In this episode of Social Kick, we welcome IU standout swimmer Owen McDonald. We delve into his journey from Atlanta to Arizona State, and finally to Indiana University. Owen shares his training secrets, including his favorite event to watch (the 200 IM!), and reveals some hilarious stories about his teammates and coaches. We also discuss his eating habits (hint: it involves a lot of food!), and his intense training regimen with his brother and legendary coach Ray Looze. Plus, Owen gives his pre...
Jan 02, 2025•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 219
In this special year-end episode, the Social Kick crew recaps the most memorable moments of 2024 in swimming. We discuss the best individual swims (including Jordan Crooks's historic sub-20 50 free and Leon Marchand's 4:02 500 free), the most thrilling relays (like the US Women's Medley and the Great Britain Men's 4x200 free), and the most exciting meets (including the NCAA Championships and the Paris Olympics). We also delve into breakout performances from swimmers like Gretchen Walsh and discu...
Dec 30, 2024•52 min•Ep. 218
So that’s a thing now. Rex Maurer has shown the world that even college-aged swimmers can drop nearly 7 seconds in their best event as if he hit a growth spurt. Maybe he did. The Texas sophomore is only a summer and fall semester into his time in Austin following his transfer from Stanford where he had a solid freshman year. But this Longhorn mid-distance crew is different. It is stacked with hitters, as demonstrated with Carson Foster breaking the American Record in the 500 about an hour before...
Dec 17, 2024•55 min•Ep. 217
Make Swimming Fun! Premier League Swimming is shaking things up down under, with a new type of fast-paced swimming competition in a league format that maximizes the fun and eliminates the boring. Established in 2018, this independent swim league created a swimming product to bring swimming communities together from all around the world to enjoy a pool swimming experience like no other, which includes world-class swimmers like Linnea Mack and Mark Nikolaev, who join us for a fun, laughter filled ...
Dec 13, 2024•54 min•Ep. 216
That’s what we love about these high school swimmers. We keep getting older. They keep getting faster. Record smasher Rylee Erisman, at only 15, is a national record holder, Olympic Trials finalist, and has already donned the sought after black American flag finals cap to collect some gold medals for Team USA. Shortly after the Olympic Trials, she swam a time that would have put her on the Paris Olympic team, and she’s only a couple tenths away from surpassing World Record holder Gretchen Walsh ...
Dec 09, 2024•58 min•Ep. 215
They say ‘the game slows down’ for the best athletes in sport. Maybe that’s why Ryan Murphy always seems to bring out his best swims in the biggest moments, which have made him one of the best swimmers in the world over the last decade. Team USA’s stalwart backstroke ace, Ryan Murphy became a superstar in Rio where he swept gold medals in the backstrokes and broke the 100m World Record leading off Team USA’s gold medal winning relay, helping to deliver Michael Phelps his final Olympic gold medal...
Dec 06, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 213
There’s enough space on this planet for everyone. Syrian refugee and 2x Olympic swimmer Yusra Mardini had some of her life’s defining moments depicted in the Netflix film The Swimmers. A member of the inaugural IOC Refugee team, Yusra has become a global figure advocating on behalf of refugees and displaced communities, and through her Yusra Mardini Foundation, helps advance access to sports and education for refugee communities around the world while also helping them excel as they rebuild thei...
Dec 03, 2024•58 min•Ep. 212
Five Olympics and counting! Sprint master Kasia Wilk Wasick returns for another episode to catch us up on the World Cup, where she took the crown for winning the 50m Freestyle at all 3 stops and in the process dialed in her short course race execution that she will carry in the upcoming Short Course World Championships in Budapest. Kasia also shares her experience at the Paris Olympics, where she hoped to win a medal following her bronze medal performance and first time under 24 seconds at the W...
Nov 29, 2024•59 min•Ep. 211
Friend of the pod and now 2-time Olympic medalist Ilya Kharun returns to catch us up on his massive summer. Last time we spoke with Ilya a year ago he was making waves in his first college dual meets and training with Bob Bowman at Arizona State. A lot has happened since then. The Sun Devils won their first NCAA team championship, Ilya became an individual NCAA champ in the 200 fly, then Bob Bowman left ASU for Texas, leaving Ilya among some of the prominent athletes that had to make a decision ...
Nov 26, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 210
Mary-Sophie Harvey is a Canadian Olympian and one of the world’s most versatile swimmers. A two-time Olympian, Mary-Sophie has accomplished a feat that few swimmers do - swimming her best time in the Olympic final. However, for Mary-Sophie it was somewhat bittersweet because she left the Paris Olympics having finished in 4th place in 4 different events. On the positive side, being 4th in the world is amazing, but Mary-Sophie will be hungry for a taste of her first Olympic medal as she looks ahea...
Nov 22, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 209
Do you ever get bored swimming? He doesn’t. Do you ever get tired swimming? He doesn’t. Do your shoulders hurt swimming? His don’t. This man has swam 358.2km (222.6 mi) in a single week, earning him the Guinness World Record for most meters swum in a week in a 50m pool. No stranger to ultra endurance mega efforts, Spyros Chrysikopoulos has also taken on gnarly open water marathon challenges that require him to swim for 30+ hours straight across the open ocean, and he has also once swum over 90km...
Nov 19, 2024•54 min•Ep. 208
John Mason is a much sought after TV host and correspondent. His natural on-screen energy and versatility have established him as a regular personality in the European & international markets, particularly in Olympic aquatic sports. John has been the face of the FINA Swimming World Cup Series for the last four years. In addition, he has covered some of the biggest events in the world for Eurosport, BBC Sport, Channel 5 and FINA TV including, the European Championships, World Championships, C...
Nov 14, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 207
In this episode, we sit down with South African breaststroke sensation Tatjana Schoenmaker Smith, one of the most accomplished swimmers of her generation. At just 27 years old, Tatjana has already etched her name in swimming history, from breaking the world record in the 200m breaststroke at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics to becoming a two-time Olympic gold medalist, a world champion, and the most decorated South African Olympic athlete of all time. We dive into Tatjana’s incredible journey, from her r...
Nov 12, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 206
Going best times is all a swimmer can ask for right? Well, it may make a bittersweet Olympics, if you go best time at an Olympics (where few go best times) but you fall in your place from semi-finals to finals. Pieter Coetzé had a bittersweet Olympics, but his young career has been far from bittersweet. Coetzé made the South African Olympic team at the age of 17, rising through the ranks and recently winning the 100 and 200 short course meters backstroke at the 2024 World Cups, earning him $56,5...
Nov 08, 2024•57 min•Ep. 205
Ice in his veins! Olympic finalist Keaton Jones only needed one year at Cal to bridge the gap from being an elite junior to one of the world’s best, as he snagged the 2nd Olympic spot in the 200 backstroke at the USA Olympic Trials. At his first Olympic Games, Keaton put together solid performances through the rounds to finish 5th in the Olympic final in Paris, just shy of the podium. Not bad for a college freshman. Keaton Jones is also a pioneer in the sport of Ice Swimming! He’s a multi-time w...
Nov 04, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 204
The Olympic champion in the 200 backstroke, Hubert Kos, takes a break from his busy gaming schedule to hangout with us on Social Kick. For the second year in a row, the Hungarian superstar emerged from the biggest meet of the year with the gold medal around his neck, this time on swimming’s biggest stage at the Paris Olympic Games, adding to the storied legacy of Hungary as a swimming powerhouse. The move to train under renowned coach Bob Bowman continues to pay dividends for Hubert Kos, who alo...
Nov 01, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 203
In the midst of the 2024 World Cup season, we check in with the voice of the World Cup himself, broadcaster and former World Record holder Bobby Hurley. Bobby has commentated for the last 7 World Championships as well as myriad other swimming events such as the World Cup. As a swimmer, Bobby Hurley racked up a list of accolades. A World Champion and World Record Holder, Hurley represented Australia from 2008-2017, becoming one of the world's most versatile swimmers. He won 24 national titles in ...
Oct 29, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 202
It’s shades of orange everywhere for Dutch Olympic breaststroker Caspar Corbeau. When representing The Netherlands, he wears a true orange and for Texas, it’s the burnt variety, but it was the medal he wore around his neck this summer in Paris that was a magical bronze. Already a many time NCAA finalist among the top breaststrokers and IMers in college swimming, the dual-citizen for the US and Netherlands, Caspar Corbeau, decided to change his scenery before the final year preparing for the Olym...
Oct 25, 2024•54 min•Ep. 201
Ever frustrated with turns and just wish you could swim in a straight line? For USA Olympic swimmer Mariah Denigan that is the dream. While the majority of her training still takes place in a pool and she has represented the USA internationally in longer distance pool races, Mariah Denigan has established herself among the best in the world in open water races. Mariah has represented Team USA at the last couple World Championships, including a 6th place finish in 2023 where she surged in the sec...
Oct 22, 2024•58 min•Ep. 200
Irish goodbye? More like Irish hello! Ireland made its presence known in the pool at the Paris Olympics with a huge swim for a bronze medal in the 100 breaststroke from two-time Olympian Mona McSharry, delivering Ireland's first medal of the 2024 Olympic Games. Along with compatriot Daniel Wiffen, Mona McSharry and team Ireland had La Defense Arena rocking as Irish flags dominated the crowd at moments throughout the epic week of racing. A highly accomplished junior swimmer, Mona McSharry had an ...
