WEBVTT - Asking for Help with Allison Schmitt 0:00:00.680 --> 0:00:03.360 Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're screaming 0:00:03.560 --> 0:00:06.600 congrats to our girl, Kate Scott, who is just named 0:00:06.600 --> 0:00:09.719 the lead play by play voice for USA Network's WNBA 0:00:09.840 --> 0:00:15.000 coverage next summer, The Most Deserving. It's Thursday, October ninth, 0:00:15.000 --> 0:00:16.799 and on today's show, we'll be skipping the need to 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:19.599 know and getting right to my conversation with retired swimmer 0:00:19.680 --> 0:00:23.600 and ten time Olympic medallist Alison Schmidt. Tomorrow is World 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:25.639 Mental Health Day, so I caught up with Alison to 0:00:25.680 --> 0:00:28.960 talk about her experience seeking help for mental health, how 0:00:29.000 --> 0:00:32.559 her advocacy work has reshaped her own identity, why it's 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:35.839 important to include vulnerability as a sign of strength, and 0:00:36.200 --> 0:00:40.479 redefining what self care actually means. I so appreciated Allison's 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:43.640 willingness to speak so openly about her own struggles and challenges, 0:00:43.680 --> 0:00:46.440 and it's really clear that her advocacy on this topic 0:00:46.440 --> 0:00:49.360 has already had a huge impact on making sure conversations 0:00:49.360 --> 0:00:52.680 like these are no longer held only in private. So 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:56.000 this is a good one. Stay tuned slices. Also, I 0:00:56.120 --> 0:00:59.320 was in New York City hosting a WNBA final celebration 0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:01.760 for iHeart on Wednesday night and watching Game three of 0:01:01.800 --> 0:01:04.240 the finals with a big old crew of hoopeads. So 0:01:04.400 --> 0:01:07.319 no Game three reaction today, but don't worry. You'll get 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:09.240 that analysis plus a look ahead. 0:01:08.959 --> 0:01:12.000 To Game four in tomorrow's show. All Right, My interview 0:01:12.000 --> 0:01:13.560 with Alison's coming up right after this. 0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:24.720 Joining US now, she's the former captain of the US 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:27.960 Olympic swim team, a four time Olympian, ten time Olympic medalist, 0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:31.760 and twenty five time medallist in major international competitions. A 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:34.840 four time NCAA national champion, she helped her Georgia Bulldogs 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:37.920 win the NCAA team title in twenty thirteen. She was 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:40.320 born in Pittsburgh but raised in Canton, Michigan, and she 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:42.160 was inducted into the Michigan. 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:43.759 Hall of Fame in twenty nineteen. 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:46.679 A leading voice and mental health advocacy, she graduated with 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:49.480 her master's degree in social work from Arizona State University 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:52.440 in twenty twenty three. A former longtime training partner of 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:56.240 Michael Phelps under famed coach Bob Bowman, her fiance proposed 0:01:56.240 --> 0:01:59.080 to her using phelps four kids as assistants wearing T 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:00.000 shirts at Red Wind. 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:00.840 Will you marry? 0:02:00.880 --> 0:02:00.960 Me. 0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:02.520 It's Alison Schmidt. 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:05.440 Hi, Alison, Hi, nice to talk with you. 0:02:06.320 --> 0:02:08.720 Yeah, when's the wedding. Has it happened yet? 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:11.360 It has not happened yet, but by the end of 0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:14.320 the year. So I'm a little bit different though, because 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:17.360 I feel like I'm the girl that never really thought 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:22.320 about weddings or marriage and so I'm very nonchalant about it, 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:25.880 and so is he. But I've always dreamed about kids 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:29.440 and having twins, so I'm manifesting that right now. 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:33.400 Okay, so we're skipping the wedding straight to the pro creating. 0:02:34.520 --> 0:02:36.520 Will Will Phelps. 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:38.040 And company and family and kiddos be a part of 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:38.800 the wedding as well. 0:02:39.320 --> 0:02:42.280 Of course. Yes, there's such a big part of my. 0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:44.760 Life, ring bears and flower girls and such. 