The SwimSwam Podcast

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we are discussing national and international meets that saw a plethora of fast swims

In this episode of the SwimSwam Podcast, we sits down with Nimrod Shapira, a man who embodies what it means to take the discipline of swimming and turn it into entrepreneurial rocket fuel. From NCAA champion and two-time Olympian to the CEO of Florida’s largest learn-to-swim business, Fintastic Swim Academy, Nimrod shares his journey from having $482 to building, scaling, and ultimately selling his company to private equity—while never truly leaving the sport he loves.

Sean Kao was a swimmer at Arizona State, where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in exercise science. In 2019, he started Aquatic Sports Performance out of his parents' garage in hopes of being able to help athletes with their out-of-water training. Over the last 6 years, it has developed into helping over 150 athletes in and out of the water reach their potential. Last month, one of ASP's athletes, Santo Condorelli, qualified for the US World Championship team in the 50 free. Sean discusses his humble beginnings, lifelong learning mentality, and his journey in helping Santo get to Singapore.

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we are discussing World Trials for the USA, Australia, and Canada.

Emma McKeon is an Olympic icon, an Australian swimming legend, and now a Swammer. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, McKeon became one of only 2 women in swimming to ever win 14 Olympic medals over her career, joining Katie Ledecky who accomplished the same feat at the same meet. SwimSwam caught up with McKeon after she had enjoyed some well-earned rest, recovery, and travel since Paris. The Aussie shared what her life has looked like since stepping away from swimming but also reflected on the leadup to her final meet. McKeon revealed that just 2-3 weeks out from Paris, she was contemplating not even going due to the severity of pain she was having in her shoulders. However, she was able to manage her injury through the Games and walk away with a gold, silver, and bronze, securing her legacy as one of the greatest Olympians ever.

What if we told you that the biggest business opportunity in swimming isn’t a tech suit, a sponsorship deal, or a world record — it’s the lane next to the one you grew up training in? In this episode of the SwimSwam Podcast, we dive into one of the most overlooked and underestimated business models in sport: learn-to-swim. Our guest? Two-time Olympian, NCAA Champion, and now CEO of Fintastic Swim Academy & Fintastic Brands — Nimrod Shapira. He launched his swim school with just $482 and zero outside investment. Today? It’s a multi-million dollar business that just exited to private equity — and he’s not done.

When we talk about performance breakthroughs in swimming, we usually focus on athletes, suits, or training methods. But sometimes the real game-changers are the things right beneath our goggles—like the lane lines. In this episode of the SwimSwam Podcast, we’re joined by Simon Percy, Vice President of Malmsten Inc. and a former Olympian, to dig into one of the most underrated pieces of race-day tech: the lane line. It might sound simple—but it’s not.

A3 Performance is making a bold leap forward this summer with the upcoming launch of its most advanced tech suit yet: PRANA. Founder and CEO Dan Meinholz shared the big picture in an exclusive conversation with SwimSwam, walking us through the inspiration, innovation, and athlete-focused engineering behind this world-class race suit.

Dara Torres drops in on the SwimSwam Podcast to recap her first-year experience as head coach of Boston College. If you followed swimming at any point between the late 1980s and the 2000s, the name Dara Torres likely meant one thing: dominance. The 12-time Olympic medalist was a generational athlete whose longevity and speed redefined what was possible in the sport. Now, Torres is proving that greatness doesn’t stop at the water’s edge. In her first year as head coach at Boston College, Torres brought the same energy, excellence, and relentless drive to the Eagles' program that defined her Olympic career. While the men’s team went 2-4 and the women posted a 2-3 dual meet record, Torres’ inaugural season wasn’t about win-loss columns—it was about laying the foundation for the future, and that foundation looks rock solid.

In this marathon podcast, we go through the entire 2025 US Trials psych sheet and give an event-by-event preview of every upcoming race in Indianapolis.

