The SwimSwam Podcast

https://feed.podbean.com/swimswam/feed.xml

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 Jan 21, 2021

SSPC: Rutgers Coach Maccoll Explains Redshirting Significant portion of Team

Thursday Jan 21, 2021

We sat down with Jonathan Maccoll, head coach of the swimming and diving program at Rutgers University. SwimSwam reported last week that Rutgers would be redshirting a significant portion of its team this year, and Maccooll was kind enough to explain the reasoning behind this. In short, because things are ever-changing with the COVID-19 pandemic, Maccoll says every athlete's situation is different and the decision to redshirt this season is extremely fluid for whether it makes sense for that athlete or not.

Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com

Tuesday Jan 19, 2021

SSPC: Leah Smith Details Solo Training with Matt Grevers, ISL, and Coffee Hobby

Tuesday Jan 19, 2021

We sat down with Olympic champion Leah Smith, who was one of few national teamers who didn't attend a Pro Swim this past weekend. Leah was planning on attending the meet in Irvine, but as that one was canceled she opted to stay home and train. Smith details her last 10 months through the COVID pandemic, including prepping for ISL with Matt Grevers, being on a non-US based team for the ISL, and her newfound coffee love with all this time at home.

Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com

Tuesday Jan 19, 2021

SSPC: How Going 47's in the 100m Freestyle Became Routine for James Magnussen

Tuesday Jan 19, 2021

As promised, we brought back Aussie legend James Magnussen for part 3 of his swimming story. Maggie brought us through the tail end of his career, post-2013 world champs all the way to the 2016 Olympic Games. Before his shoulder injury in 2014, Magnussen describes his plan for racing as much as he could and how he came to casually drop in-season 47s every time he hit the pool.

It's worth a listen to hear this candid account of what being on top of the world can feel like... and how that feeling can bring you back down. James speaks to the fact that even though he could go 47 anytime, he was unmotivated by anything that wasn't Olympic gold. He was partying probably more than he should have to pass the time between the Comm games in 2014 and the Olympics, which as any swimmer knows is a long road. And then injury occurs.

Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com

Monday Jan 18, 2021

SSPC: John Moffet Describes Getting Injured as a Gold Medal Favorite at the Olympics

Monday Jan 18, 2021

John Moffet is a renaissance man. In the pool he was a 1980 & 1984 Olympian, World Record Holder, World Medalist & Pan Pacific Championships Triple Gold Medalist. Beyond the pool, after graduating from Stanford, he built an impressive career in entertainment winning 3 Primetime Emmy Awards and a list of credits too long to detail here. (Google John Moffet producer director and go to IMDB.) Moreover, he's delivering all of that entertainment muscle to his new podcast SPORT LIFE BALANCE (see Moffet Podcast here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1465300).

In this podcast Moffet bottom-lines "the moment" when he knew his chances for 1984 Olympic gold were over. After breaking the 100-meter breaststroke world record at U.S. Olympic Trials (1:02.13), he suffered an injury in the 1984 Olympic Games prelim heat--coming off the wall, a few strokes after his breakout. Hearing the vulnerability in his voice is heart-wrenching. Moffet's life is dramatic, a Hollywood film, and he was, in fact, among the stars of the famous award-winning doc film "16 Days Of Glory" that took you inside the lives of the most interesting 1984 Olympians.

Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com

Saturday Jan 16, 2021

SSPC: Jade Hannah on Maturing Through Training at HPC - Toronto

Saturday Jan 16, 2021

We sat down with world junior champion Jade Hannah. She talked us through her quarantine, which included open water swims in lakes and the ocean, biking and running for hours, and doing dryland workouts at home. Jade also walked us through training at the HPC-Toronto, and what swimming consistently with the likes of Penny Oleksiak, Kylie Masse, and more has done for her maturity as an athlete.

Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com

Saturday Jan 16, 2021

SSPC: Matt Wilson Explains The Work He's Doing to Recapture the 200 Breast World Record

Saturday Jan 16, 2021

We sat down with former world-record holder and Aussie breaststroke, Matt Wilson. Wilson took us through what his quarantine has looked like and some of the work that he's been doing in the lead-up to the 2021 Olympic Games. Wilson paces 30.lows in training consistently, indicating that we could see Anton Chupkov's 2:06.1 WR from 2019 go down come Tokyo.

Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com

Friday Jan 15, 2021

SSPC: Ema Rajic Talks Cal Records, Training in Austin and Representing Croatia

Friday Jan 15, 2021

We sat down with Cal breaststroke Ema Rajic, who had a big month of racing in November. After coming right off of the US Open in San Antonio, she went back to Cal for a dual meet with Stanford, where she broke her own school record in the 100 breast and went a lifetime best in the 200 breast. Ema breaks down what her quarantine was like before coming back to Cal, mainly training in Austin, Texas with Austin Swim Club. See one of Ema's workouts with Austin Swim Club here.

Rajic also throws some wisdom in at around the 10-minute mark about how swimming can be a lonely sport. She takes the approach of looking up to and making friends with her competitors, which has led to a fruitful experience for the college junior thus far.

Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com

Thursday Jan 14, 2021

SSPC: Top-20 Ranked Recruit Matt Fallon Explains 1:52 200 Breast in Belton, TX

Thursday Jan 14, 2021

We sat down with national Jr. team member and #8 ranked recruit in SwimSwam's Class of 2022, Matt Fallon. Fallon competed at the Tigershark Swim Team Santa Claws Classic in Belton, Texas in mid-December, where he went a 53.52 in the 100 breast and 1:52.87 in the 200 breast, the latter putting him at #7 in the 17-18 age group all-time. Fallon explained how he's been training through COVID, his emphasis on building his aerobic base, and why he likes warming up all the way until 1-2 minutes before he races at meets.

Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com

Wednesday Jan 13, 2021

SSPC: Phoebe Bacon Breaks Down What Gains You Get From Training in a 15yd Pool

Wednesday Jan 13, 2021

We sat down with national team member Phoebe Bacon, who we saw in action in November at the US Open. At the US Open in Des Moines, racing fellow national-teamer Regan Smith, Bacon dropped a 2:09.16 200 back, 1:00.18 100 back, and 2:16.05 in the 200 IM. Bacon broke down what training at her new home at the University of Wisconsin is like and how she got through quarantine, documenting her time training in a 15-year pool.

Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com

Tuesday Jan 12, 2021

SSPC: How Swimming Helped Matt Mauser After Losing Wife in Crash with Kobe Bryant

Tuesday Jan 12, 2021

We sat down with Matt Mauser, the musician who wrote the music for Kobe Bryant's podcast, Punies. Mauser's wife, Christina, coached Bryant's girls basketball team and was in the helicopter crash that took her and Bryant's life. Mauser candidly discusses the effects of losing his wife and enduring a global pandemic while trying to move through his career as well as raise and teach 3 children (ages 12, 10, and 4). One way he has been able to heal is in the pool, where he has a long history.

Mauser picked up swimming late in high school but excelled enough to land a spot on a junior college roster and eventually a spot at Cal Poly, where he was an All-American in the 200 backstroke. After training with Mission Viejo for 2 years post-graduate and going lifetime bests, Matt pivoted away from swimming and started his career in music. In 2018, Mauser got back in the pool and started swimming with a masters team. He continues to find solace in the water today as swimming gives him a small distraction in the middle of his days and a task to complete. It also provides a friendly community that lends support through the journey of being a widowed parent.

Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com