This week I got Garrett McCaffrey to come in and do our swimming version of sports talk radio. We discuss pro swimming, whether we think it’s time to buy/sell stock in Ryan Lochte and finally we use the crazy story about Sun Yang as a springboard for a broader conversation about doping.

Enjoy:

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In a follow up to last week’s podcast with Monica Strzempko, I sat down with Becky Finley, a former teammate of Sarah Ehekircher. We discuss what it was like to come up to an “elite” team at a young age (13) and all the kinds of radical behavior that she accepted as normal.

We also discuss at what point she decided that it was not normal for her coach, Scott MacFarland, to intervene in the way that he did:

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I recorded a podcast yesterday with Monica Strzempko and Sarah Ehekircher yesterday. We wanted to highlight the issue of grooming and how it paves the way for abuse. For more on Monica and some context around why we spoke to her, look to yesterday’s preview.

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Lee Sommers got his start coaching swimming athletes with the best in the world, Katie Ledecky. Since then he’s built a business working and advising many more on how to get the best possible training out of the water.

We talk about how he got that start, as well as some of the principals that drive what he does. He also addresses some common misconceptions he sees in dryland training for swimming.

Follow Lee Sommers on instagram.

His website

Today one of my favorite athletes in the entire world, Jeanette Ottesen. I've followed Jeanette's career from when she first broke through as a teenager in Denmark, straight to world titles and an Olympic medal.

Now at 30 going on 31, married and with a one year old child, she's entering a new chapter of her competitive career. Guys, there is so much for coaches and swimmers alike to learn from Jeanette's story throughout this podcast. I even get schooled late in the pod when I try and guess what made Jeanette doubt continuing her career and fall into the same trap that most of the media does.

I hope you enjoy listening as much as I did:

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Today a repeat non-swimming guest drop in from my friend Sherri Fisher. Sherri is the director of Learn and Flourish LLC, and we talk about the work she does with young people, particularly those struggling with executive function challenges.

We also talk about her new journal, which we hinted at in the previous podcast, and some of the content that went in to it.

You know, this business, this blog and this podcast probably would not exist without Sherri’s help, and I hope that it’s obvious when you listen what a big impact she’s had on me. Wait until the end when I tell her one big change she has made my family life. Enjoy.

Find out more about Sherri’s day to day work at Learn and Flourish

Check out the journal we talked about: Unleash Your Epic Self

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Today I'm joined by Sarah Ehekircher and for the first time, Dia Rianda. We talk through how cultural knowledge, often damaging, is handed down from coach to coach, and work through a few examples we have seen.

Later on, Dia helps us understand the latest news about Richard Foster, and I rant a bit about the piece I wrote on Dick Shoulberg yesterday:

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Hi All,

Please enjoy this very low-fi, thanksgiving edition of the Swim Brief. Sarah Ehekircher joined me and we talked about three major ways grooming manifests itself in swimming. On a positive note we also talked about what to look for instead.

We also had fun talking about people in our lives who have no idea what we are doing as coaches or as “consultants”.

There is no intro, no ads, just straight into the podcast and straight out. There is some noise in the background that we explain off the top. Have a great holiday and I’ll catch you on the other side:

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Today I return with Trever Gray to talk about the subject of attendance. It may seem like a little thing, but we got into an interesting conversation with our plans  as we both embark on a high school season next week.

At the end, we both do movie reviews, and mine contains spoilers for the film Pacific Rim Uprising. So you've been warned.

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Today I return with Trever Gray and Sarah Ehekircher, to follow up on our podcast of last week. If you want to read more from Trever go here. If you want to hear more from Sarah her blog is here and she’s active on twitter.

Both Trever and Sarah have new research to bring to the fray this week. We turn from there to a discussion of Steve Lochte and Swimswam beginning to report on interim Safe Sport suspensions. Finally. we discuss Steve Penny, the former head of USA Gymnastics, getting arrested this past week and I go on an extended rant about Tom Brokaw. Enjoy.

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