The SwimSwam Podcast

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss Emre Sakci challenging FINA for transparency, swimmers 1-uping each other on a 75 swim with fins, and Swimnex predicting 10 world records at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. SWIMSWAM PODCAST  LINKS Click here to listen and subscribe on Spotify Click here to listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts Click here to listen and subscribe on Podbean Click her...

2020 Olympic medalist and Team Speedo athlete, Katie McLaughlin , epitomizes perseverance. She’s been an elite swimmer since she was 16 years old, a fast rising age group star who earned four medals at the 2013 World Junior Championships. She followed up with strong performances at the 2014 Pan Pacs and 2015 World Championships. Landing at Cal her freshman year, swim-fans expected a clear path ont...

We sat down with Schuyler Bailar , the first openly trans NCAA DI male athlete, to discuss what being a trans athlete, and trans human, means. This has come to the forefront of news lately in the case of Lia Thomas , the trans woman that is currently competing for the University of Penn women's swim team. Bailar describes the importance of biodiversity in sport and how we see a discrepancy in how...

Solomon D’Amico, co-head coach of Seward TSUNAMI SWIM CLUB, is the mind behind the success of Lydia Jacoby. Lydia has racked up endless awards since her star-turn at the 2020 Olympic Games, including the 2021 Swammy Award for Female Breakout Swimmer of the Year. Lydia, only 17 years old, won Olympic gold in the 100m breaststroke (1:04.95) and silver in the 4x100 medley relay. In addition to his po...

Thomas Heilman  — the 14 year old swimming phenom out of Virginia’s Cavalier Aquatics under coach  Gary Taylor  — broke 13 national age group records in 11 days. Thomas accomplished this feat competing at three different meets in 11 days, USA Swimming’s U.S. Open, YOTA Arena Capital Classic, and then Speedo’s Junior Nationals. In this podcast Thomas unpacks a few of his record swims, his training,...

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss USA Swimming canceling the Pro Swim in Knoxville, Emre Sakci's 50 Breast world record, and Adam Peaty's 'Project Immortal'. SWIMSWAM PODCAST  LINKS Click here to listen and subscribe on Spotify Click here to listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts Click here to listen and subscribe on Podbean Click here to listen and subscribe on Google Click here to...

We sat down with Neil Harper (head coach), Vanessa Hermann (senior), and Anna Hopkin (alumni) of Arkansas women's swimming. We discussed where everyone is at in their season and what things look like in the immediate future. We also go back a bit and talk through the last 18 months and how each athlete got through being in lockdown. SWIMSWAM PODCAST  LINKS Click here to listen and subscribe on Spo...

We sat down Femke Heemskerk , one of the most decorated swimmers in Dutch history, who recently called it a career after winning the ISL season 3 championship with Energy Standard . Femke shares why she felt that this was the right time for her to step away from the pool, citing a lack of motivation when she was training and realizing she'd never felt that way before. Heemskerk reflects on her ach...

We sat down with Arizona State head coach Bob Bowman and associate head coach Rachel Stratton-Mills to discuss how the sundevils performed at the NC State Invite and what training has looked like this fall. Bowman goes into detail on the men's team, from the kind of work they've been doing to the exact amount of rest they got for Invite. Stratton-Mills speaks to the women's team, noting what their...

We sat down with Zoe Bartel , the NCAA champion from Stanford who recently announced a mid-season retirement in what was her senior season on the team . Bartel goes into detail about her relationship with swimming, starting when she was young and actually tried to quit swimming when she was 16. She reveals that skiing was always her true love, but she did eventually come to love aspects of swimmin...

We sat down with Tennessee's associate head coach, Ashley Jahn . Jahn has been with the Vols for a decade now and it shows as she discusses her methodical approach to training. One big thing Jahn hits on that is unique about this season is the energy that the "COVID 5th year" swimmers bring to the pool deck. Jahn explains that getting that extra chance to improve has brought a lot of joy to those...

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discussed the 2021 Speedo Winter Junior Championships, the upcoming Short Course World Championships, and the prospect of Sarah Sjostrom being an NCAA swimmer. SWIMSWAM PODCAST  LINKS Click here to listen and subscribe on Spotify Click here to listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts Click here to listen and subscribe on Podbean Click here to listen and subscr...

 Brent Nowicki’s been the new FINA Executive Director about six months. He’s young, only 42 years old, with an impressive resume.  As expected he’s bringing a lot of energy and changes to FINA.  Brent’s managing an extremely jam-packed calendar, and it appears he’s striving to package tentpole aquatic events as spectacles.  The upcoming World Championships in Abu Dhabi will provided much needed da...