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:47.840 Like I said, we have been so nonchalant. We don't 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:51.120 have the details yeah yet, And I mean all the 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:54.120 type eight people might be like, wait, this is not okay, 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:57.760 but I'm being this. I'm type being this, so you're. 0:02:57.680 --> 0:02:58.320 Fine with it. 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:02.520 There are some good qualities about laid back, nonchalant people. 0:03:02.600 --> 0:03:04.880 I don't have any of those qualities, but I respect 0:03:04.919 --> 0:03:08.440 them and others. So in your intro, I listed off 0:03:08.480 --> 0:03:10.520 all your incredible accomplishments in the pool. 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:11.960 What kind of competitor were you? 0:03:12.040 --> 0:03:14.520 Were you the sort of slow and steady worker, We'll 0:03:14.520 --> 0:03:16.880 see what happens. Were you pushed by compliments? Where you 0:03:16.880 --> 0:03:20.200 pushed by criticism, responsive to yelling, more responsive to support? 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:24.359 What was it like all the above? I ultimately got 0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:28.000 into sport because of the fun, like having the teammates, 0:03:29.000 --> 0:03:34.160 the camaraderie. And I definitely was pushed by the encouragement 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:37.440 in A that is the affirmations, but B that's a 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:40.960 little bit of the yelling as well. And so that's 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:42.240 why I say all of the above. 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:44.839 So were you type B in the pool as well? 0:03:44.880 --> 0:03:46.920 It feels like you'd need to have some sort of 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:49.880 aggression and type A personality to be such a winner. 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:52.800 I think that my personality is type B A, so 0:03:52.920 --> 0:03:55.200 I still have that a personality, and so in the 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:57.839 pool and in competing, I had that, But in other 0:03:57.880 --> 0:04:00.640 parts of my life I'm the B. But I also 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:03.720 know my coach was very, very very type A, so 0:04:03.760 --> 0:04:06.360 I think he took over for that aspect of it. 0:04:06.800 --> 0:04:10.640 Yeah, he projected onto you the necessary qualities to make 0:04:10.680 --> 0:04:13.120 it happen. Make it work, Okay, I want you to 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:15.240 picture one of your biggest races. 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:18.160 Which one first came to mind. 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:24.480 The two hundred free in London twenty twelve Olympics. Why 0:04:25.080 --> 0:04:28.479 I think that it's the biggest race. Obviously because of 0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:33.440 media it's the biggest race first individual gold medal, But 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:36.400 for me it was a big race because Stania and 0:04:36.440 --> 0:04:40.960 that podium at the end of when we get our medals, 0:04:41.520 --> 0:04:44.320 I looked on one side and saw my family cheering, 0:04:44.520 --> 0:04:47.280 looked on the other side, saw ten USA cheering, and 0:04:47.320 --> 0:04:50.680 in front of me, it's the national anthem in the 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:53.880 flag being raised, and that just represents everyone back home 0:04:53.920 --> 0:04:56.839 that has supported and cheered me to the top of 0:04:56.880 --> 0:05:00.520 the podium. And in that moment and in that I 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:03.520 realized that yes, I was the one that put in 0:05:03.560 --> 0:05:06.159 the work and did the work, but at the end 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:08.040 of the day, it was all the support and all 0:05:08.040 --> 0:05:09.599 the help that I had that got me there. 0:05:10.040 --> 0:05:13.000 Wow. And it's the one that stands out still was 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:13.480 the first. 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:18.440 Yes, yeah, they all have meaning, they all have different meanings, 0:05:18.680 --> 0:05:21.560 but that one when you had me picture, it is 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:22.599 the one that came to mind. 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:25.719 Yeah, how often are you swimming these days? 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:28.920 I got in the pool on yesterday or two days ago, 0:05:30.839 --> 0:05:33.400 So I really like to do it for fitness and 0:05:33.560 --> 0:05:36.240 forget ant Hanne and if my friends are doing it, 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:40.760 So it's definitely that social aspect, but I understand I 0:05:40.800 --> 0:05:44.440 am better at that than being on land, so I'm 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:47.600 more If someone calls me up and says, hey, let's 0:05:47.600 --> 0:05:49.560 go do a swim, I'm like, okay, let's go. 