A lot of awesome stuff happens on the way to swimming excellence, whatever that means for you in your own particular case. Overcoming failures and setbacks, learning how to plan to accomplish something big, managing your thoughts and self-talk and more all happen when you master the pool and your mental training. But there is one other thing that happens along the way that doesn’t really get much attention. And it’s something insanely critical to performance, and yet, we don’t really stop to think about it. (We’re too busy focused...

In a recent story, someone commented, “When and what should swimmers eat during meets?” I discussed this question with several swim moms from a variety of backgrounds, including two nurses, former swimmers, athletes, a dietitian and parents of Olympians, to find out their advice about nutrition at meets. Although none of them claim to be experts, they have years of experience and have learned what things do and do not work for their kids. They provided five practical tips and a list of foods their swimmers eat at meets. ONE...

Congrats to Biko Hooper-Haviland who was selected to the USA Swimming National Junior Team. In addition to setting an Illinois state record in the event, Biko's performance in the 200 butterfly this summer was one of the top 5 performances for all 18&Unders in the United States. Biko is the first ever member of CWAC to earn this recognition. Biko is just starting his freshman year at Purdue this fall and is swimming for the Boilermakers. Congrats to Biko, his coaches, family and teammates on this great achievement! COLORADO SPRINGS,...

Congrats to CWAC swimmer Alistair Guth who has committed to swim at Johns Hopkins in the fall of 2026. Click here for the updated list of college commits.

Congrats to CWAC swimmer Colleen Tracy who has committed to swim at Georgetown in the fall of 2026. Click here for the updated list of college commits.

If you look across the wide expanse of the world wide web there’s no shortage of ways to become a faster swimmer. There are different types of technique. There are an endless number of swim practices to try. And of course, there are the considerations of dryland and nutrition. But while it’s easy to pinpoint the reasons why some swimmers are faster than others—talent, height, coaching—there is something else that we can all work on, regardless of how gifted we are in the water… It’s that little something-something that keeps...

Did you know that we can survive and thrive without carbohydrate, but not protein or fat? While I don’t recommend this, especially for athletes, it can be done. Protein is made up of 20 amino acids, 6 of which we MUST get from our diet. It forms the major components of muscle, skin, tendons, blood vessels and hair. 65% of total body protein lies in muscle. Most importantly, it is imperative that we get our protein requirements satiated b/c it drives our hunger levels. We will typically eat until our...

Congrats to all of the CWAC swimmers that helped lead CWAC to a team victory at the Illinois Regional Championships. CWAC also won both the girls and boys team title. Congrats to Quinn Bartels who broke a 10 year old record in winning the 8&Under 100 free. Regional Champions Cristian Banini - 13-14 Boys 200 Breast Quinn Bartels - 10&U Boys 100 Free Mia Caliento - 10&U Girls 50 Breast Abrielle Kamara - 13-14 Girls 50, 100 & 200 Back Jonathan Li - 13-14 Boys 400 IM Gamble Merrick -...

I am pleased to share our club has achieved USA Swimming’s Safe Sport Club Recognition. This recognition reflects our commitment to providing a healthy and positive environment free from abuse for all team members. In order to apply for Safe Sport Club Recognition, we were required to develop and implement club governance measures, Safe Sport policies and reporting mechanisms, Safe Sport best practices as well as training to athletes and parents. All of these measures were reviewed by USA Swimming Safe Sport staff for approval. Our Safe Sport Club Recognition...

Congrats to CWAC Coach Justin Fernandez who was recognized by the American Swim Coaches Association as one of the top 25 Age Group coaches in the country for medium size teams. The results were compiled using a dataset provided by USA Swimming’s data scientists of swimmers ages 10-14 with qualifying time standards from the 2024 Long Course season and 2024-25 Short Course season. Click here for the article