The SwimSwam Podcast

In this GMM takeover of the SwimSwam Podcast, we have Gretchen Walsh, fresh off her haul of seven medals at the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships: five golds and two silvers. And Pan Pacs was arguably her weakest overall competition of the year. In 2026, Gretchen made the choice to travel and race fast everywhere: Beijing, Rome, Fort Lauderdale, U.S. Nationals and Pan Pacs. She noted that she took for granted all the racing she did as an NCAA star, and she wanted that experience back. The results were impressive, but Gretchen is candid that she was not satisfied with her times at Pan Pacs. She talks through that frustration and explains how she evaluates a meet where the medal count says one thing but her own expectations say something else.

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we are discussing how likely it is to see Leon Marchand competing in freestyle at LA28, US Pro's finding new training bases, and the return of the International Swimming League.

2024 Olympian and recent Pan Pacs silver medalist in the 200 Breast Josh Matheny has announced he's leaving Indiana University in search of a new training home. In June, after having a rough first season as a pro swimmer and not performing how he'd hoped at the Pro Swim in Indianapolis, Matheny decided he needed a change. He asked USA Swimming National Team Director Greg Meehan if he could train at the Olympic Training Center until Pan Pacs, to which Meehan agreed. After discussing this change with Indiana coach Ray Looze as well, Matheny spent his last 6 weeks of summer preparing for Pan Pacs in Colorado Springs. In Irvine at Pan Pacs, Matheny neared his best time in the 100 breast, 59.2, making the final and ultimately finishing 4th, and set a PB in the 200 Breast at 2:08.2, earning silver. In the coming weeks, Matheny will talk with numerous teams throughout the country and hopes to find a good training fit for the next two years in the lead up to LA2028.

Hungary's Hubi Kos had a triple-crown performance in Paris at the European Championships. Winning the 200 Back and 200 IM individually, Kos also swam on Hungary's winning 4x100 free relay. Kos' Hungarian teammate, fellow superstar swimmer Kristof Milak, anchored that relay in a historically fast split, 46.2.

Before the meet, Kos had publicly voiced his frustrations about Milak sitting out of the relays in the past. Kos wanted to earn a medal for Hungary in a relay badly and knew that Milak would be key to that success. However, to Kos' surprise, Milak ended up swimming on Hungary's free relay, netting not just a medal, but gold.

Kos reflects on what winning a relay gold means to him and the historic times he posted in both the 200 Back and 200 IM.

Jack Alexy joins this GMM takeover of the SwimSwam Podcast to break down his Pan Pacific Championships performance and where those swims place him in a very elite, very crowded global sprint field. Alexy won the 100 freestyle in a Pan Pac Championship Record of 47.14, took silver in the 50 free in 21.42, and delivered a pair of sub-47 relay anchors for Team USA. He split 46.78 on the winning 4x100 freestyle relay and 46.97 on the winning 4x100 medley relay. And, of course, Alexy owns the 100 free American Record at 46.81, set at the 2025 World Championships. But the international competition has only gotten faster.