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After 4+ decades as head coach of the Nashville Aquatic Club, John Morse is retiring at the end of the month. Under Morse's leadership, NAC has produced over 65 Olympic Trials qualifiers, won over 40 LSC Championships, and earned 15 Gold Medal Club awards. Most recently, the club helped guide the swim careers of Olympians and NCAA icons Alex and Gretchen Walsh. SwimSwam sat down with John to discuss his long tenure in Nashville and the lessons he learned along the way. Young and old swim coaches alike, you won't want to miss this conversation.
Today on the SwimSwam podcast is a man who doesn't just run a program—he builds an ecosystem. We're joined by Bill Dorenkott, Ohio State's Director of Swimming and Diving. Bill's teams have quietly—and not so quietly—become one of the most consistent and innovative forces in collegiate swimming. We're talking about a program that, in summer 2025 alone, qualified 16 athletes for U.S. Nationals, notched 24 second swims, and put 4 athletes on U.S. National Teams. Charlie Clarke's heading to Worlds in open water. Matthew Klinge, Mila Nikanorov, and Daniel Baltes? Off to represent at the World University Games. And let's not forget—Daniel Baltes had never even swum a long course meet before coming to Columbus. But this conversation isn't just about results. It's about how they're doing it. Bill shares his “gradually, gradually, then suddenly” philosophy, how Columbus has become a magnet for young talent, and how their burgeoning pro and post-grad group is positioning Ohio State as a key player on the road to LA 2028.
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we are discussing national and international meets that saw a plethora of fast swims
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we are discussing World Trials for the USA, Australia, and Canada.
Emma McKeon is an Olympic icon, an Australian swimming legend, and now a Swammer. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, McKeon became one of only 2 women in swimming to ever win 14 Olympic medals over her career, joining Katie Ledecky who accomplished the same feat at the same meet. SwimSwam caught up with McKeon after she had enjoyed some well-earned rest, recovery, and travel since Paris. The Aussie shared what her life has looked like since stepping away from swimming but also reflected on the leadup to her final meet. McKeon revealed that just 2-3 weeks out from Paris, she was contemplating not even going due to the severity of pain she was having in her shoulders. However, she was able to manage her injury through the Games and walk away with a gold, silver, and bronze, securing her legacy as one of the greatest Olympians ever.
A3 Performance is making a bold leap forward this summer with the upcoming launch of its most advanced tech suit yet: PRANA. Founder and CEO Dan Meinholz shared the big picture in an exclusive conversation with SwimSwam, walking us through the inspiration, innovation, and athlete-focused engineering behind this world-class race suit.
In this marathon podcast, we go through the entire 2025 US Trials psych sheet and give an event-by-event preview of every upcoming race in Indianapolis.
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we are discussing the Enhanced Games, Braden Holloway as the single head coach for 2025 Worlds, and a potential new format for the NCAA Championships.
SwimSwam sat down with Greg Meehan, the newly named National Team Director of USA Swimming, to discuss his vision for the national team's future. When Meehan laid out his plan, his three key points were "winning" the 2028 Olympic Games, building a "team-first culture," and having transparency in the national team's methodology and communication. Meehan has already implemented significant changes in how the USA Swimming navigates an Olympic quad, including naming a single head coach for the 2025 World Championships (Braden Holloway) and having the results of the 2025 season determine the roster for the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships.
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we are discussing the 12-year-old Chinese phenom Yu Ziti (and swimming at the Chinese Nationals), Leon Marchand's spicy 4:07 400 IM, and Chris Lindauer going to Stanford.
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we are discussing the madness that occurred at the Ft Lauderdale Pro Swim.
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we are discussing the newly announced dual meet tournament, several international meets around the globe, and the upcoming Pro Swim Stop in Ft Lauderdale.
On the back of winning the 50 free and 50 fly at the 2025 British Championships and qualifying for her first LCM world championships, SwimSwam sat down with Eva Okaro to discuss her swimming career thus far. Okaro dives into her experience at the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2024 Short Course World Championships, where she won a silver medal with Britain's mixed 4x100 medley relay. She also talks about her training in Britain and what she's looking forward to about coming to the University of Texas in the fall.
SwimSwam sat down with the coaches behind the upcoming Dual Meet Tournament that will take place at Georgia Tech on October 17-18, 2025. Chico Rego of George Washington, Iago Moussalem of Georgia Tech, Cauli Bedran of Wisconsin (who is not participating in the tournament), and Steve Barnes of Florida State all contributed to this discussion and laid out how this event came together, what it will look like, and how they hope it will impact college swimming moving forward.
