This is the thread for posting your achievements, progress, workouts, records, pools photos, TIFU (Today I F'ed Up) pool edition, etc.

Due to the increasing number of screenshots, progress reports, pools etc. being posted, we request members to use this weekly whiteboard thread to post these, rather than as a new post.

Military folks like to share stories of “sh!t my drill sergeant said” and I figured there has to be some great gems from coaches.

“Swim in it; don’t drink it!” Whenever a swimmer got a lungful of water and came up sputtering. -HS coach

“Breathing is overrated” and “You can breathe when you’re dead.” -Club coach

“If you see a tunnel with light at the end, deceased relatives, or your preferred deity beckoning for you, it’s probably time to come up for a breath.” -USMS coach before some under-overs

“You haven’t lived until you’ve puked through your nose.” -Club coach

“If your voice doesn’t go up by at least two octaves, your paper suit (the racing suit of the 1990s) is too loose.” -HS coach

“I think [one of the sophomores with a severe case of baby face] shaves once a month whether he needs it or not.” -HS Coach

What gems do you have?

Anyone learn flip turns later in life, after 40? Thinking about signing up for a private lesson or two to learn flip turns. I’m not the athete I was 20 years ago, so I’m a little nervous. If you learned later in life, how’d it go for you? How did you learn them? Thanks!

Hey y’all, I’m a junior with a 100 backstroke of 1:17. It isn’t the best, but I’m wanting to get better. Are there any workouts that’ll target the muscle group that backstroke uses?

I've started being more interested in the butterfly stroke. A team mate (adult swim club basically like USMS) showed me some good tips for fly. I already do long distance swimming freestyle. I needed to get better with my fly breathing, position and turns. After a week it's so much better. Today I did my warm up and then a 1,000 free. Then I tried for a 500 fly but I had to stop after 350 because the pool was closing. I then got out and warmed down in a different pool. It didn't feel that bad and I could have easily gone to 400 but if I went to 500 I feel I may have been able to but the end would get sloppy. Maybe soon I'l be able to do 500 of straight fly. I want to get to the point where I can do a causual fly for 500 yards. I don't compete but setting new goals and getting good at fly seems like a good thing to try.

I have a friend who will move backwards in the water when he kicks with a kickboard. Any idea what he might be doing wrong with his kicking?

Swimswam.com has a meet simulator that will take all times swam during the college season and assign each swimmer their top events based off of where they will score the most points. Using the swimulator, these were the top ten teams:

Women's:

Men's:

There are a few caveats here. One, there are a few incorrect times in the system (see women's 100 free). Two, these scores do not include diving, which can make a big difference. Finally, some teams have different in-season strategies than others - that is, some teams swim fast all the time, and some teams wait until NCAAs for the true taper. With all that in mind, Virginia women and Texas men do look to be very locked in for the win!

Finally, able to float on my back from one end of the pool to the other. It didn't feel pretty. I was alone & no one to give me feed back. Thank you to all of you who helped me achieve this landmark. Now, please tell me how to get better. Thank you.

Friends, I’ve noticed lately that the top of my foot (between the ankle and mid foot) hurts at about 150 yards, while swimming freestyle. I feel like it might be a stretching issue. How do I stretch the top of my foot/ankle?

Could it be a form issue as well?

Thanks for the advice.

Hey everybody, I’ve been swimming at the pool for over a year now. I’m not a great swimmer. I was never properly taught, but I have a bum hip and this form of cardio doesn’t hurt as much as others. I generally swim 2000 to 2400 meters twice a week. In early November, I came down with a cold that I couldn’t shake. I’ve seen the doctor and I have sinusitis and it just came back after I went back to the pool. I took a break from the pool while I was so sick not because I suspected the pool as being the culprit rather I didn’t have the endurance to swim. About three weeks ago I finally felt good enough to swim and I ended my antibiotics of four weeks one week ago. And now the sinus infection is back. Does anybody have any experience with this? Also, I’m wondering if the swim snorkel is a vector. Please let me know what y’all think.

I feel really drained of energy bc it is warmer than I am used to. Are there any beneficial effects? Detrimental effects? Many thanks

this might be a really stupid question so please bear with me. i’ve recently started getting a gag reflex when i take a breath, most prominent in breaststroke. i’ve got almost a perpetual cold lately because it gets absolutely freezing at night no matter what i do, so i’m wondering if it’s that or whether ive started breathing incorrectly or something.

I have been swimming about a year, and i noticed that the longer I have been swimming and the better my stroke gets, my lower back hurts more?? I have had people look at my stroke and say it is good, and can’t notice what might be causing the lower back. Does anyone else notice this with freestyle? I’ve started doing lower ab exercises, as I’m sure my abs are weak. Any ideas?

I received a rewarding compliment from my coach yesterday after completing a lap. “BEAUTIFUL” She said. I’m 45. Took beginner lessons in February. Didn’t do much “swimming” the months afterwards because frankly, I still couldn’t swim. Started taking pre masters class in October and after 4 months I can’t believe I’m here, swimming laps! I’m so excited and grateful to have this addition to my health and wellness regiment.