We sat down with Kelsi Dahlia , the Cali Condor's star who broke the world record in the 100 fly in the ISL final. Dahlia explains the pain of missing the Olympic team, how she processed that sense of loss, and came back to pool with a sense of purpose to get ready for the 2021 ISL season. Dahlia also talks about her current training plan, which has included 6 practices a week (1 per day 6 days/we...

University of Pennsylvania senior  Lia Thomas has been making headlines so far in this NCAA season, producing several record-breaking performances in what is her first year competing as a woman. Thomas, a trans woman, sat down on the SwimSwam Podcast to discuss everything from when she realized she was trans, what the transition period was like, and how she's been able to adjust to life both in an...

In this podcast Mark unpacks what he's doing at SET Aquatics, and he dips back into his history discussing his coaching philosophy. I traveled the world with Mark for ten years on the USA Swimming National Team back in the 1980s and 90s, but I've never talked to him about his Mission Viego dynasty years. I was dumbfounded to learned he took over the program at the tender age of 23 back in 1973.  M...

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss the ISL Final and the controversy that surrounded it, Thomas Heilman 's NAG record siege in Greensboro, and Daiya Seto training in Scottsdale. SWIMSWAM PODCAST  LINKS Click here to listen and subscribe on Spotify Click here to listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts Click here to listen and subscribe on Podbean Click here to listen and subscribe on Go...

We sat down with Blaire Bachman, the associate head coach at the University of Virginia. Bachman takes us through her thoughts on the hoos’ performances at the 2021 Tennessee invite, their mid-season rest meet, as well as how training has been for the defending national champions (on the women’s side) this fall. We then delve into Blaire’s coaching journey and she gives us key insights on what she...

Condor's GM Jason Lezak along with World record-holder Kelsi Dahlia and American record-holder Justin Ress sat down with SwimSwam to digest the ISL final. Cali was the defending champions from 2020 and came up just short of their 2nd team title, losing to Energy Standard in a back-and-fourth match by just 12 points. SWIMSWAM PODCAST  LINKS Click here to listen and subscribe on Spotify Click here t...

In a razor-thin battle with the Cali Condors that saw the clubs trade the lead back and forth during the final day of competition, Energy Standard clinched the Season 3 ISL championship title thanks to the efforts of  Ben Proud  and  Adam Barrett in the men’s butterfly skins. Energy Standard’s  Sarah Sjostrom  finished as the leading scorer in the final with 61 points, followed closely by Fink (59...

We sat down with two-time Olympic medalist and Team Speedo athlete Hali Flickinger .  This Cali Condors swim star has been busy since Tokyo.  In this podcast Hali dives into the past, detailing her journey to the Olympic podium since her days competing at YMCA Nationals.  Hali's a workhorse, grinding in practice to compete on the biggest stage in sport in the 200 butterfly and 400 IM.  The move to...

We sat down with Olympic bronze medalist in the 100 fly, Noe Ponti . The butterfly specialist is fresh off of breaking 4 new Swiss records at the Swiss SC championships . Ponti was public on his Instagram that winning his bronze medal was fairly life-changing and prompted him to depart from NC State after having been in the US for just a few weeks this fall . Ponti speaks on how being at home in S...

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown we discuss the upcoming ISL Grand Final (Eindhoven), Minnesota Invite (Minneapolis), and US Open (Greensboro), where many, many swim stars will competing in one pool or the other. SWIMSWAM PODCAST  LINKS Click here to listen and subscribe on Spotify Click here to listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts Click here to listen and subscribe on Podbean Click here to l...

We sat down with Energy Standard's Siobhan Haughey and head coach Tom Rushton after their dominating win in Match 5. Haughey described her prep work for the ISL playoffs as well as her thoughts on her new Asian and ISL record in the 200 free . She even recalled Sarah Sjostrom telling her that she (Haughey) could break Sjostrom's world record in the 200 free. SWIMSWAM PODCAST  LINKS Click here to l...

We sat down with McKenzie Siroky , the now 2x defending Michigan state champion in the 100 breast. Siroky just made headlines last week by taking down the Michigan state record in the 100 breast at 1:00.48 , previously held by NCAA All-American Miranda Tucker. McKenzie explains why she's committed to playing DI hockey over swimming in college and what her daily life looks like during high school s...