Today I am joined once again by Trever Gray. Trever schools me on a topic that I don't that much about, but should know more: supplements.
We go through the Madisyn Cox case and talk about some of the reasons people take supplements, as well as some of the free resources that are out there for making more informed decisions.
Today on the Swim Brief I am joined Susan Teeter. Susan capped off a very successful career as coach of Princeton University a year ago, and since then she's been working with organizations big and small through her company S.S Teeter Associates
I wanted to talk to Susan specifically because of the report that was reported on last week, coming out of the University of Minnesota's Tucker Center that gave NCAA Swimming an "F" grade for gender equity. We both noticed the way the conversation was going online and wanted to see if we could steer it in a better direction. Enjoy.
Three new patrons signed up this past week for my Patreon account, thank you to them! If you want to join the cause go here.
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, Trever Gray returns with a nerd alert, where we discussion motivation. Specifically, we go through Deci and Ryan's well known Self Determination Theory.
Trever's written some blogs on the subject (links below), and it's a great discussion to have in the off-season or as you look to the new year:
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 topic of this week's Swim Brief is one that I have spent a good deal of time talking to coaches, swimmers and parents about around the country.
Optimism: what is it? What is it not? How can you use that definition to enhance what you do as a coach, based on what i've learned from studying Positive Psychology and coaching. Enjoy:
Gary Taylor has made it to the big time. After spending the past six years as part of a dramatic revival of the North Carolina State Swimming and Diving program, he has been named the head coach of Auburn.
Gary and I go back to the decision to coach at NC State in the first place, as well as what motivated him to make the big move to a head coaching position in the SEC. Gary also talks about changes to the recruiting landscape, responding to interest in coaching at Auburn, and more. 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:
Today I talk to Dirk Marshal. Dirk was an accomplished swimmer in his day who has taken a different route to starting a unique kind of team. We talk about his club, the Bridge Bats and how he came to form it the way he did.
Later we discuss Sarah Ehekircher and how we've both come to know her and join Sarah's posse. Dirk shares a really good argument on how we can stand up for what's right in swimming. Enjoy.
This week a special hiring season podcast with friend of the brief Nico Messer. Nico has been on a lot of the episodes since the pod started back up again, and it's great to have him back once more.
We talk about the season from both the perspective of someone doing the hiring and someone looking for a job. We tell you everything we've learned from getting jobs, and not getting them. Enjoy.
Today I snuck in a conversation with Chuck Batchelor, while he was at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Chuck is currently the head coach and owner of Bluefish Swim Club in the New England LSC.
I ask Chuck about how he got started, and how he went from a swim coaching plying his trade to owner of the most successful team in New England.
Finally, we get into a very polite discussion about training methods and reputations for training methods. Enjoy:
Today's guest is Matt Finnigan. Matt is a different kind of swim coach who founded a different kind of swim team on the West Side of Salt Lake City. I was really excited to hear his story and how he was able to build a more inclusive squad despite some of the barriers that have kept swimming from being a diverse sport.
The Club he founded, Race Swami, aims to make a difference, and they've done just that, expanding from humble beginnings to serve 80 athletes
You can read more about Race Swami here
Bonus pod! Today I try to extend the excitement of NCAAs by talking with a coach at the hottest team in college swimming, Indiana University. Mark Hill joined the Hoosiers before the start of this college year. He had previously won a men's NCAA title as part of Michigan's squad in 2013.
We talk about the crazy, amazing spectacle that NCAAs is, what he learned in his year away from college swimming, and I formally ask him if there's still space for me on the IU bandwagon. Enjoy.
Today I talk to elite Masters swimmer and former National Champion Susan Williams. Williams has a world record in her age group, and we talk about her life growing up swimming in the DC area. Williams was the first National Champion that disgraced coach Rick Curl ever coached.
We talk about her recollections of the time, including finding out that Curl was sexually abusing her teammate, Kellie Davies Currin, and Susan does some brutally honest self-examination of how she dealt with the knowledge and the subsequent aftermath. We also do our best to bust up the "great coach" narrative that often works against victims of sexual abuse:
Today another guest that I've wanted to have for a long time. Irvin Muchnick has been doing outstanding work covering corruption and abuse in American swimming. He's soent a lot of the past few years breaking stories and doing legwork that often finds its way later to bigger publications, uncredited.
Irv and I talk for a long time, almost 80 minutes, and we cover the big picture as well as the the story that he has spent the last few years with intense focus on: former Irish Olympic coach George Gibney, who is still living in the US and evading justice for the terrible crimes he stands accused of in his home country. Enjoy
To catch up on Irv's work, go here.
Among the revelations of this podcast: there is reason to believe that Susan Woessner lied when she resigned from USA Swimming about her interactions with Sean Hutchison. Also, a group of swimmers led by Olympic gold medalist Karen Moe Humphreys will be speaking out against abusive coach Paul Bergen.
The guest is one that I've wanted to have for a long time and is so relevant to everything going on in the swimming world right now. Nancy Hogshead Makar is a former Olympic Champion swimmer. She went on to a law career, where he has dedicated significant time to advocacy work, first for the Women's Sports Foundation, and now as CEO of Champion Women.
Her most recent accomplishment includes lobbying to push the "Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport" act through congress.
The act was recently signed into law, and Champion Women has a nice cheat sheet for those looking to catch up on what it means.
For more information on Nancy and her work visit Champion Women. You can also read this excellent piece where she tells a lot of her life story here.
Here's the back story on this one: A couple of weeks ago, I did a pod with Erik Kramer. Paul Yetter liked that pod, so I asked him to come back for a similar conversation. I wanted to talk to Paul about some of the stuff he's struggled with over the years, and more importantly how he found a way to move forward.
We ended up getting all kinds of fired up about three quarters of the way through about Race Pace training, before bringing it back to really get a fuller picture of what he's learned through 20 years in the coaching world. Enjoy.