SwimSwam sat down with Bob Bowman, the Director of Swimming at the University of Texas, who delivered the Longhorns a national title in his first year at the helm. Bowman, who was coming off of winning a national title with Arizona State the year before, discussed the similarities and differences of winning national titles at ASU and UT, noting that Texas has a storied history of national success that gives a confidence boost to its athletes. Bowman also addressed Leon Marchand's scheduled return to competition, the Pro Swim Series in Ft. Lauderdale, confirming that we may see the 4x Olympic champion in some freestyle events. To round out our conversation, Bowman told a few stories of watching his grandchildren (Boomer, Beckett, and Maverick Phelps) play on their respective soccer and baseball teams, the latter of which their father, Michael Phelps, is the coach of.
Cal Baptist junior Remi Fabiani was a 3x conference champion this year, qualifying for NCAAs and finishing 13th in the 100 free. After NCAAs, Fabiani announced he would be transferring to ASU for his final season of eligibility. SwimSwam sat down with Fabiani to discuss his journey from his home country of Luxembourg to Riverside, California. The sprinter takes us through leaving home, his Olympic redshirt season, and what scoring at NCAAs as a Mid-Major athlete was like.
Today on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss Lukas Martens' huge world record in the 400m Free, 50s of stroke in the Olympics, and USA Swimming announcing Greg Meehan as the new US National team director.
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss the recent Pro Swim Series stop in Sacramento, numerous high-caliber NCAA transfers, and the House Settlement's final hearing.
Tennessee senior Jordan Crooks had a historic meet at his last NCAA Championships in Federal Way. This included breaking Caeleb Dressel's legendary 100 free NCAA record, going 39.83 in the prelims of the event. He was also a part of the winning 200 and 400 free relays, the latter of which also set an NCAA record to cap off the meet. The world record holder and world champion sprinter sat down with SwimSwam to reflect on his collegiate career, unsure of what his future holds in the pool. ***This was recorded outside and the audio is a little scratchy during some parts. Apologies in advance***
Today on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss the 2025 Men's NCAA Championships as well as preview the upcoming Pro Swim stop in Sacramento.
We're giving you an event-by-event preview of the 2025 Men's NCAA Championships.
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss the women's NCAA Championships and LCM swimming from around the globe.
We are giving you a full preview of the 2025 Women's NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.
SwimSwam sat down with Camille Spink, who won the Commissioner's Trophy at the 2025 SEC Championships for scoring the most individual points, sweeping her individual events. Spink became the first athlete since 2007 to win the 50, 100, and 200 free at a single SEC Championships. The Tennessee Vol takes us through her eventful meet, highs and lows, and gives her rationale for why she doesn't like the word "Taper".
SwimSwam spoke with Austin Lathrop, Camilo Vargas, and Sofia Vargas, three members of the Cal Poly swimming and diving roster that was suddenly cut by the school's athletic department on Friday, March 7, effective immediately. All three swimmers give their thoughts on how this matter was handled by the athletic director, what this team means to them, and how anyone can help in their grassroots effort to reinstate the team. While the team has a GoFundMe with the stated goal of raising $200,000, SwimSwam has reported that Cal Poly's president has stated it would take a $25,000,000 endowment for the team to be brought back.
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss the first Pro Swim Series stop in Westmont, NCAA roster cuts, and more.
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss Chrissi Rawak Resigining as USA Swimming CEO after 1 week, Summer McIntosh training with Bob Bowman in Austin, and this weekend's conference championships.
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss the first week of conference championships.
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss the Stanford women leaving early from the ACC Championships and the plethora of LCM racing around the world we saw this weekend.
Today on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we preview the women's and men's Big Ten (B1G) and Big 12 Conference Championship meets.
Today on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we preview the SEC and ACC Championships, which will both take place on February 18-22.
Head Grown-Up of Grown-Up Swimming Brian Robbins drops in on the SwimSwam podcast to breakdown the swim-fun-movement sweeping the nation. Grown-Up Swimming started in Atlanta, GA with a group of teams that wanted to have as much fun swimming as their kids have in summer league. That movement has grown-up (not apologizing for that pun) to provide a low-pressure, high-fun swimming environment for hundreds of people of all ages and abilities. Literally: start swimming for the first time since college or high school, swim competitively for the first time ever, or take a break from your 6,000 yard Masters workouts to have some fun.
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss the Walsh sisters facing off in the 100 Breast and wrap up the 2024-2025 NCAA regular season.
