Social Kick

Olympian and World Championship Silver Medalist Backstoker Phoebe Bacon is after those marginal gains to win medals as one of the world’s best backstrokers. Phoebe Bacon represented the USA at the Tokyo Olympics, finishing 5th in the 200 backstroke, then turned around the next year and nearly won a World Championship title in the same event but was barely touched out for gold, still 1.5 seconds faster than her Olympic swim. J ust a junior in college, Phoebe Bacon is shining under the tutelage of legendary coach Yuri Suguiyama, known for developing Katie Ledecky into an Olympic champion. No surprise to see Phoebe’s success and we expect more is on the way. Oh, by the way… too many national teamers said we should talk to Phoebe because she’s just awesome, and they were right! Enjoy!

Not many swimmers, or athletes for that matter, are willing to speak their mind publicly. Olympic Champion Lilly King, however, has generated headlines for years, and not just based on her insane resume of swimming accomplishments as one of the best breaststrokers of all time. Lilly has spoken openly against performance-enhancing drugs and competitors who have tested positive, unafraid of the spotlight her comments would bring upon her, and the subsequent pressure to perform well. See, Lilly King is a straight shooter, and she thrives in the highest-pressure situations. What might faze others seems to bring out the best in Lilly King. This is one of our favorite conversations ever on the podcast. Enjoy!

In the late 90s and 2000s, the road to an NCAA title went through Auburn. From 2003-2007, Auburn men and women won 9 out of 10 possible team championships. While that dominant era seems like the distant past, this year’s team, led by Aidan and Nate Stoffle, is out to prove Auburn is headed back to the promised land - ahead of schedule. Enter Ryan Wochomurka. In year two at the helm of his alma mater, Ryan’s Auburn Tiger men jumped from a 6th place finish at the Southeastern Conference Championships in 2022 to a solid 2nd place finish this year behind perennial winner Florida. Aidan and Nate Stoffle are prime examples of just how Auburn is rebuilding - developing solid, but not superstar-level, prospects into consistent finalists in multiple events and contributing to top-3 relays. The Stoffle brothers say Auburn is coming. Get your popcorn ready. Enjoy!

The Texas men never seem to have down years - they just reload. Their legendary coach Eddie Reese continues to develop NCAA point scorers. Jake Foster and Luke Hobson, both high school standouts that were destined to rack up points for the Longhorns, have certainly delivered on that promise. Jake Foster is a stalwart in IM finals, and in the past year has seen his breaststroke develop into a legitimate weapon, no longer just a “fun” event. Luke Hobson is an NCAA relay champion and 2022 500 free 3rd place finisher who seems to be on a similar improvement path to so many of the great Texas freestylers - he recently swam a 1:31.8 200 yard freestyle in a dual meet! Fast swimming is already here, and with Jake Foster and Luke Hobson, it's about to get even faster at the championship meets. Hook ‘em!

Heading into the 2023 championship season, the Georgia men’s team looks very different at the top than in 2022. Gone is NCAA and Short Course World Champion Matthew Sates, and following a shoulder injury suffered mid race at the Indianapolis World Cup last fall, the Dawgs are without NCAA & American record holder Luca Urlando. That’s a lot of points to replace, but 2021 NCAA 500 free Champion Jake Magahey will lead this UGA men’s team and both Jake and Luca Urlando are confident in the ability of the rest of the squad to step up, as evidenced by the level of training they showcase in Athens on a daily basis. Jake Magahey will look to take advantage of the absence of both Sates and Florida star Olympian Kieran Smith in the distance events. Luca Urlando is at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado doing rehab and preparing his body for a push toward the 2024 Olympic Trials. While many miles apart, these roommates stay connected and speak of the great impact Luca Urlando still has on his UGA teammates while he’s away. Enjoy!

A child of athletes and with close ties to the greatest Australian Olympian ever, Lani Pallister was destined to become a World Champion, a title she earned 4x in 2022 at the World Short Course Swimming Championships in front of a home crowd in Melbourne. Lani Pallister has dealt with a steady stream of setbacks in the past few years: heart surgery, eating disorder, and missing selection to the famed Australian Dolphins senior team by one spot for 4 years in a row. Lani Pallister could have easily fallen back on her roots as a world-class athlete in competitive Lifesaving (yes, it’s a sport, and she still holds a youth world record in it), but instead she has emerged as a legitimate medal threat in the swimming distance events in Paris. Enjoy!

Last year Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh won every event they swam at NCAAs. Alex went on to win the World Title in the 200IM last summer, and Kate raked gold medals at the World Short Course championships in December (Alex won her share there too). Superstars of swimming, Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh head into the college championship season ready to carry the momentum into perhaps a 3rd straight championship for the Virginia Cavaliers. Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh share about their versatility in swimming seemingly any event and how differently they train from one another even though they are teammates. Kate and Alex also recount their epic 200 IM battles from the 2020 Olympic Trials and the Tokyo Olympic final, tell us about their NIL experiences, and lament being teased about middle names. Enjoy!

The most consistently fast swimming sprinter of all-time, measured by an astounding 100+ swims under 22 seconds in the 50m freestyle long course, Tokyo Olympic Bronze medalist Bruno Fratus shares what he’s up to now. Bruno Fratus has dealt with several shoulder injuries and surgeries throughout his career, and is now almost back to 100% following the latest shoulder surgery; the side effects of training and racing sprint freestyle using a straight arm technique that is widely used by all the top sprinters today. We talk about a lot in this episode with Bruno Fratus: sprint freestyle technique and training, Olympic paper weights, and how the Olympic 50m free champion (Caeleb Dressel) isn’t really a sprinter.

Coming off perhaps the most impressive dual meet performances ever, including Leon Marchand breaking the NCAA 400 IM record, Leon Marchand and Grant House of Arizona State tell us what’s in the water in Tempe that has ASU swimming so fast right now. The Sun Devils are a decade removed from the program being cut and later reinstated - few could have foreseen this success. Legendary Coach Bob Bowman is building a high performance factory at Arizona State as the college team is among the best in the NCAA and some of the best professionals in the world have flocked to swim under his tutelage. Double IM World Champion Leon Marchand shares what its like to swim in an IM group with a combined 10 Olympic and World Championship medals, and Grant House, a 1:30 short course yards 200 freestyler who finished 2nd at NCAAs explains the mentality and the team chemistry that is the foundation for the success ASU is having right now. Enjoy!

As the first man in nearly 100 years to win Olympic medals in the 200, 400, and 1500 freestyle events, which he achieved in Atlanta in 1996, Daniel Kowalski is one of the greatest mid-distance / distance swimmers ever. A star in swimming-crazed Australia, in perhaps the golden era of Australia’s rich swimming history, it would be easy to think that after he won gold on the 4x200m relay at the Sydney Olympics that Daniel Kowalski would retire from swimming with zero regrets. But Daniel Kowalski battled depression as he struggled with a feeling of failure for his silver medal in the 1500 in Atlanta, developed an eating disorder, and endured the life of a closeted gay man still years away from coming out. In the years since, he’s been able to oust that negativity and is involved in swimming as a member of the Australian Olympic Committee and World Aquatics Athlete Commission where he serves the betterment of the sport and its athletes. Enjoy!