Andrew Nguyen has led 2 of the top teams in the country and he just moved home to Southern California to become the Head Coach of another top club, at Rose Bowl Aquatics. In this episode of the SwimSwam podcast, we dive into Andrew’s success at Bellevue Club and Scottsdale Aquatic Club. What he learned, what he took for granted, and how it’s made him a better coach at Rose Bowl. He talks about his path to this point. After spending 12 years at Bellevue Club he’s had the chance to start over twic...
Nov 21, 2022•50 min•Ep. 916
We sat down with Laura Sogar, 2012 SC World Championships medalist and 2013 NCAA Champion in the 200 breast. Sogar takes us through her swimming career, from training in high school at Blue Fish with Chuck Bachelor to Texas with Kim Brackin and Carol Capitani. After retiring from swimming in 2016, Sogar pursued improv, which ultimately turned into pursuing stand-up comedy. Sogar produced her own shows during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and now hosts 2 podcasts (@shedoesstanduptoo and @Ri...
Nov 18, 2022•54 min•Ep. 914
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss week 1 of the NCAA Midseason meets, the potential of an ISL return, and David Poopovici's SCM outing at Romanian Nationals
Nov 17, 2022•36 min•Ep. 913
Emily Melina is the Head Coach at Lake Oswego Swim Club, a team that has won the Oregon State championships at every level the last few years and was recently named a Silver Medal team in the USA Swimming Club excellence program. She’s been at LOSC for 11 years and has doubled the club in size and created a family-like culture that achieves at a championship level. She was named the 2020-21 Senior Coach of the Year in Oregon Swimming. But Emily does a lot more than just coach. She’s on the Diver...
Nov 16, 2022•47 min•Ep. 912
Four-time Olympic gold medalist and Team Speedo athlete Ryan Murphy is focused on the 2023 World Championships. All work in the pool is through that lens, but in this SwimSwam podcast he allows us inside his head across a few topics. Will he compete through the 2028 Olympic Games in LA? Ryan would love to compete in an Olympics on U.S. soil, but he’s got to weigh that against starting a career – starting his adult life. Ryan’s already prepping for a career beyond the pool, and he’s getting marri...
Nov 15, 2022•35 min•Ep. 911
We sat down with Bella Sims, the Olympian and world champion who most recently broke 2 world junior records in 12 minutes at the World Cup stop in Indianapolis. Sims breaks down how she managed her 200 free-100 Back double with such a quick turnaround and what led to her success in both. She did admit that while her backstroke has become arguably her strongest stroke outside of freestyle, her true love is butterfly and she doesn't even really like backstroke. Her success in Indianapolis raised t...
Nov 11, 2022•19 min•Ep. 910
SwimSwam sat down with Beata Nelson, who is coming off of a big win as the overall champion of the 2022 FINA World Cup. This was the first time Nelson had competed in the world cup at all, but it didn't take her long to get her feet wet, literally or figuratively. Nelson won the 200 back and the 200 IM (always both on the last night) at all 3 stops, plus notched 3 more wins and 3 2nd places finishes over the course of the series. Nelson explains how she was able to learn from and maintain her pe...
Nov 10, 2022•39 min•Ep. 909
This week, Olympic champ Tom Shields joins the SwimSwam Breakdown and we discuss the World Cup, Olympic Trials, and NCAA Dual Meets.
Nov 09, 2022•53 min•Ep. 908
On the heels of the World Cup Series Finale in Indianapolis, SwimSwam sat down with USA Swimming's Chief Commercial Officer, Shana Ferguson . Ferguson was not only overseeing the World Cup stop in Indy, but also taking time to prepare what she deems "The Meet of the Century": the 2024 Olympic Trials , which will be held in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The CCO updates us on where USA Swimming is at in their preparation, including an artist's rendition of what the venue will actually look li...
Nov 07, 2022•27 min•Ep. 907
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss Katie Ledecky 's 1500 free (SCM) world record, the upcoming Texas-Virginia dual meet, and Adam Peaty 's new-found motivation.
