''SwimSwam'' news is a swimming news organization covering competitive swimming along with diving, water polo and synchronized swimming. SwimSwam launched as a website in March 2012 and quickly became the most-read swimming website in the world. Stewart, Melvin (March 22, 2022)
"How SwimSwam Became SwimSwam, The Inside Story (10 Year Anniversary Post)"
''SwimSwam''. Retrieved March 23, 2022. SwimSwam was named one of

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...

's 100 must-follow social media handles for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

History

The news organization was founded by Braden Keith, Garrett McCaffrey, Davis Wuolle, Tiffany Stewart and Olympic gold medalist

Melvin Stewart Melvin Monroe Stewart Jr. (born November 18, 1968) is an American swimming promoter, former competition swimmer and world record-holder who won two gold medals and one bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. He is the co-fou ...

, known as Gold Medal Mel. The group of founders teamed up in October 2011, started the SwimSwam

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel on February 17, 2012, and launched the SwimSwam website March 12, 2012.SwimSwam
"SwimSwam - About"
''

''. Retrieved July 14, 2021. While the website was launched in 2012, its origins trace back to swimming website ''SwimNetwork.com'' where Mel Stewart had worked as a

traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...

driver and

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

ger.Papadatos, Markos (June 4, 2019)
"Meet Mel Stewart: Olympic gold medalist, Co-founder of SwimSwam (Includes interview)"
''DigitalJournal.com''. Retrieved July 19, 2021."Where Are They Now?: Mel Stewart"
''

Charlotte Magazine Morris Communications, headquartered in Augusta, Georgia, is a privately held media company with diversified holdings that include magazine publishing, outdoor advertising, book publishing and distribution, visitor publications, and online serv ...

''. July 20, 2010. Retrieved July 20, 2021. The roots of the YouTube channel can also be traced to ''SwimNetwork.com'', where in 2010 Stewart was the host of an interview show. After USA Swimming shut ''SwimNetwork.com'' down, it was launched in 2006 and shut down a few years later, Stewart took his experience and brought his wife and collaborators together to found SwimSwam. In its first month of operation, the website received more unique visitors than the

USA Swimming USA Swimming is the national governing body for competitive swimming in the United States. It is charged with selecting the United States Olympic Swimming team and any other teams that officially represent the United States, as well as the overal ...

and

Swimming World ''Swimming World'' is a US-based monthly swimming magazine that was first published in a magazine format as ''Junior Swimmer'' in January 1960. It concurrently runs online websites ''Swimming World Magazine'' and ''Swimming World News'', (known ...

websites, coming in at over 200,000 unique views. As of July 2021, the videos SwimSwam had published on its YouTube channel had amassed over 19 million views. Four years after the initial launch of the website and the start of the YouTube channel, Keith and Stewart spearheaded the launch of a print magazine taking some of the first hard copy issues to the 2016 US Olympic Trials to increase brand recognition. Headquarters at time of launch were located in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, though workers were spread throughout multiple states.

Operations

Website

Articles

Writers publishing articles on ''swimswam.com'' are composed both of staff writers and topical contributors. Typically, the website publishes 20 to 100 articles per month. On November 10, 2021, ''SwimSwam'' published its landmark 100,000th post on its official website.Keith, Braden (November 10, 2021)
"This is SwimSwam's 100,000th Post"
''SwimSwam''. Retrieved November 12, 2021.

Listings and rankings

The site also compiles a listing of swim-related jobs and ranks

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

recruits and recruiting classes, among other things. SwimSwam's online job listings section has been noted for its ease of use and streamlining the job application, interview, and hiring process.Riemensperger, Kayla (May 8, 2018)
"Depauw University's Secret Weapon: An Ace Assistant Coach"
''

''. Retrieved July 14, 2021.

YouTube channel

On SwimSwam’s YouTube channel, videos published cover aquatics sports-related content including sports such as pool and open water swimming,

synchronized swimming Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming) or artistic swimming is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by FINA (the ''Fédérati ...

