The Swim Brief

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Margo Geer’s path to becoming the head coach at the University of Alabama was anything but conventional. When she took over the program at 28, plenty of people questioned whether she was ready.

Six years later, Margo joins me to discuss what prepared her for the opportunity, how her experience as an elite athlete shaped her leadership, and why she was able to deal with the criticism surrounding her hiring.

We also talk about protecting the health and performance of coaches, the value of letting athletes experience different environments, an...

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Don Wagner spent more than fifty years coaching swimmers at every level of the sport—from developing young athletes to coaching Olympic champion Janet Evans during the most dominant stretch of her career.

In this conversation, Don reflects on the moments that defined his coaching journey, how training philosophy has changed over five decades, what he believes today's coaches get right (and wrong), and the lessons that mattered most after a lifetime on deck.

We discuss:

• Coaching Janet Evans during her world-record years
 • Why today's swimmers may nee...

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Todd DeSorbo has built one of the most dominant programs in college swimming history—but he says there was never a master plan.

In this conversation we explore what it actually takes to sustain excellence year after year, why coaching elite athletes is more about what you do with the data than long term planning. Listen for how he thinks about recruiting, athlete development, emotional control, and building a culture that keeps producing world-class performances.

Todd also shares why he believes plateaus are often a sign that an athlete is...

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What can The Odyssey teach us about leadership when every available choice carries consequences?

Chris is joined by Juliet Seuss for a different kind of episode: a conversation about Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and the questions it raises about responsibility, power, guilt, and shame. They examine whether Odysseus accepts responsibility for the people who follow him, how Penelope exercises power within an unjust system, and what Sinon’s story reveals about the shame society places on marginalized people.

Along the way, they explore one of leadership’s hardest realit...

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For years, conversations about athlete welfare have rightly transformed the way we think about coaching. But there's another side of the equation that receives far less attention:

Who protects coaches?

This week I'm joined by coach Sophia Parr (@swim.coach.sophie) for one of the most vulnerable conversations we've ever had on The Swim Brief.

Sophie shares the story of being removed from a high school coaching position after months of conflict, isolation, and feeling unsupported by leadership. Rather than focusing on a...

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Why do parents keep intervening in coaching decisions—and why does giving in usually make the problem worse?

In this solo brief, I describe the fear underneath parent pressure: the belief that failing to secure every possible opportunity means failing their child. I explore how coaches unintentionally reinforce that anxiety, why concessions invite more intervention, and how proactive communication can prevent conflict before it begins.

The episode offers a practical framework for defining the roles of coach, parent, and athlete—allowing parents to support their child meaningfully without feeling they...

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Dave Salo has coached at every level of the sport—from NCAA championships to Olympic medals—but this conversation isn't about workouts or sets.

Instead, we explore the decisions that define great coaching.

We discuss why process matters more than outcomes, how a single sentence can change the way an athlete experiences failure, the transition from assistant coach to head coach, what it means to lead people instead of simply managing performance, and the lessons Dave has learned from both success and adversity throughout his career.

Whether you...

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The head coach of Swimming and Diving at the University of Illinois Jeana Kempe joins to talk influences and the path of her coaching career. 

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David Marsh tells all about what his retirement actually looks like, and what he had planned if he was National Team Director.

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Tracy Menzel joins to talk GAIN, Diversity and why she’s back coaching in her hometown.

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Recapping the day I spent following around USA Swimming National Team Director Greg Meehan at last week’s Indy Pro Series event.

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Dave Durden joins to discuss how he approaches his unconventional start at Cal and his approaches to recruiting and hiring.

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Megan Devito, a high school swim coach and performance mindset coach, joins to talk shop on the value of coaching.

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The CEO of USA Swimming joins to share what he’s learned in his nine months on the job and what he thinks is possible for the future.

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Former National Team and World Champion rower Cara Stawicki joins to talk shop and even turns the tables on me.

Links for Cara:

Website: https://carastawicki.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carastawicki/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cara-stawicki-6059196/

Book a Discovery Call: https://calendly.com/carastawicki/discovery?month=2026-04

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Organizing my big picture reflections on the stupidest event in swimming history, and all the losers who tried to make it work.

