From Santa Cruz to Watsonville Coach Lucas Sallas-Cunha Expands Swimming Growth

Today on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss the new changes to the NCAA Championship format, recap last weeks college swimming, and preview the upcoming World Cup stop in Carmel, Indiana.

Today on the SwimSwam Podcast we’re joined by Lucas Sallas-Cunha, head coach of Quicksilver Swimming in Santa Cruz. Lucas has spent his career building champions in the pool, but his latest chapter is about something bigger: access. He recently expanded his program into Watsonville, California, a largely Hispanic/Latino community where swimming participation and water safety skills have historically been limited. To truly understand the cultural and structural barriers, Lucas earned his Doctorate in Education and centered his dissertation on the topic: “Understanding Water: Values, Viewpoints, and Behaviors That Influence Swimming Participation in Watsonville, CA.”

Today on the SwimSwam Podcast we have Jeff Pease, a name that has been synonymous with San Diego swimming for over 40 years. Jeff is the founder, head coach, and team owner of North Coast Aquatics (NCA), one of the first coach-owned swim clubs in the United States, established back in 1979. What started as a bold idea has grown into the premier program in San Diego, consistently earning Gold and Silver Medal status from USA Swimming.

Today on the GMM podcast we have Torri Huske, who walked away from the 2025 World Championships with two relay golds (including world records), a relay silver, and an individual bronze in the 100 free.

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss last weekend's Golden Goggles Awards, the financial draw of the Enhanced Games, and top NCAA dual meets from across the country.

After stops at Auburn, UNC-Wilmington, and Virginia, John Carroll is now the head coach of Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Carroll dives into his impressions of the team so far and what he's looking forward to as a first-time head coach. Georgetown starts its competition season vs crosstown rivals Howard University at the Battle at the Burr, one of the highest-attended college swimming dual meets in the country, on October 4.

Today on the GMM Podcast we sit down with Kaylee McKeown, the undisputed queen of backstroke. In Singapore, Kaylee swept the 100 and 200 back, blasting a personal best 57.16 in the 100 and nearly matching her world-record pace in the 200. What makes this story interesting is what came before it. Post-Paris, Kaylee struggled in training, so much so that she made the bold decision to return to her home club and reboot. That reset worked. By the time Worlds rolled around, she was back in control. But it wasn’t all smooth water. While Kaylee avoided the stomach virus that cut through the meet, she did face a shoulder dislocation scare and, in her own words, a bout of “constipation at Worlds” — her funny, unfiltered way of pointing out the irony compared to her competitors' health woes. In this episode, Kaylee breaks down: The reset that carried her from post Olympic training struggles to World Championship dominance. What it’s like facing Regan Smith again and again on the world stage. That she is confirmed for the World Aquatics World Cup this fall. Context behind the Australia Swimmers Association, an independent org supporting Aussie elites swimmers. And a candid look ahead as she weighs where to focus her energy next summer, Commonwealth Games vs Pan Pacs.

Today on the GMM podcast, we have Jack Alexy, a sprint star shouldering the hopes of Team USA fans in the run-up to LA2028. If you followed Paris, you know the story: Alexy’s first Olympic Games were mixed. He led the world out of prelims in the 100 free, then faded to seventh in the final. It was a tough pill to swallow for a swimmer sitting on that much raw speed. Fast forward to the 2025 World Championships in Singapore, and Alexy delivered one of the great redemption arcs, dropping a blistering 46.81 in the 100 freestyle, an American Record. Perhaps more importantly, when Team USA needed a hammer on the medley relay anchor, he uncorked a 45.95 split, the fastest anchor in American history. That bodes well for LA2028. Today, we dig into how he processed Paris, his training over the past year, his sickness on the cusp of Worlds, and what it felt like to deliver swims that rewrote the record books. This conversation runs about an hour. If I missed any topics or questions, drop them in the comments, and we’ll pick them up in our next Alexy podcast.

Rising Multi-talented star Audrey Derivaux shone brightly this summer, competing at the World Junior Championships in Romania and coming away with 3 individual golds, a silver, and a relay gold. SwimSwam sat down with Derivaux to discuss what her training has looked like this summer and what her experience was like in Otopeni with Team USA.

18-Year-Old Campbell McKean shocked the country when he won national titles in the 50 and 100 breast in early June. McKean went on to compete in both events at the 2025 World Championships in Singapore, making the semi-final in the 100 breast while falling just .12 short of a 2nd swim in the 50 breast. He also swam the prelims of the 400 medley relay, which went on to win a bronze medal.