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:50.520 Yeah. 0:05:50.680 --> 0:05:53.520 Is it a calm and meditative space for you now 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:55.359 that you're not competing or when you get back in, 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:59.159 does your body sort of inhabit the feelings that you 0:05:59.240 --> 0:06:00.960 had when you used to get in to compete. 0:06:01.440 --> 0:06:06.600 The pool is home and it is calming because I'm 0:06:06.640 --> 0:06:09.040 not getting yelled at and I don't have a specific workout. 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:12.440 But at the same time, it's just no matter if 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:14.400 I was competing or if I get in. Now is 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:17.920 just a very familiar space, in a comfortable space. 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:21.960 You have become super active in mental health advocacy, and 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:24.400 it's actually a cause that's been important to you dating 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:27.160 back many years. You mentioned London, and it was at 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:31.080 the London Olympics that you came home successful, a winner, 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:34.120 a gold medalist, but found that you were suffering from depression. 0:06:34.560 --> 0:06:36.680 You eventually decided to talk to Michael Phelps, to talk 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:40.520 to your coach Bob Bowman in early twenty fifteen. What 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:44.360 was it like that time coming back, getting celebrated, getting 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:47.280 heralded for your success, and maybe not feeling like how 0:06:47.320 --> 0:06:50.160 you were feeling matched what everyone else felt about your 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:50.840 time in London? 0:06:51.640 --> 0:06:58.320 Terrifying, absolutely terrified and every aspect. I didn't really understand 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:02.440 what I was and there wasn't I mean, this is 0:07:02.440 --> 0:07:06.320 twenty twelve. There wasn't really much information about it, and 0:07:06.480 --> 0:07:10.160 I kind of dug myself into a deeper hole with comparison. 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:13.360 Like they say now, and as I understand now, comparison 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:17.640 is a theft of joy, and that comparison wasn't really 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:21.240 recognizing that I was not feeling okay. It was more 0:07:21.240 --> 0:07:25.560 of comparing I have all of these great aspects of 0:07:25.600 --> 0:07:30.160 my life. What do I have to complain about? And 0:07:30.240 --> 0:07:33.600 now as I've gotten older and I've experienced more and 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:37.640 talking at other people, I describe it as what you 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:40.360 know in that part of your life is all you know. So, 0:07:40.480 --> 0:07:43.920 for instance, when a five year old drops or ice 0:07:43.960 --> 0:07:46.960 cream cone and it is the end of the world, 0:07:49.000 --> 0:07:52.280 it's the end of their world. As an adult, you'll 0:07:52.640 --> 0:07:54.760 understand and be like, we can just go get another 0:07:54.800 --> 0:07:57.920 ice cream, but they are not able to process that 0:07:57.960 --> 0:08:00.520 they can go get another ice cream in the joy 0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:02.640 that they're holding was just dropped. 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:06.880 Yeah, so you come back, it's twenty twelve. Everyone wants 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:09.720 to celebrate you. Did you feel like it might be 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:13.520 the standard Olympic letdown? Had you heard about the Olympic 0:08:13.640 --> 0:08:15.880 letdown that so many talk about and did you chalk 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:18.280 it up to just that at first and then think 0:08:18.320 --> 0:08:19.520 it was something beyond that? 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:20.400 Yeah? 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:22.920 Again, that wasn't really talked about back then. It was 0:08:22.960 --> 0:08:27.160 still a taboo subject and I didn't really experience it 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:30.120 too much after two thousand and eight because I went. 