Solo wtih Samantha - More Than An Athlete

Real Talk for Sport Parents Podcast

Hosted by Samantha Livingstone

                                  Solo wtih Samantha - More Than An Athlete 

 In this deeply moving and transparent solo episode, Olympic gold medalist Samantha Arsenault Livingstone shares the full-circle story of how she went from standing atop the Olympic podium to navigating life as a sport parent raising four girls—including a hockey player chasing her own Winter Olympic dream.

Samantha peels back the curtain on her personal story—from her childhood in Peabody, MA, to the toxic club swimming environment that nearly broke her spirit, to the healing that followed her Olympic victory. She opens up about the mental health challenges she faced post-Olympics, the guidance of her mentor Greg Harden, and the life-altering experience of nearly losing her daughter to heart failure.

This episode is a vulnerable invitation into the why behind the podcast: to create a judgment-free space for sport parents to connect, grow, and find real tools for supporting their kids—without shame, perfectionism, or pressure to do it all “right.”

 

04:55 – How parenting in sport mirrors her Olympic journey

10:30 – Childhood, cultural roots, and dreaming big
18:40 – Why she started swimming (hint: it wasn’t her dream)
29:00 – A mother’s intuition and a life-saving decision
36:50 – Qualifying for Olympic Trials—and the power of support”
46:50 – Mental health crash: the pressure no one saw
59:00 – The medical trauma of her daughter’s heart surgery
1:16:45 – On learning to fall—so they can rise
1:21:40 – What parents really need in the sport ecosystem

Quotes

·       “They were having the kids fall on purpose so they could learn how to rise. Why aren’t we doing that with our kids’ inner world?”
[1:17:00]