Social Kick

John Mason is a much sought after TV host and correspondent. His natural on-screen energy and versatility have established him as a regular personality in the European & international markets, particularly in Olympic aquatic sports.

John has been the face of the FINA Swimming World Cup Series for the last four years. In addition, he has covered some of the biggest events in the world for Eurosport, BBC Sport, Channel 5 and FINA TV including, the European Championships, World Championships, Commonwealth Games, and Diving World Series. John was born in Australia and after graduating from Charles Sturt University, he moved to London and started his career as a model. Shortly after, he served as the host of the Elite Model Look Competition – a worldwide search for the next fashion superstar.

He is an avid competitive Crossfitter and enjoys being creative in the culinary art world. John prides himself on staying connected to the trends in pop culture, music, and travel – he has been to thirty-two countries and counting. As an out gay man, he is also an activist for LGBTQI visibility and human rights.

In this episode, we sit down with South African breaststroke sensation Tatjana Schoenmaker Smith, one of the most accomplished swimmers of her generation. At just 27 years old, Tatjana has already etched her name in swimming history, from breaking the world record in the 200m breaststroke at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics to becoming a two-time Olympic gold medalist, a world champion, and the most decorated South African Olympic athlete of all time. We dive into Tatjana’s incredible journey, from her roots in Johannesburg to representing South Africa on the global stage at both the Tokyo and Paris Olympics.

Tatjana shares insights into her breakthrough moment in Tokyo when she shattered the 200m breaststroke world record with a 2:18.95, a feat that cemented her legacy. She talks about the highs and lows of competing at the top level, including her record-breaking gold at the 2023 World Championships—making history as the first South African woman to claim gold in swimming at the World Swimming Championships.

We also discuss how Tatjana continued to evolve through the quad—balancing her focus between Olympics, World Championships, and Commonwealth Games. From her stellar performances in 2022 to her return to form in 2024, Tatjana provides a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to stay at the top of the sport.

Plus, we talk about the unique challenges and rewards of representing South Africa on the world stage. Tatjana's journey is one of resilience, determination, and immense success.

Listen for insights from arguably the best breaststroker of all-time.

Going best times is all a swimmer can ask for right? Well, it may make a bittersweet Olympics, if you go best time at an Olympics (where few go best times) but you fall in your place from semi-finals to finals.

Pieter Coetzé had a bittersweet Olympics, but his young career has been far from bittersweet. Coetzé made the South African Olympic team at the age of 17, rising through the ranks and recently winning the 100 and 200 short course meters backstroke at the 2024 World Cups, earning him $56,500, not bad for 3 weeks of work.

Although Coetzé may make it seem easy, wearing his golden necklace while racing and not knowing his stroke count, he has worked hard to achieve the success he had at his young age. Enjoy and don't forget to subscribe for weekly podcasts and daily shorts!

Ice in his veins! Olympic finalist Keaton Jones only needed one year at Cal to bridge the gap from being an elite junior to one of the world’s best, as he snagged the 2nd Olympic spot in the 200 backstroke at the USA Olympic Trials.

At his first Olympic Games, Keaton put together solid performances through the rounds to finish 5th in the Olympic final in Paris, just shy of the podium. Not bad for a college freshman.

Keaton Jones is also a pioneer in the sport of Ice Swimming! He’s a multi-time world champion in this niche sport that Keaton believes has a real chance at becoming a winter Olympic sport. So much so that he will take time out of his upcoming college season schedule in January to travel to the World Ice Swimming Championships where he is projected to haul in a slew of more medals to add to his frozen hardware collection.

Enjoy and don't forget to subscribe for weekly podcasts and daily shorts!

The Olympic champion in the 200 backstroke, Hubert Kos, takes a break from his busy gaming schedule to hangout with us on Social Kick.

For the second year in a row, the Hungarian superstar emerged from the biggest meet of the year with the gold medal around his neck, this time on swimming’s biggest stage at the Paris Olympic Games, adding to the storied legacy of Hungary as a swimming powerhouse.

The move to train under renowned coach Bob Bowman continues to pay dividends for Hubert Kos, who alongside training partner Leon Marchand, makes the move to Austin following their coach’s departure from Arizona to lead the Texas Longhorns. In this episode, we unpack the mentality Hubi Kos used to calm his nerves, swim free, and win Olympic gold.

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In the midst of the 2024 World Cup season, we check in with the voice of the World Cup himself, broadcaster and former World Record holder Bobby Hurley.

