SwimSwam
Type of site
Sports
Available inEnglish, Spanish, German, French, Hindi, Italian
HeadquartersAustin, Texas, United States[1]
Country of originUnited States[1]
OwnerSwimSwam Partners, LLC
URLswimswam.com
LaunchedMarch 12, 2012[2]

SwimSwam is a swimming news organization covering competitive swimming along with diving, water polo and synchronized swimming. SwimSwam launched as a website in March 2012 and quickly became the most-read swimming website in the world.[2][3][4] SwimSwam was named one of NBC Sports's 100 must-follow social media handles for the 2016 Summer Olympics.[5]

History

The news organization was founded by Braden Keith, Garrett McCaffrey, Davis Wuolle, Tiffany Stewart and Olympic gold medalist Melvin Stewart, known as Gold Medal Mel. The group of founders teamed up in October 2011, started the SwimSwam YouTube channel on February 17, 2012, and launched the SwimSwam website March 12, 2012.[3][6][2] While the website was launched in 2012, its origins trace back to swimming website SwimNetwork.com where Mel Stewart had worked as a traffic driver and blogger.[7][8] The roots of the YouTube channel can also be traced to SwimNetwork.com, where in 2010 Stewart was the host of an interview show.[8] After USA Swimming shut SwimNetwork.com down, it was launched in 2006 and shut down a few years later, Stewart took his experience and brought his wife and collaborators together to found SwimSwam.[7]

In its first month of operation, the website received more unique visitors than the USA Swimming and Swimming World websites, coming in at over 200,000 unique views.[3] As of July 2021, the videos SwimSwam had published on its YouTube channel had amassed over 19 million views.[6]

Four years after the initial launch of the website and the start of the YouTube channel, Keith and Stewart spearheaded the launch of a print magazine taking some of the first hard copy issues to the 2016 US Olympic Trials to increase brand recognition.[9] Headquarters at time of launch were located in Austin, Texas, though workers were spread throughout multiple states.[1]

Operations

Website

Articles

Writers publishing articles on swimswam.com are composed both of staff writers and topical contributors. Current contributors and columnists include podcaster Rich Roll and author and former national-level swimmer, Olivier Poirier-Leroy. Typically, the website publishes 20 to 100 articles per month.[10] On November 10, 2021, SwimSwam published its landmark 100,000th post on its official website.[11]

Listings and rankings

The site also compiles a listing of swim-related jobs[10] and ranks NCAA recruits and recruiting classes,[12] among other things. SwimSwam's online job listings section has been noted for its ease of use and streamlining the job application, interview, and hiring process.[13]

YouTube channel

On SwimSwam’s YouTube channel, videos published cover aquatics sports-related content including sports such as pool and open water swimming, synchronized swimming, diving, and water polo.[14] It produces a podcast, "SwimSwam Podcast", in which different staff members interview key people in aquatics sports including athletes, coaches, and administrators.[15][16] SwimSwam provided timely coverage breaking down the rationale of the decision by USA Swimming to postpone the 2020 US Olympic Trials in swimming a year and break the meet into two waves due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the form of a podcast featuring different SwimSwam staff members, including two co-founders.[17]

Magazine

In 2016, SwimSwam launched a quarterly print magazine called SwimSwam magazine,[9] which was included in Mr. Magazine's "30 Hottest New Launches of the Year."[1]

Awards

SwimSwam is known for its yearly Swammy Awards, which honor the top international,[18] NCAA[19] and age group[20] swimmers at the end of each year. Swammy Awards allocated annually also highlight athletes in different aquatics disciplines, such as swimmers in open water swimming.[21] They are also awarded on the continental and national level to swimmers and coaches, such as swimmer of the year of Africa, by gender, and coach of the year of the United States.[22]

Notable stories

The following are a few of the notable stories SwimSwam has reported on or been a part of that were covered by other news agencies:

  • The organization's website was also the outlet in which G Ryan, a national champion swimmer, came out as transgender in 2016.[27][28]
  • SwimSwam was the first to report on Lia Thomas, a transgender woman who was subject to controversy over her participation on the University of Pennsylvania women's swim team after competing on the men's team for three years. [49] In addition, SwimSwam also was the first media company to conduct a formal interview with Thomas via their SwimSwam podcast (Thomas, who had declined to speak to multiple media outlets, only spoke with Sports Illustrated after her SwimSwam interview). [50]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "SwimSwam: From A Website To A Printed Magazine – The New Publication That Proves Adding A High-Quality Print Component to Your Brand's Identity Is Always A "Swimmingly" Good Idea". Mrmagazine.wordpress.com. October 24, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Stewart, Melvin (March 22, 2022). "How SwimSwam Became SwimSwam, The Inside Story (10 Year Anniversary Post)". SwimSwam. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 "Website launch goes swimmingly". Austin American-Statesman. September 24, 2012. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Surveys & The World's Most Popular Swimming Website - SurveyMonkey Blog". Survey Monkey. August 29, 2013.
  5. ↑ "100 must-follow social media handles for Rio 2016". NBC Olympics. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  6. 1 2 SwimSwam. "SwimSwam - About". YouTube. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  7. 1 2 Papadatos, Markos (June 4, 2019). "Meet Mel Stewart: Olympic gold medalist, Co-founder of SwimSwam (Includes interview)". DigitalJournal.com. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  8. 1 2 "Where Are They Now?: Mel Stewart". Charlotte Magazine. July 20, 2010. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  9. 1 2 "Swim Swam Dives in Print…and Hits Gold". Freeportpress.com. October 24, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  10. 1 2 "The Man Behind SwimSwam: An Interview with Mel Stewart – Swimspire". www.swimspire.com. November 18, 2014. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  11. ↑ Keith, Braden (November 10, 2021). "This is SwimSwam's 100,000th Post". SwimSwam. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Harvard Continues To Increase Recruiting Power in the Pool - Sports - The Harvard Crimson". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  13. ↑ Riemensperger, Kayla (May 8, 2018). "Depauw University's Secret Weapon: An Ace Assistant Coach". Swimming World. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  14. ↑ SwimSwam. "SwimSwam - Videos". YouTube. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  15. ↑ SwimSwam (July 15, 2021). "SwimSwam Podcast". YouTube. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Head Coach Dan Flack Featured on SwimSwam Podcast". Baylor University. May 27, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  17. ↑ SwimSwam (January 28, 2021). "Breaking Down the Decision to Have 2 Olympic Trials Meets in the US". YouTube. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  18. ↑ "Alia Atkinson". FINA.
  19. ↑ "University of Tennessee Official Athletic Site - Blog". University of Tennessee Athletics.
  20. ↑ "Lakeside Aquatic Club : News". Teamunify.com.
  21. ↑ Munatones, Steven (December 30, 2012). "Ous Mellouli Wins Swammy Award For Open Water". Openwaterswimming.com. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  22. ↑ "Three with Hoosier Ties Honored by SwimSwam". Indiana University Athletics. January 5, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  23. ↑ "These charts clearly show how some Olympic swimmers may have gotten an unfair advantage". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  24. ↑ Redford, Patrick. "Did A Current In The Rio Swimming Pool Give Some Swimmers An Unfair Advantage?". Deadspin. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  25. ↑ "Did 'horrific' pool blunder screw swimmers?". News.com.au. August 18, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  26. ↑ "An Engineer's Hypothesis On The Current Stir From The Rio Pool". Insidescience.org. August 19, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  27. ↑ "Michigan Wolverines swimmer G Ryan aims for podium at NCAA championships before taking on challenge of making sports more inclusive". ESPN. March 14, 2017. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  28. ↑ "Swimming Outside the Binary". Swimswam.com. April 4, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  29. ↑ "Falcons ranked seventh in SwimSwam rankings". United States Air Force Academy Athletics. May 4, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  30. ↑ Carlson, Reid (October 11, 2021). "Olympic Gold Medalist Ryan Held Gets Engaged To NC State Swim Alum Lexie Lupton". SwimSwam. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  31. ↑ Race, Retta (September 1, 2021). "Sprint Champions Manaudou & Blume Announce Engagement". SwimSwam. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  32. ↑ Dornan, Ben (March 18, 2021). "World Record Holder Erika Brown Announces Engagement To Alec Connolly". SwimSwam. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  33. ↑ Keith, Braden (November 30, 2019). "She Said yes! Caeleb Dressel And Meghan Haila Are Engaged". SwimSwam. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  34. ↑ Dornan, Ben (July 19, 2021). "US Olympian Kathleen Baker Announces Engagement To US Marine Sean Dowling". SwimSwam. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  35. ↑ Carlson, Reid (October 30, 2021). "Federica Pellegrini And Matteo Giunta Announce Engagement". SwimSwam. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  36. ↑ Dornan, Ben (December 2, 2020). "2019 World Champions Sarah Köhler And Florian Wellbrock Announce Engagement". SwimSwam. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  37. ↑ Race, Retta (December 29, 2019). "Kromo & Weertman Set To Tie The Knot After Tokyo Olympic Games". SwimSwam. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
  38. ↑ Crouse, Karen; Mather, Victor (January 12, 2021). "Olympic Gold Medalist Was Part of Crowd That Invaded Capitol". The New York Times. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  39. ↑ Roscher, Liz (January 13, 2021). "USOPC condemns Capitol riots after Olympian Klete Keller's alleged involvement". Yahoo!. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  40. ↑ Sheinin, Dave; Maese, Rick (January 15, 2021). "From Olympic medalist to Capitol rioter: The fall of Klete Keller". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  41. ↑ "Olympian Keller charged with taking part in US Capitol riot". KGW. January 12, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  42. ↑ "Michael Phelps faces his toughest challenger yet — age". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  43. ↑ Levin, Josh (August 7, 2016). "American Swimmer Lilly King Wags Finger at Russian Rival, Calls Her a Drug Cheat". Slate. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  44. ↑ Nathan, Alec. "Phillips 66 National Championships 2015: Swimming Results from Friday". Bleacher Report. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  45. ↑ Sanchirico, David. "Michael Andrew, 14, becomes youngest professional swimmer". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
  46. ↑ OlympicTalk (May 12, 2021). "As swimmers finish Olympic Trials prep, must-see events take shape". NBC Sports. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  47. ↑ Bragg, Beth (June 15, 2021). "Lydia Jacoby, a 17-year-old swimmer from Seward, is headed to the Summer Olympics". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
  48. ↑ Binner, Andrew (June 21, 2021). "Five Things to Know About Swimming Sensation Kaylee McKeown". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
  49. ↑ "Penn's Lia Thomas Breaks 200/500 Free Records in Meet with Princeton, Cornell". November 21, 2021.
  50. ↑ "Penn's Lia Thomas Opens up on Journey, Transition to Women's Swimming". December 10, 2021.
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