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 for it. Will he make the 2021 U.S. Olympic Team at 40? I would love to witness that, but I don't thin...
Apr 29, 2021•6 min•Ep. 525
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's program for the last three. He's excited to take his successes from the men's program and carry th...
Apr 28, 2021•19 min•Ep. 524
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 PODCAST LINKS Click here to listen and subscribe on Spotify Click here to listen and subscribe on Apple...
Apr 27, 2021•37 min•Ep. 523
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" in terms of his career. SWIMSWAM PODCAST LINKS Click here to listen and subscribe on Spotify Click ...
Apr 26, 2021•17 min•Ep. 522
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 Missouri State after a disappointing loss at the 2020 Conference champs. Bonewit-Cron also discusses ...
Apr 25, 2021•42 min•Ep. 521
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 stretch made the Gopher women the first Minnesota team to win four-straight conference crowns. In 20...
Apr 24, 2021•48 min•Ep. 520
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 to World Championship gold. At the recent Mission Pro Swim he dropped a 48.7 100m free, a very solid...
Apr 23, 2021•7 min•Ep. 519
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 a swimmer, but he does swim for fitness. Back in the 1980s and early 1990s Jack was an athletics st...
Apr 23, 2021•31 min•Ep. 518
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, days starting at 5am and ending, sometimes, after midnight. Thankful, ahead of the Olympic Games in ...
Apr 22, 2021•44 min•Ep. 516
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 how that has helped build her championship mindset. SWIMSWAM PODCAST LINKS Click here to listen and s...
Apr 22, 2021•29 min•Ep. 517
Chris Ritter , the founder and CEO of RITTER Sports Performance and creator of SURGE Strength , drops in on the SwimSwam Podcast with Gold Medal Mel Stewart. The importance of having a repeat-able and adaptable process for your dryland training has never been realized more than this past year. Chris sat down with us to announce he is hosting a FREE upcoming webinar on The Process of Dryland Training. Join with other coaches and swimmers who are committed to better results in their dryland traini...
Apr 21, 2021•36 min•Ep. 515
We sat down with legendary coach Dave Salo , who recently announced that he would be dawning the role of assistant coach at Orange Coast College. Salo explains that after so long of being a head coach, he's excited to coach without all of the extra worries that come with heading a Power-5 Division I program. He also gets into the nitty-gritty of how he runs workouts, if he's a "player's coach", and what he's looking forward to at Orange Coast. SWIMSWAM PODCAST LINKS Click here to listen and subs...
Apr 21, 2021•31 min•Ep. 514
We sat down with Claire Curzan , the 16-year-old swimmer for the TAC Titans who turned heads when she dropped a 56.20 100m fly 2 weekends ago in Cary, North Carolina. Swimming fans had already been looking forward to this meet, as Curzan and fellow age-group star Torri Huske were slated to race in the 50/100 free and 100 fly. Huske ended up taking the 50 and 100 free races, while Curzan won the 100 fly, becoming the #2 American performer in history with her swim . Curzan admits that her goal in ...
Apr 20, 2021•15 min•Ep. 513
We sat down with Andrei Minakov , the Russian sprinting sensation who just qualified for his first Olympic games in both the 100 free and 100 fly. Minakov takes us through the Russian Trials as well as how he's adjusted to studying at Stanford (remotely from Russia). We also get into some throwback memories for Andrei, including the 2018 Youth Olympic Games (where he won 5 gold medals) and the 2019 World Championships (2 silver, 1 bronze). SWIMSWAM PODCAST LINKS Click here to listen and subscrib...
Apr 19, 2021•25 min•Ep. 512
We sat down with Brent Hayden , the Canadian Olympic medalist who is now on the athlete board of the International Swimmers' Alliance. Hayden discusses what it's been like to cooperate with a group of athletes like this and what he thinks they can accomplish for swimmers everywhere moving forward. Hayden emphasizes that he wanted to be a part of this as a way to give back to the sport that has already given him so much. He's looking to make changes not necessarily to this generation, but the gen...
Apr 18, 2021•34 min•Ep. 511
We sat down with Velimir Stjepanovic , a 2x Serbian Olympian and member of the DC Trident in the ISL. We talked about a wide range of topics, from Velimir's upbringing in life and swimming to his last year navigating through the COVID-19 pandemic. One topic we covered was swimming without pressure, which Velimir explained was the case as a member of the DC Trident. Knowing that the team was not a contender for the ISL title, Velimir was able to swim freely during the matches in Budapest, resulti...
Apr 17, 2021•52 min•Ep. 510
We sat down with Torri Huske who went a slue of best time at the TAC Titans LCM Premiere meet this past weekend. Huske Battled Claire Curzan head-to-head in the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 fly, where she took wins in the 50 ( 24.44, new 17-18 NAG ) and 100 free (53.40) . She also went a huge PB in the 100 fly ( 56.69, new 17-18 NAG ) and 200 fly (2:09.97). Huske discussed that just a couple weeks before this meet, she had started using drag sox, parachutes, and weight racks in her training, which...
Apr 16, 2021•14 min•Ep. 509
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 grai...
Apr 15, 2021•37 min•Ep. 508
We spoke with Olympic champion Olivia Smoliga at the 2021 Mission Viejo Pro Swim, where Smoliga was looking very strong on the back half of her races. Olivia explained to us that she's been really focusing on aerobic training with coach Jack Baurle and saw the extra Olympic year as a good time to challenge herself and work on her 200 free, an event she says is "the ultimate". SWIMSWAM PODCAST LINKS Click here to listen and subscribe on Spotify Click here to listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts...
