member of The Race Club overcome challenges and reach his or her individual life goals.

The Race Club provides facilities, coaching, training, technical instruction, video, fitness and health programs for swimmers of all ages and abilities. Race Club swim camps are designed and tailored to satisfy each swimmer’s needs, whether one is trying to reach the Olympic Games or simply improve one’s fitness. Our programs are suitable for beginner swimmers, pleasure swimmers, fitness swimmers, USA swimming or YMCA swimmers, or triathletes; anyone who wants to improve swimming skills. All of our Race Club members share an enjoyment of being in the water and use swimming to stimulate a more active mind and body.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Step Up Your Butterfly Drills (Video)

By Lauren Neidigh on SwimSwam

2017 TYR Derby Pro Meet

• Saturday, April 29th
• Ralph Wright Natatorium, Louisville, Kentucky
• Meet Info

The 2017 TYR Derby Pro Meet is slated to kick off on Saturday, April 28th. The meet, which is hosted by the University of Louisville, serves as a fundraiser for charity. Action will kick off in the Ralph Wright Natatorium at 4:30 p.m. Eastern.

Several U.S. Olympians, National Team members, and international stars will compete at the event. Swimmers will be racing in elimination-style format, competing in prelims, semifinals, and finals of a 50 meter free within 1 hour. After each round, the last 2 finishers are eliminated. The final 4 will race for prize money and the TYR Derby Pro title.

Below is the full list of professional swimmers competing in the meet:

On the men’s side, Josh Schneider will return to defend his title after taking the crown at last year’s meet. We’ll see a new winner crowned on the women’s side, however, as Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace won’t be in attendance this year.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Schneider, Kromowidjojo Among Stars to Compete in 2017 TYR Derby Pro

By Loretta Race on SwimSwam

2017 US MASTERS’ SWIMMING SPRING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHPIPS

• April 27-30, 2017
• 25y course
• Riverside Aquatics Complex, Riverside, California
• Meet Info
• Order of Events
• Psych Sheets
• Live Stream
• Live Results

Day 2 of the United Masters Swimming National Championships meet saw several professional stars take to the pool with notable tune-up swims. 32-year-old Mike Alexandrov and Golden Road Aquatics teammate Ryan Lochte dueled in two events in Riverside today, bringing the pair’s record to 1-1 heading into day 3.

Alexandrov took the men’s 100y breaststroke event by less than half a second, clocking a men’s 30-34 age group winning time of 53.55 to Lochte’s mark of 53.92. Splits were extremely similar going out, with Alexandrov touching in 25.18 to Lochte’s opening 50 of 25.15. But the former Bulgarian national swimmer had more gas on the way home, notching a back-half split of 28.37 to Lochte’s 28.77. Ed Moses holds the age group masters record at 53.44 from 2011.

For 32-year-old Lochte, who is eligible to swim at this Masters-sanctioned event while still on suspension from USA Swimming that excludes him from this summer’s World Championships, today’s 100 breaststroke outing checks-in as his 2nd fastest performance ever. The former Florida gator has rarely swum the event since 2008, but his 53.92 outing today ranks only behind his personal best of 53.27 from 2007 Short Course Nationals.

In the 2nd contest between Lochte and Alexandrov, Lochte indeed got the upper hand, winning the 200 IM event for their age group by over 6 seconds. Lochte notched a winning time of 1;44.21 to Alexandrov’s 1:50.62 to collect his first gold of these Masters Nationals. Lochte is set to race the 100 IM, 50 backstroke, 100 backstroke and 200 freestyle yet at this competition.

The non-professional fleet of swimmers also produced notable results through day 2, with 2 women knocking down masters national records. 38-year-old Noriko Inada managed to shave .01 of a second off of her 25.05 national record in the women’s 35-39 masters record to bring it down to 25.04 en route to gold.  Inada hails from Phoenix Swim Club and also holds her age group’s masters national records for both 50 and 100 yard backstroke.

Jill Hernandez of North State Masters cranked out a new masters national record in the women’s 55-59 200y IM with her victory today in Riverside. Cruising to her win, 56-year-old Hernandez hacked over 2 seconds off of the previous record of 2:18.07 held by Karyln Pipes since just earlier this month. Hernandez now moves into the record place position in 2:15.70.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Lochte Collects 2 Medals In 2017 Masters Nationals Debut

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

2017 TYR Fran Crippen Swim Meet of Champions

• Meet Website
• LCM (50m)
• Woollett Aquatic Center, Irvine, California
• Results can be found on Meet Mobile, Search: “Irvine”

A few big names came to play on the first full day of the Fran Crippen Memorial Meet of Champions held in Irvine, including a pair of Olympic gold medalists and Cal Bear alumni in Nathan Adrian and Tom Shields.

Adrian produced the most impressive swim of the night, clocking 48.74 to win the men’s 100 free handily by over two seconds. Adrian continued his recent trend of coming home strong in this race, splitting 23.53/25.21. New Zealand’s Daniel Hunter (50.78) and Matt Stanley (50.89) rounded out the top three, and Stanford distance ace Liam Egan was 4th in 52.29.

