The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - Almost Famous OG: Preparing for Special Forces with Nathan Adrian

Episode Date: January 7, 2025

Special Forces is arguably THE toughest reality tv show right now, and swimmer Nathan Adrian is breaking down the challenges he faced both physically and mentally for the competition in just two short months. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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I'm trying to get all of my fellow castmates on Special Forces, World's Toughest Test, to come on and chat about the experience. And Nathan, you're our number, our second guest. And I'm so, oh, who's first, Stephen? Stephen Baldwin came on and she added with us. And I'm so excited to have you. I mean, talk about a,

career and the perfect kind of preparation for this season of special forces. I mean, in a way, in a little bit. At least from the previews I'm seeing, yeah, you've got a definitive upswing for the first things that they're showing on the previews, man. It's such a pleasure to meet you. And can you say thanks for your service to an Olympian? I think you can, right? I don't know.

I mean, it's probably not super well deserved compared to those in the young horses. Yeah. I mean, it was, the privilege was truly all mine. I mean, like, I still kind of pinch myself. Like, what? I got to live this life and, like, just chase my dreams and then, like, live it as, like, a professional for a while. It was insane. Yeah. Well, my wife was very excited that I'd be interviewed. I'm Bob, by the way, so nice to meet you. But my wife was very excited that I'd be interviewing you today because she's also a Cal Berkeley grad. Go Bears. Excellent. What years? Yes. She's much younger than me. So she just turned 40. I don't know if I'm even allowed to say that, but so she would have been, I don't even know what years that would have been, to be honest. Early 2000s, I think, and we definitely, we probably know people who know, we have mutual connections, but I probably missed each other a little bit. I think so, yeah. She was a ski and snowboard team person. And I did not know that. Oh, yeah. That's so crazy. Yeah, she was in there.

The ski and snow team, they are like, they are incredible. Like the fact that they can somehow pass their classes with the schedule that they run through in the winter is just like, give me a break. They drive it up there. They ski and snowboard, then they don't sleep, and then they ski and snowboard again, and they drive it back. I'm like, no, yeah. It's insane. Yeah, it's, I mean, she loved it. Like, absolutely loved it.

You know, her memories of being there are pretty spectacular. So we always, whenever we're, you know, in Northern California, we got a swing bike. campus and then we go to that that little downtown area which is right near you guys it has like the pizza place where they just tell you what the pizza is today and that's what you're eating yeah sliver oh my god I love that place it's like a line around the corner every day you know you got to get there at like 9 a.m. to get pizza by noon and it's crazy yeah yeah oh yeah it's a great place it's a great great place awesome well thank you for joining us so we want to talk to you obviously about special forces and and all that

entails even though we can't talk about what specifically happens and how long people stay and those kind of things. But we can talk about the details and so much that people saw in the trailers. Holy cow. So first, I mean, I was like, oh my gosh, they're showing that. So I would love to know how you got asked and did you know anyone going on the show before you got there? Yeah. Yeah, good question. just came through my agent. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say they probably wanted Michael to join.

But my agency is, the agency that represents me is the same agency that represents. Actually, the same agency that represents him represents me. I don't know which way I need a phrase. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I just tagged along for the ride. I'm sure he had something else exciting going on. And they were like, but hey, we had this other guy that's,

you know, pretty good at swimming too. So how about we take a look? and that's kind of how it came through and you know at first like we had we still have two young kids and we're like wait how many days on the road like that's like kind of a logistic like pretty difficult my wife's like she also is like has a full-time job so like we weren't really quite sure if it was going to you know fit our family and then it just like we kind of pieced it together figured out we had a lot of wonderful help and grandparents and things to you know give me the chance to to go and have that awesome experience so yeah that's that's how it kind

came through and I think um I think I'm really interested to hear how everybody kind of did this because everybody's timelines I think were pretty different um I had I had a pretty good amount of time um plenty of time to prepare obviously like you know I'm used to these four year cycles so if I had four years to prepare, I would. But, you know, I had something like two months or something like that. So it was still good enough for me. Yeah, I mean, it is, it is something, the preparation. And I wish I would have done more of it because, as you know, for me, the real,

the hardest part of this whole experience was the in between the tasks, running with our Birken, our rocks, whatever you want to call. column running with those giant things on our backs. And for you, it's, I mean, you're what, 6, 3, 6, 4? 6, 6. I'm 6, 6. 6. 6. 6. Okay.

I'm 63. He dwarfs me. When you're that tall, I'm 5'2. So, you know, it's 63, 6, whatever it is. So when you're 66 and you're carrying a 35 pound pack, it's probably not as traumatizing to your body as it is for a 5-2 you know smaller person but gosh that was the hard part for me and you know that because you helped me oh my gosh he's one of my angels Bob he helped me I love it I mean he was literally holding my hand

or my arm so kind no so kind I know man good I'm glad you were there for her sir thank you it was it really is like they're not pulling any punches you know like people like people are thinking like hey maybe they'll like adjust it for me or you know we'll try to try to make it a little bit different

but it's just like no if it's just it is what it is yeah I mean I weigh 230 pounds walking around normally so like a 40 pound rucksack is really a pretty not it's not light by any means but it's a pretty insignificant like percentage of my body weight compared to someone who's

