Episode 508

Olympic Icon Mark Spitz Shares Wisdom Ahead of the 2021 Tokyo Games

April 15, 202136m 38s

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Show Notes

I have four hours with Mark captured. This is only the first chapter, which is about 35 minutes. We meander, but when you're talking to Mark the side stories are where all of the detail and color become fully saturated. Mark covers:

his start, how and why he chose swimming
what fueled him in childhood to win blue ribbons
his swimming hero
his secret warm-up, the same warm-up he used for years because it signaled success
his first world record
how he trained butterfly (which went against the grain of the day, which was grinding hard yardage)
and who he feared, and Mark feared several competitors for legitimate reasons

Between now and the U.S. Olympic Trials, I'll rollout these episodes. I absolutely love Mark. Some of my best swimming memories come from him, outside of the pool, just talking.

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