Notably, 18-year-old Nate Biondi, son of eight-time Olympic gold medalist Matt Biondi, placed 5th in a time of 52.95. Biondi has committed to swim for the Cal Bears beginning next year.

Shields put up a solid time of 1:58.05 to win the men’s 200 fly, a full second faster than the 1:59.09 he posted to finish 2nd at the Mesa Pro Swim Series two weeks ago.

Mexican Ramiro Ramirez Juarez put up a time of 2:00.41 to place 2nd ahead of Stanford’s Grant Shoults (2:00.41) and New Zealand’s Bradlee Ashby (2:03.37).

A third Olympic gold medalist from Cal was in action, as Abbey Weitzeil competed in the women’s 100 freestyle. Weitzeil took 2nd in the event in a time of 55.88, losing out to Canyon Aquatics’ Amanda Kendall who touched in 55.34 for the victory.

The men’s 400 free was another intriguing race, involving all three of Stanford’s distance men in Egan, Shoults and True Sweetser. Egan led wire-to-wire to earn the victory in 3:53.25, followed by Shoults (3:57.04) and New Zealand’s Ashby (3:58.51). Sweetser was 4th in 3:58.63.

Other winners on night 2:

• Helena Gasson, New Zealand, women’s 200 fly (2:12.64)
• Taylor McCoy, Gold Medal Swim Club, women’s 200 back (2:16.07)
• Patrick Conaton, Unattached/Stanford, men’s 200 back (2:01.17)
• Hayley McIntosh, New Zealand, women’s 400 free (4:15.43)

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Adrian, Shields Shine On Night 2 of TYR Fran Crippen Meet Of Champions

By Anne Lepesant FR on SwimSwam

FFN Golden Tour Camille Muffat – Amiens

• Vendredi, 28 avril – dimanche, 30 avril, 2017
• Séries 8h00 GMT+1 ; finales 17h00 vendredi/samedi, 15h00 dimanche
• Page d’acceuil
• Brochure
• Engagés
• Résultats

Jour 1

La Hongroise Katinka Hosszú a encore une fois démontré sa capacité d’accumuler de nombreuses victoires en très peu de temps. Sur les 6 épreuves elle a été récompensée de 4 médailles d’or, y compris les 3 premières courses : 800 NL (8:38.39), 400 4N (4:36.19), 50 dos (28.56). Elle a aussi marqué le 5e chrono en 50 papillon (27.11) et a gagné la finale B du 50 brasse (33.13) avant de terminer la soirée avec une victoire dans le 1500 NL (16:35.97).

Mélanie Hénique (CN Marseille) a devancé la Belge Kimberly Buys, 25.98 à 26.03, pour gagner le 50 papillon. La Belge Fanny Lecluyse a reporté le titre dans le 50 brasse (31.59) devant la Niçoise CharlotteBonnet (31.87).

Cyrielle Duhamel (Stade Béthune Pélican Club), qui représentait le Comité Départemental Pas de Calais, a signé la meilleure performance française 17 ans du 400 4 nages en améliorant son temps de 2.02 secondes, avec 4:45.76 ; elle est montée sur la 3e marche du podium après Hosszú et Fantine Lesaffre (4:43.02).

Jérémy Straviusa impressionné, peu de temps après avoir subi une fracture du poignée en pratiquant les sports d’hiver, dans sa piscine et devant son public. Il a gagné le 50 dos (25.48) et a fini 2e dans le 50 papillon (24.28) derrière les Marseillais MehdyMetella (23.58), pas évident étant donné qu’il ne s’est entraîné que le crawl depuis quatre mois. Néanmoins Stravius était déçu avec sa performance ; il a déclaré à la presse, « Je n’ai pas su accélérer quand je voulais et j’ai été un peu pris par surprise sur le départ. C’est un temps qui reste banal. (…) J’espérais faire mieux. »

Metella, quant à lui, est rentré dans le top 10 du monde pour la saison :

2016-2017 LCM MEN 50 Fly

BenGBR
PROUD

04/23
22.80

2	Nicholas SANTOS	BRA	23.01	04/21
3	Oleg KOSTIN	RUS	23.27	04/10
4	Henrique MARTINS	BRA	23.28	11/23
5	Zuuhao LI	CHN	23.36	04/11
6	Yauhen TSURKIN	BLR	23.42	01/28
7	Junya HASEGAWA	JPN	23.50	04/13
8	adam BARRATT	GBR	23.52	04/23
9	Piero CODIA	ITA	23.57	04/06
10	Yahor DODALEU	BLR	23.59	04/08

View Top 27»

Damien Joly (Montpellier) a enregistré deux victoires dans le 1500 NL (15:07.13) et le 800 NL (8:00.58) ; Joris Bouchaut (Toulouse) était deuxième dans les deux courses (15:12.10 et 8:05.00).

Le Hongrois David Verraszto, leader après les deux premières étapes, a gagné le 400 4N (4:14.77) et a fini 3e dans le 800 NL (8:05.07).

