The SwimSwam Podcast

Andreea Dragoi on Balancing Swimming & Beauty Pageants, Growing Up with David Popovici

SwimSwam sat down with the Winner of this year's Miss Ambassador and Miss California US Nation Beauty Pageants, Andreea Dragoi. The sophomore at San Jose State actually missed a 3rd beauty pageant because she was competing with her SJSU swim team at the Mizzou Invite. Dragoi takes us through her upbringing as an athlete, which evolved into solely swimming, including growing up and training with world record holder David Popovici since childhood. Dragoi started modeling in Romania but it was only in the US, once she moved to San Jose to study and swim, that she took on beauty pageants. The 20-year-old explains that they give her a sense of confidence and trust in herself, as well as a voice for her to champion important causes to her, like getting swim lessons for those with disabilities.

2x Olympian Yusra Mardini Discusses #1 Netflix Movie ”The Swimmers” About Her Life as a Refugee

Swim Swam sat down with Yusra Mardini, the Syrian Refugee that has swam at 2 Olympic games (Rio, Tokyo) as a member of the Olympic Refugee team. Mardini and her sister, Sara, are the subjects of the #1 Netflix movie "The Swimmers", which tells the story of the two crossing the Agean Sea from Turkey to Greece with 18 other refugees in a raft that is meant to hold 6-7.

 

Mardini discusses the boat trip, making and promoting "The Swimmers", and what her life looks like now after 2 Olympic Games. The now-German citizen is attending film school at the University of Southern California and swimming just for fun.

SwimSwam Breakdown: Minnesota Invite, US Open, and 2024 US Trials Tickets

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, Tom Shields joins us again to discuss the Minnesota Invite, US Open, and 2024 Olympic Trials Tickets going on sale.

Mid-Season Week 1 Deep Dive & Golden Goggles Review | SWIMSWAM BREAKDOWN

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we do a deep dive into the first week of Mid-Season meets plus review the 2022 Golden Goggle Awards.

Madisyn Cox Discusses Highs and Lows of Swimming Career, Med School at UT-Houston

We sat down with Madisyn Cox, the 10x NCAA All-American and 5x World Champ medalist who recently announced her retirement from swimming. Cox takes us through the last year of her career, from her last meet at the Texas Swim Center, where she went 3 lifetime bests, to the Olympic Trials, where she was .02 off of making the 2020 Olympic team. She also discusses what her life looks like now that she is living in Houston and attending UTHealth Houston.

Rose Bowl Aquatics’ Andrew Nguyen on Building Strength Through Transition

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 twice in the last 15 months. We talk about how those decisions came to be and how they helped him understand the process of getting to know swimmers and coaches. Next month, he and Rose Bowl will head to Austin, Texas for winter Junior Nationals. The Rose Bowl men will come in as defending champs. Andrew describes that pressure as a privilege and talks about how he addresses it with his team. So many great details in this one. Andrew goes into his training cycle, how he formed his holistic approach to each athlete, and even an example of an intense set that pushed some of the swimmers beyond their limits. You don’t want to miss it.

NCAA Champion Turned Comedian Laura Sogar talks Swimming and Stand Up

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  @Risque Business News and performs regularly in her home, Brooklyn.

Midseason Madness - Who Will Remain Undefeated?! | SWIMSWAM BREAKDOWN

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

Lake Oswego’s Emily Melina on the Direction and Growth of Coaching and Swimming

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 Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) National Council for USA Swimming, as well as the Club Development Committee. She is also the General Chair for Oregon Swimming and the board for the American Swim Coach Association (ASCA). Emily has been on staffs of the USA Swimming National Select Camp, Zone Select Camp, and National Diversity Select Camp. She recently served as the Head Coach of the National Diversity Select Camp. Her goal with all of these roles is to give back to the sport and have some say in its direction and growth. Emily's authenticity makes this conversation really relatable and any coach can learn a thing or two about running a successful team and giving back to the sport.

Will Olympic Swim Star Ryan Murphy Compete Through LA2028?

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 married next year.  In sum, he’s thinking about it. (Watch the video, his answer, and tell me what you think in the comments.)

Short Course World Champs in Australia?  Ryan’s not entirely sure how much he’ll rest, but he said SC Worlds falls over an ideal season midpoint, and he’ll rest due to the travel time alone flying downunder.

ISL vs World Cup?  Ryan has opinions. Watch the podcast to hear them.