The Rich Roll Podcast - Conor Dwyer: An Olympic Gold Medalist On Why Hard Work Beats Talent That Doesn’t Work Hard

Episode Date: March 20, 2017

I know what you’re thinking. It's rather convenient for any Olympic athlete to say that hard work trumps talent. For perspective, take a glance at the palmarès of this week's guest: * 2012 London Olympics: Gold in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay * 2016 Rio Olympics: Gold in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay * 2016 Rio Olympics: Bronze in the 200 meter freestyle In total, Conor Dwyer has won seventeen medals in major international swimming competitions: nine gold, six silver, and two bronze. I could geek out on his statistics forever but you get the picture. The dude is super fast in the pool; one of the fastest swimmers of all time. An extraordinary athlete, Conor is obviously immensely talented. So this idea that hard work beats talent can't possibly apply to him, right? Not so fast. Conor was the furthest thing from a natural talent right out of the gate. His performances out of high school were so mediocre in fact, he couldn't even get the attention of college coaches let alone a swimming scholarship. I simply cannot overstate how rare it is in competitive swimming that an athlete of his current caliber had yet to distinguish himself by 18. It just doesn't happen. But Conor refused to give up. Through persistence and a robust work ethic relentlessly applied, a series of circumstances slowly aligned. A believing coach appeared to mentor him, followed by training partners to push him to new levels of possibility and further fuel his self-belief in potential. Over time, all the important ingredients alchemized to bake the cake that is the superstar athlete we know today as Conor Dwyer. This week Conor shares his extraordinary story from bench warmer to Olympic champion. A story that lays bare a simple core truth I have experienced myself: when the heart is pure and fueled by self-belief, extreme faith, unwavering patience and an unabating work ethic, the universe conspires to support the dream. One of the good guys, Conor lives it with every breath. A recipe for success that has fueled his accomplishments and will support anyone — irrespective of talent level — in the pursuit of an audacious dream. I sincerely hope you enjoy the exchange. Peace + Plants, Rich

I truly do believe that hard work can beat talent when talent doesn't work hard. I've always taken that quote to heart and I think everyone on the Olympic team does have talent but at some point there's no way to take shortcuts and get on that podium so I've always tried to do things the right way with my coaches, with my training, with my diet and take any advantage I can and outwork people. And that's how I think I've beaten all the best swimmers in the world. That's Connor Dwyer, this week on the Rich Roll Podcast. The Rich Roll Podcast.

I know what you're thinking. Pretty convenient for a guy like Conor Dwyer to say hard work trumps talent because this is a guy who is a two-time Olympian and a two-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer. Just to break it down for you all, here's what this guy has done. In Rio 2016, he won gold on the 4x200m free relay. Also in 2016, bronze in the 200m freestyle. In London 2012, again, a gold in the 4x200m free relay, along with a little-known athlete you might know named Michael Phelps. In total, he has won 17 medals in major international competitions, nine gold, six silver, and two bronze. I could geek out on his stats forever, but I think you get the picture. The dude is super fast in the pool, one of the fastest ever.

He's obviously ridiculously talented, right? So this idea that hard work trumps talent, well, it doesn't really seem to apply to a guy like Conor, right? Well, not so fast, because if that's what you're thinking, you're off the mark. Conor was not a natural talent right out of the gate. In fact, when he graduated high school, this guy couldn't even get the attention of college coaches, let alone land a scholarship to swim, which is unbelievably rare, at least in the sport of swimming, that an athlete of his caliber had not yet distinguished himself by the age of 18. Because usually by this time, you already kind of know the score of where this person is going to go. But slowly, a series of circumstances aligned. A particular coach and a mentor showed up, the right training partners presented themselves, and this person met with that person. Basically, all the ingredients

began to congeal to bake the cake that is the superstar athlete we know today as Conor Dwyer. I'm Rich Roll. This is my podcast. And today, we explore the core elements mandatory for peak performance, no matter what the talent level. And those elements are hard work, persistence, consistency, and showing up always. It's the match that ignited it all for Connor. It's what continues to keep his bright flame burning. And I think it's something that you'll find behind the scenes with essentially every human who successfully decides to go pro in what they do, whether an athlete, an artist, a writer, an entrepreneur, a parent, or really anything. Connor lives it.

He breathes it. He walks his talk. And that's really what I love about this guy, among many other things. So I'm in New York City right now, but as many of you guys know, I was just in Australia for about two weeks for a couple speaking events, which were amazing. The whole experience was phenomenal. It was great.

I just love the Aussie culture, the people, the food, the weather. It just absolutely blew my mind on every level. We were staying in Bondi Beach in Sydney for most of the food, the weather. It was just absolutely blew my mind on every level. And we were staying in Bondi Beach in Sydney for most of the trip, which was about a five-minute walk from this famous outdoor ocean pool called Icebergs that I got to swim in almost every day. It was incredible. I also got to swim at this other pool called Andrew Boy Charlton, which was perhaps the most beautiful swimming pool I've ever seen in my life. And I just loved the whole experience. And one of the things that we did when we were in Australia is Julie and I took a ferry to a place called Manly Beach.

And as the ferry was pulling up at the wharf and we were walking into town, I saw a huge street sign that said, Home of the Budgie Smuggler, which is the Australian nickname for the Speedo. I guess the whole town is known for that. I'm not quite sure what the backstory is, but it's kind of hilarious. And it speaks to the swimming culture of Australia, something I'm all about, something I love deeply. And it's great because the podcast this week is all about swimming. And because today's guest is one of the most famous and accomplished speedo wearing people on the planet.

And it's all coming up quick, but first. Okay, Conor Dwyer. What can I say? Conor is just one of the nicest, most grounded, genuine kids I have ever met in elite sport. He's just a good, good guy. One of the good ones you just root for and you really want to see win. And I'm going to let him share the rest. So without further ado, here's my conversation with Conor Dwyer.

Let's do it, man. Let's do it. Manhattan Beach. What's not to love beautiful day sitting here with connor dwyer in your uh in your humble southern uh california abode not so humble actually you're right on the beach right on the strand and uh i gotta say before we even get into this as i was knocking on the door or like opening up the door I had this crazy deja vu moment because I honestly think that I used to hang out in this apartment like in the late 1990s I had buddies that live I'm 95% sure this is the same apartment not totally convinced when I used to come down

here to party and the fact that I'm sitting here I'm like it's tripping me out right now so well it's good to have you back in Manhattan Beach yeah Yeah. Well, anyway, man, great to talk to you. We met at the Olympic Training Center when I went out there via Jack Roach to talk with the national junior team. We took an Instagram. We didn't really talk that much. Yeah, it was post-practice. You guys were working out. What was cool for me about that experience was I was there to kind of talk to the younger kids but yourself uh who

else was there ryan locked he was there tyler clary phelps wasn't i think phelps had just left when i got there he wasn't there when i was there okay um ryan was there i mean there was a might have been there it was a good i think yeah she was there she was just leaving too there was a- Deke might've been there. It was a good- Yeah, she was there. She was just leaving too. There was maybe like five or six or eight of you guys, like kind of like USA national team in residence, like preparing for Rio. And I got to watch you guys work out a little bit. Super cool. Yeah, good times.

And yeah, man. And you guys went and rocked it in Rio. And now you're in the aftermath of that. And as I was coming over here, kind of trying to wrap my head around, like what's talked to you about and kind of looking at your Instagram, I'm like, this guy's living like the life of Riley.

Like you're going to the Superbowl, you're going to the Golden Globes, you're going to the Grammys. You know, it looks like you're hanging out with Chance the Rapper. Like you're going to Fashion Week and like all this stuff. Like what's up with your life right now? Ah, yeah. The post Olympic tour was, um, uh, it's been a whirlwind, but it was a blast. I got to do a ton of fun things. Um,

I live Manhattan beach here. I've been traveling around with my cousin doing surf trips in Costa Rica and Mexico, uh, adventure trips and then fun events. I got to see a kid I've known from Chicago, Chance the Rapper, since high school, did something. Oh, so you, wait, hold on a second. You're friends with him from high school? Yeah, my friend on the swimming team actually found Chance at an open mic in Chicago, has been managing him since, and it's unbelievable to see what those guys have done. They, um, the Grammys had to switch up the rules because, uh, Chance is the only non-label artist to, to be nominated for a Grammy and he won three Grammys. So it's been, uh, an incredible year for,

for Pat and Chance and I couldn't be more excited for what they did and changed the game. Wow. So you go, so you go way back with those guys. Yeah. And wait a minute. So Chance is not on a major, I should know this, but he's not on a major record label? No. And he releases all his music for free, which is very cool.