smaller than me like if you really were to scale that up i mean i'd be carrying over 100 pounds or something so um it's not i mean i felt for you for some of the smaller competitors um just competitors i don't know i don't know participants i everybody asked me i didn't ask you just a competition is like as cheesy as it sounds like this is definitely like a competition against yourself um like there's just no way to like remove the cheesiness from that but it's like so true totally so true it is so true and i like that it's you know like within yourself because you really have to push yourself for yourself um that's kind of one of the things that i was drawn to the show about because if it was a competition against each other i i knew i would be like

okay well i'm going to be the slim pickings i'm going to be the last one chosen at the playground you know like but the fact that we can do this for ourselves and have this opportunity, you're so right. You worded it perfectly. I'm just curious, you know, you said something earlier that I thought was really interesting when you said you had like two months to prepare. And, and I don't know, I don't actually know, Trista, what your timeline was, but how do you prepare? Like, are you just, is it one of those things where, you know, especially for you as an Olympian, are you focusing on the things that you don't do every day? Because I mean, obviously, you know, a swimming situation is not going to, you know,

you're not going to be a struggle for you. So are you just thinking about like every, like, movie you've ever watched, like, Platoon, and you're like, okay, I'm going to hike hills. I'm kind of, you know, like, what do you do? I don't even know how to prepare. Yeah, I wish I would have been more thoughtful about it, to be honest. I really, I personally was most concerned about the running part because I am a horizontal athlete.

Like, I am so used to being in the pool in, like, a weird, like, kind of, like, neutral buoyancy situation that my, like, joints are not really. made for being vertical and carrying that load that ruck would have definitely if i didn't prepare for those two months my knees and hips would have been really messed up even after a couple days um so i did i did do that and i kind of like i progressively overloaded it you know i only started with you know rucking around for a mile and took a day off and then i went another mile and then like increased that load until it just wasn't that big of a deal anymore um but then the other training um i mean i just stayed in shape knowing

that like, you know, I have a pretty robust like cardiovascular and pulmonary system that I built up over 30 years of swimming that would hopefully carry me through. And yeah, I do wish I would have like looking back and trying not to, you know, give anything away, but like probably should talk to some more people and like designed like different scenarios based off of their experience or, like, found a coach that was, like,

prepared. It's really, like, you know, I found someone who was maybe training people for, like, special forces or a Navy SEAL, like, ex-Nabies who's preparing the next generation of that

and be, like, kind of get a little bit of that because it really is so different than, like, sports, right, the experience. And I think that there was no way of me

knowing that. without experiencing it. So, yeah, I should have done a better job of asking for help. I don't write songs. God write songs. I take dictation. I didn't even know you've been a pastor for over 10 years. I think culture is any space that you live in that develops you.

On a recent episode of Culture Raises Us podcast, I sat down with Warren Campbell, Grammy-winning producer, pastor, and music executive to talk about the beats, the business, and the legacy behind some of the biggest names in gospel, R&B, and hip-hop. This is like watching Michael Jackson talk about thoroughly before it happened. Was there a particular moment where you realize just how instrumental music culture was to shaping all of our global ecosystem? I was eight years old, and the Motown 25 special came on. And all the great Motown artists, Marvin, Stevie Wonder, Temptations, Diana Raw.

From Mary Mary to Jennifer Hudson, we got to. get into the soul of the music and the purpose that drives it. Listen to Culture raises us on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Kurt Brown-Oller. And I am Scotty Landis, and we host Bananas, the Weird News Podcasts with wonderful guests like Whitney Cummings. And tackle the truly tough questions.

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And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble. Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you.

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The diva of the people. I'm just like text your acts. My theory is that if you need to figure out that the stove is hot, go and touch it. Go and figure it out for yourself. Okay. That's us. That's us. My name is Curley.

And I'm Maya. In each episode, we'll talk about love, friendship, heart breaks, men, and of course, our favorite secrets. Listen to the Super Secret Bestie Club as a part of the Michael Thura podcast network available on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts. podcast or wherever you get your podcast. I was asked, I think it was in February and we left in May and, but I don't know if we talked about this, Bob, but medically they were not going to clear me because. Right. I remember you saying that.

Yeah. So like a month in, maybe a couple weeks in, I went through like the medical clearance and I've had lower back surgery, a fusion, and they kept saying, well, we just don't know if you're going to be able to, how would you be getting pushed off a boat is what they were telling me? And I was like, what do you mean? Like a moving boat? I don't know if anyone's going to be, well, okay, with that. So basically, I had to fight.

Like, I got doctors who did my surgery involved saying like, like telling them the medical guys over in the UK, because the production company is over in the UK, telling them, you know, she's fine. She's great. She had this surgery. And now she's amazing. She was better than she was before kind of thing. And so during that time when I, it was questionable, I actually stopped training, which I, should. shouldn't have. I, I am so superstitious and I was like, I'm not going to train because then they're not going to prove me to go on the show. So I totally screwed myself. And those moments

that I just mentioned, like Nathan was one of my angels, the running part, because I've never been a runner. I was 51 when we filmed. Like, I haven't been working out consistently. You know, I'm not an Olympian. I'm not an ex-NFL. guy, I'm not a pro surfer, like all of these people that were on the show have like some kind of athletic background. Even Ali was crushing it in the gym before, like she was working out three times a day. Wow. And anyway, so I share that sentiment, Nathan, in that I should have, obviously I should have still been training when they weren't, when we were going through the stuff to get me approved, but are cleared.

