WEBVTT - Basically Amphibious with Katie Ledecky 0:00:00.720 --> 0:00:03.120 Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're totally 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:05.880 chill and not freaking out at all about talking to 0:00:06.040 --> 0:00:12.840 Katie mother fucking Ladecci. Okay, it's Thursday, August twenty first, 0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:15.200 and on today's show we'll be talking to swimming superstar 0:00:15.320 --> 0:00:19.120 and fourteen time Olympic medalist Katie Ladecci about her success 0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:22.120 at this year's World Championships in Singapore, What keeps her 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:24.919 motivated year after year and the things that go through 0:00:24.920 --> 0:00:28.400 her mind as she's swimming laps, plus saving and scoring 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:31.280 winning chips and taking trips and a game fit for 0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:39.600 the Queen. It's all coming up right after this welcome 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:43.920 back slices. Here's what you need to know today. Let's 0:00:43.920 --> 0:00:47.040 start with the WNBA. The league has broken its total 0:00:47.120 --> 0:00:50.920 regular season attendance record, with a whole month remaining so 0:00:51.040 --> 0:00:53.479 far this year, two point four to three million folks 0:00:53.520 --> 0:00:55.240 have attended WNBA games. 0:00:55.600 --> 0:00:55.760 Now. 0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:57.840 The Golden State Valkyries deserve a lot of credit for 0:00:57.880 --> 0:01:00.480 this speedy new record, as the WNBA's new US team 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:03.680 has sold out all sixteen of their home games. That's 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:05.880 good for more than two hundred and eighty nine thousand 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:09.520 total attendees. Plus the New York Liberty of up their game. 0:01:09.600 --> 0:01:12.320 No doubt, thanks to last year's title win, the defending 0:01:12.440 --> 0:01:15.440 WNBA champs have averaged twenty nine percent more fans so 0:01:15.560 --> 0:01:17.959 far this season. We'll link to a story from Front 0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:20.039 Office Sports that gets deeper into the weeds on the 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:25.480 record attendance more WNBA. ESPN's Alexa Philippo and Ramona Shelburne 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:29.360 reported on Tuesday that the Connecticut Suns owners, the Mohegan Tribe, 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:32.800 planned to present the WNBA with multiple options for potential 0:01:32.800 --> 0:01:36.440 buyers after a previously agreed upon sale was thwarted by 0:01:36.480 --> 0:01:38.800 the league in what feels like an attempt to get 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:41.440 the Tribe to take less money so the w can 0:01:41.480 --> 0:01:43.959 direct the team to an owner it prefers and the 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:46.479 cash in later on a future expansion team. 0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:48.320 Quick refresher on the situation. 0:01:48.840 --> 0:01:52.320 It was previously reported that Boston Celtics minority owner Steve 0:01:52.320 --> 0:01:55.360 Paliuca wanted to buy the team and relocate it to 0:01:55.440 --> 0:01:58.200 Boston for a record breaking three hundred and twenty five 0:01:58.240 --> 0:02:00.880 million dollar fee, per report from front at the show, 0:02:00.880 --> 0:02:04.120 any constable of Front Office Sports that offer from Paliuca 0:02:04.200 --> 0:02:06.680 was agreed to by the Tribe and presented to WNBA 0:02:06.720 --> 0:02:09.880 Commissioner cat the Engelbert back in July, but Engelbert never 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:11.800 brought it to the league's board of governors and the 0:02:11.840 --> 0:02:14.079 exclusivity period expired, opening the. 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:15.240 Door back up to other bits. 0:02:15.800 --> 0:02:18.120 When news that the tribe in Palauca had agreed to 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:21.360 terms went public in early August, the WNBA issued a 0:02:21.400 --> 0:02:25.000 statement that relocation deals are made by the League, not teams, 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:27.640 and that the cities who went through the expansion process 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:31.560 have priority over Boston. Back to Alexa and Ramona's reporting, 0:02:31.720 --> 0:02:35.120 so per ESPN sources, After the tribe in Paliuc agreed 0:02:35.160 --> 0:02:37.320 to that three hundred and twenty five million dollars sale, 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:40.480 but before that agreement was made public, the League stepped 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:42.560 in with their own offer to buy the Sun for 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:45.519 two hundred and fifty million and not charged the future 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:49.280 buyer an additional relocation fee, so with their original deal 0:02:49.360 --> 0:02:52.079 with Paliuca thwarted. But not wanting to get low balled 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:54.919 by the League, the Mohegan Tribe has presented the league 0:02:54.919 --> 0:02:59.400 with multiple proposals, including option one, the originally reported sale 0:02:59.400 --> 0:02:59.959 to Paliuca. 