From Tim Duncan to Joe Thomas: How the Pool Can Be an Athlete’s Greatest Ally
The pool does not care who you are. Whether All-Pro or All-American, the second you dive in, you can be humbled. The water has no favorites. In the pool, everyone is equal. It does not matter how tall you are or how much you can lift. Swimming levels the field. It is a sport built on discipline and technique, where control and effort will always win.
Swimming Builds Athletes
But swimming is not just humbling, it is transforming. It does more than test an athlete; it builds one. The control and focus it takes in the water can shape an athlete for life, no matter the sport. That is why legends like Tim Duncan and Joe Thomas turned to the pool at different points in their journeys. For one, it built a foundation. For the other, it brought recovery. Both found the same truth.
From the Pool to the Post
NBA Hall of Fame power forward Tim Duncan is one athlete who proves that point. In his home of the United States Virgin Islands, Duncan was an elite swimmer. He wanted to follow in his older sister’s footsteps. Tricia Duncan was an Olympian who competed in the 1988 Games and placed 30th in the 200 backstroke and 34th in the 100 backstroke. As a teenager, Tim Duncan was a prodigy and on the same path to the Olympics himself. That dream ended in 1989 when Hurricane Hugo destroyed the island’s only 50-meter pool.
Without a place to train, Duncan eventually shifted his focus to basketball. The control and technique needed in swimming almost perfectly mirrored Duncan’s game in the NBA. The Big Fundamental. If that storm never hit, he might not be known for what he accomplished on the court, but for what he could have done in the pool. Looking back, it is safe to say he made the right choice, trading laps for bank shots.
From the Gridiron to the Pool
Another Hall of Famer, this time in football, Joe Thomas turned to swimming after retirement to help his body recover. Thomas, a former tackle for the Cleveland Browns, built his career on toughness and reliability. Long before he began his career in the NFL, he spent time in the pool as a kid in Wisconsin. Years later, that same activity helped him again. Thomas was the NFL’s ultimate ironman, playing 11 seasons and taking more than 10,000 consecutive snaps. The consequence of that durability was extreme joint pain, leaving him unable to run without severe discomfort after retirement.
Post retirement, Thomas looked for a way to stay active and shed the football weight that came with playing on the offensive line. He turned back to swimming. The pool became his form of cardio and recovery, allowing him to get healthy without the wear and tear of traditional workouts. Swimming gave him a new foundation, helping him stay in shape and grounded long after football ended. Today, he still swims and has become a lean, mean machine, a reminder of what the water can do for an athlete.
The Proof is in the Pool
Swimming has proven to be more than a sport. It is a tool and a foundation for success. From Tim Duncan to Joe Thomas, the pool has shaped athletes in ways that go far beyond competition. It builds control and patience while giving the body a way to recover and grow stronger. It can prepare you for the future or help you heal when the game is over. Swimming is an asset for any athlete. Adding it to training brings benefits that are not always seen but always felt. Even Rocky had to get in the pool to beat Clubber Lang. At the core of every great athlete is something the pool can teach.
