Caeleb & Meghan Dressel: Mother's Day Special

Hello, everybody.
Welcome back to another week and another episode of Unfiltered Waters and happy almost Mother's Day.
Every year, the last two years, we've done a special exclusive Mother's Day episode.
And this year, did not disappoint.
We were able to welcome the Dressel family back on the pod.
Caleb was our very first episode, if you remember, two years ago, where Missy and I went out to the farm, chatted with Caleb, and it was just the perfect person to have as our launch episode of this entire thing.
And now I got to sit down with Megan, with Caleb, and we even had a small feature with Josie and August, our very first kids on Unfiltered Waters.
And it couldn't have been a better episode in terms of timing, talking about their experience as parents, talking about how it's affected their relationship, talking to Megan about how it's affected her identity and how they've kind of come together and worked through becoming a family of four.
Talking to Caleb about his transition to Jacksonville, working with Coach Steve.
I mean, there's so much change and transition in their lives, and they get really raw and honest about it.
And I really respect their perspective.
I feel like it was like a masterclass to me, being a few months out of having my first, but just so relaxing, sitting there in the open, the breeze on the farm.
And I mean, it's a long episode because we just were able to kind of sit down and chat and cover every single topic from parenthood to relationship to Caleb to how it affects their family to the future of swimming.
I mean, we covered it all.
And I swear I could have sat there like another three, four hours.
And so you guys are really gonna love this episode, whether you're a parent, whether you're in a relationship, whether you are an athlete.
I mean, it literally there are pieces of this conversation for every single person.
So I am so excited.
I hope you guys can comment what your favorite part of the episode was, um, as well as hit that subscribe button.
But I'll let you guys enjoy this wonderful conversation with the Dressel family.
And all that to say, it is just so magical to get in bed at night with Todd, Allie, our dog, and we fall asleep so quickly.
And I will say it has a really cool cooling effect.
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Wrestle family, welcome to Unfiltered Waters.
Thanks for having us.
Yes, we are very close to nap time.
So for listeners, we have August, we have Josie, we have Megan, we have Caleb, and you guys are the first children on Unfiltered Waters.
And probably the last.
I mean, the last time Missy and I were here, August was inside your belly.
Yeah.
And now you have two beautiful children.
That's crazy.
In such a short period of time.
You need to come back.
You gotta visit sooner than what you are.
Yeah, dude, I In all fairness, it was very quick.
It was a quick back to back.
Yeah, it was a very quick back to back.
We're only 16 months apart.
So I got pregnant with Josie when August was six months old.
But yeah, and I was saying, I mean, with him, he was an accident.
Right.
She also was an accident.
You guys are just fertile myrtles over there.
Did I tell a story last time of the homework I had with my dad in high school of what he filled out?
It was like I don't think so.
There was this homework assignment that my dad had.
It was for the parents.
You weren't in high school.
It was high school, 100% it was high school.
It was a freshman high school.
And you you fill out what you're looking for in a future spouse and like for your kid.
And my dad wrote all he wrote was fertile.
No, I promise you.
I didn't tell this last time.
Dude, I was so embarrassed because I I barely knew what that meant.
And my teacher thought it was hilarious.
And my dad was like, I mean, he didn't he didn't do it as a joke.
He was like, Yeah, I want like I want your future spouse to be fertile.
It's like I want grandkids.
Yeah.
And so here it is.
Caring.
Fertile.
And did you tell her at this point?
Because you guys have dated since high school.
We yeah, we weren't dating at that time.
Oh, okay.
She's heard the story.
I've heard the story many a times.
Yeah.
Yeah, that I was so embarrassed, but it came to fruition, so good job.
I got I got a A on it as well.
So nice job.
Yeah.
Nice job.
Yeah, I thought that was so funny.
That's so funny.
Um, well, I'm gonna let obviously let them go take a nap and we'll pick back up.
But I mean, we're here on the most beautiful Sunday.
Is this normally what your Sundays are like?
Just chilling?
Yeah, Sundays are Sundays are usually lazy.
Yeah, girl, you tell them.
We might like my parents come up, Grammy and Pops come up a bit.
They actually were just here yesterday.
Oh, okay.
Yeah, so Sundays, sometimes it's a boat day, sometimes we don't leave the house, sometimes we'll go in to make an opi.
It's whatever we feel we need that we need buggy rides, yeah.
It's just it's usually a lot of outside Yeah.
August, what is your favorite part about Sunday?
What's your favorite part about Sunday?
Go hot wheels.
Go go hot wheels.
Go hot wheels.
Yeah and and eat watermelon.
Did you eat watermelon?
Yeah.
Roll suitcases around.
What was your what's uh your favorite part about today so far?
Is it your new friends?
No friends.
New friends.
You're my new friend too.
We got Aunt Katie, Uncle Drake.
Yeah.
Josie.
Alright, we're gonna break for nap time.
Bye, buddy.
I do want to hear more stories around like how you guys have interacted in not only like the pregnancy phases, but then to me, the hardest is like right when you have a child going from zero to one and then one to two.
Like, what's harder?
Zero to one.
Zero to one, I think, is harder for sure.
It's not there's no way it's linear though.
Because yeah, zero to one was harder than one to two, but like is two to three, is that still easier than zero to one?
It's like I'm assuming I'm assuming eight kids is harder than one.
Very strong opinions on this, though.
Okay.
I pa parenthood in general, I'm realizing is the strongest opinions I've ever seen come forth.
Yes.
I've dipped a toe here or there, and like, I mean, just from reading her stuff into the motherhood stuff.
I've creeped around the corner and there's a lot of gate, there's a lot of gatekeeping in motherhood, I feel like, with pregnancy and stuff of like the right way to do stuff and I don't feel like it's the opposite.
I feel like everyone overshares.
Yeah.
I don't I don't think it's no, because like for the epit for the epidural stuff and like, oh, it's not a real birth there's a I've I have heard that.
Yeah.
I have to do that.
That's what I'm talking about that's what I'm talking about.
That kind of stuff.
Well, that's just that's not gatekeeping, though.
That's just like very strong unsolicited.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, ladies, ladies, I don't want to Yeah.
Like, don't get it like gatekeeping.
You guys are both gatekeeping right now.
No, gatekeeping's like keeping a secret.
Yeah, like trying not to give it.
Dude, I'm over here just mansplaining for two moms.
This is crazy.
I don't even know why I'm like, why am I dying on this hill?
I don't know.
This is stupid.
All right, we gotta please move on.
This is this is a terrible thing.
It's very strong.
There's very strong unsolicited opinions.
But yeah, I think what you're trying to say is like some people don't share about some of the harder stuff.
Yes, I think that yes.
Yes, and so that I have found to be true is it's like some of the hard stuff that I've gone through is like, why did nobody talk about this?
Or I would like say something to some of my girlfriends and be like, oh yeah.
But I think part of it is like biology.
Like you just kind of forget like how it's why you want to have another kid.
Yeah, exactly, exactly.
Like you just kind of forget, like I totally forgot.
You were talking about our birth story, and you I had a f to have a foley balloon with Josie, and I totally forgot that I had to have Oh, yeah, yeah.
So I And I was like, oh, I was telling you, I do I write down the birth stories of like kind of the night before leaving the house.
Josie's was funny because Megan was watching Pirates of the Caribbean for that whole week.
Wait, why the why?
I I I don't know.
I was in a rough I was in a rough spot immediately postpartum, and I was like, You'll ask questions in nine months, you mean?
No, wait, was it nine months?
I mean, that was right after you asked questions, he's saying like Yeah, I'm saying like a I watched him cry over a Milky Way one time.
Oh yeah.
Because you wanted it or because you he came home and gave me him like a jiffy and got a milky way.
Got me a gas station Milky Way.
Yeah, I was like, I was like, Thank you.
Was it for her, or did you get it for yeah, I think it was.
She started crying.
I was like, well, I could have gotten the dark chocolate, I guess.
But no, she just wanted it that bad.
She cried over pizza.
Yeah.
Remember the pizza?
Yeah, there's just a lot that I think Megan forgets because she's a little bit more than a lot of people.
Yeah, the Pirates of the Caribbean phase, was that at the end or was that right after she?
Yeah, because that's when your mom was still here.
There was so much Pirates of the Caribbean.
I wasn't even watching them because it was too much Pilot Caribbean phase.
Because I at the end of both of my pregnancies, I have to be like very careful about what I consume.
Okay.
And so, like, I we were watching Severance, I think, at that point, and I was like, this is too intense for me right now.
Like, I can't mentally handle the intensity of this.
Fallout, yeah, fallout was rough because there was a lot of people's heads falling off.
Yeah, I was like, I can't.
I cannot I can't consume this right now.
Like, there's too much else going on.
And yeah, I just needed something that was like comforting, but kind of I don't know.
It's familiar.
Okay, yeah.
I'm coming familiar, but I like I knew that I was gonna be just kind of like I was so uncomfortable at the I went to 41 weeks with both of them.
41?
Yeah, with both of them.
And so I was just like cozy in there.
Yeah, and it was the end of June in Florida.
So I was like, but yeah, Pirates of the Caribbean.
I watched every single one of them.
Yeah, and then so kind of starting there, it was like the night before, and then up until Josie pops out, and then how I always end it, I would write the stories like while holding them.
So I cry every year on their birthday because it always ends with like, and here you are in my arms, and then like reading it on his second birthday when he's running around the yard.
It's like, man, it goes like everyone says it goes by quick.
I we've gotten used to that, but it's just it's I'm so glad that I wrote the birth stories down because going through that whole process, it's easy to forget, especially with Josie, because it was traumatic.
I don't think there's another way to put it.
So I wrote it in a way to where it's like, I'm not reading it on her birthday, where it's like, oh my god.
Like it's like yeah, it reads good still, and I you know, I left some parts out that didn't need to be in there.
But yeah, that was one of my because my my dad did that.
It's not even an original idea.
My dad did that.
And then all the like funny moments.
That's what I was telling you before I put them down.
All the funny moments.
Yeah, like daddy, daddy orange nipples was the most recent one.
Yeah, can you please tell that story?
Like we need context for that.
I mean, I don't I don't wear shirts a whole lot, so we're eating dinner one night, and like we were talking about something completely different, and all he's just orange.
Oh, it's nipples, it's not nipples, it's nipples.
Yeah, he goes, Daddy orange nipples.
And I was like, I was like, what?
I was like, I want to make sure I heard him.
So then he points, he goes, Daddy orange needles.
I was like, I was like, buddy, I think I started defending myself.
I was like, I'm not about to be not orange.
I'm not about to be like brought down by a two-year-old.
So I was like, they're brown.
And then he had not orange needles, he just kept going with it.
So yeah, it's just that.
Yeah, it was the whole thing.
And then it was August nipples and yeah, yeah.
So cute.
Yeah, I think like a lot of people told us, you know, it's it's obviously very hard in the beginning.
Yeah.
And then like I told you, you know, it's first three, four months, it's like it's uh sucks for lack of a better word.
Like it's it's tough.
I would say three months.
You're taking care of a brain, three basically.
Yeah.
And like there's nothing, it they're either crying or asleep.
And so there's like Which is very, very sweet.
It is very sweet.
Like I love the newborn phase, but you hit three months and it's like we kind of we say they like wake up.
Like they like wake up to the world, and it's like, oh my god, yeah.
You start seeing the like social smiling and like interacting more, and it's just like, oh, it just like unlocks a whole other level.
And then yeah, then there's so much new of things that they're putting together, and then I would say around like that kind of eight, nine months is when that's when I start to like thrive, because then you can play with them.
I mean, you can play before, but they're like sturdy and tiny.
You can do play with them.
Yeah, they can enter the dojo and get destroyed.
The dojo is our bed for reference.
Yes.
Um, where oh, I forget where I was even going with that.
Because there was a question before that, and then I just started rambling.
The transition of like zero to one, one to two.
Oh, that's what we started with.
No, there was something before that.
I don't know.
But I feel like zero to one was harder because your whole life gets reorganized.
Right.
And it's like restructured in a way that you can read all these books and hear all these stories, but until you're living it, like you don't fully get it.
You can't get it.
And then yeah, but then by the time the second one comes around, it's like, yeah, there's definitely still a period of adjustment, but you're already like using a muscle that you've worked out before.
Like it like it's it's familiar with the second one.
It's not like everything is brand new.
So for me personally, there was like a quiet confidence the second time around.
It's like, okay, not every single thing I'm doing is brand new.
I was more nervous going into going into the hospital for Josie than I was for August because I knew what to not to like make you nervous, but yeah, because I knew like what was holding.