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:03.000 Option two, a sale to Milwaukee Bucks. 0:03:02.800 --> 0:03:05.760 Owner Mark Lazree, who would move the team to Hartford, Connecticut, 0:03:06.120 --> 0:03:09.520 option three selling a minority stake in the organization, and 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:12.440 option four letting the WNBA purchase the team for three 0:03:12.520 --> 0:03:15.520 hundred and twenty five million and relocate it out according 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:18.400 to the league's wishes. Philip Who and Shelbourne story has 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:20.600 way more on what's going on behind the scenes, so 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:22.959 we'll link to that in the show notes. Friend of 0:03:23.000 --> 0:03:25.240 the show Nancy Armour also wrote a column on the 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:28.440 situation for USA Today, arguing that the league is acting 0:03:28.520 --> 0:03:31.120 like a mob boss in how it's handled the situation. 0:03:31.600 --> 0:03:32.640 Wrights Armour, in. 0:03:32.600 --> 0:03:35.400 Part, quote, the Mohegan Tribe have two offers, both of 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:38.680 which would give the tribe a massive payout, boost franchise 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:42.440 valuations across the WNBA, and maintain the Sun's fan base. 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:46.320 By any metric, that seems like a fantastic deal, except 0:03:46.480 --> 0:03:49.560 NBA owners won't profit from it, and it prevents the 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:53.000 WNBA and those NBA owners and outside investors from double 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:56.320 dipping by requiring Peleeuka Laz or someone else from paying 0:03:56.360 --> 0:04:00.280 for an expanse and franchise down the road. Armour continues later, quote, 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:03.680 prioritizing outside investors over its own owners is a bad 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:06.440 way for the WNBA to do business, and it's going 0:04:06.480 --> 0:04:08.800 to make prospective owners think twice about wanting to do 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:10.160 business with the WNBA. 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:12.720 We'll link to Nancy's story in the show. 0:04:12.560 --> 0:04:16.279 Notes more w In the third and final regular season 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:18.320 meeting between the Minnesota Links and the New York Liberty, 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:21.720 the Liberty finally pulled out a w all. Five Liberty 0:04:21.720 --> 0:04:24.200 scorers scored in double digits to lead the defending champs 0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:26.479 to an eighty five seventy five win on Tuesday night, 0:04:26.880 --> 0:04:29.880 Both teams continued to be without their stars, as Brianna 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:33.680 Stewart and f Sakalier are still sidelined with injuries. Speaking 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:36.599 of injuries, we've got a few more to report. First, 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:39.520 the Indiana Fever announced Tuesday that Sophie Cunningham is done 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:42.240 for the season after suffering an MCL tear and the 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:45.080 team's win over the Connecticut Sun on Sunday. Cunningham now 0:04:45.080 --> 0:04:48.159 the Fever's fourth guard to miss significant time due to injury, 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:52.600 joining fellow season ending injury sufferers Ery MacDonald and Sidney Colson, 0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:55.680 as well as Caitlin Clark, who still sidelined indefinitely with 0:04:55.720 --> 0:04:58.360 a groin injury. With Cunningham out the Fever announced the 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:00.640 team had signed Shape Petty to a seven day hardship 0:05:00.640 --> 0:05:04.920 contract and released guard Kyra Lambert. More roster news. The 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:07.440 Dallas Wings will be without Lee Yoru for the rest 0:05:07.440 --> 0:05:09.920 of the season after she sprained her left ACL in 0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:12.279 a game against La last week. And she's not the 0:05:12.279 --> 0:05:16.000 wings only loss. The team is still without Arigayogumbowale, who 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:18.320 has tendonitis in her right knee and hasn't played since 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:22.640 August tenth. But it's not all bad news, folks. Chicago's 0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:25.120 Skystar Angel Reese is back, and she scored a team 0:05:25.160 --> 0:05:27.640 high nineteen points in Chicago's ninety four eighty eight loss 