Social Kick

Oliver Morgan Team GB’s Backstroke Star Chasing History - Episode 245

Team GB’s backstroker has arrived, and he’s one of the world’s best. Oliver Morgan has been on a rapid rise the last few years including an assault on the British record in the 100 backstroke and now has won the backstroke treble twice at his country’s championship meet. Only fully committing to swimming around age 18, the now 21 year old recently dropped his best time in the 100 to 52.1, close enough to taste a 51 second performance which few men in history have done.

In this episode, we chat with Ollie as he looks ahead to the World Championships this summer and discuss how he trains, what he’s learned from years of cycling and football training before focusing on swimming, how he assimilates into Team GB and the great potential for British medley relays.

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Enhanced Games - Pros and Cons - Live Discussion: Episode 244

With all the conversation surrounding the Enhanced Games, we decided to hop on a live show to discuss the pros, cons, and everything in between!

 

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Becca Mann: From Child Prodigy to Swimming Legend, Memoir, Comeback & the Maui Nui | Episode 243

From crossing the Maui channel at age 10 to rocking the American flag cap for Team USA to becoming the first and only person to complete the Maui Nui triple crossing, Becca Mann has lived a swimming life full of triumphs and tribulations too good not to share with the world, so the accomplished novelist and screenwriter pivoted to non-fiction and wrote a memoir - Outside the Lanes: A Pro Swimmer’s Story of Resilience, Reinvention, and Redefining Success.

Becca joins us for a chat about her life, writing books, and swimming. She’s a riot and her energy is contagious. Following a five year break from competition, Becca is back in the pool aiming to get back on the US National team, having moved to North Carolina to join her old friend and World Champion Ashley Twichell in training. Judging by her results thus far, she looks to be right on track.

Caroline Bricker: Stanford's 400 IM Queen on Beating Olympians and Believing Big | Episode 242

The Stanford women were on fire this year and it was performances like Caroline Bricker had at NCAAs that led the Cardinal moving up the podium to take the 2nd place trophy back to The Farm. Dropping 12 seconds over the course of 2 years is something age groupers do, not often seen among the elite field who generally are chasing marginal gains and celebrating personal bests by tenths of a second. But not Caroline Bricker. Her self belief, as she explains in this episode, powered her with a winning mindset that she brought to the A final and unleashed on the field to win the 400 IM, pulling away from the Olympic silver medalist in the process to stamp her name in Stanford history as “400 IM U.”

 

A lot is changing though, with the recent departure of coach Greg Meehan to take the helm at USA Swimming, Caroline updates us on the search process and how other coaches and teammates are stepping in to keep the momentum going into long course season.

Lucy Bell | Stanford's 200 Breaststroke NCAA Champion | Episode 241

NCAA 200 breaststroke champion Lucy Bell, a Stanford junior, didn’t even swim that event she ultimately won when the season began.

While one of the best individual medley swimmers in the country, driven by a strong breaststroke leg, her “3rd event” at NCAAs had usually been the 200 butterfly. But Lucy’s intuition told her to give breaststroke a try so she asked her coaches, got a chance, and on her first attempt put up the fastest time in the country to that point of the season. She would go on to drop time over and over again, ultimately culminating in a NCAA title with a dominant victory. Good reminder to always keep exploring your athletic potential.

Lucy Bell is the perfect example that trying something a different way could unlock growth and performance to another level.

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Piper Enge | Miranda Grana | Texas Indiana Women's NCAA Recap | Episode 240

The 2025 college swimming season was a wild one, and to chat about women’s swimming and put a bow on the year that was, we’re joined by Texas stud freshman Piper Enge and Indiana mega point scorer Miranda Grana to talk all things swimming. 

 

Piper finaled in the 100 breaststroke (5th) at her first ever NCAAs as a freshman and swam short course best times this year, following up on her World Championships appearance in 2024. Texas finished 3rd in the team race following a tight battle with Stanford for 2nd. 