After emerging as Team USA's top 100 freestyle relay option at the Paris Olympics, Hunter Armstrong had planned to take 6 months off of training before getting back into the pool with his sights set on LA28. Life had other plans. After suddenly getting dropped by his primary sponsor in late 2024, Armstrong had to stop training completely, working odd jobs, including swim clinics, construction, and substitute teaching, in order to pay his mortgage. He was going to Pro Swims, but really only competing for the fun of it, having little to no training under his belt. After the Ft Lauderdale pro swim in May, which he thought would be the last meet of his career, a new sponsor contacted him about a potential partnership. Now with renewed life in and outside of swimming, Armstrong is taking his time getting back into serious training. Not swimming all the time forced the Olympic champion to find out who he was without his sport, and he's still enjoying that process. Since he has almost no training under his belt, Armstrong is forgoing the US World Trials in Indianapolis, choosing to focus on the Pro Championships in Irvine at the beginning of August instead. Though it didn't all go to plan, Armstrong is now back in the pool with his sights set on LA28.

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we are discussing the Enhanced Games, Braden Holloway as the single head coach for 2025 Worlds, and a potential new format for the NCAA Championships.

SwimSwam sat down with Greg Meehan, the newly named National Team Director of USA Swimming, to discuss his vision for the national team's future. When Meehan laid out his plan, his three key points were "winning" the 2028 Olympic Games, building a "team-first culture," and having transparency in the national team's methodology and communication. Meehan has already implemented significant changes in how the USA Swimming navigates an Olympic quad, including naming a single head coach for the 2025 World Championships (Braden Holloway) and having the results of the 2025 season determine the roster for the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships.

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we are discussing the 12-year-old Chinese phenom Yu Ziti (and swimming at the Chinese Nationals), Leon Marchand's spicy 4:07 400 IM, and Chris Lindauer going to Stanford.

Germany's Sven Schwarz is coming off a weekend that saw him break his first European Record, dropping a 7:38.1 in the 800 free. He also went a huge PB in the 1500, breaking 14:40 for the first time to touch in 14:36. Schwarz discusses his experience at the German Championships and what it's like when he gets to have training camps with fellow German distance titans Lukas Martens, Oliver Klemet, and Florian Wellbrock. 

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we are discussing the madness that occurred at the Ft Lauderdale Pro Swim.

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we are discussing the newly announced dual meet tournament, several international meets around the globe, and the upcoming Pro Swim Stop in Ft Lauderdale.

On the back of winning the 50 free and 50 fly at the 2025 British Championships and qualifying for her first LCM world championships, SwimSwam sat down with Eva Okaro to discuss her swimming career thus far. Okaro dives into her experience at the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2024 Short Course World Championships, where she won a silver medal with Britain's mixed 4x100 medley relay. She also talks about her training in Britain and what she's looking forward to about coming to the University of Texas in the fall.

SwimSwam sat down with the coaches behind the upcoming Dual Meet Tournament that will take place at Georgia Tech on October 17-18, 2025. Chico Rego of George Washington, Iago Moussalem of Georgia Tech, Cauli Bedran of Wisconsin (who is not participating in the tournament), and Steve Barnes of Florida State all contributed to this discussion and laid out how this event came together, what it will look like, and how they hope it will impact college swimming moving forward.

After training for 5 years in Italy with some of the best breaststroke specialists in the country, 20-year-old Anita Bottazzo needed a change. She wanted new stimulus both athletically and academically, so she decided to come to the University of Florida. Flash forward one year: Bottazzo has become an SEC Champion, NCAA All-American, and Italian champion, and is pursuing a degree in biotechnology. Listen to how Bottazzo has flourished in Gainesville and what tools she's gained since her arrival in the USA.

Stephanie Balduccini finished her second college swimming season as a Big Ten Champion and NCAA All-American. The Michigan sophomore has found her groove in Ann Arbor, but it wasn't a linear path. Coming into Michigan, Balduccini was actually quite unhappy with her swimming and was considering retirement if she didn't enjoy Michigan.

However, the coaching staff and family dynamic of the team helped her to rediscover her love of the sport. Specifically, she learned to focus on small wins in her day-to-day training and racing, not solely focus on times or results. The 2x Brazilian Olympian discusses the NCAA season, her Olympic experience, and what it means to be "Elite".

SwimSwam sat down with Bob Bowman, the Director of Swimming at the University of Texas, who delivered the Longhorns a national title in his first year at the helm. Bowman, who was coming off of winning a national title with Arizona State the year before, discussed the similarities and differences of winning national titles at ASU and UT, noting that Texas has a storied history of national success that gives a confidence boost to its athletes. Bowman also addressed Leon Marchand's scheduled return to competition, the Pro Swim Series in Ft. Lauderdale, confirming that we may see the 4x Olympic champion in some freestyle events. To round out our conversation, Bowman told a few stories of watching his grandchildren (Boomer, Beckett, and Maverick Phelps) play on their respective soccer and baseball teams, the latter of which their father, Michael Phelps, is the coach of.

Cal Baptist junior Remi Fabiani was a 3x conference champion this year, qualifying for NCAAs and finishing 13th in the 100 free. After NCAAs, Fabiani announced he would be transferring to ASU for his final season of eligibility. SwimSwam sat down with Fabiani to discuss his journey from his home country of Luxembourg to Riverside, California. The sprinter takes us through leaving home, his Olympic redshirt season, and what scoring at NCAAs as a Mid-Major athlete was like.

Today on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss Lukas Martens' huge world record in the 400m Free, 50s of stroke in the Olympics, and USA Swimming announcing Greg Meehan as the new US National team director.

We sat down with Jassen Yep, the Indiana Hoosier who came into Bloomington with a 1:57 200 breast and recently won an NCAA title in the same event with a 1:48. Yep takes us through his journey at Indiana and how he made the progression from barely recruited (he was not a walk-on, but he did come in with very little scholarship money) to #4 performer all-time in the 200 breast.

While Yep planned to retire after NCAAs, this wave of success and enjoyment of his sport has led Jassen to reconsider. The Hoosier will now keep training while he finishes his Master's degree in sociology with US Trials in June in his sights.

Aurora Roghair showed out in the last meet of her swimming career, notching 2nd place finishes in the 500 and 1,650 free, 11th in the 200 free, and swimming a massive 1:41.8 leg on Stanford's winning 800 free relay. After officially announcing her retirement, the US National Team member reflected on what being a Stanford women's team member has meant to her and how she grew during her four years on the Farm. She also speaks about her future, looking to pursue grad school at Notre Dame.

Olympic champion in the 200 back Hubi Kos carried his success over into the yards pool last month, going 3-for-3 in his individual events at the NCAA Championships and breaking NCAA records in the 100 and 200 back. Kos explains the confidence that being an Olympic champion has given him and how Bob Bowman's training prepares him for moments like this.

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss the recent Pro Swim Series stop in Sacramento, numerous high-caliber NCAA transfers, and the House Settlement's final hearing.

Tennessee senior Jordan Crooks had a historic meet at his last NCAA Championships in Federal Way. This included breaking Caeleb Dressel's legendary 100 free NCAA record, going 39.83 in the prelims of the event. He was also a part of the winning 200 and 400 free relays, the latter of which also set an NCAA record to cap off the meet. The world record holder and world champion sprinter sat down with SwimSwam to reflect on his collegiate career, unsure of what his future holds in the pool.

***This was recorded outside and the audio is a little scratchy during some parts. Apologies in advance***

Today on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss the 2025 Men's NCAA Championships as well as preview the upcoming Pro Swim stop in Sacramento.

Heat four of the men’s 200 fly preliminaries had an odd technical malfunction that is leading to the heat being reswum before the three-way 200 back swim-off.

We're giving you an event-by-event preview of the 2025 Men's NCAA Championships. 

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss the women's NCAA Championships and LCM swimming from around the globe.

Bryn Greenwaldt has taken the road less traveled in college athletics, foregoing to specialize in one sport and putting her efforts into both swimming and high jump. This went on full display when the Augustana University junior not only competed at both NCAA Championships in the same day, swimming prelims of the 100 free before going to the track to compete in the high jump and then returning to the pool for the 100 free final, but finished in the top-8 in both of her events that day. Greenwaldt also broke the NCAA DII record in the 50 free in prelims, her 21.92 marking the first DII athlete to ever break 22 seconds, before winning her first national title in the final.

