I just got back from the TYR Futures Championships, and I’ll be honest with you—I was floored. Not by the incredible young athletes. Or the volume of heats they endured. Not even by the passion in the stands. What shocked me was how far behind the sport of swimming is when it comes to understanding and implementing recovery and performance science.
I set up PlayMakar Athlete Services on-site, bringing some of the best recovery tools available—Far-Infrared Sauna, Red Light Therapy, Pneumatic Compression, Phase Change Cold Therapy, and our MVP Mini for vibratory fascia activation. I watched exhausted swimmers walk into our recovery zone, looking like they’d been through battle, and walk out looking like they had life back in their limbs.
But what truly stunned me? Only six coaches and two college recruiters stopped by to learn what we were doing.
That’s when it hit me:
The swimming world is not just behind. They’re in a time warp.
A Sport Stuck in the Past
Swimming is a sport built on tradition. And while there’s beauty in that, there’s also a serious downside. The current culture rewards endless yardage, two-a-days, early mornings, and mental toughness—without offering a fraction of the recovery support needed to survive it.
It’s no wonder we’re seeing:
- Burnout by age 17
- Chronic dehydration
- Repetitive use injuries
- Poor sleep
- Under-fueling
And somehow, we’re okay with this? Because it’s always been done this way?
Let me be blunt: this is outdated thinking that’s costing our athletes their health, their longevity, and their love for the sport. READ MORE>