Tous les podiums de vendredi

Série rapide 800 NL dames

1. HOSSZU Katinka 1989 HUN IRON AQUATICS 08:38.39
2. FURST Adeline 1994 FRA BAS-RHIN 08:45.68
3. CHEROUATI Souad-Nefissa 1989 ALG ALGÉRIE 08:57.34

Série rapide 1500 NL messieurs

1. JOLY Damien 1992 FRA MONTPELLIER METROPOLE NATATION 15:07.23
2. BOUCHAUT Joris 1995 FRA DAUPHINS TOULOUSE OEC 15:12.10 +0.72
3. OLIVIER Marc-Antoine 1996 FRA DENAIN NAT. PORTE DU HAINAUT 15:12.91

Série rapide 400 4N dames

1. HOSSZU Katinka 1989 HUN IRON AQUATICS 04:36.19
2. LESAFFRE Fantine 1994 FRA MONTPELLIER METROPOLE NATATION 04:43.02
3. DUHAMEL Cyrielle 2000 FRA COMITE DEPARTEMENTAL PAS DE CALAIS 04:45.76

Série rapide 400 4N messieurs

1. VERRASZTO David 1988 HUN BVSC ZUGLO 04:14.77
2. DESPLANCHES Jeremy 1994 SUI OLYMPIC NICE NATATION 04:16.04
3. PETIT Ambroise 1995 FRA CN ANTIBES 04:24.83

Finale A 50 dos dames

1. HOSSZU Katinka 1989 HUN IRON AQUATICS 00:28.56
2. CINI Mathilde 1994 FRA VALENCE TRIATHLON 00:28.88
3. GHEORGHIU Camille 1996 FRA MONTPELLIER METROPOLE NATATION 00:28.92

Finale A 50 dos messieurs

1. STRAVIUS Jérémy 1988 FRA AMIENS METROPOLE NAT. 00:25.48
2. STASIULIS Benjamin 1986 FRA CN MARSEILLE 00:25.53
3. POTHAIN Jordan 1994 FRA NAUTIC CLUB ALP’38 00:25.84

Finale A 50 brasse dames

1. LECLUYSE Fanny 1992 BEL FéDéRATION BELGE DE NATATION 00:31.59
2. BONNET Charlotte 1995 FRA OLYMPIC NICE NATATION 00:31.87
3. DEBERGHES Fanny 1994 FRA ASPTT MONTPELLIER 00:32.10

Finale A 50 brasse messieurs

1. DESPLANCHES Jeremy 1994 SUI OLYMPIC NICE NATATION 00:28.30
2. BUSSIERE Theo 1995 FRA CN MARSEILLE 00:28.
3. MAILLOT Melvin 1992 FRA STADE FRANÇAIS O COURBEVOIE 00:28.86

Finale A 50 papillon dames

1. HENIQUE Mélanie 1992 FRA CN MARSEILLE 00:25.98
2. BUYS Kimberly 1989 BEL VLAAMSE ZWEMFEDERATIE (VZF) 00:26.03
3. WATTEL Marie 1997 FRA MONTPELLIER METROPOLE NATATION 00:26.48

Finale A 50 papillon messieurs

1. METELLA Mehdy 1992 FRA CN MARSEILLE 00:23.58
2. STRAVIUS Jérémy 1988 FRA AMIENS METROPOLE NAT. 00:24.28
3. TRUCHOT Florian 1996 FRA COLLECTIF FFN CENTRE 00:24.56

Série rapide 1500 NL dames

1. HOSSZU Katinka 1989 HUN IRON AQUATICS 16:35.97
2. FURST Adeline 1994 FRA BAS-RHIN 16:36.29
3. BONNET Eva 2000 BEL COMITé NORD NATATION 16:43.47

Série rapide 800 NL messieurs

1. JOLY Damien 1992 FRA MONTPELLIER METROPOLE NATATION 08:00.58
2. BOUCHAUT Joris 1995 FRA DAUPHINS TOULOUSE OEC 08:05.00
3. VERRASZTO David 1988 HUN BVSC ZUGLO 08:07.07

Classement après les deux premières étapes

Programme

Vendredi 28 avril

Samedi 29 avril

• 400 Nage libre M. Finale A
• 200 Nage libre D. Finale A
• 200 Brasse M. Finale A
• 200 Brasse D. Finale A
• 100 Dos M. Finale A
• 100 Dos D. Finale A
• 200 Papillon M. Finale A
• 200 Papillon D. Finale A
• 200 4 Nages M. Finale A
• 200 4 Nages D. Finale A
• 100 Nage libre M. Finale A
• 50 Nage libre D. Finale A

Dimanche 30 avril

• 400 Nage libre D. Finale A
• 200 Nage libre M. Finale A
• 100 Brasse D. Finale A
• 100 Brasse M. Finale A
• 200 Dos D. Finale A
• 200 Dos M. Finale A
• 100 Papillon D. Finale A
• 100 Papillon M. Finale A
• 100 Nage libre D. Finale A
• 50 Nage libre M. Finale A

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Amiens jour 1 : Stravius marque son retour, Hosszu empoche 4 titres

Cannonballs, Marco Polo, swim races in the sunshine… Outdoor season comes around...

