The SwimSwam Podcast

SwimSwam caught up with 2x Olympian and 14x World Champion Olivia Smoliga, who has been taking an extended break for competition since the 2024 US Olympic Trials. Though Smoliga has been out of the pool, she's still had chlorine on her mind as she announces her brainchild, In Depth Swim Academy.

After serving a 2-year ban for a rule violation related to the unintentional use of Ligandrol, Shayna Jack was on a mission to prove that she could once again rise to the top of the world in swimming. Flash forward to the end of 2024. Jack amassed 17 world championship medals and made her first Olympic team, where she won double gold as a part of Australia's relays and qualified for 2 Olympic finals in the 50 and 100 free. Sitting down with the 26-year-old now, Jack has taken a significant amount of time to give back to the community that got her through the last 5 years and on top of the Olympic podium. She's also taken time to say yes to as many opportunities as she can, including walking in Brisbane Fashion Week, riding horses, and getting engaged to her longtime boyfriend. The St. Peters West athlete is only now starting to rekindle the fire to train and compete again. But this time, she is working to do so without a chip on her shoulder or something to prove.

Gabriel Jett is off to a sizzling start in his senior season but not in events you might expect. At the Minnesota Invite, Jett posted top-10 times nationwide (and huge PBs) in the 100 back, 200 back, and 200 IM. Jett also swam the 3 events that he's competed in at his last 3 NCAA Championships, the 200/500 Free and 200 Fly, but was well off of his personal bests in all 3. The Cal senior explains that for his senior year, he wanted to leave no stone unturned and fully commit to whatever plan head coach Dave Durden had for him, which ended up meaning training much more with the distance group than in previous years. It also meant putting a heavy emphasis on Jett's underwater work, which may explain his drops in backstroke and IM events. Either way, it seems like Jett is going in a positive direction heading into the rest of his last NCAA season.

Director of Swimming & Diving at the University of Texas Bob Bowman returns to the SwimSwam Podcast and we cover a lot of ground. In the last month alone, we've seen Bowman-trained swimmers have a myriad of highlight moments at competitions ranging from the Texas Elite Invite to the Short Course World Championships. Bowman addresses all of these meets as well as the recent news that Leon Marchand will go to Australia to train with Dean Boxall for a few months starting in January.