Swimmer Garret Weber-Gale On Olympic Gold, Healing High Blood Pressure & Haute Cuisine

2-time Olympic gold medalist. Member of the 2008 Beijing Olympic 4×100 freestyle relay that will go down in history as one of the greatest moments in Olympic history. American record holder. NCAA Champion. And the first American under 48 seconds in the 100 meter freestyle. Garrett Weber-Gale, one of the world's most decorated competitive swimmers, joins the podcast to talk with Rich about elite performance, professional athleticism, life (and food) at the Olympic Training Center, how he healed his high blood pressure with better nutrition, and his passion for fine cuisine cooking, quality eats and helping people. NOTE: I am well aware that the audio on this Skype interview is less than ideal. Issues with Skype not picking up my (Rich's) microphone properly. Apologies. Again, I'm a newcomer at all this and can only promise to have it dialed in better next time. Thanks for understanding (& try not to hate). SHOW NOTES * Garrett Weber-Gale Wikipedia * Athletic Foodie * Garrett in Sports Illustrated * Garrett Weber-Gale Credits Good Nutrition for Olympic Gold * Garrett on Twitter: @GWeberGale Want to be inspired? Watch below as Garrett & his boys Michael Phelps, Cullen Jones & Jason Lezak do their thing in the 4×100 freestyle relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Greatest. Olympic Moment. Ever. HOW CAN I SUPPORT THE PODCAST? 1. TELL A FRIEND! (Self-explanatory) 2. SHARE ONLINE! (Also self-explanatory) 3. SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW the show on iTunes, Stitcher and Soundcloud and TuneIn. 4. DONATE: Check out the DONATE button on the right hand margin or click HERE to learn more. We even accept Bitcoin! 5. DOWNLOAD THE NEW MOBILE APP! Now you can access, stream, download and share the entire RRP catalog in the palm of your hand on any iOS mobile device (iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch) with our new mobile app. Never miss an episode, plus special announcements, discounts, giveaways. Already downloaded? Awesome. When you have a minute, and it feels right to you, do us a solid and give the app a review in the iTunes Store. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

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• 1:13Rich Roll?

  The Rich Roll Podcast.

• 1:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, buddy. Today, the podcast, welcome back. Thank you for stopping by and listening. Episode 10. I can't believe we're already on our 10th episode. I feel like we just started this. Well, we did just start it, actually. It's brand-new, and we are still trying to find our way through this and learn how to do this right. So forgive any amateur mistakes, or audio recording problems, or anything like that. We're doing the best we can. And we're heading back from Hawaii to Los Angeles in about five days. And when I get back to LA, I'm going to have some new studio equipment, and I'm going to try to notch things up in terms of... Production value and quality and all of that. So, thanks for bearing with us through this early phase.

• 2:00Speaker 01

  So today, very, very exciting guest on the show today. Very proud to have the phenomenal Garrett Weber Gale on the show. Who is Garrett Weber Gale? Well, if you're a fan of swimming, and Olympic swimming in particular, you've probably heard of Garrett. I wouldn't say he's a household name, but if you follow the sport of swimming, he's certainly a celebrity in that world. And beyond that, he's just a really fascinating, interesting, great young man. And I was really excited that he was willing to come on the show and share with us today. I've known Garrett for a couple of years. First got acquainted with him through Twitter, which I love the fact that I met him initially through Twitter.

• 2:43Speaker 01

  And I've been following him for some time, and he's really a remarkable kid. First and foremost, he is one of the world's most accomplished competitive swimmers, one of the leading sprint freestylers in the world. His accomplishments go on and on. If you're not a fan of swimming, maybe that won't mean anything to you, and you might think, "Well, I don't watch swimming, or I've never seen this kid, and I don't know anything about him." But I almost guarantee you that you have seen him swim, because almost everybody saw that relay in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics. The 4x100 freestyle relay, the relay that included Michael Phelps. And it was the relay against their arch-rival, France.

• 3:25Speaker 01

  It was a very hotly contested race. There was a lot of pressure on both countries to win this race. And France, as I recall, I think it had the better of the United States, or, you know, I can't remember exactly, I could have my facts wrong. But anyway, this was a big race, and as they were going into the fourth leg, America fell behind France. And Jason Lezak, who was the anchor leg on that relay, pulled it out, touched out France for the victory. And it was so exciting. The race has gone down as the greatest race in United States swimming history. And I think it's one of the greatest Olympic moments of all time. And Garrett was on that relay.

• 4:07Speaker 01

  So you probably saw him swim, and you probably saw him jumping up and down on the deck after they won the gold medal there. So that's the guy we're going to be talking to. But... He also won a second gold medal in the four by one hundred medley relay at the same Olympics. Garrett is a former American record holder. He held the American record in the fifty freestyle, fifty meter freestyle with a blazing twenty-one forty-seven. And he was also the first American to go under forty-eight seconds in the hundred meter freestyle. So when I say he's a fast swimmer, I mean, he's like, super fast, right? Like, one of the fastest swimmers ever. He also won an NCAA championship. He was the NCAA champion in the hundred freestyle. He swam for the University