Yeah, but and then on top of that was I wouldn't like I said nervous.
I said nervous, not anxious.
Yeah, I was more nervous, not anxious.
Because I knew like, you know, it was really hard for Megan and not as big a role, but like I have a big role to play in this as well of making sure she's comfortable and doing my part.
So it was like, yeah, I gotta be like on point for this.
Yeah.
The goal for us was an unmedicated birth, too.
And so we did that with August.
Wow.
And then she was.
She, goodness.
Nice of you, kind of you.
Uh I also was unmedicated.
And then unmedicated to pushing with Josie, and then it ended up well, it had to be induced, but like did that without intervention.
Wow.
Until pushing, and then we ultimately had to have an emergency C section, but it was it they were very different birth stories, but it was just such an intense experience, no matter what.
Yeah, they like you did have a role in that though.
Like you absolutely had a role.
Uh yeah, it was.
I mean, this is probably more for Todd, but like, yeah, it's as a the moth.
At least I went okay, I was about to say that.
Yeah, yo, we're I didn't have this.
Yeah, I don't think I had this last time.
This is um I do have a moth club now.
Oh my god, how do you join the club?
Well, you gotta be.
Um, so it's me, it's me, my best friend Ben, who has a daughter, my dad.
Um so there's three members of the moth club, but it's anyone who I feel is a true you know, man of the house.
And then there will be one more member joining this year.
I don't know.
Mike might actually listen, so I don't want oh well I just said his name.
I definitely would give one to my stepfather-in-law, which that'll be coming this year.
My stepgun.
Okay.
This guy rules, dude.
Yeah, he's literally, he is literally Top Gun.
Yeah.
He was just he is Tom Cruise.
He was instructor of Top Gun.
He's a beast.
Yeah.
Yeah, he's he keeps inviting me to go out to um the flight simulator.
Yeah.
And I ass jax.
Because he's got yeah, he's got a do it.
Yeah, I'm gonna have to.
I think I'm gonna just have my birthday there.
You should.
Yeah, it'd be so fun.
But he wants me to go up in the Blue Angels.
Oh, wow.
And that's one, yeah, I know.
But I can't say no because I don't want to look like the biggest baby.
Um, you kind of have no choice there.
Yeah, Mike will be um joining.
So yeah, I custom make the knife.
So this is a benchmade knife, it's a really, really good knife.
Wow.
Um you can customize the handle, the nut colors, the blade color, like every part of it.
So I try to get it like personalized for that person.
And then um I put like that's my logo on it.
My dad's, it just says pops, my best friend's.
I put an actual moth on the side of Ben's.
That's cool.
Okay, and then and then Mike, he uh because he was in the Navy, so I'll probably do something with Navy for his.
And then my other best friend, his wife is due in November.
So he'll he's already gonna be a man in the house.
But I got you the kind of the rule is you gotta have you gotta have a kid.
Not necessarily.
There's just all members right now have children.
So that's fair.
Um going back, wait, what's wait, what's what's your club?
I don't know.
Just momming around.
You can come up with a club.
I don't know.
I don't have a club.
I mean, I guess it could be a moth too, the mom of the house.
Yeah, mom of the house.
You guys can both be.
Yeah, you can both get a club.
I can get you a knife if you want to.
Just two moths fluttering around.
We're just yeah, that's all we're we have no idea what we're doing.
Are there things, are there, is there anything that surprised you about him and vice versa like going through parenthood, like quality-wise, that have come out?
No, I I knew from the get-go with Megan, like this is what she was always wanted to do and was like destined born to do without sounding dramatic.
I'd like even when we were first dating, I just always saw those qualities, like just a very caring person.
Don't tell her, don't tell her I said any of that.
Yeah.
Don't tell her I said any of this.
But yeah, just like just one of the most tender-hearted people that I know, and like I've learned a lot.
Like, she's a better mom than way better mom than I am, dad.
Oh, I don't agree with that.
I do.
I'll die on that hill.
What why why do you say that?
She just her patience and like I've had a couple like just moments where I'm like they got me.
That's what we say when we kind of reach our breaking point of like, he got me, August got me, where it's just one of those days, but she can just keep her cool and like the kids always come first.
Like, I've never heard her raise her voice.
Wow.
And just everything is so intentional of the research and products we buy or the food that they give.
Or how to discipline or how to love them, like everything, there's just thought behind it, and I kind of just follow suit to be honest.
Like I'm I'm the fun one and I know that, but a lot of the other stuff with Megan is just me following suit.
So yeah, I'll die on that hill.
What's your counter to that?
She doesn't.
There's no counter.
I'll just all argue it.
Like you're making it sound like I'm the perfect mom.
I am not the perfect mom.
There's no such thing.
I like I definitely have my moments where they got me.
They got me too.
I love that.
Yeah.
Got me today.
They got me.
I definitely have my moments like that too.
But I nothing surprised me, like, just from a straight up treat wise for you.
But I will say what has been I don't know what the word is.
Surprising isn't the right word, but like we're just talking like the personality.
Like is well, is like I knew you were gonna be a good dad.
Like I've always known that you were gonna be a good dad, but like the the way that you are a good dad, like like you're not you don't passively love them, that you're very active, you are a very active, very present father.
And I just like I always knew that you were going to be that, but living it and seeing what that actually looks like.
Yeah, that's a good way to put it is like it wasn't surprising, but it just is like seeing it.
Oh like I couldn't like I'm so grateful that our kids have you as a dad.
Well, thank you.
Yeah, that's beautiful.
Yeah, that's really nice.
Yeah, nice of you.
Actually, uh you gave me one of the best compliments.
I don't know why.
I don't like I don't really care for compliments.
That's not one of my love language things.
Megan, like we'll get we'll be getting ready.
Yeah, yeah.
We'll be getting ready for a date, and Megan be like, oh, you look so handsome.
I know.
Like, I just cast in a line.
Like, come on.
It's like, yeah, but she told me we were just laying in bed, and she goes, Oh, what'd you say?
It felt so good.
I was like, Oh, what is that?
It felt like the Grinch was heart grew.
I was like, What did you say?
I don't remember exactly how I worded it, but it was something I was like, I love how easily you laugh.
Yeah, that's what it was.
Wow, yeah, it is a huge compliment.
That one got for whatever reason, that one got me.
I was like I do.
Like, you just it's so easy to make you laugh, and I love that.
Like, nothing is too serious, you like it's very easy for you to find joy and humor in the world and in environments, and I just I love that I love that about you.
I think, yeah, I think we have a good the teamwork spot because if there's a day where it's like they got me, like I remember um it was during bath time, and August was going crazy, and he he threw or he was just splashing and like soaked the floor, and I was like, wanted to just give like a ah and then Megan's like it's just water.
I was like, Oh, yeah, it's just yeah, I literally am in this for a living.
I'm about to get upset.
Yeah, yeah, like this is fine.
So, and then there's you know, there's some days where they got her, and it's like, all right, let's go, we'll go on a buggy ride, or like let's just go outside, or like uh the amount of times where I've just taken them to bass pro because I don't do too well if I'm just in the house with them because it's yeah, a lot, it's a lot, so I'll just take them to Bass Pro or Fresh Air and Water fixes everything.
Yeah, that's what's that's what I was telling them.
Yeah, um go I don't want to forget this because this is so good.
When you're you asked about zero to one or one to two.
Oh yes, uh Cam actually reached out to me, MacAlboy, and he said, Was it harder?
Same question, and it I was like it seemed the answer should have been obvious, but it was how because he he said, Is it harder?
I said I wouldn't describe I think he used harder like sacrifices, it was maybe like some of those two words, and it was weird because I was like, I wouldn't use your priorities change for one kid for sure, and then one to two, like a little bit more, but it's like I don't feel like I've had to sacrifice anything because that makes it feel like I'm losing something.
So it's like it's not me and Megan, but it yeah, we can't go out and stay out till 4 a.m.
at a bar, but it's like well, I wouldn't want to even do that anyway.
Just say if that's what we were into before kids, well, it's like, well I rather be able to wake up at 7 when he gets up and go play outside.
That's more fun.
And like nothing, yes, they take time, but it's like anything that I could have been doing before, I don't want to do, because this is like the new norm, and this is what I want to be doing anyway.
So it's like it's not harder.
You do have to prioritize better, but it's not even really like sacrificing, and that's what I was terrified about before even luckily, we didn't have to like try to have kids, but that was one of the fears I was talking with my best friend, my dad about of like, what does it look like?
What do you have to give up?
Do I not get to go camping anymore?
Can I not stay up late and play Mario Kart?
Like, but then August came about, and it's like things I haven't no, I guess I still have gone camping.
We take the boat out.
He's actually around the age where we can start doing overnight, so it's like they just become part of your life and you want to involve them as much as you can.
Yeah, I actually saw something like a couple of days ago, and this guy was talking about kind of the same thing, but specifically people who'd like choose to have kids versus people that choose not to, and which I don't think that everybody is meant to have kids.
That's such a personal, yeah, such a personal thing.
Like, I yeah.
But anyway, what he was saying was like it's so easy to communicate like the hard stuff because everything that's hard, you have some like taste of in your life prior to that.
Like everybody's been tired before, everybody's been sleep deprived before, everybody's been overstimulated before.
Like it's easier to connect to the hard stuff, but the positive, like the the joy that you experience and the love that you feel is so incomparable to anything else in your life that it's like, how do you articulate to somebody the good?
Like they can connect to the bad, and it's like there's always gonna be a reason they can't not to, you know?
They cannot connect to the under well, that's one thing that no kids, it's a whole no, no, no, no, no.
It's like we're going down a positive pattern anymore.
Take the train this way, okay.
I had there's they cannot relate to that.
But I like I really connected with that because it's like, yeah, like how do you articulate to somebody like you don't even want to it doesn't even like sacrifice, yes, but it does it doesn't feel in a negative way.
It's like you don't even want to be doing those same things anymore because of the level of joy that you experience doing these other things with with your kids now.
It's just that makes a lot of sense.
I think like I think you can absolutely have purpose without sorry, my orange nipples.
Yeah.
I think you can absolutely have purpose without kids, but once you have them, that becomes it is it's a whole new door.
And even me and Megan's relationship, a whole new door opened of like how I view her and watching her mother of like the this girl rules.
It's like this, it does not, it doesn't get any better.
You know, like before we had kids, it was there was building blocks along the way, but that door I don't think could have been opened unless we had kids.
And the like level of love and quickly understanding, like, oh, I would die for them or kill for them, like without my favorite quote from Megan is um God, I'm excited.
Oh, it was um I want to make sure I got the wording right.
Oh, um, yeah, I was like, what if someone like hurt August and Josie?
And this is No no no no no no no is he gonna go straight?
Yeah, yeah, how did I say because you're talking about it insane?
I know because there was this like viral-ish video going around of people asking moms, like, would you kill for your kid?
Right.
And Oh yeah, not all of them said not all of them said yeah.
Some of them were like Hemen and Hahn and like it, yeah.
That seems like a no-brainer.
I showed it to him and And I asked her, I was like, what would you do?
She goes, Oh, I would hack someone to pieces.
So good, dude.
It's so good.
I mean no hesitation, none whatsoever.
I'm like, oh, I would hack them to pieces.
I make up scenario, like we're in public, so I'm like, I'm like walking with a family, and it's like, oh, if this guy were to hit Megan, boom! Like, it's like, dude, I'd go to school.
You're like kind of hoping it happens.
Oh, yeah.
I'm good.
I can't fight, but I'm good for one swing.
Now one swing makes contact.
It's over.
It is, but if it doesn't, who knows?
It's fair game.
I'm a sprinter, I got no endurance, yeah.
But one punch, I'm good to go.
Yeah.
I want to know more because I think, you know, the one of the most impactful things you said what three years ago when we were here is talking about your perfectionism and like what you thought when you first won your first individual gold medal.
And I'm so curious how that translates to parenting for you.
I think like I think the per like at a certain point the perfectionism has it has to go out the window.
Because one, this is all there's a million books written on this about how to parent, but it's like you don't I'm still I have no idea what I'm doing.
That's the best way to put it.
So they're definitely I have to put a separation from you know swimming to parenting, and yeah, maybe there is some overlap with just discipline and like if you don't want to do something too bad, like you you have to.
No's not necessarily an option when he's up, even if it's earlier than you want to.
I mean, even this morning, I heard Josie went first this morning, but I was just like, Oh, I really wanted to.
Yeah, but it's you know, with kids, there's not it's almost easier because there's not another option.
