The SwimSwam Podcast

19-Year-Old Nikita Sheremet had just about as good a sprint season as one can have. After becoming an NCAA All-American for Louisville in the 50 free as a freshman, Sheremet came into this summer's European Champs as one of the premier sprinters in the psych sheets. However, many didn't see what would come next. After clocking a PB of 216 earlier in the season, Sheremet dropped a 21.5 in prelims of the 50 free at Europeans. In semis that night, Sheremet furthered his PB with a 21.3. But in finals, the Ukrainian dropped the hammer, clocking a 21.1 to win his first European title and etching his name in history as the #7 performer all-time. To top it all off, he got to share the podium with a former Louisville cardinal, Andrej Barna of Serbia, who tied for silver. Listen to Sheremet as he explains what has gone so right for him this year and his reaction to making his mark on sprinting.

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we are discussing Tomoyuki Matsushita's medley magnificence, the recently announced 2026-27 USA National Team, and the SCM qualifier, Jose Finkel Trophy. In actuality, we spent 30 minutes debating who will be the top-4 male and female swimmers in the World going into 2027. Let us know your list!

In this GMM takeover of the SwimSwam Podcast, we sit down with 8-time Olympic medalist Regan Smith after a 2026 season that has been fast, revealing and, at times, frustrating. At the Pan Pacific Championships, Regan came away with gold in the 200 backstroke, silver in the 50 and 100 back, and a fourth-place in the 200 IM. But the results don’t tell the whole story. In both of her signature backstroke events, Regan was faster in prelims than in the final. She went 57.86 in the 100 back prelim before finishing second in 58.11, then dropped a 2:04.13 in the 200 back prelim before winning the final in 2:05.57. For one of the most consistent swimmers in the world, that morning-to-night disconnect stands out. We dig into what happened at Pan Pacs and what Regan learned from it. And Regan is her on own harshest critic. In this podcast she's thinking through her season, noting her frustration that she trained repeated 8k color sets ahead of the Fort Lauderdale Open and ripped a 57.4 100m back--but tapers for Pan Pacs and doesn't get under 58 at night in the finals. Through that lens, we look back at 2026 and the bigger picture. Regan has been remarkably consistent in the 100 back, repeatedly racing in the 57-second range while carrying a heavy training load. In the 200 back, she is once again approaching the 2:03.35 lifetime best she set as a 17-year-old in 2019. And the most interesting developments happened outside Regan’s traditional events. She set lifetime bests this year in the 200 freestyle (1:56.9) and 400 IM (4:35.7), while also producing elite times of 55.94 in the 100 fly and 2:04.73 in the 200 fly. We ask about her expanding event range and how it figures into her training and schedule under coach Bob Bowman.

Lani Pallister had perhaps one of the most successful summers in history in terms of medals won. She went to the Commonwealth Games and was dominant, winning the 400-800-1500 Free and helping Team AUS to gold in the 4x200. She also earned silver in the 200 free behind her teammate, Mollie O'Callaghan. After her time in Glasgow, Pallister kept her momentum going in Irvine. On Night 1, she shocked Summer McIntosh by winning the 200 free, then finished 2nd in the 1500 Free to Katie Ledecky later in the same session. She went on to beat Ledecky in the 400 free and help Team AUS to another gold in the 4x200 free relay, but Pallister saved the best for last. On the final night of competition, in the final women's race, Pallister dove into the pool against Ledecky in the 800 free and came out on top. Pallister led the race wire-to-wire and touched the wall first in 8:06.10 to Ledecky's 8:07.26, marking the first time in Ledecky's career that she had lost the race at an international competition. Pallister ended her summer with 8 golds and 2 silvers from Comm Games and Pan Pacs combined, making history in multiple ways and asserting herself as arguably the best female distance swimmer in the world. SwimSwam was excited to have her back on the podcast in what ended up being a very fun, and perhaps a bit scattered, conversation. In this 80+ minute episode, we discuss her historic summer, along with many, many... many other topics.

In this GMM takeover of the SwimSwam podcast we have Head Varsity Coach at The Bolles School Jake Gibbons. This is Jake’s second time on the podcast. We skip most of the biography this time, digging into what intelligence Jake has gathered developing high-level swimmers inside one of the most storied programs in the sport. We start with the rapidly changing landscape of college swimming and recruiting. Jake supports Bolles talent in navigating the college process, giving him a ground-level view of how roster limits, the transfer portal, recruiting, and the changing economics of college sports are impacting high school swimmers. We talk about what college coaches are actually looking for now and what swimmers and parents should be thinking about before choosing a program. From there, we go global. Bolles has always had a strong international footprint, and Jake has spent time studying how young swimmers are developed around the world. At Bolles, Jake is also wrestling with a challenge familiar to every program: how do you continue evolving without losing what made the program successful? We talk about building team depth while simultaneously developing top-end athletes, including Ethan Bathala, who became Jake’s first swimmer to make the USA Swimming National Junior Team. Then we get into training. Jake’s philosophy continues to evolve, and he is increasingly putting speed at the center. Instead of viewing speed as something added after building an aerobic foundation, Jake looks at aerobic development, skills, power and recovery as tools that ultimately support swimming fast. Finally, we talk about swim parents. Youth sports is becoming increasingly transactional, with recruiting, rankings, scholarships and outcomes dominating the conversation. Jake offers some perspective on what parents should protect along the way and why optimizing every decision around swimming success can sometimes destroy the very experiences that make the sport valuable.