Annie Kramer

Annie Kramer is an NCAA D1 swimmer. She swims for the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. Annie is a 3x conference scoring team member for her school. Throughout her 12 years of swimming, Annie has enjoyed competing on the national level at meets across the country. Her favorite places she has gotten to travel for swimming have been California, Florida, and even Alaska!

Additionally, Annie serves as the USA Swimming Athlete Director for the Central Zone. As an Athlete Director for USA Swimming, Annie attends weekly meetings, runs social media, proposes legislation pieces, and hosts leadership workshops for swimmers across the United States. Her favorite part of serving in this leadership capacity is the rewarding feeling of building a community of talented leaders within the sport of swimming.

Outside of the pool, Annie battles severe idiopathic scoliosis. She currently has 58 degree curvature in her spine. At the age of 12, Annie was diagnosed with scoliosis and was prescribed to wear a hard shell back brace for 20 hours a day for the next 6 years. Although Annie no longer wears a brace, her journey with scoliosis is far from over. In addition to the 20 plus hour training weeks for swimming, Annie dedicates herself to vigorous physical therapy to help minimize pain and help her with healthy training patterns in the pool.

At the University of the Incarnate Word, Annie is studying Rehabilitative Sciences and Psychology with the hopes of attending professional school to be certified in Orthotics and Prosthetics. As a certified Orthotist and Prosthetist, Annie will be able to design scoliosis braces and help patients just like her! Outside of athletics, Annie enjoys staying active and doing activities like surfing, hiking, traveling, and spending time with her friends and family.

Heali tape has been a staple in her healthy training and recovery cycle. The unique designs of heali tape infuzed with methanol give her a cooling sensation to help with pain and burning caused by scoliosis, while the magnesium helps with her muscle tension from her uneven muscle patterns caused by her curved spine.