Olivia Smoliga isn’t done swimming – but has found some added ways to stay involved in the sport.
The Olympic medalist started the In Depth Swim Academy and the In Deep With Olivia Smoliga podcast, which had its first guest last week.
While Smoliga is doing all of this outside the pool, she has started her comeback after 16 months off from competitive swimming.
“I am finding a grove now,” Smoliga told Swimming World. “I am definitely stretching myself. I want to do more to have eyes on swimming.”
Smoliga has moved to Frisco, Texas, to swim with Texas Ford Aquatics with Coley Stickels.
The time off helped Smoliga find what she is really looking for within herself and in the sport.
“After the 2024 Trials, I didn’t go into the water for 16 months. My first time was in Lake Michigan open water swimming. I went on a lot of retreats. That was a layer of my identity that manifested itself. I have always been an introspective person and I found groups that went deep. I wanted to get to know myself outside of the pool,” she said. “I got to a point where I felt like I could get back to swimming my way. I was in the ocean and had a vision of myself competing internationally again.”
Smoliga competed at the Toronto World Cup and the Pro Swim Series stop in Westmont, Illinois, near her home, was her first meet really competing for Texas Ford.
The two-time Olympian has big goals ahead.
“My goal is to go all the way with it – to fall in love with everything I do, celebrating the process and the progress,” she said. “I know the way I will get to my other goals is through who I will become. I want to step up on the blocks and Olympic Trials and feel free, like I did everything to prepare.”
Some of that preparation comes from her swim life outside the pool.
“Every phase has been so different,” Smoliga said. “I am very reflective and want to see what I was thinking when I was younger. It is going really well. We are transitioning to online focus. We had some big clinics and it was so amazing.
“The academy is focused on the mental game within sport. But it is woman athlete focused and a safe space to dance, and go from nonlinear movement to linear racing. That is something women face a lot.”
So the big question is: “Can you be nurturing and still a killer in the pool? Girls get emotional. I had someone tell me they brought back the joy of the sport for her. That is what it is all about for me.”
Her podcast reached another level this week with her first guest: Olympic champion Sarah Sjostrom.
“Last year, right around the Toronto World Cup, I just wanted to have another platform to express myself. It was solo episodes, letting people know what I was going through. Then that led me to reach out to who I admire and are inspired by. Sarah Sjostrom was the first guest. That put so much in perspective to me,” she said. “I am learning so much sitting down and soaking in the insights from Olympic gold medalists and world record holders. She appreciates the process the most because winning and losing happens for every athlete.
“My goal is to shine a light on the mental aspect of the sport. My intention is to dive in to who they are outside the pool to see what makes them great in the pool. It is the theme at In Depth Academy, too, and my personal goal is to learn.”