more than swimming

A New NBOR For Sarah Ehekircher

A conversation with Sarah Ehekircher about the possibility of a second NBOR (National Board of Review) after the botched one in 2010. We talk about the process of even getting to the point where USA Swimming would consider another one.

All of this takes place with the backdrop of USA Swimming’s biennial “Safe Sport Leadership Conference”, leading me to speculate whether the two are connected. Enjoy:


Grooming Part Two: Athletes

In a follow up to last week’s podcast with Monica Strzempko, I sat down with Becky Finley, a former teammate of Sarah Ehekircher. We discuss what it was like to come up to an “elite” team at a young age (13) and all the kinds of radical behavior that she accepted as normal.

We also discuss at what point she decided that it was not normal for her coach, Scott MacFarland, to intervene in the way that he did:


Jeanette Ottosen Still Has It

Today one of my favorite athletes in the entire world, Jeanette Ottesen. I've followed Jeanette's career from when she first broke through as a teenager in Denmark, straight to world titles and an Olympic medal.

Now at 30 going on 31, married and with a one year old child, she's entering a new chapter of her competitive career. Guys, there is so much for coaches and swimmers alike to learn from Jeanette's story throughout this podcast. I even get schooled late in the pod when I try and guess what made Jeanette doubt continuing her career and fall into the same trap that most of the media does.

I hope you enjoy listening as much as I did:


Sherri Fisher Helps Me Unleash My Epic Self

Today a repeat non-swimming guest drop in from my friend Sherri Fisher. Sherri is the director of Learn and Flourish LLC, and we talk about the work she does with young people, particularly those struggling with executive function challenges.

We also talk about her new journal, which we hinted at in the previous podcast, and some of the content that went in to it.

You know, this business, this blog and this podcast probably would not exist without Sherri’s help, and I hope that it’s obvious when you listen what a big impact she’s had on me. Wait until the end when I tell her one big change she has made my family life. Enjoy.

Find out more about Sherri’s day to day work at Learn and Flourish

Check out the journal we talked about: Unleash Your Epic Self


Cultural Knowledge, Richard Foster and More

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:

Grooming: What to Avoid, and What to Look For Instead

Hi All,

Please enjoy this very low-fi, thanksgiving edition of the Swim Brief. Sarah Ehekircher joined me and we talked about three major ways grooming manifests itself in swimming. On a positive note we also talked about what to look for instead.

We also had fun talking about people in our lives who have no idea what we are doing as coaches or as “consultants”.

There is no intro, no ads, just straight into the podcast and straight out. There is some noise in the background that we explain off the top. Have a great holiday and I’ll catch you on the other side:


Should You Take Attendance?


Today I return with Trever Gray to talk about the subject of attendance. It may seem like a little thing, but we got into an interesting conversation with our plans  as we both embark on a high school season next week.

At the end, we both do movie reviews, and mine contains spoilers for the film Pacific Rim Uprising. So you've been warned.

Substance Abuse and Coaches Well-Being

Today two world's collide on the Swim Brief: Trever Gray (you know him from Nerd Alert) and Sarah Ehekircher- you know her because we have done a ton of podcasts together.

I'm bringing them both on so we can take a multifaceted look at substance abuse in the swimming world as well as coaches well-being. Sarah and I both noticed (and Sarah experienced) the connection between substance abuse and abusive behavior. Trever did a nice literature review to help, and ultimately we decided to make a three person pod to tackle the issue. Enjoy.