 

Miranda Grana scored 40 points for the Hoosiers in her first year with the program, led by her 3rd place 100 backstroke and 4th place 100 butterfly performances. IU battled Tennessee for the 4th trophy, and took home another large one to display in coach Ray Looze’s office. 

 

In this fun episode with two of the brightest young stars in college swimming, we look back on the year of swimming, discuss adjusting to college swimming and to a new program, innovative techniques, the difficulty situation with roster cuts, and expectations for next year.

Jonny Marshall Will Modglin Yamato Okadome Florida Texas Cal 2025 Men's NCAA Recap | Episode 239

3rd Annual Men’s NCAA Championship Recap Show featuring Will Modglin (Texas), Jonny Marshall (Florida) and Yamoto Okadome (Cal).

The dust settled another Texas vs. Cal title race with Texas taking the crown, some of the up and coming stars from the meet sat down for a cross-team chat about the meet and college swimming. Will Modglin scored 23 individual points, highlighted by a team NCAA championship for the longhorns and 3 A final appearance. Modglin had ups and downs, as he was on the national champion 200 medley relay, due to a Florida false start. Modglin had his own disqualification on the dreaded back to breast turn in the 200 IM.

Jonny Marshall had 25 individual points, placing 2nd in the 100 back (while breaking the NCAA record). He also was on the meet record 400 medley relay, just missing their own NCAA record which they set at SECs.

Yamoto Okadome, the only Japanese swimming competing in the division 1 level got a true taste of the sport, being thrown into the A finals in the 100 and 200 breast. He also experienced the ravenous Cal fans/alumni, cheering on the team in their sweaty bear costumes.

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Jassen Yep - The most surprising win of 2025 NCAA Swimming Championships | Episode 238

As a 5th year, even Jassen Yep didn’t think winning an NCAA Swimming title was possible until he touched the wall in the 200 breast. After touching, Jassen Yep let out raw emotion and excitement, resulting in a legendary swimming celly. Although it seems like Yep was an overnight success, there was a lot of hard work behind this win. Yep was an accomplished high school swimmer in California, representing Archbishop Mitty and swimming at PEAK with elite club coach Abi Liu. In high school, he went a 1:57 in the 200 breast to earn a small scholarship at Indiana. At Indiana, Jassen put in work and through various ups and downs, he dropped 9 seconds in the 200 breast to go a 1:48 200 breaststroke, becoming the third fastest performer in history. He is also the best dressed Social Kick guest of all time, rocking a tuxedo on the show and having Olympian Matt King serve him a chilled beverage. Entering the 2025 NCAA Swimming championships, Jassen Yep was convinced this would be his final meet. Lucky for us, he surprised himself, and we’ll get to watch him continue his career in the long pool. Enjoy and don't forget to subscribe for weekly podcasts and daily shorts!

2025 NCAA Swimming Recap

In this special NCAA Swimming recap episode, the Social Kick crew recaps the most memorable moments of 2024-2025 in NCAA swimming season. We discuss the best individual swims (Walsh’s 46.97 100 fly, Crooks’ 39.83 100 free and many more), the overall environment of women’s and men’s championship meets, and rumors around the pool deck. Join us for a lively and insightful discussion as we reflect on another great year of NCAA swimming filled with incredible swims, unforgettable moments and a few drinks. 

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Iona Anderson - Australia's Teenage Backstroke Olympic Medalist - Episode 236

Iona Anderson is a teenage Australian Olympian and one of the best backstrokers in the world. 5th at her first Olympics individually, she came home with silver and bronze medals for her relay efforts in Paris. A native of Perth, West Australia, Iona grew up focusing primarily on gymnastics and didn’t even start swimming until age 12, so her rise to be among the elites happened quickly.

Perhaps this success in the pool comes from a short term focus, not being distracted by the potential she has down the road as Iona is simply focused on this season, in particular improving her skills off the block and the walls. Iona joined us from her temporary training base in Scotland but will return soon to her main base at the WAIS as she focuses on the build toward Commonwealth Games.

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