Michael Andrew on Phelps Criticism, Gibson Holmes Breaks Records, Letter to Unsung Parents, Unconventional Training for Dylan Carter, and Breaking Down Strong Turns

An Open Letter to the Unsung Swim Parent

Swimming is tough. It is a constant grind, where we get used to putting in hours and hours of hard work, blood, sweat, and tears in hopes that at the end of the season when we race our best events, we will shave off a few milliseconds. Maybe even a full second or two if we’re lucky.

But greatness is rarely achieved without a little help every once and a while. When we are at the pool or in the weight room, we have our teammates to lean on and our coaches to motivate us. But it is easy to take for granted (or not even realize) how much of an amazing support system our loyal swim parents can be.

Unconventional Training Move Leads to Historic World Championships Performance for Dylan Carter

Sometimes, a change in training environment is all an athlete needs to get back on track.

Two-time World Short Course Championships medalist Dylan Carter was one of the breakout performers in ISL Season Two. The Trinidad and Tobago native set numerous national records throughout the season and proved to be a valuable point scorer for the L.A. Current.

A Look At the Movements Required For Strong Turns

Turn-time is the time spent between touching the wall with your hands or feet and the pushoff. Improving your turn will result in faster splits. The main goal is to reduce the time spent rotating your body and to get as much momentum as possible to continue swimming. Studies have found that turns can positively or negatively influence races by between 0.5 and 1.5 seconds, depending on the distance of the race. A good turn is not only a fast one but also efficient.

Here are some factors to consider to produce strong turns – especially for the novice swimmer.