Visiting Brett Hawke’s Podcast, Nathan Adrian Goes Over Anxieties & Why He Believes Anyone Can Be Beaten

Nathan Adrian. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Olympic gold medalist Nathan Adrian was the latest guest on the Inside With Brett Hawke podcast as he went over his latest endeavors including his involvement with a swim school in Oakland, California that was started by 1948 Olympic gold medalist Ann Curtis.

Adrian has been one of the most consistent sprinters of the last 10 years, establishing himself as a mainstay on the U.S. national team since making his first team in 2008. He talked about how he has been able to stay consistent (6:50) over the years and what he gets out of each practice. Adrian went over his early days at Cal (11:00) when he was joining lanes with past NCAA champions Duje Draganja and Milorad Cavic in his freshman season at Cal in 2006.

Nathan Adrian talked about the stress of seeing the heat sheet on race day (13:00) and how he is able to approach his race plan rather than think about the opposition and who is lining up alongside him. He talked about his 100 freestyle in London where he won the gold medal over heavy favorite James Magnussen (22:50) of Australia, and became the first American to win the 100 freestyle since 1988. Adrian mentioned the day he saw Magnussen swim a 47.1 in the 100 freestyle at Australian Trials and how he reacted to the news in training.

Adrian has been with coach Dave Durden since the beginning of his career at Cal in Adrian’s sophomore year, and he went over why he hasn’t left his side (37:30), believing that their connection is unlike anything he could get from another coach. As Adrian enters his 30s, he went over his recovery regime that has helped him stay consistent and refreshed as he approaches each practice (43:00). Although admitted that his recovery technique is similar to Matt Grevers (46:30), and emphasized that it is important to hone in on individualistic recovery. Adrian and Grevers have been good friends for a long time and he went over his friendship with him over the years.

Nathan Adrian discussed why the United States has been so successful in swimming for so long and why the country continues to progress among the world’s best each and every year (49:00), believing that the qualifying meets that are put in place are why the Americans are so successful. He talked about why he believes anyone can be beaten on any given day (54:50) and why he doesn’t psyche himself out on race day, preaching to “control the controllables.”

Nathan Adrian was the Olympic gold medalist in the 100 freestyle in 2012 and has also won four other Olympic gold medals in relays. He is training for what would be his fourth trip to the Olympic Games in Tokyo at age 31.

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