Vanessa Steigauf - (Author)

Maturing Athletes: A Swimmer’s Transition from Adolescence to Adulthood By Vanessa Steigauf, Swimming World College Intern As we get older and mature, our bodies go through several changes. And because we are athletes, we are trained to know our own body extremely well. We sense every change, even i...

You’re More Than an Athlete – Hillary Allen on Recovering from Injuries and Discovering Your Why By Vanessa Steigauf, Swimming World College Intern What can injuries and forced time away from our sport teach us? How can crises help us gain perspective and lead us on a path to self-discovery? And wha...

SMART Goal-Setting for Swimmers: How To Effectively Chase Targets By Vanessa Steigauf, Swimming World College Intern The year slowly comes to an end and athletes now find time to reflect upon past performances and focus on what’s next. As we think about the practices and races of the past year, we a...

Where and How Swimmers Fit In the Scheme of Endurance Athletes By Vanessa Steigauf, Swimming World College Intern Depending on the context, endurance doesn’t always mean the same thing. Especially between sports, the definition can vary quite a lot. Endurance in swimming can, therefore, be very diff...

A Swimmer's Immune System: Why Sickness Routinely has Bad Timing By Vanessa Steigauf, Swimming World College Intern Illnesses usually come when we don’t need them at all. For swimmers that means: During a training trip or right before an important meet. But why do infections and other sicknesses alw...

The Swimmer Who Ran A Marathon – A True Story By Vanessa Steigauf, Swimming World College Intern As someone who is used to exercising horizontally, generating most of the power from the core and shoulders, and all that in an almost weightless environment, running was quite new for me in several ways...

What Is and How Neural Fatigue Affects your Swimming Performance By Vanessa Steigauf, Swimming World College Intern Heavy arms and legs after a hard practice is something all swimmers know too well. As a normal reaction to exercise, our energy supply is empty and lactic acid probably accumulates in ...

How Hand Paddles Can Improve Your Technique By Vanessa Steigauf, Swimming World College Intern Hand paddles are a piece of equipment almost every swimmer has in their bag. They help with generating power, training the upper limbs and shoulders, and developing a better feel for the water. That’s why ...

Anxiety and HRV in Competitive Swimming Performance By Vanessa Steigauf, Swimming World College Intern That tense feeling right before you get on the blocks is something many swimmers experience prior to their races. You get a little shaky, thoughts begin to race, you nervously jump up and down. Par...

World Record Holder Sarah Wellbrock (GER) on How to Prioritize as a Student-Athlete By Vanessa Steigauf, Swimming World College Intern Last week, you could find most world class swimmers racing in Budapest at the 19th FINA World Championships. But some might have noticed that a well-known name was m...

Visualization for the Win: Master Your Next Race In Your Head By Vanessa Steigauf, Swimming World College Intern Have you ever wondered what else you can do to get yourself ready for the next big race coming up? You’re probably already getting after it in the pool – and there is a certain limit wher...

Extreme Swimming Challenges Around the World By Vanessa Steigauf, Swimming World College Intern Whoever said swimming was not an extreme sport hasn’t heard of the many unique challenges that exist around the world. Every year, they pull swimmers out of their sheltered swimming pools into the waters ...

Young European Swimming Talents Who Rocked The Pool in Kazan By Vanessa Steigauf, Swimming World College Intern Last week, the European Shourt-Course Championships were held in Kazan, Russia. Long-known names, such as Sarah Sjöström (SWE) and Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA), were frequently found in the ...

The Gene Pool: How Swimming Talent is Nurtured Through Generations By Vanessa Steigauf, Swimming World College Intern There are impressive stories about cases where talent runs deep in families. If we have a look at current and retired world-class athletes, chances are, we find a bunch who have sibl...

How High-Altitude Training Provides Performance Benefits By Vanessa Steigauf, Swimming World College Intern The weeks prior to important competitions, you can sometimes find professional athletes in beautiful areas of Colorado or Utah. But they are for sure not there for a wellness vacation and fun ...

Swimmer’s Shoulder: The Most Common Injury to a Swimmer's Engine By Vanessa Steigauf, Swimming World College Intern If you see someone constantly rubbing and stretching their shoulders, you very likely encountered a swimmer. (The damaged hair and rumpled sweatpants will give you additional hints). F...

The Warmdown: Why Coaches Make Sure Athletes Put In Recovery Laps By Vanessa Steigauf, Swimming World College Intern Whether you call it recovery, warmdown, cool-down, or an easy swim, active recovery is something coaches want you to do after basically every kind of exercise. Even if we sometimes pr...

What World-Class Athletes Taught Us Through the Olympic Games By Vanessa Steigauf, Swimming World College Intern The Olympics are over but what stays for a little longer are the memories we’ve gained, the chance to share the thrill of all the athletes we followed in front of our TVs. The Olympics ma...

The Mystery Behind Swimmers’ Feel for the Water By Vanessa Steigauf, Swimming World College Intern With their special “feel for the water,” swimmers know just how fascinating this element is. Water can be soft like air and floating in it can sometimes feel like flying. But it can be soft and hard at...

Transitioning From The Pool to Open-Water: A Guide For Pool Swimmers to Master The New Element By Vanessa Steigauf, Swimming World College Intern Many pool swimmers do, at some point in their careers, switch to open-water swimming. It might be the curious swimmer who wants to try something new, the ...