Oct 18, 2024•51 min•Ep. 199
The NFL and swimming are not the same. In a world where coaches have a very short leash, a team that has a couple down years of performance along with some key high-profile athlete departures can be enough to sound the alarm. Thankfully, perhaps because its a sport based on longer term success over a 4-year period or greater, we were not robbed of the ultimate triumph we witnessed in Paris. For Greg Meehan, the last few years have been anything but easy. The longtime Stanford Head Women’s Coach ...
Oct 15, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 198
Could you imagine having mononucleosis and COVID-19 at the biggest competitions of your life? What about missing the Olympic team by one spot in arguably your best event? How about missing the team by two spots in your next best event? With his back against the wall, David Johnston dropped over 10 seconds and finished second in the 1500 - meters to make his first Olympic team. David joins us to share his remarkable journey to make his first Olympic team, but also his journey which has included n...
Oct 11, 2024•55 min•Ep. 197
Two time Olympian, by the age of 18, Katie Grimes joins us in the latest episode of Social Kick. Katie talks us through the experience of swimming at the 2024 US Olympic Trials, having already qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the 10k. Was there less pressure? We talk Paris, from the river eels to the 1500 and 400 im swims in the pool. How did Sandpipers of Nevada Coach Ron Aitken prepare her for all of this? We end on her talking college and her next choice. Enjoy and don't forget t...
Oct 03, 2024•54 min•Ep. 196
2x Olympic Medalist Carson Foster returns to chat about making his first Olympic team, his performance in Paris, and how he’s adjusting to Bob Bowman workouts. Last time we spoke to Carson a couple years ago (Ep. 112), he was coming off a breakout meet winning individual silvers in the IMs at the 2022 World Championships and the stage was being set for his redemption after narrowly missing the Tokyo Olympic team. Fast forward to 2024, the IM races at US Trials were Carson’s to lose, and he deliv...
Oct 01, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 195
Ever wonder how fast someone could swim if some of the rules were lifted? Nike believed someone could run a marathon under 2 hours, which Eliud Kipchoge achieved with the help of pacers, drafting, and carbon plated shoes. A similar event took place in triathlon, with Olympic Champion Kristiaan Blumenfelt completing an Iron-distance triathlon in under 7 hours. In this episode, 2x 100 freestyle Swimming World Champion James Magnussen joins us to share his current pursuit - breaking the unofficial ...
Sep 27, 2024•55 min•Ep. 194
While she was only 8 years old when she chose her Instagram handle @alexandrathebeast, it’s clear now how a young Alex Shackell foresaw a bright future. In this episode, teenage Olympian Alex Shackell tells us what it’s like to return home to high school as an Olympic Gold Medalist. Already a relay member of the World Championship team last year, Alex Shackell shared with us how her training changed over the last year that led to her earning an individual Olympic spot on Team USA in the 200 fly,...
Sep 24, 2024•54 min•Ep. 193
In this episode, Michael Andrew joins us and reflects on the disappointment of not making the US Olympic team and explains what he feels led to that outcome - one of the best swimmers in the world for many years unexpectedly sitting at home instead of racing in Paris. Having given time to reflect on the necessary changes to get back on the right track to realizing his potential, Michael Andrew has made the difficult decision to change coaches for the first time in his life. A hard enough decisio...
Sep 21, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 192
In this episode, Regan Smith returns with her latest medal haul from the Paris Olympics, where she picked up her first Olympic golds, a few individual silvers, and came home with another World Record (Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay). Reflecting on her 2nd Olympics, her first under coach Bob Bowman, Regan Smith reflects on how proud she is of her performances, while also speaking to the juxtaposition of being proud of silver medals while still wanting gold. The last time Regan Smith joined Social Ki...
Sep 13, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 191
In this episode, we chat with teenage swim phenomenon and Team USA Olympic swimmer Thomas Heilman after his first Olympics in Paris. At age 17, Thomas secured his Olympic berth with a decisive win in the 200 butterfly at the 2024 USA Olympic Trials, and put an exclamation point on the week in Indy when he finished 2nd in the 100 fly, earning him a 2nd individual event to swim in Paris with a new personal best time 50.80 behind legend Caeleb Dressel. Thomas talks with us about it all in this one:...
Sep 10, 2024•46 min•Ep. 190
In this episode, we are joined by French Olympic bronze medalist Clement Secchi following his experience at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Clem tells us what it was like to experience the support of the home crowd as a member of Team France, including seeing all the hype behind other French swim stars like Leon Marchand, Florent Manaudou, and Marie Wattel. Clem surprised no one when he disclosed it was Flo Manaudou behind the now-infamous shirtless on-stage party at Champions Park and that humble Leon...
Sep 06, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 189
