{"id":209911,"date":"2016-06-28T19:35:24","date_gmt":"2016-06-29T02:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=209911"},"modified":"2016-06-28T19:51:51","modified_gmt":"2016-06-29T02:51:51","slug":"video-interview-olivia-smoliga-riding-the-wave-all-the-way-to-rio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/video-interview-olivia-smoliga-riding-the-wave-all-the-way-to-rio\/","title":{"rendered":"(Video Interview) Olivia Smoliga “Riding the Wave” all the Way to Rio"},"content":{"rendered":"

“It feels awesome!” is all Olympian Olivia Smoliga<\/strong> could say after making the 2016 Rio Olympic team in the 100 backstroke. Smoliga, age 21, and Kathleen Baker<\/strong> – who, at age 19, placed 2nd in the 100 backstroke to make the second spot on the Olympic team – are fresh young faces on the world stage.<\/p>\n

In the interview with Swimming World, Smoliga talks about the ups and downs in the recent months, before “riding the wave” from NCAA’s into the Olympic Trials. She excitedly celebrates other teammates who made the Olympic team, including Gunnar Bentz<\/strong>, who made the team in the 800 freestyle relay.<\/p>\n

See the full interview below:<\/p>\n