Swimming is a hobby many of us take up when we are young, and many of us carry it on into our adulthood. For most people, swimming is a fun, therapeutic activity, but for professional swimmers, it is life. Professional swimmers cannot afford to be carefree about the time they spend in the water. The level of dedication that swimming requires in order to be one of the best is more than most people can handle. It calls for a grueling schedule, rigorous discipline and incredible time and energy devoted to practice.

A professional swimmer’s schedule revolves around their time in the water. The amount of time they spend in the water is considerable, but even when they are not swimming, the rest of their day revolves around their swimming. Meal times need to be planned around their time in the water. Additional exercise outside of the pool is designed to benefit time in the pool. Other unique considerations are made, such as setting a schedule for when to shave body hair. Body hair is grown out during practice then shaved before a competition to create less resistance of movement in the water.

The discipline it takes to be a professional swimmer is remarkable. Professional swimmers deny themselves foods, free time and less strenuous activities, opting instead for diet foods, as well as constant hard work and dedicated practice. Swim coaches are known to be some of the most strict professional athlete coaches, however, professional swimmers are already well aware of the level of discipline they need to put forward in order to be competitive. Their drive and determination is very intense.

The energy that a professional swimmer puts into their performance is seemingly never ending. Professional swimmers practice their sport racing against a clock and attempt to beat their own times as well as the record times they are attempting to break. All swimming competitions come down to time measurements, which means that professional swimmers put every ounce of energy they have into improving their speed. They push themselves to extreme exhaustion in order to out do time marks.