The SwimSwam Podcast

Tasmania's Maximillion Giuliani has been on a hot streak in 2023, making a name for himself as one of Australia's best 200 freestyles in history. We spoke to the 19-year-old about his big move to the Mainland and how it's allowed him to make drops from 1:50 down to 1:44 in just one year.

Gabrielle Rose racked up a lot of accolades before retiring at age 22: 11-12 national age group record holder, 22x NCAA All-American for Stanford, and 2x Olympian for Brazil in 1996 and USA in 2000. Then after hanging up her suit for less than a year, she returned to the pool and ignited her pro career while training under Dave Salo. This netted her 2x LCM world titles and 3x SCM world silver medals along the way to the 2004 Olympic Trials, where she just missed the team after being diagnosed with mono just weeks before. Two decades later, Rose has qualified for another Olympic Trials at age 46 and is once again training with Dave Salo (as well as her primary coach, Scott Hubbard). Rose explains training and recovering as an older athlete, goal setting, and why she is still racing 20 years after her last experience at Olympic Trials.

World Champion Claire Weinstein has had a monster year, from winning her first national title (200 free) to training trips in California, Florida, and Colorado, to competing in Japan, Germany, Greece, and Portugal. All at the tender age of 16. Most recently, Weinstein threw down a trio of best times (scy) at the Huntington Beach Sectionals, including 1:43.7 200 free, 4:29.3 500 free, and 9:17 1000 free.

Thomas Heilman (16yo) and Maximus Williamson (17yo) are the top-2 swimming recruits in the class of 2025. They both just had monster performances at the Winter Jr Championships, where Heilman broke 15-16 National Age Group records in the 200 free, 200 IM, and 200 Fly while Williamson broke 17-18 NAGs in the 200 free and 200 IM. We discussed all of their swims from the Jr Championships as well as how they both ended up choosing Virginia for their continued swimming and education.

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss the distance revolution, Australia and China's speed in the long course pool, and how we should be timing practice swims.

Lynne's kind of famous in our sport as the Founder and CEO of Smack Swim. Lynne's been an ad partner with SwimSwam forever, so we talk a lot about swim businesses, but I always knew there was more to her story. Today I got it in this podcast. Lynne grew up swimming, swam in college, then launched a hard-driving career on Wall Street, but something was missing. Lynne wanted to do what she loved, and she missed and loved swimming. So, she started an aquatic team dealer company and ran it for years. Lynne learned the aquatic retail market as a team dealer, and she wanted to do more--to be creative. That's when the idea came to design a goggle strap that would be the most comfortable strap you could wear. Anyone who swims hours on end, week in and week out, understands this. Lynne got a patent on her design and Smack Swim Strap born. Now she's taken the innovation to swimsuits with her Smack Swim Strap (see below). I love entrepreneurs, especially entrepreneurs that focus their energies in swimming. I hope you enjoy this conversation, and if you have a great swim business idea, maybe this talk will inspire you to act on it.

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss the Short Course European Championships, both East and West Winter Jr Championships, and the US Open that occurred last week.

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we recap the first week of mid-season invites, preview the *stacked* US Open this weekend, and discuss how the 2024 World Championships in Doha are shaping up.

Michael Bohl is the head coach at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia. He's led Kaylee McKeown, Emma McKeon, and Stephanie Rice (among many, many others) to immense Olympic success. SwimSwam sat down with 'Bohly' and had a long conversation a out his coaching style, philosophy, and mindset heading into an Olympic season.

