Champions Mojo for Masters Swimmers

It's all about the catch! If you get this right you'll feel powerful and protect your shoulders. You'll hear it in detail from NCAA Championship and Olympic-level swim coach Kim Brackin, Founder of Brackin Elite Swim Training (BEST) who breaks down how everyday Masters swimmers can build a powerful, "connected" stroke that protects their joints and drives maximum propulsion.

Kim also shares the cues and drills she leans on as a mast...

Host Kelly Palace and Guest Co-Host Mark Palace sit down with world-ranked, All-American Masters swimmer (and CPA!) 46-Year Old Ryan Kloppe for an action-packed dive into performance hacks, smart gear, and real-life swimming wisdom. Whether you’re looking to scientifically optimize your pre-race warm-up, level up your gear bag, or just hear one of the most unique underwater marriage proposals ever, this conversation is packed...

Two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Ryan Held sits down with host Kelly Palace in an on-deck interview at the Pegasus Masters meet in Dallas, Texas. Since retiring from professional swimming, Ryan has relocated to Prosper, Texas, stepped into the joys of fatherhood, and transitioned his relationship with the pool through Masters Swimming.

What happens when you strip away the pressure of professional contracts, intense college training re...

What does it take to build a thriving Masters swim club from scratch, manage a demanding corporate career, and still have the grit to chase top-10 national rankings in the grueling 200-meter butterfly?

In this special on-deck interview from the Bumpy Jones Classic in Sarasota, Florida, Kelly sits down with Andy Kroupa—a true champion of the everyday swimming community. Andy isn't just an elite competitor; he is one of the foun...

We meet Bethany Burchill, Manager Club and Member Services, US Masters Swimming and trace how she goes from swimmer to athletic director to an important position on the National Office Staff of US Masters Swimming. 

Bethany's passion for swimming changed the trajectory of her well-established high-profile career as an athletic director. Her own love of the sport and her family's deep roots in swimming led her to follow her hear...

You can love swimming and still feel intimidated by the rulebook, the whistles, and the idea of disqualifying someone. That hesitation is exactly why we wanted an on-deck conversation with Chet Goudy, a USA Swimming deck referee, Masters swimmer, former college breaststroker, and former pro triathlete. He walks us through what a deck ref actually does, what it feels like to run a session from the pool deck, and why meets are always...

Molecular biologist, gerontologist and Ultra Marathoner, Dr. Bill Andrews, a pioneer in telomere and telomerase research, sits down with Kelly and makes the case that telomere shortening is the most important clock driving human aging for healthy people and that real “rejuvenation” has to show up in function, not just numbers on a lab report. His blunt standard is the “Betty White test”: can you clearly tell...

Coach Kelly Palace shares five rules for swimmers to achieve their personal best.

We break down five repeatable rules Kelly has seen across hundreds of champions, from Olympic swimmers to NCAA standouts to masters legends. We talk about picking a goal that creates real emotional pull, then reverse engineering it into pace targets, meet choices, and bite sized milestones you can execute. We also get specific about the details...

Ever wonder what separates an average swim lane or team from a championship-level squad? Culture isn’t a poster on the wall—it’s the way your team operates on an ordinary Wednesday morning when you're staring at the black line and nobody is trying to be inspirational. In this episode, we sit down with Greg Clink, 3-time Coach of the Year in basketball, who's a leadership expert, to put a real definition around &ld...

A 20-year break doesn’t have to be the end of your swimming story. Kelly catches Christina Campfort right on deck for a high-energy chat that hits on something a lot of former swimmers quietly wonder: can you really come back and race fast again after life happens? Christina’s answer is loud and clear. She’s 44, a firefighter and driver engineer, a mom with a newborn, a former college swimmer at the University of ...

Fewer than 50 people on the planet have completed the Oceans Seven Challenge. Putting that in perspective over 7,000 people have summited Mt. Everest , Steve “Moby” Leitch is one swim away from being in such an elite club. You can train for months and still get humbled in minutes when the ocean decides to change the rules. After swimming the Strait of Gibraltar from Europe to Africa, elite endurance athlete, Steve &ldqu...

What we if women treated our bodies like a gift instead of a problem to fix? And men you'll want to listen up if you have ever been asked by a woman, do I look fat? You'll get the right answer in this episode! 

After swim practice, we sit down with Stephanie Havelka, a true water woman whose life in sport spans competitive swimming, Kona Ironman, outrigger canoe racing around the globe, surf ski, and even Olympic Trials kayakin...

We talk with Chris Harris, the Warrior Maker, an elite athlete, author and speaker, who has trained Navy Seals, Green Berets and professional athletes to have tough mindsets. He says it's about mastering the space between stimulus and response so pressure will stop running your life. We break down metacognition, subconscious habit change, and race ready mindset tools that help master swimmers stay resilient and perform on purpose.&...

After 17 Ironmans, a broken ankle might not feel like a full stop, but for Jane Esahak-Gage it becomes a pivot point. After decades of pushing her body through Ironman triathlon training and racing, she gets one piece of advice that changes her path: get back in the pool. What happens next is the kind of surprise many endurance athletes secretly hope for, a return to movement that feels healing instead of punishing. 

Ja...

Doug Springer is 80 years old, but looks and swims like he's 20 years younger. He joins us to unpack the swims that led to four world records, including a jaw-dropping 400 IM where he took 17 seconds off the world mark and cleared the national record by 35. If you love masters swimming, training for longevity, or simply want proof that performance doesn’t expire, this conversation delivers real fuel.

We dig into the de...

Doubt shows up for everyone, even the most decorated athletes. We invited bestselling author and two-time TEDx speaker Simone Knego to break down a simple, durable system for building confidence that actually holds under pressure. Her REAL method—respect yourself, embrace your failures, ask yourself what you want, and live without limits—turns confidence from a fuzzy feeling into a daily practice you can train like endu...

Sirens at night, blocks at dawn—this conversation follows Che'Rel, a 26-year-old police officer and lifelong swimmer from Trinidad and Tobago, as she threads two demanding worlds into one life of discipline and joy. We meet her on deck at Nova Masters in Richmond, fresh off a night shift, and explore how race-pace sets, team culture, and a stubborn sprinter’s mindset help her keep purpose front and center.

Che'Re...

Sleep is the most powerful legal performance enhancer you’re not fully using yet. We brought in Derek Hales, founder of NapLab and one of the most trusted voices in mattress testing, to strip away hype and show how smarter choices at night translate to stronger training, faster recovery, and better moods.

We dig into the single biggest mattress mistake—price extremes—and map the sweet spot where quality and...

26 year-old Bryanna Lacey is fresh off a Masters Meet High Point win and a year into a bold return to the sport she left behind seven years ago after an excellent college swimming career. We sit with her on the tiles at Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center to unpack what it takes to walk on, walk away, and walk back stronger.

Bryanna started late, carved out high school records, and earned her place at the University of Indianapol...