Kathleen Baker won Gold (leading off the 4x100 Medley Relay) and Silver (100 Back) in Rio but her favorite event, by far, is the 200 IM.

Brett and Kathleen talk about...

Currently living just two blocks from the beach in sunny San Diego, California.

Growing up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. 

Making the decision to move to Charlotte to train with SwimMAC at 14 years old. 

Being born super competitive.

Training with Team Elite.

Katie Meili. Camille Adams.

Being diagnosed with Crohn's disease and how she has managed it throughout her career.

Choosing the University of California.

Developing all four strokes and focusing more on the 200 IM. Breaststroke has become her 2nd best stroke at age 23 through a lot of technique work, changing that muscle memory and a lot of threshold IM sets. 100's Fly/Back, Back/Breast, Breast/Free.

Making the US Olympic Team in the 100 Back. Walk me through Prelims, Semi Finals, and Finals.

Tapering for Olympic Trials and then again for the Olympics. Two days after making the US Olympic Team in the 100 Backstroke, she was back in practice doing 8x250's Backstroke Long Course.

Having the time of her life at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Winning the 100 Back wasn't even a goal! Drops another half a second from OT's to Prelims of the Olympics. 

What happens in the ready room at the Olympic Games? Katinka Hosszú.

Positive affirmations. 

Swimming on relays. 

Transitioning to the 200 Back in 2017. Breaking her ribs in 2019.

Loving lifting weights and do drylands.

And much, much more!

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Connect | Brett Hawke

On Instagram @hawkebr

on Twitter @insidewithbh

On Facebook @insidewithbh

Connect | Kathleen Baker

On Instagram: @kathleenbaker2

On Twitter: @kathleenbaker2

Special Thanks:

Mike Lewis -- swimming's top photographer. The pictures in the thumbnails were taken by him. Check him out on Instagram @mike2swim

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