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:30.200 to the Seattle Storm on Tuesday, even while on a 0:05:30.240 --> 0:05:33.159 minute's restriction. Reese had been out for almost a month 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:37.200 dealing with a back injury to the NWSL. On Monday night, 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:39.800 the Chicago Stars Alyssa Nair became the first keeper in 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:43.359 NWSL history to make two hundred starts, and on the 0:05:43.400 --> 0:05:47.680 same night, she scored her first NWSL goal too. After 0:05:47.720 --> 0:05:49.680 the Seattle Rain took a three to zero lead, the 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:51.800 Stars battled back to make it a one goal game, 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:54.839 and then in the final moments of stoppage time, Nair 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:57.120 scored amongst a crowd in front of the rain Net and. 0:05:57.120 --> 0:05:59.520 The game ended in a three to three draw. It 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:00.000 was wild. 0:06:00.400 --> 0:06:02.120 We'll link to the video of Nair's goal in the 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:04.800 show notes and you'll hear more about that match, which 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:07.400 is a special contest the Rain called the Queen's Game. 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:11.400 Later in the show more NWSL the Athletics, Tomara Griffin 0:06:11.440 --> 0:06:14.040 and Melanie en zdE reported that the Orlando Pride are 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:18.160 finalizing a deal to sign Mexican international Lizabeth Ovaller from 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:21.360 the Tigers of Liga MX. Per the Athletic, Orlando will 0:06:21.360 --> 0:06:24.440 pay a transfer fee of one point five million dollars, 0:06:24.480 --> 0:06:26.680 which would break the record for biggest transfer fee in 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:30.000 women's soccer, a number we've seen broken three times already 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:32.520 this year. We'll link to that reporting from the Athletic 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:35.880 in the show notes. To softball, Team USA took home 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:39.760 gold at the World Games, marking the team's fourth consecutive 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:42.640 title at the tournament. The US went undefeated in China, 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:45.360 going three to zero group play before defeating longtime rival 0:06:45.440 --> 0:06:48.479 Japan seven to six and ten innings, followed by a 0:06:48.520 --> 0:06:50.640 five to zero win against Chinese Tipeei. 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:51.279 In the gold medal game. 0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:55.440 In tennis, let's go back to Monday, when Egas Fontec 0:06:55.480 --> 0:06:58.200 won the women's singles title at the Cincinnati Open, defeating 0:06:58.279 --> 0:07:01.880 Jasmin Paalini seven four in the final. Then she got 0:07:01.920 --> 0:07:04.560 on a plane, flew to New York and won two 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:07.359 mixed doubles matches at the US Open with partner Casper 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:07.960 Rude the. 0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:08.760 Very next day. 0:07:09.520 --> 0:07:11.960 Some of the top singles players who paired up for 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:14.160 this new look mixed doubles event at the Open have 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:17.280 been getting a little lesson in doubles from the world's best. 0:07:17.720 --> 0:07:20.920 Among those big names bounced on the first day Carlos 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:25.240 Alcarez and Emeroticanu and Naomi Osaka and Gail Monfis. We're 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:27.560 recording this ahead of the mixed doubles semi finals and 0:07:27.600 --> 0:07:29.520 finals on Wednesday night, so we'll link to the full 0:07:29.560 --> 0:07:30.520 results page. 0:07:30.280 --> 0:07:31.040 In the show notes. 0:07:33.560 --> 0:07:36.640 Coming up next, Katie Ldeki, how many medals do you 0:07:36.680 --> 0:07:38.200 think she'll add to her collection by the end of 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:38.880 this ad break? 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:40.520 Stick around to find out. 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:51.600 Joining us now, she's the goat the most decorated female 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:54.200 swimmer in history, with the total of fourteen Olympic medals, 0:07:54.240 --> 0:07:55.400 including nine golds. 0:07:55.400 --> 0:07:56.760 She's won a record twenty three. 0:07:56.600 --> 0:07:58.880 Titles at the World Championships and is the world record 0:07:58.920 --> 0:08:01.400 holder in the women's eight hundred in fifteen hundred meter freestyle. 0:08:01.720 --> 0:08:03.880 Since she first won Olympic Golden twenty twelve, she's become 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:06.280 an Olympic champion at every distance from two hundred meter 0:08:06.280 --> 0:08:08.960 to fifteen hundred meter, and she's broken seventeen world records. 