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:32.959 I was thrown into a whole new experience. I went 0:08:33.000 --> 0:08:37.120 to college and new friends, new living on your own 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:40.720 for the first time, new environment, new state, new place, 0:08:40.840 --> 0:08:45.000 all of that. So when I came back from twenty twelve, 0:08:45.120 --> 0:08:47.480 I really had no idea what to expect. It was 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:51.360 not prepped in any way what to expect, And as 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:54.520 I was getting celebrated, I was very, very very grateful 0:08:54.520 --> 0:08:59.440 for getting celebrated. And I remember one time I excuse 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:02.080 myself to the bathroom because I didn't want to cry 0:09:02.080 --> 0:09:04.920 in front of people. And at that moment is when 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:08.040 I really realized that something was wrong. 0:09:08.280 --> 0:09:11.120 Right, So you didn't talk to your family at first. 0:09:11.240 --> 0:09:16.040 You told Michael and Bob, your coach, and there was 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:19.240 an incident that happened in your family that made you think, 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:22.200 I really need to speak out more about this and 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:24.520 talk about it, not only to the people close to me, 0:09:24.600 --> 0:09:25.680 but maybe even publicly. 0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:26.679 Can you tell us about that? 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:31.280 Yeah, So again, that took two and a half years 0:09:31.400 --> 0:09:33.880 until I even spoke about it. So it took a 0:09:33.920 --> 0:09:36.520 long time to speak about it. In speaking about it, it 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:41.560 was scary, but it was also it was my explosion. 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:44.400 So if you think about a rice cooker and if 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:46.560 you don't take the top off and you explode, that 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:50.559 was me at that moment. And so I just happened 0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:55.320 to explode at that moment with Michael and Bob and Keenan, 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:59.880 and they listened and they really supported me in that, 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:04.720 and they understood that I needed help and there's help 0:10:04.840 --> 0:10:07.319 out there and they can help me get that help. 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:09.360 So that's what I did when I came back from 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:12.480 that meat is I got help right away. I felt 0:10:12.480 --> 0:10:15.920 like there was still just a taboo with asking for help. 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:20.679 Including myself. I judged myself for asking for help in 0:10:20.720 --> 0:10:25.520 those moments because again, what my life from the an 0:10:25.559 --> 0:10:29.360 outsider looks so perfect? So what could possibly be going 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:32.600 wrong in my life? Why do I need help? And 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:36.200 it took until another five months later when my cousin 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:42.040 committed suicide where I realized this is a much bigger 0:10:42.080 --> 0:10:46.280 problem than just myself or just a few other people. 0:10:46.600 --> 0:10:48.960 And a lot of other people are out there, and 0:10:49.000 --> 0:10:52.320 a lot of other people are chasing perfection, which is 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:56.600 what I was doing at the Olympic stage, and all 0:10:56.600 --> 0:11:01.480 these people chasing perfection lose track of in everyday reality, 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:05.600 in the support that we have, and even the feeling 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:08.400 of being loved. And if I could speak about my 0:11:08.480 --> 0:11:13.560 own experience, I hopefully can save a life out there 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:17.680 so that someone else can continue living their life. That 0:11:18.040 --> 0:11:22.440 I mean, life is just so beautiful and everyone deserves 0:11:22.600 --> 0:11:28.320 happiness and joy and success, and so for them, for 0:11:28.400 --> 0:11:32.200 that person that survivor, as well as the families that 0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:35.880 have to grieve a loss of their loved ones. 0:11:36.640 --> 0:11:39.160 Yeah, you talk about back in twenty twelve, It doesn't 0:11:39.160 --> 0:11:42.200 feel like it's that long ago. But even then, there 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:45.720 just weren't the same conversations, and so that information is 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:49.920 so vital for people to recognize whether it is a 0:11:50.000 --> 0:11:53.400 depression or a feeling that comes on due to an event, 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:57.320 an experience, or whether it's just chemical right that's the 0:11:57.360 --> 0:11:59.760 way their brain operates, and whether or not things are 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:02.880 going great or poorly. There is a potential to slip 0:12:02.920 --> 0:12:05.040 into those moments, and if you don't talk about it, 0:12:05.040 --> 0:12:07.560 you don't learn about it. It can feel very isolating. 