Like you just have to do it.
Right.
He has to eat, or if he's crying, you have to pick him up, or if Josie She doesn't want to take her nap, like you gotta hold her.
So there's like it's almost easier in some sense, but for the most part, like I don't know if there's that much overlap.
Because I think I think a lot of parents, it's it's uh yeah, one of the this is from my therapist, the hardest thing you'll love to do.
And I completely wholeheartedly agree, but it's like just because I swim fast and I'm really disciplined in practice, and I can go, you know, I have really good main sets and I'm comfortable with my heart rate being at 200, it's like, well, you hand me a screaming baby at 2 a.m.
I don't handle it as well as Megan does, so it's like I don't think there's that much overlap.
And like my parents went through four kids, and so I always viewed my parents as you know, gods growing up, and then and then there comes a point where you view them as just friends, and then we had kids, and now it's like I'm almost viewing them as gods again, but at the same time, like so human because it's like you guys did this with four kids, we all turned out I'm probably the worst one, but like pretty good.
And it's like, oh, you guys are human, but you did such a good job, and it's like how hard, like going through it now, it's like this is really tough.
So, yeah, I think there's like a new level of connection to our like preacher owned parents, totally, yeah.
Yeah, and I like I it's both ways too.
And like watch it's one of the most special things watching well, watching my siblings, August, Josie's aunts and uncles, like interact with them, and my best friends is really special.
But the grandparents is where it like really hits home.
So, yeah, like just like me and Megan, we unlocked a another, opened another door to our relationship with my parents and like new conversations about parenting that we've never had, um, or like none of my other siblings have kids, but like just conversations you never think about having, but it's just like so special and so intimate with my dad of um just fun it most of it's just funny stories with my dad, but like they went through it and they know, and it's these things that you can't have until you have like conversations you can't have till you have kids.
So, yeah, going back to your question, there's not overlap.
Like it'd probably be better for me if there was, because it's like, well, I'm I'm pretty good at this swimming thing, so like that does not mean I'm gonna be uh you know a good dad.
It's two totally separate things, yeah.
And then how how do you handle being a mom and like the pressures and like I think that's the number one thing for myself is like you don't know till you're in it, but it's like how how do you balance that in your head so that you have mental health?
I cannot do it alone.
Like I you have I feel I feel like you have to lean on your people.
Like you have to.
It is impossible to do it by yourself.
And that was a big thing for me that I had to get over.
Is like I it's very hard for me to ask for help.
Like, I want to be able to just like be superwoman, super mom, like do it by myself.
Like I don't need it.
And I really had to like work through that of like, it doesn't mean I'm a bad mom because I need help.
Or it doesn't mean a bad like I'm not a bad mom because I need to like take a day away for myself.
Like you have to find that time and that balance to be able to be just Megan, just Katie.
Like and it doesn't take much.
Like, I think that's what's been so surprising to me is like in learning to ask for help and in learning to like take a step away to just be Megan again, is it really does not take much.
Like just a couple of hours for me to go by myself to like go get coffee and just go walk around the outdoor mall or whatever for yeah, go get my nails done.
There you go.
I was gonna say your nails are looking great right now.
But yeah, like just do that for a couple of hours and just like only have the Megan hat on.
It makes me a better mom.
Like I'm able to be a better mom and show up for them in more of a way that I want to and more of a way that I deserve because I allow myself that that grace.
So getting over that has been huge, huge for me.
And we also are so lucky that we have so much family so close, yeah, which is huge.
Like both of our his mom and dad, my mom and stepdad, and your sister are all within an hour and a half radius of us.
So we have like we see everybody trip all the time, all the time, or like if I'm down bad, sick, or you're out of town at a meet for a week and a half or whatever it is, like I have so much support around me that yeah, I could not imagine doing it without crypto.
Yeah, it took like it took her a bit to get to that.
Like, I think you can correct me if I'm wrong, but it took her getting to like close or at a breaking point to finally be like, You're not a bad mom if you leave the kids to go get because it might sound so stupid on like saying it out loud of like you're not a bad mom if you leave to go get your nails done.
But it's like, oh, it is getting my nails done.
It's like, well, no, it's more than that because that's really important to you.
Like, it's just time where I don't have to think about anything else.
Like, she likes to have your nails take my time.
Sue the girl.
She likes to have your nails done.
Like at first I didn't understand it, and then it was like, oh, this is a lot more than just getting your nails done.
It's like it's it's like a very small thing to still like keep me connected to yourself, yeah.
Me.
Yeah.
When you're like in the midst of the crazy with the baby and not a toddler running around.
Like it because it is, it can be very overstimulating, and it's it's very easy to get lost in the mom of it all, and like kind of forget and like get disconnected from yourself.
But like underneath it all, like I'm still Megan.
All of those parts of me that were there before I had kids are still there.
There's just reorganized and structured and in a different way now.
And yeah, it's just like in the I would say, especially with Josie, it was all like she only got to wear the mom hat.
And so, like, watching her just and also everything was thrown out of whack with emergency C-section, hormones, breastfeeding, like it was so rough.
Yeah, she was just getting, I mean, punched by everything, and so it took like she could only wear the mom hat.
And so, and this is I mean, she's like, I just don't feel like myself, and that made me really sad because it's like, oh, I can't, like, I can't relate to that.
Probably a helpless feeling, yeah, yeah.
And that's what it was like in the delivery room, too.
Of like, I feel I'm just sitting there, like, keep breathing.
It's like what like and you're like, I'm gonna punch her.
Yeah, it's like, yeah, you can if you want.
It's like yeah, she did actually for August.
She had this is right when she started pushing.
She had my arm pinned a weird way, like this.
I was like holding onto his arm.
I was waiting to just hear.
I was like, oh my like I was like, is that all you got?
It was it hurt.
It hurt bad.
I was like watching my elbow, like the bone my card.
I was like, oh my god.
Of course you're gonna be like, babe, that hurts.
Oh my gosh.
Oh, I was fucking.
Is that all you got?
Yeah.
That would definitely be a swing coming your way.
That what yeah, that was a beautiful the whole, that whole thing was a beautiful process.
We had yeah, we I mean, August's birth was like, I could not have imagined a better, more ideal set of circumstances.
I was checking everything out.
I even watched a couple days before, I was trying to find some like birth videos online.
Oh, yeah, I know.
He wanted to know what he was getting himself into.
I didn't want to show look, I want to be ready.
Yeah.
Okay.
So yeah, and that we had a let me derail real quick.
Oh, I know what you're about to talk about.
I already know.
In middle school, they did the birth video.
And Do you have a lot of experiences in your adolescence with birth and fertility?
And like it's very interesting.
I'm I'm just extremely mature.
We watched this video of this lady giving birth, and I mean, yeah, it was insane because I was like, what, 12?
Like, like a full, like a like a frontal view of this.
Is that loud enough?
Oh I'm sure.
Absolutely not.
After class, one of my friends he goes, I didn't think we were gonna be watching Chewbacca give birth today.
She was, I'm not, it's burned in my head.
It was the Oh, I don't want to, I don't want to know what's in your head right now.
I've ever seen.
Like armpits, everything.
Oh.
Oh boy.
No, it was it wasn't that.
It was the part that the camera was on.
That's true.
I don't know why I went to armpits in that situation.
Yeah, so that was really the last time I kind of had like an idea.
So I needed to re- I need a refresher on my notes.
Yeah, so I went upstairs and tried to find there was only like one good one.
Um, can you define what good one means?
Like the actual, I want to see what's you want to see the crown eating.
Yeah, he didn't want to be like passing out in the delivery room.
He's like, I need that, I need to absolutely most embarrassing thing ever.
Yeah, yeah, that's that's a real like I feel like you're down, down low as a dad if you pass out.
Yeah.
Like I'm gonna be doing this, but like I can't.
So yeah.
And I like I'm I don't get nauseous with blood or anything like that, but I was like, you don't, you don't know until I've never done this before.
Yeah, you don't know until you know.
Yeah.
So I found there was like one good.
I hate to say, go you're prepping for this is so good.
Oh, he took it.
He you took it so seriously.
Like we took before August, we uh we took uh uh like a newborn care class, we took a breastfeeding class, we took a a laborer class with a doula.
You were the most active participant in all of those classes.
I and I loved it.
I was like, I am care so much.
I'm proud of this one.
I stumped the doula.
I had a question.
You did.
So how does the umbilical cord like I basically asked where does the umbilical cord attach from like obviously it's where your belly button is, but from there, where like Oh, that's a great question.
Well, yeah, she didn't have an answer.
So do you have the answer now?
No.
Oh, yeah.
I asked Dr.
Medani.
Oh, she had it?
Who's the goat?
Oh, I yeah, I think I asked more questions when we go see Dr.
Medini.
Yeah, for at every OB appointment.
I don't have a vagina.
I have no idea.
Yeah, I was like, I don't have any of these parts.
I want to know what's going on.
It was great.
I learned so much.
She loved it.
She's a professor at the med school too, so she was like loving all the questions.
She's sick.
Ultrasounds, I was asking a few questions.
Yeah, man, I like to be well, really.
I just like I like I never have any shame asking questions, but I like having answers.
That's why I hope when I die, I just hope I have this is literally the story of Adam and Eve, but I just want all the knowledge.
That's all I want when I die.
If I were Adam eating the forbidden fruit.
If I were Adam, dude, I'm for sure eating the fruit.
If a snake I I'm sorry, I'm I'm I agree with that.
If a snake came up, it was like, if you eat that this fruit, you know everything gone.
Who's saying that?
I know everyone's like everyone wants to blame Adam and Eve.
It's like I'm eating trying to cancel Adam and Eve again.
I'm yeah, I'm eating that fruit so quickly.
I'm yeah.
He barely gets the question out.
You're like, give it.
It's a I'm it's a whole salad.
A whole fruit of salad, and I don't care.
I just yeah, I want to know everything when I die.
That's really it.
I mean Is that too much advanced?
I want infinite knowledge and power.
If you guys have not heard yet, my husband and I have a company called Synergy Dryland.
And Synergy Dryland is essentially an at-home virtual customized training dryland program.
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It takes you through activation, it takes you through power, it takes you through strength, as well as some really, really customized movements to help your range of motion and keep you injury free.
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We use a lot of exercises that people like Caleb Dressel are doing to generate power and strength.
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Oh, I want to pivot slightly of just you know, you obviously have made the switch to working with Coach Steve, uh swimming in Jacksonville.
How has that been for you and then as a family?
In the begin before it even started, it was pretty tough.
It was very hard for me to like mentally so to paint the picture for you.
All of this happened in like Josie's first few months of life, too.
And so it was like getting over the traumatic birth of that, and also hearing that like he's gonna be gone two two nights a week, and I I just like I was postpartum got me like pretty gnarly too.
And so just like trying to make all of it make sense in my brain was so overwhelming.
So I had a really hard time just kind of like swallowing the pill at first and understanding like what it was actually gonna look like.
But I will say in living it, it was way scarier in my head, like way harder in my head than a bug, than what it actually is in reality.
What is that?
He's he's got a few words to say, huh?
Yeah.
For people listening, we are outside.
Um But yeah, since we've we've been in it, we found a good groove, like the kids and I have a great routine now, and we're like it's really not hard.
And it's weird because even though you're gone two nights a week, he's home more hours than he was when he was training on the college program.
I mean it heard to say it.
Yeah, so he which is so that is crazy.
So I like going in to talk with it's yeah, let's paint the picture because it will take a while.
Like in the beginning, before I even started, like Megan had it was tough, and she was in a tough, already not feeling like herself.
Right.
Have two kids, bunch of other stuff coming up, and obviously it's a huge sacrifice for Megan for me to be able to chase my dream and be able to moth and provide for the family.
Like sometimes this is not ideal, but this is what has to be done, and we're not we're not moving, so it's like that's out of the question.
So I remember going and sitting down with Steve of asking.
I already had Eva, which is my the sports scientist I work with, and then Sean, who's my strength coach out in California.
So I had them, um, and really the last puzzle piece was a swim coach, and there wasn't anyone else I was I was pretty much putting all the eggs in the the basket of Steve.
And so going to talk to him, like he was asking me questions of what are you hoping to get out of this?
Of it didn't feel like an interview, but he was just genuinely like curious.
Um and I didn't want anyone to feel like they're doing me any like favors.
Like I wanted this to be a like no, this is a like this is a serious thing.
I'm all in with this.
This isn't just like, yeah, I'll come up, we'll splash, have a good time.
Like, I just want to enjoy the water.