We are giving you a full preview of the 2025 Women's NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.

SwimSwam sat down with Camille Spink, who won the Commissioner's Trophy at the 2025 SEC Championships for scoring the most individual points, sweeping her individual events. Spink became the first athlete since 2007 to win the 50, 100, and 200 free at a single SEC Championships. The Tennessee Vol takes us through her eventful meet, highs and lows, and gives her rationale for why she doesn't like the word "Taper".

On Friday, Indiana hosted media availabilty for its swim and dive coaches as well as a handful of top athletes, among them Olympian Anna Peplowski. Charlotte Varnes of the IndyStar asked Peplowski about what she was most proud of during her time at IU, and the senior spoke about the growth as a person she's been able to foster during her time in Bloomington. When Varnes asked head coach Ray Looze about Peplowski's growth, Looze shared the story of Peplowski making the Olympic team and what that did for her mindset as an athlete and leader.

SwimSwam spoke with Austin Lathrop, Camilo Vargas, and Sofia Vargas, three members of the Cal Poly swimming and diving roster that was suddenly cut by the school's athletic department on Friday, March 7, effective immediately. All three swimmers give their thoughts on how this matter was handled by the athletic director, what this team means to them, and how anyone can help in their grassroots effort to reinstate the team. While the team has a GoFundMe with the stated goal of raising $200,000, SwimSwam has reported that Cal Poly's president has stated it would take a $25,000,000 endowment for the team to be brought back.

At the SEC Championships last month, University of Florida senior Julian Smith broke the NCAA record in the 100 breast, clocking a 49.51 to undercut the old record from last year by .02. Hear what Smith has to say about how his season has progressed and what he sees for himself at his last collegiate meet in a couple of weeks.

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss the first Pro Swim Series stop in Westmont, NCAA roster cuts, and more.

Emma Sticklen won both the Commissioner's Trophy and SEC Swimmer of the Meet honors at her first SEC Championships. At that meet, Sitcklen won the 200 IM, 100 fly, and 200 fly, setting an SEC record in the 200 fly and Texas program records in all 3. The 5th year reflects on her career at UT and looks ahead to her last NCAA Championships as a Longhorn.

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss Chrissi Rawak Resigining as USA Swimming CEO after 1 week, Summer McIntosh training with Bob Bowman in Austin, and this weekend's conference championships.

Olympic medalist and NCAA All-American Erica Sullivan joined the SwimSwam Podcast to discuss her newest endeavor outside the pool: writing and directing a short film. The film, Wet Season, centers around a fictional women's collegiate swim team and looks to capture the ethos of being a part of a swim team. The project is currently in the final stages of pre-production, with filming scheduled for late May. Sullivan breaks down the ins and outs of what goes into preparing for a shoot like this and why this project is so near to her heart.

Chrissi Rawak withdrew from the position of USA Swimming CEO when USA Swimming became aware of a SafeSport complaint regarding her conduct while a coach at the University of Michigan. Rawak resigned within 24 hours of USA Swimming being notified of the allegation. USA Swimming has confirmed that the report was made to SafeSport after Rawak was announced as the new CEO.

The College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) and Fitter & Faster Swim Camps are excited to announce a new partnership aimed at enhancing collegiate swimming programs across the country. This collaboration will provide CSCAA member programs with an effective way to generate revenue, maximize facility use, and strengthen relationships with their local swimming communities.

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss the first week of conference championships.

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we discuss the Stanford women leaving early from the ACC Championships and the plethora of LCM racing around the world we saw this weekend.

Today on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we preview the women's and men's Big Ten (B1G) and Big 12 Conference Championship meets.

The massive conference realignments we have seen over the last year have led teams to adjust and make hard decisions. In the case of the Stanford women, head coach Greg Meehan has decided to send his NCAA qualifiers home from the ACC Championships after the Friday morning session. This means they will race 6 of the 9 sessions but get home a bit earlier to readjust and get back into training to focus on their primary season goal, the NCAA Championships in March.

Today on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we preview the SEC and ACC Championships, which will both take place on February 18-22.