0:12:07.720 --> 0:12:11.720 After talking to Michael and Bob and after telling your family, 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:15.920 how did you decide to take control of that in 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:18.880 your career? How did you manage the fact that you 0:12:18.920 --> 0:12:20.600 knew that you now had this to deal with in 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:23.320 addition to your regular training and preparation for meat. 0:12:24.080 --> 0:12:27.120 I think the first thing is understanding that you can 0:12:27.240 --> 0:12:30.439 take breaks, you can ask for help, and you can 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:33.600 still be strong. All of that in the same sentence. 0:12:34.440 --> 0:12:37.559 I was able to get the support I needed from 0:12:37.600 --> 0:12:40.720 a professional level by going to talk to a therapist, 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:46.439 and that was a little bit of weight off my shoulders, 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:50.280 and I'm sure off the people I love shoulders. If 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:54.719 I'm so called, I guess dumping something. Yeah, they might 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:56.400 ask me every day, Hey, how are you doing? How 0:12:56.440 --> 0:12:59.959 are you doing, but talking to a therapist, it was Okay, 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:02.360 I go see you every week, and then I don't 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:04.080 see you again for a whole week, and so you 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:06.680 can't ask me in my everyday life, from every day 0:13:07.720 --> 0:13:13.040 schedule how I'm doing, which honestly is kind of an 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:16.440 annoying question that I would get a lot. 0:13:17.280 --> 0:13:19.040 Yeah, I mean people who want to help and mean 0:13:19.080 --> 0:13:21.720 to help. But also there's something about the feeling that 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:25.040 if you're going to reveal all these emotions, that the 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:28.400 person you're talking to is trained and educated to help 0:13:28.440 --> 0:13:30.400 you process them in a way that even if your 0:13:30.400 --> 0:13:33.439 family is well meaning, they might not be. So what 0:13:33.559 --> 0:13:36.480 kind of tools did you acquire, if you're willing to share, 0:13:36.520 --> 0:13:40.400 what have you found most useful personally for managing your 0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:42.760 mental health struggles alongside your swimming. 0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:48.360 I would say journaling is one, and for me, journaling 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:52.840 isn't necessarily just writing everything down, but I also journal 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:59.920 through pictures, and I love managing that I'm both at 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:03.840 so going back now and like reading journals and even 0:14:03.880 --> 0:14:06.440 going back and looking at photos that I took and 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:10.800 screenshots I took of quotes, et cetera. But self care 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:15.800 is really what a big tool that I took out 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:20.040 of therapy because I always thought self care was, oh, 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:24.240 go get your nails done, go bake cookies. And what 0:14:24.360 --> 0:14:28.920 I now understand is self care is so much more 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:32.560 than that, and it's really listening to yourself and listening 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:35.920 to your inner self, understand what you need in that moment. 0:14:36.600 --> 0:14:39.040 And if you're able to do that with yourself, then 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:42.560 when someone else asks you what you need, it's a 0:14:42.600 --> 0:14:47.360 lot easier to ask that than to bottle it up. 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:50.120 Yeah, you mentioned this, but how do we sort of 0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:53.720 change the definition of strength to include being able to 0:14:53.800 --> 0:14:57.120 ask for help? That is an incredible strength, to let 0:14:57.160 --> 0:14:59.480 people know you're struggling, to ask for help, to be 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:02.640 vulnerable in that way, and yet in a lot of places, 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:04.800 it's still very stigmatized. 