Welcome back to the podcast Sarah Ehekircher. After a long hiatus, Sarah and I get together to discuss a couple of pretty significant investigative pieces that are in the works.
We then follow that up by discussing conversations she’s had with a USA Swimming Board member, USA Swimming head Tim Hinchey and why neither seems willing to do the right thing.
Recovery, what the heck is it? We all know it’s an incredibly important part of any training program. Still, there is a lot of mythology around it, including, but not limited to, the idea of a “recovery” workout.
I get into all of it with Professor Trever Gray. (One note, I reference a post which I unfortunately could not find after recording the podcast. My bad).
The lightning rod of international swimming, Michael Andrew, is going on a ketogenic diet. To discuss this startling development, I brought on keto dieter (and race pace trainer) Shawn Klosterman along with resident nerd Trever Gray to hash it out.
We discussed the synergy between the two, and some of the science behind it (and not behind it):
Nicolas Messer is always a good hang on the Swim Brief. This time he checks in from a brand new geographic location. We talk about how he ended up there and what his new job entails.
We also get into the topic of streamlines, and I put Nico on the spot on whether he has joined the anti-streamline coalition. Enjoy:
Today the long awaited and teased podcast with the Managing Director of Sport Development for USA Swimming, Joel Shinofield. We trace Joel’s history in the sport, back to his earliest days teaching and coaching up to the present day.
We get into what motivated some of the twists and turns in his career, before finally pivoting to a conversation of his current role and what he’s trying to accomplish right now. Joel even turns the tables on me at the last minute. Enjoy:
In the wake of the OC Register’s reporting earlier in the week that an FBI Veteran, hired to investigate Sean Hutchison, was very much not allowed to investigate, I called up Sarah Ehekircher.
We go through the article and give context to the names and players involved, and what some of the facts suggest about the broader Olympic sport culture:
This week I’m joined by my friend Glenn Neufeld to discuss last month’s Easterns, and the road to reviving the meet over the last three years.
We also talk about some of the surprising things at the meet that make it a little different from your average swimming competition:
Sarah Ehekircher comes back to update on her own saga for justice against her former coach, before we pivot to a discussion of what happened last month in Fishers, Indiana and the fallout from a group of administrators abdicating their responsibility.
We finish by getting a little fired up as we usually do about broader topics concerning creating a safe environment for kids in sport.
The Swim Brief returns with Trever Gray to talk about a smorgasbord of topics. First Trever and I get to the follow up on our respective high school seasons before turning to the big meet, PAC-12s, that we got to watch this past weekend.
Finally we talk about the recent decision made to cut Oregon State’s program that I have already shared some personal feelings on.
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:
A few weeks back I teamed up for a podcast with Sarah Ehekircher and Eva Rodansky. This time, we got to talking about the Senate hearings with Olympic sports leaders.
Eva was there and a part of some pretty compelling events outside of the hearing. Sarah watched from home. We talk about whether there is true progress and momentum.
Just one note: this was recorded last Friday, and there is a discussion about the independence of Safe Sport vis-a-vis banning coaches that USA Swimming failed to ban. Later on in the day, Sean Hutchison was banned, which is an interesting test case for this. Although, Sean had already been very prominently exposed and USA Swimming has already admitted some wrongdoing in the way they handled the investigation, specifically with the termination of Susan Woessner.
Also we talked a bit about a rumor that Hutchison had fled the country. News reports quote his lawyers as saying he is still stateside.
Sarah Ehekircher joins me once again for a podcast about the overwhelming amount of things going on in the sport of swimming, and beyond. We talk about reporting, or lack thereof, on the recently added names to Safe Sport's publicly searchable database.
From there we jump to comment moderation, I go on a rant about Brent Rutemiller, and finally I make an appeal to all the people fired up about the WADA/RUSADA mess to team up.
Today a podcast I promised earlier week with everybody's favorite Swiss Swim coach Nico Messer. Nico has been all around the US for the second year in a row and we talk about what he's learned on his trip, but also get in deep with some listener questions about swimming clinics and continuing education.
Today a three person pod with both Sarah Ehekircher and Eva Rodansky.
Sarah you should know from my her numerous recent appearances. Eva is a new face- someone that Sarah and I both have started to get to know. She tells some of her story of coming up in the speed skating world when it was in the grips of the infamous Michael Crow.
We talk about the recent Sports Illustrated article that came out on the Lopez Brothers, as well as the recent resignation of Kerry Perry from gymnastics. Finally, we have advice for National Governing Bodies if they want to stop repeating the vicious cycle they are in. Enjoy.
Here is a way to catch up with some of Eva's story.
After posting, Eva did want to let me and everyone else know that she endorses the "Darkness to Light" training that is also endorsed by Champion Women and Aly Raisman.
Today on the Swim Brief I am joined once again by Sarah Ehekircher. We talk all things related to the abuse in sports, hitting some of the big topics that have been in the news these past few weeks.
Just a preface before you listen- Sarah is someone that I met several months ago. She was sexually abused by her swim coach and I really value having her voice on this podcast. If we're ever going to truly move forward with this problem, I think we need to continue listening to people like Sarah.
Today on the Swim Brief I welcome back for the second time Shawn Klosterman. We talk about race pace, and what led him to partner with Strive Swim to create an app to track practice performance. We also get into Michael Andrew and his breakout senior summer.
This week I also made a big announcement about the future of this podcast and this blog. For more information on that click here, or go directly to my patreon page to become a patron today.
For more information about the app, go here.
This week, Sarah Ehekircher joins me to discuss Bob Bowman in the wake of Scott Reid's reporting that Bowman sent "aggressive" text messages (along with his friend Sean Hutchison) to Caroline Burckle in 2011. We also talk about what wasn't included in the reporting- the actual content of the texts.
Sarah and I get into a lot of the nuance, including Bowman's statement and what USA Swimming had to say on the matter. We also respond to some of the lines of attack that have been used to attack Burckle since she came forward.
This week, another solo-cast where I talk about Empathy. I get into several of the false definitions of empathy that I see out there, as well as some talk about practicing empathy inwardly as well as outwardly. In the end, I think empathy is only going to become more important as a skill for both coaches, athletes and people in the future:
This week, we return to our normal schedule and interview somebody very close by. David Rodriguez is the head coach of Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics, also known as AGUA, a club that operates on the island of Manhattan.
David and I talk about his journey and some of the bumps along the way, as well as the #skillskill, having no morning practice during the school year and the other unique aspects of running a big team in the biggest city. Enjoy.
The National Board of Review. This is the process that USA Swimming has used to adjudicate complaints of sexual abuse that they receive. It's a process that most USA Swimming members know next to nothing about.
In this podcast, Sarah Ehekircher and I discuss her NBOR in 2010, what motivated her to start the process, and the nasty surprises she found when the kangaroo court was actually convened: