On today’s episode of the SwimSwam Podcast, we’re joined by a coach who has consistently left his mark across every level of the sport: SPIRE Academy Head CoachThad Schultz. A standout swimmer at West Virginia back in the day, Thad transitioned from athlete to trusted mentor and coach with a résumé that reads like a tour through American swimming. Thad coached on the deck at Clemson, Ohio State, and Penn State, and has worked with over 20 Olympians, 18 NCAA All-Americans, and countless age group...
Jul 12, 2025•53 min•Ep. 1275
SwimSwam sat down with newly hired Notre Dame men's and women's swimming head coach, Mike Norment. The 16x NCAA All-American swimmer has been coaching on deck for a while now, with college coaching stops at Georgia Tech and Georgia. Norment is innovative and thinks outside the box, which has resulted in his swimmers being engaged and bought into his system. He hopes to bring the same level of enthusiasm and concentration to South Bend, which will see the men's team back in action this season aft...
Jul 11, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 1274
It was only one month ago that Summer McIntosh broke 3 world records and approached 2 more at the 2025 Canadian World Trials in Victoria. After one of the single best performances at a competition in history, McIntosh has gotten back to work, preparing for Singapore at the end of the month. Today, McIntosh sat down with the media and fielded questions about Katie Ledecky, training with Fred Vergnoux and Bob Bowman, and chasing 5 Olympic gold medals in LA.
Jul 10, 2025•22 min•Ep. 1273
SwimSwam sat down with May-Ambre Moluh, the French sprinter who just finished her freshman season at Cal and is headed to Singapore for the World Championships this summer. We discuss her toughest sets in France, the American Mentality, and competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Jul 09, 2025•35 min•Ep. 1272
Today’s episode is a big one. We’re joined by Jaimie Fuller — Chairman and co-founder of eo, the company behind eo SwimBETTER, the wearable that’s quietly but rapidly changing how elite swimmers train. If you follow the tech side of the sport, you’ve heard the buzz: real data, real-time feedback, real results. But this conversation isn’t just about gadgets and gear. It’s about values. Fuller and eo have launched the Integrity Wall campaign, taking dead aim at the Enhanced Games. It’s a bold stan...
Jul 07, 2025•54 min•Ep. 1271
After 4+ decades as head coach of the Nashville Aquatic Club, John Morse is retiring at the end of the month. Under Morse's leadership, NAC has produced over 65 Olympic Trials qualifiers, won over 40 LSC Championships, and earned 15 Gold Medal Club awards. Most recently, the club helped guide the swim careers of Olympians and NCAA icons Alex and Gretchen Walsh. SwimSwam sat down with John to discuss his long tenure in Nashville and the lessons he learned along the way. Young and old swim coaches...
Jul 04, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 1270
Dutch backstroker Kira Tousaint recently announced her retirement from competitive swimming . She ended her career as a 3x Olympian, 11x European Champion, and Dutch record-holder in the 50 and 100 back (LCM) as well as the 50, 100, and 200 back (SCM). She was also an NCAA All-American for the University of Tennessee, where she competed from 2015-2017.
Jul 03, 2025•44 min•Ep. 1269
Today on the SwimSwam podcast is a man who doesn’t just run a program—he builds an ecosystem. We’re joined by Bill Dorenkott, Ohio State’s Director of Swimming and Diving. Bill’s teams have quietly—and not so quietly—become one of the most consistent and innovative forces in collegiate swimming. We’re talking about a program that, in summer 2025 alone, qualified 16 athletes for U.S. Nationals, notched 24 second swims, and put 4 athletes on U.S. National Teams. Charlie Clarke’s heading to Worlds ...
Jul 02, 2025•43 min•Ep. 1268
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we are discussing national and international meets that saw a plethora of fast swims
Jul 01, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 1267
In this episode of the SwimSwam Podcast, we sits down with Nimrod Shapira, a man who embodies what it means to take the discipline of swimming and turn it into entrepreneurial rocket fuel. From NCAA champion and two-time Olympian to the CEO of Florida’s largest learn-to-swim business, Fintastic Swim Academy, Nimrod shares his journey from having $482 to building, scaling, and ultimately selling his company to private equity—while never truly leaving the sport he loves.
Jun 30, 2025•24 min•Ep. 1266
Sean Kao was a swimmer at Arizona State, where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in exercise science. In 2019, he started Aquatic Sports Performance out of his parents' garage in hopes of being able to help athletes with their out-of-water training. Over the last 6 years, it has developed into helping over 150 athletes in and out of the water reach their potential. Last month, one of ASP's athletes, Santo Condorelli, qualified for the US World Championship team in the 50 free. Sean d...
Jun 24, 2025•58 min•Ep. 1265
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we are discussing World Trials for the USA, Australia, and Canada.
Jun 18, 2025•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 1264
Emma McKeon is an Olympic icon, an Australian swimming legend, and now a Swammer. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, McKeon became one of only 2 women in swimming to ever win 14 Olympic medals over her career, joining Katie Ledecky who accomplished the same feat at the same meet. SwimSwam caught up with McKeon after she had enjoyed some well-earned rest, recovery, and travel since Paris. The Aussie shared what her life has looked like since stepping away from swimming but also reflected on the leadup t...
Jun 16, 2025•49 min•Ep. 1263
What if we told you that the biggest business opportunity in swimming isn’t a tech suit, a sponsorship deal, or a world record — it’s the lane next to the one you grew up training in? In this episode of the SwimSwam Podcast, we dive into one of the most overlooked and underestimated business models in sport: learn-to-swim. Our guest? Two-time Olympian, NCAA Champion, and now CEO of Fintastic Swim Academy & Fintastic Brands — Nimrod Shapira. He launched his swim school with just $482 and zero...
Jun 12, 2025•55 min•Ep. 1262
When we talk about performance breakthroughs in swimming, we usually focus on athletes, suits, or training methods. But sometimes the real game-changers are the things right beneath our goggles—like the lane lines. In this episode of the SwimSwam Podcast, we’re joined by Simon Percy, Vice President of Malmsten Inc. and a former Olympian, to dig into one of the most underrated pieces of race-day tech: the lane line. It might sound simple—but it’s not.
Jun 04, 2025•29 min•Ep. 1261
A3 Performance is making a bold leap forward this summer with the upcoming launch of its most advanced tech suit yet: PRANA. Founder and CEO Dan Meinholz shared the big picture in an exclusive conversation with SwimSwam, walking us through the inspiration, innovation, and athlete-focused engineering behind this world-class race suit.
Jun 03, 2025•28 min•Ep. 1260
Dara Torres drops in on the SwimSwam Podcast to recap her first-year experience as head coach of Boston College. If you followed swimming at any point between the late 1980s and the 2000s, the name Dara Torres likely meant one thing: dominance. The 12-time Olympic medalist was a generational athlete whose longevity and speed redefined what was possible in the sport. Now, Torres is proving that greatness doesn’t stop at the water’s edge. In her first year as head coach at Boston College, Torres b...
May 31, 2025•30 min•Ep. 1259
In this marathon podcast, we go through the entire 2025 US Trials psych sheet and give an event-by-event preview of every upcoming race in Indianapolis.
May 30, 2025•1 hr 49 min•Ep. 1258
After emerging as Team USA's top 100 freestyle relay option at the Paris Olympics, Hunter Armstrong had planned to take 6 months off of training before getting back into the pool with his sights set on LA28. Life had other plans. After suddenly getting dropped by his primary sponsor in late 2024, Armstrong had to stop training completely, working odd jobs, including swim clinics, construction, and substitute teaching, in order to pay his mortgage. He was going to Pro Swims, but really only compe...
May 29, 2025•37 min•Ep. 1257
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we are discussing the Enhanced Games, Braden Holloway as the single head coach for 2025 Worlds, and a potential new format for the NCAA Championships.
May 28, 2025•49 min•Ep. 1256
SwimSwam sat down with Greg Meehan, the newly named National Team Director of USA Swimming, to discuss his vision for the national team's future. When Meehan laid out his plan, his three key points were "winning" the 2028 Olympic Games, building a "team-first culture," and having transparency in the national team's methodology and communication. Meehan has already implemented significant changes in how the USA Swimming navigates an Olympic quad, including naming a single head coach for the 2025 ...
May 26, 2025•54 min•Ep. 1255
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we are discussing the 12-year-old Chinese phenom Yu Ziti (and swimming at the Chinese Nationals), Leon Marchand's spicy 4:07 400 IM, and Chris Lindauer going to Stanford.
May 21, 2025•51 min•Ep. 1254
Germany's Sven Schwarz is coming off a weekend that saw him break his first European Record, dropping a 7:38.1 in the 800 free. He also went a huge PB in the 1500, breaking 14:40 for the first time to touch in 14:36. Schwarz discusses his experience at the German Championships and what it's like when he gets to have training camps with fellow German distance titans Lukas Martens, Oliver Klemet, and Florian Wellbrock.
May 08, 2025•27 min•Ep. 1253
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we are discussing the madness that occurred at the Ft Lauderdale Pro Swim.
May 05, 2025•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 1252
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we are discussing the newly announced dual meet tournament, several international meets around the globe, and the upcoming Pro Swim Stop in Ft Lauderdale.
Apr 29, 2025•52 min•Ep. 1251
On the back of winning the 50 free and 50 fly at the 2025 British Championships and qualifying for her first LCM world championships, SwimSwam sat down with Eva Okaro to discuss her swimming career thus far. Okaro dives into her experience at the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2024 Short Course World Championships, where she won a silver medal with Britain's mixed 4x100 medley relay. She also talks about her training in Britain and what she's looking forward to about coming to the University of Tex...
Apr 28, 2025•41 min•Ep. 1250
SwimSwam sat down with the coaches behind the upcoming Dual Meet Tournament that will take place at Georgia Tech on October 17-18, 2025. Chico Rego of George Washington, Iago Moussalem of Georgia Tech, Cauli Bedran of Wisconsin (who is not participating in the tournament), and Steve Barnes of Florida State all contributed to this discussion and laid out how this event came together, what it will look like, and how they hope it will impact college swimming moving forward....
Apr 25, 2025•45 min•Ep. 1249
After training for 5 years in Italy with some of the best breaststroke specialists in the country, 20-year-old Anita Bottazzo needed a change. She wanted new stimulus both athletically and academically, so she decided to come to the University of Florida. Flash forward one year: Bottazzo has become an SEC Champion, NCAA All-American, and Italian champion, and is pursuing a degree in biotechnology. Listen to how Bottazzo has flourished in Gainesville and what tools she's gained since her arrival ...
Apr 24, 2025•52 min•Ep. 1248
Stephanie Balduccini finished her second college swimming season as a Big Ten Champion and NCAA All-American. The Michigan sophomore has found her groove in Ann Arbor, but it wasn't a linear path. Coming into Michigan, Balduccini was actually quite unhappy with her swimming and was considering retirement if she didn't enjoy Michigan. However, the coaching staff and family dynamic of the team helped her to rediscover her love of the sport. Specifically, she learned to focus on small wins in her d...
Apr 23, 2025•56 min•Ep. 1247
SwimSwam sat down with Bob Bowman, the Director of Swimming at the University of Texas, who delivered the Longhorns a national title in his first year at the helm. Bowman, who was coming off of winning a national title with Arizona State the year before, discussed the similarities and differences of winning national titles at ASU and UT, noting that Texas has a storied history of national success that gives a confidence boost to its athletes. Bowman also addressed Leon Marchand's scheduled retur...
Apr 21, 2025•40 min•Ep. 1246