0:15:04.440 --> 0:15:09.880 Understanding that life is much bigger than the moment you're in, 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:14.720 or much bigger than this sport you're in. Understanding yes 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:17.480 we are chasing perfection, Yes we are working hard, and 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:21.600 yes we want that perfection, but you don't have to 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:25.160 be perfect in order to belong. You belong in this 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:30.240 world for so many other reasons than being perfect. And 0:15:30.360 --> 0:15:32.880 I like to de describe it as you can tell 0:15:32.960 --> 0:15:36.040 maybe through this conversation. I like to use analogies a lot, 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:39.920 and one of my favorite analogies is a puzzle and 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:43.160 every puzzle piece is different. But if there's one puzzle 0:15:43.160 --> 0:15:47.640 piece missing, the whole puzzle is done. It's never completed. 0:15:48.240 --> 0:15:50.880 And so if you're able to really understand that you 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:52.480 don't have to be perfect, and you can be your 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:59.840 own puzzle piece throughout this game of life, then everything 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:02.680 else will be complete and everything else will fall into order. 0:16:03.280 --> 0:16:05.680 Yeah, you bring up the word perfect a whole lot, 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:06.480 and I understand. 0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:11.160 In swimming there are tiny, little minute details that can 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:13.160 make the difference between a winner or loss, can make 0:16:13.160 --> 0:16:16.240 the difference between a pr and you know, swimming slower 0:16:16.240 --> 0:16:19.800 than previous races. So it's important to pay attention to 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:22.800 every bit of your body, to every down to the 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:26.960 tip of your toes. And yet also understanding that perfection 0:16:27.240 --> 0:16:30.360 as a goal in life is impossible. How did you 0:16:30.720 --> 0:16:33.360 find a balance of saying I still want to win 0:16:34.000 --> 0:16:35.800 and I want to do as well as I can, 0:16:36.480 --> 0:16:39.240 but the goal can never truly be perfection. 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:41.520 It just has to be maybe a little bit better. 0:16:41.560 --> 0:16:42.560 As often as I can. 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:46.920 Be understanding what goal setting is into me, goal setting 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:51.480 as a kid. I was not this kid, but this 0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:54.720 is an example is I'm an eleven year old kid 0:16:54.800 --> 0:16:57.520 and I want to make it to Olympics. Okay, so 0:16:57.880 --> 0:17:01.320 you go from here to here? What's all the in between? 0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:04.439 So what's all the steps? And so understanding what the 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:07.440 journey is in the steps and the processes to those 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:11.520 big goals and working on those little goals and little 0:17:11.520 --> 0:17:14.199 steps every single day is what gets you to that 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:17.040 big step. And once you are to that big goal, 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:22.440 as human beings, as competitors, there's always something next. There's 0:17:22.480 --> 0:17:25.960 always that next goal. You're never satisfied, and so really 0:17:26.080 --> 0:17:31.000 understanding that it's not necessarily about that destination so called, 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:33.280 but the journey to get that destination. 0:17:33.880 --> 0:17:36.320 Yeah, we hear that a lot in talking to Olympic 0:17:36.359 --> 0:17:39.639 athletes in particular. I mean many athletes who have high 0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:43.000 goals and are high achieving, but those that play every 0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:45.880 single year and have more opportunities to win, I think 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:48.040 feel it a little less than those that wait four 0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:51.560 years for this crowning achievement of what's been their life's work. 0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:54.399 I think some might ask, you, know, it's easy for 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:56.919 you to say this because you already won. You already 0:17:56.960 --> 0:17:59.200 won so much so when you go in and give 0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:02.399 people a message life is about more than winning. Do 0:18:02.480 --> 0:18:04.840 you think you personally would have been able to accept 0:18:04.880 --> 0:18:07.880 that message before the medals. 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:11.280 Yes, because I did. I did in two thousand and eight. 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:13.320 So in two thousand and eight is kind of what 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:17.320 got me to the next Olympics two twenty twelve, to 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:20.680 those medals that I won in twenty twelve. And that's 0:18:20.720 --> 0:18:23.440 because in two thousand and eight, I was knight by 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:25.440 Woman hundreds, so I did not get to compete in 0:18:25.480 --> 0:18:28.520 finals and then Tunia Freestyle and that's what I used 0:18:28.520 --> 0:18:31.200 as my fuel and as my motivation for those next 0:18:31.280 --> 0:18:37.720 four years. And so I completely understand that we have egos. 