By McKenna Ehrmantraut, Swimming World College Intern
Swimmers live in the water, but it’s important to remember that while you may be immersed in it, your body still needs to stay hydrated. Every swimmer has their go-to water bottle that they swear by. It’s always on deck, with them in class or even on their nightstand: a swimmer is rarely seen without one.
Everyone is unique, and swimmers across the country are reflecting their personalities through their choice of water bottle. With a variety of color options and stickers, athletes make their distinct mark. Indoor and outdoor swimmers alike from different states, climates, and backgrounds share their favorite tools for hydration with Swimming World below.
Photo Courtesy: Kate Santilena
Paige Nagahama, a swimmer for University of Hawaii’s Masters Swimming Team, loves how her Hydro Flasks can keep things colder or hotter for longer periods of time and shows off her personality through the fun colors. She uses both of the bottles pictured above for morning practice: the big blue one for water to stay hydrated throughout her grueling workouts, while the black one is used for coffee. Everyone needs a little boost in the mornings, especially when the sun isn’t even awake! Growing up and living in Hawaii, Nagahama is very ocean conservative, which shows in her sticker choices promoting companies that help clean the oceans.
Photo Courtesy: Alyssa, D’Esposito
Alyssa D’Esposito, a swimmer from Arcadia University, loves how durable her Hydro Flask is. The pictures in the background of the photo above show some of the fun places she and her water bottle have traveled together.
Photo Courtesy: Kristy Kinzer
Sarah Anderson, an athlete at Western Michigan University, loves her Hydro Flask water bottle for many reasons. A major perk is that it fits really well in her car cup holder – not many water bottles do that. As seen in her decorative choices, Anderson says: “You can really learn a lot about me by just looking at my water bottle stickers! I love Sweetwater Donuts, work at Gazelle Sports, love being outside and love supporting my school!”
Photo Courtesy: Madison Beckemeyer
Swimmer Madison Beckemeyer from Arcadia University expresses her personality in her water bottle through all of the stickers and the dents and scratches in it, because they “add character” and visually tell the story of adventures she has had with it. She says the bottle comes in handy particularly during training trip: “Teams typically go to a warmer location to make the grueling training suck a little less. This year, Arcadia University went to the beautiful but warm Puerto Rico. Having a Hydro Flask was great for practices, because I could get ice the night before practice and continue to fill it throughout the morning and still have ice cold water during a hard set. It was also great on the beach, because there’s no condensation that sand could stick to. Sand also never found its way into my bottle. Having my hydro flask made those grueling practices suck a little less!” she says.
Photo Courtesy: Olivia McKelvey
Florida Tech swimmers Mikaela Barger, Katie Crocker, Emma Oleniczak, Peyton Baranowski, Drew Bastian, Alice Pennings and Savannah Brennanall love how Hydro Flasks can keep their water nice and chilly even when sitting in the blazing sun for their three-plus hours of practices. They also enjoy the wide assortment of colors and styles to choose from. The majority of them express their personality through their water bottle by covering it with stickers or wristbands.
Photo Courtesy: Aaron Jolly
Aaron Jolly, a swimmer for Beloit College, loves his Hydro Flask because it is durable enough for any and all adventures, and has a simple yet colorful aesthetic. He has covered his Hydro Flask with lots of stickers not only to represent who he is and where he’s come from, but also to remind him of all the places he’s visited and adventures he’s embarked on over the years.
Photo Courtesy: Ana Kohout
Ana Kohout, another swimmer from Beloit College, loves her Hydro Flask because it’s the perfect size for her cup holder and keeps her water icy cold on the musty, hot pool deck. This bottle is very personal to her, because it has memories quite literally ingrained into the bottle with all of the scratches and dents from her many adventures and everyday life. It is her constant, trusty companion.
Photo Courtesy: Lianne McCluskey
Swimmer Aidan Coffin Ness from Smith College says, “I love that my Hydro Flask is distinguishable; I can tell that it’s mine and has stickers on it that make me smile. It stands out from the crowd! I like that I was able to put fun colors on it and make it what I wanted – colors that make me happy.” Her first sticker, one that said “Be Brave,” was very special because it was from a leadership conference. “I added a succulent sticker from one of my best friends and a sticker from a celebrations event at Smith College honoring the choice to love anyone you want to. It reads, ‘Celebrate Love.'”
Photo Courtesy: Kaylie Williams
Kaylie Williams, a swimmer from Beloit College, says she loves her Hydro Flask because she can take it anywhere without having to worry about her water becoming room temperature or her coffee getting lukewarm: it stays at the perfect temperature. Williams explains, “It’s durable and it’s brightly colored – like my personality!” Her Hydro Flask is covered in stickers that represent where she’s from – sunny California – and her adventurous nature. She says that there no apparent theme to the sticker choices; she just finds a sticker she likes and arranges it in a cool way.
Photo Courtesy: Annalise Christy
Annalise Christy, a swimmer from Arcadia University, loves that her Hydro Flask keeps her water chilled and icy all day long, even if it’s in the scorching summer heat. She personalized her water bottle by having the back engraved by her favorite surf store.
Photo Courtesy: McKenna Ehrmantraut
Swimmers Sydni Resnick and Josie McCloughan from the University of Puget Sound prefer their Hydro Flasks above all other water bottle choices. McCloughan says, “I like that I can put cute stickers on my Hydro Flask that reflect my personality and interests. Putting stickers on Hydro Flasks help to distinguish whose water bottle is whose, and they tell a little bit about the person. It also keeps my peppermint mocha warm and toasty on the snowy days.” Resnick chimes in as well: “Besides the stickers to decorate my water bottle, I love how it promotes the use of recycled water bottles when I bring it everywhere I go, from home and school to all of our training trip locations to family and friend vacations. This water bottle has been my trusty travel companion.”
Are you going green with reusable water bottles? If so, what does your water bottle say about you? Tell us in the comments below!
-All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.