The SwimSwam Podcast

We sat down with Brian Thomas , the head coach of George Washington University , whose men's team recently brought home the 2021 Atlantic-10 Conference team title. For those counting, GWU earned five straight event wins (200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, 400 free relay) on the last day of competition to secure the conference team title. SWIMSWAM PODCAST  LINKS Click here to listen and subsc...

Tristan Lehari , Founder and CEO, says, ‘’ Data collection and accuracy have always been the cornerstone of what we do at TritonWear , right from the very beginning. But we have also always known just collecting data is not enough, we need to help people utilize it. We are extremely excited to announce that through years of R&D we have been able to develop a solution to fully automate the analysis...

We sat down with Robert Pinter , Jeff Poppell's first hire as the head coach of South Carolina. Pinter talked through the tough decision of leaving as the head coach and owner of Gator Swim Club but reiterated that it was the right decision for him. Getting to be a part of Poppell's vision and rebuilding at USC put's a fire in Pinter's belly, who says he is ready to get back into the swing of coll...

We sat down with Colleen Fotsch , the swimmer turned cross-fitter turned bobsledding Olympic hopeful. If you didn't get it from the first sentence, Colleen has had a long and fruitful athletic career so far and at age 31, she's still making headway. Fotsch swam for Cal from 2009-2012, helping the Bears to NCAA titles in the 200 free relay (2012) and 200 medley relay (2011 & 2012). Sometime after h...

Olympic and World Champion distance swimming icon  Katie Ledecky  has the secret sauce, and it’s in the details of Stanford’s Olympic training camp. What I find most interesting is that during the pandemic Ledecky trained with teammate  Simone Manuel ,  and often it was only the two of them, mano a mano. Image that. Team USA’s most celebrated distance star and sprint star training eye-to-eye.  I t...

We sat down with Paul DeLakis , who recently announced his retirement to pursue a career in optometry . DeLakis took us through his whole swim career, particularly making the transition from being a high school student-athlete to a collegiate student-athlete. DeLakis offers sage wisdom to those who are about to make the plunge into college athletics and academics. DeLakis also breaks down his last...

We sat down with Evie Pfeifer , who announced the big news that she will be taking her 5th (and extra) year of NCAA eligibility with the Texas longhorns. Evie explained that she wants 4 NCAAs and especially after her stellar swims at this year's championships, is ready to come back and work for more. She also talks about training with the Texas free/IM groups and the excitement she has for her sis...

Are you looking for a book that blends together great stories, leadership strategies and your love of swimming?  Look no further than  Take Your Mark, LEAD! 10 Ways to Lead Yourself and Others Like a Champion . With a compelling Foreword written by Bob Bowman and endorsements from top champions , Take Your Mark, LEAD! is a self-help, go-to guide for people who urgently want to take charge of their...

We sat down with Andrew Seliskar , the NCAA Champion and World Champs medalist who recently signed with Speedo . We discuss Seliskar's last year leading up to this point, including competing in the ISL, backyard lifting in Berkeley, and rolling deep with the Cal bears at recent Pro Swims. Seliskar also analyzes his events at the 2021 Olympic Trials and what it will take for the USA to compete for...

We sat down with Ryan Wochomurka , the recently announced head coach for the University of Auburn's swim and dive program. Coach Wochomurka walks through how he views Auburn, his alma mater and somewhere he's been familiar with since age 17, and what he sees as the path for the Tigers moving forward. He's hoping to start announcing his staff by the end of this week as well as start meeting athlete...

We sat down with Rachel Nicol , the 2016 Olympian for Canada who has, like every other Canadian, once again been forced to wait another month for the 2021 Canadian Olympic Trials. Nicol describes the exhaustion that has come with not only going through a pandemic while trying to train for the Olympics but also having their trials been pushed back twice now. SWIMSWAM PODCAST  LINKS Click here to li...

We sat down with Terry Fritch and Kiley Wilhelm of Life Time North Carolina. Kiley recently made her Wave II Olympic Trial cut in the 100m backstroke , dropping nearly 2 seconds to go 1:00.9. Wilhelm and Fritch both give their perspective on transitioning from SwimMAC to Life Time and what training 1-on-1 during the fall of 2020 was like, particularly how they were able to find success and how the...