0:08:09.120 --> 0:08:11.520 She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:13.840 Joe Biden. She was honored with Katie Ladeci Day in 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:16.520 Montgomery County, Maryland, and she's a New York Times best 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:18.960 selling author. She loves Bruce Springsteen and Lacroix, and she's 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:20.080 friends with Cookie Monster. 0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:21.400 It's Katie Ladecci. 0:08:21.680 --> 0:08:25.240 Hi, Katie, Hey, Sarah, thanks for having me. I think 0:08:25.280 --> 0:08:29.400 the friendship with Cookie Monster is U maybe my highest accolade? 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:32.559 Yes, yes, that's tops on the list for me. Did 0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:33.920 I get all those numbers right? Because I have to 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:36.920 be honest. I literally updated them multiple times while researching 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:39.040 your bio because it depended on how up to date 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:41.679 the sites were. And I'm not sure if you've won 0:08:41.720 --> 0:08:44.000 any more titles since you sat down here for the interview. 0:08:44.040 --> 0:08:47.520 I think everything sounded right to me. Yeah, I'm still 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:49.600 getting used to some of those numbers, I guess. 0:08:49.760 --> 0:08:51.720 Okay, well, just try not to win anything during the 0:08:51.760 --> 0:08:53.280 interview so I don't have to update it. 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:57.199 Okay, yeah, yeah, all good, All good, Okay. 0:08:57.200 --> 0:08:59.120 So I want to start with something that I've always wondered, 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:01.960 sort of randomly. During your long races, like the fifteen 0:09:02.000 --> 0:09:05.040 hundred meters, somebody is holding a lap counter above the 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:07.320 water to help you keep track, and I want to 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:09.600 know how often you actually need to look at that 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:12.120 or are the laps just like baked into your brain. 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:15.680 So I've never looked at the counter that's held out 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:18.880 of the water. But actually a few years ago, maybe 0:09:19.400 --> 0:09:23.080 four or five years ago, World Aquatics, which is the 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:30.600 International Federation for Swimming, they instituted underwater electronic counters. So 0:09:31.280 --> 0:09:35.679 that's really really nice. But I don't fully trust that 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:38.600 that's always going to work, like you know, it might 0:09:38.640 --> 0:09:41.679 break or something or power might go out. So I 0:09:41.720 --> 0:09:44.280 always still count the lapse myself, and I don't think 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:47.119 i've miscounted in quite. 0:09:46.880 --> 0:09:50.640 Some waow so wow, yeah, what are you thinking about 0:09:50.800 --> 0:09:52.120 when you're swimming for so long? 0:09:52.200 --> 0:09:53.280 Do you repeat a mantra. 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:56.400 Do you repeat directions to yourself about arm or leg 0:09:56.440 --> 0:09:59.360 motions or specific form? Do you repeat the lap number 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:00.679 over and over till it switches. 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:04.920 Yeah, so it can vary. Sometimes I have a song 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:08.560 stuck in my head. I always have the lap count 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:11.360 kind of in one side of my brain, but then 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:14.840 the other side of my brain, it's thinking about my pacing, 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:20.800 my technique, my turns, my race strategy, something like that. 0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:26.000 But then, you know, sometimes I think about people, people 0:10:26.000 --> 0:10:30.400 in my life, my teammates, my family just kind of 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:34.480 fills me with some joy and just pushes me on 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:39.160 in my races. But yeah, I mean, on occasion, I'll 0:10:39.200 --> 0:10:41.280 just have a song randomly stuck in my head. It's 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:43.480 not even a song sometimes that I want to have 0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:46.760 stuck in my head. So that's always interesting. 0:10:47.240 --> 0:10:50.560 Are there any songs that make repeat appearances, because I 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:52.719 have a couple of songs throughout my life that are 0:10:52.800 --> 0:10:54.000 just stuck in there somewhere. 