Articles and Videos
From the Center Lanes: David Zimmerman
While swimming at a pool without a pace clock, David Zimmerman had trouble gauging his pace on hard sets. He says this led him to use a FINIS Tempo Trainer “to help me figure out how fast I was going,” something that still helps him today.
Assess Your Shoulders, Hips, and Ankles to Maximize Your Time in the Water
The start of a year is a great time to assess your strengths and areas for improvement. You can use the information you collect to make meaningful adjustments to your training to help you build strength and prevent injuries over the coming year.
To Swim Better, Stop for a Minute
Regularly taking a moment or two in between all these things to ask yourself how you’re doing can help you stay connected to your workouts and your motivation—and maybe even yourself and your teammates.
What You Should Know About Reverse Total Shoulder Replacement
As swimming's popularity among older adults increases, more Masters swimmers face procedures such as reverse total shoulder arthroplasty, or RTSA, which is more commonly called reverse total shoulder replacement.
Using Yoga for Dynamic Dive Starts
Yoga helps improve your strength, flexibility, joint mobility, as well as your proprioception (awareness of your body) and vestibular system acuity (your inner ear's cue of your positioning), which are all required for a great start from the blocks.
Swimming and Sights Galore in the Pacific Northwest
Enjoy the beauty of the Pacific Northwest when the 2025 USMS Summer National Championship returns to Federal Way, Washington, Aug. 6 to 10.
Swim Fast Deep in the Heart of Texas
Enjoy fast swimming in San Antonio at the 2025 USMS Spring National Championship, which will be held at the Northside Swim Center April 24 to 27
Gold at Last
In 2012, Chris Hammer, then a member of Team USA's Paralympic track and field squad, was unhappy with his performance in London. He was a star runner at Grand Valley State University in his native Michigan, competing against able-bodied athletes. Born with a congenital condition that left him without a left hand, he grew up only competing in able-bodied sports and did well. He figured his transition into the elite paralympic running would also prove successful.
USMS Announces 2025 Open Water Nationals
U.S. Masters Swimming will have five open water national championships at three venues across the country in 2025.
What to Do If Youre Not Feeling It
When you're in a workout and you're just not feeling it, you're likely wondering whether you should just get out or keep pushing through. Spoiler alert: Few coaches we talked to say that packing it in is your best choice.
The Fight to Desegregate Brookside Plunge
The Brookside Plunge was an erstwhile public swimming pool in Pasadena, California. In the 1930s and ’40s, numerous Black civil rights leaders, two renowned Jewish physicists, and at least one Asian American athlete fought for inclusion with the best tools they had available: community organizing skills, money, and athletic talent.
Volunteer Profile: Jay Definis
O*H*I*O Masters Swim Club member Jay Definis has been involved in USMS’s philanthropic work for years, requiring him to wear many hats. He served as a member of USMS’s Adult-Learn-to-Swim Committee and as part of the Swimming Saves Lives Foundation.
Easy Salmon Cakes Over Mixed Greens With Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette
Kick-start the year with optimal brain and heart health with this omega-3–rich salmon recipe. Your muscles will thank you for repairing them after a workout with this protein-packed meal.
Coping With Cold
Winter swimming outdoors is a chilly affair. If you’re planning to keep swimming as the mercury falls, plan ahead to help ensure you’re not getting too cold and putting yourself or your training partners in danger.
Ask the Coach: Jacky Merianos
Swimmers need to mimic race conditions if they want to swim well in meets.
Daddy-Daughter Swims at Summer Nationals
Most Masters swimmers know you can engage with the sport of swimming at any age. But for some, it’s become a special way to connect across generations.
FOOSH Happens
Caroline Stanistreet had to shift her competitive focus to recovery after falling on her outstretched hand.
A New Year, a New Me (and a New You?)
So with 2025 officially here, now seems as good a time as any to start turning things around—eating healthier, eating less, and working out more. The argument for dropping a few pounds is sound. Doing so can reduce my blood pressure, LDL (or bad) cholesterol levels, and risk of developing type 2 diabetes; improve my mobility as I get older; place less stress on my joints; and provide many other benefits.
3 Myths About Backstroke (and the Truths Behind Them)
Here are three myths about backstroke and the truths behind them.
Can Swimming Cause Vertigo?
The official trailer for the 1958 Alfred Hitchcock film “Vertigo” opens with a visit to a dictionary to describe this peculiar sensation. The definition supplied reads: “VERTIGO: ver’-ti-go—A feeling of dizziness… a swimming in the head… figuratively a state in which all things seem to be engulfed in a whirlpool of terror.”