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

, and

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

.SwimSwam
"SwimSwam - Videos"
''

''. Retrieved July 15, 2021. It produces a podcast, "SwimSwam Podcast", in which different staff members interview key people in aquatics sports including athletes, coaches, and administrators.SwimSwam (July 15, 2021)
"SwimSwam Podcast"
''

''. Retrieved July 15, 2021."Head Coach Dan Flack Featured on SwimSwam Podcast"
''

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

''. May 27, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2021. SwimSwam provided timely coverage breaking down the rationale of the decision by USA Swimming to postpone the 2020 US Olympic Trials in swimming a year and break the meet into two waves due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

in the form of a podcast featuring different SwimSwam staff members, including two co-founders.SwimSwam (January 28, 2021)
"Breaking Down the Decision to Have 2 Olympic Trials Meets in the US"
''

''. Retrieved July 15, 2021.

Magazine

In 2016, SwimSwam launched a quarterly print magazine called SwimSwam magazine, which was included in Mr. Magazine's "30 Hottest New Launches of the Year."

Awards

SwimSwam is known for its yearly

Swammy Awards Swammy Awards are awarded annually by the American-based swimming news website ''SwimSwam''. Categories include Swimmer of the Year, Junior Swimmer of the Year, Open Water Swimmer of the Year, Para-Swimmer of the Year and regional, NCAA, USA Swimmin ...

, which honor the top international, NCAA and age group swimmers at the end of each year. Swammy Awards allocated annually also highlight athletes in different aquatics disciplines, such as swimmers in

open water swimming Open water swimming is a swimming discipline which takes place in outdoor bodies of water such as open oceans, lakes, and rivers. The beginning of the modern age of open water human swimming, swimming is sometimes taken to be May 3, 1810, when L ...

.Munatones, Steven (December 30, 2012)
"Ous Mellouli Wins Swammy Award For Open Water"
''Openwaterswimming.com''. Retrieved July 15, 2021. They are also awarded on the

continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (al ...

and national level to swimmers and coaches, such as swimmer of the year of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, by gender, and coach of the year of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

."Three with Hoosier Ties Honored by SwimSwam"
'' Indiana University Athletics''. January 5, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2021.

Notable stories

The following are a few of the notable stories SwimSwam has reported on or been a part of that were covered by other news agencies: * SwimSwam made international headlines when it published statistical data suggesting the pool used for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

was affected by currents that unfairly advantaged some lanes over others. The original SwimSwam report was picked up and reported on by ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'',

Deadspin ''Deadspin'' is a sports blog founded by Will Leitch in 2005 and based in Chicago. Previously owned by Gawker Media and Univision Communications, it is currently owned by G/O Media. ''Deadspin'' posted daily previews, recaps, and commentaries of ...

, Australia's

News.com.au news.com.au is an Australian website owned by News Corp Australia. It had 9.6 million unique readers in April 2019 and covers national and international news, lifestyle, travel, entertainment, technology, finance, and sport. Staff The organiza ...

and Inside Science. * The organization's website was also the outlet in which G Ryan, a national champion swimmer, came out as transgender in 2016. * Following the US Open and Junior Nationals in 2017, a local swim club openly expressed gratitude to SwimSwam for publishing a thank you it wrote to those who volunteered at the events.Long Island Aquatic Club (August 14, 2017)
"Here's to the Volunteers - We Did It!"
''Longislandswimming.com''. Retrieved July 14, 2021. * In 2018, the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Uni ...

highlighted SwimSwam's rankings of college swimming and diving teams for their holistic approach to ranking programs."Falcons ranked seventh in SwimSwam rankings"
'' United States Air Force Academy Athletics''. May 4, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2021. * In August 2019, a college recruit changing their verbal commitment from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

as reported by SwimSwam was picked up by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

''.Walsh, Christopher (August 24, 2019)
"Crimson Tide Roll Call: August 24, 2019"
''

''. Retrieved July 14, 2021. * Between 2019 and 2021, SwimSwam provided coverage of high profile swimmer-swimmer and swimmer-coach couple

engagement An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

s including Lexie Lupton to

Ryan Held Ryan Held (born June 27, 1995) is an American freestyle swimmer who specializes in the sprint events, and is currently sponsored by Arena. He holds the U.S. Open record in the long course 100 meter freestyle and three world records in short co ...

