Social Kick • Swim Culture & Stories

Mike Bottom

For our 50th episode, we’re joined by one of the best swim coaches of all time, Mike Bottom. This conversation explores Mike’s swimming career including his experience with the 1980 US Olympic boycott, his world-beating swimmer brother Joe Bottom, where he developed his skills in psychology and the art of coaching each individual person, not just the swimmer. Mike takes us through the epic arc of his coaching career from his influence on the start of a sprint dynasty at Auburn (which he confirms is the greatest in college swimming history), back to his alma mater USC and being part of a women’s national championship, then later to joining icon Nort Thornton at Cal, coaching Gary Hall Jr, Anthony, Duje, Cavic, and finally to his current seat leading the thriving Michigan program. This one hits it all, and we could have gone on for hours. Enjoy!  

Jason Dunford

In this episode of The Social Kick, Jason Dunford joins the show to discuss his careers as an Olympic swimmer, tech startup co-founder, reporter, and rapper. A true renaissance man, this conversation explores Jason’s evolution from a young swimmer in Kenya to one of the best butterfliers in the world, his transition into business and an MBA at Stanford GSB, to his life now as Samaki Mkuu (rap star) including special guest Jabali Afrika. For a special treat, Samaki and Jabali perform live!      

Gary Hall Jr.

In this episode, we are joined by Olympic Gold Medalists Gary Hall Jr. We discuss Gary's early skateboarding and snowboarding interests and how we transitioned into swimming at the age of 13. He discusses his frustration with traditional high volume training and his college experience at the University of Texas. Gary then discusses his 1996 Olympic experience, diagnosis with type I diabetes, and his current views on sprint swimming training.

Nathan Adrian

In this episode, we are joined by 3x Olympian and Olympic Gold Medalist Nathan Adrian. We start by discussing what Nathan has been doing during Covid-19, diving into the purchasing of his swim school. Then we talk about his experiences in the Olympics and Nathan gives his opinion on the best US Olympic male sprinter of all-time. After this, we talk about diversity in swimming and Nathan's experiences growing up in Washington. We end with an amusing game of rapid-fire questions where Nathan can't say sprinters are tougher than distance swimmers. 

Leah Martindale-Stancil

In this episode, we are joined by 2x Olympian and the current head coach of the Tulane Women's swim team, Leah Martindale-Stancil. Leah discusses her early swimming as a youngster in Barbados. We discuss Leah's experience at the "not a big deal" 1996 Atlanta Olympics where she placed 5th in the 50-m freestyle. We also dive into female coaching inequality and Leah's experience as a black swimmer in Barbados compared to the United States. 

Duje Draganja

In this episode, Duje Draganja joins the show to discuss his life growing up in Croatia, his experiences at CAL Berkeley, and his Olympic journey. Duje also touches on an elite swimmer's mindset and self regulating training.

Tom Shields

In this episode, the gang is joined by Olympian Tom Shields. Tom discusses his amazing high school and college career while discussing multiple hardships along his journey. We discuss his suicide attempt, his use of cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT), and how CBT is helping him become a better swimmer.  

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.