We sat down with NCAA All-American turned coach, Pavel Sankovich. Pavel shared what worked for him when he was an age-group, collegiate, and professional swimmer when trying to develop the best underwater in the world. Sankovich delves into his focuses, his kick counts, and even a few of his favorite sets. One in particular he shared is simple in make-up but much trickier in execution: 3x300 on 3:30, descend 1-3, must kick to 15yds off of every wall and maintain stroke & kick count throughout all 3 300s.

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Music: Otis McDonald

We sat down with NCAA champion and former van-lifer, Emma Reaney. Reaney had a full swim career and has had a full life since stepping away from swimming, taking us through both journeys in today's podcast. Reaney describes the joy of swimming in college and opening yourself up to an entire team, noting the best year of her swimming (junior year, when she won the 200 breast at the 2014 NCAA Championships in American record fashion) was also the year she was in the best headspace and living with 4 of her teammates.

Reaney also describes the adventures she was able to go on after her swimming career, including being an Au pair in Australia, traveling throughout Southeast Asia and Oceania, and renovating/living in a van during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Music: Otis McDonald

We sat down with the head coach for the HPC - Toronto, Ben Titley. Titley has been in the coaching game at the highest level for a long time now, both in Canada and his home country of Great Britain. He shares stories about coaching Olympic and world champions such as James Gibson, Mel Marshall, Penny Oleksiak, and more.

One topic Ben gets into that many maybe don't consider is lactic acid and what is the most successful way of removing it after a race for a swimmer. Titley notes that if you ever see Swim Canada at a Pro Swim in the US, they will do a full swim set after their racing session, as Titley sees this as an optimal way to flush the body of the lactic build-up.

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Music: Otis McDonald

World champion and World record holder Regan Smith came off of some brutal winter training to win the 100m back (59.75), 100m fly (58.55), and 200m fly (2:10.10) at the 2021 San Antonio Pro Swim (JAN). She scratched out of the 200 back final, but swam the 200 free notching second (1:59.49).  By my math, Regan is exactly where she needs to be this early in the season. I see Regan back at her 2020 Des Moines Pro Swim times as she works through Feb and March.

2020 DES MOINES PRO SWIM - REGAN SMITH  times right before the COVID shutdown:

• 100 BACK - 58.1

I'm very optimistic the 2021 Olympics will happen, and I'm optimistic about Regan's performance at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha. Regan makes the U.S. Olympic Team in the 100 and 200 backstroke, and I think she make Team USA in 100 fly, dropping a 56.5, provided she swims it.  She also makes the team in 200 fly, ripping a 2:05.1, provided she swims it.

But who cares what I think…what do you think?

This is a Gold Medal Media production presented by SwimOutlet.com.

Follow Regan Smith on Instagram here.

Follow Gold Medal Mel Stewart on Instagram here.

Leigh Ann Caldwell is a swammer with a big career as a network news correspondent. In many ways, her unique vocation is all about politically unearthing what matters right now and reporting it as the first draft of history to a national audience. Sounds like fun, right? I know it’s a career a lot of young swimmers might be dreaming of—even planning for.  For Leigh Ann the dream started very young, and her journey has been hard-fought. She has earned her position on the national media stage. I’d like to think her success has a lot to do with her deep swimming roots, and I’m pretty sure she’d agree.

Growing up in Las Vegas as an age grouper Leigh Ann swam for The Gold, and her coach might be a name you recognize — Bob Bowman.  It’s almost funny looking back overtime, but even as an age grouper, under Bob’s guidance, Leigh Ann knew she was a distance swimmer.  Leigh Ann went on to accomplish what a lot swimmers strive for—a scholarship to swim at a DI university. Leigh Ann swam for N.C. State, graduating a year ahead of the current Wolfpack Head Coach, Braden Holloway. In this SwimSwam Podcast, Leigh Ann shares insight into Coach Holloway and NC State’s current success, and she dives-deep into the steps that it took for her to make it as a network news correspondent.

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Music: Otis McDonald

We sat down with sprinter turned distance ace Kristen Stege. Stege, now a sophomore at Tennessee, just dropped a PB 9:40 1,000 free in a dual meet against Georgia. She made headlines in February when she won the AAC title in the 1,650, which was her first time ever competing in a 1,650. Stege takes us through her last year of swimming and why she has actually warmed up to distance swimming after adamantly opposing it as an age group swimmer.

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Music: Otis McDonald

We sat down with University of Virginia head coach Todd DeSorbo, whose Cavaliers are coming off of some exciting dual meets in the last couple of weeks. For the men's team, it was a tight battle with UNC that came down to the last relay, a trend that DeSorbo says has been unusually common for the men since he's arrived in Charlottesville. For the women's team, it was the next day versus NC State that came down to the final relay after UVA's 1-2 finishers in the 1,000 were both DQ'ed for being in the wrong lanes.

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Music: Otis McDonald

We sat down with Chris Mooney (head coach of University of Sunshine Coast in Australia) and Dave McKean (head of physical performance at University of Sunshine Coast) to talk about their 21-day training cycles that we covered in our interview with 2020 Swimmer of the Year Kaylee McKeown. They each give their perspectives on why they wanted to try this method out and how it's worked so far, McKean coming from a heavily scientific background and Mooney wanting to push the boundaries of innovation within coaching and the sport of swimming.

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Music: Otis McDonald

We sat down with Olympic champion Florent Manaudou, who is coming off of his second ISL season with Energy Standard. Manaudou hits on a myriad of topics, including why he will be training in France for the Olympic lead-up, how he spends his free time outside of the water, and what he gained by taking a break after the 2016 Olympic Games. Florent is extremely personable and it's refreshing to hear his perspective on things in and outside of the pool

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Music: Otis McDonald

We sat down with Morgan Scroggy, the Pan Pacific and World University Games champion who is the lowest-seeded athlete (41st, 200 back) to have made a final at the US Olympic Trials in the last 20 years. This is significant as it was the line USA Swimming decided to make for the Wave II Olympic Trials meet, basing the cuts on the times of the 41st seeded athlete in each event as of the day they came out (January 26, 2021).

Scroggy competed in 3 different Olympic Trials (04, 08, 12) and candidly shares her experience from each of them, highs and lows. She details what the Olympic dream meant to her as an athlete, and what the process of chasing it did for her 10 years removed from her swimming career.

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Music: Otis McDonald