Finding Mastery with Dr. Michael Gervais - Conor Dwyer, American Swimmer and Olympic Gold Medalist

Episode Date: March 28, 2018

This week’s conversation is with American Swimmer and Olympic Gold Medalist Conor Dwyer.You wouldn’t know it looking at him now, with his 6’5”, athletic frame, three Olympic medals and four World Championships titles to his name, but success in the pool didn’t come easily to Conor. He was a multi-sport athlete throughout his youth, settling into swimming as his main focus late in high school. He was good but never quite great and the self described ‘very late bloomer’ struggled to get any collegiate coach to look his way as graduation approached. Unlike most of his teammates now on the U.S. National Swim Team there were no red carpet swim scholarships rolled out in his direction. But what Conor may have lacked in head-turning results early in his career he made up for with a gut- wrenching work ethic. What changed for Conor? His mindset. His environment. His training.In this conversation, we discuss how Conor transformed his swimming career: from unrecruited to winning multiple gold medals  at the Olympic Games, I hope this conversation reminds you that success doesn’t come early to everyone.Conor is a great example of what happens to those who build up the capacity to persevere until they get where they want._________________Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for more powerful conversations at the intersection of high performance, leadership, and meaning: https://www.youtube.com/c/FindingMasteryGet exclusive discounts and support our amazing sponsors! Go to: https://findingmastery.com/sponsors/Subscribe to the Finding Mastery newsletter for weekly high performance insights: https://www.findingmastery.com/newsletter Download Dr. Mike's Morning Mindset Routine! https://www.findingmastery.com/morningmindsetFollow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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This is why I'm here. But up until that point, it is very hard, like you said, to stay in your head and not let stuff, not get too hyped, not get too scared. There's so many things that can go wrong. All right, welcome back or welcome to the Finding Mastery Podcast. I'm Michael Gervais. I love this podcast. So, first of all, if you're new, seriously, welcome back or welcome to the Finding Mastery Podcast. I'm Michael Gervais. I love this podcast. So first of all, if you're new, seriously, welcome. And for those of you who are part of this and been part of it for a long time, how fun is this? It's so good, isn't it? So the people we get to meet are phenomenal and I'm learning a lot. I'm loving it. And even more so, I'm loving the tribe that is being created around this and how we're supporting and challenging each other on the way. So awesome. And for those who are new, the whole idea behind these conversations is to learn from people who are on the path of mastery, to better understand, to dig deep, to understand what they explain events, how they understand themselves and other people and things that go well and things that don't go well.

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Now this week's conversation is with Olympian Connor Dwyer. You wouldn't know looking at him with a six foot five athletic frame, three Olympic medals, four world championship titles to his name, that success in the pool didn't come easy to him. He was a multi-sport athlete throughout his youth, which I think is really cool. Like I get really concerned about single sport athletes for lots of reasons. We can talk about that some other time. But settling into swimming as his main focus happened late in high school. And he was good, of course, but never quite great as he described himself. He was a very late bloomer, struggling to get any collegiate coaches to look his way as graduation approached.

I mean, how cool is this? I mean, he's flat out one of the best in the world and it happened late and it's because hard work. And this is a reminder for all of us that early success does not mean late success. Early success means early success. And so Connor, I'm flat out excited because he really captures the essence of the Olympic spirit in so many ways. And that Olympic spirit is alive in all of us for our life, for our businesses and relationships. The purity to strain and strive, have a vision to work towards it and to become our very best along that way.

And unlike most of his teammates now in the US national swim team, which is one of the best in the world, there were no red carpet swim scholarships rolled out in his direction. But what Conor may have lacked in head-turning results early in his career, he made up for with gut-wrenching work ethic. And what changed for Conor? In his words, it was mindset, environment, and training. And in this conversation, we discuss how Conor transformed his swimming career from unrecruited to multiple podiums at the Olympics and World Championships. And Connor is just flat out a great example of what happens for those of us who build capacity, the importance to build capacity, to stick with the longing, to persevere, to live with passion and persevere for long-term goals. The concept of grit is definitely at play here.

And with that, let's jump right into this conversation with Connor Dwyer. Connor, how are you? I'm good. Thanks for having me here today. Ah, this is great. So thank you for spending the time to really unpack how you've become so successful in your career and to better understand how you see the world. Thanks. I'm excited to be here. Let's take a dive in. Yeah. Okay. So let's, let's start like with the chapter headings of your life. And this is, I think, a relatively hard thing to do. But I want to get the title names of your chapter. It helps me to better understand the stages or phases of your life. And if you could start early, that's really cool. You need, that's a tough question.

So title names? Yeah. And it is hard. I think it's really hard. Yeah. So like ages one to whatever are, let's call it the beginning years or let's call it hard years or whatever you would call it. Yeah. I guess chapter one would be learning to swim.

And the beginning years of my childhood, I had my mom, who was a collegiate All-American swimmer, teach myself, my three brothers and my sister all how to swim and just be water safe in the pool. So I was definitely a water baby at a young age. My mom, we could all swim on our own at age two. So I was one with the water at a very young age. Where'd you grow up? In Winneka, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. Okay. And where are you in the birth order?

I am the oldest with a twin brother and two other brothers a year younger, three years younger and a younger sister. So there were four boys in high school at the same time. You're a twin. I'm a twin. Okay. So totally unique, right? And you didn't label the first chapters twin, like the challenges of being a twin. You label the first chapters about learning to swim. Yes. And that was ages what? One to three. Yeah. One to three. Okay. Then three to something. What would you title that? I would title that having fun with the goon squad.

Is that what you called your guys? Search and destroy is what my mom called my twin and I, because we would lock her in the basement. I mean, we got into a lot of trouble as young boys. And I can only imagine raising four boys all around the same age. But I mean, we had a full on, we'd play shinny hockey in the basement, there'd be stitches left and right. So the boys would be doing anything and anything we could to cause some trouble in Chicago. Okay. And then how was that in the picture? Dad was Yeah, my dad and mom are very, very close. And they, they taught us how all of our great values that we carry today. And, uh, my mom and dad swim actually still to this day, every morning at like 5 AM with a fun

masters group in Chicago. Uh, so they're committed to the water. They're committed to the water. That's why I said, learn to swim. I mean, throughout my whole career and path, my mom is, is like, I have a twin, but she would be the female twin if that was possible and makes sense. I'm like a replica version of her and inherited all my skills and talents from her. Wow. You got a lot of appreciation for your parents. Yeah. They've been a key component in my success and supporting me with all the decisions and pathways that we've taken to get this far in my career. So in the first few minutes, you mentioned character strengths. So you mentioned, you mentioned like as a young kid pushing against limits and, you know, being,

I don't know what the right word is, like just playful. Okay. Yeah. Right. Okay. And then, but you also mentioned character. So what are some of the key character strengths or signature character traits that, that you embody or that you value? Um, I mean, they, I learned so much growing up in the neighborhood I grew up with and the family I grew up with having 40 to 60 cousins all around me in that small town in Chicago. And they taught us, you know, how to be honest, how to be good, good teammates. I was a captain on all on high school and the two colleges I was a part of. So they obviously taught me some leadership skills and how to communicate with others. And we, yeah, we, my brothers and I got into it, but we learned a lot about, uh, how to resolve conflicts and, and treat each other respectfully, um, while we were growing up.

Oh, there you go. Okay. Third chapter. Third chapter would be as for my swimming would be, uh, junior Olympics and the pathway to other things. Okay, what does that mean? So when I was 9 and 10, I was very good at swimming, and I went to Junior Olympics. I won six events. I was just kind of getting the swing of things,

but my family keeps coming up. They tried swimming for two weeks. Everyone hated it but me. So I decide to keep swimming till nine and 10. And then it got to a point where these kids were only swimming and doing nothing else. And I at grade school, I love doing football, hockey. We had a hockey rink in our backyard growing up. Basketball. I went to 20 to 40 Cubs games a year. So I knew I loved sports, but I wanted to do all the other sports that my brothers and family and friends were doing. So at that very young age of 9 to 10, I decided I didn't want to swim anymore.

And I kind of hung it up at, like, my peak. But I knew I wanted to do, um, other sports and enjoy my childhood years with my friends. I wasn't ready to give up and sacrifice at a young age to give up other sports and other events. So I decided to take a break from 10 to, uh, age 16 in high school and just enjoy my childhood with my friends. Yeah. Of swimming. So you, you, you, you did the thing that I think most parents nowadays are so frightened of.

You had this bright talent, right? Junior Olympics winning at the junior Olympics. Is that what you said? Right? Yeah. Bright talent. And then the young kid says,

nah, not for me. And what did your parents do when you said, listen, I want to play other sports and they love the water. They love, they love the water. And what did your parents do when you said, listen, I want to play other sports? And they love the water. They love swimming. They love the water. And you were this shiny little star. What did they do? At first, they were a little hesitant to let me do it, but they knew I was, one, passionate about, they taught us school and you have to perform in school in order to play the grade

school basketball games or compete in swimming. So school is obviously number one and religion and family, but sports was a close third or fourth in there. So they knew I was going to charge whatever sport I decided to do, but I think they had a feeling that I might be able to come back in high school and my grade school basketball coach would always say, oh, yeah, that's cool. You put up 20 points. He was also the high school swim coach. He'd be like, so every single day at seventh and eighth grade, I'm having a hell of a basketball game, football game. Connor, that's good.

But you're going to be you're going to be coming back to swimming at Loyola Academy freshman year. So I always heard it like I was meant to swim. Okay. All right. How much of that was your rebellion, rebellious nature? And how much of that was you just figuring out your way and honestly following your path? And how much of it was like, well, I guess maybe those are the two biggest variables. Like, where was the tension between those two for you? Rebellious as far as not swimming? Yeah, like, you know what? Everyone wants me to swim. I'm good at it. But I don't want to fall. It was more rebellious than like, I'm really curious about what my brothers are doing and I want to be around them more.

It was both. I think it was rebellious against my parents to say, yeah, that's great. This is what you guys want for me, but I'm not ready for that. And I want to dive in. So it got too intense too early for a nine-year-old. Yes. And they never forced me to go to practice, but I could see where it was leading and what my club coaches wanted me to do and, you know, start quitting these other sports.

And I was rebellious as far as I want to do all the sports and I want to hang out with my family and friends. So yeah, you, you nailed that. Okay. So single, single sports specialization at early age, single sports specialization. Do you have a point of view about that for kids coming up and being a two-time, two-time gold medalist? Is that right? Two-time gold medalist. So obviously you've experienced the elite tip of the arrow level of craft success. I'd love to hear your comments and thoughts around single sport early specialization? I think that's a very, very tough thing to look at. And for parents to say, your kid should only be doing this sport at age 12. I think it was the best thing I could have

ever done to try everything. And you kind of have an itch or a feeling about what you love, which sport you love to do most. but I think you should try everything at a very young age. I know a couple other Olympians that kind of did the same thing as me, did a lot of sports, and all of us would sit in these chairs and say, I think that benefited us greatly as to where we are now, because it gave a new refreshment to the sport and when you're doing a bunch of other things. And then I did dial it into just swimming in college, but I was thankful to compete on a bunch of different levels and learn things from every single sport I did. Okay. So then chapter, I think we're at four was new opportunities, right?

So then what, what's the next chapter five? Chapter five would be high school and nowhere near male puberty at age 16. Okay, so what was that like for you? Yeah, I guess chapter four, high school and lack of puberty. So I got back into swimming and I did did swimming baseball a few other things but age 15 16 where you know Michael Phelps at age 15 was up in an Olympic final racing the best and I think he got fourth place when he was a 15 year old now we go to my 15 16 year old days of swimming I wasn't even I was on the junior varsity team

because I just started swimming again after a six or seven year break. And on my driver's license, it says, um, five, six, 125 pounds. But actually when I went in to the DMV in Illinois there, I said 120 and the guy goes, we're going to give you a buck 25. Come on. So I had a real, real baby face. Um, and I was, I was a really hard worker. I made it to, uh, the Illinois state meet my junior year, but I was still like a boy racing amongst men. Uh, I went, I think a four 40 in my 500 free. And in college I ended up going right around the American record or like 410. So I dropped drastically from from high school to college. But yeah, there were probably a lot of high school girls that were beating me when I was a sophomore, junior in high school.

Okay. Okay. What was it like walking around high school school and you haven't hit puberty? It was tough. Um, yeah, I mean the, the, the guys on the swim team would always be like, when's Connor going to get arm hair? You know, these guys are shaving hair at state meet or at conference meet. And I don't even have hair yet. I had a baby face. I obviously didn't have muscles yet. I was still small. But again, I had I had great friends. I had my family just said, Connor, keep, you know, keep plugging away. You're you're dropping time. You're getting faster. You're you're making gains and you will break through it. My parents, my dad's 6'3". My mom is right around 5'11", 6 feet. So we would go to the doctors and they told us, your boys are going to grow late. So we always knew, but it was very, very frustrating. I think I even gave some chirps to my parents being like, this is bullshit. When am I going to grow? It was frustrating for a doctor to tell you you're going to be six, four, six, five, but why am I five, seven at age 17 when every man is, or boy is full grown in high school? Yeah. How did that

affect your relationship with, uh, at that time, you know, girls, young women? I, yeah, young women. I mean, I, I always loved, uh, being around the women and being around the guys, but I was kind of dialed in to just being the best person I could be. I feel like high school for me, I was so dialed in with getting good grades, with performing on the sports team, and that sometimes would be sacrificing. I didn't get into any of the partying or outside distractions that were at my high school which I'm very thankful that I had my parents and my family and friends my friends were driven uh I went to school with the Jordan brothers

they were driven for basketball I had some of the football guys that were driven for football so we kind of rallied around each other to try and be the best we could be. And then we'd have fun doing other things on weekends. Okay. So what was the central message that your parents gave you that kept you away from rebelling from, from sport and school into alcohol, drugs, party, and, and, you know, complicated social interactions. My parents have always been like my idols as far as how they, they handle themselves and they've instilled such, such good values. I've talked about, you know, alcoholism runs in our family blood. And I kind of knew that. So at a young age, I was scared of it.