Like, yes, but also no, I'm not done yet.
And like, let's see what we can we can do here heading into a home home Olympic Game.
So Steve has been like the first couple months, it was very like, what am I doing?
I'm driving two hours, spending the night, two nights away from my kids.
Um and then that was probably you know, the first month, two months, it was very like, what am I doing?
Oh, I felt so awkward and mechanical.
Yes, and then you know, having US Open and seeing some times and results of like, oh, you know, this is this is working.
And then every week since then, like really the past three weeks uh have been what I would say the most like monumental for my time with Steve.
Um so we started like my proper training program, which like you know, teaming up with Eva, getting my testing VO2, lactate, sweat testing, body comp, like really dialing on all the numbers and her and Steve teaming up to write my training program.
So kind of started that in January.
Um and we've been on that for so this is my second cycle.
So yeah, we go in like kind of four or five-week cycles, depending on what the swimmates are.
So feeling the training take part, seeing the speed come to action, watching the technique fall into place, it's like this is why I'm doing this.
I'm loving the water, I'm having fun.
This is the something different that I needed.
Um, and yes, while a travel is not ideal, I think it's healthy too because when I'm in Jacksonville, I get a lot of work done.
Um, and I really don't bring any of it home with me.
So Wednesdays are totally off.
So I lift, but August does all my lifts with me.
So it's just I cannot wait to see that so cool.
It's just in the pole barn there, and then um yeah, after my lift is done, then it's just Wednesdays or play.
So I I'm gone for about a full 24 hours from Monday to Tuesday, and then Wednesday's totally off.
Thursday, same thing.
I'll leave around you know noon and then I'll get home around noon on Friday.
And Steve does come to Gainsville some of the days.
Okay.
Let me throw that in in case anyone has any funny business.
Yes, Megan does have the code to the gun safe.
If anyone wants to try and track our our Don't mess.
Yeah.
I know.
I feel like protective because it's like Also, can we go back to the hacking people up story?
I don't think anyone is coming near you after you said that.
So we're sad.
We're sad.
I'm locked and loaded, people.
Yeah.
Actually, Megan's a really good shot, too.
There's a couple things she does that like I get mad because it doesn't make sense.
She's a way better surfer than me, and then pistol shooting.
It's so random.
Pistol shooting.
You teach me.
I yeah, I don't know where that came came from, but it used to make me really mad, and then I just finally surrendered.
I was like, she's better at surfing, and yeah, she can shoot a handgun.
Um the most random.
That is so random.
They don't have link at all, by the way.
Not even a link.
No, no, no.
But if yeah, but don't pick her to be on your volleyball team because it's no, forget it.
I know I hand-eye coordination, not for me.
Yeah, not it.
Definitely not billiards.
Oh, God.
I don't even laugh anymore.
Yeah, it's not funny.
Yeah, as it's about not playing.
I will not, Megan is I will not pick her to be on my team for um, yeah.
So like the first couple months it was definitely strange, and then having everything come together of Steve's calling Eva on his own, Sean, Steve, and Eva have uh conversations without me, which is what I wanted, like putting together this team, and I knew how much was riding on it because of how me and Megan were not in a good spot leading up to really just when I was swimming in general.
It's not even just Paris, like I had a hard time prioritizing our relationship over swimming, did a terrible job of it, and then a lot of like that.
It would go through like seasons of it.
I was gonna say, what's yeah, what's your yeah?
It would go through seasons of that, and this is all like pre-kids mostly.
Yeah, but we would go through through seasons of like it felt like you were married to swimming.
Yeah, I wasn't doing my my part as a moth.
I should have gotten my knife revoked.
Like I wasn't, I wasn't doing my which like we went to therapy after couples therapy after Paris, and like it stunk so bad because I was just sitting there and basically agreeing with I wasn't getting teamed up on because they were both right of like this is how I just kept miss messing up and not not showing up.
And at that point, at that point, but August was born, like we had August in Paris, and so it was like we have to figure this out because it's not just me, like it's not and that is something that like has come in motherhood, is just like what I was willing to put up with for just myself versus like what I'm willing to put up with for an environment around my kids is so is very different, and so it's like we need to figure this out.
Like, I know the kind of dad that you are when you're here and like this needs to be an all the time thing.
And so I I was like, I was also tired of swimming and the demons that came with it of well, one ruining my not ruining, but interfering with my marriage, my family, and then myself.
So that was one of the biggest steps of I really need to do things different.
I need to be strategic with this new plan, new team, because I'm not done.
Decided that, you know, multiple months after after Paris.
And then it was, well, where do I where do I go from here?
What do I want this to look like?
It's like I don't want to be in the team, the college environment anymore.
Like I need to truly do things different.
Because I was with UF for 10 years, you know.
Wow, fucking.
And it was you know, it worked, but it's with the family and Megan, it's things.
It's a different phase of life, and like physically, yeah.
My body's not 18 anymore.
My body wasn't yeah, my body wasn't telling me it's done, it was just telling me it needs something different.
Yeah, and it I think it was about time that I listened to it.
Um, so yeah, it's been so nice being back with Steve.
Incredible.
Like I Steve's always been a numbers guy and a nerd for the sport, and same for myself, but every practice there's a camera in the water.
It's like every practice is a true one-on-one private coaching.
Um, I think Steve's one of the smartest technique coaches in the world.
Um, and then him teaming up with Eva of writing sets and stuff.
So, you know, as of recent, it's been like Mondays have been VO2, VO2 work, because right now, for the past two cycles, it's been increasing my VO2 max.
And then Tuesday, Thursday speed work, and then Friday has been anaerobic.
So it'll be, you know, uh all out 50s on, you know, probably like six to one, eight to one rest.
Um, and I'm only in the water four days a week.
Um, but it's my big thing is always more, more, more.
But Eva and Steve are like, no, we don't may like you know, maybe, maybe we go to five, maybe we go to six, but as of right now, no, you don't need it.
Your numbers are going up, we're watching your HRV increase, your resting heart rate's getting lower, you're in better shape, we're seeing the times in practice.
Why would you want to add?
And with Sean, I'm on a like with his calculations, I went and did testing in California, and it was I had a big imbalance of my strength was higher than my power, so that ratio was way off.
So he's like, we just need to basically maintain now.
We don't need to get you any stronger, we need to get you uh poppier.
So I'm only lifting twice a week and swimming four days a week, which sounds insane, but the practices are so intentional and individual for like it's just you.
Yeah, I'm high maintenance.
Yeah, what can I say?
I mean, at this point in your career, you're allowed to be.
And now, you know, that was that was a thing too of like that's what I need.
It might maybe it takes three people who specialize in their specific areas that can alleviate a lot of the pressure for me to where now it's like I just do what I'm told.
So yeah, I'm home more hours of the day.
Um, which is yeah, it's huge.
It's just it does break my heart because like I was gone almost two weeks from Chicago and I went straight to California to do the testing with Sean to check you know, shoulder mobility again, the strength power ratios again, because last time I was up there was like four months prior, and so we try try to go up uh quarterly just to make sure we're on the right path.
And August, we had a we had a bull out here that our cowboy dropped off just bull?
A bull.
Yes, we have we have cattle, cows.
Yes, yes, but oh wow.
There was a bull.
He just knew the place to put them for I don't know.
I didn't we didn't really ask that many questions anything about it.
He's like, yeah, you can put sure.
He was a sweet, we named him, his name was Jelly, Jelly.
Um, but he was a sweetheart.
It's super nice.
Um and bull uh I don't wanna like you guys might already know this, but bulls can be bald.
Not all bulls have horns.
And cows I did not know that.
Yeah, so girls, girl cows.
So a cow is just a a a bovine that's given birth.
Okay.
And then a heifer has not given birth, and then you got a bull, and then a steer is a neutered bull.
Did you have it on your bingo card, Megan saying neutered in this, I guess?
Not yeah, so you don't think a lot of things are not in my bingo card that I love so much.
Yeah, so he dropped off a bull and like he was only here for a little bit because he sold the bull to someone else and they came and picked up the bull.
We were just kind of the middleman.
Yeah.
Um yeah, Jelly was a sweetheart, but August.
Well, so like we were outside playing when So our cowboy Wesley sold the bull, and the family that was that purchased him came here to pick him up, and he had his whole trailer, and we were outside we were watching it and get loaded up and whatever, and we're like, Oh, he's going to a new home.
Like, bye-bye, bull.
Like bull, the bull's going to a new home.
Yeah, bull bull cow.
He won't just say bull, it's bull cow.
Bull cow.
Bull cow new home.
And Megan said, I was I'd probably been gone for his probably 10 days at this point, and I was calling Megan after the kids went down checking in.
She's like, This is gonna break your heart, but August said daddy new home.
He asked me if daddy went home.
Yeah, so it like it was so sad.
And there's you know, some nights where Megan's putting him down and he's asking for daddy, and he's also glued to me right now.
He is, I can tell you he's obsessed with that.
Daddy's number one, yeah.
So it like it's really hard some days.
Yeah.
Like how do you how do you grapple with that?
Yeah, I think like this is the best situation we could have come up with.
Obviously, it's not ideal.
Ideal would be Steve lives right there and the pool I have is right here.
But you know, with anything, like I'm thinking if I work a nine to five, I'm still home more hours.
Yeah.
Even if it wasn't a nine to five, like this is still a normal amount of travel for a normal job.
So I try to keep that into perspective.
And we talk about it too.
Like he knows if he'll ask, like, oh, daddy's at work, and then he'll be like, Daddy work.
And like most of the time he goes on about his business.
So he like he gets her.
When you when you leave, it's like, all right, bye-bye, daddy's going to work, and bye-bye, daddy.
We'll see you tomorrow.
Like he's a lot of conversations about it.
Yeah, it's where he understands it.
Like, we don't we try not to baby any of the conversations with him.
Like he's seen, yeah.
You can tell.
Even in your guys' interaction the last hour, like you guys are like speaking to him like he's not an adult.
He's a grown man.
Like just even like, you know, death or if roadkill are like, yeah, it's you know, it's buddy, that one, he's dead, or yeah, or if it did go to a new home, he actually went to a new home.
So yeah, we don't want to baby him in any way.
And then it still doesn't it doesn't make it it makes it easier, but it's not easy.
Like there's some days where I just I'm doing the drive to Jacksonville and it like it hurts.
Like I uh I miss Megan, but you know.
Whenever.
Yeah, I mean I told her this.
I was like, when I when I'm away from the kid, because there's no there's no substitute for the kids.
Like when Megan It's kind of like what I was saying earlier of like you can't articulate the good.
Like when I'm gone.
But you wish you could, because that's exactly that part.
Exactly.
Yeah.
When I was in when I was in California with Sean, it's like, well, I had my friends and I was having conversations with Sean and I was interacting.
So it's like, you know, I kind of got that was my substitute for like Megan.
I was like, all right, so I can't talk to Megan, but I can talk with Sean and have conversations and laugh and do this.
But when the kids are gone, it like and I'm usually pretty good about again, that's not my my love language is not physical touch.
What is your love language?
It's uh acts of service and quality time.
Okay, yeah.
Um, so yeah, I'm like built for long distance.
Yeah.
And you, but your des your design is about for me not and physical touch.
It's the opposite, yeah.
The exact opposite.
So we both had to figure out we both had some work to do.
Yeah.
Um yeah, so when the kids are gone, like it or when I'm away from it, physically like aches.
My yeah, it it hurts, like it aches.
It's like I've never had that feeling because it's like, I mean, it can go for I mean, if it's up to me, it's like I could probably make it like a year without hugging Megan and wouldn't think anything of it.
It's like oh not me, man.
Yeah, I just it's not something I I mean, I love hugging Megan, but it's not something like I need.
Like I I could definitely do long distance with Megan and it would be good, but with the kids, like it hurts.
So it's not ideal, but for me to chase my dreams, Megan has stepped up in a huge way.
And then like I want to give I want to give everybody under under our roof the life that they deserve, but at the same time, be able to show up for them.
So I feel like this schedule is the best of both worlds, of like I want to spoil them rotten and give them everything, like not just money, but like also, yeah, it's kind of what a job is for, of like, I want to make sure everyone's fed and do my part, but then also not just be working every day all day.
So it's like, yeah, I do have to travel to Jacksonville, but when you're home, you're home.
I'm home and you're present.
Yeah, and I think that's the biggest thing.
Because even when I was, you know, when I was training with UF, when I was home, I was not home.
I was like you were here, but mentally gone.
Yeah, like yeah, lights were all lights were what's the saying?
Lights were on.