Nov 03, 2022•47 min•Ep. 906
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss 2 new world records, swimming in the NCAA, and Simone Manuel 's return to racing.
Oct 28, 2022•49 min•Ep. 905
University of Virginia head coach, Todd DeSorbo, didn’t roll back on his heels after winning the 2022 Women’s NCAA DI Championships team title. DeSorbo, who is on the TritonWear Advisory Board, dove into swimming data. “TritonWear is powerful tech,” he said. “Increasingly we’ve been using it, and we used it a lot starting in the early spring with an eye on the long course season.” DeSorbo was a 2022 Team USA FINA World Champs head coach, but his goals spanned the summer. “Budapest, World Champs,...
Oct 26, 2022•43 min•Ep. 904
Harvard Women’s Head Coach, Stephanie Morawski, joined the SwimSwam Podcast early on in the Crimson’s season, which starts later than most on October 1st. Morawski talks about how they deal with the late Ivy League start and how Captain's practices create leadership within the team. It may seem obvious, but the Harvard women’s team is full of high achievers. Keeping a group of type A athletes in a good mental state is a big priority for Morawski and you can hear it in all the ways she tries to s...
Oct 24, 2022•43 min•Ep. 903
USA Swimming support link: https://swimssupport.usaswimming.org/support/home Since USA Swimming rolled out SWIMS 3.0 about two months ago, there has been mounting frustration among the membership over technical issues with the new software. For media, there have been a number of issues with related systems, like times lookups, not working. But things are beginning to stabilize, and one-by-one the problems are clearing up. Late last week, we spoke with USA Swimming’s Patrick Murphy , who is leadi...
Oct 21, 2022•29 min•Ep. 902
We sat down with Rex Maurer, the #2 recruit in the class of 2023 who waited far longer than any other big name in his class to announce his verbal commitment. With the family history he has there (as well as his current family, his older brother swims there), it didn't come as a shock that the middle-distance standout ultimately chose Stanford. Listen to what Rex has to say about his recruiting process, his swimming in the last few years, and why we will now see him on the Farm in just one year'...
Oct 20, 2022•31 min•Ep. 901
Two-time Olympian, two-time Olympic medalist and Speedo Athlete , Hali Flickinger , has taken the longest break of her career since winning gold (4×200 free relay) and silver (200 fly) at the 2022 FINA World Championships in Budapest. However, she was not idle during her time-off. Hali’s been building a career selling real estate. She got her license back in Georgia, and she got her license in Arizona–and she loves it. Hali needed time away from the pool, a mental health break, to recharge her s...
Oct 19, 2022•18 min•Ep. 900
We sat down with Carsten Vissering, the former USC Trojan and NCAA Champion in the 200 Medley Relay (2018) who most recently qualified for the US National Team in Bobsled. Vissering explains why he chose bobsled, how he was selected for the national team, and what that will look like for him moving forward. The USC Alum also shares some of his favorite memories and stories from his time as a Trojan.
Oct 18, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 899
At RITTER Sports Performance we’ve been building remote dryland workouts for swimmers and swim teams, via app, for over a decade. But we knew that just sending programs wasn’t going to make a big enough impact. Yes, the swimmers and swim teams we work with have seen results. But especially as the shutdown started, it became clear to us that there’s a long way to go in terms of dryland knowledge in the swimming community. That’s where SURGE Strength comes into play. This dryland specific brand, w...
Oct 17, 2022•28 min•Ep. 898
Last week’s FINA Technical Congress saw the passing of a proposed change to rule SW 10.8. As of Jan. 01, 2023: “The use of technology and automated data collection devices is permissible for the sole purpose of collecting data. Automated devices shall not be utilized to transmit data, sounds, or signals to the swimmer and may not be used to aid their speed.” This means wearable technology to collect data for research, education, and entertainment is legal. However, that data cannot be used in re...