But, yeah, I just wish I would. And I actually talked to a few people. Actually, two people who had been on the show, Hannah Brown, who was also a bachelorette. And then Bode Miller is friends of friends of friends of mine. And he was at an event. And so I got to talk to him in person. And he thought that they were going to change the relativity of the, weight of the rucks for people he was like they've talked about changing the weight so maybe they

would make it um you know less of a an issue for the smaller people but obviously that did not change no they certainly should you know but you know part of me is like yeah i i in all fairness yes but i have two friends who are navy seals um they were on seal team six like they're legit um And one of them is still kind of involved with Navy SEALs. And he said that a lot of women don't make it through special forces just for biology, like the way that our bodies are shaped and we're usually smaller and, you know, anyway, that women don't necessarily do well in the special forces because of just the, like, how our bodies are made.

So I feel like if we truly were going. to special forces training, they're not going to freaking change anything for women. So why should we get any special treatment, you know? Yeah, yeah, that's definitely two sides of that coin. I mean, it just like, it just would have been, I think it would have been nice to, special forces is hard in so many different ways, right? So many different ways. But you would have experienced something that was extraordinarily difficult if that ruck was only 25 pounds for

you instead of 40. Like, I definitely believe that. So for the sake of, like, you know, the narrative and the storyline maybe, but, but then again, there is that other aspect where it's like, when people ask me, are like, how, do people ask you all the time? Like, is it real? Is it like, are they, like, how serious is it? And I'm like, they, like, made it feel.

And, like, the second that you exited the show, did it feel like you came out of the Matrix? Right. You're like, what's going on? No, honestly, like, when you are in there, you are like, we are the only freaking people around. There are only cows. When you're in there, you just feel like you are in the middle of nowhere.

It is only you and like the DS and your like fellow people on special horses. And then like the second you're done, it's like, oh, there's a car, like a Mercedes van. Are you hungry? Are you hungry? You're like, extra chips and stuff. There's like hundreds of us all over here in this tent that's just completely hidden. And we're just making absolutely zero noise somehow from everybody that's in the show. It is a trip, man.

It is a trip. You're right. But it's very similar to like all reality. Like I literally just did an interview for a girl yesterday who's friends of actually, friends of friends. I don't need to get into it. But she's doing something, a thesis project. And so she was asking all these questions.

of reality television and how real is it and, you know, all the same questions that everyone asks. And it's the same. Like, there are producers who are walking around on Bachelor Bachelorette. You might be on a helicopter and a fancy date and not a helicopter that you're jumping onto from a moving boat. But it is, it is very much unscripted. Like, you have certain tasks, like dates on Bachelor, like that you're going, you know, you're going, you're going to these tasks and the cameras are just following you. The drones, I'm sure there were drones. Were there drones?

Do you remember if there were drones? Oh, there had to be. Some of the camera angles of even the previews. Many many drones. Yeah. Yeah. So, oh, actually, I think I do remember. Do you remember the drones?

I'm not giving anything away. The very first day on the boat before the shit went down. I remember drones coming over the boat and we were like, oh, shit's about to get real. like we've got the cameras. That's funny. I do remember that. I do remember that. Yeah.

Yeah. Crazy. So what was the hardest part for you? Because obviously, it's not just physical. There's the whole mental part, emotional. I feel like, yeah, man, without trying to give anything away, I feel like I was just starting to hit my groove because I was just so nervous and trying to figure out, feel everything that was going on, like right at the beginning.

and like there's just this like weird thing because I just have not experienced that much like adrenaline just constantly coursing through my veins and like a long time. Yeah. A really long time. And it was just so like it was like in the Olympic world it's so acute and you learn to manage it.

Like you are four hours out from your Olympic final race. It's like you're letting it come up. You're letting this excitement enter your body, experience it, experience it, let it power you, essentially. And then the moments after that race,

like everything you do is to shut it off. Like, it's kind of like a dimmer switch. You're going to like, you're going to go warm down. You're going to do like some breath work. You're going to do like all these different things to get your body in like the recovery mode.

But like this whole thing like for me, I was just freaked out the whole time. I was worried about them yelling at us. I was worried about like getting like getting like called out in the middle of the night doing this, doing that. Like, I didn't learn how, I didn't like practice that skill of like kind of calming down after like the craziness. And then like towards like the end of my time there is like when I started realizing, oh, like, you know, the car rides are, you know, relatively calm. Like as long as I'm semi ready and like my ruff is packed, like I can close my eyes.

I can kind of relax just a little bit. Do what I can. Did you ever feel like you could? Were you ever packed and ready? and you felt like you could close your eyes because I could never feel I never felt that I don't I was close I honestly at one point I was like I am not sure that the perfection that they like can come to expect is even possible you know right in some ways I was like maybe just maybe they really just choose to like punish us when they want they're it's too easy right now I'm gonna

I'm gonna find something and like it's not possible like like like like I tie my shoe right over left and like someone else tied their shoe left over right like okay punish us like we deserve it I'm sorry like I kind of I eventually kind of came to that conclusion maybe I'm wrong but that's that's where it came for me yeah and to your point I mean I definitely did not I did not like I would call any of the times that like my eyes were closed at night like just like meditation not so much actual sleep it was just like not even close to real, real sleep. Yeah, not.

