Pro Corner with Austin Surhoff

Part One of Austin's conversation with Olympic Gold Medalist & World Record Holder Aaron Peirsol.

Aaron is one of the most dominant swimmers in his events (backstroke) in the history of swimming. In the 2000's, you could count on one hand the number of times he lost a backstroke race in international competition. That level of consistent domination is almost unheard of in the world of sport.

In Part Two, the guys discuss Aaron's time at the University of Texas. It was a shock initially: coming from a unique training group under Dave Salo in California, Aaron had to adjust big time to the Texas heat, the intense training, and the awesome feeling of swimming for something bigger like a close-knit college swim team. They also cover Aaron signing with Nike and going pro after 2 years at Texas.

Estimated episode timeline:

0:00 - Austin introduces the episode

2:00 - Why Texas?

4:30 - How Aaron avoided common pitfalls people fall into in sports

11:30 - Agency to make his own decisions that he developed at a young age

16:30 - Big adjustments to the training at Texas...and the heat!

28:00 - The essential role Kris Kubik played as assistant coach for 3 decades

31:30 - Navigating times where Texas team culture was hurting

44:00 - Going Pro

53:00 - Sponsorship with Nike Swim

1:08:00 - Routines to tune out distractions at the Olympics

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Thanks for listening!

Part One of Austin's conversation with Olympic Gold Medalist & World Record Holder Aaron Peirsol.

Aaron is one of the most dominant swimmers in his events (backstroke) in the history of swimming. In the 2000's, you could count on one hand the number of times he lost a backstroke race in international competition. That level of consistent domination is almost unheard of in the world of sport.

In Part One of our conversation, the guys discuss Aaron's career beginnings - his incredible training environment growing up in Southern California, the heroes and mentors he had early in his career, and his big decision to go to college instead of turning pro after winning a silver medal at the 2000 Olympics. That decision required a level of wisdom not usual found in high school kids.

Estimated episode timeline:

0:00 - Austin introduces the episode

4:10 - Choosing to help out the Texas college team by volunteer coaching for them in his final year as a pro from 2009-2010

13:10 - Why did he decide to help out?

17:40 - His place as one of swimmings biggest stars, and what it means to him to use it to contribute to the swimming family

24:00 - Growing up in a swim Mecca like Southern California - heroes, mentors, great coaches

28:30 - The community that swimming provides

32:00 - The importance of irreverence and silliness when pursuing such high pressure goals like Olympic medals

41:15 - When did he know he wanted to be a pro athlete

46:00 - Choosing college over going pro at age 17

51:00 - How did he have such outsized wisdom and perspective as a high school kid?

60:00 - the importance of sport as teaching tool

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Use this homepage for all updates about Pro Corner: https://linktr.ee/austinsurhoff

Thanks for listening!

This week's episode is Part One of our interview with Baltimore Orioles legend, the Iron Man, Cal Ripken Jr. 

Cal is an MLB Hall of Famer, and by many counts the greatest shortstop in modern baseball history (don't @ me Jeter fans). He revolutionized the position because of his size (6'5") and ability to hit for power - an anomaly for a position normally populated by smaller players that contribute more with their glove than their bat.

Oh yeah, and there's that consecutive game streak - 2,632 games in a row without a day off. 501 of those games came AFTER he broke Lou Gehrig's record of 2130. How did he continue that level of consistency after reaching what many of us see as a crowning achievement?

In part one of our conversation, we get serious about the streak and the aftermath, and not-so-serious about the legendary pickup basketball games Cal would host during his playing career. He gives a scouting report on who could actually ball on the Orioles and the Ravens, and even NBA players that would stop by.

Estimated Episode Timeline:

Tune in next week for Part 2!

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Part 2 of our conversation with Baltimore Orioles star Trey Mancini!

In this episode, Trey talks about his MLB career up to this point. Specifically, the guys cover Trey's evolution from exciting rookie prospect to steady veteran presence for the team. Along the way he learned just how much focus it takes to achieve at a high level for an entire 162 game MLB season, and what it actually means to be a leader in the locker room.

This episode covers his career path up to making the major leagues. Part 2 will cover his MLB experience.

Estimated Timeline of topics:

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Elizabeth Beisel is one of the toughest swimmers in the history of the US Olympic Team. A 3x Olympian in arguably the hardest event in swimming (the 400IM), she gave herself over to some of the hardest training on the planet to achieve her goals for over a decade. 

What's most impressive about Elizabeth is her ability to have an impact outside the pool -- she is incredibly outgoing and postive, and always thinks of how to help her teammates succeed as much as herself. A true pro, and a true teammate. 

Estimated Timeline of topics: 

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Part Two of our conversation with Rowdy Gaines!  Rowdy has been the voice of swimming for over 30 years. In part two of the episode, the guys cover Rowdy's broadcasting beginnings, his process for preparing for the Olympic broadcast, and just how much he loves telling the stories of the athletes he covers. 

Here's an approximate timeline of the episode: 

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The voice of swimming and legendary Olympic gold medalist Rowdy Gaines stops by Pro Corner for a chat. This is part one of two, specifically focused on his professional swimming career & a quick rundown of his experience with the ISL. Part Two will focus more on his broadcasting career after swimming.

In the episode, the guys discuss (time-stamps are approximate):

3:00 - His experience with the ISL so far, including life in the Budapest Bubble last fall 

12:00 - The beginnings of his Pro Swimming career, and how that term didn't really exist in his time

17:00 - following coaching greats Eddie Reese & Richard Quick to Austin Texas to train professionally

27:00 - Goal setting processes 

30:00 - Supporting his swimming career by working as a night hotel clerk in Austin, Texas 

39:00 - Winning the 100 Free Gold in 1984 in LA, including the significance of the win and his race day strategy 

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Thanks for listening!