If you've been around athletics at all, then you've probably encountered sports parents. They can be supportive, they can be intense, and sometimes they can even be problematic. Culture coach JP Nerbun has spent years developing what he calls the"Sports Parent Solution". Listen in as he gives us a look at what this solution looks like and how he aims to bridge the gap between coaches and sports parents. JP Nerbun's newest book, The Sports Parent Solution, is available here: https://www.tocculture.com/thesportsparentsolution

4-time Olympic medalist Ryan Murphy said, “Speedo’s latest LZR Intent 2.0 suit feels super quick and looks great! I feel comfortable when wearing the suit, it allows me to feel lighter and ride higher on the water when swimming. The legacy of Speedo Fastskin speaks for itself, and I have no doubt many new records will be broken in 2024 and beyond.” The new era of speed has arrived with Fastskin LZR Pure Valor. Quick. Agile. Adaptable. Equipped with Lamoral Space Tech coating, it repels water like no other. The featherweight feel and meticulously layered fabric offers unmatched flexibility. Reinforced leg seams give you balanced compression for maximum power in every stroke. Swim to win in the new Fastskin LZR Pure Valor, the next generation of fast.

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we preview the upcoming Mid-Season Meet Week Madness as well as discuss last week's news in swimming.

Arizona State has been having a heck of a season so far and it's barely November. In dual meets against Georgia and NC State, where both teams were wearing technical racing suits, ASU's men came away with decisive wins while their women showed a lot of promise. The ASU pro group also raced during these dual meets, one notable race coming in the form of Regan Smith breaking the American record in the 200y fly. ASU head coach Bob Bowman and associate head coach Herbie Behm sat down with SwimSwam to discuss completely changing the training group structure after the departure of Rachel Stratton-Mills to Northwestern and how that has affected the team culture.

As a swimmer, Dr. Jack Brown was a 10x NCAA All-American, Pac-10 Champion, and Olympic Trials finalist. He also struggled with pre-race anxiety throughout his career. As a coach and sports psychologist, he's spent the last several years creating a system to help athletes of all ages develop a healthy relationship with their goals. This system is laid out in Dr. Brown's book, the Six Questions. In today's discussion, Dr. Brown lays out how he made this system, how he's seen it work for the teams he's worked with, and UNC's outlook for the 2023-24 swim season. Learn more about Dr. Brown and the Six Questions here: https://www.docbrownperformance.com/

This morning, we discuss the highly touted UVA v UT dual, the ASU and Marek Petrusewicz 25 Battles, and China changing the date of their Olympic Trials.

Joining the SwimSwam podcast today we have Eva Fabian, an American-Israeli Open Open World Champion, and we have Yakov Toumarkin, an Israeli Olympian and backstroke specialist. We ask them to join us in the aftermath of the brutal attack by Hamas on Israel October 7th. Eva and Yakov are on the ground in Israel and have a unique point of view and context to share. In this conversation today, I share my opinions. They are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SwimSwam or other SwimSwam contributors.

This morning on the SwimSwam breakdown, we discuss Virginia's MASSIVE men's Class of 2025, the conclusion of the World Cup circuit, and Regan Smith's new American record

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss Caeleb Dressel's in-season swims, the World Cup stop in Athens, and the upcoming Pan American Games.

Today on the SwimSwam Podcast, 12-time Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte updates SwimSwam on the 2024 International Age Group Championships. He's joined by Olympic Coach Mark Schubert and ISCA CEO Doug Fonder. The International Age Group Championships has partnered with Panam Aquatics, the governing body for multiple swimming-based disciplines across of the Americas.

Riley Spitser was an All-Conference swimmer and multiple school record-holder at San Jose State University as well as a 2016 US Olympic Trials qualifier. After her four years of NCAA swimming, she didn't feel like she was done swimming, so she trained with a few other recent grads and a group of high schoolers at a local club team while working part-time jobs, making ends meet while chasing her athletic dreams. After a year of this, Spitser felt ready to move on from her lifelong pursuit of sport. Over time, she found other outlets to pursue in the creative field, namely singing and music. Her 2nd single, "A Shadowy Place" (Riley Rex on Spotify) was written during a time of anxiety and uncertainty. The track is out now with an accompanying Alice in Wodnerland-inspired video, filmed with the help of Riley's brother Jack (who happens to be SwimSwam's chief photographer).

