Can you swim professionally

Some world-record breaking swimmers, such as Michael Phelps, earn millions of pounds through endorsements, although this is very rare. In fact, very few people are able to make a living purely through swimming.

Indeed, many swimmers have part-time jobs to fund their training and equipment costs. A more lucrative way to make money through swimming is to work as a swimming teacher or instructor at a leisure centre or sports complex. Understandably, this is not an average nine-to-five job. To become a world-beating swimmer, who makes money purely from their sport, you will need to eat, sleep and breathe swimming.

You will be required to travel all over the world for competitions, which may understandably involve working weekends and national holidays from time to time. There are no academic requirements for professional swimmers. To thrive in this sport, you will simply need natural talent, determination, strength, technique and discipline. Your interest in swimming should start out as a hobby. Join a local swimming club and begin competing in swimming galas. As you progress and become more and more successful in these events, you should enter national swimming competitions.

Soccer has created a cult of personality, with companies making millions on the sale of just one or two players' jerseys. This, however, brings me to my next point:.

Swimming is not yet a spectator sport The basketball and soccer examples I mentioned above will have more trouble catching on in swimming because in those sports people know the personalities and players involved. On a basic level, it is because one can see the faces of the contestants as they compete, and can follow the individual battles and successes during a two-hour or minute game.

In swimming, all athletes look the same in their black, knee length suits, goggles and cap; and races last mere minutes and seconds. Add the fact that those who attend the events live often have to deal with bleachers rather than individual seats, and an uncomfortably warm environment whether the event is indoor or outdoor. If you choose to pass on the live attendance, you will notice that television coverage is rarely live, often cuts events down the middle so you only have to watch the start and finish of a free , and is broadcast on a channel very few actually get NBC Universal is the new ESPN Ocho.

The primary spot for coverage is now online with ventures like SwimmingWorld. I am not saying we haven't made great strides: Michael Phelps has been great for the sport, bringing in sponsors and fans that would not have considered swimming anything special before him. And, there are many sponsors bringing money into the commercial side of the sport. Think about Nike re-entering the arena with their new suit line with colors! If USA Swimming, and its sponsors, can capitalize on the growing fitness market that is now buoying triathlons and driving more interest in Masters swimming, we can find new ways to fund the dreams of the next round of U.

Olympic swimmers. USA Swimming has taken steps to provide more support to the top tier of athletes, but the majority of us are still being left out in the cold as we try to crack the ranks. For the time being, it is still going to be a very individual effort on the parts of the athletes trying to make it work.

The gap between the beginning of the season and championship season for swimmers can be anywhere from months. That is a long time.

To keep yourself motivated and jacked up to work hard in the pool 10 times a week takes some intelligent planning. Whether it is short-term goal setting, focusing on cycle-specific goals, or best of all — taking things one day at a time, swimmers learn how to plan for the long haul. Even though all we wear is a suit, cap, and goggles, swimming is not a cheap sport. Pool deck space at meets is first-come, first-serve. Nothing like a person swim meet to be held at a tiny yard pool to make you feel like you are apartment hunting in Hong Kong.

Looks like you get to put your gear under the stands. The importance of laundry. Nothing wakes you completely quicker than putting on a wet suit the next morning. When your shoulders go numb and on auto-pilot. During those epically long sets, after the fifth yard rep, your arms and shoulders lose feeling, and yet you swim on, as though on auto-pilot.

Practice is the time where songs go from so-so to the top of your current playlist. Which goes to show, if you wanna maintain your hipster status, avoid the top 40 stations on the way into the pool.

The awesomeness that is training in your own lane. Oh, the glory to swim in the rarefied waters of your own lane. On the one day of the week you are allowed to sleep in, you totally will… For about an extra 15 minutes. No matter how exhausted your body is, no matter how hard you trained, when that one morning completely off comes around you get an extra fifteen minutes, and not a minute more.

The shelf-life on moping is very short. Having a bad swim happens to everyone. You know how motorcyclists and joggers do that thing where they wave at each other when they pass one another?