Did a deal with Apple and Spotify and SoundCloud. And they just make money off touring and merchandise. And he's done a lot of great things for the city of Chicago, which is where I'm born and raised. They've been struggling lately with gun violence, and he's trying to help that. So couldn't be more proud of those guys with what they've been doing. That's pretty cool. He's tight with Obama too, I think. Yeah, Chicago kids. That's pretty amazing. So were you like front and center at the Grammys? I just went post that he had an event with GQ after and saw a bunch of the guys that I've known since high school. My twin actually goes on tour with those guys and he trains them.

Your twin brother? My twin brother. Yeah. So he's the trainer on the chance tour uh they're going back on tour in a month or two big arenas i think they sold out almost everything in in five minutes so it'll be cool to see them do another big tour yeah that guy is blown up yeah you know and what's the manager's name again uh pat the manager pat corcoran gotcha yeah he's sort of like a scooter brawn in the making exactly yeah. Yeah. That's pretty cool. And we swam together. Oh, he was a swimmer too. He was a swimmer.

Chance wasn't though, was he? Chance wasn't. No, no, he wasn't a swimmer. Uh-huh. Yeah. Cool. And you were at the Super Bowl. Super Bowl. I was at the Super Bowl, Game 7. I saw my Chicago Cubs win a World Series and the Olympics. It's been one hell of a year as far as witnessing sports

and getting to partake in in the olympic games i i'm a born and raised cubs fan but what i witnessed at the super bowl might have been the greatest game i've ever seen it was pretty insane yeah i think they said with three minutes and 30 seconds left um atlanta had like a 96.3 probability of winning the super bowl so the they had no shot, and that outcome was unbelievable. Right. So are you a diehard Pats fan? Does that go way back? My cousin is friends with Robert Kraft.

She helps him and the Patriots, so I've kind of been with them. I'm also – I love Tom Brady and his story. I kind of um him not getting drafted he had like a I think I've seen his resume he had he blew it out that he was going to go into finance like his senior year of college and now he's got five Super Bowl rings I kind of like that um compared to my story where I wasn't recruited out of high school and wasn't that good my first two years of college so I love Tom Brady's story. And I hopped on that wagon a little while ago

because my bears haven't been that good. Yeah, I mean, I think that's a very interesting point. I was going to get to that a little bit later, but maybe we can kind of start to unpack that now. I mean, I was kind of looking at your Wikipedia and out of high school, you were a 144, 200 freestyler and like a 445 144 200 freestyler and like a through like a 445 500

freestyler yeah now for people that don't follow swimming that is like 42 442 all right so like these are those are decent times that's like a that's like a good high school swimmer that is not that's not going to get you a college scholarship and it's about the furthest thing from putting you on an olympic team right so it is a very tom brady-esque kind of thing like how do you go and that was like what 2007 yeah and then 2010 you're winning instant nc2a championship so in a period of two and a half three years how do you go from basically like uh like a sort of a somewhat above average high school swimmer to being like this celebrated Olympic hopeful. Yeah. I mean, I was always the hardest worker no matter what sport

I did. And I love competition. A lot of things played a factor in my career taking off my junior year. A lot of thanks to Janet Evans, who helped me transfer from iowa to florida got me in touch with greg troy yeah so let's let's slow down dude let's tell that tell that story it's interesting story yeah so i listen my my dad's company um hired janet to give us a motivational speech and i listened to it when i was 16 in the back of this room and with all these finance guys and i was a swimmer I Idolized her and I heard her work ethic and things she did and we luckily became friends So and she always mentored me. I just missed

NC2As my sophomore year and I was a little bummed out and Janet contacted five of the best Universities and in the country and said I have this kid. He's very hardworking. He's just starting to grow. I grew five inches in college. I was small leaving high school. And four of those coaches said no. Greg Troy said yes to Janet Evans. And a year later, Greg Troy was texting Janet saying thank you for letting him on the team because he's the hardest worker. And he's, I was the NCAA swimmer of the year after one year at Florida. Right. So, so out of high school in Chicago, you, did you walk on at Iowa? Yeah. So funny enough, a lot, like you said, a lot of people get recruited out of college. I flew my own way with my mom,

who at this time is taller than me. I'm 5'10", 150 pounds. Right. And for people that are listening, you're 6'5". 6'5", yeah, 190. So I would go to these coaches and say, I just really got into swimming my senior year. These are my times. I promise I'll work hard and I think I can help your team out. And I won't name names of these colleges, but a lot of them didn't even, I flew out to one school in particular, said, I'm here. I'd love to just shake your hand, meet you, maybe walk on. And he wouldn't even meet me.

And when you were in high school, just for context, you were playing other sports, right? So were you a, I'm getting up at five o'clock in the morning and going to morning practice and going to practice, like doing that whole like double workout, like club swimming scene, or were you kind of late to that kind of work ethic? I was late to that work ethic. I was, I was doing that. I was de-icing my car in Chicago at 5am three times a week when I was in season. But when I was out of season, I was doing all the other sports I love to do with my brothers, friends, cousins. So I didn't really dive fully into swimming until my senior year after high school state. Right.

So there was a lot of, I mean, setting aside the fact that you still had to grow a foot, like there was a little bit of untapped potential there, right? Because you weren't a guy who, and there was, I mean, when I came up, like i was swimming with guys like we they'd just been doing double workouts since they were like nine years old you know what i mean so it's a lot of it is yeah so it's it's unusual actually to find like a diamond in the rough that hasn't kind of gone through that uh you know that system yet and still has you know a place to grow as they're going into college so all right so you end up at i was like all right come on and they're like i gave me this shot as they're going into college. So, all right, so you end up at Iowa's like, all right, come on. And they're like, we'll take you. Iowa gave me this shot.

Yeah, I think they were 9th or 10th, and they were the bottom of the Big Ten. Who was the coach? Mark Long let me walk on. And after a year, I was the best guy on the team. In college, I went walk-on full ride at Iowa, walk-on captain at Iowa. And then I went. So sophomore year, your captain captain of the Iowa team how much did you improve like what what did your I went from a 142 to a 135 I was the only

guy at Iowa that's like an insane yeah I took off and then so you so did you final at nc2a's your sophomore I missed it my freshman year. Then the suit era came and I'm still not grown. I'm still untapped. And I just didn't like those body suits. I hated them. And so I went 135 again. And I remember how frustrated I was not making NC2As my sophomore year.

And I just wasn't a suit guy or I just didn't know how to utilize the suit and then I went from a 135 walked on at the University of Iowa and went to 132.3 at the University of Florida at Florida right yeah my junior year and like 412 right um I went from 420 to 412 literally dropped half a minute yeah 500 free time it's unheard of it's unheard of but i mean i the florida work ethic was i mean some might call it like military style i trained five to seven hours a day the nutrition played a huge factor in starting to eat clean but also i was just slamming healthy protein shakes i put on 15 pounds of muscle in one year. And, and when you first went to Florida, where you, did you walk on initially?

And then I went and walked on full ride captain again. Right. Wow. So two years at Iowa, two years of Florida. And, and what do you, what was it about, like, what was the, uh, impact of working under coach Troy? Like, how did that change how you approached your training and your your swimming like that that kind of changed or the belief that I had in him and that he had in me I saw I was training next to the previous NCAA champions Sean Frazier Brett Frazier and one of the best tuner freestylers ever Ryan Lo Lochte. And we would be mid-set, 6,000, hitting 200 pace. We're all dying. And he'd go, guys, I don't know. All I know is that you three are going to be in the NCAA final.

To Brett Frazier, myself, and Sean, it's up to you guys who wants to win it. And I was like, is this guy serious? I just got to the University of Florida. He's saying I have a shot to win an NCAA title. He kept saying that. I win the NCAA title. We have another meeting during practices. He's going, Connor, I'm going to get you in that Olympic trial final.