Nic Askew and Howard University made history last year when they hosted Battle of the Burr, the dual meet with crosstown rival Georgetown that sold out (2,000 tickets sold) and was coined 'the Party with a Purpose'. Howard is back this year to host "Battle of the Burr II", with DJs, fanfare, and guest coaches including Olympic medalists Cullen Jones and Maritza Correia. Askew discusses what the Battle of the Burr means to his team, noting the level of excitement and competition that the event produces. He also delves into the team's first conference championship title last year and how he has guided the team moving into this season.

Georgetown is gearing up for "Battle of the Burr II", a dual meet with fellow Washington DC college Howard University. HU is the only HBCU in the country that supports a swim and dive team and has been since 2016. Last year, the first edition of Battle of the Burr featured DJs, special guests, and sold 2,000 tickets. Georgetown head coach Jack Leavitt praises Howard head coach Nic Askew's vision, turning a dual meet into a fan-friendly "party with a purpose". This year, Howard will bring in honorary coaches Cullen Jones (Olympic champion) and Maritza Correia (Olympic silver medalist) while Georgetown will have honorary coaches Kyle Williams and Kamal Carter, the CEO and President of "A Long Talk", an anti-racism movement.

Ken Ono is the STEM Advisor and a math professor at the University of Virginia. He has worked with the UVA swim team for a number of years, analyzing the minutiae of stroke technique to optimize performance. This has taken form in an independent study, a course that is cross-listed in Data Science, Math, and Statistics, titled Learning Methods for Elite Swimming Analysis. Jerry Lu, a UVA technical performance consultant who has worked with Ono for years, assists with the analysis of the course. We get the perspective of Ono, Lu, and two of the course's students: world champions and Olympic medalists Kate Douglass and Claire Curzan.

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss the 2023 Asian Games, if college hazing is a problem, and who will replace Eddie Reese after he retires in 2024.

17-Year-Old Carli Cronk had a historic summer, breaking the record for most medals ever won at a World Deaf Swimming Championships with 15 in the 6-day meet, 12 of them being gold. This major accomplishment followed Cronk's Deaflympic debut, where she won 12 medals, all of them gold. Cronk gives insight into her massive schedule as well as what's next for her: swimming for the University of Notre Dame.

Bret Lundgaard was named the new head coach of Kentucky Swimming and Diving on July 24, 2023. We caught up with the new leader of the wildcats to see how his stint in Lexington has gone so far. Lundgaard has put an emphasis on establishing a base of trust by getting to know the team and not rushing into heavy training too fast. He discusses his coaching staff, the town of Lexington, and holding open tryouts in an attempt to leave no stone unturned.

SwimSwam caught up with 2023 World Champion James Guy, who recently announced his departure from long-time training home Bath National Centre. Guy, not happy with his individual results since the Tokyo Olympics, decided a change in stimuli was what would be best for his career. This has taken him back to his old stomping grounds of Millfield, although the people around him are very different. He will be under the guidance of performance coach Ryan Livingstone and Director of Swimming Euan Dale, whereas at his last stint in Millfield he was training with Jol Finck. Millfield is also the (relatively) new home of Matt Richards, who won gold in the 200 free and teamed with Guy, Tom Dean, and Duncan Scott to win gold in the 800 free relay at the 2023 World Championships. Guy expresses his gratitude for his time at Bath and excitement for what is to come during his time in Millfield. He also gives his perspective on his recent engagement and best friend Adam Peaty's renewed outlook on swimming.

Olympic silver medalist Jay Litherland is busy. Last year he moved to Arizona to train with coach Bob Bowman and the biggest pro swimming group on earth, and he's one third of TRIIIPSS, the rap group with his triplet brothers. In this podcast Jay shares insight into his training, staring down in practice daily what could be most the 400 IM Olympic final next summer. It's intense! And Jay's loving producing music with his brothers, TRIIIPSS, racking up thousands of streams on Spotify. Expect a TRIIIPSS EP to drop soon, end of September or early October.

