Thinking about building a swimming pool? Here are few things you should consider before you begin planning your backyard swimming pool.

Nominate your swimming favorites in the 2012 About Swimming Readers' Choice Awards. Nominations will be accepted through 15 Feb 2012. Voting will take place from 22 Feb through 21 Mar 2012, with winners announced 30 Mar. The 2012 categories are:

• Swimsuits
• Goggles
• Hand paddles
• Training fins
• Swim shops
• Swim tweeter
• Swim blog

Nominate your swimming favorite, then check back after 22 Feb to see if yours made it into the top five for voting in the 2012 About Swimming Readers' Choice Awards.

The final 2012 London Summer Olympic swimming schedule has been released. Olympic pool swimming events events will be held in the Olympic Aquatic Center 28 July - 4 August. Open water 10km marathon swims will be in Hyde Park on 9 an 10 August.

One of the toughest experiences for a swimmer is to physically and mentally build up for a big race or swim meet only to discover that they don't achieve their swimming goals. This is something every swimmer must learn to overcome, as even the world's best do not achieve every single goal in their lifetime. But the hardest part is to emotionally detach from the goal and move on to new goals, as often the swimmer can experience huge disappointment and a let down after the swim meet is over.