By Daniela Kapser on SwimSwam

FFN Golden Tour Camille Muffat– Amiens

• Dates: Friday, April 28 – Sunday, April 30, 2017
• Prelims 8 am GMT+1 (2 am EST/11 pm PST); finals 5 pm on Friday and Saturday (11 am EST/8 am PST), 3 pm on Sunday (9 am EST/6 am PST)
• Meet Central
• Brochure
• Psych sheets
• Live results
• Recap Day 1

Dates of the Golden Tour Camille Muffat:

• Nice – Friday, February 3 through Sunday, February 5, 2017
• Marseille – Friday, March 3 through Sunday, March 5, 2017
• Amiens – Friday, April 28 through Sunday, April 30, 2017

Tonight all B,C and Junior finals took place before the A-finals so multiple starters like Katinka Hosszu and David Verraszto have less time to recover between their races.

(fastest qualifiers)

•  6.15 pm –   400m freestyle men A final (Jordan Pothain, Joris Bouchant, Marc-Antoine Olivier)
•  6.20 pm  – 200m freestyle women A final  (Charlotte Bonnet, Katinka Hosszu, Camille Gheorghiu
•  6.24 pm– 200m breaststroke men A final (Thomas Boursac, Leo Palfray, Talal Mrabet)
•  6.28 pm– 200m breaststroke women A final (Fanny Lecluyse, Camille Dauba, Katinka Hosszu)
• Medal ceremony
•  6.48 pm –  100m backstroke men A final (Paul-Gabriel Bedel, Benjamin Stasiulis, Thomas Avetand)
•  6.50 pm – 100m backstrokke women A final (Mathilde Cini, Katinka Hosszu, Indra Vandenbussche)
•  6.53 pm – 200m butterfly men A final (Jordan Coelho, David Verraszto, Logan Vanhuys)
•  6.57 pm  – 200m butterfly women A final (Lara Grangeon, Katinka Hosszu, Enora Collet)
•  7.01 pm – 200m IM men  A final (Jeremy Desplanches, David Verraszto, Clement Bidard)
• 7.05 pm – 200m IM women A final (Fantine Lesaffre, Cyrielle Duhamel, Katinka Hosszu)
•  7.10 pm – 100m freestyle men A final (Mehdy Metella, Pieter Timmers, Jeremy Stravius)
•  7.15 pm – 50m Freestyle women A final (Melanie Henique, Anna Santamans, Anouchka Martin, Katinka Hosszu)

Jordan Pothain (FRA) opened up this evening’s A-finals session with a win in the 400m freestyle in 3:49,29, he set his lifetime best at the 2016 Olympic Games in 3:45,43. Damien Joly (FRA) came in second tonight in 3:50,43.

France’s Charlotte Bonnet was the top qualifier in the 200m freestyle and also clinched the victory in a time of 1:56,54, she now ranked 6th in the world. Katinka Hosszu was close on her tail in 1:56,89, her season best are 1:56,81, this time places her 10th in the world rankings.

Hungary’s David Verraszto touched first in the 200m breaststroke in 2:14,96. He set his personal best time (2:12,36) last week at the Hungarian National Championships. At the moment, his teammate Daniel Gyurta is the only qualified Hungarian swimmer in this event for the World Championships.

Belgium’s Fanny Lecluyse took the win in the women’s 200m breaststroke in 2:27,01, her season best is a time of 2:25,98, but tonight’s result was also fast enough to set a new meet record. Hosszu finished 8th in 2:43,48.

Benjamin Stasiulis (FRA) grabbed the win in the men’s 100m backstroke in 54,74.

100m backstroke Olympic champion Katinka Hosszu stayed in charge to win this event in 1:00,87 ahead of France’s Mathilde Cini in a new lifetime best of 1:00,97.

David Verraszto snatched his second victory in the 200m butterfly in 1:58,35, he is not qualified in this event for the World Championships, Laszlo Cseh and Tamas Kenderesi will represent Hungary.

Lara Grangeon (FRA) hit the wall first in the 200m butterfly  in 2:12,05 followed by Katinka Hosszu in 2:13,69. Grangeon is able to swim about 4,5 seconds faster.

Jeremy Desplanches (SUI) made it into the world’s top ten with a new meet record of 1:58,31 in the men’s 200m IM final. He was the only man under 2 minutes. He improved the Swiss national record  of 1:59,35 by more than 1 second – he also was the former record holder.

17-year old Cyrielle Duhamel took the win in the 200m IM ahead of Fantine Lesaffre in 2:13,90. Katinka Hosszu came in third in 2:15,36.

Mehdy Metella, Jeremy Stravius and Pieter Timmers had the leading roles in the men’s 100m freestyle. Metella finished first in a new meet record of 48,35 – that time moved him up to 7th in the world rankings. Stravius came in second in 49,47 followed by Belgium’s Pieter Timmers in 49,62.

Anna Santamans was the winner in tonight’s last event, she touched in 25,29 in the 50m freestyle.

Leader board after the first two stops:

Prize Money

The top three finishers in each race will be awarded medals and monetary prizes, as follows:

In addition, athletes who participate in all three stages are eligible for bonuses for their finals standings on the leaderboard, based on the number of points they have amassed throughout the series. Points are awarded for each podium: 1st place = 5 points; 2nd place = 3 points; 3rd place = 1 point.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Jeremy Desplanches sets new Swiss national record, 200 IM, Golden Tour

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

FINA has released the 2017 long course points table, revised from the last edition from 2015. The tables have updated the world record performances over the last two years to be at the 1000 point mark, whereas prior to the new table recent world records have scored as high as 1071 on the 2015 scale (Adam Peaty‘s 100 breast).

