The SwimSwam Podcast

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.

This is a GMM takeover of the SwimSwam podcast. Joining us today is Van Mathias, one of the most fascinating comeback stories in American swimming. Mathias' path to becoming the American Record holder in both breaststroke sprints was anything but conventional. At Indiana, Mathias was primarily a butterfly and IM swimmer before breaking through in the 100 breaststroke, finishing second at the 2023 NCAA Championships in 50.60. Then he essentially disappeared for two years and eventually returned to Indiana as the program's director of swimming operations. In the summer of 2025, Mathias decided to race again. After roughly eight weeks of training, he won the 50 breaststroke at U.S. Summer Championships in 26.76 and finished second in the 100 breast in 59.74, putting himself back on the U.S. National Team. Over the next year, Mathias dropped his 50 breast from 26.76 to 26.57, then 26.39 and finally an American Record 26.30. In the 100 breast, he went from 59.74 to 59.45, then 58.19 before breaking Michael Andrew's American Record with a 58.01. At the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships, Mathias proved he could perform on the big stage. He won gold in the 100 breast in 58.02, took silver in the 50 breast in 26.42 and silver in the 50 butterfly in a personal-best 22.84. He also earned gold as part of both U.S. medley relays, including the world-record-setting mixed 4×100 medley. Beyond his breaststroke American Records, he's now been 21.62 in the 50 free and 22.84 in the 50 fly, which raises the question: Was Van Mathias training for the wrong events—or training the wrong way—for most of his swimming career?

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.