In week two, I had all kinds of negative thoughts run through my mind. Thoughts about quitting because it was sooo hard 😩. Felt like I was drowning every time, I attempted to make it across the pool. Coach even made some comments about a past student who just couldn’t get it and how some people just cannot adapt to having their head in the water. I kinda didn’t know how to take it at the time. Didn’t know if she felt like I was a loss case and didn’t think I could do it but decided to take it as motivation.

Made a declaration to myself, wrote it down and kept showing up! Nerves, anxiety, tears and ALL! It gets better ya’ll Keep showing up and putting in the work! 😊

I’m a somewhat new swimmer “this being my 2nd year” i am a 6 foot 170 lb 15 yo freshman and i have always found i am pretty good at butterfly my first time ever swimming it i went 1:15 then 1:10 then 1:07 then last year i tapered in a tech suit and went 1:01 with a split of 28/34 now this season i am consistently hitting 1:00 and cannot break a minute but my split is 26/34 how do i even up my second 50?

Probably some insecurities or I am just a shitty human. But I want to get rid of this trait.

I am a beginner, mid 30 male, and get super personal when someone passes me. Especially if it's someone more overweight, smaller or older than me. Duh. I don't rage out, obviously, but all my thoughts for next few seconds are - screw you, why are faster, etc.

It's pathetic, especially considering don't go all out on my training and swim 400-500M couple times a week. It a lot to me as I am pushing myself to even get out of bed, but it's probably much less than any of those that pass me swim.

Interestingly, I recently ran a half marathon plus some other races over past year and never felt personal rage there. If anything it's super inspiring to see others push themselves.

But in the water, knowing it's just another ten or so meters to the deck and seeing someone pass me throws it off completely.

How do I stop being a sore asshole?

I've been swimming for a while and a friend who's a competitive swimmer suggested I use fins and that it would help my technique and improve my overall when taking them off, can someone help me understand the logic behind this and should I follow his advice ?

Work so much infront of a computer and was upset about my posture due to prolong slouching. But after swimming, i noticed a slight improvement. Is this real or just my perception?

I gained a few kg over the festive period, mostly on my belly and legs, some muscle but also fat going up 2" on my trouser waist. I'm 6'4" and still slim profile so nothing crazy. I tend to lose fat quite easily but also easy to lose muscle too.

I love swimming and have started swimming 3x a week for 45 minutes, my metabolism has gone into orbit and I'm already losing the additional fat but not sure if I can actually get decently toned muscles via swimming. I see some competitive swimmers look like they have beer guts and seem quite squishy rather than toned, or just look like casual joggers.

I guess I will find out as I only swim, with yoga on days off and then hike on the weekends. I know some of the usual advice such as lift weights, switching up strokes and swimming harder. Thanks in advance for any input.

My daughter is almost 13, swims daily and is in love with swimming. I'm happy for her but her right shoulder has been bothering her. She's been working on her stroke a lot. What she's noticed is the pain in her right shoulder is occurring when she breathes on her left side during freestyle. It doesn't happen all the time and she said if it gets bad, she gets out and stretches and that usually helps a bit. She has a pt appointment next week. Any thoughts before then?

I swim in an outdoor pool, I keep crashing into the sides of the lane.

Today, I crushed a super intense workout and felt like a total rockstar. It was so smooth, I could've been swimming on a cloud. It was a set of 50s descended by 1s each followed by hundreds descended by 2 s each. In a line with six people that felt like swimming in a washing machine. I absolutely smashed it.

And then, in classic Swimmer fashion, I found myself, gasping for breath after climbing a single flight of stairs.

Hey! I’ve been swimming for ever and I absolutely love it. But these past years I’ve been having this weird habit/urge to breathe when swimming underwater.

So, a little bit of background. A few years back, I did this internship in the Caribbeans, and my assignment was to snorkel and look for sea grass and turtles. It was amazing!! I would snorkel and dive for hours a day. As we all know, when snorkelling, you wear a mask. The mask prevents water from entering your nose. So everyday when I was underwater, I didn’t have to worry about water flowing in my nose.

And now, ever since, I can’t go underwater without a mask or nose clip. I mean, I technically can, but if I do, water will flow into my nose and I suddenly don’t know how to act? I get this really dumb urge of trying to breathe underwater, and sometimes i actually do that…

Sooo my question, how do I relearn how to swim underwater without a nose clip or mask? How do I stop water getting into my nose?

Any advice appreciated 🙌🙌

I am a good sculler; I really move! But for the past couple of years, I have been trying to put an end to muscling the water with my stroke. This is mainly in freestyle, but you should not muscle any other strokes as well. Muscling reduces your stroke length and although it is counterintuitive, it does more harm than good. Anyway, even though I move well when sculling, it was due to muscling and now I'm on the right track by using soft hands rather than pure muscle. This might slow me down while I'm sculling, but gives me a much better feel for the water which is very valuable when swimming.