At last week’s Olympic swimming trials, spectators got to see the very best American swimmers compete to attend the 2016 Olympics. What they may not have known is that behind the scenes were creatures not often see poolside: Dogs. USA Swimming welcomed 30 therapy dogs at the Olympic swimming trials in Omaha, Nebraska, to help swimmers cope with stress and anxiety associated with competing. The therapy dogs appear to have been a resounding success, with at least one competitor claiming that the friendly pups improved her performance in the water.
A pack of 30 therapy dogs are making a splash at the Olympic swimming trials in Omaha, Nebraska. Vocativ reports that the friendly pups were brought in by an organization called Domesti-PUPS to calm the nerves of the 1700 American swimmers competing to qualify in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Domesti-PUPS is a nonprofit organization based in Lincoln, Nebraska, that provides therapy dogs to classrooms, hospitals, and other high-stress environments. The dogs only have one job: to be themselves. The mere presence of the pups’ friendly faces and wagging tails, Domesti-PUPS believes, is enough to calm even the most frayed nerves.
“Anywhere there’s an elevated level of stress, we can take our dogs and try to de-stress them,” Sandy Ludwig of Domesti-PUPS told the Associated Press. “These dogs are just lying there, waiting to have their bellies rubbed or their ears scratched.”
“It just calms me down a lot,” swimmer Kacey Oberlander told the AP. “It’s nice to see the happy puppy dogs running around when everything is so intense and everyone’s so serious.”
Article Credit : Anna Green – Mental Floss
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