Social Kick

Katie Hoff Anderson

In this episode, Katie Hoff joins the show to discuss the best viral videos of swimming history, her last swimming race and career reflection, life as a youngster on the Olympic team, training 7-days a week at NBAC, some epic swim sets and how doing them breeds confidence when it’s time to race. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!        

Maya DiRado

In this episode, we are joined by 4x Olympic medalist and Rio 200 bk gold medalist Maya DiRado. We chat about the best Olympic swimming upsets of all-time, Maya's last race, what she’s been up to since Rio, difficult times during her swimming career, being a professional swimmer, the disparity of women in college coaching, and finally current events and her involvement in supporting activism in the swimming community and how swimming can evolve.    

Laura Sogar

In this episode, we are joined by one of the best US female breaststrokers in history, Laura Sogar. Laura swam at the University of Texas where she was an NCAA champion. Laura also earned silver at the 2012 World Championships in 2012. Since college, Laura has started doing stand-up comedy to complement her work in cybersecurity.  Laura joins us to discuss life after sport, similarities between swimming and stand-up comedy, and recent social events. 

Christen Shefchunas

In this episode, we are joined by Christen Shefchunas. Christen has twenty-two years of coaching and working one on one with women, Coach Christen speaks to women about REAL Confidence. Christen was an assistant swim coach at Michigan State and SMU before becoming the Head Coach at the University of Miami. Christen found herself back in the swimming world in 2015 working with Team Elite, a group of Olympians and National Team members as they prepared for the 2016 Olympic Trials and Olympic Games. In 2016, she created Coach Christen, LLC and works one on one with some of the top female athletes in the world as a Confidence Coach. We chat with Christen about confidence in college athletes, breaking down the differences between male and female swimmers, and confidence transitioning from athletics to the professional World.

Kara Lynn Joyce

In this episode, we are joined by one of the most bad-ass sprinters in history, Kara Lynn Joyce. Kara Lynn is 3x US Olympian, bajillion time NCAA champion, and Founder/CEO of LEAD Sports Summit. We chat with Kara Lynn about age-group and high school swimming, including her time training with Urbanchek and the Michigan men, her NCAA recruiting experience and career at Georgia, her Olympics and Olympic trials races, being a great puller, and so much more. This episode was recorded on June 4, 2020 during a time of protest over social injustice, and we begin our conversation addressing current events. 

Felicia Lee

In this episode, we are joined by Felicia Lee. Felicia was a USA National Team member and is a multiple-time NCAA Champion. We chat with Felicia about swimming at North Baltimore Aquatic Club with Bob Bowman, at Stanford with Greg Meehan, and what she has been doing after her swimming career.

Leah Smith

We are joined by Olympic medalist and distance superstar Leah Smith. Leah grew up in Pennslyvania and swam for the JCC Sailfish. She continued her swimming in college at the University of Virginia where she excelled and was a multiple-time NCAA champion. Internationally, Leah medaled at the 2016 Olympics and has made numerous international teams for the United States. She currently trains at Tucson Ford Aquatics and represented the LA Current in 2019 of the ISL.

Chad La Tourette

In this episode, we’re joined by American distance swimming star Chad La Tourette. Chad grew up in Southern California, swimming at the legendary Mission Viejo Nadadores under Bill Rose. He had success in high school, making the 2006 Junior National Team and 2007 World University Games. In 2008, he finished 3rd at the U.S. Olympic Trials in the mile. In college, he swam for Stanford University, where he broke the NCAA record in the mile, but finished second to Martin Grodszki of the University of Georgia. In 2012, he finished 3rd in the mile at the U.S. Olympic Trials, for a second time. We chat with Chad La Tourette about his NCAA, International, Open Water, and Masters swimming career.

Dylan Carter

In this episode, we’re joined by the versatile Dylan Carter. Dylan began swimming later than most swimmers in Trinidad and Tobago, then moved to the United States for High School. Dylan was then recruited to USC to swim for the Trojans under Dave Salo. He swam in the 2016 Olympics representing Trinidad and Tobago and is a member of the LA Current. Our conversation with Dylan covers the swimming training in Trinidad and Tobago, moving to the United States as an International Student, college swimming, the Olympics, and the ISL.

Amy Bilquist

In this episode, we’re joined by standout backstroke and freestyler Amy Bilquist. Amy’s been an elite swimmer for a long time. She was one of the top recruits in the country out of high school, where she moved onto Cal and continued to rack up points for the Bears. She’s been on the USA National team, and last summer returned from a knee surgery AND a broken hand to win the 100bk National title and light a spark for the Olympic push. Our conversation with Amy covers the Olympic postponement and current lifestyle during COVID19 shutdown, strength training and learnings from injury recovery, what she’d like to see ISL add to the lineup to drive excitement, and much more plus some laughter along the way.