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:40.479 Every single human being, no matter if you're an athlete 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:44.760 or not, has some type of ego, but really understanding 0:18:45.119 --> 0:18:49.680 how big this life is, because I'm sure there's people 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:53.840 in the music industry that have never even watched the Olympics, 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:59.200 and then there's me who doesn't completely understand the music industry. 0:18:59.440 --> 0:19:03.840 Yet we probably have very parallel LIFs that can understand 0:19:03.880 --> 0:19:07.200 each other, and so understanding who you are as a 0:19:07.520 --> 0:19:12.560 from the core and finding those connections rather than sitting 0:19:12.640 --> 0:19:15.520 back and saying well, I've been at the top of 0:19:15.560 --> 0:19:17.240 my sport or I've been at the top of my 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:21.480 career and I know everything. Because even now, even being 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:24.080 at the top of my sport, I still don't know everything. 0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:29.159 Yeah, you know, when you find that balance between being 0:19:29.240 --> 0:19:32.680 ambitious while also being satisfied, you can kind of be 0:19:32.760 --> 0:19:35.040 in that sweet spot of I know what I want 0:19:35.080 --> 0:19:36.720 and I know the work that it's going to take 0:19:36.720 --> 0:19:37.160 to get there. 0:19:37.160 --> 0:19:39.080 But I also, like you said, it's the journey. 0:19:39.119 --> 0:19:42.440 It's the respecting the everyday processes that can get you there. 0:19:43.359 --> 0:19:45.480 We got to take a quick break more with Alison 0:19:45.520 --> 0:19:55.679 Schmidt right after this. I want to talk about today's 0:19:55.720 --> 0:19:58.920 landscape of youth swimming. How do you think it compares 0:19:58.960 --> 0:20:00.520 to what it was like when you were growing up. 0:20:00.960 --> 0:20:05.959 Youth sports in general is a whole nother pressure, and 0:20:06.000 --> 0:20:09.359 that pressure comes from a lot, I think from social media. 0:20:09.840 --> 0:20:14.119 We can't ignore the advances we have in technology in 0:20:14.160 --> 0:20:18.880 the social media, So how do we educate on that? 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:22.840 And that's where we're not ignoring the fact that there's 0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:26.159 social media out there and that there might be body 0:20:26.160 --> 0:20:33.960 image issues or muscles don't look cool on TikTok, there 0:20:34.040 --> 0:20:36.680 might be some of those messages out there, But how 0:20:36.680 --> 0:20:42.520 can we educate that being strong is still sexy, being 0:20:42.960 --> 0:20:47.919 vulnerable is sexy, and all of that is still a 0:20:48.119 --> 0:20:53.240 great quality to have while encouraging others to find what 0:20:53.280 --> 0:20:57.240 they're passionate about and not have to mimic or compare 0:20:57.359 --> 0:21:00.600 to another person. But definitely comes back to the pressures 0:21:00.640 --> 0:21:05.920 that are real from social media and other media outlets 0:21:05.960 --> 0:21:06.359 as well. 0:21:06.680 --> 0:21:10.760 Yeah, there's a lot of gift in everything being recorded 0:21:10.800 --> 0:21:13.160 these days. You can go back and watch all your 0:21:13.480 --> 0:21:15.800 swims and see how you did. Your family can go 0:21:15.840 --> 0:21:19.840 watch them later. But it also means that everything is 0:21:19.960 --> 0:21:23.520 watched doubly or multiple times, in a way that I 0:21:23.560 --> 0:21:26.480 think affects even sometimes what sports kids want to get into, 0:21:27.720 --> 0:21:30.959 and that I think is really tough. I've seen stories 0:21:31.000 --> 0:21:33.760 about girls picking their sport based on what the uniform 0:21:33.800 --> 0:21:37.200 looks like, understanding that they're going to be constantly photographed 0:21:37.240 --> 0:21:39.520 and videoed while doing it, which is something we never 0:21:39.560 --> 0:21:41.040 really thought about when I was growing up. 0:21:41.080 --> 0:21:43.119 We just played what we loved. 0:21:43.440 --> 0:21:46.240 What surprises you when you talk to young people about 0:21:46.280 --> 0:21:47.280 mental health these. 0:21:47.200 --> 0:21:50.080 Days, how open they are about it, which is great. 0:21:50.160 --> 0:21:54.240 They're open to talking in When I speak to parents 0:21:54.320 --> 0:21:58.080 or coaches. I say, just listen. That's a piece of 0:21:58.080 --> 0:22:03.240 advice that I love to give the older generations, because 0:22:03.240 --> 0:22:09.080 the younger generations love to talk and they will say anything, 0:22:09.640 --> 0:22:12.560 and they will say the truth. It's just the matter 0:22:12.600 --> 0:22:16.040 if someone's gonna listen to them. And so I really 0:22:16.640 --> 0:22:20.680 love how the younger generation is so open and honest, 0:22:21.480 --> 0:22:24.200