Olympic swimming champion Caeleb Dressel   notched fast swims at the Mission Pro Swim , signaling he is on course for a great U.S. Olympic Trials in June: Dressel Mission Pro Swim Times: 50 free  - 21.83 100 free - 48.82 (prelim swim, scratched the final to fly home early) 200 free - 1:47.57 100 fly - 51.61 In this interview Caeleb is his own worst critic, recapping his entire season. He also shed...

We sat down with newly minted 2021 Olympians and training partners James Guy and Tom Dean to talk about the recent British trials and the trails for British swimming to come. Guy gives us some context on his meet specifically, saying he took out the 200 fly way too hard and it took a toll on him the rest of the week, including in the 200 free final where he registered a 1:46.0. We get into the mea...

We sat down with American record holders and Paralympiac medalists McKenzie Coan and Colleen Young after having their first of two qualification meets for the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics recently in Lewisville, Texas. The two roommates (who are training together currently at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs) took us through competing at their first meet since the pandemic started and wha...

Anthony Ervin , the oldest individual Olympic gold medalist in swimming history, emerged at the Mission Pro Swim. Honestly, I wasn't sure if he had retired or not, but I was not surprised to see him in action.  We all know Anthony's different, following the warrior poet's path, racing for a higher purpose.  Now, rolling into 40 years old, his age at U.S. Olympic Trials, he has confirmed he's going...

We sat down with Anthony Nesty , the newly appointed head coach for the Men's and Women's Swim/Dive teams at the University of Florida . The team was newly re-combined after Jeff Poppell left as the head women's coach for the University of South Carolina (see our conversation with Jeff here ). Nesty brings a wealth of knowledge, having been on staff for a number of years at UF and heading the men'...

We sat down with Duncan Scott , the Brit who's coming off a huge performance at the 2021 British Olympic Trials where he set 3 national records in the 100 free, 200 free, and 200 IM. Scott analyzes each of his races in detail, telling the audience how he executed each to a tee. Scott then zooms out to break down each of Britain's Olympic relays, weighing eaches odds to medal in Tokyo. SWIMSWAM POD...

We sat down with Jeff Poppell , the recently announced new head coach of the University of South Carolina . Poppell explains why he chose to leave his post at Florida, where he'd been having success over the last 3 seasons as head coach of the women's team. Poppell wanted to stay in the SEC, but the opportunity to coach men and women was enticing and he wasn't worried about making a "lateral move"...

We sat down with Hollie Bonewit-Cron , head coach of the men & women's teams at the University of Miami (OH). On the men's side, the host Miami Redhawks claimed victory at the 2021 Mid-American Conference Championship, defeating the defending champions, Missouri State, who finished in 2nd place. Bonewit-Cron goes into detail about the men's season and how they had run the numbers to dethrone Misso...

We sat down with Terry Ganley , who recently announced her retirement from the University of Minnesota after serving as a coach for 44 years. During her tenure at Minnesota, more than 100 women’s student-athletes have earned All-America recognition, totaling 450. The Minnesota women were also a force in the late 2000s to mid 2010s, clinching Big Ten titles in 2008 and then from 2012 to 2015. That...

Will 5-time Olympic champion Nathan Adrian make the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team? It's a fair question. He's on the march toward his 4th U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, and I'm bullish on his performance for two reasons: Back at the 2019 World Championships, 5 months after recovering from cancer, Nathan anchored the men's 4x100 free relay with a 47.08 -- holding off Russia's  Evgeny Rylov to help Team USA...

British Swimming's CEO, Jack Buckner , dropped in on the SwimSwam Podcast to discuss the successes and challenges he has had to face on the run-up to this summer's Olympic Games. This interview was my first conversation with Jack. He's very likable, no-nonsense, and comfortable in his own skin--like a chief executive with experience and a world-class athletic background, which he has. Jack was not...

Three-time Olympic Champion and NBC Sports Voice of Swimming, Rowdy Gaines , has the dream job. Who wouldn't want a front-row-center seat at the Olympic Games?  The 2021 Olympic Games (and the U.S. Olympic Trials) will mark Rowdy's 8th turn in the chair. What I want to know is what's it really like? I have an idea. I've subbed for Rowdy before, but only for small competitions.  I know it's intense...

We sat down with Lydia Jacoby , the 16-year-old who made headlines at the Pro Swim in Mission Viejo by becoming the #3 all-time US 17-18 in the 100 breast (1:06.38). We discussed her ascension to becoming an Olympic contender, something she's certainly thought of but isn't putting pressure on herself about. Jacoby also discusses life as a swimmer (and human) in Seward, Alaska where she lives and h...