I didn't get anything. Was it because you were just like thinking they were going to wake you up so you didn't even want to, like I'm like that when I have an early morning flight, you know? I truly didn't know what to expect. I mean, there was just so many emotions going through your head. Man, this is such a cool experience. I wonder what's going to happen next. Oh, my God.

Are they going to crush us? Like, wait, is that like someone snoring right now? Oh, is somebody getting up to be like, oh, the cameras haven't moved, but are they still on? Right. You know, all the, all the different things that, like, that just go through your head that you just, like, there's a lot. We're also in this big side. There's like rats.

I'm sure there are mice and rats and spiders and everything. Everywhere. Everywhere. But I have to point out. So Nathan, 6.6. And we're laying on standard cots. Did you didn't have like an extended cot, did you? I think for Cam and I, I can't remember.

but I think they might have put like an extra like egg crate or something or Apple crate at the end of it maybe yes yes the crates at the end of the bed and weren't you guys like you guys were across from each other or were you next to each other yeah we were across oh my gosh like because because I'm tiny and I can just curl up in a ball pretty much anywhere but for somebody who's six six and being able to sleep on those cots is hard regardless so if you're larger than the cot it can't be that fun you know and you guys are all in the same like barracks type situation you're on that same little room yeah yeah yeah and you couldn't leave unless you had a buddy that's right that's right again one of those things that i mean i meant to ask i meant to ask at the reunion like did that loosen up or not because like officially you were not you were not supposed to leave without a buddy but at least those first couple days you can kind of get away with it a little bit. People started getting a little bit looser with it. They kind of like, it's great and do their

thing. I know. I was always like, oh, crap, because I am such a rule follower. And I was like, no, don't get us in trouble by leaving on your own. Don't go pee by yourself. You always had to have a buddy. So we were in this one room was our barracks or, they call it accommodations. And then there was like a kind of like a like a workout area, if you will, in the middle. but it wasn't a workout area. It's like torture chamber. It's a mud pit. Yeah, the mud pit.

And then there's a warming room because we were in Wales and we were constantly wet. And so you had to like, you had two sets of clothes and you had to keep one of them dry at all time. So you had to keep those in the warming room. And to get like prime real estate is like worth a lot in the warming room because there's like three little, what do you call them? Like little fire pit stove things. things yeah yeah um and they to get a place by those was like you know you're fighting for your life just to get your clothes dry and you're like for deli you're balancing this thing where like you want to get it really close to the stove but you don't want to lay it on fire so my gosh the socks

especially putting the socks over the like the stove door on the door I mean Do you don't do that. Everybody is going to burn this place down. Everybody is wood in here. That just sounds brutal to me. What did your kids think? Did you tell your kids before you left or did you wait when you got back and how do they feel?

Do they know about it? How do they feel about it now? They're too young. I mean, my oldest was just a little over three at the time. So, yeah, yeah. Just kind of like daddy was gone for a little bit. the youngest probably didn't. The youngest definitely, like,

I'm kind of the default parent to the youngest one. So she missed me a lot. But, yeah, and it's hard, too, because even Wednesday, like, when this, like, when the premiere comes out, we're going to, like, they're not really old enough to watch it either. They're not all up to watch them to go do some of these things.

So I think it's really just going to kind of be in the back pocket and, you know, when the time is right, maybe we'll sit down and we'll watch it and uh and see what they think then how about you um i so all my my whole family i mean my kids are older obviously they're 15 and 17 so um i talked to them about it before because when i was trying to figure out whether or not to do it um i wanted to know what my kids thought and my son especially was like cool like you know go do that. That'd be cool. He actually is interested in going into the military, possibly after high school, and Navy SEALs. And I honestly wonder, because that is like a recent

discovery about him that he wants to go into the Navy SEALs. And it was one of his hockey buddies, his dad was a Navy SEAL. And that's where I think it started. But I wonder if doing the show maybe inspired him. I'd love to, you know. No, that'd be interesting. I certainly think at least a little bit and maybe some of the research that he did watching the other,

I mean, the other seasons still give me goosebumps. Like, if I'm ever like, if I'm ever like hurting, like going to walking on like, one of those days that you don't want to wake up and go to the gym, like on the way there, you just throw it on. I, it's just a little bit, little boost. Yeah, I know this.

I mean, this is going to be, I didn't realize that the episode is going to be two hours. Two hours. Yes. So each episode is two hours and they're only doing five episodes. So I think that's why they did a two hour show. But if you think about it, so Bob and I being from the world of reality television, it's, you know, part of our normal vernacular, if you will, if you will. But they put so much on the cutting room floor. Like two hours is really is so minimal compared to what we experienced. Like, I really wonder what will make the show. The seasons past, how many episodes did they do? Was it always two, two hours five? I do think it's usually one hour per day. Is that right?

