We sat down with newly minted Olympian Arno Kamminga, who was kind enough to talk with us after his qualification meet. Arno spoke candidly about experiencing loss, starting with losing his mother at the tender age of 15. Arno used swimming as a way to cope with the loss, but also started getting more serious about it. He then failed to qualify for any international meet, try as he may, be it Jr or Sr, until the 2017 World Championships.

Arno also gives an interesting bit of trivia in the middle of the interview: he never gets into the pool before he races. The physical warm-up that he takes himself through is solely on land. I'm flabbergasted at this and ask him no less than 10 questions about how he came to develop this system.

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Music: Otis McDonald

We sat down with Olivia Bray, the freshman at Texas who had a record-breaking weekend, going 50.37 in the 100 fly to register the fastest time in school history. Bray opened up about her quarantine period before arriving in Austin, including checking herself into eating disorder treatment. Prior to seeking help, Bray said she could count on one hand how many foods she could comfortably eat, too afraid to approach the rest.

Through treatment and now working with the nutritionist at UT, Bray says she's eating and trying a variety of foods, which has affected multiple facets of her everyday life.

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Music: Otis McDonald

Speedo International's Head of Research and Development (R&D), Rob Blenkinsopp, gets granular about Speedo tech.  It has been 20 years since Speedo released their FASTSKIN TECH, and, really, that development started back in 1992. Rob walks us through the years, explaining why and what Speedo cooks up in their R&D department.  Rob's not thinking about 2021. He's done that. The work is already over. His sights are set on 2024 to 2028, and Rob dreams of the suit Speedo will release in the distant future, 2040. Hopefully Rob will share more on that this spring ahead of SwimSwam's endless coverage of Olympic Trials competitions all over the world.  Stay tuned, and I hope you enjoy the pod. Rob will be back!

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Music: Otis McDonald

We sat down with Brandon Fischer, a national team member of the USA who first made the national team just last year, at the age of 30. Fischer takes us through his swimming journey, describing how the pool was a sanctuary for him away from the bullying that came at school.

Fischer emphasizes that this built him up to where he is today, saying that this made his resolve stronger to follow the path he thought he could take. This included pursuing a career in engineering after getting an art degree from the University of Wyoming as well as picking up swimming again in 2018 (after having stepped away after 2016 Olympic Trials) to ultimately break the 1:00 barrier in the 100 LCM breast at the 2019 Clovis Pro Swim and make his first national team.

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Music: Otis McDonald

Olympic and World Champion and ISL swim star Caeleb Dressel is taking on the SPEEDO SUB-20 CHALLENGE in the 50 short course meter freestyle. He already owns the World Record, dropped in the International Swimming League Grand Finale: 20.16. This time Caeleb's blazing a 50 scm free in a Speedo Fastskin 2008 LZR. This is all to celebrate the 20 YEARS OF SPEEDO FASTSKIN TECH.

WHEN TO WATCH: December 10th, 9pm Pacific Standard Time (PST)

WHERE TO WATCH: Speedo International's Youtube Channel On Speedo’s YouTube channel

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Music: Otis McDonald

We sat down with Trey Freeman, who has recently returned to competition for Florida. Freeman takes us through his last couple of years, which have been largely spent recovering from a knee injury sustained his freshman season. Freeman describes the difficulties, largely mental, that come with trying to get back to a place you had previously been after being derailed in a manner like this.

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Music: Otis McDonald

We sat down with Torrey Hart, former SwimSwam writer and now full-time sports journalist at Front Office Sports. Torrey wrote a massive piece breaking down the business side of ISL at the conclusion of Season 2, and if you haven't read it yet, DO SO NOW! Then we can really have a conversation.

We break down how the ISL ran things in their first 2 seasons, including their inability to pay all of their debts right away. We talk through both sides of the coin as well as moving forward, what the league can do to turn a profit and really start to turn swimming into a legitimate professional sport. Because let's be honest: as swim fans, that's all we really want.

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Music: Otis McDonald

We sat down with Olympic medalist George Bovell to talk about his career in swimming and what he's learned since. Bovell indulged me with some stories of his swimming days, including the explanation of "the Hammer of Justice" and how it won him an Olympic bronze.

But more importantly, Bovell dives deeper into the human side of swimming (and living). Bovell explains he's traveled all across the world trying to learn the secrets to existence and divulges where people are making common mistakes in their everyday lives and how we can start to correct these in order to lead a healthier lifestyle mentally and physically.

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Music: Otis McDonald

Olympic swimming icon Tracy Caulkins (married Tracy Stockwell) won 48 U.S. National titles and broke 63 American Records (setting American Records in all 4 strokes). She was on course to medal in 7 events at the 1980 Olympic Games (which were boycotted by President Carter). Of course Tracy finally achieved her Olympic moment 4 years later at the LA Games, taking home 3 gold medals.

• Click here to listen and subscribe on Spotify

Music: Otis McDonald

• Click here to listen and subscribe on Spotify

Music: Otis McDonald