In the SwimSwam Podcast dive deeper into the sport you love with insider conversations about swimming. Hosted by Coleman Hodges and Gold Medal Mel Stewart, SwimSwam welcomes both the biggest names in swimming that you already know, and rising stars that you need to get to know, as we break down the past, present, and future of aquatic sports.
Episodes
Thursday Jul 02, 2020
Thursday Jul 02, 2020
We sat down with Tom Dolan, the master at mid-distance racing, especially the 400 IM. Dolan won back-to-back gold medals in the 400 IM at both the Olympic Games (1996, 2000) and World Championships (1994, 98). He discusses the mechanics of IM, which his strategy was for beating his opponents, and what his surprisingly best stroke was.
***WARNING: There is a VERY accurate Coach Jon Urbanchek impersonation that contains profanity***
Dolan also dives deep into the controversy surrounding the 200 IM final at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, where the Italian swimmer who won gold, Massimiliano Rosolino, was suspected of doping.
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Spotify
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Podbean
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Google
- Click here to listen and subscribe on YouTube
Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com
Wednesday Jul 01, 2020
Wednesday Jul 01, 2020
We sat down with Reece Whitley to talk about his experience as a black man in the swimming community. Recently, Reece shared a personal story from his youth on "Uninterrupted", a platform launched by LeBron James for athletes. This is one of many instances in which Reece has started sharing his experiences in an effort to educate the community as to what black athletes and people go through on a daily basis.
Reece also details his meeting phonecall with Tim Hinchey, the president of USA Swimming, and the open discussion they were able to have on the Black Lives Matter movement, and how USA Swimming can move forward with initiatives that get the numbers of black participants higher than it's current 1.5%. Reece was one of several current and former national team members who aided in the 2nd draft of USA Swimming's statement on the Black Lives Matter movement sparked by the murder of George Floyd.
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Spotify
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Podbean
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Google
- Click here to listen and subscribe on YouTube
Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com
Wednesday Jul 01, 2020
Wednesday Jul 01, 2020
We sat down with Katie Robinson, who recently was announced as the new director of swimming and diving at Northwestern. Katie took us through her swimming career, which goes from humble roots in small-town Indiana and has landed her currently as only the 2nd woman to lead a combined S&D program in a Power 5 conference. She explained what drew her to Texas, what she learned from head coach Jill Sterkel in Austin, and how she used that to move into coaching.
Robinson speaks fondly of her time as an assistant for Mark Bernadino at Virginia, and as a head coach at Tulane. She says what makes Northwestern so special, and how she plans on moving the program forward at the helm.
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Spotify
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Podbean
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Google
- Click here to listen and subscribe on YouTube
Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com
Monday Jun 29, 2020
Monday Jun 29, 2020
We sat down with Erica Sullivan, the distance and open water ace who recently announced her decommittment to USC. Erica explained her decision to recommit, and isn't ruling USC out, but rather is restarting her recruiting process with a clean slate. Sullivan also admitted that since she was 16, her priorities when it comes to looking for a school have changed significantly.
Sullivan also discussed the film script that she's currently writing, and how she's been able to obtain an informal education on screenwriting since the age of 14 via YouTube. She also shares stories of competing in the 25K at the 2019 World Championships, coming out to her family and teammates, and why she is made for quarantine.
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Spotify
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Podbean
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Google
- Click here to listen and subscribe on YouTube
Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com
Friday Jun 26, 2020
Friday Jun 26, 2020
We sat down with Mallory Comerford, one of the top freestyles in the country, to get her perspective on coming from a small town in Michigan all the way to the US national team. Comerford describes her ups and downs along the way, from originally wanting to skip freshman year swimming to play volleyball, having her older brother to keep her motivated, and finally making her way to the University of Louisville right after high school graduation.
Her time at Louisville saw Comerford go from Jr national level swimmer to challenging for a spot on the Olympic team, NCAA champion, to national and world champion. Comerford speaks on her improvements in Louisville, and how she's adjusted since leaving the college team and focusing on her professional career as a swimmer.
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Spotify
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Podbean
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Google
- Click here to listen and subscribe on YouTube
Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com
Thursday Jun 25, 2020
Thursday Jun 25, 2020
We sat down with Ed Accura and Danielle Obe of the Black Swimmers Association to discuss how swimming can truly move toward being more inclusive.
***We did experience minor technical difficulties during this recording, and you will see Coleman/Braden's frames come in/out of the screen. However, don't let distract you from the important messages that Ed and Danielle deliver throughout the podcast.***
1:11: Ed kicked things off with his journey of making the film "A Film Called Blacks Can't Swim", which has its worldwide release on Amazon June 26. The movie was one of the projects that spearheaded the founding of the BSA, and what inspired Danielle to seek out Ed and work with him.
