Chris Ritter, the founder and CEO of RITTER Sports Performance and creator of SURGE Strength , drops in on the SwimSwam Podcast with Gold Medal Mel Stewart.

The importance of having a repeat-able and adaptable process for your dryland training has never been realized more than this past year. Chris sat down with us to announce he is hosting a FREE upcoming webinar on The Process of Dryland Training. Join with other coaches and swimmers who are committed to better results in their dryland training.

• FREE Registration for The Process of Dryland Training Webinar - http://theprocessofdryland.training

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Music: Otis McDonald

We sat down with legendary coach Dave Salo, who recently announced that he would be dawning the role of assistant coach at Orange Coast College. Salo explains that after so long of being a head coach, he's excited to coach without all of the extra worries that come with heading a Power-5 Division I program. He also gets into the nitty-gritty of how he runs workouts, if he's a "player's coach", and what he's looking forward to at Orange Coast.

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Music: Otis McDonald

We sat down with Claire Curzan, the 16-year-old swimmer for the TAC Titans who turned heads when she dropped a 56.20 100m fly 2 weekends ago in Cary, North Carolina. Swimming fans had already been looking forward to this meet, as Curzan and fellow age-group star Torri Huske were slated to race in the 50/100 free and 100 fly. Huske ended up taking the 50 and 100 free races, while Curzan won the 100 fly, becoming the #2 American performer in history with her swim. Curzan admits that her goal in the race was to come home in under 30, which she did (29.99), and therefore didn't even know her final time until her teammate told her in the warm down pool.

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Music: Otis McDonald

We sat down with Andrei Minakov, the Russian sprinting sensation who just qualified for his first Olympic games in both the 100 free and 100 fly. Minakov takes us through the Russian Trials as well as how he's adjusted to studying at Stanford (remotely from Russia). We also get into some throwback memories for Andrei, including the 2018 Youth Olympic Games (where he won 5 gold medals) and the 2019 World Championships (2 silver, 1 bronze).

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Music: Otis McDonald

We sat down with Brent Hayden, the Canadian Olympic medalist who is now on the athlete board of the International Swimmers' Alliance. Hayden discusses what it's been like to cooperate with a group of athletes like this and what he thinks they can accomplish for swimmers everywhere moving forward. Hayden emphasizes that he wanted to be a part of this as a way to give back to the sport that has already given him so much. He's looking to make changes not necessarily to this generation, but the generations in swimming to come.

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Music: Otis McDonald

We sat down with Velimir Stjepanovic, a 2x Serbian Olympian and member of the DC Trident in the ISL. We talked about a wide range of topics, from Velimir's upbringing in life and swimming to his last year navigating through the COVID-19 pandemic. One topic we covered was swimming without pressure, which Velimir explained was the case as a member of the DC Trident. Knowing that the team was not a contender for the ISL title, Velimir was able to swim freely during the matches in Budapest, resulting in best times.

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Music: Otis McDonald

We sat down with Torri Huske who went a slue of best time at the TAC Titans LCM Premiere meet this past weekend. Huske Battled Claire Curzan head-to-head in the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 fly, where she took wins in the 50 (24.44, new 17-18 NAG) and 100 free (53.40). She also went a huge PB in the 100 fly (56.69, new 17-18 NAG) and 200 fly (2:09.97). Huske discussed that just a couple weeks before this meet, she had started using drag sox, parachutes, and weight racks in her training, which she said she enjoyed but did make her a bit sore heading into the meet.

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I have four hours with Mark captured. This is only the first chapter, which is about 35 minutes. We meander, but when you're talking to Mark the side stories are where all of the detail and color become fully saturated. Mark covers:

• his start, how and why he chose swimming

Between now and the U.S. Olympic Trials, I'll rollout these episodes. I absolutely love Mark. Some of my best swimming memories come from him, outside of the pool, just talking.

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We spoke with Olympic champion Olivia Smoliga at the 2021 Mission Viejo Pro Swim, where Smoliga was looking very strong on the back half of her races. Olivia explained to us that she's been really focusing on aerobic training with coach Jack Baurle and saw the extra Olympic year as a good time to challenge herself and work on her 200 free, an event she says is "the ultimate". 

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At the Pro Swim Series stop in Mission Viejo, we spoke with standout Cal freshman Destin Lasco. Lasco had a sensational Pac-12 championship, highlighted by leading a 1-2-3-4-5-6 Cal finish in the 200 backstroke. He turned even more heads at the NCAA Champs, where he became the fastest freshman ever in the 200 IM (jumping from 58th seed to finishing 2nd overall), the 100 back, and the 200 back. Lasco reveals that he focused a lot on academics, especially his second semester, saying that if his grades were taken care of, then the rest takes care of itself.

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