Lights were on, nobody's home.
Yeah.
I was a shell.
I was just an absolute shell.
Like I was just so tired and beat up.
But when all I was seeing and thinking and breathing was Paris, Paris, Paris.
There wasn't time to think about anything else besides this is what I'm supposed to be doing, this is what I'm gonna be doing, and this is what has to be done.
I had so like the blinders were on.
And what's funny is that was actually a healthier lead up to Tokyo for sure.
Yeah.
Um, but right now I feel like it's it's very healthy for myself, for our family.
I agree.
And then also Steve has stepped up huge.
Like last week he came to Gainesville for Thursday, Friday.
Oh, that's so nice.
So I was yeah, so like Steve is taken like everyone.
Actually, he and I had a conversation recently, and I like just I'm just very grateful for him because he's he never he never stopped believing in you, and he's so intentional with everything that he's doing.
Not just for you, but for our family too.
Like being able to like work with you to find this schedule that works that's requiring more of him too.
He will not bull crap me.
He will be that is one trait I love.
I mean, there's multiple with Steve, but he is always so on.
If he doesn't have the answer to something, I don't know.
I think I don't know is such a good answer sometimes.
And then when I first asked him, I said, What does this look like if we work together?
He goes, I need to see you four times a week.
And I my heart dropped.
I was like, Steve, I can, I cannot come into Jacksonville four times a week.
And then it was the family whose house I stay at, working with them.
Like, there's a lot of moving parts to this to where it's like, yes, this might be my dream, but there's a whole army behind this with Megan, um, the family whose house I'm staying at, Steve, Eva, Sean, August, Josie.
Like everybody.
Everybody that's on board is so I mean, amazing.
Yeah.
Like just amazing human beings and so considerate of our family too.
Like, which I just like that's everything.
Because I think it would be so easy to be like offered an opportunity to work with you and just be so like tunnel visioned on like the task at hand, which like there is definitely an incredible level of focus and attention to detail with that, and also so much consideration of like and then being like our life.
Like you're a dad too, and they're they're around our kids.
They know our like when Eva comes to visit, like August loves Eva, loves her.
It just a Slovakian girlfriend.
Yes, it just little crash.
I am very, very grateful for how this transition has played out.
I yeah, I just feel like you are embodying a professional athlete to a T, and I think swimming is evolving to that.
Yes.
But then I I love the example that you guys are setting because I think there can be more of that as athletes swim later into their careers and become parents and have their lives.
Like I it's really needed, I think.
So I commend what you guys are doing.
Yeah, and it's I think there's a few.
I mean, I know Kyle Chalmers, Cam McAvoy, I mean, those are the two, and I've had conversations with both of them.
I remember there was I didn't see the interview, but I really don't because I don't watch swim content, but my Except for Unfiltered World.
It's all I watch on repeat every day.
Um I uh my therapist sent me, and it was just a little clip of Kyle talking about his new training.
I think I don't know if I think it was pre-Paris, and it was he's in the water five days a week, he doesn't go over 3K.
And I was like, what?
That's a that's an option, and I'm not looking like I I really struggled in the beginning because I'm not looking for the easier path at all.
I'm just looking for the correct one.
And the problem that I have is overdoing it.
So what Steve, Sean, and Eva have had to do is they I call it they they have to leash me.
So it's the opposite, where if they let me run free, I'm gonna over overdo it and do too much and just absolutely run myself to the the ground, which is what I've done for you know a long time.
So yeah, it's just funny with Steve, they'll just they'll have to put me on my place.
Yes.
They leash me, yeah.
I have to be leashed.
I literally have to be leashed.
There's a couple of Another word I didn't think was gonna be.
I have a I have a little box that measures my meters per second in the gym, and that's how because it's remote training with Sean, but that's how he leases me is hey, if you're not hitting the weight that I prescribed, you can go up until it go up and wait, but if your meters per second drops below this, cut it.
So it's like there's ways that we've like incorporated in for everyone learning my personality.
And I mean Steve has known me since 2014.
A long time.
And then so and then I think we went two or three years without working together, and so having that relationship back, like we really didn't skip a beat.
It was really special, and then Steve's matured in a lot of ways.
I have, and then we have a good dynamic.
So, like in practice, I've you know, I've I've brushed them, I've shoot them off before because there's it's a lot of conversation, which for some people, like I'm talking after every lap, it's technique, this, that, what can we change?
Might be talking about you know, uh cars, engine, like it's a lot of conversations, so you can dial in the focus when you're not around 30 other people, but that comes at a cost because it's very mentally exhausting.
Yeah, and then another thing, you know, Steve, it's we do we've been doing the same drills because I haven't perfected them.
We've been doing the same drills since October.
So for a lot of people, they might, it might it is mundane, but for me, I like it because it's always the chase of I can nail this.
So it's like, what was a Bruce Lee quote?
I don't fear the man who can do a thousand kicks once, but the man who can do one kick a thousand times.
Like that's really what Steve lives by, and Steve has been so patient, and then there comes a point where we're at I've only been with them with this new cycle a couple months, but I've been able to just hey, I got this.
I don't need to turn the camera off, I don't need it, let me just swim.
There's been a couple shut up and swim basically, and then somewhere I need to vent, which I found it is very important for me of like, look, this isn't me complaining, but sometimes I need to just mouth off, let me vent, let me complain.
What like I suck.
And the worst thing for me that I found out is trying to talk me down from the ledge of like that swim sucked.
No, it wasn't that bad.
You this works.
I was like, oh my goodness, just just tell me I'm terrible.
That's all I want from you.
Agree with me.
Yes, and like that's what I struggled after Paris because all I wanted was like someone to just agree of like that meat was terrible.
Like, please don't stop telling I don't care.
Forget the metals, forget this, forget that.
Of well, you had the kids, the you know, uh you were raising a a newborn baby, this, that, you just came back from a year.
I don't I don't care.
So I hope nothing I just had previously sounded like those were my excuses.
That's what people were telling me.
I don't care.
Yeah, it was a bad swimming, and that's all I wanted of just like please someone.
So Steve had to adapt that of like I remember at US Open, I was really mad after I forget what swim.
I think I just was like a knucklehead and I just spun my wheels and didn't drop as much as I should have.
Whatever.
I was in the warm down pool, and I remember Steve was he matched my energy, and it was good, use that fire, you messed up.
I was like, oh.
Like, that's my language.
I was like, that's you just don't want someone to reason it away.
Like if it's like it's actually insulting when people do that.
You're like, so you so you think that that was my best?
So you're gonna be like good job, yeah.
Don't like no, that I just bombed.
Like, what are you talking about?
So, like we've me and Steve have both had to learn what our language is, you know, because it's just us on deck.
And we'll have we'll have people come in every now and then, but uh for the most part, it's like that is a very uh vulnerable spot for me.
Literally, I'm wearing this much cloth, and then like you're in pain.
Yeah, you're in pain, you're uncomfortable.
I want this to be I want this to be, I want every lap, I want every stroke to be perfect, everything's dialed in.
So I have usually we're in the water about like two and a half hours.
It's not a lot of yardage, but it's it is dialed in.
So for me, it's fun.
I don't think anything of like every stroke chasing that perfection.
But with that, we have to have the constant communication because there is some days where it's like, Steve, I don't need to see the camera, just let me go.
If we're doing a VO2 set, I'm just in pain.
It's just one of those days.
Let me do my thing.
I call it let me go to the hole.
Like sometimes I'll purposely pick the in lane because it's like, Steve, this is gonna hurt today.
Let me go to the hole.
I just want to look at the wall.
I just need to stare at the wall and go, like, I need to bring out just a couple demons, shake hands with them, I'll put them away after the practice.
But he's really leaned into trusting me as well as me, like trust obviously, I trust Steve, but I think you know, when I'm in college, I'm just a young man, and now it's like, you know, I'm a I'm a grown man.
So he's that part of the relationship developing has been so special.
But he's just been so much more than what I originally asked him for of the sacrifices he's had to make, you know, coming to Gainesville, because he lives in Jacksonville.
Yeah, that's I'm just glad he doesn't live in you know Texas or something, because then it's like, man, where where would I I don't even know what it looks like, so I'm just so thankful for Steve right now.
TJ deal at that point.
I know, dude.
Somebody hook hook your boy up.
Yeah.
So yeah, I think I think it's been good.
I really think we found our groove.
There's some days that are harder than others, and some days we're leaving house stinks, or I'm driving to Jacksonville, and I was just like, because it's two hours.
Yeah.
But chunk.
Yeah, it's uh it's a chunk.
It is a good chunk.
But I've gotten really used to it and starting to see the pieces come together, especially within the past three weeks, has been like hitting times that I haven't hit since like 2018, 2019.
Wow.
Yeah.
And so uh like a drug.
Yeah.
So it's just been everything coming together of like this is what I wanted.
So I'm really looking forward to Fort Lauderdale because I think I'll be pretty quick in Fort Lauderdale.
Um, and then the only, the only like knock or really a hard part I have with Steve is he's definitely playing the long game.
If he's like, you know, come 2028, and I'm like, Steve, I want to be good in.
Like it's 2026 right now.
I want to be fast now.
Yeah, I want to be fast right now.
But that is one thing where Steve he can play that long game and he doesn't mind doing it.
He can wait for those results.
I have a really hard time doing that.
Any athlete.
Like that's where the coach is supposed to come in and like yeah.
I know.
So yeah, I think I think it's been as good as it as good as it can be.
Good.
Yeah.
Good.
All right, last question.
True to Unfiltered Waters form, what is your favorite moment or memory from August and then from Josie?
Do you want to pull up the I talked about the notes tab.
Yeah, I've been dying to hear.
I'm like, I'm saving that for the year.
Yeah, pull it up, pull it up.
So for August.
So his nickname, I I write, so this is the whole birth story.
It's like it's a lot.
Yeah.
You need to get that.
And then there's me on the Me and Mom got to bed around 9:30.
It's like this is ridiculous.
Yeah.
Whatever.
It's so sweet when you read it though.
So his nickname is uh Toodles.
Toodles, yeah.
Why Toodles?
It's evolved, yeah.
Yeah, so Joe Josie's Bissy.
Busy.
Bissy or Schmutz.
Not busy, Bissy.
B-I-S-S-Y.
Okay.
I created both.
Very proud of both.
Oh, nice.
You are the nickname guy.
I do.
I like Nike.
Mossie is.
Moth.
Yeah.
You give everybody nicknames.
I do.
I love nicknames.
What's her nickname?
Um I don't have the people closest to me don't really have one.
Oh.
It's just like kind of like just outside the inner circle of the ones.
Well, actually, as I say that about my kids, yeah.
Yeah.
And post, I need you to get rid of that one.
Yeah, maybe that I thought that's what it was until it's like, well, I call Tyler Ty.
I don't know.
It just if it if it hits.
Um, yeah, so August is Toodles, and then Josie is either, well, originally it was um Fuzzmeister von Bissy Schmutz.
Yeah.
So Fuzzmeister von Bissy Schmutz.
So yeah, but then it just turned into Bissy or Schmutz.
Yeah.
Schmutzy.
So yeah.
Here's some of his highlights.
Um, the fart fart crucifixion.
Oh my god.
He had, yeah.
So most of them are just like tiny little Like just a title of it?
So yeah, it was on the porch.
Yeah, he's on the porch right there, and I think Grammy was holding him.
My mom.
And he literally just he's sitting there and he just goes.
Oh no, like he was two months old, like could hardly hold his head up.
And it was like his whole body clenched, and his arms went up, like literally in a cross.
Jesus on the cross.
Yeah.
And he was just farting.
He just had to fart.
So the fart crucifixion.
Um oh he when he started crawling, he did it with a uh peg leg.
He never crawled normally, he crawled on one knee and one foot.
The other one was just like owl.
No, it was a foot.
It like up like a frog.
So he would crawl like on a knee and he would lit like on his foot at the other leg.
Oh, the tootles dance.
You want to show him the tootles dance?
Yeah.
So he's- I think that was his dance move.
His dance move.
He just he'd be he'd be eating dinner if the food was really good.
Like before he could talk, he'd just go.
Yeah.
It was so sick.
It's so sick.
Um some of these are like a little inappropriate.
Okay.
Because it has to do with me.
But um, oh, I don't know.
You guys might have to beep this out, but instead of fire truck.
Oh my gosh.
Instead of fire truck, it was uh fight, that is not what he's going.
Yeah, that is uh he sometimes that still gets busted.
I'm like buddy.
Yeah.