SwimSwam sat down with Olympic champion Chris Guiliano to get his perspective on a whirlwind of a year. Guiliano discusses in detail the investigation that ultimately landed the Notre Dame men's swimming a 1-year suspension as well as the ripple effects of that suspension, which saw Guiliano land in Texas under Bob Bowman.
SwimSwam spoke to Duxbury High School senior Henry Perda. Henry, who has been swimming since he was seven years old, received a heart transplant during his sophomore year of high school. The transplant took him out of school and out of his sophomore swim season, and he had to re-learn how to swim again in the lead-up to his junior season. However, as a junior he came back to help Duxbury break the school record in the 200 medley relay, splitting 21.7 on his freestyle anchor leg.
7x Olympic medalist Nathan Adrian was recently a participant of the Fox reality show Special Forces: World's Toughest Test. After his medical withdrawal on episode 3, Adrian sat down with SwimSwam to discuss his time on the show and takeaways from the experience.
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss Gretchen Walsh becoming an All-Time great swimmer, Chris Guiliano & Caspar Corbeau's NCAA debuts with new teams, and if Swimming is a bad product.
SwimSwam caught up with 2x Olympian and 14x World Champion Olivia Smoliga, who has been taking an extended break for competition since the 2024 US Olympic Trials. Though Smoliga has been out of the pool, she's still had chlorine on her mind as she announces her brainchild, In Depth Swim Academy.
Director of Swimming & Diving at the University of Texas Bob Bowman returns to the SwimSwam Podcast and we cover a lot of ground. In the last month alone, we've seen Bowman-trained swimmers have a myriad of highlight moments at competitions ranging from the Texas Elite Invite to the Short Course World Championships. Bowman addresses all of these meets as well as the recent news that Leon Marchand will go to Australia to train with Dean Boxall for a few months starting in January.
Today on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss the 2024 Short Course World Championships, where we saw a whopping 30 WORLD RECORDS get broken.
Today on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we preview the 2024 Short Course World Championships in Budapest December 10-15.
Today on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we are talking Mid-Season weekend and Golden Goggles.
Today on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we have a mid-mid-season check-in, dissecting the swims we've seen so far from the Mid-Season meets across the country.
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we are discussing the World Cup, the Texas vs Indiana Dual Meet, and Michael Andrew training at Arizona State.
Tatjana Smith (Schoenmaker) is a 4x Olympic medalist, 2x Olympic champion, and South Africa's most decorated Olympian in history. After winning gold and silver in Paris, Smith announced that she would retire from competitive swimming. Smith sat down with SwimSwam to share how her retirement came about and what it has been like for her so far. The breaststroke specialist gets raw about the highs and lows of stepping away from a sport that has been such a big part of her life for well over a decade.
After breaking the world record in the 50m butterfly (SCM), Noe Ponti sat down with SwimSwam to discuss his experience at the world cup so far. After placing 4th and 5th in the 100 and 200 butterfly at the Paris Olympics, Ponti took a long break from the pool before returning to training. At present, he is mentally relaxed and it seems to have an effect on him physically as well. Not only did Ponti break the world record in the 50 fly in Shanghai, he also won the 100 fly in Shanghai and in Incheon, losing his goggles in the latter but still prevailing.
Today on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we are discussing all things college swimming... plus Kate Douglass's world record in Incheon.
This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we are discussing the ridiculous weekend of SCM racing that included the World Cup stop in Shanghai and the Virginia-Florida NCAA dual meet.
At the tender age of 15, Australia's Tim Hodge participated in his first Paralympic Games in Rio. 5 years later in Tokyo, he was chasing gold and came close, leaving Japan with 2 silver medals a 1 bronze. In Paris, after breaking a world record and becoming World champion in 2022 and 2023 in the 200 IM S9, Hodge finally touched the wall first, winning gold in his signature event. Speaking with SwimSwam, Hodge documents the work he put in and changes he made from 2021 to 2024. From switching coaches to racing the 400 free, it was all worth it for the Para athlete who is now on top of the world.
