We sat down with Neil Harper (head coach), Vanessa Hermann (senior), and Anna Hopkin (alumni) of Arkansas women's swimming. We discussed where everyone is at in their season and what things look like in the immediate future. We also go back a bit and talk through the last 18 months and how each athlete got through being in lockdown.

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Music: Otis McDonald

We sat down Femke Heemskerk, one of the most decorated swimmers in Dutch history, who recently called it a career after winning the ISL season 3 championship with Energy Standard. Femke shares why she felt that this was the right time for her to step away from the pool, citing a lack of motivation when she was training and realizing she'd never felt that way before. Heemskerk reflects on her achievements in the pool, noting that she felt her absolute best at the 2014 SCM World Championships in Doha (where she took 5 medals in including 100 free gold) and the 2020 LCM European Championships (which took place in 2021) where she also took 100 free gold.

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Music: Otis McDonald

We sat down with Arizona State head coach Bob Bowman and associate head coach Rachel Stratton-Mills to discuss how the sundevils performed at the NC State Invite and what training has looked like this fall. Bowman goes into detail on the men's team, from the kind of work they've been doing to the exact amount of rest they got for Invite. Stratton-Mills speaks to the women's team, noting what their goals are moving forward into the rest of the season and what the addition of post-grad Olivia Smoliga has brought to her specific 200-below training group.

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Music: Otis McDonald

We sat down with Zoe Bartel, the NCAA champion from Stanford who recently announced a mid-season retirement in what was her senior season on the team. Bartel goes into detail about her relationship with swimming, starting when she was young and actually tried to quit swimming when she was 16. She reveals that skiing was always her true love, but she did eventually come to love aspects of swimming, like the hard work that came with training and her teammates. Bartel explains why this was finally the right time for her to step away from the pool completely and what her future looks like moving forward.

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Music: Otis McDonald

We sat down with Tennessee's associate head coach, Ashley Jahn. Jahn has been with the Vols for a decade now and it shows as she discusses her methodical approach to training. One big thing Jahn hits on that is unique about this season is the energy that the "COVID 5th year" swimmers bring to the pool deck. Jahn explains that getting that extra chance to improve has brought a lot of joy to those athletes, which in turn trickles down to the rest of the team.

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Music: Otis McDonald

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discussed the 2021 Speedo Winter Junior Championships, the upcoming Short Course World Championships, and the prospect of Sarah Sjostrom being an NCAA swimmer.

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 Brent Nowicki’s been the new FINA Executive Director about six months. He’s young, only 42 years old, with an impressive resume.  As expected he’s bringing a lot of energy and changes to FINA.  Brent’s managing an extremely jam-packed calendar, and it appears he’s striving to package tentpole aquatic events as spectacles.  The upcoming World Championships in Abu Dhabi will provided much needed data to determine if spectacle events can work—be a cost-benefit and be bigger driver of TV rights.  Brent’s transparent on this topic.  SwimSwam will touchback with him to learn more about these results.

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Music: Otis McDonald

We sat down with Kelsi Dahlia, the Cali Condor's star who broke the world record in the 100 fly in the ISL final. Dahlia explains the pain of missing the Olympic team, how she processed that sense of loss, and came back to pool with a sense of purpose to get ready for the 2021 ISL season. Dahlia also talks about her current training plan, which has included 6 practices a week (1 per day 6 days/week, no doubles) in the Louisville sprint group.

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Music: Otis McDonald

University of Pennsylvania senior Lia Thomas has been making headlines so far in this NCAA season, producing several record-breaking performances in what is her first year competing as a woman.

Thomas, a trans woman, sat down on the SwimSwam Podcast to discuss everything from when she realized she was trans, what the transition period was like, and how she's been able to adjust to life both in and out of the pool.

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Music: Otis McDonald

In this podcast Mark unpacks what he's doing at SET Aquatics, and he dips back into his history discussing his coaching philosophy. I traveled the world with Mark for ten years on the USA Swimming National Team back in the 1980s and 90s, but I've never talked to him about his Mission Viego dynasty years. I was dumbfounded to learned he took over the program at the tender age of 23 back in 1973.  Mark discusses his genesis story, nearly going into the legal profession, and how his father told him he'd never make a living as a swim coach.

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Music: Otis McDonald