And what was where he had one of his one of his friends had a birthday party at a fire station, so he's my boy's just running around spamming.
When you got the invite, were you guys like, oh no.
Oh, we knew immediately.
Oh, yeah, like this is about to be bad news.
Yeah.
Oh yeah, and I just the like station manager left, and Megan.
Megan's a bit of a rule follower.
I am a rule follower.
Dude, as soon as the manager left, I understand.
I was like, I'm like, you were not supposed to be in that firetruck.
Yeah, the door, she left the door unlocked.
So I was in there, I was pushing.
Like, that's an invite.
We found out we found out how to turn it on.
It's like you turned on the fir truck?
Yeah, of course.
Wow.
I know.
And I'm like, get out of there.
Actually, it was J actually Jared turned it on.
I don't want to take credit.
Of the kids' birthday party we were at, which was sick.
But I was pushing all the buttons.
Yeah, you and Jared.
I also wanted to figure out what that was going on.
Oh my goodness.
Oh, okay.
So we have daddy, daddy orange nipples, but then also daddy nipple press button turn on.
So this is also a dinner.
Yes.
This is also dinner.
Daddy press nipple turn on.
Like turn on, like he thought it was a button.
So he wanted to press it.
Yeah, I know.
I thought with the roadcaster, he was like, he wanted to press my nipples to turn to turn over.
Oh yeah.
I said.
Pause.
Um, the poop thumb spank?
Oh my god.
Poop thumb spank goes crazy.
He we're not allowed to throw food, and he was throwing food at the table.
Okay.
Yeah.
And I gave him his warnings and he wasn't listening.
So I went up to go take his food, like his plate away, and he hit me, which there is no hitting.
Yeah.
So we get a spank for that.
And I take him out of his seat and I put my thumb.
Because it's only spank only spank on the spanks are only on the cheek.
So it's a very like very intentional.
So there's a difference between like a hit and a spank.
Yeah.
So I put my thumb in to pull his diaper down straight into a turn.
I mean, pull her thumb and look at his Snickers.
Not have been more poop on my finger.
Under your fingernails.
It was a dunk.
And I'm like trying to discipline him.
And I and so we never made it to this thing.
And then I was like, you killed.
It was, I was like boiling my hand after that.
It was terrible.
Oh my god.
It was terrible.
So yeah, poop thumbs up.
That's what you get, mom.
Yeah.
Oh, look, look adults in the eye when we speak to them.
Yes.
Okay, so this a lot of these happen at dinner.
So we're at dinner and August wanted more food, and he was just going, more food.
And Megan goes, August, like we look adults in the eye.
I was always about to answer your question like this.
We kept asking him.
August, do you want more food?
And he went, They go, more food.
Yeah.
So Megan's like, we look adults in the eye when we speak to them.
And he goes, More food.
Like it was so So no, but he closed his eyes first.
He went, Oh yeah, that's right.
He goes, more food.
Yeah.
It was so intentionally disrespectful.
How do you not laugh?
No, I lost.
We laughed.
It's like you pull your just trying so hard not to.
Alright, move on to sissy.
Okay, last one, last one.
So he helped he's helped a lot with the pole barn.
So anytime he has my tape measure, and when he lifts with me in the gym, so if I'm measuring my broad jumps to send to Sean so we can check in where the you know the bunnies are at, like, um he'll measure, like August will jump after me and he'll measure his jump.
Anything he measures, no matter what, is 146.
Yeah.
146.
He'll jump, he'll measure something, and he'll like after you do that, he'll like put his hand on his heel to like see how far.
Yeah, he watches his sponge.
And he'll go 146.
It's like, bro, first of all, you didn't jump 146 inches.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, so one for the pole barn, he'll he'll have it pulled out this much.
I don't know.
I do not know.
I have no idea.
I don't know.
Yes.
No, because my job, I remember I said 126 at one point, and then I guess he had to one up it.
146.
So yeah, 146.
Okay, so Sissy, she doesn't have as much because she's obviously smaller.
But um, oh, the symbol lift after bath time.
Oh yeah.
So I can't do it too much anymore because she weighs too much, but I would um it's gonna be good, guys.
Just waiting.
Should we keep waiting?
You guys have the uh protectors on.
I just don't, so that's why I'm yeah.
Sorry about that, folks.
Um, yeah, so after every bath, and she's always loved bath time.
Yes.
I would take her up and just do the cymbal lift, like from Lion King, and she would just be.
That's like the first time we got smiles out of her.
Oh was um right after bath time.
So that was like iconic.
That was the first thing.
Well, besides the fuzz.
Yeah.
That's actually the first thing I wrote in.
So her hair.
She never went bald, but it's tall enough now, but you saw it when it was blown in the wind.
It stayed like this.
It was straight.
Yeah, okay.
That's um that's the first quarter of that.
Yeah.
Um oh, the first thing she fart to start 2026.
So it was uh January 1st, and Megan walks in with Josie, and she Megan would always, anytime Megan comes in with Josie, it's morning daddy.
And right after Megan said morning daddy, Josie rips one of the biggest farts I've ever heard her do.
And that was the first thing I heard in 2026.
Yeah, morning daddy.
It was so good.
It was so funny.
But that's like, you know, you're gonna have a good year.
Yeah.
So the which way?
There's a I've believe it or not, I've actually skipped around quite a bit.
Um, oh the ice age armadillo.
Oh my gosh.
Can we put a you can do freeze frames on this?
So let me pull it up.
You started telling the story.
So, I mean, there's no way to do two under two without baby wearing.
There just isn't.
And so I'm gonna do it.
Like two kids under two, baby wearing.
Yeah, so chasing around August with a baby, I would baby wear all the time.
And she's also just like a little Velcro baby.
So I would have her tucked in our little like carrier pouch, and she's the happiest little girl, and she would always just look up at me like that.
It looked like that little armadillo.
It's a good idea.
It's somazing.
And when she right when she was born, her nose was like straight up in the case.
She looked exactly like that little dillos out.
Oh, that's what I was gonna say earlier.
Yeah.
Everyone tells you about, you know, the first three months are hard, exactly everything we told you.
Nobody prepares you for how much you make fun of your kids.
Oh my gosh, it's they're so funny.
Oh my goodness.
Like, yeah, all these stories are just kind of like kind of roasting them.
Yeah.
They're gonna look back in 10 years and be like, geez, guys, they're gonna put us on flast.
All right, I just have the only thing left is not Joja.
Not Joja.
And then Pine Pine Martin.
So not Joja.
We took a road trip to North Carolina.
Um, her parents have a cabin in the mountains up there.
So we drove.
It's about It's like a seven-hour drive.
Yeah, seven.
On the way back.
It's tough with kids.
On the way back was like 15.
Because we did it over, it was for Thanksgiving.
Oh.
And so we will never drive back on that day.
I guess it's so long.
I was so locked into like, I'm getting my family home safe.
So I was just 15 hours just oh no, it was 12.
It was 12 hours on the way back.
So it should have taken seven.
It was so bad.
Dave, do you want do you want me to drive?
No, I'm fine.
I was hurting, I was hurting so bad.
Um, so But on the way there.
Josie screamed the whole way.
The I mean, eight hours of just like she don't she was really not a fan of the car seat.
She's better about it now, but the whole ride up there.
So then it just became a joke.
But the worst of it was the whole time we were driving through Georgia.
Then she like the entire state.
It just became a joke of like And then she was kind of fine.
Yeah.
It was just literally like no Joe, Janel Joe.
Yeah, no, Janel.
Don't take me to
Yeah, I actually have a coffee mug with her face on it.
It says not joujo.
How do you spell that?
G-G-I-A.
There's a W in there.
G-E-O-W-G-I-A.
Giaoja.
Not Jiao Ja.
Um and then the Pine Martin, which we told you this one.
Yeah, this is a few.
But there's a show we watch called Alone, and basically these people get dropped off in the middle of the Arctic Circle, and you have to survive as long as you can with the 10 items you bring.
And this season, there's this animal called a pine marten that you're not allowed to kill, and it's basically a giant ferret, and it eats everybody's.
It steals everybody's food.
Because they they'll catch fish and like put it in food stashes and try to save it, and like they'll collect berries and like they're trying to hang it from a tree, put it under bury it under rock.
This pine martin is in everything.
Everything.
Like people are tapping out because this thing.
Yeah, stealing all that.
Oh yeah, you have to serve like it's basically slow starvation.
The show, like, they'll lose like 40 pounds like a thousand times.
And this freaking pine martin just goes and wreaks havoc.
So that's that's crazy.
She gets into she gets into everything.
She's just all in your your business.
We call it.
She's in your business.
Bitsy in your business.
Yeah, she's just she's into everything.
And it's better than just saying she's annoying.
So we came up with Pine Martin.
She's not annoying.
It's hilarious.
She's just the pine marty.
It's pretty annoying.
I'll say it.
That's what I'm saying.
You know, in the beginning we said Megan's a better mom than I am dad.
Yeah.
Oh, she's annoying.
It's cute.
It's really annoying when I'm trying to eat blueberries, and her hand is just it's annoying.
I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
No, there's not.
Oh, guys, thank you so much.
This was so fun.
It was.
You're gonna have a blast.
I hope you don't walk away from this.
I'm so excited for you now.
No, I walk away.
I walked away from this, like, honestly, just excited.
That's how I walk away from it.
Good!
Yeah, and just you guys, you guys are so real about it, you know?
Like that's it's similar to the don't tell me it's a good job if it's not a good job.
Like you want people to acknowledge the sucky parts as much as the the good.
Like, I want actually, yeah, this one, like also we're we're figuring out what we're doing.
We don't know what we're doing.
Who does it?
I don't want us to seem like this.
I don't want us to seem like angels.
It's like, yeah, honestly, me and Megan right now, we've been we've been a little short with each other.
We're so ready to be have the whole house back.
So we've been living in a thousand square feet, and I thought it was tough enough to be able to do that.
You've been living on half of our house.
Yeah.
I feel like I don't think I've been here.
Well, I've been here twice only, but like you guys are always have like a project.
Well, yeah, I was trying to think about what was going on last time because I was pregnant with August.
I think it was when we were having the house painted.
Maybe terrible self.
You guys, you were like, you were like, me and Megan are doing the whole thing, and I was like, Yeah, we did our whole flooring ourselves.
Yeah, that's been torn up since.
Yeah.
That has since been removed.
Yeah, we do have to.
But right now, we went, we did a whole renovation.
We went down to the studs on our whole house.
We did half of the half that we're living on right now, we did first.
Yeah.
And then Josie was born, and then we switched to the other.
So we're together.
We're in about like a thousand square feet.
And I thought I was tough enough and like, I don't need a big house, but I'm at I think because we're we're so close to being done that we It's also we don't have a kitchen.
We've both been pretty not mean, but just and we're aware of it.
That's a funny thing.
Yeah.
So I feel like the awareness is key.
That well, I feel like we have to end it because now I feel like we said too much good stuff about ourselves.
So I want to say that, and then this one time.
I didn't know we were still podcasting.
We can't still go.
Oh, sorry.
Yeah, and then another this one you know what?
I'm gonna end it on Megan's better mom than I am a dad.
I got in trouble because she got me.
There was this one night where Megan walked in because I I told Josie to shut up.
Yeah.
Like you just looked at her and said, Shut up.
I was holding her and I was like, shut up.
I actually said a bad word in there.
Yeah.
It's bad.
But they'll get- I didn't yell.
I didn't yell at it.
I will say that.
I either thought that or said that.
I never yelled at him.
And then because that is like Josie was at the age where only mom could save me.
Yeah.
She wanted nothing to do with it.
She didn't like me.
She was fresh, she was fresh.
And she was like mega velcro baby.
And I was just like, shut the f Yeah.
And I was like, no.
And then the worst part is I tried to defend myself.
Yeah.
I was like, I don't care.
She doesn't understand you.
Words hold power.
Yeah.
Do we do not speak to our children like that?
That makes me feel better because I don't want people to be like, wow, there's the best.
They know exactly what they're doing.
So I don't think that's the message from like I think.
I yelled at a baby.
God credits.
I didn't yell at it.
I will say, I will defend that.
I didn't yell.
I did say I did say it quietly.
It's more so for myself.
Like under your breath, like shit.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
It was literally exactly that.
But Megan heard it and she walked and she's like, no, no, no.
I was like, but she won't stop.
I was like, why am I defending myself?
Exactly the whole thing in the beginning where I was like, why am I trying to explain motherhood?
I put earplugs in.
So good.
My early newborn phase, I had me some earplugs.