0:10:54.200 --> 0:10:56.760 Oh yeah, I mean, I mean sometimes I do try 0:10:56.800 --> 0:10:59.240 to get songs stuck in my head, and I think 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:03.760 at one point I recognize that, for example, Beautiful Day 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:05.800 by You Two, like that's a good song for my 0:11:06.120 --> 0:11:09.760 stroke rhythma. Sometimes I try. Sometimes I try to get 0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:11.720 that stuck in my head. And then, as you said, 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:14.880 I'm a big Bruce Springsteen fan, so I've certainly had 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:19.200 my share of the Boss stuck in my head in races. 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:23.040 So yeah, but then sometimes it's I don't know, whatever 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:28.120 I last saw on Instagram reels or TikTok or something, 0:11:28.200 --> 0:11:30.400 and it just gets caught in there. 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:34.440 What part of your body usually hurts first and most 0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:36.160 near the end of those long races. 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:41.280 Usually it's more of a stitch in my side, that's 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:45.720 usually what it is. It's rarely just my arms or 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:46.560 just my legs. 0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:50.920 I remember hearing soccer player Kristen Press say that sometimes 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:53.800 when she's in the middle of a really, really tough workout, 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:57.080 she'll focus only on her pinky toe, like, what does 0:11:57.120 --> 0:11:58.200 my pinky toe feel like? 0:11:58.320 --> 0:11:59.760 Is it hot? Is it cold? 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:00.520 Is it hurt? 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:01.320 Does it feel good? 0:12:01.360 --> 0:12:03.600 And it just pulls her mind away from the parts 0:12:03.600 --> 0:12:05.720 of her that are hurting. And I've used that in 0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:08.840 workouts before and it actually really helps to just take 0:12:08.880 --> 0:12:12.079 my focus off the thing that is causing me pain. 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:13.520 Do you do that during your races? 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:18.400 I think so. Yeah. My biggest strength in my swimming 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:22.320 in my freestyle is my poll, and so if my 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:25.640 legs do get tired or if I am getting that 0:12:25.720 --> 0:12:28.560 stitch in my side, I kind of think back to 0:12:29.320 --> 0:12:32.920 all the pulling that I've done and I kind of 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:38.120 just tell myself just focus on pulling harder and that 0:12:38.160 --> 0:12:41.000 should be okay. And it's actually something that my coach 0:12:42.280 --> 0:12:45.160 told me before one of my races. I can't remember. 0:12:45.240 --> 0:12:48.000 It may have just been before World Championships began. He 0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:51.360 told me, you know, we've actually worked a lot on 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:56.200 my kick in my freestyle this year. And whether that 0:12:56.320 --> 0:12:59.960 shows or not to the general public's eye, I don't know, 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:02.680 but he said, you know, we also did more poll 0:13:02.760 --> 0:13:06.720 this year, and that was intentional because when your stroke 0:13:06.800 --> 0:13:10.200 does get a little short, you resort to try and 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:12.640 to pull harder. So if it's kind of one of 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:16.360 those things where I think, if you can improve your 0:13:16.400 --> 0:13:20.200 strengths as well as your weaknesses, smart You're putting yourself 0:13:20.240 --> 0:13:22.800 in putting yourself in the best position, So. 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:25.880 That's really smart. Yeah, let's talk about World Championships. 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:29.440 You're coming off yet another spectacular outing two golds and 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:32.000 a bronze and individual events plus silver in the four 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:33.520 by two hundred meter freestyle relay. 0:13:33.760 --> 0:13:34.880 I want to know how you've. 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:38.360 Spent the couple weeks since what do you do right 0:13:38.400 --> 0:13:40.520 when a big competition is over, when you're not in 0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:43.040 theory really pushing hard for the next thing. 0:13:43.600 --> 0:13:46.520 Well, you know, it's an eight day meet, and I 0:13:46.559 --> 0:13:50.040 actually don't have a race ever on the eighth day 0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:54.480 of Worlds. And so I had one day in Singapore 0:13:54.520 --> 0:13:57.320 where I got to be in the in the cheering 0:13:57.360 --> 0:14:01.000 squad for Timosa, which was fun. So I got to 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:03.559 do that. And then in between the prelims and the finals, 0:14:04.360 --> 0:14:08.599 I got to get lunch with my parents in Singapore. 