Off The Blocks Swimming Podcast

Welcome back to the Shannon Rollason Podcast for another week.

This week with prize money in swimming going up and the upcoming World Cups having up to 1 Million USD up for grabs, should elite Aussie swimmers be paying for their own support staff, much the same as Golfers or Tennis players have to? It's a great topic of conversation and one that I'm sure will have divided opinions.

Shannon also takes us through his Sprint Set of the week, and discusses the reasons behind it and how it can be progressed as the season moves forward.

We talk about the news that Zac Stubblety Cook will be moving down to train with Mel Marshal in the new year, and why this is a good move for Zac at this stage of his career.

All that and a whole lot more, of course song of the week as well. Don't Miss it

Back from holidays and ready to go, Shannon and i get stuck into 2024 Australian Short Course Champs. 

How did his team go?, what did he learn from the week? And of course we discuss Kaylee's amazing World Record in the Women's 100m Backstroke.

We discuss the influx of international coaches to Australia in the lead up to 2032, and what's positive about it and what are some of the potential negative impacts that come with it as well. 

We talk about Shannon's holiday, song of the week and a whole lot more

This week while Shannon is enjoying is well earned week off tasting wine in Adelaide after another successful Australia Short Course Champs, we look back and revisit a great chat Shannon and I had back in 2022 with International Swimming Hall Of Famer and one of USA best ever coaches David Marsh.

Shannon and David discuss his recent success with the Men's Cal Bears team at the NCAA's, as well as their take on what makes USA swimming the powerhouse that it is. David gives us his favourite swimmers of all time to watch as a fan of the sport, as well as his top tips when it comes to Sprint Freestyle, Breaststroke and Tapers. 

David speaks to us about what continues to drive him as a coach and mentor as someone who has coached over 50 Olympians during his hall of fame career. We also discuss emotional control as a coach and how important it is during a big week of racing at big meets.

Shannon and David continue to talk on a range of topics, and it's a must for all coaches and fans of our sport as these two legendary coaches bring the knowledge and experience. DONT MISS THIS ONE

This week on the Shannon Rollason Podcast, Shannon and I gear up for Australian Short Course Champs next week in Adelaide. We talk about the change in QT for making the World Champs team, as well as what we can expect from the week not long removed from Paris 2024.

We talk about Glasgow hosting the 2026 Comm Games, how exciting it is to see the games continue, as well as The Shannon Rollason Podcast heading over to Scotland to cover the big event.

Bob Bowman named sports illustrated 50 most influential people in sports, Swim Australia Awards night and of course song of the week. It's all here this week, don't miss it

This week on the podcast we sit down with the newly crowned Swimming Australia Olympic Program Swimmer and 9 time Olympic medallist Kaylee McKeown.

Kaylee talks to us about her amazing Paris 2024 experience and how she went back to back in the Women's 100 and 200m Backstroke events. We discuss what it took both Mentally and Physically going from the 200m Backstroke final into the 200m IM semi final, and what Kaylee learned from this experience.

We talk about her coach Michael Bohl and what makes him one of the best to ever do it. Some of her favourite sets getting ready for Paris, and of course what is next for her and the program with Bohly's departure at the end of this year.

All this and so much more, don't miss this great chat with an Aussie Superstar

This week we have the absolute honour of sitting down with one of the best to ever do it Mr Bob Bowman.

Shannon and Bob talk all about Paris 2024, Leon Marchands amazing Olympic games as well as Bobs other athletes who performed well over the week as well.

We talk about college swimming, and Bob's transition to Texas as well as what Bob is still learning about at this stage in his legendary coaching career.

Bob gives us some of his best underwater and kick sets, and gives us some of his tips to help your program and coaching.

I could keep writing more, but to be honest all you need to do is click play and listen to these two legendary coaches talk about swimming at the highest level. Enjoy

This week Shannon and I  sit down with Australian Dolphins Head Coach Rohan Taylor to discuss all things Paris 2024, including the teams success, and what he learned from the experience that he'd like to take forward looking ahead.

We discuss LA 2024, and Rohan gives his advice to coaches around what to look for if you have aspirations of getting swimmers on the team. Whether its in your programming, or event selection, or even around preparing your athletes to be at their best at all times.

We talk about the "silly season" and how it's important to get all coaches and athletes in their programs and roles before we starting planning too far into the future, and we talk about the success the Aussie Paralympic team is having at the moment and what we can learn from then heading into Paris with a different preparation strategy.

All that and a whole lot more

Former World Record Holder and Expert Commentator Bobby Hurley and I sit down with Olympic Gold Medal winning Australian coach Tim Lane.

Tim talks to us about his work with Cam McEvoy and that 50m Freestyle Gold medal winning performance from Paris, how they got there and of course what the experience was like for him as a coach over at the games.

We also talk to Tim about how he transitions his coaching philosophy around training and sprinting for Age group swimmers and what that program looks like week to week, following his success at Junior Pan Pacs with Josh Conias.

We are very lucky to have Tim sit down and share his coaching ideas and programming with us and can't wait for everyone to hear it 

This week on The Shannon Rollason Podcast, Shannon and I look back at the weekends NSW State Short Course Champs and some of the super fast swimming we saw in the pool. Shannon also gives us his thoughts on his own athletes performances over the 3 days.

We discuss Junior Pan Pacs in Canberra and the USA teams dominance with 44 medals in total. Where Australia did well, and where we can improve looking ahead.

Looking ahead to Brisbane 2032 what do we need to do to get our best athletes prepared? And who needs to pull their socks up to help us get there? The Coaches or the Governing Bodies?

All that and of course song of the week, don't miss it

Off The Blocks is back for a new season and what better way to kick off than with the KING and 3 time Olympian      Kyle Chalmers.

Kyle sits down with me to look back on a massive Paris Olympic Games and the road he was on to get there including, change of coach and program, back injury and pain management and finding confidence.

We talk all about his incredible Men's 100 Free Final where he placed 2nd, what that experience was like, and was he happy with his performance. We break down his heats to semis to finals progression success and why he is so good at making it look so easy, as well as what he felt he could have executed a bit better from the final.

We discuss how much the relays mean to him, swimming for the boys and his country and how the Men's 4x100 free from Paris gave him all the confidence back he needed to know he could try and win the Men's individual final.

Kyle talks about setting goals moving forward and how he is far from done in the pool, with many more new and exciting mountains to climb.

This chat more than shows why Kyle Chalmers is one of the greatest Australia Swimmers of all time, with so many great take away pieces of advice from a man who has podiumed at 3 Olympic games in a row, thats why they call him King