I've never seen my dad drink. Later on in life, like, my brother had to go through that stuff, and he hasn't done anything. He's been sober for six years. So I know, like, how some of the dangers of alcoholism and how it can affect people's lives. So they didn't scare us at a young age, but I was, they let us enjoy life, do athletics, do sports. But I think they just

taught us, taught us how to be good people and not go chasing things and, and deviate from your dreams just to act or look cooler. I was never really about that. Oh, okay. Cool thought that like that little bit that you added at the end was cool, right? To look good. Like don't, don't do this thing just to look good. Like chase your dreams, be authentic, high character, work hard. It sounds like those are the, the very consistent messages you had. Yeah. Was there a particular point in time at a young age that you remember like, Ooh, alcohol and drugs are a problem. You said it was in your family. And I'm wondering if there's a story that comes to mind. Not necessarily my family, but I saw it

in high school. I saw kids, you know, getting in trouble in the parking lot and then getting arrested and getting suspended from football games. And that was something I never, I take a lot of pride in the Dwyer name and, and how much family and friends and my grandfather did amazing things in the city of Chicago for the Tribune, for the Cubs, for, um, for charities that I never wanted to be the guy in the Monday morning blotter being like, there's, there's Connor who gets in trouble and can't handle his shit. So that was, that was kind of, I wanted, I took pride in being a good, a good kid and, and, um, handling myself on a, on a nice professional manner. Tell me about the Dwyer legacy. I don't, I don't know it. Uh, just, just in, I had so many family members go to Loyola Academy. We have 40 to 60 family, uh, cousins in Winneka.

And then my mom's side, the Dowdle side has 20 in Chicago. Her dad, um, who's passed away, James Dowdle, he ran the Chicago Cubs. So he was the president of the Tribune and ran the Cubs. So he had, he never missed a sporting event for us. He was, he was a role model like none other. He would bring all the boy cousins to every Cubs game. He had seats, a box, and we would talk with, you know, Sammy Sosa and all these guys growing up. So all I wanted to do is be some sort of professional athlete. Wow. Look at that piece. So you had an incredibly stimulating experience with world's best. Like you were close, not, not right at the center of it, but you were close enough to it that you could feel the shine from what and how they

thought and how they behaved. And you didn't want to be a screw up. You wanted to get closer to it rather than further away. Exactly. Anything I could do to be closer to that, I would do. And I would sit at the dining room table every Sunday and pick my grandfather's brain about what are the Cubs doing? Who are you guys picking up? What trades are going on.

And that was something I always looked forward to was Sunday night dinner with the family and having dudes, was his nickname, our grandfather, tell us what's going on in the Cubs, what games we get to go to that week. So that was something special to have as a young boy. Finding Mastery is brought to you by Momentous. When it comes to high performance, whether you're leading a team, raising a family, pushing physical limits, or simply trying to be

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longer without digital fatigue creeping in. Plus, they look great. Clean, clear, no funky color distortion. Just good design, great science. And if you're ready to feel the difference for yourself, Felix Gray is offering all Finding Mastery listeners 20% off. Just head to FelixGray.com and use the code FindingMastery20 at checkout. Again, that's Felix Gray. You spell it F-E-L-I-X-G-R-A-Y.com and use the code FindingMastery20 at FelixGray.com for 20% off. So if you think back from early ages to now, what is it that you've been searching for? You've dedicated so much time and energy into refining this craft to be the best in the world for a long period of time, you know, two gold medals over two Olympia Olympics. I mean, that's, it's significant.

What are you searching for? What am I searching for? I'm, I've been searching to be the best I can be in every aspect of the sport that I chose. I've been so driven, and I'm sure my family would attest, and coaches, to be the best and to lead the teams I've been a part of at Loyola Academy, the University of Iowa, the University of Florida, the two Olympic teams I've been on. I think everyone, it sounds cheesy, but I worked harder than any Olympian on that 2012 team to get there. I trained later on in chapters, I trained with Ryan Lochte and I was nowhere near the guy two and a half years out of Olympic trials. He was a landslide ahead of me, but my coach had faith in me and I had faith in myself to work hard enough. And he always said when days Ryan would have to go to appearances, he'd say,

these are the days we're going to push it twice as hard. We're going to throw in an extra workout. And he always said, and I said it on Rich's podcast, like hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. And I'll take that to my grave and attest that a hardworking person can beat a talented person if they're not willing to work hard. Brilliant. Okay. And did you have that philosophy at a young age or is that something looking back that you have figured out? I think I figured it out more and more through the coaches I had coaching me. What did your coach see in you? What's his name or her name? Greg Troy. Well, I walked on at Iowa last second.

So you didn't have any offers? No offers. We went around to different colleges with my mom. We paid our way to different colleges because no one would really email us back. I wasn't that, I think I got like seventh in the state of Illinois out of high school. How tall were you at that point? Five, nine, like one, 160. And so we, we flew, I've, I won't name the the college but we flew to a college and the coach on email said he would meet he wouldn't even take time to meet or let me walk on and this wasn't even that good of a school i wouldn't even think about looking at a top 25 school so i ended

up i really liked the coach it was close to home i I ended up at the University of Iowa. They let me walk on there. And within like two months, I just, I was, I was the best guy on the team and went walk on full ride, missed a few goals, was kind of frustrated at, at not being a serious enough program. So when the season ended in March, no one made NCAAs. It's like, okay, everyone's off till September, go have fun this summer. And I'm looking around like, wait, we're not going to keep training like Michigan or the other top teams to have a summer presence at these big national meets. And so I had a family friend, Janet Evans, who used to motivational speak. Yeah. I had a family friend, world-class legend. Exactly. She spoke for my dad's company. I heard

her motivational speak. What was your dad's company? Uh, he worked for John Hancock at the time and we kept in touch and she got me, she, what did, what did you remember from that? Oh, her speech is incredible. Janet gives a very, very good, um, talk about, you know, a lot about sacrifice and she was, she was phenomenal at a young age and going against people that have doped. I've done the same thing in my career and, you know, not going to college. She had a lot of failures, but a lot of, obviously everyone knows she had a lot of success. So she had a crazy path in her career, but she mainly gave me the thought and idea that there's more in you, and we're going to make you take a dive into something you're not comfortable with. But if you do the work and listen to this coach, I think something special could happen. Did she know that I would go from

