Bella Sims After US Nationals: “I really truly love swimming again”

2025 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

After a turbulent spring that included a positive drug test scare and changing colleges, Bella Sims has rediscovered her love for swimming. Sims competed for Florida at the NCAA Championships in March, then returned home to Las Vegas, where she has been training with her club team, the Sandpipers of Nevada. She recently announced a transfer to Michigan.

This seems to have been a welcome change for Sims, as she got herself back on Team USA for this summer after missing the Olympic team in 2024.

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Mark Rauterkus
1 hour ago

More Bella on the pod, Unfiltered Waters. Very insightful.

lilac
Reply to  Mark Rauterkus
48 minutes ago

yess loved that pod but she was saying like way too much

base_case()
1 hour ago

Happy for her! But it always confused me why she didn’t take a 2023-24 gap year to prep for the Olympics (right after graduating high school and before starting college) like Katie Ledecky did before Rio. I really believe that she had the potential to qualify individually in the 200 and 400 based on her 2023 Nationals results

Mark Rauterkus
1 hour ago

Keep plugging. You have lots of fans out here. Smash up the Big 10!

NCSwimFan
2 hours ago

Likely one of the few people on earth that can go back to their mega distance program and fall BACK in love with swimming.

In all seriousness, this makes me so happy! Always a fan of Bella’s, just always has a great attitude and is smiling constantly, deserves all her success!

Thomas The Tank Engine
2 hours ago

Another day, another shade thrown at Florida

Ashe
2 hours ago

I am also very happy for her, but also so curious on why Florida was so horrible…need the tea

cheese
Reply to  Ashe
46 minutes ago

I think we can piece together some insight from some of her interviews. She told Hoff and Beisel that she needs the “why” to do certain things that she might otherwise not want to do (e.g. swim the mile while she prefers shorter distances). Regardless of how good of a coach Nesty is for others, it seems he wasn’t ever able to impart upon Bella why she was being instructed to do certain things (what those things may be remain unarticulated). That’s not to say the blame is on Nesty; they just didn’t click as partners working in tandem to make her the best swimmer she can be.

Dave
Reply to  Ashe
16 minutes ago

It may have not have been horrible. Sometimes it just not a good fit for any one individual, no more no less.

Aquajosh
2 hours ago

It’s clear that she should just stay with Ron. She sees him as some sort of god figure, and her new coach will be competing with that influence just like the coaches at Florida did. He exerts an almost creepy amount of control over the success of the Sandpiper females.

Jeeves
3 hours ago

Does she love swimming or winning?

NoFastTwitch
Reply to  Jeeves
1 hour ago

I’d bet both.

About Coleman Hodges

Coleman Hodges

Coleman started his journey in the water at age 1, and although he actually has no memory of that, something must have stuck. A Missouri native, he joined the Columbia Swim Club at age 9, where he is still remembered for his stylish dragon swim trunks. After giving up on …

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