It's going to be up to you to make the team. But all the work's going to be done, and you're going to be ready to make that team. And stuff like that, he would just give me the confidence that, okay, I can get in these finals, and I can race the best guys in the world. Yeah, the sort of compressed timeframe in which all this happens has to be a little bit dizzying. I mean, literally from being a guy who's like knocking on these coaches' doors and having them not return your phone call to having a coach who held that belief for you and swimming with the best guys in the world.

I mean, that happened in like a two-year, three-year time frame, right? Yeah, it was very shocking, just everything that happened from Iowa to Florida, but just the positive people I had around me and the training partners I had, the coaches, the staff, the nutritionists, the weight room, the dry land, it all, I just kept on getting better and better. Um, with everything new we added to the table. So, uh, it was a fun ride for the two or three years I was at Florida.

And how do you kind of mentally approach having to train every single day with the guys that you're going to have to race against? You know know like there's a potential to like really that could freak some people out or burn burn them out like if you're racing next to the guy every day that you know you're gonna have to face at the end of the season at the biggest meet of the year how do you deal with that day in and day out that's tough um i've always loved training i was was in shock and scared the first two weeks. I remember calling my parents going like, I've never worked like this. The Monday there, uh, Greg Troy goes, all right, Hawkeye, let's see what you got. You're going to lead the lane. We're going to do 24 hundreds on five minutes, long course to send one to five. And I'm next to Ryan Lochte. And

on number one, I remember I saw a six beat kick and he took off I go I'm gonna have to do 8,000 meters getting my butt kicked like this like I want to fly home and go back to Iowa but I just kept grinding and following this guy and the other NCAA champions and I am a competitor I would love to go toe-to-toe faster, stronger. And eventually I remember one day we're doing 10, 100s all out off the box and I beat Ryan and I go, Holy shit. I'm sorry. I don't know if I can swear. Say whatever you want. I go, Holy shit. Like maybe I can compete against these guys. And then I just, I refuse to lose after warmup.

I refuse to lose in practice to anyone, no matter how good they were, what their ranking was so that one set those hundreds was that that was a turning point for you where you actually think I held like 45s 10 100s off the box yards on um five minutes like a lactate set and I think a lot of the team was shocked and I shocked myself but that was the motivation I needed to say I can compete can compete against anyone in the world and when you were a kid in high school did you have this belief like that this was going to be your path or was it just like yeah I want to swim in college like let me see if anyone will

take me or did you have a sense like that there was some kind of destiny waiting for you in this sport I knew yeah there was some sort of sense that I should be swimming, but I loved water polo too. I was like, should I, I was a baseball kid growing up. Should I go play water polo? Is that my calling? But I knew there was untapped talent. I could work hard. I just wasn't seeing the results that I wanted to see at Illinois State meets. And maybe it was because I hadn't even gone through puberty leaving high school, but I knew there was untapped talent and I did have a love for competing and working hard. So I think once I got to Florida and saw the best guys in the world and how they train, that's where I just said, okay, this is the path you take. Just start beating

these guys in practice and you'll see results in competition. Yeah. On that idea of hard work, give – I don't need it because I understand this world, but most people don't. Give people a glimpse of what that hard work actually looks like. On a day-to-day basis, what an elite Olympic-level swimmer, what kind of day they're putting in in terms of training. And just as far as training, it's two hours in the morning. Then we can get into nutrition later, but I'm consuming probably 6,000 calories a day. And the first two hours swimming at Florida, it was around 6,000 to 8,000 calories a day. Um, and the first two hours swimming, uh, at Florida, it was around

six to 8,000 meters. And for people that don't know, like, that's not, you're not just, you don't jump in the pool and just swim back and forth 8,000 meters and go home. It's like a track workout. You're, you're using a clock, a pace clock, and you're doing interval sets and, and, you know, at very high intensities at times. Yes. Yeah. So six to 8,000 high intensity, then we would hit, um, an hour in the gym or, um, consisting of weights, shoulder rotator cuff stuff, a whole lot of core work. We would do an hour of core work every single day. And then, um, we would do two hours again, six to 8,000 meters in the afternoon and some sort of uh we would do stadiums or boxing something else something really yeah but now that i'm in

california and there's these surfboards around and uh a bike behind me i i like to mix it up with all different sports so i like to get out in the ocean and utilize what's right in my backyard or the strand hit a 20 mile bike while working out, um, twice a day swimming. Yeah. I mean, this is a little bit out of the timeline, but you know, we were talking about how, you know, sort of your Olympic success has given you like a lot of very cool opportunities to do fun stuff. Right. So you're, you've been-Olympic tour of like having a good time. So, and now you're living on the beach here. Like, how do you get like your shit together

to like get the eye of the tiger back? You know what I mean? Like, how do you wake up at the crack of fuck, you know, to go to swim practice when you're like, oh, the surf, you know, I can sleep in in the surfs here. And like, I know I'm gonna go to the Grammys next week. Like, it's harder, right?

It's gotta be harder. It's way harder, especially since I've been pro in the last year. I had sponsorship obligations. I had photo shoots. I had interviews every week, maybe TV appearances. It is hard to keep your eye on the dream and stay consistent in training. But that's always something i've been good at when i do set my goal i've set my goal for world championships uh and i started january

1st i've been dialed in since so when i do set that goal i i dial in and i stay consistent with training but um it is in la you you can get as you know, to fun events or to do this, do that. Some things you have to sacrifice. And last year, I sacrificed everything to achieve the dreams and goals that I did. Yeah, but now they're getting waved in front of you maybe a little bit more than they were before, right? So now you're going to get tested a little bit. Yeah. I wanted to enjoy this year, too. The last four years, I was up at altitude for 90 days.

Had a very serious year. So I'm trying to just train hard, but also take advantage of fun opportunities this year. And what do you think that kind of relationship is between the work ethic, like the hard work part of success, at least in the sport of swimming versus like the talent, right? Because you're obviously somebody who's, you've grown into your talent, but I've heard you say already a couple of times, like you really attribute, you know, a great portion of your success to like this focus and this work ethic, right? So how do you parse that? Yeah, I think I do. I truly do believe that hard work can beat talent when talent doesn't work hard. I've always taken that quote to heart. And I think

everyone on the Olympic team does have talent, but at some point there's no way to um take shortcuts and and get on that podium so i've i've always tried to do things the right way with my coaches with my training with my diet and take any advantage i can and outwork people and that's how i think i've beaten all the best swimmers in the world so you're back at florida you're starting to fulfill this prophecy right like you're like weren't you like NCAA swimmer of the year and getting all these accolades and you're winning races like crazy. But the real sort of first big test on the world's greatest stage is Olympic trials in 2012, right? Yeah. So like walk me through that. Well, four years back, I qualified two weeks before the olympic trials so i i think i

finished 70th or 50th and in the 200 free in 2008 i remember sitting there watching michael and ryan um battle out before i am and there's fireworks going off 13 000 fans going crazy i go wow like i think i picked a pretty cool sport. There's 13,000 people in this arena going nuts for swimmers, duking it out. And I said, I want to be here four years later. And I was no one like in my story at that time, as far as a competitive swimmer. Right. That was a year out of high school for you, right? A year out of high school. Yeah. And now four years later later I'm standing next to Michael and Ryan uh about to race in front of 13,000 people to get my hand on the wall and and make that team and the night before

I did make the 400 free I finished second with a training partner Peter Vanderkay and I remember looking up seeing the 40 family members I had in a dog pile going crazy. I always have the biggest cheering section. Big Chicago Irish family. You had like 40 people come to Rio, right? Yeah, yeah. The Dwyer clan is... Dwyer Nation. Dwyer Nation is unlike anyone else, man.