,Carlson, Reid (October 11, 2021)
"Olympic Gold Medalist Ryan Held Gets Engaged To NC State Swim Alum Lexie Lupton"
''SwimSwam''. Retrieved October 30, 2021.

Pernille Blume Pernille Blume (born 14 May 1994) is a former Danish swimmer specializing in sprint freestyle events. She competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics. At the 2016 Summer Olympics she was the gold medalist in the women's 50 metre freestyle and won a b ...

Florent Manaudou ] Florent Manaudou (; born 12 November 1990) is a French competitive swimming (sport), swimmer, an Olympic champion of the 50-meter freestyle at the 2012 London Olympics, and the younger brother of Laure Manaudou, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist i ...

,Race, Retta (September 1, 2021)
"Sprint Champions Manaudou & Blume Announce Engagement"
''SwimSwam''. Retrieved October 30, 2021. Alec Connolly to Erika Brown (swimmer), Erika Brown,Dornan, Ben (March 18, 2021)
"World Record Holder Erika Brown Announces Engagement To Alec Connolly"
''SwimSwam''. Retrieved January 15, 2022. Meghan Haila to

Caeleb Dressel Caeleb Remel Dressel (born August 16, 1996) is an American professional swimmer who specializes in freestyle, butterfly, and individual medley events. He swims representing the Cali Condors as part of the International Swimming League. He won ...

,Keith, Braden (November 30, 2019)
"She Said yes! Caeleb Dressel And Meghan Haila Are Engaged"
''SwimSwam''. Retrieved October 30, 2021.

United States Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

Sean Dowling to

Kathleen Baker Kathleen Baker (born February 28, 1997) is an American competition swimming (sport), swimmer who specializes in freestyle swimming, freestyle and backstroke swimming, backstroke events. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she won a gold medal in the Sw ...

,Dornan, Ben (July 19, 2021)
"US Olympian Kathleen Baker Announces Engagement To US Marine Sean Dowling"
''SwimSwam''. Retrieved January 15, 2022.

Federica Pellegrini Federica Pellegrini (; born 5 August 1988) is an Italian retired swimmer. A native of Mirano, in the province of Venice, she holds the women's 200 meters freestyle world record (long course, 50 m), and won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing ...

to Matteo Giunta,Carlson, Reid (October 30, 2021)
"Federica Pellegrini And Matteo Giunta Announce Engagement"
''SwimSwam''. Retrieved October 30, 2021.

Florian Wellbrock Florian Wellbrock (born 19 August 1997) is a German swimmer. He is the world record holder in the short course 1500 metre freestyle. He won gold medals in the 10 kilometre open water swim and 1500 metre freestyle at the 2019 World Aquatics Cham ...

Sarah Köhler Sarah Wellbrock (''née'' Köhler; born 20 June 1994) is a German swimmer. She represented her country at the 2016 Summer Olympics. In the women's 400 metre freestyle, she finished 10th in the heats and did not qualify for the final. In the wome ...

,Dornan, Ben (December 2, 2020)
"2019 World Champions Sarah Köhler And Florian Wellbrock Announce Engagement"
''SwimSwam''. Retrieved January 15, 2022. and

Ferry Weertman Ferry Weertman (born 27 June 1992) is a former Dutch competitive swimmer who specialises in long-distance freestyle and open water events. He is the Olympic gold medalist in the 10 km open water marathon at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. ...

Ranomi Kromowidjojo Ranomi Kromowidjojo (; born 20 August 1990) is a retired Dutch swimmer of mixed Dutch-Javanese Surinamese origin who mainly specialises in sprint freestyle events. She is a triple Olympic champion, winning the gold medal in the 4 × 100 m frees ...