Yeah. Okay. I think so. I think they usually have one hour episodes and it's 10 episodes. Okay. So this time they just, it's the same amount of time. It's just a longer episode in one. Yeah.

But yeah, just I think to your point, like I am, I'm so curious. like the way that everything happened, like it wasn't a linear timeline of like people dropping out. It was like insanity and then I think they had to slow it down a little bit. So they might be able to dilate that time that everyone was there just a little bit to kind of tell the stories because there were so many, so many interesting ones. But how do they do it? I'm not, I don't know. I mean, you all know if it's possible a lot better than I do.

I don't write songs. God writes songs. I take dictation. I didn't even know you've been a pastor for over 10 years. I think culture is any space that you live in that develops you. On a recent episode of Culture Raises Us podcast, I sat down with Warren Campbell, Grammy-winning producer, pastor, and music executive to talk about the beats, the business,

and the legacy behind some of the biggest names in gospel, R&B, and hip-hop. This is like watching Michael Jackson talk about thoroughly before it happened. Was there a particular moment where you realize, just how instrumental music culture was to shaping all of our global ecosystem. I was eight years old, and the Motown 25 special came on. And all the great Motown artists, Marvin, Stevie Wonder, Temptations, Diana Ross. From Mary Mary to Jennifer Hudson, we get into the soul of the music and the purpose that drives it. Listen to Culture raises us on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hi, I'm Kurt Browneuler. And I am Scotty Landis, and we host Bananas, the weird news podcast with wonderful guests like Whitney Cummings. And tackle the truly tough questions. Why is cool mom an insult, but mom is fine? No. I always say, Kurt, it's a fun dad. Fun dad and cool mom. That's cool for me.

We also dig into important life stuff, like why our last names would make the worst hyphen ever. My last name is Cummings. I have sympathy for nobody. Yeah, mine's brown oller. but with an H, so it looks like brown holer. Okay, that's, okay, yours might be worse. We can never get married. Yeah.

Listen to this episode with Whitney Cummings and check out new episodes of bananas every Tuesday on the exactly right network. Listen to bananas on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, my name is Enya Yumanzoor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD...

Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble. Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free IHeartRadio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen now. Imagine that you're on an airplane and all of a sudden you hear this. Attention passengers.

The pilot is having... Having an emergency and we need someone, anyone, to land this plane. Think you could do it? It turns out that nearly 50% of men think that they could land the plane with the help of air traffic control. And they're saying like, okay, pull this, do this, pull that, turn this. It's just, I can do my eyes close. I'm Manny. I'm Noah.

This is Devin. And on our new show, no such thing. We get to the bottom of questions like these. Join us as we talk to the leading expert on overconfidence. who lack expertise, lack the expertise they need to recognize that they lack expertise. And then, as we try the whole thing out for real, wait, what? Oh, that's the run right. I'm looking at this thing, see? Listen to no such thing on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcasts. My name is Ed. Everyone say hello, Ed. Hello, Ed. I'm from a very rural background myself. My dad is a farmer, and the mom is a cousin. So, like, it's not like... What do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? I know it sounds like the start of a bad joke, but that really was my reality nine years ago. I just normally do straight stand-up,

but this is a bit different. On stage stood a comedian with a story that no one expected to hear. Well, 22nd of July 2015, a 23-year-old man had killed his family. And then, He came to my house. So what do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club?

A new podcast called Wisecrack, where stand-up comedy and murder takes center stage. Available now. Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I would think, like the biggest fear that people have, a lot of times when they see themselves on TV is, you know, what they're doing in that moment, right? Like, oh my God. Like, you know, if you're all, if you're like looking at the camera and you got, you know, like stuff running out of your note or something, you got something in your teeth. Yeah. So like when you saw yourself and you saw, when you saw, when you saw the package they put together

for you. Were you, you know, were you like happy about it or did you look at it and you're just like, oh my God, I look so bad or, you know, because you're used to seeing yourself on the, on the podium, getting a gold medal, you know. Man, I actually just out of necessity, I stopped watching. my own interviews, stopped watching myself on the podium, I just experienced it through myself because I really, I dialed in how to compete, how to train, how to, how to do my swimming thing as perfectly as I could. And there were a couple experiences where I was paying attention to what was going on on the outside, I was being perceived, etc. That affected me. And I'm like, what, what? Like, that's completely out of my control. So I stopped paying attention. And for this,

Honestly, I was going to ask you all, like, how to do it? Like, for me, or just everybody have their own different way that they watch? Because, like, I am going to do, like, a little viewing party with some close friends, and I was like, no, I don't want it to be this massive thing. Like, I don't want, like, every person from preschool there at the same time. Like, like, maybe just some of my closest friends who have seen me in, like, vulnerable situations and been there through those tough times. Just because, like, you know, for me.

me it's it's like there's a personal aspect of it there like and on top of that like they had footage from us 24-7 they can make us look however they want yeah so it is for me i i i don't know i'm just kind of walking through it with like an open heart and open mind kind of kind of putting my trust in like the producers and just saying it is it is going to be what it is um and then even if it's a perception that I don't necessarily agree with or love, like I'm going to be with those who know me the best, who know that, well,

they love me for some reason. And it's not because I'm on a, it's not because I'm on a TV show. Yeah. I think that's a great perspective to have. I do too. I can share the same thing, but I think that's how you get through it is you know deep down who are your people

and who love you and they're always going to love you. no matter how you look on this show, you know, the show will be temporary, it'll come and go, people get hyped about it, and then, you know, 20 years later,

they might still be talking about it, but as when it comes to my wedding, and, you know, all that. But I think as long as you stay grounded in your truth and why you did it, and I don't think you can look bad on this show. I'm just going to say that. I don't think you can look bad.