500th or sorry, 200th in the NCAA to winning every event in the NCAA one year later? No, but she looks like a genius to this day. So she emailed five of the top coaches and Greg Troy at the University of Florida said, sure, come train one summer. Um, so I went down to Florida and realized what real training and hard work and pushing yourself to very uncomfortable limits was like, but I also saw that I could, I could get better here and I got to go to school in shorts and a t-shirt. So I was going to transfer there no matter what. Okay. How much do you attribute your success to? So there's a confluence of things, right? There's environment, there's family dynamics, there are, there's luck,

you know, and we can have a conversation about luck. Uh, some people say, no, there's no luck. Some people say it's, it's mostly luck, um, or somewhere in between. And then there's natural genetic talent. And then there's the effort to exploit that talent into refined skill. Right. And then there's the mental skills. So that's like this confluence of variables that are always at play. Environment, meaning coaching and people and the way that they think and operate. Genetic coding, work ethic, mindset, family dynamics.

How do you think about that mix? All of those. I know. All of those ring true. I'm sure a lot of athletes. Okay, so let's do an index from this point into your past. If it was only 100% available, would you do equal value to each one of them? Absolutely.

You would. So it's like if there was five or six, you'd say 20% on each one. I think so. Yeah. Okay. I don't know how you could eliminate one of those. I don't think you can eliminate any, but you could say you could build a case for you. I could build a case where work ethic and mental strength and environment were significant.

And this is my kind of quick flash. Yeah. I'd love to hear it. Yeah. Is work ethic. Okay. Let's start mental, the mental part, you're five, nine undervalued, underweighed, right? And you had to somehow have a vision that was significantly different than the feedback that you're getting from even your own body and the world around you. So that gap between what you're capable of now and the frame that you're in to the idea that there's more in me, and I think it's significant, I'm willing to put in the work, that mental skill, that thing sounds like it's, it's been important for you. The ethic, the work ethic to to refine and refine and nauseatingly. So uncommonly, so refine your craft is rare.

Both of those seem really important to me, but then it wasn't until you got into an environment where it really lit up. Yeah. Environment, like you said changed in my entire pathway to my career without the environment of going down and training with the best of the best in the world and and seeing how who was down there at the time there was Ryan Lochte, Peter Vanderkay, 15 Olympians from different countries I was there when Tebow and they were winning, they won two national titles at, I walked on campus and I go, okay, winning is this is a championship town. You know, I, I want to be a part of this and win for my school and win for Gainesville and obviously for my family and friends, but I realized how, um, environment can

play such a key role in helping you push yourself. It's amazing what culture does, you know, like if you've got a bunch of people around you that say never, never, never. And they give up early. Like it doesn't work. You have a bunch of people that say yes, yes, yes. And they stay in the grind. Like stuff ends up happening. Great things happen. It's crazy. Yeah. But it's hard. Okay. So I, what do you do when it's hard? Because your sport talk, talk about your craft for just a little bit, because I have incredible respect for swimmers because you're staring at a black line for a long period of time.

The monotony is ridiculous. And, uh, I think it's really, really hard. I don't understand. I can't do it very well at all. So talk about your particular distance and the challenges in that craft. And then I want to know, really, it's a setup to what do you do when it gets hard? Yeah. I mean, the craft itself of swimming, like you said, not many people understand the, the work it, it takes to, I swim the hundred through 400 free and the mileage you put in the dry land, the weights, the nutrition swimmers are constantly hungry. We're, we're putting in at Florida, we were putting in 16,000 meters a day with school. So we were training four hours, as you said, looking at a black line, going through some of the most grueling sets that any swimmer has ever looked at and, and finding a way to do the little things that our coach,

you, if you wanted to take a second off,'re going to have to do tiny tiny changes that he would see that when when you want to talk about getting hard we do a set 2400s which is an 8000 meter straight set that most people wouldn't even do one 400 we did 20 of them and you have to hold a certain pace a certain time and do all the little things right because when you're swimming a 500 free at the ncaa championships it's gonna get it's gonna get hard it's gonna come down to one one hundredth of a second and it's who has won the mental mindset to hang tough when it gets hard and you're bleeding out of your mouth it feels like it hurts so bad and who's gonna do the little things right that's going to win you an NCAA championship,

a gold medal? You know, it's not easy to put your head down and go no breath at the end of the last 15 meters at the end of a three minute and 43 second race, but that could end up winning you a gold medal. So it's, there's a lot of things that come into this craft, but training for swimming is, I would say, one of the hardest crafts to perfect in the world. What's harder? Getting up? Getting wet? You know, the first splash? Or like, or is it like literally the back half of training when you're bored, when you're tired, when your lungs hurt? And I want to, before you answer that, do you know the name Tyler Finney, by any chance? I know. The cyclist.

So I asked him what, so long distance, high output on road bikes. I said, what's it like? And he said, because I don't know that sport at all. And he said, it's like putting a fully heated toaster in your chest for an extended period of time he goes and i'm not making it up that's how hot i get and that's the pain that happens inside a fully heated toaster oven in my chest he goes that's what's happening to my lungs and my heart yeah i like that that's good does that sound close at all because you just know no that that for the long distances yes i would say the hardest sets i've done are lactic acid sets where it's 10 100s as hard as you can go

on five minutes where you sit in between the the the all-out effort and just let the lactic acid build and i'm telling you there is it's, you know, the flu or you see people, luckily, I don't have a problem. I never have knock on wood have thrown up, but I've felt like throwing up 20 times, I probably would have felt better. But you see teammates, literally throwing up the whole practice. So that's where adaptations are happening, right? Like, literally, physiologically, we're making changes. What do you do? How do you do that? What do you do with your mind, your focus, your be comfortable at getting uncomfortable. So you're, everyone's going to be uncomfortable when you're doing 10 times X all out maximum, maximal effort. What do you say to yourself?

