Kayla Riemensperger - (Author)

8 Things You'll Learn In Your First College Swim Season By Cassidy Lavigne Freshman year is full of new learning experiences and memories for everyone. As a collegiate athlete, your college experience will already be vastly different than your peers outside of athletics. The transition from high sch...

23 Thoughts Your Lap Counter Has During the 500 By Cassidy Lavigne, Swimming World College Intern  At some point in most swimmers' careers, whether it's their event or just for training, we are faced with swimming the 500 freestyle. If you haven't swum it, then you're in the stands cheering, or mayb...

By Cassidy Lavigne, Swimming World College Intern We all have swam with them- that one teammate who knows how to push our buttons more than they push us to do better, the one who wants us to race fast, but not faster than they are, the one who talks under their breath after the coach critiques our s...

By Cassidy Lavigne, Swimming World College Intern At the pull of the erg during a varsity rowing practice, Hanna Rossen, now 21, felt her back snap, sending her body into shock as she sat still hyperventilating. She couldn’t walk, lie down or move. After being sent home by her coach and told to take...

By Cassidy Lavigne, Swimming World College Intern Backyard, Olympic size, lap pools, kiddie pools, wave pools, hot tubs, the list of types of pools goes on. However, there are really only two types of pools: Indoor and Outdoor. Depending on where you swim in-season (i.e. in a place where it snows), ...

By Cassidy Lavigne, Swimming World College Intern When the Special Olympics came to Irvine, CA, Soka University of America, a liberal-arts school that competes with the NAIA, took the opportunity to give back to the community and integrate the NAIA's Champions of Character values. All NAIA Student-a...

By Cassidy Lavigne, Swimming World College Intern. Clarissa Cheam completed her first year as a collegiate swimmer at Soka University of America at fifteen years old this spring. Cheam was born in Arizona, but raised in Penang, Malaysia where she was home schooled for several years before committing...

By Cassidy Lavigne, Swimming World College Intern “50 recovery!” our coach would say as we try to catch our breath on the wall, our muscles heavy from the last set. It was the second best thing to hear at practice besides “last set of the day.” We could reset our body. We could breathe again without...

By Cassidy Lavigne, Swimming World College Intern Everyone, from new swimmers to professional athletes to ordinary people know that sometimes, things don't work out like we would hope. Swimming is a sport that requires years of hard work, sacrifice, and dedication. Swimmers know this hard work is we...

By Cassidy Lavigne, Swimming World College Intern After recently aging out of my fun summer age-group team, coming home from school meant that I had to find a new team to stay in shape with. Not just a new team, but a new coach, new pool, new people and new practices. I am one of the many swimmers w...

By Cassidy Lavigne, Swimming World College Intern Tom Shields, 25, has finally qualified for his first Olympic Games in the 100 and 200 meter butterfly. Shields is known for his incredible underwaters, which have led him to much success in the short course pool, but there's a lot more to know about ...

By Cassidy Lavigne, Swimming World College Intern There are many different types of coaches who have distinct styles in how they train their athletes. Some push more than others and some hate losing, but all of them have a passion for swimming and seeing their swimmers improve.  While at times I dre...

By Cassidy Lavigne, Swimming World College Intern Kimmie Kreuzberger, a recent graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara achieved her Olympic Trials cut for the 50 freestyle in Portland, Oregon during the last weekend open for qualification. She swam all four years at the Division I le...

By Cassidy Lavigne, Swimming World College Intern Miki Dahlke, 18, a recent graduate of Tamalpais High School and commit to Harvard University is wrapping up her sprint freestyle training leading into her first Olympic Trials. Dahlke, who swims for North Bay Aquatics in Marin County, California, wil...

By Cassidy Lavigne, Swimming World College Intern Halle Morris, 17, has qualified to swim the 100 and 200 breaststroke at next month's Olympic Trials. Morris is just finishing her junior year at Terra Linda High School and final preparations for her first Olympic Trials. A dedicated swimmer at North...

By Cassidy Lavigne, Swimming World College Intern I was once again inspired by my beautiful, caring, and thoughtful mother and "swim mom" with Mother’s Day recently passing. My mom has always been my biggest support throughout my life both on and off the pool the deck. She has pushed me to swim and ...

By Cassidy Lavigne, Swimming World College Intern Every swimmer has a different and unique way of warming up and preparing for a race. Some visualize or listen to their go-to pump up song, while others do a few body smacks and high jumps to stay loose. I tend to have the problem of overthinking my r...

By Cassidy Lavigne, Swimming World College Intern With around 60,000 athletes, 300 schools, and nearly $450 million worth of scholarships awarded each year, the NAIA is a collegiate division that few have heard of, but those who have, know of its outstanding programs and incredible opportunities. Th...