Yeah, I'll tell you, as someone who's not been on, it or not gone through what you guys have gone through, but I definitely have seen the previews and I've seen elements of the show in the past. I will definitely be watching this one, by the way. But I think you have the right, that's the right recipe for sure. Like whenever you put yourself out there, you know, you're going to have the people who would never be in that situation in a million years who are going to have opinions about it. So like you said, you put your blinders on as they focus.

And, you know, on your family, your friends, the people that you love. And don't worry about the rest of the noise, right? But at the end of the day, it's like, I think it's a different world today. day than when Trista and I were both, you know, on The Bachelorette and then the Bachelor, it's like, you know, nowadays it's like everything is out there. You know, it's like, and it's all, like you said, 24 hours of footage and you're going to have something in your teeth, you're going to have something on your face. I mean, you guys are in the middle of it all, you know, going through the most brutal

training and everything that anyone's ever done. So I think from that perspective, it's going to be amazing viewing, like from a, from a viewership perspective. And I just, I have nothing but admiration for everyone that signed up to do this show because I'm looking at it from the standpoint of, man, could I put myself out there and do that? And I mean, I've known Trista for 20 years. And it's like, when she told me she did it, I'm like, oh, my God, how could you do this? Like, this is insane.

You know, because in my mind, I'm like, you know, would I do it if they ask me? I want to believe I would. But part of me is like, I don't think I could get through it, man. I mean, you know, I just don't think I could. So I can only imagine what you guys are going to be experiencing emotionally watching it, too. So it's going to be awesome for you all, I think. I think it will be. I don't know.

Like, do you, like, did you, have you been to a place emotionally in your, like, real life in the last, call it 10 years where you were there? No, I was not. I have never been challenged emotionally like that in my entire life. The only thing that comes close is, it took me a really long time to get pregnant. That was hard. I had a really difficult delivery with my first. And then I had a seizure about seven years ago on vacation. We don't even need to get into it.

But the seizure was probably like because it was like I and I could have died in my delivery too, but I faced it. Like I actually have a whole thing where I think it was a near death experience because I went to this place of white euphoria. And it. Yeah. So I feel like I was. very close to death in that moment. And that is the only comparison because I feel like you are pushed so freaking hard on the show and not just like in trying to keep up in like the guys yelling at you.

You know, you see in the trailer where Q is like right next to me like and I've told people about this how I'm trying to get out of the beach. I'm trying to leave and he is literally right there. like you shouldn't be here, hurry up, everyone's waiting for you, like all, you know, all the things. And all the things that I'm already telling myself in my head, like, I shouldn't be here. I'm a burden, like all, you know, all of these things. But I think that's why they do it. Tell me if you feel the same way.

Because so in the trailer, you hear me say, you know, I'm talking to my devil and my angel on my shoulder, right? And so human nature, it's human nature, I feel like, to doubt yourself. You're going to have these doubts like the devil is constantly saying, you can't keep up with everybody, you should not be here. Why are you doing this show? This is stupid, you know? And so you're telling yourself all of these things already.

I think that they tell you those things as not inside your body. they're telling you so that you can say, I'm going to prove you wrong. And so you can find an inner strength to fight against somebody else because it's really hard to fight against yourself sometimes. But if you can put that, like, onus on somebody else and be like, screw off, I'm going to prove you wrong

and I'm going to do this. What are your thoughts on that? I love that. I think we probably have really similar thoughts except mine just come from this place of like physical performance because that's like my entire life and like the lens through which I see everything. And honestly, I'm trying to kind of shift that perspective

into maybe like more like real life things, parenting and running the business and all those sorts of things. But like for me, I mean, there was just like I really had, after retiring, I didn't really realize like how much I missed having a coach and like and I like journaled for like a day or two afterwards and just like because I oh whatever whatever after I was done with the show I mean I can't because it kind of gives away when I when I left oh understood but um I really realize that hey like I along with other people and I don't know if it's if it's to a greater degree than anybody but a total people

pleaser and then like once you find a safe place to be that because like in real life you're kind of like people pleaser but like am I like is this too much is this like not enough like is this weird balance like you're driving and you're like should I have like let that person go in front of me or not like wait a minute you know and like but in this situation it's just like I mean I trusted the DS with my life and I I believed them when they said that they could bring you to a place that you've never been before and I think those two things like really brought me to a place where I was like, holy crap. You're right.

It was crazy. I mean, in one of the moments, like, I was carrying a log by myself and, like, Billy was screaming at me to, like, catch Brody. And I was like, turn it on the turbo. And then I was like, wait, hold out. Like, that's crazy. Because for me, I thought I was running as fast as I could. Billy told me to turn on the turbo.