I mean, I live for competition, so I'm sure a lot of my teammates hate, hate doing those types of sets with me, but I we may be friends whether it's michael ryan or guys i swam with at florida uh we were very good friends out of the water but when we hop up and and the coach says go or the ref says go in a race i i want to beat the person next to me very very bad whether they're a friend or not um Um, so, so self-driven competitor is something I am, but I always try and have positive mindset and never, whether I have a bad turn and miss a dolphin kick, it's stay calm and stay in the present and do what you've trained your body to do day in and day out. Are you trying to be better than the next person, the next lane, or are you

trying to run your pure race? What are you really hunting and searching for? Hunting is not a fair word. We, at the Olympic games, it's swimming, swimming your own race is what, what we do in our head. We do it blindfolded in practice where you just lay on deck. You swim every stroke the perfect way. You swim the stroke in your head the wrong way. So I've done the race in my head probably 50 to 100 times before I've hopped up at Olympic trials or the Olympics. So I think a key component is, you know, and it sounds cheesy, but stay in your lane, you know, keep your blinders on. And yeah, you do see the guys next to you and you're driving at the end to beat them, but you, you have a strategy and sticking to it, I think is, is a very key component and getting on

that podium. You see a lot of people kind of just let the Olympic moment take over and they might just completely bail from the strategy they had with their coach. And that's probably the worst thing you could do. 100%. So there's two ways that I think about the games. And it could be world championships, trials, Olympics, Super Bowl, world champs. It doesn't matter, right? That there's like two frameworks to go into it. One is it's just another event so the pool's length doesn't change you're going to wear the same outfit you're going to like the the lane distance everything's the same okay i've heard

that right speech right and then the other is it is a circus it's like nothing else in the world. It is an absolute freak show. You better figure out how to deal with all of the distractions. Again, the first one is just do you know how to control your mind? Know that no one's going to shoot you if you don't, for the most part. I mean, some countries, right? Yeah. But, but like here, no one's going to, there's no physical danger that you're in if you here no one's gonna there's no physical danger that you're in if you have a sub performance and there's no hidden landmines whatever whatever whatever so which way did you go into both of your olympics and trials trials are the same thing like maybe even trials are i mean way scarier yeah they're for well for this the, for U.S. For U.S. swimming trials is scarier than the Olympics.

Because they only take two. Top two. And if you miss that week, you're out. And it's not, you don't get another chance for four years to accomplish your dreams and hard work and goals. And we've got a mutual friend, Ariana Cucors, who is on the podcast, who missed trials. And she was one of the fastest in the world and she missed it by one with hundreds of a second. It's heartbreaking to see heart. Yeah. Heartbreaking. Okay. So how did you go into trials and Olympics and quote unquote,

big events or just another event? Olympic trials is more you yourself and your coach. And luckily for me, I have the best cheering squad in the world. I have the Dwyer Nation who's on. You've probably seen these guys on TV at trials or the Olympics. So legendary, legendary. Yeah, they get in dog piles after my first Olympic trials. So like I know you've talked with Anthony and the celebrating for me is about celebrating one, you know, my hard work, but celebrating the people that have been with me since the first chapter. That's what it's all about is getting to take in those moments with the people that have had your back since the beginning. And that's what makes it all worth

it for me. Okay. Do you, do you have, sorry, that didn't really answer. No, it didn't. I'm going to come back to it though. Did you you do you feel pressure from a large supportive fan base that you don't want to let them down? Or is aspirations. So I put pressure on myself, but yeah, there's pressure. Of course I want to perform for my family and my friends and girlfriend or coaches, but I think it's, it's more from within me and they're a support staff for me. I never look at, Oh, they're going to, they're going to bash me if I don't make the Olympic team. No, they, they would love me no matter what. Um, so it's only extra benefit for me to have 40 people in the stands and WhatsApp groups saying, you know, kick the guy's ass next to you. I love that type of stuff. And I wouldn't trade having a big support staff, maybe putting a little bit more pressure on me, but I wouldn't trade that for anything.

Okay. And then go back to the games. Yes. Is it about, are the games? Yeah, I got what you just said. I had leaders like Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin and Anthony Irvin. I had leaders that kind of gave the both options that you talked about. We got that speech. I remember hearing both sides of that when we got to the village.

The point is you have to pick. You do have to pick. You have to choose. I heard that. Okay, it's the same pool. You've swam this a million times. And, and yes, it is, it is the same pool, same distance, but you get to put on the American cap and represent your country. And there's a hundred, hundreds of thousands of million, millions people watching

on TV. And I think I live for performing on the biggest stage. I've always wanted to be on the biggest stage. So the Olympics for me is the pinnacle. And it is the same, but there's definitely more added pressure at the Olympic Games. And I think it's harnessing that pressure and using it as a positive. For me, again, it's having my family,

having my teammates and my coaches, and I've done all the work so more about enjoying the chaos or embracing the chaos well guess what we went into rio with uh my roommates with phelps lochte um chase kalish our our whole room flooded on day one like i know the flooded yeah you were know how I went. I mean, it was like a mess. Toilets done, showers done. We could barely sleep, you know, above the water. But guess what? We're we knew we were going into that war zone and we were there to have fun and represent our country and win some medals. So I will say the U.S. swim team mindset is is very strong and we know why

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slash finding mastery. I want to go back to something more mechanical, which is imagery. And you've, you said that you've seen a particular race 50 times in your head or whatever that number is, is 50 a guiding number for you? Or did you just kind of throw that out that um well bob bowman michael's coach is huge he he was kind of the first guy to teach us about about you know visualization and and doing the races in your head and i was i was shocked at at how accurate it was when i did it in 2012 and 2013 at competitions. Could you get to the 10th? Not the 10th, but the like one minute, 45 seconds. I was, I was, I could get right at that. You could get right at it. So, okay. So for folks that are listening, what this means is that Connor was able to close his eyes where whatever setting you're on, somebody would hit a stopwatch. on somebody would hit a stopwatch yeah yeah someone hit a stopwatch and then you would see your race right you from the blocks back or from the um yeah from

the blocks from the blocks yeah and then your first splash every dolphin kick every stroke and then you know exactly what that distance feel timing uh all the nuances that were in there and then when you'd open your eyes, is that how you would do it? Or would you put your thumb up? Like how would you, we did, we did both actually. Yeah. And then, so let's say thumb up or open eyes that somebody would stop the watch and then they tell you the time. Yeah. And then, so the match, and then would you do this pre, uh, um, we would do this once leading up to like to the day before the day before okay but i meant post practice or pre-practice or off days or all we did pre and post yeah because i mean practice is not necessarily

rehearsing a race every day it can be a kick set a pull set a lactate set a aerobic anaerobic so it's not skill necessarily it's threshold building building sometimes. But we did, we would sometimes even do, you know, 50, you're 50 at pace. So I want to hold 26 fives. We would do that. And then in practice you would, you know, your mind is a crazy tool that, that Bob and Michael have mastered that I kind of took on and found full belief in after seeing what you can do with rehearsing races in your head. Is there one gem or nugget that you could give to the kid going, Whoa, what, what is imagery? Like I've heard people talk about it, but you know, I'm not even sure what to do or how to do it. Like, is there a couple of gems that you could give folks that are just beginning? As far as rehearsing? Yeah. like how to do it yeah i mean i think i think quiet you you probably know it's good it's way better than i do but um it's just cooler when you say yeah yeah it's uh you know a quiet setting um getting your mind in a calm