.Race, Retta (December 29, 2019)
"Kromo & Weertman Set To Tie The Knot After Tokyo Olympic Games"
''SwimSwam''. Retrieved January 15, 2022. * On January 11, 2021, SwimSwam was the first media outlet to report that retired U.S. Olympic gold medalist swimmer

Klete Keller Klete Derik Keller (born March 21, 1982) is an American convicted felon and former competitive swimmer. Before retiring from swimming in 2008, Keller won five Olympic medals, including two golds, at the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Summer Olympics in ...

had been a participant in the

2021 storming of the United States Capitol On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of then-United States President, U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 United States presidential election, 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol, U ...

. Specifically, SwimSwam played a critical role in identifying Keller from video footage posted online of the event."Olympian Keller charged with taking part in US Capitol riot"
''

KGW KGW (channel 8) is a television station in Portland, Oregon, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on Jefferson Street in southwestern Portland, and its transmitter is located in the city' ...

''. January 12, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2021. * SwimSwam's Olympic coverage has also been referenced by ''The Washington Post'',

Slate (magazine) ''Slate'' is an online magazine that covers current affairs, politics, and culture in the United States. It was created in 1996 by former '' New Republic'' editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. In 20 ...

Bleacher Report Bleacher Report (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sport and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. Bleacher Report was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System in Aug ...

and

. As part of press coverage of competitive swimming events leading up to the 2020 US Olympic Trials,

deferred authority to SwimSwam as to where

Katie Ledecky Kathleen Genevieve Ledecky (born March 17, 1997) is an American competitive swimmer. She has won seven Olympic gold medals and 19 world championship gold medals, the most in history for a female swimmer. Ledecky's six individual gold medals at ...

and

Simone Manuel ] Simone Ashley Manuel (born August 2, 1996) is an American professional Swimming (sport), swimmer specializing in freestyle events. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, she won two gold and two silver medals: gold in the 100-meter freestyle and the 4x1 ...

were expected to compete.OlympicTalk (May 12, 2021)
"As swimmers finish Olympic Trials prep, must-see events take shape"
''

''. Retrieved July 14, 2021. SwimSwam was also highlighted by a local news outlet, ''

Anchorage Daily News The ''Anchorage Daily News'' is a daily newspaper published by the Binkley Co., and based in Anchorage, Alaska. It is the most widely read newspaper and news website (adn.com) in the state of Alaska. The newspaper is headquartered in Anchorage, ...

'', in a referee context when the state of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

qualified its first swimmer to a

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

in June 2021 for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

.Bragg, Beth (June 15, 2021)
"Lydia Jacoby, a 17-year-old swimmer from Seward, is headed to the Summer Olympics"
''

''. Retrieved June 15, 2021. The

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

called upon SwimSwam's coverage of Australian swimmer

Kaylee McKeown Kaylee Rochelle McKeown (born 12 July 2001) is an Australian swimmer and triple Olympic gold medalist. She is a world record holder in the long course 100 metre backstroke and the short course 200 metre backstroke.Hanson, Ian (27 November 20 ...

twice in one article to provide context for her potential heading into the 2020 Olympic Games.Binner, Andrew (June 21, 2021)
"Five Things to Know About Swimming Sensation Kaylee McKeown"
''

''. Retrieved July 14, 2021. In July 2021, North Carolina public radio station WUNC mentioned SwimSwam and its college recruit ranking of a

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

athlete headed to the year's Olympic Games.Northam, Mitchell (July 14, 2021)
"Here Are The North Carolinians Competing In The Olympics For Team USA In Tokyo"
'' WUNC''. Retrieved July 14, 2021. *SwimSwam was the first to report on

Lia Thomas Lia Catherine Thomas (born ) is an American swimmer. In 2017, she began studying at the University of Pennsylvania, from which she graduated in May 2022. She competed on the university's men's swim team from 2017 to 2020, and on its women's swi ...

, a transgender woman who was subject to controversy over her participation on the University of Pennsylvania women's swim team after competing on the men's team for three years. In addition, SwimSwam also was the first media company to conduct a formal interview with Thomas via their SwimSwam podcast (Thomas, who had declined to speak to multiple media outlets, only spoke with Sports Illustrated after her SwimSwam interview).

References

External links

* {{YouTube, custom=SwimSwamTV, SwimSwam American sport websites Swimming websites Water polo websites Internet properties established in 2012