They get rowdy and the relay members all love it. Michael, Ryan, Ricky, now Townley. They always... We combine family forces and get the USA cheers going. And without those guys and without the support, there's no way I'd be where I am today. But yeah, back to 2012, just making that team, like you said, and my career in such a short time just took off it was a shock that right i hit the wall and wow i made an olympic team when two and a half years ago i wasn't even at the nc2a championships yeah that's insane right so you make it in the you make it in the

400 free and the 200 free yeah or 200 free 4x2 relay right and what was that like like showing up in in london like you're still pretty this is really like you didn't really even swam at a major international meet yet one i swam one relay at a world championships before that and now i'm on the biggest stage um in in sports events how do you get ready for that uh again i had greg troy with me i had ryan lochte who i've i've seen win eight medals and i'm training with this guy toe-to-toe every day um and what is before we even go any further like it probably bears you know sort of comment on you know the the ryan that you know versus like the ryan that we see on tmz? Like as somebody who is his training partner,

who sees him work out every day, spent, you know, countless hours with the guy, you know, behind, you know, when the cameras are off and all of that. Like what is, you know, what does that guy really like compared to what we see on television? Setting aside the Rio incident. TV has not done that guy justice at all. I love Ryan to the death of me. He's, he's been,

um, an incredible friend, training partner, mentor, um, since I started swimming at Florida. And I'll tell anyone that if you knew Ryan and spent a day and a night with him, he would do anything for you. He's one of the most friendly guys you've ever ever met um everyone in the swimming community loves him because he'll take a picture he'll sign an autograph he'll do anything for you um but he's just yeah he's been through a lot the last year he's now training again out here with me um but he couldn't be a better teammate and friend uh to me over the last seven years. So what happened in Rio with the gas station and the whole thing? I mean, I don't want you to like, I don't know. Can you talk about this? We don't have to talk about it. So, I mean, a lot of us, you know, go sober for, for a year, maybe two years, six months. And, um, we were allowed to

go out, um, the last night. So we just finished the biggest competition, um, of our four years. Uh, everyone's on a high, we dominated the world in, in Rio. And so, uh, they went to a French party. People got split up that night. Some were at this event, some were at that event. There are parties happening all over the place. Parties are spread out, right? These are like long drives.

Long drives, yeah, spread out. So I went to a different event. I see them back at the village at 8 or 9 a.m. when we're going to a team meeting at Copacabana Beach. And on the bus ride over, we hear of all this drama that starts coming and everyone's trying to piece together this story that happened last night. No one really knows. And then it was just shit hit the fan there's people getting interviewed during this meeting and a lot of us were in the dark about what was really going on and what happened so like you guys were sitting listening to the news like coaches can't say anything teammates have no

idea what's going on jimmy and and ryan and gunner and jack are getting interviewed by uh those are the guys that were agents and then by Brazil people. And then Ryan got out of the country. I was on the plane ride home with Jack Conger and Gunnar Benz. They got ripped off the plane by federal agents in Brazil. Right. That happened like right before the doors closed, right? Right before the doors closed. They're sitting in their seats thinking, hey, we're going to get home. All is OK. And then six agents come flying on the plane, rip these 22 year olds off. I'm sure they're scared shitless getting pulled off by agents in a third world country. And yeah, that's that's pretty much how it went down right and you had been like you were were you with ryan earlier and i was with them at dinner and then i went to a different event at a hotel um and they were at this this french party all night and i'm sure you're glad you yeah i'm very glad i was not at that party in their cab because they got plastered over their media um but i mean mean yeah they made some wrong choices on how

Ryan told the story but a lot stuff happens after you celebrate a big win it's just tragic that the story was mistold yeah and what is it like is there any ongoing aftermath to that or did everything get resolved like I forget how the whole thing I mean I think Ryan got suspended for a year or two. Right, that's right. The other guys are fine. I know Jimmy had some tough stuff happen with a business he was going to start up. But for the most part, I think everyone's over it, I hope. Yeah, well, the other guys like had to kind of – I feel terrible for those guys because they had to live with this situation that they –

I mean, they were involved and they were there, but they weren't the one sort of facing the media, telling these stories that turned out to not be true, but they had to suffer the consequences of that. And just to be in a foreign country and kind of behind locked doors with authorities, you know, at that age, that's got to be a harrowing situation. Yeah, that was tough for them and and i think they struggled with what what to say what not to say should i get ryan's back should i help out myself so i'm sure those guys went through a tough mental battle during that time

in their life brutal all right man well back to 2012 so you're uh so you you're going to you're going to london and uh this is other than that one world championship relay, this is the big show, right? So what's going through your head when you kind of show up at the Olympic Village? More just that I'm walking around with the greatest team on this planet. I thought the coolest thing was going into these huge rooms and getting to put on all the you get to swag bags left and right you get Nike gear you get Ralph you get Oakley anything you want USA you get it and I'm thinking this is the coolest thing ever I get all free free USA gear and I'm sitting here getting gear with Serena Williams Venus Williams

LeBron, Kobe, they're coming to the village to say hi to us the night before we compete. I've idolized these athletes my entire life. Now I get to wear the red, white, and blue and be teammates with them. It was a dream come true. There was a lot of confidence because we had so many good veterans, like Michael and Ryan, saying, you've competed, you've earned your spot on this team. Some say it's harder. I think after doing this three times now, um, it's harder

to make, it's harder to compete at the Olympic trials than it is at the Olympic games. The pressure at the Olympic games, if you don't get top two, you're done your dreams done. So, um, at trials at trials, I thought the pressure was worse at trials um but i i remember at london i'm a rookie sitting in the ready room with um france who just ran down ryan to win the gold um china and michael just lost it 205 for the second time in his career and he walks into the ready room and he's like uh ryan connor you better get me a fucking lead i'm like oh my god i have the greatest olympian of all time telling me i'm a rookie 23 and i've competed once on the olympic stage or once on a international stage saying connor get me a lead

at the olympic games um thankfully we did and that's heavy that was uh his race where he became the most winningest olympian of all time and he brought us in the huddle after and was like, thank you, guys. We all had no idea. It was, I think, to win his 23rd medal of all time. So it was. Were you aware of that going into that relay or? No clue. I was so dialed in on what I had to do to help the team win a medal that I didn't know

what was going on. Coach Troy was good at putting making me have blinders on and just staying with, you know, my warmups, my massages, my ice tanks, nutrition, that you really, I didn't walk in opening ceremonies. I'm just ready. I'm there to compete and get the job done for the team. And it's extra heightened.

There's a lot more pressure in a relay context because it's not like if it's just you and you screw up then yeah it's on you yeah you know what i mean but are you gonna be the guy who's gonna screw it up for michael phelps and you know yeah yeah that's there is nerves that way you're like oh just do not false start do not do anything that's that's gonna cost you but i dove in and I just remembered, I'm like, I've swam the 200 free so many times. It's the same distance. I know how to do this. Just have faith in your training, have faith in, in what, um, coach Troy has taught you and, um, you'll, you'll do well. And I, I split a one 45 one. So second fastest split on the relay. Right.

145 one. So second fastest split on the relay. Right. What is the, uh, you know, what, what, what do you think it is about the Olympics that maybe, you know, us who just watch it on TV at home can't really fully fathom or understand about that experience? Um, just, yeah, that's, that's a great question. I think just getting to be on one team with all these athletes, like I said, that I idolize when there's golf, like Ricky Fowler and these guys are back there wishing us luck. we go through the media zone and I have Kevin Durant just giving me a huge hug and high five and the whole the whole basketball team I'm a big basketball fan I go now we have Kevin Durant and the whole dream team asking to take pictures with four swimmers who just won a gold medal I don't know if you can like really see that anywhere else see team USA come together and you have some of the biggest stars on the planet asking you to take pictures right we have leslie jones like losing her shit for you right like she's ready

to she's ready to marry you yeah yeah leslie was going nuts she was a she was a good one a good fan then we had mcconaughey in there cheering with the swimmers um we it was rio and london were um i'm lucky enough to have two amazing cities and two unbelievable experiences at my Olympic games. And when you go into, like when you're heading into like you're, you're, you're, you're in the ready room, you're getting ready for, you know, the four by 200 relay, whether it's London or Rio, like, what is the, is there like a technique that you employ to get into the right mindset?