now moment and then you know shutting and rehearsing what you want to see, um, what you want to accomplish, uh, to the T and you can do it both going a negative way and how you're going to react when it does go negative, what thoughts are going to go through your head when something slips up in, uh, in work, in life, in a race, and then what positive thoughts and what's going to happen when you have the perfect race. And that's what you want to get to is being able to do that perfect concept that you have in your head. And while you're doing it, it's a very weird feeling while you're doing it in a race. You're like, I've done this. I barely have to barely have to think I'm just doing what my mind, mind and body have trained to do. Yeah. It's the science is really pretty cool, right? About what

actually happens when you condition your mind to have precise kinetic actions, right? Like precision in your movements. Now you can slow it down. You can do it moderate pace. You can do it real time. There's lots of ways to play with it. What's your favorite way that you've had your athletes and well, like top workers do. Yeah. So like from the, the like cheap seats, it's a 85, 15% split. So 85 success, 15% adversity. Okay. And I like that because, um, I want to over index on rich precision, but I also don't want to ignore that things go wrong. Let's, let's experience those before they could go wrong, all the different scenarios. So I do 85, 15. And then I'm a big fan of activating all of the imagination. So not just the image, not just the visual part, but the, all of the senses.

So feel, uh, smell. Yeah. Say like everything environment. Yeah. The entire kind of thing. So I want to light up my brain first before I, before I would get in the water or on the blocks, I want to light up my brain. And then I, there's a progression because, So that's a skill. Can you hold images in your mind's eye that are lifelike to scale? Like that's a skill in of itself before you even enter the water. That's a skill. And then the second is I like to do, um, slow. So I put, I do weighted vests for a lot of people. Oh, wow. Yeah. So we don't actually put a weighted vest on, but imagine a 50 pound weighted vest on every joint and on your chest and back and hips and the whole thing. It forces you to go really slow,

but to be incredibly precise. Okay. So it's a weighted vest that doesn't encumber your technique in any way. And then, so that's training. That's literally training. Okay. Then we, we would take those vests off and then you can imagine we're just a feather you're just a right like easy speed yeah that's exactly it right but it's not like you're full it's not like you're flailing at any point it's like a purposeful grounded light creative i would love to try that yeah yeah yeah right so it's that's exactly what you want to you know yeah feel light speed yeah but still be in the water like a missile. Yeah, it's not like you're floating on water and not having good technique. You're still in it. And then so so we play in that frame a little bit. And there's like some stages that build up to that. And then, yeah, and then explore emotions that come with particular scenarios. And then from that perspective, we just ask people, I just ask people to watch, just watch where your mind

naturally wants to go. And then phase two of that observation is watch, but then course correct quickly, almost like an ironclad mind. But the first part is to explore. Where does my mind want to go? Oh, it wants to hit the panic button. Oh, I want to fix my goggles. Oh, I want to pop my head up. Oh, look at that. I'm thinking about the fan. I'm thinking about whatever. So just watch where it goes without judgment and getting freaked out about it. And then phase two of that is recognize the triggers and then bang, like an ironclad, strong minded approach to saying no. Yeah. Yeah. Saying yes to keep my head in the water, whatever it might be. Yeah. Yeah. So I don't know if any of that sounds. That's yeah. The last part sounds exactly what we were doing.

Okay. So we talked about where pressure comes from. We talked about you like your framework and then can you tell a story about the games? You know, like whatever comes to mind that was looking back significant for you? First or second games? Yeah, let's go first. First? I mean, I've told this story, but it's one of my all-time favorites. Just being a rookie on the team. I'm 23.

I qualified for the 800 free relay and what a lot of outside swimming people don't know. I got fourth at trials, so I could have been on it at night, but they wanted me to swim in the morning just to, cause there was a guy who swam the 400 free who was on fire. So they make me swim it in the morning. I didn't, I didn't sleep much. I, I rep a one5 two at the anchor leg so i'm guaranteed on it at night with the big boys which this is everything i've wanted i wanted i want to be on the big stage so the big boys are our big boys are phelps lochte and ricky barons at the time and so i get a massage get an ice tank it's shaking out out. I'm just, I can't sleep. Um, we go back to the

village, try and nap. No shot. I'm napping. I'm about to compete with, are you a napper? I am a napper. I live for napping, but it's very hard to nap when you only have an hour and you're trying to shut your mind off with the biggest final of your life. But, but napping is, is a huge role as far as recovery. For you. Yeah. Okay. So let's break out of the story for just a moment. What is your nap program? Is it under 20 minutes? Is it over 20 minutes? The last three years, it's been on, it's under 20 around an hour, an hour and a half. But when I was younger and at Florida under 20 20 or like 20 20 minute naps

usually is what i like to like spark yeah spark back up and feel fine and and kind of a reset but when i was training at olympic training center and it was just eat sleep train triple double single practices and or at florida i, I could pass out for two hours and I needed it. My body was so sore. I could barely sleep my shoulders. We were doing so much yardage, but at like the Olympics, it'd be around an hour because there's buses, there's, you know, massage, warm down, you got to go to the cafeteria. Um, so any, any little nap, even if it's on the bus or back at your dorm room, I try and get at least 20 to an hour. And if I don't fall asleep, fine. But at least I'm laying there trying to stay calm and recover.

Okay. I want to get to the story. And I also want to ask, what's the first thing you do in the morning? Because we're talking about recovery. So let's assume that, well, do you get decent sleep? Yeah, around eight hours every night. Okay, so you wake up feeling pretty good. I judge it a lot on my resting heart rate.

And we do sleep monitors, stress monitors. But I do like to get good sleep. Is there a technology you're enjoying right now? I've been doing some of the Garmin stuff and I forget which sleep one I used. I was up at the Olympic training center for 90 days in 2016. So we had this sleep thing under our bed. Um, I forget which company it was, but it was, it was very accurate because like 10 of us did it i can find out which one

yeah cool okay and when on the garment are using chest or wrist chest and wrist you're using both yeah okay and they've got a pretty good technology like it's solid yeah yeah it's so it's much more frictionless than it will you know even two years ago yeah cool okay. And then how, what are you drinking per day? Like hydration? What kind of ton of, I mean, I, I like to drink a lot of electrolyte water, so I'll use, I'll put like hammer fizz tablets in my waters. Cause I think replenishing with electrolytes is, is huge. Um, and I'm probably drinking, uh, 16 to 20 glasses of water a day. Okay. And I'm probably drinking 16 to 20 glasses of water a day. And I'm very on top of my diet, which I learned at Florida just as far as nutrition. And I've talked with Rich.