But then there was, it was a little devil in my head that was like, yo, like, you turn on the turbo too much. Like, you know what can happen. And I think, like, you talking about Bodie a little bit, like, that's, that's where my mind went. Because, like, a lot of the athletes do have this ability to, like, to go turbo a little bit to the point where they're going to hurt themselves. So I, like, I turned it on.

I started catching him. And then I was like, wait, hold on. Like, that was a really cool thing. But, like, we're not done here yet. We might have, like, an hour or two longer of this. Like, let's just get this log to over there. But, like, that moment actually really sticks with me. um as i like reflect on my time that i'm like in a way i'm like yeah like i still got it like

that that little like extra gear is still there and it is so hard to reach when you're in a gym and where i work out isn't necessarily a lot of young people maybe it's like the timing that i go or something like i just don't have that and like yeah like having that like oh that's right like let's fucking go kind of spirit and mentality was just so refreshing because the grind and absolute marathon of parenting two young children

you don't have a lot of the LFG moments except for like LFG exercise your patience more tonight. I mean like last night I think bedtime took like over two hours and I slept on a twin bed speaking of a cot just because we're having some issues with climbing out of cribs and things.

Oh, I get it. I have like LFG moments all the time for like bluey marathons and things like that, so I get it. At least it is blueie. Oh my gosh, we had to make the transition to blueie. Like, gosh,

that's a whole other topic that we can talk about forever. Some of the programming that just automatically pops up now is absurd. It's just like, it's drugs. It is drugs for my kids. And like, we try not to do we just finish the holidays like forgive me sorry i let them have some screen time

but like we've got to reel up back in holy crap some of that stuff is just wild that's hard to do too um okay i love your perspective and i feel like that is so true that had like thinking about that moment where cue is just yelling his head off at me and i'm going i'm crying the whole time but I'm going had it been real life totally would have stopped and been like Ryan can you carry my backpack you know and I'll get there when I get there and I'm not going to cry about it you know but you're so right that I think that is one of my learning lessons looking back and I love that that's kind of what you've taken away too is that you do have the capability to push yourself harder than you ever thought you could right yes yes and like

figuring out how to get there because you can't go there every day you know that's that is how burnout happens but like figuring out for yourself how you get yourself there and then what you need to do to recover it's it's when I talk to kids all like so I do I still do camps and sleep clinics for for swimmers all the time and when I talk to it's like it's the turbo button it really is it's like and like I don't even know if that's still a thing on like FIFA like I'm talking about NBA jam like 2002 at this point um you got to figure out when you can press the turbo button and then you got to figure out what fills your turbo button back up again, you know? And I think that was a, you know, that was a, we were, we were in full on turbo mode there, but yeah.

Yeah, but I feel like the turbo button was being pushed by somebody else and it was all on all the time. Yeah, there was something to it. Like, it was like, put those, the time that we were spent there, like, you just like, you were learning so much about yourself and how to get there and how to experience it and how to harness the power of it. but like then yeah when it's over i'm like i'm good i'm good no more turbo button needed for a while i'm good i don't need a turbo button need a turbo button no more no more turbo button for me um yeah and i feel like that's just how you get as you get older too and so since i'm 51 i don't know i think stephen is the oldest denise might I think she's around my same age

and I don't know how Marion is anyway my point was maybe I'm the oldest no I don't think I'm the oldest but I feel like you have that kind of perspective like I've lived my life you know I'm good I'm setting my ways like I know what I like I know what I don't like and running is something I don't like

and I'm doing a lot of it I was going to ask too like especially for you Nathan on this one because I think this might be and I hope this doesn't come off sexist but it might be a guy thing. But I always think of like the Navy SEAL team stuff as like the ultimate badassery out there.

You know what I mean? So it's like in my mind, part of me. I mean, I watch every one of those shows, right? I watch, you know, Jack Ryan and I watch, you know, everything that comes out. Any movie that's got anything to do with it, I'm on it. And so when I like get curious about this stuff is because part of me thinks, like I always watch a show

and my wife laughs at me all the time. She'll go, okay. So now you think you're a spy? I'm like, yes. I think I could be a fantastic spy. And so I'm going to watch this show and I'm going to be like, oh, my God, I could totally, I want to do this. Like, I want to see if I can do this.

Was there any of that going into it where you were just so fired up to see, you know, especially having been an Olympic, a decorated Olympian. Yeah. Like, I got this, man. I'm going to prove that I can do this. All day, every day, man. Yes, all of it. All of it.

All of it. Yes, of course. Of course. No doubt. And it was like just waiting for the next challenge and, and like, experience. it and going through it and like oh man like it's just like it's kind of like a little puzzle like oh I messed up on this but next time I'm going to do this I'm going to be better okay next next step I'm a little bit better I'm a little bit better I'm a little better like the same little thing in my head

that just like made me tick for swimming and doing it so long it was was the same thing that kept me going and this too it was just like I do I want to figure out how to get better get better get better like learn from learn from others around me I think that was like you know for me in like 2008, my experience at the Olympics was so interesting. I was young. I think I was the youngest male on the team. I was 19 years old. I swam a pre-lims relay for one of the events. So I wasn't I'm not going to say I wasn't important, but without me there,