Apr 15, 2021•6 min•Ep. 507
At the Pro Swim Series stop in Mission Viejo, we spoke with standout Cal freshman Destin Lasco . Lasco had a sensational Pac-12 championship, highlighted by leading a 1-2-3-4-5-6 Cal finish in the 200 backstroke . He turned even more heads at the NCAA Champs, where he became the fastest freshman ever in the 200 IM (jumping from 58th seed to finishing 2nd overall), the 100 back , and the 200 back. Lasco reveals that he focused a lot on academics, especially his second semester, saying that if his...
Apr 14, 2021•5 min•Ep. 506
We sat down with British record holder and ISL standout, Abbie Wood . We talked through Abbie's career, especially how hard the transition can be from being a fast swimmer as an 18-under to trying to compete on a national and international stage at the senior level. Wood also takes us through her ISL season and what went into the stellar results that she posted in Budapest. SWIMSWAM PODCAST LINKS Click here to listen and subscribe on Spotify Click here to listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts C...
Apr 13, 2021•43 min•Ep. 504
At the Pro Swim Series in Mission Viejo, 2016 Abbey Weitzeil dropped a 24.57 in the 50m freestyle. In her post-race interview, Weitzeil revealed that in prelims, when she went 24.80, it was the first time she had done a no-breather 50m free during a race. She admits that it gave her a lot of anxiety and in finals instead of focusing on not taking a breath, she instead put her energy toward having a good race, which seemed to pay off. However, Weitzeil does give us the details on how she's been p...
Apr 12, 2021•5 min•Ep. 505
Big announcement! Olympic swimming champion Caeleb Dressel will be producing another Dressel Dissects video, and it will be his 100 scm IM World Record from the ISL. So, stay tuned. He feels guilty for not producing one for awhile, but he assured me that episode is coming. See his YouTube channel here . Caeleb was nice enough to drop-in for 15 minutes of conversation, and he unpacks his ISCA meet swims. If you missed it, ISCA ran yards in the morning and meters at night. Caeleb popped a 1:40 200...
Apr 09, 2021•15 min•Ep. 503
We sat down with Ryan Spoon , a name you may not be familiar with... but you should be. Ryan is the current COO of BetMGM as well as the former Senior VP of Digital and Social for ESPN. If that didn't sell you, he's also a Duke Swimming alumnus, so he's got chlorine in his blood. Ryan knows how to draw a sporting audience and hold them, and he shares his thoughts on what swimming can do to boost their audience, in a non-Olympic year especially. SWIMSWAM PODCAST LINKS Click here to listen and sub...
Apr 06, 2021•37 min•Ep. 502
We sat down with Camden Murphy , the Georgia butterflied who was a big contributor in UGA's 4th place finish at the 2021 Men's NCAA Championships. Murphy takes us through his senior season, starting with having an extended period of time out of the water due to COVID and nearly deciding to not come back at all. Ultimately, Murphy did come back to complete his 4th year on the team and ultimately go personal bests in both the 100 and 200 fly. SWIMSWAM PODCAST LINKS Click here to listen and subscri...
Apr 05, 2021•35 min•Ep. 500
Olympic swimming star Simone Manuel delivered at the recent San Antonio Pro Swim, sweeping the 50m and 100m free: 50m free - 24.70 100m free - 54.62 Simone said she wasn't happy with her races, saying "there were goal times I didn't hit." However she felt there were positives she could takeaway from the competition. Considering the masks, no fans, and that she hasn't raced during COVID, she was satisfied with her performance overall. U.S. Olympic Trials PREDICTIONS! Simone sweeps the 50m and 100...
Apr 05, 2021•6 min•Ep. 501
We sat down with Andi Murez , the 2016 Olympian and Stanford All-American who is now training in Coronado, California. Murez takes us through her swim journey, most recently recapping the 6-week ISL Budapest bubble as a member of the LA Current. She also takes us through what it was like training as a professional as well as going to medical school, balancing two activities that take a huge amount of time and dedication. SWIMSWAM PODCAST LINKS Click here to listen and subscribe on Spotify Click ...
Apr 04, 2021•46 min•Ep. 499
We sat down with Jozsef Nagy , the breaststroke coach extraordinaire to talk about all things breaststroke. Nagy goes into detail on how the stroke has changed and what methods he thinks are best for training the stroke. One of the most interesting things Nagy brings up is the fact that in his opinion, the 100 breast world record has taken leaps and bounds in the last 20 years, while he thinks the 200 hasn't quite matched up. The Hungarian native thinks that if athletes really focused on the eve...
Apr 02, 2021•43 min•Ep. 498
Olympic Champion and Youtube star Cody Miller partners with the world’s leading swimwear brand, Speedo , a SwimSwam partner. This has been in the works for awhile; however, for Cody fans, it might be the worst kept secret in swimming. He’s been wearing Speedo in his last few video episodes. In this podcast Cody unpacks the industry details behind the partnership, and he PLAYS THE PREDICTION GAME for his own events at the U.S. Olympic Trials -- sort of. Cody's got an interesting take on the run-u...
Apr 01, 2021•27 min•Ep. 497
I sat down with #12 ranked recruit in the class of 2021, Arsenio Bustos . Arsenio swam a troth of lifetime bests this past week at the ISCA Senior Cup in St Petersburg, Florida, including 1:43.94 200 IM, 53.57/1:02.95 100 Breast, 1:59.03 200 breast, 19.96/23.02 50 free, 46.51 100 fly, 1:36.31 200 free, and 43.27/49.25 100 free. Bustos breaks down his racing at the ISCA Cup, what made racing Dressel so exciting, and how he's been training for the last year. SWIMSWAM PODCAST LINKS Click here to li...
Mar 31, 2021•28 min•Ep. 496
