By Charlotte Wells on SwimSwam Texas A&M University senior Chloe Stepanek has entered the NCAA transfer portal as a fifth year graduate student transfer after spending the last four years competing for the Aggies. A two-time SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and CSC First Team Academic All-American, Stepanek racked up numerous accolades throughout her career at Texas A&M. By the end of her senior season, Stepanek had earned 13 All-America accolades and been named the Texas A&M Swimming MVP for four consecutive seasons. As a freshman, Stepanek competed in three events at the Division ..read more

By Riley Overend on SwimSwam With just a few months remaining until the Paris Olympics this summer, French world record holder Leon Marchand shared insights into how he approaches the cerebral side of swimming with his mental coach, Thomas Sammut. Marchand returned from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 feeling disappointed as a 17-year-old without a medal to show for his 6th-place effort in the 400 IM (4:11.16), which was more than a second slower than his lifetime best from French Trials. He credits Sammut for freeing himself from his fear of failure before big races. Sammut had previously worked ..read more

By Riley Overend on SwimSwam In a turn of events, George Washington aquatic sports teams will return to their Smith Center pool for the foreseeable future after university plans to convert the facility into a new basketball facility fell through thanks to a divine act of structural integrity. Built in the 1970s, the Smith Center has walls that would have needed to be removed or modified in order to renovate the facility. During the process of designing the remodel, engineers discovered that removing one of the walls could have caused structural issues in the building. They discussed moving fo ..read more

By Anya Pelshaw on SwimSwam Regan Smith entered the NCAA transfer portal in the middle of March but is now listed as “withdrawn.” Athletes in the portal are designated under an “active” or “withdrawn” status. Smith had been designated “active” but now is listed as “withdrawn.” Sources close to the situation tell SwimSwam that the NCAA deemed Smith ineligible as a professional athlete. Smith spent her freshman season in 2021-2022 with the Stanford Cardinal. As a freshman, Smith won the NCAA title in the 200 backstroke and was 2nd in the 200 fly and 3rd in the 100 back. She scored 53 individual ..read more

By Retta Race on SwimSwam 2024 ACROPOLIS OPEN Friday, April 26th – Sunday, April 28th Athens Olympic Aquatic Center, Athens, Greece LCM (50m) Olympic Qualification Event Prize $ Breakdown Live Results The 2024 Acropolis Open kicked off today from Athens with swimmers representing the host nation competing against swimmers from the Netherlands, Canada, Turkey and beyond. The 3-day competition is World Aquatics-approved as an Olympic qualifying event while cash is also on the line for athelts who can get to the wall first. 29-year-old Kylie Masse of Canada established a new meet record en ..read more

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam When the NCAA officially adopted its name, image and likeness (NIL) policy in 2021, it changed the landscape of college sports. Although the change has unequivocally resulted in bigger shifts in revenue-generating sports like football and basketball, it still opened the doors for student-athletes in a sport like swimming to earn a bit of extra cash while continuing their studies. Through the Opendorse website, a company that markets itself as the “best NIL marketplace for athletes to build and monetize their name, image and likeness value,” we can see how much ..read more

By Retta Race on SwimSwam 2024 POLISH CHAMPIONSHIPS Thursday, April 25th – Sunday, April 28th Lublin, Poland LCM (50m) Day 1 Recap Live Results Livestream The 2024 Polish Championships continued from Lublin tonight with the meet representing a qualifying opportunity for both the 2024 Olympic Games and 2024 European Championships. 20-year-old Adela Piskorska made her presence known in the women’s 100m back, producing a winning effort of 59.92 and sole sub-1:01 swimmer of the field. Piskorska split 29.31/30.61 to get to the wall first, posting just her 2nd sub-minute outing ever. Her pers ..read more

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side. Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers which aspect of the Olympic swimming program they would change: Question: Which would you rather see at the Olympics? RESULTS Stroke 50s – 42.7% Up to 3 swimmers per country in an event – 35.3% None – I like it as is – 13.4% Mixed free relay – 8.5% The discussion of whether or not 50s ..read more

By Anya Pelshaw on SwimSwam The NCAA transfer portal closes today, April 26th for women’s swimming and diving. Roughly 191 names have entered the portal since the start of the 2024 calendar year. The portal opened for women’s swimming and diving a week after NCAA invites were announced meaning the portal opened on March 13, 2024 and closes today. It is important to note that there are a few exceptions included in this window including graduate transfers and athletes who go through a coaching change. Since the beginning of 2024, 191 swimmers and divers have entered the portal including 40 of t ..read more

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam In our Weekly Wonders of Age Group Swimming series, we celebrate swimmers of every age and experience level with age group profiles of some recent results. Hanz Palattao, 12, Pleasanton Seahawks (PC): Palattao was on fire at the Far Western Championships (SCY) in early April, winning and setting personal best times in all seven of his events. The Pleasanton Seahawks swimmer moved into 57th all-time in the boys’ 11-12 age group in the 50 breast (28.85) and took over 60th in the 50 free while also posting times that rank in the 70-75 range in the 100 back (5 ..read more