Excellent coverage of swimming in local media

Thanks to: Tyler Montgomery

My name is Tyler Montgomery and I am considered one of the top experts covering swimming in the media. And when I say top experts, I mean if you were to rank all the experts who study this topic and currently live in the Nashville metropolitan area, I would easily be in the top 10. And when I say Nashville metro area, I really only mean Murfreesboro, TN – specifically the west side of Murfreesboro. And by the west side of Murfreesboro, I don’t mean everything west of I-24, I’m really just talking about the New Salem section of town. Let me put it this way: if you live near the Publix on Franklin Road and you try to find someone who studies swimming in the media and lives on your street, you’re only going to find five or six people who are more qualified than me. I have done extensive research on this topic and you can see some of my findings here.

If you’re the type of weirdo who reads articles on swimswam.com, you’ll probably agree that swimming deserves the public’s attention more often than once every four years. Fortunately, our great local news channels not only carry that torch, but they also offer a unique perspective on the sport that we don’t get from swimming-focused channels. I’d like to take a moment to highlight some of the best swimming coverage I’ve seen over the years from local news channels in my area.

It doesn’t get any better than a 1-2 finish, but I do want to point out that when your name sounds that much like ‘dolphin’, you should give everyone a head start.

Anna was absolutely dominant in the advanced medley, but unfortunately failed to reach the final in the advanced 200-meter medley on the second day.

Let’s see what the judges thought of that state record…oh my, Howie Mandel’s Golden Buzzer! Congrats Spencer, you’re going to Hollywood!

If you or someone you know is currently having a stroke, stop reading and call 911 immediately.

I would be remiss if I didn’t take my swim cap off to my own high school yearbook editors for the excellent coverage they wrote about the Riverdale High School Water Warriors when I was on the team.

Our yearbook staff let Chris in on his secret. He was able to make it to state in the 100-meter breaststroke because he swam butterfly the entire race, but his muscles were so big that no one ever dared to call him out on it.

You wouldn’t believe the strategy these guys came up with for the relay. John said, “Why don’t we all just swim as fast as we can?” Blair and Gastone were skeptical, but decided to give it a try. And lo and behold, it worked!

I hate to break it to you, but all those times an opponent has said to you, “Good job,” this is what they were really thinking. Luke had good reason to be confident, as we’ll see in the next image.

I’ll never forget when Luke swam that 50m freestyle in under 5:30, we were so excited for the guy. He had a great start and swam to the 15m mark in under 2 minutes. I stepped away to take a phone call and missed half of his first 25, but when I came back and saw him coming into the turn at 2:35.87 I knew he had a real shot at breaking the record. We panicked a little when it took him 43 seconds to get to the flags coming out of the turn, but he pulled himself together and finished strong. When he hit the wall at 5:28.12 the whole house went wild, even the opposing fans were in awe of what they had just witnessed. We knew he had a 5:35, maybe even a 5:30, but to see him run a 5:28.12 (as a junior I might add!) in the 50 freestyle still gives me goosebumps to this day. Oh yeah, and Katelyn Bullock swam the fastest 200 medley in history that season, that was cool too.

I want to continue to highlight the excellent swimming coverage across the country. If you’ve seen coverage in your local paper or even your high school yearbook that deserves a special shout-out, send a link or screenshot to @montgump on the website formerly known as Twitter.

ABOUT TYLER MONTGOMERY

Tyler Montgomery had a four-year swimming career, all with the Riverdale High School Water Warriors in Murfreesboro, TN. He also had the privilege of coaching a great group of kids at Rockvale Middle and Rockvale High School between 2017 and 2023. He lives in Murfreesboro with his family and works in publishing to make ends meet after giving up the fame and fortune of being a swim coach in middle school and high school.