Rich is really good with his diet. I love sponging in everything about diet. And as you know, in California, we're, we're very healthy and, um, in the now with, with health and wellness. So I, I like to take in everything about, um, nutrition and how, how I can go a little bit further in my next workout or sleep a little bit better in my next night's sleep. Okay. All right. Brilliant. Okay. Back to the story. So you, you get, you get this information that you're,'m on the finals really yeah yeah so i'm i'm very very stoked to get on that and we so we're we're coming in michael is swimming that

night because we all know he swims so many events and he loses the 200 fly for the i think the second time in his career um and usually you know you you go into a ready room there's there's china four guys just in a room like this it's not that big and there's france the french just ran down lochte the night before to touch him out so we're like all right we haven't won a relay yet it's just time to go i'm a rookie I'm I'm really scared I'm 23 these guys are 27 28 Michael comes in and that guy hates losing more than he enjoys winning so I mean I've never seen anyone more competitive in my entire life I knew he'd be he he swam 15 minutes before so he comes into the ready room and I'm I'm just sitting there with lochte and and barons

and michael like looks at me and he's he goes connor you better get me an effing lead and so like not only am i you know nervous about swimming at a final in the olympic games i got my family i got people tuning in i got the greatest olympian of all time, my idol, telling me, get him an effing lead. So it was Lock D, me, Ricky. Wait, wait, wait, wait. What do you do with that? What do you do in that moment? That moment? I mean, at first I'm like, whoa. I kind of take it in that the greatest of all time is telling me to get him a lead. But I was also honored at the same time because he knows how good I am at a 200 free. So I said,

you know, I'm one of the best at my craft and at this event. The 200 free is my baby. I love that event. So go out there and get a damn lead so he doesn't have to worry about getting run down. Okay. So talk about positive talk. Like that's, that's an inner dialogue that is what champions are built on, right? Consistent championships are built on. You can win one. You can even win a couple on the world stage, like here and there. Right. But the consistency that you've had, it comes down to that immediate response. That's rad. Now, what gave you the right to say, I have, I can do this. What did you build that on? What did I build that on? Yeah. So I'm thinking framework stuff, right? Like you could build your, your frame, you could build your house on quicksand. I mean, it was just, which is all false lies to yourself. It's make believe self-talk, right? But it sounds like you

were built on something rock solid. I was built on all the challenges and all the, you know, the people that have said no. And I've proven to them, I, I can do what people tell me I can't do. You know, do you have a chip on your shoulder? I've had a chip on my shoulder since, since you were five, nine, since I was five, nine and no college coach said they would take me. So is that like an F you I'm going to show you? Or is it like, dang, okay, I got to figure it out again because no one believes me. It's just the Dwyer. No, it was I'm going to show you. It was NCAAs.

I stood up that junior year and it was I'm going to show all you guys. And I have Craig Troy made me. I'm going to show you that you guys made a mistake by like everyone saying no. And cool. I can be that good. But yeah. Okay. All right.

So there you are in that moment. All of that training. Is this emotional for you to talk about this piece or like what's happening for you right now? Yeah. I mean, just to go back to my first Olympic Games in this moment, it kind of gives me chills just thinking about it and really diving deep into the mindset. Because that is what went down on my mind is telling myself, you know, this is my baby. I've put in the groundwork to be here. It's time to light it up on the biggest stage.

Is that what you said? This is what I live for. Light it up on the biggest stage. Is that what you said to yourself? Yeah. Yeah. And then so then what do you do do it like is that familiar way then i always think part of the most nerve-wracking pressure is the walk out in the ready room you know sitting in the ready room with the guys that you're gonna try and you're gonna go toe to toe

and give it everything you have. So everything you have to beat the guy that's sitting in that ready room next to you. A relay is different. It's kind of nicer that you have Michael Ryan and guys, you know. So we're we all know what mindset and what each one of us have to do to win a gold medal. We know our times and what what we got to do. And you perform better with when you get on a USA relay, you go, I have the guys that have stepped before me have all won. We're going to do the same thing. You know, let's, let's get it done. But do you think that some of the, some events are won and lost in ready rooms? No doubt about it. For sure. Yes. Mindset and

staying, staying calm and not giving in or the walkout 22 000 people you know there's people lose everyone chanting for their countries you you very that's where the mindset and the rehearsing this i've seen the stadium the pictures on my wall every day i know what stadium i'm walking into omaha i've been to two trials there. I know what that stadium looks like and what it's going to be walking out to my block. And like you said, I bet you a lot of it is won and lost on staying in your own head and positive thoughts, walking out to compete. Yeah. Making that familiar and comfortable. And that's part of being an alpha is like taking up your space, you know, not in a bad way, but you got to, you got, you got to sometimes compete and fight internally and let go and trust

all of that takes place to take up your space. Cause it's easy to get lost in that confined space. Like just let me shrink and hide. Let me not make eye contact. You know, what do I do? Why am I, yeah. Why is there a camera on me? You on me? The people can really get wound up by that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, so then when you're at your best, what is your ideal zone like? Your ideal mindset, your vibe, if you will. There's not a right word for this. I really think it's a vibe.

It absolutely is a vibe. Yeah. How do you describe it? It's like all in one you know there's there's there's pressure there's nerves there's beyond it usually it should be beyond excitement because you've now done all the work it's time it's time to lay it all out there for you yourself your coach and everyone watching about what, what you've training, what you've been training to do. So what's the thought that haunts you? The thought that haunts me? Yeah.

Well, the thought that would haunt me would not doing the work to get there and taking shortcuts to get there. But the thought would be not having, not having the mindset that I'm ready to swim a best time or win a gold medal. That's my – When that self-doubt becomes credible. Yes. Like – You don't ever want to have self-doubt walking up to the blocks. Well, credible.

Like I think it's OK to have self-doubt. Like have I done it? Oh, wait a minute. Come on, Mike. Let's go. I guess you have. Hell yeah, I have. Yeah, right. But when the self-doubt is real, like, dude, you know what?

Man, maybe you get a miracle here because you really haven't put in the hard work. Like when it's credible. That's the worst. Yeah, it's a disaster. Okay. All right. Brilliant. So then what about the quiet?

What about the space between when they've announced everyone's names and that quiet? People always ask me what is it like when they say, you know, take your mark and it goes from screaming to absolutely, you could hear a pin drop in front of or in that arena. And that's when really the mindset is, it's go time. And there's no better feeling for me than actually hitting the water and being like, yes, you know, this is what I do. This is why I'm here. But up until that point, it is very hard, like you said, to stay in your head and not let stuff, not get too hyped, not get too scared. There's so many things that can go wrong.

Okay, pull out for just a moment here. What's the hardest thing in life that you've been through? Hard question. You've had incredible success. What has been the cost or the difficult moments that have tested you the most? I mean, I would say the passing of my grandfather, who I was very close to when I was up at the Olympic Training Center. Passing of family members has probably been the hardest because our family is so close. But as far as swimming hardships, it would say none. I went along.