SwimSwam caught up with Leah Hayes, the versatile high schooler who won 3 gold medals and 5 total at the 2023 World Jr Championships in Netanya, Israel. Hayes describes how she transitioned from World Champ Trials, the in between, and ultimately to World Jrs. The 2022 World Championship bronze medalist admitted she was disappointed in not having qualified for the (senior) world championships team but had also made plans for both scenarios (making the worlds team and making the world jrs team) coming out of the world trials.

SwimSwam sat down with Emma Sticklen, the LEN U23 Champion in the 200 fly. Sticklen got a ton of championship LCM racing in this summer, competing at the US Trials in Indianapolis, the US Pro Championships in Irvine, and the LEN U23 Championships in Dublin. The Texas All-American walks us through what she gained from each competition as well as what has made the training environment so special in Austin this year.

SwimSwam caught up with Kate Douglass, the 2023 world champion in the women's 200 IM who took home a whopping 6 medals from Fukuoka. Douglass is about to start her master's degree in statistics at UVA while gearing up for the 2024 Olympic Trials. Douglass reflects on her huge event lineup in Japan, including taking on the 200 IM Semi-final 10 minutes before anchoring the women's 400 free relay and swimming the 200 breast and 100 free back-to-back through prelims, semis, and finals.

We talked with American Record holder Torri about her preparations, performances, and post-meet reflections from the 2023 World Championships. Although she wasn’t happy with the way she swam at Worlds, she doesn’t believe that one bad meet defines who she is as a swimmer (a sentiment that was also echoed by her coach, Greg Meehan) and is even more motivated headed into the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. She believes that Worlds is a learning experience for her, and looks forward to her upcoming Olympic redshirt year. As I said to her on camera, I really appreciate Huske’s willingness to be interviewed about performances that she wasn’t satisfied with—she gave really good insight about a difficult subject. Timestamps: •0:00 Intro •0:36 Nationals and Nationals Prep •3:42 Training Camp •7:52 100 fly/4×100 free relay prelims double •10:08 100 fly final •12:06 Mixed Medley Relay •14:19 Bouncing Back From Difficulties •17:02 50 Fly and Women’s Medley Relay •18:21 Overall Worlds Reflection •20:33 Olympic Redshirt Year •26:41 200 IM •28:35 Mental Game

We sat down with Jack Alexy, the man who won silver medals in the 50 and 100 free individually as well as gold, silver, and bronze as a part of Team USA relays at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. Alexy discusses the changes he made this season that led to improvement in his racing, including staying late to workouts to spend more time in the water and changing his mindset toward practice.

Book discusses the achievements of the Kenyon College Swim and Dive Team, what makes them so unique, and delves into the foundational role played by Jim Steen, the coach behind his success.

SwimSwam sat down with Shayna Jack, the Australian sprint star who was part of 3 world record relays at the 2023 World Championships and split 51+ in a 100 free more than any other competitor at the meet (4). Jack discusses what makes the training environment at St. Peters Western under Dean Boxall so electric, the culture Australia has developed in women's sprinting, and her strategy for racing Katie Ledecky and Summer McIntosh in the 200 free.

7-time Olympic gold medalist and Team Speedo athlete Caeleb Dressel talked with SwimSwam for nearly an hour, detailing his journey back to the sport since his abrupt departure from the 2022 World Championships in Budapest. Caeleb’s plain-spoken, funny, and he does channel vulnerability as strength in this interview. Coming off a big Speedo international photo shoot with all of his Team Speedo peers from allover the world, Caeleb was in good spirits and ready to talk on this topic. This post was possible thanks to SwimSwam partner, Speedo. We are aware Speedo has a big 2024 reveal coming, which was the reason for the big Speedo International photo shoot, but Speedo has not confirm the dates of the announcement yet.