the metal count wouldn't have changed at all. But like, I got to see so many people do extraordinary things and do it in so many different ways. And I actually like think that I had a lot of that same kind of those same kind of feelings here where we just came from so many different aspects of life but every single person there was so extraordinary and like I think like I don't know just what would you say like was the like when you're like what what do these people have in in common like what is it and I think I have an answer but I kind of want to hear yours first that's really interesting I

feel like um i i always felt like going through the interview process that the reason that they chose me because clearly they're not choosing me to be that badass navy seals person but um i feel like they were picking me at least and i think this goes for everybody that people out there can relate to each one of us in different ways so for me i'm the like you know the mom of teenagers about to leave figuring out what I want to do with my life when they're gone and you know everyone has their story. So I feel like it's we're all relatable in some way, shape, or form and we're just relatable in different ways. I like that. I think that's that's I think that's definitely true. And I think for me, I was, I really am so taken,

we're not taking back, but like, I'm just inspired by everybody's agency in their life for with everybody there. I think it, and it's like, I think it really is for me. And like, you know, there's, I forgot who who wrote the book, but his thesis and his premise was like, it's luck. It's luck, you know, successful people is lucky. It was like, luck, there certainly plays a part in this. You know, I wouldn't have, you know, Olympic gold medals in my closet if I didn't hit some, you know, genetic, like, luckiness in my life.

But there was an aspect of, like, taking advantage of that luck. And I think each and every one of us were able to do that in our lives. And I thought that seeing the different, like, the different ways that it happened was just so, so cool. and being able to, like, be around it. Like, you know, I wish I could. I would just wish we could spend more time together. Yeah. I totally agree.

I have been pushing for them, like, I'll talk to publicity. So I'm leaving today to go to L.A. to do, like, a little bit of press. Awesome. And I'm like, I just want to get people together. Like, I keep asking if we can get people together. Could we do, like, a reunion for the finale? And maybe if they don't put it together, maybe we should just do it on our own. Like, wherever we do it, maybe we should just do it on our own.

Because, like, on our text thread, you know, Christy was like, I'm having a viewing, you know, a screening. And I'm having one too, actually here on Wednesday. Mine's a little bigger than, like, just close friends. It'll probably be like 100 people or something. And I think the Fox affiliate is coming from Denver. So if this was Ryan on the show, my husband, it would be totally different. but like you said, we're all different, and I just want to celebrate it. Ryan will be watching it with the kids.

Yeah, totally. He would just be watching. Sorry, we have to wrap. But I feel like, you know, I would love to get together as well. I learned so much from people. I was so inspired. I really feel like I bonded with everyone in different ways. But I am just, I know that you share the sentiment just so grateful to have been part of it.

Oh, my God. Like, truly, truly, it's, again, it sounds the cheesy line of your life, but like, just forever grateful and just like, what, I don't know, what do I do to deserve this, you know? Right. I just like, can't really swam a lot. Well, I can say what you did. You were a freaking celebrated Olympic athlete and you're a rock star and a really kind human being.

So thank you for being one of my angels. Thank you for coming on the almost famous OG podcast and chatting with us about special forces world's toughest test. Watch it on Wednesday. Yeah, thanks, Nathan. It was such a pleasure meeting you, man. I'm looking forward to watching the show. The pleasure was mine. Thanks for having me, guys. Follow the Ben and Ashley I, almost famous podcast on IHeart Radio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Let's start with a quick puzzle. The answer is Ken Jennings appearance on The Puzzler with A.J. Jacobs. The question is, what is the most entertaining listening experience in podcast land.

Jeopardy Truthers believe in... I guess they would be conspiracy theorists. That's right. They gave you the answers and you still blew it. The puzzler. Listen on the I-Heart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The U.S. Open is here and on my podcast, Good Game with Sarah Spain. I'm breaking down the players, the predictions, the pressure, and of course the honey

deuses, the signature cocktail of the... U.S. Open has gotten to be a very wonderfully experiential sporting event. To hear this and more, listen to Good Game with Sarah Spain and IHart Women's Sports Production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and entertainment on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Brought to you by Novartis, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports Network. Hi, my name is Enya Humanzor. And I'm Drew Phillips. And we run a podcast called Emergency Intercom. If you're a crime junkie, and you love crimes, we're not the podcast for you. But if you have unmedicated ADHD... Oh my God, perfect. And want to hear people with mental illness, psychobabble.

Yes, yes. Then Emergency Intercom is the podcast for you. Open your free IHeartRadio app. Search Emergency Intercom and listen now. Why are TSA rules so confusing? You got a hood of you. I'm take it all. I'm Manny.

I'm Noah. This is Devin. And we're best friends and journalists with a new podcast called No Such Thing, where we get to the bottom of questions like that. Why are you screaming? I can't expect what to do. Now, if the rule was the same, go off on me.

I deserve it. You know, lock him up. Listen to No such thing on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. No such thing. Hi, I'm Jenna Lopez, and in the new season of the Overcomfit Podcast, I'm even more honest, more vulnerable, and more real than ever.

Am I ready to enter this new part of my life? Like, am I ready to be in a relationship? Am I ready to have kids and to really just devote myself and my time? Join me for conversations about healing and growth, all from one of my favorite spaces, The Kitchen. Listen to the new season of the Overcomber podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast.