The latest episode of Fish Out of Water: the SwimSwam Podcast has arrived, hosted by John Culhane, who is joined each month by members of SwimSwam staff (this week, Karl Ortegon and Torrey Hart) as well as a special guest (this month: Becca Mann).
Mann swam at her first U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in 2012, having qualified at just 13 years old, and finished 5th in the 800 free and 6th in the 400 free at that meet. A year later, she became the 2013 World Junior Champion in the 1500 free.
She would eventually commit to swim at USC, but her interests go far beyond the pool. She published a fantasy novel, “The Stolen Dragon of Quanx,” before graduating high school, and is currently enrolled in the prestigious USC School of Cinematic Arts. A talented writer, Mann has contributed a few of the most interesting articles ever run on SwimSwam, including a three-part series from 2014 when she went to Kansas to train with Michael Andrew in the still-foreign world of USRPT.
More recently, Mann completed a historic triple Maui Nui Channel crossing, making her the first recorded human swimmer to ever do so. After taking time to decompress, Mann penned another introspective piece about the limits that she pushed her body, and mind, to during that swim.
On the podcast, John and Becca talk the swim, the future of open water swimming, and the future of Becca Mann.