Beyond the Pool: Inside Competitive Swimming Culture
There is a deeper world to athletics in general, and specifically swimming than anyone truly realizes.
Most people picture swimming as an easy, fun sport where you swim back and forth and stare at a black line the whole time. While that is true, the sport is way more than that. Swimming, just as any other competitive sport, has its own culture, language, expectations, traditions, communications, etc. In this blog, I will be taking a deep dive into the communication styles and ins and outs of the sport that changed my life!
I started competitively swimming at the young age of ten, and while it has not always been easy, I can say I fell in love with it since then. The way it allows you to be in your own thoughts and clear your head; the silence and peace it brings your mind is unmatched. Swimming has also introduced me to a community I never knew existed of people from all different backgrounds, competing for the same goal, who all feel the same way about the sport that I do. Swimmers spend so much time training, traveling, and competing, all for one personal goal of theirs. Because of this, the bonds you make and the communication that you develop between teammates, coaches, and even competitors are so unique and become such a vital part of your life.
The Language of Swimming
Unlike what people may expect, swim has its own, unique language that makes the sport special. During a practice, a coach writes "sets" or the workout for that practice. He/she may use certain distances, intervals, effort levels, gears, etc. that someone who does not swim or is not enriched in the culture would not understand. To someone outside the community of swimming, a set on a whiteboard or paper looks like a confusing set of abbreviations and numbers. However, swimmers understand it and know exactly what to do for their workout that day.
Some examples of these terms are "negative split", "threshold", "UW", "descend", "on the 1:45", "race pace", etc. There are also terms that are different within each team for swimmers, for example, some teams call dolphin kicks underwater "underwaters", and other people call them "subkicks". Each team also has their own idea of different gears and race paces. Just as teachers set their own rules for their own classrooms, coaches do the same, so different terms or ideas vary by team and region of the world.
Swimmers also communicate using pace clocks, hand signals, split times, quick instructions, etc. because practices are designed to move quick so there has to be abbreviations and quick instructions to make sure they move efficiently.
At meets, communication is vital; you have to listen carefully to your coach's last minute instructions for a race or interpret the hand signals during your race to know whether to speed up, add in kick, etc. You also communicate with your teammates during meets, giving them advice or taking advice or encouragement from them. This part of the community is one of my favorite parts; I love having a second family I can rely on during the good times and bad times in the sport.
Communities Within Competitive Swimming
There are many different connected communities within the community of competitive swimming, including club teams, high school teams, college teams (NCAA), professional teams, coaches, parents, officials, and fans. The organizations USA Swimming and the NCAA connects athletes throughout the nation by organizing competitions, high level meets, create rules and regulations about the sport, and ultimately bring together all athletes of different levels and backgrounds.
These communities are both in-person and online. Online communities include social media influencers who display their days as swimmers on YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok, different online magazines that talk about the updated news regarding the sport, for example, SwimSwam, team websites, recruiting, etc. In-person communties include the simple practices with your teammates and coaches, competitions, training trips and facilities, team events, etc.
My Favorite Parts About the Community
One of my favorite parts of the community of swimming is the bond created through the shared challenges we go through on a daily basis. People often see swimming as just an individual sport, but it goes deeper than one's individual goals. The amount of pain and dedication it takes to be good in the sport is almost impossible to go through alone. Going through tough practices and workouts with a supportive team helps immensely and creates bonds that are truly unlike other friendships. Relays are almost always swimmer's favorite events at a meet because you get to race together as a team and it helps each day feel a little less tiring.
I also love how progress is measured in the sport. Training directly contributes to progress, which in swim looks like "dropping time" or improving your time in a specific event. Unlike other sports, you do not have to worry about judges or other people on your team contributing to or hindering your success. In swim, the results you get directly reflect the effort and work YOU put in. Even the smallest time drop you feel so grateful for; it makes you appreciate the small things.
However, although I know a lot about competitive swimming, there's always more I can learn.
What I Hope to Learn
Throughout writing this blog, I hope to learn more about how communication, or the lack of it, can influence performance. I want to learn more about the different ways swimmers communicate, even outside of just my team, and the different cultures there are on different teams across the nation!
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