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The George F. Haines International Swim Center closed indefinitely last month, due to safety concerns around the facility. The ISC is home to the Santa Clara Aquamaids, Santa Clara Diving, and the world-famous Santa Clara Swim Club. Third-year SCSC Head Coach, Kevin Zacher, has been on USA Swimming’s National and/or Junior National coaching roster since 2012. He has led Junior National and Junior Select camps, been part of two international USA Swimming staffs, and developed international-level talents like Ryan Hoffer and Taylor Ruck. Kevin is the guest on the SwimSwam podcast to talk about the challenges facing the Santa Clara Swim Club without the use of the ISC. He talks about how they got to this point, what they’re doing to fix it, and how he keeps a level head for himself and his team during this tough time.

Katja Dedekind is a 2x Paralympian, 2x Para world champion, and Para Commonwealth Games champion. Competing in the S13 (visually impaired) classification, Katja has racked up numerous accolades over her career which started when she was just 15. Dedekind discusses having a pro career, choosing swimming over goalball, and why swimmers are adrenaline junkies.

Gretchen Walsh is having a heck of a week in Greensboro. She has become the first woman to swim under 20 seconds in a 50 free (19.95 on a relay), broken NCAA records in the 50 free (20.57) and 100 fly (48.25), and went a best time of 1:40.2 in the 200 free (#3 performer all-time). On her morning off, Gretchen was kind enough to sit down with SwimSwam and analyze her historic swims so far at the 2024 ACC Championships.

At the 2024 World Championships in Doha, Kate Douglass swam a 23.91 50 free, good for silver behind world record holder Sarah Sjostrom. That broke the previous American record held by Simone Manuel. Douglass explains that getting through Sarah Sjostrom to reach the top of the podium is an obstacle that many have tried and few have succeeded. She has been training for the 200 IM and she is the reigning world champion in it, so she feels more confident in focusing on that event (that does overlap with the 50 free at the Olympic Trials and the Olympic Games).

Dan Wiffen won Ireland's first (and second) world championship medals ever last week in Doha, earning double gold in the 800 and 1500 freestyles. Wiffen takes us through his entire process at the meet and after hearing it, you can see how dialed into distance swimming he really is. For example, in the 1500 prelim, after seeing Florian Wellbrock throw down a quick 14:48, Wiffen knew he only had to swim around 14:54 to make the final. Knowing those around him would be sticking with him, Wiffen paced his race accordingly to see if he could lure any swimmers into accidentally swimming too slow to make the final. Greg Paltrinieri, the 2022 world champion in the event, did just that, swimming right next to Wiffen and ultimately placing 9th in the prelim, missing the final.

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we look back at the 2024 World Championships in Doha and look ahead to this week's Power 5 conference Championships, including SEC Champs, ACC Champs, and women's Big 10 Champs.

James Guy is finding success after making the move back to Millfield, making his way onto an international 200 free podium last December for the first time since 2016. We caught up with James Guy to discuss his thoughts on the Doha World Champs, looking ahead to Paris, and finding success by training more than he ever has.

In light of Pan Zhanle's surprise 100 Free world record (46.80) at the 2024 World Championships, we spoke with Olympic Champion Nathan Adrian to get his insight. Adrian wasn't surprised that Cesar Cielo's mark stood since 2009 but now we've seen two men break it in just 1.5 years, saying that once athletes see what is possible their bar is automatically set higher, meaning their ceiling is as well.

This week on the SwimSwam Breakdown, we bring you a comprehensive preview of the most exciting events at the 2024 World Championships in Doha.

In just 12 months from July 2021 to July 2022, Zac Stubblety-Cook became Olympic Champion, World Champion, Commonwealth Games Champion, and world record-holder in the 200 Breast. One year later, he settled for silver at the 2023 World Champs and saw his world record get broken in that same race by Qin Haiyang. Stubblety-Cook sat down with SwimSwam and spoke about struggling to find motivation after achieving every possible goal he had. The Aussie is now in the full swing of Olympic training with a new fire heading into the Aussie Trials and Paris. And at the end of the podcast, we discuss one of his other passions: coffee.

Bella Sims' star is rising fast on her march toward the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials. The Olympic silver medalist and World Championships gold medalist takes us behind of the scenes of her new partnership with Speedo, the world's most renowned brand in the sport of swimming. (Speedo has been a SwimSwam partner since 2013.)

This past weekend saw many of the fastest times EVER swum outside of a championship meet (and a couple times that were just the fastest ever, period). Between the Stanford/ASU and Cal/ASU duals on the men's side and the UVA/NC State/UNC Triple Dual on the women's side, they made for an insanely fast January weekend. So here's some food for thought: Who will have the better NCAAs: Leon Marchand or Gretchen Walsh? Are the ASU men still the favorite to win the NCAA Championships? Should NCAA swim meets be allowed to end in a tie?