The SwimSwam Podcast

Brent Boock on Building Elmbrook Swim Club into One of the Top Clubs in the US

Brent Boock is the Head Coach of the Elmbrook Swim Club in Brookfield Wisconsin. The team has earned Gold Medal status in USA Swimming’s Club Excellence Program the last four years, this past year finishing 9th in those rankings. Their Women won the team title last summer at Junior Nationals, winning 4 out of 5 relays and breaking the 200 and 400 medley relay National Age Group records. Last month at the NCSA Championships in Orlando they won the Women’s team title, sweeping the relays and besting their own NAG record in the 400-medley relay. Brent has been on the Junior National Select Team camp staff as well as the recent Junior National Team Training Camp staff in April. In this podcast, Brent goes deep on his 3 decades at Elmbrook. How the program has evolved and what’s going so well recently with the team. It’s a team of 200 swimmers that operates out of 2 six lane pools. He’s built the program with a great 12&U coach, Michael Rose, and 8&U coach, Daniel Westfahl, and they’ve buit a culture that gives their athletes room to be great. With his Senior 1 group, Brent the only coach I’ve talked to, at the club level, that implements 2 recovery days a week. He dives into his training philosophy as well as his coaching approach that allows for the great relationships that have led to the club’s success.

Dan Wiffen Looking Toward World Record in Fukuoka After Historic 1,500 in Stockholm

We sat down with Dan Wiffen, the Irishman who became the #4 performer in history in the 1,500 freestyle this weekend in Stockholm. He discusses what he was expecting out of himself heading into the meet as well as how he has elevated his training over the past 6 months to reflect his performances. Wiffen is at the point where he's calling out sets to challenge himself (he notes 6x500 on 5:30 best average).

Wiffen makes it clear that now, with only 4 more seconds to shave off, he's gunning for Sun Yang's legendary 14:31.02 world record. What does he need to do to drop under 14:31? In his words, "I just need to swim again."

Steve Buckley of ”Pullbuoy” on British Trials, Selections, and Medal Chances at Worlds

We sat down with Steve Buckley of Pullbuoy, the UK's biggest independent swim site. Buckley discusses the British selection process for the upcoming 2023 world champs, specifically how British swimming changed the criteria half way through the trials meet. Steve also gives his insight into Britain's chances of medaling in the relays on both the men's and women's sides in Fukuoka.

SwimSwam Breakdown: Santo Condorelli, British/Japanese Trials, & Diehl to NC State

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss the upcoming Pro Swim in Westmont, Britain and Japan's world champ trials, and SwimSwam's #1 recruit announcing his decision. 

Javier Acevedo on Swimming Best Times and Staying Motivated in 2023

Two-time Olympian Javier Acevedo has been on the Canadian national team for nearly a decade, first racing internationally in 2015 at the World Junior Championships. He recently qualified for the 2023 World Championships after winning a national title in the men’s 50 backstroke, 100 backstroke, and 200 freestyle. In this episode of the SwimSwam podcast, he discusses the journey that his career has taken him on, Canada’s relay potential, and what he thinks his legacy within Canadian swimming will be.

Brent Arckey on Coaching Summer McIntosh, Managing High-Performance Athletes

(Originally published November 11, 2022)

Brent Arckey is in his 12th year with the Sarasota Sharks and he’s been the Head Coach/CEO since 2017. The Sharks finished 7th last year in the USA Swimming Club Excellence Program rankings and Brent has been on multiple USA Swimming International staffs. Recently, up-and-arrived superstar Summer McIntosh has moved to Sarasota to train with Brent and the Sharks. In this conversation, we discuss the training approach from top to bottom at Sarasota. Brent breaks down five different phases of training throughout the season, including one that he considers “experimental,” at this point. Dryland starts at the very base level with the Sharks, as games and fun activities to keep kids moving. As they progress through the program they are challenged with a variety of Dryland exercises, run by the GAIN program.

Lucas Henveaux on Helping Cal to NCAA Title, Playing Golf, and Mid-Distance Swimming

In this episode of the SwimSwam podcast, we sat down with Lucas Henveaux, the NAIA golfer-turned-NCAA swimmer who ended up helping the Cal Golden Bears win the men's swimming title last month. Henveaux tells us how he circled back around to swimming, what his goals are now in the pool, and what he makes of Summer McIntosh's monster mid-distance swims from last week.

NCAA Champs, Summer McIntosh, and the State of Swimming | SWIMSWAM BREAKDOWN

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss the men's and women's NCAA Championships, Summer McIntosh at the 2023 Canadian Trials, and the state of swimming right now.

Abbey Weitzeil and Erica Sullivan on Being a Woman in Swimming

In honor of Women's History Month, Olympians and Speedo Athletes Abbey Weitzeil and Erica Sullivan sat down to discuss being a woman in swimming. This included balancing femininity with being an athlete, training with men vs training with women, and how they lean on their support systems in and out of the pool.

Sage Hopkins on Enduring the 10+ Year Investigation of Scott Shaw for Molesting Athletes

Sage Hopkins just finished his 18th season as the Head Coach at San Jose State University. It was supposed to be the first season with some closure after a 13-year scandal that exposed student-athletes to an athletic trainer who molested athletes and the coverup that surrounded it. Sage goes through the entire story, starting in 2009 when an athlete responded to his suggestion to go see the trainer, Scott Shaw, with, “No thanks. I don’t want to be molested.” From there 17 swimmers gave statements that were ignored and later destroyed, echoing the sentiment about Shaw’s “treatment.” That 2010 investigation was the start of an embarrassing response from the SJSU Athletic Administration, despite multiple athletes from multiple sports complaining about Shaw. Coach Hopkins didn’t let that stop him from continuing to fight for the protection of the athletes but it Shaw remained at San Jose State until the pandemic in 2020. This interview details the layers of corruption that allowed Shaw to stay, and even get promoted, over a decade after the first reports. Hopkins tells us about how he was treated within the athletic department and University because he refused to drop his complaints.