July 11, 2020
We sat down with Russell Mark, the USA National Team High Performance Manager AKA Technique Guru. Russell was literally a rocket scientist before he was working in swimming, but the love for swimming actually came first. After swimming in high school, Mark went to the University of Virginia for academics, but tried to walk onto the swim team, then led by the legendary Mark Bernadino. After 1 year of trying, Mark got a walk-on spot in his sophomore year.
After finding out his life as a rock scientist would be the movie Office Space, Mark pursued an internship at USA Swimming, where he was mentored by Jonty Skinner. The rest is history, with Mark currently traveling around the country doing routine checks with the entire National and Jr national team as well as going to every major US and international meet.
July 10, 2020
Headed into the men's NCAA's, NC State senior Coleman Stewart had big goals. After placing 2nd in both the 100 back and 100 fly (both swims lifetime bests) at the 2019 edition of the meet, Stewart was aiming to make history this year, seeking to become the first man to go under 44 seconds in both the 100 back and 100 fly. Stewart talks to us about the initial heartbreak of not getting that chance, but also of the quick turnaround and realization that even though he lost a piece of his swimming career, there are much bigger things happening worldwide at this point.
Stewart expresses his gratitude to have gotten a "final" meet at the men's ACC Championships, even if he didn't know it was his final meet. He also gives his top 3 recommendations for eating if you're ever in York, Pennsylvania.
Originally published March 21, 2020.
July 10, 2020
We sat down with Greg Meehan and Dan Schemmel, the respective Directors of Men's/Women's Swimming at Stanford University. In light of the announcement that 11 Olympic sports would be cut at Stanford following the 2020-2021 year, Meehan and Schemmel offered their insight and explained why the Swimming and Diving programs are secure. They explained what an endowment was, where theirs came from, and the impact it has on an athletics program.
We also asked the pair about what other college teams might be able to do to move toward something like this for themselves, with so many teams being cut as of late during the COVID-19 pandemic. And we couldn't resist asking them about their teams as well, and how they're handling getting back into the water.
July 9, 2020
Luckily during this time of crisis, SwimSwam can still bring you premium content in the form of Olivia Smoliga and Natalie Hinds. If you’re not familiar with their previous interviews, you’d better go ahead and click here. In short, O&N know how to hold it down, especially in a pandemic like we’re in now. The two admitted that they really don’t go out much, so this isn’t a HUGE change. At first, they were worried about the possibility of Athens instating a strict curfew of 9pm until they realized that they, in fact, are never out past 9pm.
Let Olivia and Natalie’s candid and humorous takes on our current state be a deep breath and a few laughs for your weekend.
Originally published March 21, 2020.
July 9, 2020
We sat down with Tyler Fenwick, the men's/women's swimming associate head coach at the University of Virginia. Fenwick gave us a look into how the UVA team is staying active and in-shape during this quarantine period and even mentioned that the team is swimming currently, they just can't be coached by the staff.
Fenwick also dives into the emphasis UVA has put on recruiting and how that's changed since COVID. Fenwick mentions there have been more zoom calls and face-to-face interactions, something he thoroughly enjoys and plans on continuing even after the quarantine period is over.
July 8, 2020
If you aren't familiar with the work of Jack Spitser Photography, you need look no further than almost any SwimSwam article. Jack has been our photographer for over a year now, and has supplied us with a plethora of beautiful images. What you may not realize, though, is that Jack was also a senior and captain on the UC-San Diego swim team, who was gunning to take home a men's team title at the NCAA DII championships, which were cancelled mid-way through the meet.
Jack sat down with me and spoke through the weirdness of that happening, how he and his teammates have been processing it since, and how they'll be moving forward in and out of the pool.
Originally published March 18, 2020.
![Olympian Maritza Correia Makes Swim History: GMM presented by SwimOutlet.com]()
July 8, 2020
In this Gold Medal Minute takeover of the SwimSwam Podcast we have the first black woman to break an American and world record and make the U.S. Olympic Swimming Team.
Olympic icon Maritza Correia (now McClendon) has layers. She's more than just a 2004 Olympic swimmer. Her roots run deep in the sport, and she owns more metrics that will make the biggest swim nerd's mind spin. Who is the first swimmer in SEC history to win all of the freestyle events, all free titles, at the SEC Championships? Yep, that's right. Maritza. Impressed?
Maritza was and still is a trailblazer, and she's never stopped giving back to the sport. Yes, she's the first black woman to break the big records and earn her spot on the Olympic Team, but she's still in swimming, working to make the sport accessible to all children of all social economic levels. Most often that starts with the gift of learning how to swim. Go to her website and do a deep dive.
When I think of Maritza, I do think of a champion, and a person on a mission to improve lives through the sport, but I also saw her for years and years at swimming events working in marketing for big swimwear brands. She was always there, always working, always the most professional person in the room. Maritza's a grown woman and mother, and she has a lot to share, especially in the wake of the George Floyd's murder May 25th of this year. If I ever had or have a question on the top of being a black swimmer in our sport, Maritza tops the list of people I trust to give me the facts, no matter how hard they may be to hear.
In this podcast we cover black lives matter, and swimming, but there is always more to know and ask. If you have a question, please share it hear. We can always ask Maritza back for another episode.
![SwimSwam Podcast: Grant Shoults on Missing his 2nd NCAAs, Getting Back to Swimming]()
July 7, 2020
Today I spoke with Grant Shoults, who recently returned home from Stanford campus to his home in Laguna Hills. Coming off of the PAC-12 Championships just over a week ago, things moved quickly for Shoults, who ended up leaving Stanford’s campus on Monday, March 16, before everyone had to be vacated by Wednesday, March 18. Shoults is lucky enough to be able to keep training with the Mission Viejo Nadadores, where a small group of Olympic hopefuls are still swimming as of today.
UPDATE: Message from Grant Shoults at 9:11pm on Tuesday, March 18:
“The mission pool has been completely closed down so looks like I will be ocean swimming, swimming in my backyard,
or heading north or to another state.”
Shoults wound up missing each of the last two NCAA Championship meets. As a junior, he underwent shoulder surgery, and as a red-shirt junior, the now-relevant coronavirus cancelled the meet.
Shoults gives a sobering insight on what the past week has been like, and expresses gratitude at the resources he does have that others don’t at this time.
Originally published March 18, 2020.
July 7, 2020
We sat down with Lenny Krayzelburg, the 4-time Olympic gold medalist who is known for being buff. Lenny's story is one of the American Dream: his family came over to America when he was a child, and he had to commute via train an hour 1-way just to swim on a daily basis. He started his college swimming career at a community college while working full time to support his family. After 1 year, he was presented the opportunity to train with Mark Schubert and his elite crew us USC.
Lenny describes his ascent to Olympic victory and more in today's episode of SwimSwam Podcast.
July 6, 2020
We sat down with the 100 freestyle savant himself, Nathan Adrian, to talk about his perfect race. He said that individually, his 100 free from the 2012 London Olympics, where he won gold by .01 and posted his lifetime best, was as close as he's come to executing a perfect race. As far as relay performances go, Nathan was a little coy when it came to strategy, but did admit that anchoring the 4x100 medley relay in London was one of his favorite relay memories.
Although we have become accustomed to him making it look easy year after year, Nathan says that going 48 in the 100m freestyle is never easy, and he has to try very hard to do so every time he does.