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Big shout out to the IDGI Podcast with Nate McKay and Kyle Johnson for helping me out with this week’s pod. Listen to hear me get interviewed by the guys, plus some thoughts on the top about the Loser Olympics.

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Glenn Mills, the owner and founder of Goswim, 1980 Olympian and all around man about the sport, joins to talk about what he sees in the swimming world.

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An old friend of the podcast, Kyle Johnson, returns to share his wisdom. Kyle also has a podcast, which you can follow for me to be on soon.

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James Marshall of GAIN and Excelsior Athletic Club joins to talk how he came to coach three sports, knowledge sharing and the athletic insights of Nassim Taleb.

Check out his website: https://excelsiorgroup.co.uk/

Link to James’ substack newsletter.

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First podcast of the book club, featuring USA Swimming’s Corey Manley. We discuss previous guest Kristoffer Henriksen’s book All You Need to Know About Talent Development. The book was co-authored with Carsten Hvid Larsen and Louise Kamuk Storm.

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In preparation for book clubbing with Corey Manley, I break down how I communicate about talent with coaches and athletes.

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Celebrating 1000 followers on instagram by taking listener questions. Want to have your question answered on the pod? Listen to the end of the pod for instructions!

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The recently named CSCAA Division III Coach of the year, Peter Casares of Bates College, joins to recap the year and talk about getting a walk on to a National Championship. Plus, a bonus at the end for all D3 Swimming nerds.

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Northwestern Swimming and Diving Head Coach and College Swim Coaches Association President Rachel Stratton-Mills to share her approach to coaching.

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Dr. Randy Wilber is a Senior Sport Physiologist at the US Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. He has worked with numerous Olympic medalists across multiple sports. I press him for insight on overtraining and blood analysis.

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Renowned Danish sports psychologist Kristoffer Henriksen joins to discuss his life’s work on athlete development and changing the narrative around what it means to be competitive.

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The head coach of Women’s Swimming and Diving at UCLA joins to talk about single gender coaching, making her way to UCLA and sharing knowledge.

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Adrian Radulescu is the two-time Olympic coach of Romania, best known for his guidance of phenom David Popovici. In this podcast we talk about how he came to be a coach and how he approaches several common coaching problems systematically.

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On the eve of the B1G Championship, Brian Schrader went off on the new format and qualification for the NCAA Division I Championship. I respond to what he said and try to put it in context that I don’t see as it was reported out by other outlets.

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Dominique Diezi joins with stories of swimming and coaching both in Switzerland and the US.

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My former colleague and the Head of Knowledge and Innovation for Danish Swimming Christine Eilertsen joins to talk about her outlook on talent development.

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Fresh off his team setting yet another NCAA DII record, Nova Southeastern’s Ben Hewitt joins to discuss how he ended up at the top program in DIi and the lessons he has learned along the way.

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Niklas Brix joins to discuss trying out for the Danish Frogmen, leadership and dealing with peer pressure from other coaches.

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Musings on why we train swimmers in the groups that we do, and how much specificity is enough.

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Matt Sprang has been a coach, owned a swim club and now he’s moving on to the next chapter of his professional live. We get together to discuss what he’s up to and the vexing environment around coach wellness.

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“Debriefing” the Aqua Clinic in Nyborg Denmark, with highlights from a USOPC Sport Scientist and David Popovici’s coach Adrian Radulescu.

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Coach and author Chris Da Sie joins to talk about his recently published book, from Pressure to Podium.

Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G5PW4HSR
BN.com - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pressure-to-podium-chris-da-sie/1148919655
IG - https://instagram.com/betweenlaps
YouTube - https://youtube.com/betweenthelaps

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Summing up the year that was Swim Brief in 2025- thoughts on gratitude, the future and all the amazing things I got to be a part of this past year.

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Breaking out the all caps for the return of Joel Rollings. We discuss his new position at Marquette and get his takes on NCAA, Enhanced Games and more.