Or is it just, look, I've been training five hours a day for the last 10 years. I know what to do. And you just turn your brain off and just go into autopilot? Or what is your approach? Yeah, I've done a lot of mindset work for before I race. I have the same routine every time as far as warming up, getting a shake out, um, listening to music, getting a shake out by the massage therapist. And then I, I take my headphones off and kind of get in the zone. Um, I've rehearsed this race both in my head

and done things in training day in and day out. But, um, I like to get, um get very mentally tough and in the zone in the ready room stuff I've trained and it's all about racing and competing, but you have to break the guys next to you. So I'm getting in that mental zone, almost like I'm getting ready for battle because at some point there's going to be a point in that race and it's probably going to be the last 15 meters where it's who wants it more and who's willing to push yourself to limits that you didn't think you could go so it is a weird zone you have to get in your head that you're like all right i'm going into battle this is going to hurt a lot but i'm gonna i'm gonna get my hand on the wall and is that like a an inner dialogue with you and yourself or is that about like head games with the other people in the ready room that

you're going to be racing well i'm not giving the phelps face yeah i'm not in there like i think people like really knew what the ready room was until phelps face became like an international meme but yeah yeah no it's weird because you have these eight people you're you're just sitting like we are we're sitting on chairs sitting on the couch about to go compete for a gold medal and the guy's right next to you some have music on, some are stretching, some are clapping and yelling, but I kind of stay in my, stay in my zone. And you know, these guys, I know I'm racing. It's not like you've never seen these people before. Like, you know, these people, you've raced them many times in the past. Yeah. Some of them I'll say hi to in the ready room, but I'm,

and Wes, there's a team USA guy in there, I'm not talking to anyone. I'm just focusing, getting in the zone. And then when you walk out, I'm still in the zone just kind of trying to get ready for my race. But when the gun goes off, I think I do go into somewhat of an autopilot and do what I've been doing in training. And only positive thoughts are going into my head. But the mindset, like sort of exercises, are they, it's just like some technique you've developed on your own

or are there exercises that you do or some kind of formal practice that you have for that? Yeah, we've learned through sports psych people on mindset and different things to think about. And then some breathing techniques. I like to be very, very relaxed before I go off because I'm about to exert every ounce of energy I have. So different breathing techniques and mindset, I think is like what kind of breathing techniques we've learned them through USA swimming guys on how to like try and expand our lungs. So,

so things I'll do um as far as inhale exhale and and it's probably like a two or three minute exercise um just that i think helps um tone down my heart rate and kind of expand my lungs that's cool man do you know uh michael gervais i've yeah he's worked with like the seahawks a lot yeah yeah yeah well he's he's right down the strand here i haven't seen him yeah i'd love to work with him yeah you should you should meet him he's a legend as far as sports psych goes yeah he's worked a lot of swimmers too yeah so um that could be good for you yeah i'd be how does it does it did your did your uh training change from 2012 to 2016 like what has evolved in your approach over the years I've been all some people have trained in the same place for 10 years I've been all over the map so

after 2012 it was yeah I was there for like six months again in Gainesville I just needed a change I wanted to do something different I went and moved and trained with Phelps for a year in Baltimore. Uh-huh. And I just... How was that? It was... I love Michael. He's one of my best friends, but it was in his heyday when he was not in the right place. Yeah, which heyday? Around the time he got his second DUI, he was going through a lot in his life. And we lived, trained together. He was a great friend. You were living with him also? Yes.

I was living with him at that time. And he kind of needed to sort some things out. We had a great time living together. And then I moved out here in 2014 and have been training here with John Urbanchek, Coach Salo, Jack Roach has helped me out a lot, and a ton of weights people. But yeah, I did live with Michael for almost a little over a year in Baltimore. Working with Bowman? Working with Bowman. And then I worked with Coach Bowman. And we didn't see eye to eye a lot. And I think a lot of it was because Michael was not being consistent.

And he was all over the place as far as when I was living there training and doing things that he shouldn't have been doing. And I think that just kind of wore on me because the only way I knew how to train was to do everything right. And he was not doing everything right. And I was, and he was, he was not doing everything right at that time. So I didn't, my head was kind of thrown for a loop, um, training with him and, and Bob. And also I went from training in sunny Florida to, if you ever walk into where Michael Phelps trained in Baltimore, people would be in shock and awe. It is a dump, no offense to, to, uh, the Baltimore pool that he grew grew up in i don't know how he won 18 medals training in that pool but he he must be the mental he's the mental god because i was

training there i go i'm depressed in here i i don't know how it get me in but then when you go to a meet it's all gravy right because you're so it's like it's like buds training for navy seals i think there's books on on like lifting and training and like dumpy facilities all around the world and how people have done well doing that. But I like to train in sunshine and nicer areas. I don't think it's speaking out of school to just say like, you know, Michael went through a lot. And that was a moment in his life where he wasn't sure what he wanted to do and he ended up obviously you know the story's well told he sorted it all out um and you know what happened in the wake of that is pretty remarkable but for

you i mean i would imagine you went there like i'm gonna really dial in he's like distracted and not sure he wants to be swimming that's not an ideal situation for you to like take your game to the next level yeah and then he moved out to zona they love the sunshine who would have thought and i'm out here and what i saw michael full circle just make a hell of a turnaround we end up training again at altitude together three times last year and and he went sober for two years and i saw one of the greatest turnarounds i've ever seen from a friend and companion he was um a lot more loving and um a better leader in general uh in 2012 i didn't i knew him we were friendly but he wasn't that he wasn't as friendly with everyone in 2016 he was the best captain you could have asked for

and and you saw that it seemed like he wanted to be there you know whatever he needed to resolve emotionally mentally spiritually it seemed like he had grappled with that and and had like come to some peace and was there because he wanted to be there it seemed like in in london he didn't he wasn't sure he really wanted to even be doing it right you nailed it i mean that's exactly right he he he wasn't doing things right and i don't think he was necessarily that happy in london but rio he was ecstatic to be there and be a part of the team yeah it's it's inspiring to see that arc you know i mean it was like this whole thing when he went to rehab but then he like came

back and there was like a clarity to him and suddenly he just looked like just from somebody who just watched from afar see him return to swimming and then he got like super fit like he was more cut than you'd ever seen him and you're like oh my god like he's gonna unleash yeah like i've never seen him look like that before i'd never seen that kind of focus and intensity and it was because he had like you know reconciled whatever he needed to reconcile and was there for the right reason yeah he was a force to be reckoned with i also knew when i was at altitude and i he he's one of the fiercest competitors in the world he hates he hates to lose.

And Chase and I were sitting there getting ready for practice, and who opens his mouth? Chad Laclo, the South African, starts chirping to the media about, Phelps can't swim this, Phelps can't swim that. Michael comes in fired up to practice. I go, I will throw, I mean, I didn't throw down, but I would throw down a lot of money to say that this guy is not going to lose because when competitors start opening up your mouth against him,

he will never forget it. The guy's been an Olympian for 24 years, and if there's one thing you should know about him is if you talk smack about him, that's going to come back around and bitch slap you. Like, I can't believe anybody would do that. You're just fueling him. You're just fueling him to train harder and beat you.

Yeah, that's amazing. What was it, you know, fueling him you're just fueling him to train harder and beat you yeah that's amazing what was it you know what what else you know might people not like understand about michael just from you i mean you've known forever living with him in baltimore or whatever like you know what is it what is an aspect of michael phelps either at the pool or outside of the pool that you know maybe people you wish people could understand, but maybe don't. Yeah, I think it's, um, it's been hard. He's been a star since he was 15, you know, and if you do, you do know him, he's a loving guy. He, he, he treats his friends and family as good as anyone I know. Um, but it's just by living with him, uh, and being one of the greatest of all time, I can see how hard it is when you go to Whole Foods or anywhere else. And you always got to be on top of people taking pictures and, and you might get out of a really hard practice that you wanted to do well in.

I'm sure, you know, like you can be in a bad mood. If you're training for an Ironman, you had a horrible day of training and imagine someone coming up and asking for pictures, autographs, do do this um that that might not um he might not come off as the nicest person ever when you're in a bad mood but um he he is a good friend good person and i've seen a hell of a turnaround from that guy yeah i mean that's the situation he's been in his entire life like he doesn't really know anything other than that and to know like when he goes out into the world just sitting when people roll up on him yeah that's going to be their one impression of him and if he's not totally you know can't be on 24 7 yeah but he's he yeah that's so you uh all right so you so you you bust a move out of uh out of

baltimore and then come back you come out here right and so what was the kind of acclimating to living in los angeles and training at usc like well i always wanted like like halloween and stuff i wanted to be a california surfer kid um so i knew i'd be out in california and i always i one of the coaches, it was actually a toss up between USC and Florida and cause Janet swam at USC for a little, I, I didn't end up with Salo, but I always wanted to be out here at some point in my career. And, um, after things were working out in Baltimore, I emailed Dave and her band check was out here.

