Articles and Videos
What Swimmers Need to Know About Protecting Their Eyes from UV Light
Of all the gear you use when swimming, which piece is the most important? Is it the swimsuit, which allows you to conform to social mores when enjoying a swim in a public venue? Is it the swim cap that keeps stray hairs out of your eyes and out of th...
Why Don’t Open Water Swimmers Kick More?
In sprint distance pool events, swimmers kick a lot. A strong, balanced freestyle kick can provide a lot of propulsive assistance. When the difference between first and second often comes down to a matter of hundredths of a second, engaging the large...
3 Exercises to Keep Your Shoulders Healthy
As a physical therapist who specializes in the treatment of swimmers, I’m repeatedly asked this question: “What exercises can I do to prevent another shoulder injury in the future?”
USMS Members Put Up Record-Breaking Swims at Spring Nationals
Just a few strokes from Olympic trials at Lucas Oil Stadium earlier this month, USMS swimmers put up their own top times and set 27 new USMS records at the 2024 USMS Spring National Championship at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.
USMS Member Pat Rose Builds After Disaster
May 31, 2022, was a very bad day for Patrick Rose, a member of O*H*I*O Masters Swim Club. In fact, it was the worst day of his life.
Three Must-Do Exercises to Prevent Swimmer’s Shoulder
Here are three must-do exercises to prevent swimmer’s shoulder.
What Swimmers Need to Know About Hydration in Warm Temps
With global temperatures on the rise (in late July 2023, a NOAA buoy off the Gulf Coast of Florida measured water temps above 101), open water swimming poses more risks than ever for heat-related illnesses, including heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
What Does ‘Swimmer’s Body’ Mean?
Swimming also has a preferred body type that’s related to the physics of boosting power while reducing drag through water, or hydrodynamics. Literally any body can be a “swimmer’s body” (and should!) but when talking about hig...
How to Treat a Stingray Sting
Stingrays are a group of fish in the batoid family which include skates, sawfishes, and guitarfish. In essence, stingrays are flattened sharks as they’re closely related to those wildly feared cartilaginous fish. Yet stingrays are nonaggressive...
What to Do if You Encounter a Shark While Swimming
So, what should you do if you encounter a shark while swimming? There’s a lot you can and should do before you even enter the water to reduce the chances you’ll ever have to answer that question.