The short course and long course tables update on alternating years, just as the short course and long course World Championships take place on alternating years. The short course table updated last year.

The points table is used worldwide by swimmers, coaches and fans alike to rank swims, set time standards and gauge performances. The events affected by the new table are all of those that have seen world record performances over the last two years.

Below, all the world records that have been broken since the 2015 table was released are listed, with the record-breaker and the number of FINA points their swim scored on the 2015 table.

• Men’s 100 Back, Ryan Murphy, 51.85 (1005)
• Men’s 50 Breast, Adam Peaty, 26.42 (1028)
• Men’s 100 Breast, Adam Peaty, 57.13 (1071)
• Women’s 400 Free, Katie Ledecky, 3:56.46 (1024)
• Women’s 800 Free, Katie Ledecky, 8:04.79 (1038)
• Women’s 1500 Free, Katie Ledecky, 15:25.48 (1009)
• Women’s 100 Fly, Sarah Sjostrom, 55.48 (1027)
• Women’s 200 IM, Katinka Hosszu, 2:06.12 (1000)
• Women’s 400 IM, Katinka Hosszu, 4:26.36 (1023)
• Women’s 400 Free Relay, Australia, 3:30.65 (1004)

_{* The men’s 200 breast world record was recently broken in January by Ippei Watanabe in a time of 2:06.67, the first man ever under 2:07, but the tables were created prior to that swim. His countryman Akihiro Yamaguchi‘s mark of 2:07.01 still stands as the 1000-point mark of the table, despite no longer being the world record. Watanabe’s swim scores 1008 points on the 2017 table.}

As you can see, the men’s breaststroke and women’s distance free events see the most change, with the recent progress made by Adam Peaty and Katie Ledecky in their respective events. With such incredible performances from them recently, it becomes much more difficult for a swimmer to achieve X number of FINA points in those events, relative to an event with much more parity like the men’s 200 breast. However, this isn’t a new phenomenon, as the super-suited records from 2009 have been skewing the FINA points table for years.

As previously mentioned, Peaty’s 100 breast mark scored the highest in the old table at 1071, incredibly pushing the previous world record and 1000-point mark of 58.46 down to just 933 points. That performance, done by Cameron van der Burgh back at the 2012 Olympics, still has him #2 on the all-time performers list, magnifying just how far (or low) Peaty has taken the sprint breaststroke times over the last two years.

The other biggest moves came from Peaty in the 50 breast, Ledecky in the 400 and 800 free, Sarah Sjostrom in the 100 fly and Hosszu in the 400 IM. Those swims moved the old world record marks down from 1000 to 972, 976, 962, 973 and 977 points respectively.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2017 FINA Points Table Displays Dominance of Peaty, Ledecky

By Luke Ryan on SwimSwam

The United States Department of Defense announced the list of athletes that have been selected to compete in the 2017 Invictus Games. 90 athletes were named as US team members competing in 12 different sports, including swimming. The other sports are archery, athletics, indoor rowing, powerlifting, road cycling, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis, and wheelchair rugby. The Invictus Games expect over 550 athletes from 17 countries to compete from September 23-30 in Toronto, Canada.

According to Tony Kurta, the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness,“The 2017 Invictus Games embody the spirit of every member of the United States Armed Forces.  They inspire us with their strength, resilience and personal courage.”

The Invictus Games were founded by Prince Harry of the UK in 2014.

Two Paralympic champions, Brad Snyder and Elizabeth Marks will be competing. Snyder won five gold medals between two Paralympic Games in 2012 and 2016. Marks set a world record in the SB7 100 meter breaststroke last September to win gold of her own in Rio.

The full list of athletes that were announced by the Department of Defense can be found below:

• Retired Sgt. Roosevelt Anderson, U.S. Special Operations Command
• Retired Lance Cpl. Robert Anfinson, U.S. Marine Corps
• Retired Lance Cpl. Timothy Bergenstock, U.S. Marine Corps
• Retired Staff Sgt. Nathaniel Bias, U.S. Air Force
• Gunnery Sgt. Matthew Branch, U.S. Marine Corps
• Retired Master Sgt. Kyle Burnett, U.S. Air Force
• Retired Chief Petty Officer Jim Castaneda, U.S. Navy
• Retired Maj. Ivan Castro, U.S. Special Operations Command
• Tech. Sgt. Jason Caswell, U.S. Air Force
• Staff Sgt. Vince Cavazos, U.S. Air Force
• Retired Gunnery Sgt. Andrew Cordova, U.S. Marine Corps
• Retired Petty Officer 3rd Class Nathan Dewalt, U.S. Navy
• Col. Daniel Dudek, U.S. Army
• Petty Officer 1st Class John Dusseau, U.S. Navy
• Retired Capt. Kelly Elmlinger, U.S. Army
• Retired Petty Officer 2nd Class Roel Espino, U.S. Navy
• Retired Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew Estes, U.S. Navy
• Retired Sgt. Brandi Evans, U.S. Army
• 1st Lt. Sarah Frankosky, U.S. Air Force
• Retired Cpl. Dustin Gabehart, U.S. Marine Corps
• Gunnery Sgt. Dorian Gardner, U.S. Marine Corps
• Retired Staff Sgt. Randi Gavell, U.S. Army
• Retired Cpl. Gabriel Gehr, U.S. Marine Corps
• Capt. Cal Gentry, U.S. Air Force
• Retired Master Sgt. Jesse Graham, U.S. Air Force
• Retired Lance Cpl. Matt Grashen, U.S. Marine Corps
• Retired Sgt. Gabby Graves-Wake, U.S. Marine Corps
• Retired Staff Sgt. Robert Green, U.S. Army
• Retired Petty Officer 2nd Class Nathaniel Hamilton, U.S. Navy
• Retired Cpl. Jessica Hammack, U.S. Marine Corps
• Lt. Ramesh Haytasingh, U.S. Special Operations Command
• Retired Master Sgt. Reese Hines, U.S. Air Force
• Retired Sgt. Sean Hook, U.S. Army
• Sgt. 1st Class Brant Ireland, U.S. Special Operations Command
• Master Sgt. Keith Jackson, U.S. Special Operations Command
• Retired Lt. Sancho Johnson, U.S. Coast Guard
• Retired Staff Sgt. Sean Johnson, U.S. Army
• Petty Officer 3rd Class Melissa Klotz, U.S. Navy
• Retired Petty Officer 1st Class John Kremer, U.S. Navy
• Tech. Sgt. Curtis Krenzke, U.S. Special Operations Command
• Retired Sgt. Stefan Leroy, U.S. Army
• Retired Sgt.1st Class Fred-Curtis Lewis, U.S. Special Operations Command
• Retired Sgt. 1st Class Josh Lindstrom, U.S. Special Operations Command
• Retired Staff Sgt. Sebastiana Lopez-Arellano, U.S. Air Force
• Retired Staff Sgt. Michael Lukow, U.S. Army
• Retired Staff Sgt. Ryan Major, U.S. Army
• Retired Master Sgt. Mark Mann, U.S. Marine Corps
• Sgt. Elizabeth Marks, U.S. Army
• Tech. Sgt. Lara Mastel, U.S. Air Force
• Retired Sgt. Anthony McDaniel, U.S. Marine Corps
• Retired Sgt. Maj. Shawn Mello, U.S. Special Operations Command
• Retired Tech. Sgt. Aimi Mlekoday, U.S. Air Force
• Retired Tech. Sgt. Jessica Moore, U.S. Air Force
• Retired Spc. Stephanie Morris, U.S. Army
• Retired Lt. Joan Mulligan, U.S. Navy
• Retired Sgt. Michael Nicholson, U.S. Marine Corps
• Lt. Col. Dave Ohearn, U.S. Special Operations Command
• Retired Staff Sgt. Sven Perryman, U.S. Air Force
• Retired Spc. Anthony Pone, U.S. Army
• Retired Tech. Sgt. Adam Popp, U.S. Air Force
• Maj. James Pradke, U.S. Army
• Retired Senior Airman Lucas Purser, U.S. Air Force
• Retired Cpl. Jose Ramos, U.S. Marine Corps
• Retired Sgt. Haywood Range, U.S. Army
• Retired Senior Chief Petty Officer Ryan Reese, U.S. Navy
• Retired Capt. William Reynolds, U.S. Army
• Retired Staff Sgt. Issac Rios, U.S. Army
• Retired Staff Sgt. Patrick Roberts, U.S. Special Operations Command
• Retired Cpl. Sarah Rudder, U.S. Marine Corps
• Retired Sgt. 1st Class Howie Sanborn, U.S. Special Operations Command
• Sgt. 1st Class James Sandoval, U.S. Special Operations Command
• Retired Petty Officer 3rd Class Henry Sawyer, U.S. Navy
• Retired Gunnery Sgt. Brian Scarbrough, U.S. Marine Corps
• **Sgt. Ivan Sears, U.S. Marine Corps
• Tech. Sgt. Ben Seekel, U.S. Air Force
• Retired Petty Officer 1st Class Ryan Shannon, U.S. Navy
• Retired Senior Airman Trent Smith, U.S Air Force
• Retired Lt. Bradley Snyder, U.S. Navy
• Retired Sgt. Aaron Stewart, U.S. Army
• Retired Cpl. Kionte Storey, U.S. Marine Corps
• Sgt. 1st Class Yancy Taylor, U.S. Special Operations Command
• Retired Sgt. Maj. Michael Toth, U.S. Special Operations Command
• Retired Staff Sgt. Felipe Tremillo, U.S. Marine Corps
• Petty Officer 1st Class Robert Troha, U.S. Coast Guard
• Retired Chief Petty Officer Hector Varela, U.S Navy
• Retired Master Sgt. Mark Vomund, U.S. Special Operations Command
• Tech. Sgt. Brian Williams, U.S. Air Force
• Retired Master Chief Petty Officer James Wilson, U.S. Navy
• *Capt. Christy Wise, U.S. Air Force
• Retired Chief Petty Officer Sharona Young, U.S. Navy

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Brad Snyder, Elizabeth Marks to Represent USA in Invictus Games

By SwimSwam on SwimSwam

Courtesy of Gary Hall Sr., 10-time World Record Holder, 3-time Olympian, 1976 Olympic Games US Flagbearer and The Race Club co-founder.