Over the course of the modern Olympics, there have been a number of sports that have been added and struck from the roster. Today we'll talk about a few of them, several of which are one-timers. Research: “Antwerp 1920: tug of war and a 72-year-old medalist.” Olympics.com. https://olympics.com/en/news/antwerp-1920-tug-of-war-and-a-72-year-old-medallist “Blast from the past: plunging in St Louis.” Olympics.com. https://olympics.com/en/news/blast-from-the-past-plunging-in-st-louis Bosco, Nicole. “Why aren't baseball and softball in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games?” Microsoft Start. July 3, 2024. https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/why-aren-t-baseball-and-softball-in-the-2024-paris-summer-olympic-games/ar-BB1pll7T Brief, Sam. “In With the New: What are the new sports and events at the 2024 Paris Olympics?” NBC. June 24, 2024. https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/new-what-are-new-sports-and-events-2024-paris-olympics Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Athens 1896 Olympic Games". Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 May. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/event/Athens-1896-Olympic-Games Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "tug-of-war". Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Apr. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/sports/tug-of-war Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "How Are Sports Chosen for the Olympics?". Encyclopedia Britannica, 16 Oct. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/story/how-are-sports-chosen-for-the-olympics “English Sporting Spirit.” The State. Aug. 5, 1908. https://www.newspapers.com/image/746603747/?match=1&terms=tug-of-war “Finnish Athlete Best With Javelin.” Paterson Morning Call. July 18, 1908. https://www.newspapers.com/image/552453684/?match=1&terms=tug-of-war Gibson, Megan. “9 Really Strange Sports That Are No Longer in the Olympics.” July 6, 2012. https://olympics.time.com/2012/07/16/really-strange-sports-that-are-longer-in-the-olympics Grannan, Cydney. "7 Canceled or Reintroduced Olympic Sports". Encyclopedia Britannica, 16 Oct. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/list/7-canceled-or-reintroduced-olympic-sports Hernandez, Marco. “The Forgotten Events.” Reuters. June 30, 2021. https://www.reuters.com/graphics/OLYMPICS-2020/HISTORY/oakpedqbgvr/ “History of Skeleton.” Olympics.com. https://olympics.com/en/sports/skeleton/ Lucas, Charles J. “New Side to Athletic War.” Courier-Journal. Dec. 29, 1908. https://www.newspapers.com/image/119323293/?match=1&terms=tug-of-war Mallon, Bill. “The 1900 Olympic Games.” McFarland. 1998. https://archive.org/details/1900olympicgames00mall/page/188/mode/2up “New York Athletes' Victory Protested.” New York Times. Sept. 4, 1904. https://www.newspapers.com/image/20465579/?match=1&terms=tug-of-war%20olympics Nichols, Paula. “Olympic tug of war and its ‘controversial' demise.” Canadian Olympic Committee. July 22, 2014. https://olympic.ca/2014/07/22/olympic-tug-of-war-and-its-controversial-demise/ “Olympic Games St. Louis 1904 – Tug of War Results.” Olympics.com. https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/st-louis-1904/results/tug-of-war “Olympics History.” Tug of War Association England. http://tugofwar.co.uk/olympics-history Pruitt-Young, Sharon. “Here's How The Olympics Decide What Sports To Include — And Which To Leave Out.” NPR. July 28, 2021. https://www.npr.org/sections/tokyo-olympics-live-updates/2021/07/28/1021713829/how-the-olympics-decide-what-sports-to-include Trex, Ethan. “Tug of War Used to be an Olympic Sport.” Mental Floss. July 22, 2021. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/55107/tug-war-used-be-olympic-sport “Tug-of-War: London Police Challenge the Americans.” Evening Dispatch. July 21, 1908. https://www.newspapers.com/image/848724474/?match=1&terms=tug-of-war “Tug-of-war, Men.” Olympedia. https://www.olympedia.org/results/21100 “Tug-Of-War at the 1912 Summer Olympics.” Olympedia. https://www.olympedia.org/editions/6/sports/TOW “The World Anti-Doping Code.” WADA. https://www.wada-ama.org/en/what-we-do/world-anti-doping-code Tikkanen, Amy. "6 Unusual Olympic Sports". Encyclopedia Britannica, 5 Aug. 2016, https://www.britannica.com/list/5-unusual-olympic-sports “Unfairness Alleged.” Champagne Daily Gazette. July 18, 1908. https://www.newspapers.com/image/668284214/?match=1&terms=tug-of-war “Water Sports at Paris.” Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. July 8, 1900. https://www.newspapers.com/image/29022999/?match=1&terms=swimming%20obstacle%20race%20olympics Wells, Charlotte. “WHAT WAS THE 200-METER OBSTACLE EVENT AT THE OLYMPICS?” SwimSwam. July 1, 2024. https://swimswam.com/what-was-the-200-meter-obstacle-event-at-the-olympics/ Wheeler, Kayla. “Plunge for distance: A look back at one of the weirdest Olympic events of all time.” KSDK St. Louis. July 29, 2021. https://www.ksdk.com/article/sports/olympics/1904-olympics/olympics-plunge-distance-st-louis-swimming-event/63-e047a725-3e3e-4a7c-923e-69c86ea4ed02 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.