And I said, what do you guys think? Would you be willing to go all in and try and chase some medals down in Rio? I moved out here with my cousin in Manhattan Beach and I fell in love with California since. I don't think I could live anywhere else. This is a spot for me. You're like, yeah, but you're such a diehard Chicago. All the people in Chicago are going to get pissed. Everyone's in Chicago. I'll go summertime chicago but i i the winter is tough for me if i'm swimming and competing and how much of that training is with urbanchak last year it was a lot with urbanchak um just he had a classic style that um everyone doubted me to make the 400 free because i had a bad 400 free for two years and

i wanted to prove to myself and prove to everyone else that i could um make the 400 free again so he he's trained i don't know 25 gold medalist he's a he's a goat as far as coaching goes and um he helped me go the fastest textile suit 400 free out out of any American. So we, we pushed it the last year and a half training for that 400. That's cool. Yeah. I, I, I love that guy. I think he's one of the greatest coaches of all time. Um, I met him, uh, I met him when I was a senior in high school. I went on a recruiting trip to Michigan. So for people that are listening, John Urbanchek, legendary swim coach. I met him when he was head coach of the University of Michigan. I went on a recruiting trip there. And of all the coaches that I met, he was by far my favorite. And then after I graduated high

school, there used to be this meet called the National Sports Festival, which was like a mini Olympics just in the United States. And you'd have east, West, North, and South. And you'd come together and have this meet. And he was my coach at that meet. And I just think he, I don't know. There's something about that guy. He's amazing, right? But he brings the best out of you in a funny, humorous way, even if you have a bad workout.

But he's been to nine Olympics. He's coached Tom Dolan. He helped with in in 08 when he won eight golds he's just a legend um and he still comes on deck he's what he's he's in his 80s he's in his 80s i mean he's incredibly fit he was always like super fit it's a joke that he he's been retired since like 2000 but he's on deck with me still to this day for three times a week. All right. And just for context. All right. So I met him, it was 1985. So that's like four years before you were born. Right. And I used to throw kickboards at Tom Dolan's head when he was, when I was like a senior in high school and he was like eight years old. Right. So that's how much older

I am than you. But to make the point of how how like how long john urbanchak has been a force in in olympic swimming and collegiate swimming it's amazing right it's amazing and he's still on deck like still on deck wearing board shorts sandals and a t-shirt drinking six espresso shots at 5 a.m and then giving you seven grand right every single practice so he's doing this he'll pull out old workouts from michigan and goes these are what the boys did let's see if you can beat it so this is a question that that michael gervais would ask you but i'm going to ask it i i'm stealing this question from him uh do you think that your is your is your motivation your competitiveness or your drive

is that motivated internally like because you want to be the best version of yourself or do you need that external competition like are you motivated by what are you impacted by what other people are doing like what's the driver um i i think i'd have to go with uh i've always had an internal drive as far as competing and wanting to be the best I can be in whatever I've done, especially athletics. No matter what sport I've done, I've had an internal drive to want to be the best on the team, to want to be a leader and want to be a captain. So I would have to go with internal.

Yeah. Swimming is, seems like the kind of sport that attracts that kind of mindset because it is i mean it's a team sport but it really is an individual yeah and you know the grind you're four hours by i mean you're with teammates training but you're at some some practices it could be a 3k for time and it's you and yourself internally yeah thinking about what you want to do in this sport and how you want to make yourself better, fitter, faster, and stronger. Right.

So 2016 Olympics. Goal. Dually ride. Yeah. So once again, the gauntlet of the Olympic trials, you make the team of the 200 free and the 400 free. And the 400 free. And four by two relay.

Uh-huh. Yeah. I knew I, yeah, I know I mentioned hard work, but I took it to an extreme level last year. And I think a lot of the coaches that I worked with will back me on that, both out of the pool and in the pool. And I had so much confidence, no matter what, as long as I stayed healthy, I knew I was going to make the team and whatever I was swimming. So

Rio or 2016 went exactly according to plan. Granted, there were ups and downs, but when I went into trials, I was never more confident to compete at a meet in my life. Mm hmm. When I was talking to Jack Roach, a meet in my life. Mm hmm. When I was talking to Jack Roach, he said, you know, Connor, of all the people that I know, like he just is committed to constantly improving and growing and expanding and like making, you know, better choices for himself, you know, and as you kind of get into this, you know, elite realm where you live and you do have all these opportunities and distractions, it becomes more important for you to learn how to flex that muscle. Whether it's like getting out of a situation in Baltimore that's not serving your swimming or knowing when finally that moment's going to come and you're like, maybe I shouldn't go to the Grammys. Yeah, no, there were no awards going on last year.

So what did you dial up last year to like take it to that next level? Was it nutrition? Was it just mindset? Was it like just training volume or? Yeah, I had nutrition coaches like you have followed, but I've had nutrition coaches that I would just, how can I get, how can I recover quicker

so I can bring it again and and beat all these guys and work out the second practice so i had nutrition but then so what did that look like specifically just very clean very clean eating um oats fruits um a lot of like healthy clean um vegan protein shakes, salads. I didn't go completely vegan, but I didn't eat red meat at all last year. I haven't eaten it really. Um, and fish veggies, um, probably six meals a day, every day, but very clean. Um, and I felt the benefits of it.

Um, training day in and day out recovery, everything. There's not that many, from my observation, well, this is dated because it's based on my experience, but I'm interested in what it's like now in terms of how dialed in most swimmers are on their nutrition. Because I was at the Olympic Training Center. I saw the food that they're feeding people there, and I watched what the swimmers were eating,

and I was like, there's a lot of work that yeah yeah there is there's a there's a lot of work and i think a lot of people still when they do um when they know when they do learn like you and i have learned i've followed um jack roach whenever where it meets we're eating at whole foods every single day twice a day eating clean um recovering right but um i think it's made big strides since you were swimming but it still has a long way to go right i mean it's tough when the thing about swimming is there's you know dabbled in a bunch of different sports but like of anything that i've ever like done swimming makes you it spikes your appetite more than anything you're hungry all the time when you're training so you're so hungry that you just want calories so you become

indiscriminate about where those calories are coming from and you don't learn anything like that in high school you're just like go to dunkin donuts go do you know just get oh i can eat 8 000 calories so let's eat everything and michael phelps did it the phelps diet look what happened to him so i'll just that's not true i live with him he does not eat that he was eating at whole foods with me that calorie count is out of control well i think that wasn't that that was a story when he was like living in his dorm room at michigan like before the the before beijing right so i'm sure and yeah he was like he was very young so So I'm sure. And yeah, he was like, he was very young, so he, I'm sure he could eat like that. But, um, yeah, so nutrition was a big thing, but, um, like you said, I think the biggest thing I had to do is sacrifice and that was sacrificing going to fun events. I was

training twice a day. I was in the mountains for, for 90 days. So I had to sacrifice a lot of friendships, a lot of fun events. But I had that end goal in mind and I had the support staff from the cousins I lived with, the family that have been there since day one. But what a lot of people don't know is what you have to sacrifice to make that Olympic team. And it was a drooling and tough year of training for me. But it paid off dividends. You got to live like a monk, right?

Yeah, I was like a Sherpa up there. So are you going to do that again? This year, I will go up for a 30-day camp. In Colorado Springs. In Colorado Springs. I love going up there. There's nothing else to do. You just get away from everything.

You just get to train, eat right right and be healthy um and that's stuff i love to do right you can do that here too i do love doing that here i would yeah i do uh i do live healthy and and eat clean and work out here all the time but um i don't think I have to do that. That was a little extreme. So is Janet Evans still a part of your, like she, it seems like she played a huge part in changing your life, right? And she, you know, she lives in Southern California, right? Do you still stay in touch with her? Yeah, she's pushing hard right now for LA 2024.

So I'm hoping the Olympics, I won't be competing, but I have one more in me, Tokyo, but I'm trying to help her in any way I can bring the Olympics back to the States. And we're still very friendly. Right. And family. Family's a big part of your success equation, right? Seems like you have really supportive siblings and parents.

