Top 10 Songs on Sierra Schmidt’s Pre-Race Playlist (And More Insights Into ‘The Wobble’)

1) Bang Bang by Jessie J. ft. Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj
2) All About That Bass by Meghan Trainor
3) Wobble by V.I.C ft. Package Store and Frank Ski
4) Lollipop by MIKA
5) Come and Get Your Love by Redbone
6) Hooked on a Feeling by Blue Swede
7) Where No One Goes by Jonsi
8) Can’t Hold Us (Unlike Pluto Remix) by Unlike Pluto
9) Crazy in Love by Beyonce
10) Cupid Shuffle by Cupid

That is the hottest top 10 playlist at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club right now.

Michael Phelps? Nope. Allison Schmitt? Nah. Conor Dwyer? Don’t think so.

When asked for her top 10 pre-race songs, NBAC 16-year old Sierra Schmidt named the above songs as “most likely to appear in her pre-race shuffle.”

After just a few months at NBAC, that has suddenly become one of the most interesting topics in swimming, as the distance phenom, and 2014 Jr. Pan Pacs Female Swimmer of the Meet, has caught plenty of attention for her behind-the-blocks dancing.

See the Sierra Schmidt, Dancing Queen, photo vault here.

How much attention?

After having just joined the NBAC training group in June, coming from Germantown Academy, she caught the attention of the Greatest of All Time (GOAT), Michael Phelps. Phelps posted this video on his Instagram, in which Schmidt is getting down, and getting funky, behind lane 8. That video earned 33,000+ likes in two months.

“It was at the Bulldog Grand Slam, my first meet with NBAC,” Schmidt said of her break with fame. “I hadn’t really been at the same meet as the older NBAC kids yet so they had never seen me dance behind the blocks. Some of the other kids had been at the NBAC Christmas meet and at the Cera-ve Invitational, so they had seen me dance before.”

“But most of the older kids hadn’t, and that included Phelps. I had been doing it for most of the meet, but the video was before the 400 Free A final. Cierra Runge, one of my new training partners, had been the 1st seed going into the final so she was able to choose whatever music she wanted before the race. She came up to me and said “Sierra, I chose the Wobble for our walkout song, so we have to dance!” So Cierra, Allison Schmitt, Becca Mann and I had decided to actually dance behind the block. Gillian Ryan, my other training partner had politely declined the offer. Hahaha! But then I was the only one that went through with the dancing and the video that you saw is the result!”

Schmidt says the dancing isn’t something new, nor did it necessarily begin with swimming.

“It really became a thing that I did behind the blocks when I was young – then it really stuck! Before that, I just loved dancing and have danced since I was a baby, so even if I wasn’t actually walking out, I would dance whenever music came on!”

“I consider myself a laid back person, but whenever music comes on, I feel the need to dance! I just genuinely enjoy it and whenever I have the opportunity, I do! I usually don’t dance as much before the 800 and the 1500 but for the shorter events like the 200 and 400 I need something to help get me moving!”

While fans, teammates, competitors, and most specifically swimming writers, are thoroughly amused and entertained by her pre-race warm-up act (perhaps the most outlandish since Gary Hall Jr.’s perpetual boxing match with nobody), Schmidt recognizes a very specific benefit to the dancing.

“It relaxes me and kind of gets me into the zone! Not only that, but it warms up my muscles kind of like a dynamic warm up would! I get nervous behind the blocks if I don’t have my music!”

Anybody with the dancing credentials of Schmidt (hundreds of thousands of people have seen her), has to develop a signature move. What’s Schmidt’s?

The Wobble

More specifically, she sometimes likes to mix it up with some choreographed stuff, but like all true entertainers, Schmidt is all about giving the people what they want:

“I don’t have a signature move per se, but the Wobble is the dance I have been doing the most because everyone seems to enjoy when I do that dance! Sometimes I do some choreographed Japanese dances but the Wobble is the one that is most known!”

As modest as she is intelligent, she’s already looking at the next generation of young swimmers.

“There was some really great swimming this summer and I was just happy to be a part of it. USA swimming is so strong. And also, a shout out to all you young girls with big dreams; always be yourself and reach for the stars!”