0:14:08.679 --> 0:14:12.440 And actually one of my Stanford friends is living in 0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:14.600 Singapore right now, and so we got together, so that 0:14:14.720 --> 0:14:18.720 was fun. I got a good, you know, cheeseburger in Singapore, 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:23.040 which probably doesn't sound right, but it tasted very good. 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:28.200 And then after Singapore, I flew home to DC just 0:14:28.240 --> 0:14:32.200 for a few days. Shorter travel day to go to 0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:35.400 d C than to go to Florida. So recovered from 0:14:35.440 --> 0:14:41.400 the jet lag which took some time, and just enjoyed 0:14:41.400 --> 0:14:45.720 being with my family and relaxing. And then now I'm 0:14:45.760 --> 0:14:49.920 back in Florida and then next week I'm actually gonna 0:14:50.240 --> 0:14:54.560 visit my grandmother. So she's ninety nine and a half 0:14:54.800 --> 0:14:58.720 or actually past. She turns one hundred in January, so 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:02.920 I try to visit her whenever I have a short break, 0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:07.360 which I'm on right now, and in the next few weeks, 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:09.840 I'll be easing back into training. 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:13.640 Since you started competing, what's the longest you've gone without swimming. 0:15:14.640 --> 0:15:17.720 I don't know. I would probably consider the break that 0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:23.160 I took after Paris to be my longest break. But 0:15:23.320 --> 0:15:26.640 even then I was back in the water. I just 0:15:26.800 --> 0:15:34.120 wasn't doing full time training probably for two months. I 0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:38.480 kind of trained sporadically for two months and then But 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:41.560 what about just swimming, like getting into the water. 0:15:42.120 --> 0:15:44.840 Yeah, an ocean, a lake, a pool. 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:49.440 Probably six days, seven days. Wow, Because even on my breaks, 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:51.960 I enjoy getting in the pool. I get antsy. 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:54.280 Yeah, you're amphibious. 0:15:54.320 --> 0:15:58.520 Basically I love being in the water, so it's part 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:02.520 of what helps my recovery my breaks. So yeah, yeah, 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:05.640 even over the last two weeks, I've swum three or 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:06.240 four times. 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:11.320 I want to talk to you about gender inequity in swimming, 0:16:11.360 --> 0:16:14.120 because we sort of look at women's swimming, at least 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:17.920 on the surface as being pretty equitable terms of prize money, 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:21.600 in terms of competitive opportunities. Is there anything we aren't 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:23.760 talking about that we should be. Is there stuff that 0:16:23.800 --> 0:16:26.320 goes on in the swimming world that still needs to 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:28.000 be addressed when it comes to gender equity. 0:16:28.920 --> 0:16:32.520 Yeah, it's a good question, and you are right in that. 0:16:33.000 --> 0:16:35.200 I mean, I feel very lucky to be in a 0:16:35.240 --> 0:16:38.440 sport where the men and the women compete at the 0:16:38.480 --> 0:16:42.040 same venues at the same time. You know, at World Championships, 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:45.440 they basically alternate a men's event, a women's event, a 0:16:45.520 --> 0:16:49.520 men's event women's event, So we're getting the same eyeballs 0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:53.520 on our sport, you know, whether whether you're a man 0:16:53.640 --> 0:16:57.080 or a woman. So it's it's nice in that way, 0:16:57.240 --> 0:16:59.640 I think. You know, I wrote a little bit in 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:03.280 my book about what it's like to be a female 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:06.040 athlete and some of the coverage that I've seen over 0:17:06.040 --> 0:17:09.160 the years, whether it's in swimming, or whether it's about 0:17:09.160 --> 0:17:15.720 my own performances compared to male swimmers, or how performances 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:18.639 are discussed in the context of some of the great 0:17:18.760 --> 0:17:21.240 male swimmers. You know, how it's always you know, the 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:25.520 next Michael Phelps or you know, and that's very understandable 0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:28.920 because Michael is the greatest swimmer of all time, male 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:32.800 or female, greatest Olympic athlete of all time, and it's 0:17:32.840 --> 0:17:35.720 going to be very hard for anyone to ever surpass 0:17:35.800 --> 0:17:38.400 him in our sport. But you know, just I think 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:43.000 we always want the female athletes to be celebrated in 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:45.639 their own right, and I think you're seeing that more 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:48.800 and more, and right now I'm very excited about our 0:17:48.840 --> 0:17:53.719 women's swim team in the US just breaking world records 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:56.560 left and right, winning tons and tons of medals. I 0:17:56.600 --> 0:18:00.800 think the first six or seven days of the World Championships, 0:18:01.040 --> 0:18:03.600 the women on Tmusa had won a medal in every 0:18:03.600 --> 0:18:07.720 single event. I think it we maybe didn't get all 0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:10.720 the way through the meet like that, but we had 0:18:10.720 --> 0:18:16.159 some relay world records, some relay American records, just some 0:18:16.400 --> 0:18:20.240 really great performances. So I mean, I'd really like to 0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:24.639 see over the next three years my teammates get that 0:18:24.680 --> 0:18:29.000 great attention that they deserve, and I think it's a 0:18:29.040 --> 0:18:32.720 really exciting time for us as a team and building 0:18:32.720 --> 0:18:34.960 into Los Angeles in twenty twenty eight. 0:18:35.400 --> 0:18:38.199 Yeah, let's talk about some of the swimming during the 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:41.080 first few years of your career. You had an unbeaten 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:44.320 streak at major world competitions from twenty twelve through twenty sixteen. 0:18:44.359 --> 0:18:47.679 You won every single individual final that you competed in, 0:18:47.720 --> 0:18:49.880 beginning at the London Olympics, all the way through Rio. 0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:54.080 Thirteen straight finals, thirteen straight wins. Twenty seventeen World Championships. 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:56.119 You competed in everything from the two hundred meter to 0:18:56.119 --> 0:18:57.560 the fifteen hundred meter, which is crazy. 0:18:58.040 --> 0:18:59.560 You placed second in a final. 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:02.320 You were a runner up to Italy's Federica Pellegrini in 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:04.480 the two hunderd meter, so a silver medal, which is 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:08.280 still amazing, But it was also your first quote unquote loss. 0:19:08.440 --> 0:19:10.159 So that was the headline of the moment for you, 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:13.479 and it reminds me of at Serena William's peak, it 0:19:13.520 --> 0:19:15.880 was like not even news when she won another Grand Slam. 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:17.280 It was only news when she didn't. 0:19:17.640 --> 0:19:20.639 So when you reflect on that experience, that first moment 0:19:20.800 --> 0:19:24.639 of like, oh I don't always win, how did it 0:19:24.680 --> 0:19:26.560 affect you and how has that stayed with you in 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:30.000 terms of your preparation for more and later events. 0:19:30.640 --> 0:19:33.919 I think at the time it may have stung a 0:19:33.960 --> 0:19:37.639 little bit, but also Federica Pellegrini is the best to 0:19:37.720 --> 0:19:42.399 inter freestyler of all time. So I think I had 0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:44.560 to take a step back and remind myself of that. 0:19:44.800 --> 0:19:50.359 And really, I think, for me, and I've talked about 0:19:50.359 --> 0:19:53.480 this recently. I talked about this in my Stanford commencement speech, 0:19:54.040 --> 0:19:58.760 my goals have always been very time oriented. I'm very 0:19:58.880 --> 0:20:03.120 rarely setting a goal to win the gold medal or 0:20:03.320 --> 0:20:07.800 to beat these competitors. It's okay, I want to go 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:11.480 this time at this meet, and these are the splits 0:20:11.480 --> 0:20:13.800 that I need to hit in the race to achieve 0:20:13.840 --> 0:20:17.359 this goal. And that's what I'm working toward. So I 0:20:17.920 --> 0:20:21.159 could win a gold medal and not feel like I 0:20:21.200 --> 0:20:24.080 achieved my goal. I could win a silver medal but 0:20:24.200 --> 0:20:28.040 feel like I did achieve my goal. So really, I 0:20:28.760 --> 0:20:31.840 do try to keep my focus on the times, and 0:20:31.920 --> 0:20:35.240 I think that has allowed me to have a healthy 0:20:35.320 --> 0:20:39.560 relationship with the sport and has allowed me to stay 0:20:39.600 --> 0:20:42.720 so motivated and to really enjoy the process. I really 0:20:42.760 --> 0:20:45.399 love the training, Like I think, I love it more 0:20:45.440 --> 0:20:47.760 and more every year. I love the people that I 0:20:47.800 --> 0:20:52.119 get to be with, I love my coaches. I just 0:20:52.560 --> 0:20:56.639 love showing up and trying to get better. And you know, 0:20:56.720 --> 0:20:59.760