New York City Shines for Masters Swimming Star Eve Maidenberg, EP 296

Want to know what it takes to get faster with less time and more life on your plate? We sit with AGUA Masters swimmer Eve Maidenberg at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center to unpack how a New York Youth Centered team culture, smart training, and relentless curiosity turned a once-retired age-grouper into a 49-year-old dropping times she never touched at 18.

Eve opens up about AGUA’s unique mix of recent grads and seasoned pros, where mentorship flows both ways and great coaching keeps athletes engaged. We talk venues—Asphalt Green’s long-course pool NE uptown and a 25-yard setup downtown—and why variety matters for pacing, turns, and confidence. Then it’s 200 free nerdery: how to craft a painful-but-winnable race, why some elite swimmers breathe in and out of every wall, and when oxygen management beats rigid rules. If middle distance is your sweet spot, you’ll hear practical tactics you can apply in the next set.

Training isn’t just more yards. Eve shares a weekly rhythm of six pool sessions, focused strength training three times a week, yoga for mobility, and spin when needed to build capacity without breaking down. We dig into favorite sets like descending-interval 200s and shotgun progressions, which force efficiency as the clock tightens and teach a fearless close. The conversation turns deeply personal as she recounts coming back from a hip stress fracture and a heart issue, the mindset shifts those injuries demanded, and how smarter planning turned setbacks into speed.

You’ll walk away with concrete ideas for masters training, insight into pacing the 200 free, and a reminder that community is a performance tool. If you love swim strategy, resilient comebacks, and the spark of a team that shows up for each other, this one belongs in your queue. Enjoy the story, try the sets, and tell us how you’d pace your next 200. If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a teammate, and leave a quick review so more swimmers can find it.

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 (00:00):
We are doing an on-deck interview at the
beautiful Fort LauderdaleAquatic Center at the Fall
Classics Short Course MetersMeet, and I'm on deck with Eve
Maidenberg.
And Eve, we have a quick 10questions for you.
If you can start out with yourname, your age, and your team.

SPEAKER_01 (00:21):
I am Eve Maidenberg.
I'm 49 and I swim with AguaMasters out of New York.

SPEAKER_00 (00:27):
Very good.
Now, this isn't on my littletints, this isn't a bonus
question.
We talked about this a littlebit in the locker room when we
were getting ready for our eventour 200 free.
I noticed that Agua Masters hasa really young contingent, and I
see you guys at Meets.
Tell us a little bit about thatgoing on up there.

SPEAKER_01 (00:45):
I think being in New York, it's we have a lot of
young college graduates, peoplewho land in New York in their
first jobs, and swimming is agreat place for them to find
community and sort of buildstart to build their network in
New York.
And I think what we do a reallygreat job of at Agua is building

(01:06):
those connections between theseyoung up-and-coming swimmers and
people who are a bit moreestablished in their careers.
And so there's a really nicesynergy that starts to happen,
and we have really greatcoaching, so it keeps them
excited and engaged andmotivated to keep coming.
Now, do you guys train atAsphalt Green?
We do.
We have two locations.
Um, we have the 50-meter longcourse pool on the Upper East

(01:29):
Side, and then we have asecondary location in Battery
Park City that's a 25-yard pool.
Okay, very nice.
Now, what are you doing in NewYork?
I run agency operations, whichis like project management and
production for a large retailer.

SPEAKER_00 (01:44):
Okay, very nice.
All right, so what is yourswimming history and how did you
get to master swimming?

SPEAKER_01 (01:50):
So I grew up swimming in Cleveland, Ohio.
I started swimming when I wasabout 11, 12 years old, and swam
through high school in a verycompetitive age group program in
Shaker Heights with a reallyphenomenal coach.
And um then I stopped swimming.
I did not swim in college.
Um, and then when my youngestchild was about 15 months old, I

(02:15):
was so used to getting up at 530 in the morning and I needed
to start working out that Ijoined a gym, and the gym
happened to have a pool on theroof deck, and I went in and
just like swam one day, andthere was a master's team, and
then I went again another day,and I kind of saw them, and I
went up to the coach and said,Can I can I join you guys?
And he, of course, was verywelcoming.
Um, and that was sort of thebeginning of my master's career.

(02:37):
Um, and it took me a long timeto get to compete again.
Um, but really for the last like15 years or so I've been pretty
pretty excited and happy to comeand compete.

SPEAKER_00 (02:47):
Very nice.
So, um what is your best orfavorite, and they could be the
same or they could be differentevent?

SPEAKER_01 (02:55):
Uh ooh, that's tough.
Um, I really think this soundsso disgusting, but 200 free is
my favorite, favorite event.
It's so painful.
Um, but I really love thestrategy of how to swim it and
really playing with that.
Um so I think the 200 free isprobably my favorite.
Um, and I I can't say what mybest is.

(03:16):
It's anywhere from the 200 tothe thousand.

SPEAKER_00 (03:19):
I totally get that.
I I I unfortunately am best at a1500.
Yeah, but I my favorite event isthe 200-free as well, because
it's so in fact, let's take aminute to geek out a little bit
on Molly O'Callahan's 200-freeworld record short course
meters.
I have some observations.
Did you see it?
And what are your thoughts?

SPEAKER_01 (03:38):
I actually didn't watch that swim.

SPEAKER_00 (03:40):
Um, so I don't have I don't really have a curious of
your So the talking aboutstrategy for 200-free, and we
won't we won't go too long inthis, but I what I found really
interesting about her settingthis record, first of all, she
blew the field away, she blewthe record away, and because it
was the 200-free and we'retalking about it, it was short
course meters, she breathed inand out of every single wall.

(04:03):
Can I get can I send that to mycoach?
Yeah, and I will tell you thistoo, that um so did Lanny
Pollister when she broke KatieLadecki's world record in the
800.
And it's and I've interviewedPaige Matt Paige Madden on the
show, and I talk about this.
Paige Madden breathes in and outof every wall.
So we need air, especially I Ithink sprinters, I think

(04:25):
coaches.
So the guy that was commentatingMolly's Molly's win and world
record said, she could improvethat even more if she didn't
breathe in and out of everywall.
No, no, right, yeah.
So um anyway, so that was astrategy thing that I think was
deliberate, and I think I see ummore and more distance people
doing it, probably probably 200sand up.
But anyway, I think there's alot of strategy to the 200.

(04:47):
Let's get back to you.
Um so keeping in mind that youyou are a kind of a middle
distance, distance freestyler,what is your training regimen
like?

SPEAKER_01 (04:57):
Uh I swim every day anywhere from 90 to 120 minutes.
I do a mix of like traditionalkind of aerobic base training,
sprint training, um, dependingon the day.
Um, I try and incorporate somedays that are like less yardage
with more sort ofsprint-focused, power-focused

(05:19):
work, um, and then other daysthat are just more aerobic base
building and you know, paceholding.
Um, and then I lift weights atleast three days a week.
Um, I try and get in at leastone yoga class, and sometimes
they add in some spin into thatdepending on where I am in the
season.
So you enjoy your training.

(05:39):
I like that.

SPEAKER_00 (05:40):
So I love it.
So you train every day?
Uh six days a week.
Six days a week.
To me, that's every day.
Okay, so um favorite set.
Come on, please give me a goodset.
I need a good set.

SPEAKER_01 (05:54):
Oh my god, it they're so complicated.
Um, okay, so I love doing umanything that is a descending
interval type set.
Um, so give me like five twohundreds on three minutes two
fifty-five, two fifty, twoforty-five, two forty, something

(06:15):
like that.
I kind of love that kind of set.
I know it's like grueling.
Um, I like doing things likethat.
I like doing shotgun sets whereyou start with something really
long and break it down to besmaller and smaller as you go
and really try and push the paceas I go through it.
Um and I could probably send youa couple of other really good
ones that are a little bit morecomplicated, but too difficult

(06:36):
to give on a short interview.

SPEAKER_00 (06:39):
Yeah, I I I think the I think those sets were the
descending interval.
Yeah, and you know, it it'struly a different mindset when
you're training for a longerevent.
It just it just is.
Okay, um what is your biggestcomeback in life?
It does it doesn't it could bein the pool, it could be
swimming, and it doesn't have tobe.
Um biggest comeback.

SPEAKER_01 (07:02):
I I do think so.
I swim faster now than I did asan 18-year-old.
Um and that is has been very,very empowering for me.
Um and I've had several momentslike in my master's career where
I've had major injuries.
So I had I stress fractured myleft hip when I tried to be a

(07:24):
runner for a short stint.
Um that was not great, that setme back quite a bit.
Um, I had a heart issue thatkind of put me back again quite
a bit.
Um, and so I think coming backfrom those types of experiences
and really needing to kind ofpull back a lot um in terms of
my training and how I thoughtabout swimming helped me reset

(07:47):
it a little bit.
Um, and then I actually foundthat I got stronger and faster
after those moments.
Um, so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (07:54):
Oh, I love that.
I think that's a great, greatstory.
Okay, this these are like kindof a fun next three.
Um if you could have lunch withany Olympic swimmer and they can
be dead or alive.

SPEAKER_01 (08:07):
I mean, I honestly I would love to have lunch with
Janet Evans.
She was like totally my like Iwas I was swim in high school
when she was going to theOlympics um and just followed
her career at that time soclosely because I was a distance
swimmer and like that was athing, so I would I would love
to have lunch with her.

SPEAKER_00 (08:25):
Yeah, that's a great one.
I actually try to swim like her,which is my my windmilling arms
and a high tempo, but I mean shehad it down.
I mean she she did.
All right, what's a fun factabout you that we uh that your
friends or other swimmers maynot know?

SPEAKER_01 (08:40):
Um a lot of people don't know that I was born in
South Africa um and moved to theUS when I was four.

SPEAKER_00 (08:47):
This is a very fun fact.
Okay.
Is there anything else that Ihave not asked you that you
would like to share with themaster swimming community?

SPEAKER_01 (08:55):
I oh, that's a good one.
Um what would I like to share?
I think this is an amazingsport.
I think that the community thatwe build in master swimming is
really special.
And what I love about it andwhat keeps me coming back over
and over again are therelationships that I've built
through master swimmingglobally.

SPEAKER_00 (09:18):
Well said, well said.
Thank you so much.
You and I are getting ready forthe 400 free.
Let's go.

SPEAKER_01 (09:24):
Let's go.

SPEAKER_00 (09:25):
Thank you.
Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 (09:27):
That was fun.
Yeah, I think.
I do have some really good setsI can actually.