How Training Partners And Patience Built A World Record-Breaking Masters Swimming Career: Tim Shead, EP 294

On deck in Fort Lauderdale at the 2025 Fall Classic Meet, Host Kelly Palace interviews International Swimming Hall of Famer and Masters Swimming Icon, Tim Shead as we explore how a missed shot at the 1976 Olympic Trials became the spark for a lifetime of learning, longevity, and dozens of world records. Tim’s story is a lesson in patience, training culture, and the quiet power of choosing meaningful swims over hollow wins.

We trace his path from Florida age-group lanes to the University of Pennsylvania and three decades in South Africa, where he sharpened his approach to nutrition, recovery, and resilience. Tim explains why his favorite event—the 100 IM—perfectly matches his philosophy: balance the strokes, manage the fade, slow the slowest. He talks candidly about the joy of training more than racing, the importance of lane mates who “ask no quarter and give no quarter,” and how simple, progressive sets can create compounding gains. Expect practical details on frequency, volume, and mindset—plus how water doubles as refuge when life gets loud.

One of the most moving moments is Tim’s account of spotting a young Kirsty Coventry’s potential and making the call that helped redirect her path—an example of mentorship that echoes through Olympic history. Along the way we dig into late-career peaks, personal bests at 55, and why success in Masters swimming is less about medals and more about honest progress. If you’re chasing faster times, deeper joy, or a training reset, this conversation delivers the perspective and tools to keep you moving forward. Subscribe, share with your lane mates, and leave a review to help more swimmers find the show.

Email us at [e-mail]. Opinions discussed are not medical advice, please seek a medical professional for your own health concerns.

Check out Kelly's Books at www.KellyPalace.com

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
It's time for an on-deck interview to help you
live well and swim well.
Welcome to Champions Mojo.
And now your host, Kelly Palace.

SPEAKER_02 (00:11):
Okay, I am doing an on-deck interview at the
beautiful city of FortLauderdale Aquatic Center at the
Fall Classic Shore Course MetersMasters Meet, and I am with wow,
70 world records he has held,Tim Shedd.
But now they're all gone, Tim.
Oh no.
But first, the question for you.
We'll talk about that.

(00:31):
Give me your name, your age, andyour team.

SPEAKER_03 (00:34):
Tim Shedd.
My age is what 73.
And the team when I swim in theU.S., it's for Fort Laudell.
And when I swim internationally,it's for Cape Town, South
Africa.

SPEAKER_02 (00:46):
Are you South African?

SPEAKER_03 (00:47):
No, no, but I spent 30 years there.
So a good portion of my adultlife was there.

SPEAKER_02 (00:53):
Okay.
So what is your swim history?
How does one get to 70 worldrecords?

SPEAKER_03 (00:57):
Jeez.
Perseverance.
There's a there's an adage thathe who slows the slowest wins.

SPEAKER_02 (01:03):
What is the swim history before that?
Like where did you startswimming?

SPEAKER_03 (01:07):
I grew up here in Florida.
I swam here and then I went touh University of Pennsylvania,
swam at Penn.
I improved quite a bit when Iwas at Penn, and so I tried for
the 76 Olympics, and that didn'twork out too well.
I I uh went out to Californiaand did a little too much
partying and not enough notenough training and didn't make
the team, didn't even make thetrials.
But uh learned the importance ofnutrition and and got involved

(01:30):
with with that and uh lived bythat and broke my did my
lifetime best at age 55.
Uh I've swung my whole life.
So I swam masters starting at25, and I remember looking at
the world records then andsaying, God, if I was 45 right
now, I'd have a world record.
And then with each passing, youknow, set of five years, uh the

(01:51):
world record got closer andcloser until in at 45 I I tied a
world record and then I brokeit, my first world records.
Then at 50, I don't know.
Remember, I got seven or ten,and then at fifty-five, I got
fifteen or eighteen.
I can't I don't remember.
But yeah, my lifetime best wereat 55.
And uh so yeah, I've had worldrecords in the breaststrokes,
the backstrokes, and the IMs.

SPEAKER_02 (02:12):
Wow, you slowed the slowest.
What is your favorite swimmingaccolade of all that?

SPEAKER_03 (02:18):
Being inducted into the swimming hall of fame.

SPEAKER_02 (02:20):
That is quite an accolade.
Very nice.
Um what is your best or favoriteevent?

SPEAKER_03 (02:27):
Hundred IM.

SPEAKER_02 (02:29):
And your training regimen.

SPEAKER_03 (02:32):
Oh that's one of those four-letter words, isn't
it?
I love to train.
That to me is more fun than theracing.
And if you get good friends totrain with, that's it's the
social side of it.
It's it's good for you, it'shealthy.
The competing and the swimmingis just to the side.
And oftentimes it's it's morestressful.
Just to swim with good buddies,uh Hubie Kearns, and I've had

(02:54):
great history of just fantastictraining partners that we ask no
quarter and give no quarter.
And when we train, we just beatthe hell out of each other, and
that's how you get faster.

SPEAKER_02 (03:04):
Well, what does that look like though?
Is it are you swimming threedays a week, four days a week?

SPEAKER_03 (03:08):
Right now it's only been two or three, but when it
gets serious, you go five, five,maybe six times a week an hour a
day.
Oh, two and a half to three.
You know, but but in the oldendays she'd mix in some doubles
in there, and then we had we'ddo some biking and we do all
kinds of different things.
And there's a huge differencewhen you it's just a question of
how much are you willing togive?

(03:30):
I want it to be fun.

SPEAKER_01 (03:32):
Hey Champions, did you know that Kelly publishes a
twice-monthly newsletter calledMastersMojo with free coaching
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You'll get recommendations forgreat books, set of the week,
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News, all to help you live welland swim well.
Sign up at championsmojo.com orKellyPalace.com today.

(03:56):
So what is your favorite set?

SPEAKER_03 (03:59):
Oh, geez.
Favorite sets.
I don't necessarily have afavorite set.
I like to do I like to do setswhere you know they're four or
five long and you can descendwithin the set, and then if you
have several sets of them, thenyou try to even improve from set
to set.
So and to me that takes thepressure off because whatever

(04:20):
the first one is, you have toimprove from that.
So it puts it on yourself to dothat.
And then of course you urge youryour lane mates on and they urge
you on.
And like I said, we're alwayshaving a bunch of people that
train and don't give up.
And when they're ready to giveup, you don't let them.
And when you're ready to to wavethe white flag, they don't let

(04:41):
you.
And so that's and it's justfantastic.

SPEAKER_02 (04:45):
Sounds like training partners are a big part of your
success.
Okay, what is your biggestcomeback in your life?
And it doesn't have to beswimming.

SPEAKER_03 (04:54):
No, a big comeback was doing lifetime best at 55,
yeah.
Where it just did things Ididn't think I could do.
And it was what 2008, I think itwas, and I went to Worlds and
got six world records in fiveevents, and from there went to
the US Nationals and broke allU.S.
national records, and then fromthere to the YMCAs, and everyone

(05:16):
was just like off the chartsfast.
Um and some of those records,world records held 10 years.
Yeah, at 55, doing the best.
Okay.
And now we'll see if I can do itagain if I start training
progress.

SPEAKER_02 (05:28):
What are your goals for a comeback right now?

SPEAKER_03 (05:31):
I'd like to be happy with the swims.
I'm sure you're the same way.
Winning is one thing, but ifit's a hollow win just because
you're faster than everyoneelse, but you don't swim fast,
then it's hollow.
You don't ever want to say thatbecause some people never have
the joy of winning a gold or asilver.
So it sounds very bad to thinkthat.
But it's true.
It's you you can't be proud ofit when you haven't swim well.

(05:52):
And so swimming well, whetherit's a record or not, you know,
you won if you've done somethingyou haven't done, or you or you
break a goal, and I don't careif you come dead last, if it's a
personal best, you're a winner,you know, and that's that to me
is what counts.

SPEAKER_02 (06:06):
Totally, I totally agree with that.
All right.
What Olympic swimmer, dead oralive, would you like to have
lunch with?

SPEAKER_03 (06:14):
Olympic swimmer, dead or alive.

SPEAKER_02 (06:16):
Anybody.
Caleb Dressel, all right.
What is a fun fact about youthat someone may not know?

SPEAKER_03 (06:23):
A fun fact about me that people know.
And I love sailing.
I love the water.
I love the water.
Water is my safe place.
It's my refuge, it's myrecovery.
It's I don't care how stressedyou are, you get in the water
and you train and you feelwonderful.
And so whenever you're stressedor something, find something,
that thing that that just makesit all alright.

(06:44):
And so that does it.
And of course, having afantastic spouse helps as well.

SPEAKER_02 (06:53):
Yes, I agree with that.
Okay.
Anything that I haven't askedyou that you want to share with
the masters swimming community?

SPEAKER_03 (07:01):
Yeah, it's just that you you never know in in your
life where things are going toturn out.
I was it was many, many yearsago.
I was when I was living in SouthAfrica, I went to the
championships and I saw a younglady swim.
And I said, Oh my god, this girlcould be something special,
something special.
And a kid I used to coach at thetime, Dave Marsh, he was at the
University of Auburn and theywere winning championships.

(07:23):
I called up Dave.
I said, Dave, you gotta comedown, you gotta get this girl.
She's gonna be somethingspecial.
So I went to her parents and Ifound out where she was gonna go
to school, and I said, Oh, Idon't think that's the best
school to go to, the bestprogram.
And so I called Dave at Auburn.
I said, You gotta come downhere.
Well, that young lady was KirstyCoventry.

(07:43):
And Kirsty Coventry, when shewas inducted into the Hall of
Fame last year, totallyunexpected, called me out in her
acceptance speech for changingher life.
So it's you never know wherethings are gonna turn.
There was a very special talent,and you I didn't want to see
talent go to waste or be hurt.
And there's Kirsty now, head ofthe International Olympic

(08:04):
Committee.
So who knows where your life isgonna lead you?
So that's was a very specialmoment.
And you just saw talent and yousaid talent's gotta go
somewhere, and you gotta make itright.
We've been friends, she's fromZimbabwe and I spent time in
South Africa.
So it's just funny the waythings work out.

SPEAKER_02 (08:21):
Yes, you never know.
Uh a lot of great people startin the pool.
All right, thank you for thistime today.

SPEAKER_03 (08:26):
My pleasure.

SPEAKER_00 (08:29):
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