18:20: Danielle is no stranger to trying to make the aquatic community more inclusive of Black and Minority Ethnicities (BME). She started her own company, My Nemes, with a mission "To provide a SIMPLE HAIR SOLUTION, one that gives the BME community the confidence to START ENGAGING in recreational aquatic activities".
26:41: Both Ed and Danielle give insight as to how the aquatic community can make changes so that the BME community feels included and encouraged to participate, and how the current Black Lives Matter movement in the USA and worldwide has affected their cause.
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Spotify
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Podbean
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Google
- Click here to listen and subscribe on YouTube
Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com
Wednesday Jun 24, 2020
Wednesday Jun 24, 2020
We sat down with Virginia team captain Alexis Wenger, who is just about to start her junior campaign with the hoos. Wenger talked us through her swimming career and how she ended up swimming for Todd DeSorbo in Charlottesville, as well as her first season. She was candid about her freshman year being a big transition, and the first couple of months being a difficult time. However, Wenger started seeing improvements once she made it over the hump, and became a key player for UVA her freshman and sophomore years.
This year in particular, she was a major player in a team that was ready to challenge for an NCAA title, as the team was seeded 1st in the psych sheets and Wenger was seeded 2nd in the 100 breast. Wenger walked us through how the team has moved forward and set their sights on the upcoming season for another shot at the title.
Wenger also walked us through growing up as a bi-racial woman, and although she says she didn't have any blatantly racist experiences, she's doing what she can now to educate herself and be a leader in her community to this social cause. She's starting to think forward of how we can make change not only 5 days or 5 weeks from now, but 5 months, 5 years, and beyond.
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Spotify
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Podbean
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Google
- Click here to listen and subscribe on YouTube
Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com
Tuesday Jun 23, 2020
Tuesday Jun 23, 2020
In this Gold Medal Minute takeover of the SwimSwam Podcast we have Olympic swimming icon and television star Summer Sanders.
Summer was the most decorated swimmer of the 1992 Olympic Games, earning four medals, two gold, one sliver, and a bronze. At that time she was the first female to make the U.S. Olympic Team in four individual events since Shirley Babashoff did it back in 1976.
At Stanford University Summer won nine NCAA Titles and helped the Cardinal to an NCAA Team Title in only two years. She gave up her eligibility after her sophomore year. (We didn't say turning pro back then.)
Summer's career burned white-hot. She accomplished a great deal in a very small window, one quad, 1988-92. The big moment, the ah hah moment, came at the tender age of 15 when she got 3rd at the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 400 IM. From that one point forward Summer medaled at all international events representing Team USA.
While Summer gained fame at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, her star really rose throughout her 25-year TV career. Her credits are too long to list, but she's worked with nearly everyone, CBS, ESPN, NBC, MSNBC, FOX SPORTS, MTV, etc.. However, I think her biggest fans grew out of her Nickelodeon show FIGURE IT OUT.
Monday Jun 22, 2020
Monday Jun 22, 2020
We sat down with Tom Jager, the man who held the 50m freestyle world record longer than anyone else to date. He got into the nitty-gritty of how he developed speed, including learning to listen to his body and do what he needed to do, not necessarily what every coach at the time thought he needed. This eventually evolved into his trademark set, 10x50 all out (this was in the late 80's... sound like anyone else in our current swimming community?).
Jager also enlightened us on what he and Matt Biondi tried to change in terms of swimmers getting paid, by USA Swimming and by outside sponsorships. He speaks openly about how upset he was that athletes were getting scraps compared to what coaches or officials were taking home.
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Spotify
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Podbean
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Google
- Click here to listen and subscribe on YouTube
Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com
Thursday Jun 18, 2020
Thursday Jun 18, 2020
We sat down with Olympic medalist and world champ Brent Hayden. Brent discussed that while he is commonly perceived as intimidating, that typically dissipates when he opens his mouth. Brent is, in a word, a sweetheart. He's incredibly intelligent and finds solace in photography, of which he's had numerous shows (you can see his work here).
What you may not know about Brent is that at his first Olympics in 2004, after already performing poorly by his standards, he was mistaken for a rioter in the streets of Athens and assaulted by numerous policemen, resulting in an elbow injury which kept him out of the short course world championships the following autumn. However, this entire Olympic experience did give Hayden the motivation he needed to really commit, and push himself to new heights in the pool, including his world championship title in 2007.
Hayden (who has been making a comeback since 2019, something you can listen to more of here), is now putting his efforts in SwimSecrets.com, his own freestyle master course, taught by him. During these classes, Hayden teaches you all of the tricks to having a world-class freestyle.
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Spotify
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Podbean
- Click here to listen and subscribe on Google
- Click here to listen and subscribe on YouTube
Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com