Kids are a good judge of where they stand amongst their peers in terms of ability and hard work. When they improve and get faster, chances are they will want to keep coming back. What are the motivating factors that keep our children interested in swimming? Why do they want to stick with a sport […]

The best scenario is a combination of talent and desire. Although having both talent and a strong work ethic is rare, these are the swimmers we see on top of the podiums throughout their high school, college and Olympic careers. We all have seen the naturally gifted kids at the pool. But what if our […]

By focusing on one day or workout at a time, maintaining a positive and enthusiastic attitude helps you find purpose in what you are doing. You’re 7 years old, and your alarm sounds at 8:30 a.m. on a sunny summer day. You eagerly hop out of bed, eat a hearty breakfast, grab your swim gear […]

Don’t bother to find out why — or what happened. After you’ve expressed your frustration about the coach to your swimmer, tell your child you’re going to have a word with the coach. During 15 years as a swim mom, I’ve watched parents make mistakes with the best of intentions. Maybe there are perfect swim parents […]

Don’t compare your swimmer to others on the team. There’s no positive outcome for anyone by doing this. I will confess. I haven’t been the perfect swim parent. I’ve learned from my mistakes, plus from watching other parents. If you’re an involved swim parent, you’ve seen interesting days on the pool deck, with new parents and more […]

To execute an awesome push and glide, swimmers must understand how deep they should go. In order to give you a solid answer on that, we need to explain a little bit about Force Plates. What is Normal ‘Ready’ Position? Normal “ready” position is defined as: Swimmers’ feet and knees are shoulder width apart, one hand should […]

As the parent of distance swimmers, my days at meets are decidedly different from parents of sprinters. I’ll admit that I look at them with a touch of envy as they cheer for a 50 or 100. They may experience the same anxiety I do during races, but for them it’s over so quickly! They […]

Don’t wait at the blocks for your swimmer to finish the race so you can give your critique before he or she talks to the coach. There is a fine line we parents walk on the pool deck. We want to be supportive of our kids who love swimming and pursue the sport. But where […]

In our youth, strength opportunity comes a little more naturally. As adults, we become really good at excuses and almost begin to fear being strong. I’m going to hit you with some tough love today. You need strength.  Now I’m not saying you need to be strong like 100 Spartans. I’m not saying you need […]

To start cross-training for swimming, add some upper body weight, core, and back exercises to your strength-training routine. One of the real assets of any professional swimmers is their swimming stamina. Your swimming stamina supplies the adequate energy and strength needed, so that you can easily perform intense training for long periods of time (while, […]