Backstroke rotation should be quick and snappy, happening all at once as one arm is finishing and the other arm is entering. The rotation isn’t large – far from being all the way onto your side. Most of the best backstrokers rotate less than 30 degrees to each side.

Rotation is an important part of freestyle, but how much should you really do it? The stroke takes place much more on your stomach than it does on your side. The best freestylers rotate their shoulders to either side about 30 degrees from the surface, meaning that they never even rotate halfway onto their side (which would be 90 degrees).

Many athletes dread the thought of traveling distances, either across the U.S. or abroad, for competition. At home, everything is set up to maximize performance. Travel can disturb all of this, starting with an exhausting, uncomfortable trip in cramped quarters.

Is one of your 2012 resolutions finding a swimmer with a great story to root for? Well, Davis Tarwater’s journey included the Club Wolverine Super team up to 2008, a break from the sport for a year, a year in Tennessee, a year as a scholar at prestigious Oxford, and now a year with Dave Marsh at the progressive SwimMAC program in Charlotte.

Matt McLean paid a recent visit to his home club (SNOW Swimming) in Sterling, VA. Watch the video to see him interacting with the swimmers.

36 swimmers will be selected to attend the National Diversity Select Camp May 3-6, 2012 in Colorado Springs, Colo. Swimmers must meet the qualifying time standards for the camp and represent an ethnically underrepresented population that is less than 10% of the current USA Swimming membership.

On Dec. 17, 2011 Open Water Olympian Alex Meyer visited the Glens Falls YMCA Gators swim team in Glens Falls, NY to make a swIMPACT. Meyer started swimming with the Glens Falls YMCA Gators as an 8 and under, before moving to Ithaca, NY. He came back to his roots to inspire the swimmers and give instructional tips and techniques for open water swimming.

On Dec. 20th, 2011 Michael Klueh, an Evansville native and one of the top long-distance swimmers in the country visited the St. Mary’s Medical Center to bring holiday cheer to kids who were hospitalized during this time. He visited with a few different patients, hearing more about their interests, conditions, and holiday hopes. He also handed out autographs, caps, and wristbands to each child.