A great backstroke start is a thing of beauty. I liken it to a dolphin leaping out of the water and piercing the water through a hula-hoop, or David Boudia, scoring a perfect 10 off of the 10-meter tower. You see no splash and hear no splash.

The backstroker must launch upward, not just backward

Unlike from the starting block, the backstroker begins the race at a lower height. Gravitational forces are still important, however, so in order to take advantage of them, the backstroker must launch upward, not just backward, to achieve the greatest speed at entry. Further, in order to reach the highest speed on the backstroke start, the swimmer needs to avoid dragging any part of the body through the water. The body needs to go completely airborne during the start.

The body is arched way back, and is completely out the water

If you could freeze the backstroker at the very peak height of the start, you would find the feet and hands are very close to the water, yet the bum is a couple of feet above the surface of the water, with the body forming an upside down U shape. In other words, the body is arched way back, and is completely out the water.

Take Your Mark, and elevate until the bum is right at the surface

If a swimmer is to have any chance of reaching this extraordinary height on the start, he or she must launch from a high position. Taking your mark, the swimmer must elevate the body until the bum is right at the surface or above the water. This is most effectively achieved when the toes are very near the surface and gripping the touch pad. On a flat wall, the feet can be placed slightly above the surface of the water.

What Missy Franklin and David Plummer know

Upon elevation of the body, the back should be straight and the chin held upright, rather than looking downward. Some backstrokers prefer to keep the bum further away from the wall than the head, while others are positioned more straight up and down. Just like doing a pull up, it requires a lot of strength to reach this high position. With the additional weight from the body leaving the water, there is also more risk of the feet slipping down the wall. World-class backstrokers Missy Franklin and David Plummer know what that feels like, as that mishap occurred to them in the Olympic Games and World Championships, respectively.

Slipping Feet?

Much of the risk of the feet slipping has been mitigated by the introduction of the backstroke wedge, an adjustable plate that sits against the wall under the surface, helping prevent the feet from slipping down. This device is now approved by FINA for all major swimming championships.

The option of a vertical or horizontal bar

When given the option of a vertical or horizontal bar on the starting block to grasp to elevate the body for the start, most elite backstrokers at the World Championships chose the vertical over the horizontal bar. Those that chose the horizontal bar, always selected the higher bar, not the lower one.

On the sound of the beep

Once elevated, with the sound of the beep, the swimmer throws the arms more or less straight back overhead, and extends the head backward, as if looking upside down to the end of the pool. The energy of the arm swing and the head snapping backward are both coupling motions that augment the force of the feet pushing the body upward and backward. With the back fully arched, the swimmer avoids contact with the water until the hands enter first, and with the high launch, reaches a greater speed at entry. The hands should be wrapped together wrist over wrist at entry in a tight streamline.

Before the hands enter the water

Just before the hands enter the water, the head begins to come up and the back begins to straighten to avoid going too deep with an overly arched body position. Since the heel of the foot is the first part of the foot to reach the water, the foot actually relaxes from its plantar-flexed (pointed) position to create the least amount of drag at entry.

Underwater

Once the body is underwater, the real backstroke race begins with the dolphin kicks. In fact, in short course races, more of the race is swum underwater dolphin kicking rather than on the surface backstroking. The faster the kicker, the better the start becomes. Since the swimmer usually goes deeper with a backstroke start than with a freestyle start, the minimum number of dolphin kicks to reach the breakout is usually 5 or 6, with the maximum to reach 15 meters usually 10 to 12 kicks. The right number of kicks to reach the surface for each swimmer depends entirely on the speed of the kicker.

Tyler Clary = Nose clip Wisdom

Both Missy Franklin and Tyler Clary have convinced me that wearing a nose clip in backstroke makes perfect sense…unless you have one of those upper lips that can occlude your nose. The reason is that with the nose clip, the air can be retained in the lungs, keeping the body weight at zero right up to the break out. With much of the air expired out of the lungs, the body weighs about 8 lbs by the time the swimmer is ready to break out. Another advantage of the nose clip is that the swimmer can burst exhale right before breaking out and does not need to take a gaspingly deep first breath to refill the lungs. The quicker first breath enables the swimmer to explode out of the breakout with less delay and a faster stroke rate.

The best way to improve your starts is by practicing starting. But first, watch the amazing start of World Champion backstroker, Junya Koga. At The Race Club, we often do backstroke sets by beginning with a start, rather than a push off the wall, just to get that extra practice in.

Yours in swimming,

Gary Sr.

Gary Hall, Sr., Technical Director and Head Coach of The Race Club (courtesy of TRC)

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THE RACE CLUB

Because Life is Worth Swimming, our mission is to promote swimming through sport, lifelong enjoyment, and good health benefits. Our objective is for each member of and each participant in The Race Club to improve his or her swimming performances, health, and self-esteem through our educational programs, services and creativity. We strive to help each member of The Race Club overcome challenges and reach his or her individual life goals.

