😱 Teri McKeever, 🏊‍♂️ Mare Nostrum MVP's

🤡 Swimming Meme & 📜Swimming Set of the Week

May 31, 2022

Morning, Nerd.

Welcome to the Swimnerd Newsletter, where we really like swimming. All news is not good news...

  • 😱 Teri McKeever put on leave, being investigated for abuse

  • 🏊‍♂️ Mare Nostrum MVP's + The SwimSuit Guy

  • 🤡 Swimming Meme & 📜Swimming Set of the Week

 🐻 TERI MCKEEVER NEWS 😠

On Tuesday, May 24th, Scott Reid (OC Register/Southern California News Group) published a damning report:

"Twenty-three (23) current and former Cal swimmers, seven (7) parents, a former member of the Golden Bears men’s team and two (2) former Cal athletic department employees have told SCNG that McKeever was a bully who for decades has allegedly verbally and emotionally abused, swore at and threatened swimmers on an almost daily basis, pressured athletes to compete or train while injured or dealing with chronic illnesses or eating disorders, even accusing some women of lying about their conditions despite being provided medical records by them."

"...at least six Cal women’s swimmers since 2018 have made plans to kill themselves or obsessed about suicide for weeks or months because of what they describe as McKeever’s bullying."

Following the initial report, Coach McKeever was allowed to show back up to work the next day but the Women's team wasn't having it.

After the walkout, Cal finally put Coach McKeever on administrative leave, something that most believe should have happened a day earlier. Then, they hired a law firm.

I've always thought highly of Teri McKeever -- 30 years at Cal with tremendous swimmers and performances -- she has dedicated her entire life to the sport.

The last time I went to ASCA I had a beer with an old head that was very disappointed because he came all the way out to Dallas to see Coach McKeever talk but she bowed out at the last minute. She was the #1 reason he came to that convention. He wanted to be a better coach for young women.

We had her on the podcast (Episode #142) where she was lovely. She spoke about being your best self and how asking for help is a sign of strength.

"Whenever I get a chance to talk at a clinic that's my biggest take away in life: go be the best version of yourself, not the 2nd best version of who your mentor is." - Teri McKeever

After speaking to colleagues and reading message boards, one thing became obvious: everybody seemed to know this was happening.

"Teri was the worst kept secret."

I must have missed the memo, because I only heard and saw the positive. It seems, though, everyone and their Mother knew what allegedly had been going on.

Responses to the article on SS & the SCIEG included, "Duh" and, "Old news".

This isn't a single, disgruntled claimant -- this is 30+ people corroborating abuse spanning years.

Final Thoughts

Soon after the first reports came out, text messages began pouring in.

I received the loveliest note from a former club swimmer of mine from over a decade ago. She thanked me for having such a good club swimming experience. How I treated everyone the same. How I strived to make practice fun.

Hearing that made me really proud in a moment of sadness.

Swimming is a sport. It's supposed to teach us stuff so that we can be better people in real life outside of the pool.

It's not supposed to make you want to take your own life.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those looking to help someone else. To speak with a certified listener, call 1-800-273-8255, visit the website at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/.

MARE NOSTRUM

The Mare Nostrum (Monaco + Barcelona + Canet) series has finished up. You can re-watch the live streams here.

Most Impressive Female Swimmer: Sarah SjostromGoing 24 low in the 50 Free and 25 low in the 50 Fly seems to be a walk in the park for the Swede. A year recovered from her elbow injury, her path to multiple world titles is easier with no Emma McKeon, Maggie MacNeil, or Ranomi Kromowidjojo.

Most Impressive Male Swimmer: Matt SatesIf it were baseball, he'd be batting a thousand. South African youngster Matt Sates went 9/9 over the 3 stops. The overall Fina World Cup winner in the fall, he is unstoppable at in-season meets like this.

Sonny Trigg, aka The Swimsuit Guy, has been to all 3 stops of the Mare Nostrum. Be sure to check out his vlogs for all the insider coverage on-deck as he and Tom Rushton coach the likes of Chad Le Clos, Max Litchfield, Kregor Zirk, and more.

Apologies, Sonny likes to use all capital letters when writing out his vlog titles...

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BRETT HAWKE CLIPS OF THE WEEK

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Katie Hoff is a 2x Olympic swimmer, 8x World Champion and 3x Olympic Medalist. Todd Anderson, her husband, is a former NFL fullback turned strength & conditioning coach. Together, they make up Synergy Dryland: world class dryland swim programming focused on making you faster.

📝 SET OF THE WEEK

While training for World Championships in Perth (1998), Popov did a set from Gennadi Touretski...

10x

400 Free aerobic pace @ 6 mins 100 Vo2 near race pace @ 2 mins

He held 54/55 on the 100's.

🤡 SWIMMING MEME OF THE WEEK