Trailblazing swim coach Teri McKeever has earned an astonishing number of achievements as a Head Coach of the U.S. Olympic Team and collegiately at the University of California, Berkeley, including an unprecedented 11 years in a row of top three finishes at the NCAAs. She says that recognizing strengths and working hard to maximize them is a path to success. She also advises her swimmers to be creative in how they train and perform in order to reach their goals. Listen in as she shares these and other champion insights with Kelly and Maria. 

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MORE ON TERI MCKEEVER

Teri McKeever was the first ever female head coach of the U.S. Olympic swim team, earning this honor at the 2012 Olympics. She is currently the head women’s swim coach at the University of California at Berkeley, where she has served for the past 28 seasons. McKeever has also been a two-time U.S. Olympic team assistant coach, seven-time U.S. World Championships team assistant coach, two-time U.S. Pan Pacs head coach and U.S. World short-course championships head coach. She’s also coached 26 Olympians who have won 36 Olympic medals.  

McKeever’s UC teams have won four NCAA titles and she’s been voted Pac-12 Coach of the Year eight times. She has won four Pac-12 team titles and coached six national Swimmers of the Year, including greats like: Natalie Coughlin, Missy Franklin and most recently, Kathleen Baker. These are just a few of her NCAA awards and her Golden Bears have captured 65 NCAA individual or relay titles. 

Episode Topics and Mentions

Bob Bowman

Jenny Thompson

University of California at Berkeley

Elementary Education

Natalie Coughlin

Missy Franklin

Kathleen Baker

University of Southern California

Family of 10

Teri’s mom was her coach

Personal excellence

Helen Silver

Takeaways

Maria

1. Be willing to fail and pivot. Recognize the opportunity in things that don’t work out. Fail quickly and move forward with what is next.
2. Building up others -- making others better -- in the long run is more important than individual wins. 

Kelly

1. There is more than one way to skin a cat - be creative at reaching success. 
2. Discover and own your strengths -- then exploit them. 

Quote of the Week

"What you really need to do is figure out what you do well and exploit the heck out of it." -- Teri McKeever

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Email us at [email protected]. Opinions discussed are not medical advice, please seek a medical professional for your own health concerns.

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