The Race Club provides facilities, coaching, training, technical instruction, video, fitness and health programs for swimmers of all ages and abilities. Race Club swim camps are designed and tailored to satisfy each swimmer’s needs, whether one is trying to reach the Olympic Games or simply improve one’s fitness. Our programs are suitable for beginner swimmers, pleasure swimmers, fitness swimmers, USA swimming or YMCA swimmers, or triathletes; anyone who wants to improve swimming skills. All of our Race Club members share an enjoyment of being in the water and use swimming to stimulate a more active mind and body.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Create a thing of Beauty With Your Backstroke Start

By Kierra Smith on SwimSwam

We’re in for a treat next week.  The Arena Pro Swim Series stops in Atlanta and the second night features a heavyweight tilt in the women’s 100m free between Simone Manuel and Penny Oleksiak.  The Rematch if you will.   In every sport these types of matchups never go as we imagine.  In baseball the most anticipated pitching duals often turn into early inning blowouts and in our sport we see headscratchers at every meet.  It’s especially this time of year.

Manuel v. Oleksiak II is an early in-season gift which will give all of us who love this sport a chance to remember what those two accomplished last August, late into the night, on a cold and drizzly night in Brazil.   Heading into Rio, Australia was a powerhouse in this event featuring with 5 swimmers in the top 10 and 12 of the top 14 swims overall.  When the swimmers marched out everyone who understands this sport even a little bit predicted Australia taking gold and silver.  The realistic battle would be for bronze.  Sarah Sjostrom or Ranomi Kromowidjojo?  I picked Kromo reckoning a double gold medalist would be hard to topple but I didn’t feel that strongly one way or the other.  There, 1-4 taken care of.

I figured 5 and 6 would be between the two Americans who were seeded fairly close together.  Both Abbey and Simone took a year off from school to train for this but as I saw it, the women’s 100 free was one of America’s weaker events.  The smart play would have been to pick Weitzel for 5^th but Manuel has an eerie calmness to her coupled with an I-got-this look to her face.  I wrestled with this for a while and decided on Manuel.  I didn’t feel confident about it though.

Oh look there’s Penny! Fantastic achievement for Penny Oleksiak, a Canadian teenager, getting into this final and rubbing elbows in the ready and room breathing the same rarefied air as swimming royalty.  This will undoubtedly be a great experience for her and hopefully she’ll be able draw on it four years from now.  I watched the walkout and was hoping she’d beat Ottesen and not come in last.  I wasn’t confident about this pick either.  Then the race started.  It went as most thought with one of the Campbells hitting the 50 wall first under world record pace and the other one not too far behind.  Simone was right there in a medal position and Penny was way back.  4^th, 5^th and 6^th were bunched together.

We all know what happened.  Inexplicably both Australians ran out of gas and Simone reeled them in.  I still don’t know how to process what Oleksiak did on her last 50 overtaking so many tough-to-topple swimmers and touching at the same time as Simone for a shared gold.  Oleksiak’s last 50 was, by far, the coolest thing I’ve ever seen at a swimming pool.  In an age where we structure our diets around our blood types and monitor our iron levels, Oleksiak had the same excited look at the start as a little kid does jumping into a lake off a dock with water wings.  She just might be the one who uncomplicates a sport the rest of us had taken a long time complicating.  Oleksiak could be the swimmer who can take her headphones out of her ears after detailed pre-race instructions and simplifies things into so-i-just-swim-there-and-back……and-beat-these-7-people.  Right?

We get a chance to relive it next week in Atlanta.   American networks won’t break away from their basketball playoff coverage to show it live and with hockey playoffs going on it won’t get any mainstream media attention in Canada, but Simone and Penny racing one another will be a special treat for people like us.  Don’t even try predicting a winner.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Oleksiak vs. Manuel II

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

2017 TYR Fran Crippen Swim Meet of Champions

• Meet Website
• LCM (50m)
• Woollett Aquatic Center, Irvine, California
• Results can be found on Meet Mobile, Search: “Irvine”

With two days through of the TYR Fran Crippen Memorial Meet of Champions and day three finals coming up later tonight, USA Swimming has posted all the race videos from day 2 finals in Irvine.

They have included all ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ finals of the events on day two, which included the 100 free, 200 fly, 200 back and 400 free. Notable names in action on day 2 were Abbey Weitzeil and Nathan Adrian in the 100 freestyle and Tom Shields in the 200 fly. Check out the recap of day 2 finals here.

Videos of the distance events on day 1 haven’t been posted.

We’ve included only the ‘A’ final of each event, but you can access all race videos on USA Swimming’s Youtube channel here.

Women’s 100 Free

Men’s 100 Free

Women’s 200 Fly

Men’s 200 Fly

Women’s 200 Back

Men’s 200 Back

Women’s 400 Free

Men’s 400 Free

*Though labelled as the ‘C’ final, the video is of the men’s 400 free A final.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Watch: Day 2 Race Videos From TYR Fran Crippen Meet of Champions