Siblings, parents, cousins, friends. They've been at every big meet you can think of from Olympic trials, traveling all the way to Rio when they didn't even know if it'd be safe or not. So the support I've had is, I think, as good as anyone could ask for. And what's that like having a twin brother? He just left. He was here for the weekend. It's awesome.

Actually, I was in Sun Life the other day, and they're like, you're not twins. And we were messing with them, saying, yes, we are. No, we're not. But a lot of people can see when me and my three other brothers get together, us four, we look alike, but my twin, we're fraternal. Right, so not identical. Not identical, but we have similar mannerisms, and he loves to work out and stay fit,

so we get along pretty well. So he trains Chance the Rapper and goes on tour with those guys, right? So it's not weird like, oh, you're the olympic swimmers getting all the attention like that could be i could see i'm asking him to go sideways yeah yeah no um he's he's he's done very well he's now training at a gym called the dog pound in new york city yeah i know that i know that's where my friend brandon brazier goes there when he's in new york that's

where hugh jackman trains exactly i i was i was actually when i lived in New York that's where Hugh Jackman trains exactly I was I was actually when I lived in Baltimore I would go lift and work out with those guys at 5 30 a.m in this tiny gym with Kirk who who started the dong pound and now it's like the hottest gym in the world right what they've done in four years is is out of control so it's cool that my twin gets to work out or train their uh train clients and then he'll go back on tour with chance and them so he lives in new york city he lives in new york city that's cool yeah well next time i go to new york i'm going to new york soon i'll get i'll have him take you through the ringer in the dog pound i'm scared to go to the dog pound like i just think it might not come out alive

yeah like you jackman train you know that's where he becomes wolverine right that's where he goes and he's he's an animal in the weight room but you can handle it you've done five ironmans and yeah five in a week i'm just like a skinny runner it's a different thing yeah it's a different animal um that's cool and the whole like i know you're like a sports fanatic right but that like runs deep with your family like your great your grandfather like involved with the cubs and yeah going way back yeah so i i our grandfather um worked for the tribune and ran the cubs for many years so i was i got to be around they weren't that good for a lot of the time i was growing up but i got to be around the uh the cubs players and then the dugout when i was a boy and um he was he was amazing at taking us to all all the Cubs games

home and away um and to see them win it after 110 years I had I flew to Cleveland uh my brothers drove I got to fly and they won game seven we were all in a huddle like going nuts uh in Cleveland when they won so um that was that was a fun year we've we've traveled to blackhawks stanley cup games you can look around i'm looking around the room it's like blackhawks yeah you got like a dwyer cubs jersey bears yeah i've thrown out the first pitch saying the seventh inning stretch at wrigley field that was a bucket list thing as a boy I sang this stretch 40 times a year as a little kid when I was at games and then after 2012 I got to sing it in front of 42,000 that's crazy yeah it's amazing right like does that just like what do you make of that when you act like

when you're in your quiet moment or you're like going to sleep and you're like wow like this is my life i think yeah things worked out well and things could be a lot worse i i wake up at 5 30 and look at the ocean and get my mind right on how i'm how i'm gonna be a better person today and um but when when stuff like that happens and i get to sing the seventh inning stretch, all I can think about is like this. This is a dream come true. And this almost isn't real life. Like, how am I standing here getting to take pictures at Chicago events of things I was going to as a kid asking to take pictures of Cubs players? And now they want to take a picture with me. I can't even really wrap my head around it. and now they want to take a picture with me.

I can't even really wrap my head around it. Yeah, it's amazing, right? And so what do you think, like what do you, like I'm trying to get behind that. Like do you feel like, yeah, man, I worked for it. I earned it. Or like this is some sort of predestined thing or? No, no. Or are you just like, how do you think about it?

predestined thing or no are you just like how do you think about it i i think if anyone would have seen the work i i've put in through through high school and and how hard i work day in and day out in practices they would say i've earned it i've i put in i put in navy seal like training at florida as far as seven hours a day. Um, and, and while doing school, getting a degree. So I sacrificed a lot of fun things. I'm growing up to accomplish, um, my dreams at winning NCS and making Olympic trials, but it got to pay off as far as getting to do, uh, singing the seventh inning stretch. But I did have to, uh uh have to take some fun things off and not enjoy those what is your like message to young athletes out there do you go and talk to young kids or do clinics or talk to high school kids yeah i do like to go to clinics and just tell

my story about how i was sitting there on the bench at and lake forest swim club listening to an olympian and um at no point did I really think it would be possible to be an Olympian but I think telling my story as as far as not getting recruited out of high school that anything can happen if you're willing to work hard and outwork the people next you have listened to your coaches that was something that's helped me so much in my career, just listening to my coaches and having faith in them. I think if you don't have faith in the person that's telling you what to do, then you should probably reevaluate that.

You had good coaches, though. I had the best. I've worked with Salo, Urbanchek, Bowman, Troy, Jack Roach. I'm probably missing a few, but all of them have been with the U.S. staff for over 10 years. I've been lucky to work with all of them. What is it about Jack Roach that keeps you coming back to him? That guy's a saint.

We just have good vibes towards each other. I don't know. Ever since we've run into each other on the U.S. national team, we eat meals together at every meet. We do trips. He loves surfing. He loves outdoors. He likes healthy eating.

We just run well together. He helped me a lot last year. He probably flew out to California once every two meets and would help coach me one-on-one. Yeah, there was some Instagram posts that you were throwing up where it looked like he, it was just you and him like before the Olympics doing one-on-one work at like some random pool at a hotel. Yeah. This was a week and a half before Olympic trials. I was like, Jack, I know I've put on the work, but I am, I wouldn't say

freaking out. I'm a little nervous. I could use you out here just to keep my mind at ease and rest. I don't love being like alone, not being around my coaches before going into a really big competition. So Jack came out here and kind of put me at ease, like, all right, Connor, settle down. We're going to be OK. We went and swam in a beautiful pool right on the ocean uh for a week and a half before trials and that really i owe a lot to him getting my mind right before trials because i was like it's just a nerve-wracking event to go into if you slip up you're you're done yeah wow and uh and so going into like trying to you're now like in the very early stages of getting ready to like wrap your

head around preparing for tokyo and we're in this like three and a half year period where no one cares about swimming. Exactly. Right. The sheen, all the excitement of, you know, Rio is starting to fade into people's rear view and memories. And now there'll be this sort of, well, it's kind of good for you because you can focus, right? Yeah. Before like the world turns its attention on swimming again, which is sort of the cursing and of good for you because you can focus right yeah um before like the world turns its attention on swimming again which is sort of the cursing and the bless of of olympic

swimming but you know entering into this next phase like and taking this like sort of the next step in this evolution this growth curve of like always trying to be better and do better and learn more are there things you're going to try that you haven't tried before? Is there a different approach? Like how do you, how do you like preparing for a third Olympiad? Like how do you deal with burnout and, and keeping it fresh and interesting and, and still trying to push yourself to, you know, new heights of performance? Yeah, that is key.