You need to get overstimulated.
You just need a little bit of a.
Oh, I do that at swim meets with my if you ever see me have uh airpods in at a swim meet, I'm 90% of the time not listening to music.
It's just so no one talks to me.
Or if I'm signing autographs with them in, it's just to kind of drown out some of the noise.
Caleb, Caleb, Caleb.
Yeah, a little bit.
Yeah.
I mean it's a it it's an overstimulating experience.
A meet in general, and then we yeah, we need to bring back posters.
We can end it with that.
So for all the swim people brands out there listening, I'll start it with Divore.
I'll get them to make some posters.
Whatever happened to posters?
And do kids still Is there a comment section on this?
Oh yeah.
Do you are posters still a thing?
And do you guys should we bring them back?
Because I was I think we should totally bring them posters still on kids' walls.
Yeah, that's a good way to put it.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, Katie, good question.
I lied.
I thought Katie, I thought I had a poster of Katie in my wall, but it didn't.
I was like, yeah, man, I had you, Michael, and then I found the poster because it was Michael, Nat, Ian Crocker, and Amanda.
And no Katie.
Yeah, so she won on.
Well, it's like he thought that I was there.
If you think I'm Natalie or Amanda, I'm in a good spot.
Yeah, that's fine.
Um, so yeah, we'll bring back posters for y'all.
Yeah.
Um insert it into a magazine.
I think that's key.
You can just start an unfiltered water poster.
What's wrong with that?
You could.
And just you just buy the right.
No, not even.
You can just do like a little photo shoot when you guys start doing the things.
Like each guest could do a little, like this would be like on the other hand.
Well, you don't have to wait on the brands, or I'll just send you guys some stuff that you don't have to buy the rights to.
Yeah.
Yeah, let's bring back posters.
Bring back posters.
Yeah.
Let's do it.
We're gonna bring that posters for y'all.
Oh my god.
Yeah, I love that idea.
Because it is.
It's like the it's like the I don't know.
Like, I feel like that's the every athlete you hear talk about, like, well, I have this person on my wall.
Yeah, you know, like I had Jenny Thompson on my wall.
Yeah.
That is, and I just don't feel like I I don't think kids are as much of students of the sport as they used to be.
Because anyway, I'll go to a meet I'll go to a club and like talk and I'm like, okay, like who are you guys so excited?
And like I'll get one, maybe two, but like I was like listing off like all these people at that age.
I know you're a student of the sport.
I don't think that it's not the kids' fault though.
I think it's where I think where the sport's at with I think a lot of it comes down to brands, and I I can literally name the Walsh sisters, Reagan, and Leon that are like sponsored.
I know.
So that's a huge problem because where's the like the teams?
So I feel like the a lot of these companies have lost sight of being students of the sport, which has then gone to the age group.
So I don't blame the age group kids because there's no posters available or a lot of the marketing that typically has to be done from the bigger brands.
I guess you have to be paying attention to results to know.
Yeah.
Well, because yeah, if you think about like even maybe the budgets of like arena tier Speedo, like it doesn't feel like their photo shoots are as like but and Speedo back in the day, we didn't have social media, and they still were making it.
Remember how big a deal?
I mean, why we were just before this started, we were talking about like how big when they came out with a new tech suit, and it was this big launch where you're having like major news.
Talking about the suit, and now I mean they haven't come out with new suits since 2019 because the whole time I was signed with them, I was wearing the same suit.
So it's like everyone, I feel like the big three brands have gotten just very complacent.
Yep.
And I have no problem saying this.
I hope they do something about it.
I hope they hear me saying this.
I feel like they should be aware a bit of like the passion in the sport.
It's just gotten to you know, let's just make our money and move on.
Instead of like, I mean, Speedo coming out with the laser and they they owned the pool deck, and now you look around, it's like it was like such a big deal when all that stuff happened.
And I remember like getting the magazines in the mail and being so fired up to like flip through to see like, oh, what's new and coming out, like looking for the posters of the show.
Why is your why is the suit?
Why is the suit better?
Like when Speedo was with NASA, or like instead of just who has the coolest commercial, it's like, well, tell me why your suit's actually better.
It's just turned into like car commercials back in the day used to be like this is why our this is why our car's better than the competitors, and then now car commercials is just like a really hot person driving in the desert.
It's like literally, what is this actually?
What am I getting if I buy this car?
And now that's like kind of where swimming's at.
It's like, yeah, I mean, if Speedo just wants to make some make money and sell board shorts at Dick Sporting Goods, that's fine.
But it's really sad.
I know.
I know, and if I'm wrong, I mean, I hope someone would call me out, but I feel like that's where they've gone.
I feel like Arena's done a pretty good job, but I mean Tyr's making like pickleball paddles, so it's like, what do we're more in a CrossFit?
Yeah.
I know.
So it's like, man, I wish I think it starts with the brands because they do have the most power.
And you can't rely on like Michael Andrew, who has super good with his following on YouTube and this and that, and you know, Cody even.
Like, you can't rely on just the individuals, the brands I feel like have a huge part to do it.
So that's why going back, that's where I feel like, yeah, the kids might not be students of the sport because there's there, that's literally the only like four.
Well, Leon's not even American.
Is there literally only three Americans right now signed with uh well myself, I guess.
Yeah, sorry, I did forget myself.
But like, what are we doing?
I know, yeah.
I know.
No, it used to be like a huge number of like at least five per brand of like studs and stuff.
And we have studs, but it's just so like it's just so cutthroat, which makes it really sad for the sport.
So maybe like, I don't know, maybe it is better uh financially for them, but I think as a whole, and if they're passionate about swimming, I don't I don't think so.
I don't think so at all.
So it's like, yeah, if you just want to make your money, you want to sell goggles to the general public, you might make more.
You probably would make more money that way, but it's like Speedo started off as like the the brand.
I mean Speedo is not like would that be a noun?
Like or yeah, Speedo's is that right?
I mean, like Speedo is just like when you talk about a suit, yeah.
We'll use the word Speedo.
Go get your speedous to talk about a breeze.
Yeah, yeah.
I know.
And I feel like we're qualified, like we were both with Speedo.
Yeah.
So like we're qualified to talk about this, and I don't want to just like crap on them.
I would love for the brands to like I'd like to see more passion coming out and like in their products, and then also just beyond that of like what are we actually doing, or posters.
Just back to posters, yeah.
It all comes back to posters.
We just need posters back in the world, guys.
Yeah.
I mean, but posters like I think like in jest we're saying that, but like it represents more.
Yeah, like totally it does.
It's like something aspirational and like where that dream about it.
What that speedo poster was, it was right when you walked in my door, it was right on the on the right side.
And then I had a cap actually signed by Michael and Ryan.
I had something from Ryan, but like I had yeah.
I had posters all over my walls too.
The most race videos I watched was actually Anthony Irvin.
Wow.
Because he had, I thought he had the most beautiful stroke.
Couple Gary Hall, but I thought Tony was a little cooler.
It's just something about his stroke.
He had just yeah, like do kids have do we have that?
I hope so.
I really hope so, because I know the access to watch the videos is there, but if you were yeah, if you don't know the names, yeah, but I feel like it's more like the kids have to go out of their way to find that kind of stuff, to find the like hero image.
Whereas before it was like the brands would kind of like that was even present.
That's so social, like the I wish I was speedo.
Instagram wasn't even a thing.
Yeah.
Trust me, I wish it was.
It's it's yeah, I just think it's I don't know.
Like, I don't is it because of like a whole nother rabbit hole, like is it because of like social media and like influencers and kids want to be an influencer over an Olympic athlete?
Yeah, I don't know.
There was something I saw.
If you ask, like they did a survey for like, I don't know if it was middle schoolers or what, but if you ask them like what they did China, Great Britain, and USA, and China was like, hey, what do you want it to be when you grow up?
And it was an astronaut, sick.
And then GB and America was an influencer.
Yeah.
It's like, I'm okay if you're an influencer if you're providing educational content and value.
But if it's just like, if you're just making uh like uh rot, brain rot, like that's where I have a problem.
Yes, you can make money doing that, but it's like most of the influencers nowadays, it's just a money grab and you're not offering anything to society, and that's a huge I think that's just such a huge issue.
That's why like for when I was doing my YouTube videos, it was like I only want this to be educational.
Yeah.
I'll throw a cut like a little bit of garbage every now and then on my Instagram, but I've I've been trying to get better about putting like videos of me swimming because it's like at least now a kid they can see you know, technique, this is what I'm doing, this is like a little part of a set, but yeah, value that's such a good frickin' word instead of just like rot.
That's why I think Cody, Cody Miller was so important, and then MA, like both of them.
It was such like a first time in the sport where we had a whole new like unlock of the younger, younger generation where it's like they had insight to what's going on in the sport and technique and just good content.
It wasn't garbage.
I don't know if Cody is still doing it.
I think MA is still is, but I'm not sure.
I don't know.
I think we also then have a yeah I think he may be.
He is, he's just capturing different things.
Okay.
Alright, well.
Yeah, I mean, but then you have like stuff like this where it's like I don't know, maybe it is the kids' fault when I think about it.
Like you have podcasts like this, and then everywhere you look you can find content.
But I think uh yeah, but I think more stuff like this is starting to evolve.
Like, cause I guess I've seen I've seen I've now seen a shift where kids will walk up to me and they're like, oh my god, you're the girl from the podcast.
Really?
Oh, how does that feel?
Actually amazing.
Okay, I was about to say because I'm like, well, for because these kids are born after both my Olympics years.
So like if they're not like paying attention to record books, which why are kids like they're not gonna know?
And it's like I actually am like, I'm I I'm I don't say anything else.
I'm like, yeah, I am.
Yeah, I don't say anything else, and it makes me.
I'm like, oh, it's my next chapter.
You know me for my next chapter.
It's beautiful.
I love it.
Oh my gosh.
I'm like so complimented when it happens.
That has to be such a cup filler for you.
It's like cup filler.
I am having an impact.
Like these kids are getting what I wanted.
Yeah.
That's amazing.
And I like, and you, and you don't even you don't even know what I've done in the sport.
You don't know I'm Olympian, maybe.
Yeah.
Great.
You are?
I didn't know that you didn't swim in college.
Yeah.
I found that out about Katie.
Exactly.
Because we met, you thought I wouldn't know who you were.
It was the junior worlds team trip.
Dubai.
In Dubai, and Katie, I remember walking up and Katie was in the airport, and I saw her sitting next to one of the coaches, and I was like, Katie's here.
I was like, this is crazy.
And then Katie was nervous on the trip because she thought Noah would know who she was.
I don't even talk.
I didn't talk to you because I was too nervous.
Oh, I like I yeah, and I that's the thing.
I I hear athletes talk about like, oh, this person reached out to me on a trip and they were a great mentor.
And in my mind, I'm like, oh my God, I didn't have the confidence to do that very well.
Like, because I'm like, why would they find value from me?
Like that was really like, especially as I was like 18, 19 and like becoming like a veteran.
I didn't have the confidence to be like, oh, I should, I should go talk to that person because it probably would mean a lot to them.
No, it was so sick.
I just remember all of the girls being like obsessed with you and you being like, um, I'm dating Megan.
I swear to God, you know, it's so good.
Oh my goodness.
I asked her out the night before I left for that trip.
Yes, and so our coach, like, was very against it.
He was very against us.
And he knew that we were gossiping.
Yeah.
And he expressed his like You're playing with fire.
I'll never forget what he said then.
Playing with fire.
And so he asked me out.
When I proposed to her, I sent a photo of her with a ring on her finger, and I said, You're playing with fire too.
It was so sick.
I was like, um Yeah, you asked me out and then dropped her off.
Left for Dubai.
So I had to tell our coach that we were dating by myself.
So I literally out of the grenade and said, Will you be my girlfriend?
And then left.
And then fled the country.
I was so I was a two- I didn't even know that it was new.
Like, because I just remember hearing we were talking for I mean, not that long, but talking.
It wasn't that long.
You know, talking.
Do kids still sorry, I know we're probably I don't even know if the camera's still on.
Do kids still ask each other to be boyfriend, girlfriend nowadays?
I think so.
I act like I know I've been married 10 years.
I think so.
I mean, I know they do, they still do the thing with like um, because some of the kids in at Nashville Aquatic Club like have the signs of like asking them out to prom in homecoming.
So it's like a cute way.
I did that.
I did filled your room with balloons.
You did.
I skipped school.
Yeah.
I well, I also had 60, 63 absences my senior year.
Yeah.
So I wasn't supposed to graduate, but yeah.
I mean, that's just truancy.
Yeah.
That is truancy.
Yeah.
What does that mean?
What's truancy?
You're dismissing too much school.
Yeah, you can get arranged.
Yeah.
That's what the that word means?
Truancy.
But there's a true, there's truancy officers.
Yeah.
That's their job.
Yeah.
It's to make sure that kids are going to school.
That was me.
Yeah.
I was truant.
It worked out.
I was truant.
Yeah, I want to know if like, do they still say will you be my girlfriend?
Because that's how I asked you.
I said, Will you be my girlfriend?
And she said yes, obviously.
And then here we are, obviously.
Yeah.
We never broke up either.
Never had like a like a little break situation.
I think we had one in college.
We had one.
Yeah, a couple like.
It wasn't a breakup.
I wouldn't even it wasn't even a break.
It was just Mang was being a little naughty, naughty.
Well, now it makes it sound like she cheated on it.
I know.
That wasn't it at all.
Yeah, it wasn't it at all.
I just got like pretty upset with her for something that wasn't her fault necessarily.
But it was like pretty bad.
Um Yeah.
So we already wrapped up.
Man, I've I've ended it with like way too many heat.
No, I mean I actually do think, depending on how it fits with the podcast, I do think the discussion around like being students of the sport is really impactful.
I really think.
Even if it's like a YouTube short or something, I think it's just like really I hope it's not just who's like fastest.
Maybe that's how it's been, but I think the beauty of this is like you get a good glimpse of the personalities.
Because I think over anything, that is what the kids should attach to.
And that's why I think Cody, like, because Cody, I mean he has a bronze medal, like obviously he was really good, but you got such a good glimpse of his personality.
And that's what I would hope the kids would branch to is the personality.
And the brands necessarily can't do a good job of that, but stuff like this, what MA did and Cody, like that's what you can connect so much deeper to someone when their humanness is present.
And I feel like for bringing them up on a pedestal, exactly, and like for a kid from a kid's perspective too, it's like I feel like it's a lot more it's a lot easier to dream and be aspirational when you have something that you can connect to in a person versus just like this god, like otherworldly thing.
It's like, oh wait, they're just a human.
I'm just a human, like I can dream too.
I don't want to plug I don't want to like plug my own stuff here, but that was one of the the like when I first sat down with the boar of like they brought me on to basically create their suit.
Yeah, and like so sick, by the way.
We didn't even go into any of that.
And we don't have like no, we don't have to, but that was my thing as like I want to make the sport more accessible and faster.
And I was like, if there's a piece of the instead of going from like age group to I'm gonna use Reagan, so I don't have to use myself an example of like, oh Reagan Smith, where it's like gold medals, world records.
It's like, where is the tangible piece that we get in swimming to bridge that gap?
And for me, it's like you get for football, basketball, hockey, all these other sports, you got jerseys, jersey numbers, cleats, you know, signature shoes.
So it's like whether it was me or Murph or Reagan or whoever, I want there to be more tangible, like physical items that bridges that gap between because I don't consider myself any different than the age group kids.
Probably listen to me talk in this podcast, it's like this guy is just a 200-pound like middle schooler.
It's like, yeah, I'm playing in the fire truck with August, and I know so many facts about dinosaurs, and I want to run around barefoot.
It's like and swimming for me, I get to have my dinosaur still.
I don't know if I said this last time, but like I never want to lose my dinosaur, and swimming gives me my dinosaur, it's a stepbrother's course.
Of just don't lose that inner child.
And every day in practice I get to play.
So like I don't know why the boy ever trusted me, a little kid, myself, to like design a suit.
I did promise and I was like, look, you give me the fabric, I'll make this thing killer.
And we did, but it's like it'll make me happy to see kids wearing that because I feel like it'll make them be able to feel like me or Regan or You can say you, it's okay.
Yeah, but I I don't know.
I just I don't like doing that, but it's like if it can just take one logo to do that, which we haven't had in the like in the sport.
Well, MP did it.
MP did get it.
MP did it with speedo.
It was Aquasphere.
I know, but I don't feel like it like that one didn't stick as hard.
But when I was a kid, so this is another thing that I feel like a lot of the brands have gotten away from.
I had Ryan Lochty's signature brief.
It was white with a green number one on it, classic Ryan.
Yes.
And then of course it's MP's stuff wasn't as good.
It was just like America, it was like pretty boring.
I mean, Ryan did have a uh much more flavor.
Ryan had grills.
Yeah, so it's like his stuff was so um I'm sorry.
Like it was actually representative of his personality.
Like, you know, Michael's just a little quieter and like played it a little softer, but and then Ryan's walking around with like teddy bear shoes and all this stuff.
So it's like I wanted that suit.
Yeah.
So it's like, I don't know, maybe I'm off and maybe it r there really isn't like a good market for it in the brand, but I think so.
I think swimming is missing that bridge.
I do too.
And I wanted at least if I had a chance to take it, I want to help with that.
Of like, dude, you guys can do this because I'm still the kid that you guys are right now, and it's like, yeah, I'm still trying to figure this sport out.
I'm having so much fun.
It's like here's a little piece of me that I get to put into a suit.
So it's like, yeah, come on.
Let's go be fast and like let's try to make the sport more accessible.
I do not want this to be a pay-to-win.
And that's why originally I started the YouTube channel as well, and it got hard with two kids and like full practice.
It's so hard, yeah.
I don't want this to be a pay-to-whine.
I do not want this to be a pay-to-win.
It's already one of the biggest sports in the world, guys, girls, and pretty much every country.
So it's like, let's get this as many people involved as we can.
Because if it's as special, if it's half as special to someone else as it is to me, that's still gonna be a really good time for someone else.
I also think like what you're talking about with Ryan and even you, like you got tattoos, you like like that.
Was the first thing Todd noticed about you.
He was like, his sleeve is so sick.
Like, that's like you know, but that's like you want people who are outside the sport to look in and go, dang, those guys are cooler, dang that person has personality.
And like, that is what Ryan did.
That's what you do.
Like, that's like Reagan has a personality.
Oh, Reagan's so funny, baby.
So funny.
She does everyone bamboozled.
She does.
Everyone thinks she's a little like princess and timid and quiet.
Like is not.
Reagan, you want me to pull up our text thread right now?
We send some crazy stuff back and forth, dude.
Actually, my text delete after 30 days, but let me just see the last thing.
Oh god, Reagan's getting put on blast.
Yeah.
Why are you in China?
Whose idea?
Because you went to Chinese.
Yeah, Chinese open.
Bob's low-key.
I said, obviously.
I mean, how is it?
Oh, I really like it.
So sarcastic.
I said, My girl really got shipped to China.
Reagan is super witty.
Like, super witty.
Like so dry, and like, she says she cracks me up.
What I what I've been doing anytime there's a camera around, like at the warm-up pool at the meets we've been going to, I'll try to say as loud as I can.
Like, Reagan, please stop asking for my hotel room number.
It's so it's like, stop asking what room I'm in, Reagan.
You're not coming over tonight.
Dude, so good.
Yeah, Reagan's a beast.
Does she get flustered?
Like, I don't feel like she gets flustered easily.
With that one, she does.
That one, most of the time, she always gets me.
She always will get the last jab in.
But with that one, she hasn't found a comeback for that one yet.
I don't know how you feel.
Yeah, right.
But yeah, Regan, it's been special.
So we set our world records on the same night in uh Guangju.
And then Regan's just like, because Sheridan's my little sister, I'm really close with Sheridan.
So Regan just like really reminds me of that.
And like she was a baby on her first team, so I always just felt like protective over her.
And then like Baisal was my mom at the swim meets, and then it turned into Natalie Hines.
And then, but Regan's always just been little sister.
And then now it's like, yeah, she's she's a wild one.
Yeah.
She's a wild one.
Yeah.
And also she is.
I did an episode around like brain rot, like in Austin.
She is the queen.
Like she'll say stuff, and I'm like, Google.
What is that?
And then I'm like, oh yeah, I'm sad also.
Like I don't, like, I'm like, I'm so old.
Like, I think about like how old she is, and I'm like, oh.
I just told her to shut up.
I was like, I look, I don't know what it means, but shut up.
Such an old person.
That's not lit if you say that.
Shut up, Ray.
I don't know what you're saying.
I don't know if I should be offended or not.
Yeah, that's another thing with brain rot.
Like, you'd like some of them seem like they're good.
They're not good.
Yeah.
And you're like, you've been insulted by a kid and you don't know that you've been insulted.
I remember the first time the first time.
So her mom teaches fifth grade, so her mom is really up to like.
I didn't know your mom was a teacher.
Both my Todd's parents are teachers.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
Oh my god.
She's been in fifth grade for a while.
So I know some of it is crazy.
I was in the locker room with like, I mean, a lot of Gen Z eers, so I knew I picked up on a lot of it.
But I remember Megan was talking with her mom, and her mom said like something about skibity toilets.
Megan goes, What?
She's just sounding like such a huh?
I was like, oh no, we you sound like you're 58.
Yeah, I mean, what are they saying?
Showed my millennial card.
What does it mean?
I was like, I didn't mean it.
Nobody knows.
It's just skibbity.
I don't know.
I like could not comprehend.
I was like, what do you mean?
It's just like a face in a toilet.
Yeah.
It was so I was like, and what does that mean?
I was like, just boom, boom, butt?
Like a big butt.
Yeah.
I mean, I could not.
It was a hilarious conversation.
For me, also for me to be going like, I have it over to my mom, too.
My mom educated.
Yeah.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah, her mom gave a whole speech in brain rot.
Because the kids were getting rowdy.
So like Sue was like, look, if you can't beat them, join them.
So she gave a whole speech of like, all right, chat, let's lock in.
We gotta, we gotta, and after that, they were all like, yeah!
It was like a scene from like uh what was it?
No, not Patriot.
What's the one with uh Mel Gibson, Braveheart?
Where it's just like quiet and then it like a rub.
Like she immediately got him to like join her side because she spoke in brain rot, but so dumb.
Oh, I had like I went, I'm literally like creating my list at the Austin Pro series with like Claire, Riley, Reagan, like, and I'm just like I'm reading them off like please be one.
I'm like, what does chungus mean?
Chungus.
No, dude, chungus from I was in college.
Really?
Yeah, good.
I don't know what chungus is.
No, it's like you have to say chungus is you have to say You have to say f that's how you have to say it.
Oh, okay, that's like Reagan said it, and I had to logically put out.
You don't know who do you know Wait, okay, so that's different than Big Chungus.
You don't know you don't know Big Chungus?
Wait, do you know Big Chungus?
It's literally just definitely different, but I bet it's derived.
It probably is.
It's literally just face bugs bunny, but I don't know, he was just big chungus.
Maybe it is you are describing someone as like Chungus.
No, chungus, and what's the other what's the other one?
What's the other one?
No, like, oh well, I mean there's unk, which just means like you're old.
Dude, I'm actually sad.
I haven't had anyone call me unk yet.
And I like Yeah, you and that is that's is that a compliment though?
I mean, I would feel that would love that.
But I don't want to like force someone to- Yeah, like, so like do you think I'm like something?
Yeah, like I'm hey, like I'm getting up there in age.
What do you call that?
What would you call that, fellow fellow Zers?
Dude, yeah, no one's calling me Unk yet.
You want a nickname?
Oh, Chi.
No, not Chuki.
Oh, I've heard Chuggy.
What?
Chipper, Chipper is um, it's basically just chips from Chipotle.
Oh, it's what people call Chipotle, because of the chips.
They're like, oh, do you want to go?
Chipotle?
What do you mean?
Dude, my friend's dad literally calls Chipotle that.
He doesn't want to go to Chipotle?
Yeah.
That's funny.
He's dead serious.
Chippy, that's pretty good.
Chippy, I have like a list of like 12.
I say, I mean, I like lock in, that one's fine.
Yeah.
That one's not.
You say that?
I don't know what that is.
Sad?
No, like if something's like, say they're like, oh, we're gonna, you know, we're gonna go on a trip with the boys next week.
I'm sad.
No, I don't say that.
Like, I'm so excited.
No, I'm still stuck, I still say sick.
So I think that's coming back though.
I always have said sick.
Yeah, I think I was sick.
Sick.
That's how you know you're millennial.
Sick.
Yeah.
Sick.
I say dude way too much.
Yeah.
I do too, actually.
I don't say I don't say bro.
The schmutz is awake.
The schmutz.
Yeah, I don't say bro.
I think bro is uh that's not my style.
I just say all right.
That was so fun.
It was.