Tera Bradham - (Author)

By Tera Bradham Commentary (From the Archive) Swimmer. It’s a word that encompasses a brutality known only by those to whom it pertains. There is no sport more excruciating than swimming. While other athletes make similar claims, we know one day in our lives would silence them forever. When an outsi...

By Tera Bradham The magical, two-syllable word that brings more excitement to a swimmer than any other: taper. It’s the only time of the year when swimmers get to experience the energy level of a normal human being; yet we aren’t allowed to utilize any of that pizzazz to which we are so unaccustomed...

By Tera Bradham, Former Swimming World Intern As soon as the 11-year-old touched the wall, I told her that her arms were crossing over too far on her backstroke. She retorted, “I’ve actually seen a doctor who said my shoulder ligaments are too loose, so I may never be able to fix that.” I bent down ...

By Tera Bradham, Swimming World Intern “I know what it is to be a struggling college student. I’ve been there,” she nods. She really has been there. Growing up in a family with six sisters, Breeja Larson never knew what it was to have excess, even once she was a student-athlete in college. [caption ...

By Tera Bradham, Swimming World Intern When you see the words swimming and Japan in the same sentence, you may expect to see the name Kosuke Kitajima, Kanako Watanabe, or Kosuke Hagino.  A name you might not expect to see is Mat Luebbers.  Yet swimming, Luebbers, and Japan are three words that are n...

By Tera Bradham, Swimming World Intern Nestling into his mother’s neck for the first time, the baby gurgled with contentment. The mother sighed with joy, grasping the realization that he was hers. The two seemed drawn together by an inseparable force, inconceivable to all except the two whose hearts...

By Tera Bradham, Swimming World Intern One second before a devastating collision that would change the course of his life, he wasn’t thinking about the fact that he was a seven-time NCAA champion. As his ears heard the crunch of his bike’s impact with the metal of the car, he wasn’t thinking about t...

By Tera Bradham, Swimming World Intern The feel of smooth water on your fingertips as you begin each stroke, the catch of the pull on your palms as you propel yourself through the water, the splash of your feet as they rhythmically create a motorboat behind you… For a swimmer, the feel of water is a...

By Tera Bradham, Swimming World Intern The majority of people look at those who have overcome impossible odds, accomplished the unthinkable, or dared to do the extravagant, and they think, “How do they do it?” How do they do the millions of things they do every day, and never get tired? How do they ...