Bobby has commentated for the last 7 World Championships as well as myriad other swimming events such as the World Cup. As a swimmer, Bobby Hurley racked up a list of accolades. A World Champion and World Record Holder, Hurley represented Australia from 2008-2017, becoming one of the world's most versatile swimmers.

He won 24 national titles in events ranging from the 50m Backstroke all the way up to the 1500m Freestyle, a rare combination of aerobic engine and sprint power. Bobby raced at many World Cups himself, but the format and schedule were quite different then. Sadly, the money hasn’t changed much since he swam. In this episode, we get Bobby’s thoughts on the World Cup action so far and how the series could evolve and grow.

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It’s shades of orange everywhere for Dutch Olympic breaststroker Caspar Corbeau.

When representing The Netherlands, he wears a true orange and for Texas, it’s the burnt variety, but it was the medal he wore around his neck this summer in Paris that was a magical bronze. Already a many time NCAA finalist among the top breaststrokers and IMers in college swimming, the dual-citizen for the US and Netherlands, Caspar Corbeau, decided to change his scenery before the final year preparing for the Olympics and crossed the pond to train with compatriot and world-class breaststroker Arno Kamminga and the Dutch national team in Amsterdam.

That decision paid off, as Caspar took a leap forward from college standout to one of the best breaststrokers in the world in the process. The 6’7” double-earring wearing super athlete unsurprisingly came from an athletic family - his parents both elite college swimmers themselves in their day.

He hasn’t ruled out a return to finish his college eligibility just yet, so we shall see what the future holds.

One thing is certain - Caspar is on the rise

Ever frustrated with turns and just wish you could swim in a straight line? For USA Olympic swimmer Mariah Denigan that is the dream. While the majority of her training still takes place in a pool and she has represented the USA internationally in longer distance pool races, Mariah Denigan has established herself among the best in the world in open water races. Mariah has represented Team USA at the last couple World Championships, including a 6th place finish in 2023 where she surged in the second half of the race and earned an invitation to the Paris Olympics.

Dubbed by her coach, legendary Indiana University’s Ray Looze, as having a “pain tolerance that’s off the charts,” Mariah Denigan is at her best in the critical closing stages of races. For a coach that has developed many Olympic medal winning athletes including the likes of Lilly King, Cody Miller, Annie Lazor, Blake Pieroni, and more - she must be one tough competitor.

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Irish goodbye? More like Irish hello! Ireland made its presence known in the pool at the Paris Olympics with a huge swim for a bronze medal in the 100 breaststroke from two-time Olympian Mona McSharry, delivering Ireland's first medal of the 2024 Olympic Games. Along with compatriot Daniel Wiffen, Mona McSharry and team Ireland had La Defense Arena rocking as Irish flags dominated the crowd at moments throughout the epic week of racing.

A highly accomplished junior swimmer, Mona McSharry had an impressive resume with international medals before arriving at the University of Tennessee. In Knoxville, she continued her rise as one of the best swimmers in the NCAA, helping the Vols to key relay and team points.

For this conversation, Mona joins us from the camper van during an epic road trip across the USA that she's taking and enjoying some well-deserved time away from the pool

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The NFL and swimming are not the same. In a world where coaches have a very short leash, a team that has a couple down years of performance along with some key high-profile athlete departures can be enough to sound the alarm. Thankfully, perhaps because its a sport based on longer term success over a 4-year period or greater, we were not robbed of the ultimate triumph we witnessed in Paris.

For Greg Meehan, the last few years have been anything but easy. The longtime Stanford Head Women’s Coach has been at the helm of some of the greatest NCAA teams ever assembled with names like Katie Ledecky, Simone Manuel, Maya Dirado and Ella Eastin. But following the dominance of that unprecedented era, the program naturally regressed a tad. Some elite swimmers elected to find a change of scenery (Ledecky) and then other big names came to The Farm, only to leave early with medium results (Regan Smith and Claire Curzan). That put a lot of pressure and negativity on the Stanford program with many questioning its future, including its leader Greg Meehan. But great coaches have ups and downs just the same as athletes. Every team they coach is not the same. Every year comes with a new set of challenges and circumstances - and opportunities. In Paris, Greg Meehan and his star pupil Torri Huske celebrated.

Huske’s dramatic 100 fly victory over world record holder Gretchen Walsh, along with her other individual and relay performances culminated in Huske becoming the winningest American swimmer at the Games. And with that, Huske and Meehan put all the doubts to rest, and one of the best coaches in the world today has yet another Stanford gold medal for recruits to hear about so he can keep building the machine.

Enjoy and don't forget to subscribe for weekly podcasts and daily shorts!