The top swimmers from three European nations will gather to take on Team USA in the 2009 Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool, December 18-19 in Manchester, England. The bi-annual Duel in the Pool is a made-for-TV event, designed to showcase the sport's most exciting swimmers in non-Olympic years. This year's Duel takes on a new format with Team USA facing a team comprised of the top swimmers from Great Britain, Germany and Italy. The event will be held at the Manchester Aquatic Centre.

A reader has some concerns and questions about their team, pool space, and what is appropriate. What do you think?

Our swim team has to renegotiate swim practice times in January. There is a competing team that wants the same practice times. We live in a small rural town and the town is not big enough for two teams (we can barely get kids to join the team now). How many kids should be swimming in one lane? Do you know of a fair equitable policy for practice time?

The easiest place to make a quick change in streamline technique is off a wall - from a turn. You can practice these every time you push off of a wall to start a swim or after you have done a turn.

To be truly successful in swimming, it's not always the case of trying to achieve a goal, but being able to break through your own resistance to it. What is this resistance? The doubts you have in your own ability. But why would anyone have resistance to success? Surely everyone wants to be successful in their swimming?

It takes a lot of time and work to become an Olympic water polo player, but anyone can try it. Water polo takes fitness, swimming ability, ball-handling skills, and a sense of awareness of what is happening around you (where is the ball, what will I do if it comes toward me).

The 2009-2010 USA Swimming Grand Prix Swim Meet Series will kick off in Minneapolis on November 13 and will feature a total of eight swim meets throughout the USA, an increase of two swim meets from the 2008-2009 Grand Prix Series. The top swimmers in the USA will be back in the pool competing for a $20,000 Grand Prix Swim Meet prize purse that will be awarded to the swimmer with the most points at the conclusion of the 2009-2010 Grand Prix Swim Meet Series.

Tips and swimming racing and training plans for sprinters, middle distance swimmers, distance swimmers and triathlon or marathon swimmers.

Craig Lord at SwimNews has put together the complete list of swimming world records set since February 2008. There have been 201 world record-setting swims in the era of the supersuits, an era that will come to an end on 1 January 2010.

One of the toughest times in swimming is when you physically and mentally prepare yourself for a big meet, only to find that you don't achieve your goals there. (Or even worse, having a meet where you didn't even go close to achieving your dreams). Don't fall into the self-pity trap or begin to mentally torture yourself like most swimmers do - get on with it and DO something about it.

Baseline swim training (BT), the foundation of an effective competitive athletics program, should be standardized and used at all levels to encourage development and progress of individual athletes. A data driven strategy, BT uses the collection and analysis of both quantitative and qualitative information to evaluate and adjust training methods.