Oct 14, 2022•25 min•Ep. 897
Mike Bottom sat down for the SwimSwam podcast early on in his 15th season at the University of Michigan. The team was just off a busy racing weekend where some of them were down in Dallas at the SMU Classic and some were at Oakland University for a meet. Both meets were viewed as a success because the athletes took them as learning opportunities and found ways to improve.Bottom is a teacher and much of the conversation is based around helping the person more than fixing the swimmer. When it come...
Oct 13, 2022•49 min•Ep. 896
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss Steve Jungbluth's departure from Florida, what's happening with the Texas men, and why FINA can't decide on a rule for backstroke finishes.
Oct 12, 2022•42 min•Ep. 895
We sat down with Luka Gabrilo, the head coach of Zenta Pro Swimming and high-performance consultant for Philippines Swimming. Gabrilo discusses his current system where he's training 4 athletes from across the world (Kayla Sancehz, Barbora Seemanova, Robert Glinta, Erik Persson) to achieve at the highest level. Sometimes this means coaching them in person, sometimes it means coaching them from afar. Gabrilo explains why he switched to only coaching this many athletes and how he prepares workouts...
Oct 06, 2022•54 min•Ep. 894
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss Virginia and Cal's season openers, the sold-out "Battle at the Burr" dual meet, and the possibility of Caeleb Dressel's NCAA records being broken.
Oct 05, 2022•55 min•Ep. 893
They’ve called them a once in a generation dynasty - Alex and Gretchen Walsh are taking the world of swimming by storm. An Olympic Silver Medalist and NCAA National Champion respectively, this dynamic sister-duo are the first collegiate swim athletes in history to team up with a nationally recognized swim brand for a co-branded collection following the NCAA NIL policy change last year....
Oct 04, 2022•23 min•Ep. 892
SwimSwam sat down with team captains from Howard and Georgetown to preview this epic dual between two fierce rivals, discussing what we can expect from the meet and what they're looking forward to the most.
Sep 30, 2022•14 min•Ep. 891
We sat down with Ben Proud, the first man in history to win a world title, Commonwealth title, and European title in one summer (50 free). Proud takes us through his summer and how he managed his mind through all 3 of the meets. He also dives into what his training looks like (7k-14k meters per week), his mentality toward sprinting, and how he balances work in the pool vs work in the gym.
Sep 29, 2022•48 min•Ep. 890
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss what a decathlon for swimming would look like, NCAA stars Maggie MacNeil , Leon Marchand , and Josh Liendo , and WADA's policy on Marijuana.
Sep 28, 2022•52 min•Ep. 889
We sat down with Will Glass, the NCAA All-American for the University of Texas who is returning to his alma mater as a volunteer assistant in December. Glass discusses what he hopes to bring to the pool deck in Austin and what he learned as a mentee of the famed Eddie Reese. Glass also has 2 unique roles in Austin due in part to his swimming roots: he's a masters coach at Western Hills Athletic Club (a hub for swimmers and athletes from all walks of life) and the production manager at Nine Bande...
Sep 27, 2022•36 min•Ep. 888
SwimSwam sat down with Sarah Thomas, the world record-holder for the longest continuous swim (unassisted, non-wetsuited) done in current-neutral conditions (104.6 miles). Sarah came onto our radar when Yung Thug tweeted at Michael Phelps, asking the 23-time Olympic gold medalist if he thought he could swim 100 miles, to which Phelps responded Yes. Thomas, one of the only humans to have ever ACTUALLY swam 100 miles, had other thoughts. She explains what actually goes into a 100-mile swim, from fu...
Sep 26, 2022•38 min•Ep. 887
Rachel Stratton-Mills joined the SwimSwam podcast one month into her 6th season at Arizona State University. The Associate Head Coach for Sun Devils talks about the “Fruit Salad,” that makes up the ’22-’23 team in Tempe, and explains the different, fruit-inspired, names for each training group. She talks about what has gone well in her first 5 seasons, where the program can go, and what it will take to get there. Rachel discusses how the recent influx of professionals including Simone Manual, Re...
Sep 23, 2022•37 min•Ep. 886