No, no, definitely. If only we could go back and just show what I went through in high school and junior varsity and varsity and not growing and the hardships of college coaches saying no and really putting myself out there to transfer to a whole new school I didn't I loved the University of Iowa you know I had to go tell I was a captain as a sophomore at a big 10 school and I had to go back and tell my friends and coaches and be like guys you may think I'm crazy, but I'm going to go and try and swim at the University of Florida, a top five program. And so, so that was a very hard thing in my life to transfer schools somewhere where I was comfortable having fun, doing better, um, and, and having to put myself out there to go very far from home and to a whole new team and try and make new friends.

I remember calling my parents the first two weeks down at Florida. We were doing, I've never trained like this in my entire life. We were doing 14 to 16,000 meters swimming a day. So 8,000 of practice. And I called him, it rained for two weeks in Florida. I'm like, damn near tears. I didn't know anyone. And I said, I don't think I can do this. This is one extremely near tears. I didn't know anyone. And I said, I don't think I can do this. This is one extremely hard to, I don't know anyone here. And then they said, you know, again, they said, just, just stick through it. Good things will happen. Just give it a summer. You're going to, you'll be okay. I gave a summer and I, you know, I didn't want to leave. I loved

it. So that was the hardest thing was going down to Florida. How do you answer this thought? It all comes down to determination. Okay. That's a hard work piece that you have and being disciplined in your mental approach as well. Yeah. That I like the inner drive. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Very cool. I mean, that's part of what makes you special, right? Do you think that you're somehow genetically a freak and that takes up a lot of space of your success? Or do you have a sense that you're more similar to other people, but you've just really tripled down and been fortunate with the environments that you've positioned yourself in. When I say triple down, I mean,

triple down on work ethic. I want to, I want to say it's a combination of both. I mean, you're six, five. I genetically want me to say thank you to my mom and dad. You know, like I said, chapter one, I am my mom will go out here and she can do stand up yoga on a on a stand up board. You know, she's genetically gifted. I know that she's in her 50s and she can rip workouts as good as me. So and same with my dad. He's he was an athlete growing up. So I have to thank them for the genetic gifts that they've instilled in me. Um, but I think it's a combination of, of, of both. You do have to have a hard work and talent to get to the Olympic stage. You got to have a little bit of both. I don't think you could have one without the other. What's the next chapter for you? The swan song, just, uh, one more Olympic games and finding more passions like swimming in my life that, that I want to charge as hard as I've done with the sport of swimming. Confidence is one of the cornerstones for people to do amazing things in their life. And how would you help somebody build confidence?

I think to talk with people that they look up to and and find a mentor that can help you with, you know, your mindset and being more confident in yourself, someone who's who's going to tell you you are all that and you do have special things about you. I think it's good to hear that from from people you look up to or people, um, you, you aspire to be like, that can be life-changing. I can't tell you how important it is in my life that when people have said to me, like, Mike, can I tell you something? And then of course the answer is like, sure. And they say, I want to tell you something I see in you. It just feels, it's this amazing thing. Like, wow, really? You, you see, you see that in me. I'm thinking back when I was a kid, even like, really? And that like, you're nodding your head. Like it's right. I mean, I'm sure, I'm sure you've seen it with working with Seahawks, some guys down in the dumps and they go to his locker and

they probably said something that changed his whole year just by one little pick me up. It is amazing how far one positive pick me up to some not they don't even have to be down. They could be having a decent day and you say something. It makes their entire day, maybe even year. So I've seen it happen time and time again. How many keynotes do you do a year? Three. Three.

And what do you talk about? I mean, adversity, challenges, and a lot about goal setting. So goals are big for you? Big time. You write them down? Yes. And are they in your control or not in your control? They're in my control.

Yeah. The tasks I have to do to get to that goal are 100% in my control. So you, do you put things like gold medal? Cause that's not in your control. Do you put things like that? No, it's more time or a time I want to go. I'll definitely have goal time meetings. I have nutritional meetings. I have mindset meetings. Um, I have life like relationship meetings, you know, just,

are you saying meetings, meetings, like a goal set meetings as in like with a coach with a sports psych, you know, I have goals and I think that's a key component in life is having goals. And you don't have to be thinking about, you know, your life, your life, nutrition goals 24 seven. But I think it's important to have that conversation. Do you have a form that you work from or a system you work from? Or is it like like scrap pieces of paper? Like, here's my no it's on my computer yeah and then my my swimming some of the swimming ones i've had

will be in a dorm room or on a mirror i i like to write stuff on the mirror in the bathroom time or you'll put a like a feel that you're looking for something yeah yeah um i'm mixed about goals yeah i think goals are super important to help us keep on, keep us on track. And, but I feel like for me, and this is maybe a phase I'm in right now, is that I want to think bold and big and ambitious and wonderful kind of things that to take place. And I also want to get really clear with like how I want to be today. And so I don't know, I I'm going back and forth. What do you mean by how I want to be today? Like, so I've got goals for today as well. Yeah. Right. But they're less mechanical than, um, and do you make that in the morning or how do

you, I'll do it more like an intention. Okay. So it's, it's verbal rather than written. Yeah. And I just take a beat or two beats and oftentimes it's before I get out of bed and I'll take a quick minute to have clarity of how I want to show up today. And you're not to, how I want to be today in the things that I know are going to happen. Yeah. So I don't know. I'm, I am that way in my own head too. Monday let's, you know, let's kick ass. Let's attack this day and get these things done. So there's end goals. I think for an Olympic athlete, it obviously you that four-year goal plan cycle, but I'm more same trying to attack and be the best I can be today because I can't control what if I'm hurt in four months. Right, okay. Where can people find you?

Manhattan Beach. Way down off the ocean. No, no, no, yeah, it's fun. No, I'm at social media. Where can people track you and be part of like? I'm actually all over. I'm not in just Manhattan, but they can find me on Twitter, Instagram at Connor J Dwyer. Okay. Two N's one N C O N O R J D W Y E R. Oh yeah. Thank you. C O N O R J D W Y E R. Perfect. And that's Instagram and Twitter? Yes. Okay. And then, you know, your insights for being young, for having incredible success, for having adversity at a young age, it makes sense.

It just makes sense. So I'm really looking forward to now following your next four years and seeing kind of where those twists and turns take you. And so if there's any resource I can be for you along that path, I'd love to do it. I would love to chat with you more and pick your brain because I know it's the best in the land as far as sports psych. So it's an honor to be sitting and getting to talk with you for an hour. Connor, I feel all of what you just said. So thank you. And then that being said, is there one gem that you could give folks that say, man, I want to become the best of me too.

Is there one little nugget either on the recovery side or the work hard side or the character side that you would, that you'd be able to float up for folks? You said confidence in yourself, looking in the mirror and saying, you know, I can do this. I'm special. Let's do what I have to do to get it done.

So confidence. Brilliant. All right, Connor, let's do it. Thank you. Thank you very much. All right. Thank you so much for diving into another episode of Finding Mastery with us. Our team loves creating this podcast and sharing these conversations with you.

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