Having to keep it fresh as far as the sport of swimming. And I think I've done a great job of, of not just being a swimmer, but being an athlete and an outdoorsman. I love, I love to swim, but I love to surf. I would love to go on a bike or a 10 mile run with you. I'm not afraid to do any sort of workout. And I think that's helped me throughout my career, just mixing it up outside the pool. but i'm i'm focusing really on stuff the 200 free the 100 free and 200 i am so it i wanted to make that 400 but i had i think it hurt me a little bit swimming the 200 because you swim two fours and then i swim two twos the

following day and then a finals too so i raced five times pedal to the metal within two and a half days at the olympics i barely slept could barely feel my body after two days i was so beat up so i kind of want to try going into olympic trials and olympics fresh going into 200 free because um training for 400 you got to kind of train like a miler. I'm racing a lot of those guys. They're training even more than I am. And 200, you can go against guys that are training for a hundred. So I'm trying to just focus on my best event, which I think is a 200 free. And I think it'll help me a lot in a hundred free and making a relay and helping those guys out. And the 200, I am. And the 200, I am. That's the other like sneaky thing about you it's like you're this unbelievable i ammer but because of lochte and phelps no one no one knows

that those damn guys i keep getting third yeah i've been the third best i ammer for a long time but i mean who knows what those guys are doing uh if they'll be back but i think i can make a 200 IM team. Yeah. So that's awesome, man. That's cool. And in terms of like the actual like pool training or sort of strength training, are you making tweaks and changes there? Like does that, do you start doing less volume and more intensity or like how does that look

as you get older and you know, you sort of are uh, are trying to continue to evolve. Yeah. Salo does a very good job at keeping it fresh. He's like a new innovative coach that, um, um, that, that keeps it fun and fresh, different sort of practices. There's always like loud music going on at USC, good, good people to train with there. And now Lochte's out here. And as far as gym wise i um i train out here with like nick curson who trains a lot of mma guys just fast fast twitch um things that are he he's he'll push you to the limits but i think it's helping a lot in um my fast twitch muscles that

i can go endurance like you but i need help for the hundred free to get those fast twitch muscles you gotta activate that for sure is that out here in manhattan beach or is that that's in torrance um and then i'll work in the gym at sc um doing doing things i've consistently done but i think um doing that sort of different style training has helped me out right and how does it work with you know as a professional athlete you're a professional swimmer you have sponsors and you have obligations with respect to that like how does that all like that wasn't even like a thing when i was swimming like that didn't even exist except for maybe like two people yeah so now like i'm sure you have to show up and do you know a photo shoot in houston with speedo next week for like three days uh-huh yeah so you you got to stay on top of both handling it business wise

with your agent yourself and, and not straying too far from training, which this year you can, you want to make money, do as many appearances you can, but when it gets time for the Olympic year, you may have to pass up on, uh, opportunities, money, sponsorship deals, depending on how much the company or provider wants out of you. If they want 10 appearances, are you willing to miss 10 to 15 days of training? That's something you sit down with your coach and your agent and have to decide on. Right. Yeah, because you got to pay the bills, man. Yeah. It's like, and somebody wants to throw money at you. You know, it's hard to say no to that, but you got to like do what's in the best long-term interest of your career, right? Yeah.

I mean, you've seen people now that maybe have done too many sponsorships and too many events where it's hurt them and you can see it on big trials. So you don't want to be that person to do too much and then it shows in your racing. Right. For sure. I had Anthony Irvin on the podcast. He's the man. I love Tony. Yeah, I want to get him back on after the Olympics

because I had him on before Olympic trials when he really didn't think he was going to make the team and it wasn't even in his mind really. Well, at least according to him. No offense to Tony. I saw him. I didn't think he was going to make the team. And, you know, it wasn't even in his mind really. Well, at least according to him. No offense to Tony. I saw him. I didn't think he was going to make the team. Yeah.

He was in a dark place. Well, it was March of 2016. Because he was training here and it wasn't working out. Right. And so the decision to go to Charlotte was like a Hail Mary. Absolutely. Hail Mary. Right.

And no one has a better feel for the water than that guy. I've never seen anything. His stroke technique is second to none. He's so fluent, and it's one of the prettiest strokes I've ever seen. But he was in the worst place I've ever seen him in March. Mentally. Mentally, almost physically, because he wasn't doing what he needed to do to train. If you would have told me in March that Anthony Irvin would have won the

53 gold medal, I would kick you in that ocean behind you. I'd say, get the hell out of here, Rich. You're kicked out. But I love Anthony. He's such a good mentor. His story is as good as it gets. It's insane. The nine-year bender that he went on and did you read his book i've read some of his book i mean i've i've done camps with tony he'll he'll tell me the dark stories i've heard him uh-huh so the turnaround that guy's yeah for him to pull it together you know to go out to charlotte and get his act together and show up and do what he did is is just i mean was just stunning i mean and to be there to witness that and for him to be captain of the team at the time,

that had to be pretty cool. At 35, yeah. Yeah, we had some good old guys dominate. I'm hoping at 31, I can do all right. I think you're gonna do all right. Yeah, it was funny watching that on television because the 53 is where the biggest, buffest dudes tend to show up, right?

And Anthony's a tall guy. Like, he's a big dude. But when you, you know, on television, they go lane by lane, and you see each guy, and you're just seeing these mountain, these dudes are just. These guys weigh like 220. Yeah, exactly. And then you look at, and then they show Anthony,

and he looks so skinny by comparison. That's why I say his stroke is just so damn good. He weighs like, yeah 175 you're like this guy's got no chance yeah and his start sucks his start sucks you go well he finally pulled it together yeah it's the start cost him in london and all he needed is a good start and he's got the stroke to do it and the speed well that's what he got worked out in charlotte i think yeah which was cool right so hopefully you know he keeps going and you guys can be teammates i hope so tokyo i love that guy are you involved in that la 2024 campaign at all a little bit yeah i mean they put together

one hell of a plan and i i think if they don't get in la 2024 they'll get it um the next one i think they'll get one of the two um and we already have everything built out here you know from usc to ucla they can use the dorms we have the stadium getting put in inglewood the stadium at the coliseum we have we have beach right here for volleyball it wouldn't really have to be um too much it's i think it's we've got a great shot at bringing it back be cool i had uh i had casey washerman on the podcast he was kind of leading that charge and he was saying the same thing like essentially everything's built but they would be like redoing the pool at usc oh for sure yeah i'm interested to see what they would do with the pool yeah that's an oldie oldie but goodie they would

need to build a hell of a stance but they're ready to do it cool all right we gotta we gotta wrap this up um in a little bit here but um i always like to try to leave people with you know a little bit of of of inspiration you know some just like actionable takeaways that people can like work into their own lives and i i think really you know my favorite part of your story and i think what's so kind of cool and inspirational about it is the fact that you weren't just like a star from day one that you were this guy who like literally wasn't getting recruited you were like a very average high school swimmer who was able to flip that switch and and become something very different so you know what can you leave people with that they can sort of think about or implement into their own lives to,

you know, perhaps reframe how they think about themselves and the limits that we put on our, you know, what we think we're capable of achieving. Yeah. I think there's just always more in the tank and you can never really dream too big. I, a lot of people would have thought my dream of making the Olympics was too big. I wasn't good enough. I wasn't big enough. people would have thought my dream of making olympics was too big i wasn't good enough i wasn't big enough i wasn't fast enough but um i'm glad i i was able to dream that big so to just open up your mind and if you really do want it bad enough um you can achieve it through through working hard enough all right man i love it thanks thanks connor thank you for having me that was awesome how you feel feel. Have you done a podcast before?

Never. First podcast. First one. Excellent, man. Well, hopefully more podcasts to come. Right on. All right, we're going to go to Sun Life. Let's go to Sun Life.

Daily hit. All right. Always. If you're digging on Connor, the best way to connect with him is you can tap into his massive Instagram account, Connor J. Dwyer on Instagram. Do you have a website too. You don't have a, do you have a website too? I don't have a website.

I use just Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. So you contact me there. Connor J Dwyer across the board on everything. Everything. All right, man. Keep it easy.

Simple. All right. Thanks, man. Great talking to you. Thanks. Peace. Let's.

All right, we did it. Hope you guys dug that. If you're stoked on connor dwyer you can check him out online at connor j dwyer on both instagram and twitter give him a follow give him a hey hey and let him know what you thought about the podcast he actually invited me to do a little bit of training when i get back to los angeles so i'm definitely gonna take him up on that and maybe i'll bring you guys a little behind the scenes on YouTube or Instagram. So stay tuned for that. Quick note, glad you guys

enjoyed last week's show with Kip and Keegan from Cowspiracy and now the new movie What the Health. That podcast was super popular. And I want to thank everybody who made a point of watching the film in the first four days because that raised a ton of money for Food Not Bombs. I got so many nice messages from people who saw it, who enjoyed it, who enjoyed seeing my little cameo, who shared the movie with their friends. And if you have not yet seen it, just a reminder, you can watch it and you can stream it by just going to whatthehealthfilm.com. So do that. If you would like to support this show and my work, there's a couple of simple ways to do that. If you would like to support this show and my work, there's a couple simple ways to do that. You can share the podcast with your friends and on social media. Leave a review on iTunes if you

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I'm stoked. I got some cool stuff here that I'm going to do, that I'm going to be bringing to you guys soon. And until then, make it a great week. Peace. Plants. Thank you.