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SwimSwam Podcast: Cam van der Burgh on Secrets to Being a Power Based Swimmer

On SwimSwam Podcast, we’re giving you an in-depth listen at all things swimming. Host Coleman Hodges welcomes guests and guest co-hosts alike to get perspective on our ever-changing swimming universe and break down the past, present, and future of aquatic sports.

We sat down with Olympic champion Cameron van der Burgh to catch up with him after his brush with COVID-19. We did touch on that subject, but mostly we delved into his swimming past. He shared how he figured out how to do things differently for himself that led to success considering he was a power-based swimmer.

Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com

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Opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the interviewed guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of the hosts, SwimSwam Partners, LLC and/or SwimSwam advertising partners.

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4 years ago

Why is Gold Medal Mel speaking into the end of a side-address mic?

Ol' Longhorn
4 years ago

Great interview. That said, I don’t buy that 25-27 yo elite male swimmers — especially power swimmers — suddenly fall off a cliff and need special coddling to manage fatigue. Powerlifters peak later than that, Michael Johnson won the 400 meter Olympic gold again at 32. Lebron and many others are running and jumping for 40 mins way beyond that age, and the most recent Marsh older elite athletes did worse: Pebley, Lochte, Irie. Lochte and Irie both did better after leaving and increasing workload. For the swimmers, I think it’s more mental burnout, and the fact that there’s basically nothing that can motivate these gold medal guys after they’ve won gold in the 4 years in between.

PVSFree
Reply to  Ol' Longhorn
4 years ago

Grevers and Adrian also proves that older swimmers can hang on pretty long as well. I think they’d both count as power swimmers – I’d be interested to hear what they think on the topic

Ol' Longhorn
Reply to  PVSFree
4 years ago

I’d bet it’s also a bit easier to keep the mentality up for the U.S. swimmers because of (1) of their ability to fit in with pro groups that are integrated with strong college teams, and (2) if they hang on for a relay-only spot, they still get a pretty medal. Maybe the ISL will help a bit with the lull between Olympics and keeping swimmers around longer till their true physical peak.

H.H
Reply to  PVSFree
4 years ago

Not Brent Hayden

Coach
Reply to  Ol' Longhorn
4 years ago

Johnson was on the juice. LeBron is not the same as his game has noticeably changed over the years.

Hard to keep anyone motivated to stare at a black line while holding their breathe for so long. Phelps did it cause he got paid big bucks, but even still, his message is burnout.

Ol' Longhorn
Reply to  Coach
4 years ago

Lebron won the title with Cleveland, putting that team on his back, when he was 31. Tyson Fury beat the crap out of everyone last year when he was 31. Bolt won double gold plus relay at 30 in Rio. The average age of ranked MMA fighters is 31. I could go on and on with examples from every sport. I’m saying that physiologically, there’s no reason for a fade in the mid-20’s.

Coach
Reply to  Ol' Longhorn
4 years ago

Tyson beat 2 nobody’s last year. One was an unanimous decision. While you have a strong point for Lebron and Bolt, both guys are like Phelps. They are genetic anomalies who were getting paid.

Ol' Longhorn
Reply to  Coach
4 years ago

Ok. Daley Thompson was 34 when he repeated as decathlon champion. Dan O’Brien was 30. Dan Jansen was 29 when he killed it in speed skating. Mahe Drysdale repeated as sprint single sculls champion at Rio at age 37. I mean, I could do this all day.

Coach
Reply to  Ol' Longhorn
4 years ago

Great! Do it all day! Prove it!

Where the wall go?
Reply to  Ol' Longhorn
4 years ago

Powerlifters aren’t power athletes, a better comparison would be olympic weight lifters

PVSFree
4 years ago

His tricep looks MASSIVE in that cover photo

PVSFree
Reply to  Coleman Hodges
4 years ago

If only we were all blessed with CvdB’s triceps 😫😫

YaYeeter
Reply to  PVSFree
4 years ago

not to mention those pectorals

Austinpoolboy
Reply to  YaYeeter
4 years ago

Lol. Eyes up here!

Gold Medal Mel Stewart
Reply to  PVSFree
4 years ago

ha!!!!

YaYeeter
4 years ago

will forever be one of my favorite swimmers!

PsychoDad
Reply to  YaYeeter
4 years ago

will forever be known as a cheater.

About Coleman Hodges

Coleman Hodges

Coleman started his journey in the water at age 1, and although he actually has no memory of that, something must have stuck. A Missouri native, he joined the Columbia Swim Club at age 9, where he is still remembered for his stylish dragon swim trunks. After giving up on …

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