What's In A Swimmer's Bag?

Like all great athletes swimmers have a bag filled with all sorts of different equipment that assist them throughout practices and competition days to be successful. There are the common items you would expect to find in a swim bag and then there can be some crazy stuff too. In all swim bags you will of course find a suit because it's kind of difficult to participate in swimming if you forgot your swim suit not to mention a little awkward. During meets days you will find anywhere from two to three towels since swimmer's are consistently in and out of the pool and they don't want to be drying off with a soaking wet towel. Extra caps and goggles are an absolute must because your goggles or cap may break at any given time considering the materials they're made of are fragile. Among the slightly crazy stuff you may find in a swimmers bag, there could be footie pajamas that keep us warm and toasty during cold winter days and coloring books to keep us entertained throughout the long meets. Although many think that there isn't much that you need to pack to go swimming; nothing could be further from the truth.

Proper Swimming Snacks

Food! Swimmers are known for always having lots of carb loaded snack foods to eat throughout the meets as well as water and Gatorade. One of my favorite swim meet snacks is the oh so delicious goldfish, they satisfy you without giving you a tummy ache before swimming. When packing snacks for a meet you have to keep in mind that you need food that will give you energy for your races but won't make you want to throw up after racing. Crackers are something simple that you can grab for meets because they are simple carbohydrates that will get you through the meet, preventing you from crashing. Also they are little on the stomach however eating to many can cause just the thing you want to avoid. Eating protein during the meet is also a main key because carbs can keep you going but not to the extent that some protein can. Cheese is something great that will give you some protein without making you feel like a lead weight in the pool after eating it. Another important item to bring to meet is lots and lots of water. It prevents you from becoming dehydrated. Remembering these tips will help you get through your meet days without having to starve yourself.

Stroke Rules

Swimming already has enough rules as is but there's even more when it comes down to the technique of your strokes and how they look. Each stroke is different therefore they all have different rules however butterfly and breaststroke share one rule. When your coming into the wall to make a turn or finish the race to MUST touch the wall with both hands at the same time or else you are disqualified. During breaststroke while kicking you need to have both your feet facing outwards kind of like a Y and in butterfly both your arms have to   In freestyle when you are doing a flip turn and push off the wall staying in streamline on your back for to long, it will result in disqualification. Backstroke has a similar rule except it's for when you stay on your stomach to long you'll be disqualified. Also if you streamline past a certain point of the pool when doing backstroke it means yet another automatic DQ. What makes it difficult is that you may being doing something wrong and won't even know it until the end of the race when it's to late. Although there are several things that you could do wrong while swimming, checking with you coaches can help prevent any disqualifications.

Rules

It seems like everything in life has rules now and some of the most strict rules are in sports. In my opinion swimming rules are some of the worst out of all the high school sports. During the meets you are not allowed to have any jewelry on which is completely understandable but if you have so much has a hair tie on your wrist you will get disqualified from the event. If you have a tattoo it must be covered up at all times, which is extremely difficult considering a swim suit doesn't really allow you to cover much up at all. Not only that but if you are "exposing" to much the officials can disqualify you. I don't know about you but when I'm in public I like to stay as covered up as possibly, it's not like I want to go around showing off my assets to everyone. In swimming the rules are all about the little things that one would never usually notice but considering no one likes getting disqualified you have to be aware of the rules all the time.

High School Swim Season=One Big Family

In Colorado when it starts getting cold outside and winter is just around the corner; it's swim season. The girl's high school swim season begins in November and ends in late February. For those grueling four months we work till our legs are numb and are arms can no longer move. We see each other at 4am with no makeup, when we're at our worst, all through the mental break downs and even when we don't shave for months. During the season we become one big swimming family who's there for each other; behind the blocks before a race and there after whether you have won or lost with a huge congratulations hug. At team dinners the night before our next meet we get together at someone's house eating pasta and laughing at all the new inside jokes that we have come up with. After it snows outside we race out screaming, grabbing hands full of snow for one huge team snowball fight. No matter what happens our team sticks together through the good times and the bad. Even when we aren't swimming we are still like a family.

Missy Franklin

Everyone has heard of Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin however swimming has seen the emergence of a new super star; Missy Franklin. This latest up and coming idol is not a twenty five year old but a sixteen year old who has dedicated her life to becoming an Olympic winner. At such a young age Missy has surpassed being a high school state champion and is now apart of the United States National Team. This humble teen will also be competing in the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London, England. During the 2011 Worlds in Shanghai Missy won the 200 backstroke, also achieving an American record in the event. As well Missy took home bronze in the 50 meter backstroke and "carried home the American women to their first world title in the 4x100 Medley relay since 1998." [Splash Magazine] Missy Franklin of Denver, Colorado also known as "Missile" Missy is definitely someone to keep your eye on during the up coming Olympics.    

Swimming Strokes

Thousands of people around the world love to swim for fun but few know what it is truly like as a sport to swim competitively. Many people only know of the one basic stroke, freestyle (and no, doggie paddle IS NOT considered an actual stroke) and are unaware that there are also three other strokes. Butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle are all four of the strokes used during swim meets, some are more complicated than others. Butterfly is known as the toughest stroke to accomplish because of the timing and strength required in order to stay a float. Swimmer's must move their arms up and above their head like doing arm circles and keep their legs together while kicking like a dolphin. Backstroke is a nice simply stroke, where you just lay on your back floating while spinning your arms and flutter kicking. Breaststroke on the other hand is hard to do and explain. The easiest way to put it is that you look like a frog when you do this stroke. Last but certainly not least, the stroke that everyone knows, freestyle. You float on your stomach, flutter kick and spin your arms like you are throwing a baseball.