Thomas Heilman captured fans attention December of 2021 as a 14 year old, breaking 14 National Age Group Records over 11 days at three different swimming meets. 18 months later, and only 16 years, Thomas became the youngest member of Team USA's World Championship squad, making it in two events, 100 and 200 meter butterfly -- breaking Michael Phelps' 2001 200 butterfly National Age Group Record in the process. At 2023 World Championships Heilman shaved more time off his 200 butterfly PB. He made the World Champs final and tied for 4th touching the wall in an astounding 1:53.82 -- the fastest time for any U.S. male under the age of 18.

Hubi Kos of Hungary surprised many when he touched first in the men's 200 backstroke at the 2023 World Championships. The World Jr Record holder in the 200 IM recently moved to Tempe, Arizona in December to train with Bob Bowman at Arizona State, the famed coach of Michael Phelps. Kos describes how training in the training environment that Bowman has created in Tempe helped him get to the top of the podium in Fukuoka, Japan.

Sam Short won a medal of every color at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, earning gold in the 400 free, silver in the 800 free, and bronze in the 1500 free. SwimSwam sat down with the distance ace to discuss his meet and season.

Three-time Olympic swimming gold medalist Kaylee McKeown sat down for a lengthy conversation after sweeping the 50, 100 and 200 meter backstroke at the 2023 World Championships. Kaylee is a rare type of pro swimmer when it comes to managing media--one to watch and learn from. Graciously she did the interview despite a slight cold, and I thoroughly enjoyed the talk because everything was on the table to discuss. Kaylee's simply so grounded in her confidence and humility, she just spoke plainly across a lot of topics.

We had a full sitdown with Kyle Chalmers, the 2023 world champion in the 100 free, 400 free relay, and mixed 400 free relay.

SwimSwam caught up with Matt Richards, the unexpected world champion in the 200 freestyle in Fukuoka. To be fair, Richards had a sensational season leading up to world champs and looked prime to medal. Richards explains what the X-factors were throughout his season, from switching clubs to race strategy, that all lined up when it mattered most.

Olympic Champion Gold Medal Mel Stewart and Coleman Hodges have an open and honest conversation about the comments Cate Campbell recently made on an Australian morning talk show.

After just one season at Stanford University, NCAA champion Claire Curzan is transferring to the University of Virginia, where she’ll be eligible for the three-time defending champion Cavaliers next fall after an Olympic redshirt year.

At the conclusion of the 2023 World Championships, SwimSwam sat down with Team USA men’s co-captain Ryan Murphy, who’s leaving Fukuoka with 2 golds, 1 silver, and 1 bronze. Murphy discusses what it takes to get through an 8-day meet like this as well as how he’s been able to maintain his podium status in the 100 and 200 back for the last 7 years.

Join Olympic gold medalist Mel Stewart, SwimSwam host Coleman Hodges, and our rotating cast of special guests as we watch and react live to Day 8 of the World Championship finals! Today we are joined by 5x Olympic gold medalist Josh Davis, SMU Women's head coach Ozzie Quevedo, and Auburn Associate head coach Vlad Polyakov.

Join Olympic gold medalist Mel Stewart, SwimSwam host Coleman Hodges, and our rotating cast of special guests as we watch and react live to Day 7 of the World Championship finals!

After helping Team USA to a silver medal finish in the 800 free relay, Texas teammates Carson Foster and Luke Hobson gave perspective on their time in Fukuoka. Both athletes swam more races than they ever had at a senior international meet, with Foster swimming 3 individual events plus this relay and Hobson swimming the 200 free individually plus the relay.

Join Olympic gold medalist Mel Stewart, SwimSwam host Coleman Hodges, and our rotating cast of special guests as we watch and react live to Day 6 of the World Championship finals! Today we have 5x Olympic gold medalist Josh David and Virginia associate head coach Tyler Fenwick.

We got to sit down with Bella Sims and Alex Shackell after their silver medal performance in the women's 800 free relay tonight. For Shackell, today was her first and last day of competition, swimming prelims and finals of the relay. She was surprised to be put on the anchor but didn't question her coaches decision and made the most of the opportunity. For Sims, this was her 3rd time in 3 years swimming on this relay, but the first time at a major international meet that she had other individual events to focus on.