• 4:51Speaker 01

  of Texas between two thousand and three and two thousand and seven, and he continues to live in Austin and train under the tutelage of Eddie Reese, who's the head coach there, and has been the head coach there forever. I mean, he was the head coach at Texas when I was a swimmer at Stanford in the late eighties. So, he's a legendary coach, one of the greatest swim coaches of all time. And Garrett has thrived under him. And what's interesting, beyond his athletic accomplishments, and why I think Garrett is such an appropriate guest for this show, is his interest in food and nutrition. You know, most swimmers that I know, and in fact, most elite athletes, actually don't know enough about nutrition,

• 5:36Speaker 01

  or simply aren't really all that interested in it. But Garrett has a very profound and keen interest in nutrition that started back when he was nineteen years old and was diagnosed with high blood pressure, which sort of forced him to take a look at what he was eating, and try to dial it in and address this medical issue that he had. The doctors wanted him to go on medication, but because of drug testing, et cetera, some of the drugs that the doctors wanted to put him on are on the banned list. And, you know, a guy like Garrett gets tested all the time. So, that was not an option. And, of course, he wanted to continue to swim and compete. So he really had to take matters into his own hands. And he had to, essentially, heal himself with food. And that's essentially what he's done. And

• 6:21Speaker 01

  that experience of learning about nutrition, learning about food, learning how to cook,

• 6:27Speaker 01

  ...planted a seed in him for this passion for food that he has. He's passionate about cooking, he's passionate about helping people get healthier. And this is a guy who is so passionate about food that when he has time off in the off-season, instead of, you know, relaxing by a pool, he flies off to Europe and apprentices under some of the top chefs in the world at some of the craziest, most amazing restaurants in the world, like Michelin, three-star Michelin restaurants. And, you know, Garrett's a guy who's a go-getter. He's been able to connect with some of the most famous chefs in the world. He's rubbing elbows with Daniel Boulud and guys like that. And also is always giving back, you know?

• 7:06Speaker 01

  He uses his culinary skills to host fundraisers, to raise money for kids organizations and for United States Swimming as well. So, he's an inspiration. He inspires me. I love following him. And, you know, maybe most of all, what I love about him is just his pure enthusiasm. He has an amazing positive attitude and he's just enthusiastic about life. And the world truly is his oyster. He's really an amazing character. So, very proud and excited to have him on and chat with us.

• 7:46Speaker 01

  Without further ado, let's talk to Garrett. Let's do it. Episode 10. All right, let's rock this thing. Garrett Weber-Gale, how you doing, man?

• 7:55Speaker 02

  I'm doing great, thank you. How are you?

• 7:57Speaker 01

  I'm doing good. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me today. I know you're pretty busy. Garrett's out at the Olympic Training Center right now. What are you doing? A training camp?

• 8:07Speaker 02

  Yeah, I'm at a training camp out here with the University of California, actually, under Coach Dave Durden. I'm getting an opportunity to train with some different guys. Nathan Adrian, who won the 100 freestyle this summer at the Olympics in London. And Anthony Irvin, who is longtime great American sprinter. He competed in the 50 freestyle in London and just getting a little bit of fresh air and new opportunity to learn.

• 8:34Speaker 01

  Yeah, very cool. I mean, for those who don't know, that's the best of the best when it comes to, you know, the world's greatest 50 and 100 freestylers, right?

• 8:44Speaker 02

  Yeah, and really, I've been at Texas for ten years, University of Texas training there. I love training there. I think that that system and that program is the best in the world. But you can always learn from new people and I'm just trying to come out here and pick up some things in the weight room and in the water, some drills and some different technique things on my stars. So it's really been a fantastic experience so far.

• 9:07Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's great. I mean, I think it's important to mix it up. You know, it's easy to stick in your, you know, stay in your rhythm and work with the coach you've always worked with and believe in. But, you know, to kind of spread your wings a little bit, try something different and mix it up with some people you don't necessarily get to train with that much.

• 9:25Speaker 02

  Yeah, and I think actually one of the most beneficial things is that you get, when you're in your own zone, you kind of start building this mentality where everything that you are doing and everything your coach is giving you is the best. And you think that your team, you guys are doing all the best stuff in the weight room, the best stuff in the water. But really, when you go and get a chance to work with some other people, it really is eye-opening that, you know, people are stronger than you in different ways. And maybe they're doing some different things on their stroke that you could learn. Really, it's just a unique opportunity to always try and get better. And my philosophy is I'm always trying to get better than I was before. And I know that I can't do it alone. I need to be pushed by people who might be better than me or no more than me.

• 10:10Speaker 01

  Yeah, you've got to get out of your comfort zone. But you also have to be careful, right? Because you want to feel confident about your primary coach and the program and believe in that wholeheartedly. So it's sometimes I think it can be a risk to try something new. And you don't want to be second guessing, you know, your main program.

• 10:29Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's true. And it's easy to always say, oh, the grass is greener on the other side. Texas trains way differently than Cal and Cal probably trains way differently than Georgia versus Auburn versus Stanford. And it's easy to go into a different environment and think it's all fun and games and new and exciting. But yeah, you have to stay confident that what you've been doing with your coach is what got you there and will continue to help you be great.

• 10:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, right. Cool. So how long are you there for?

• 11:00Speaker 02

  I got here on the thirtieth and I'm here until the tenth.

• 11:03Speaker 01

  Uh huh, and what are you currently training for? Like, what's the focus?

• 11:07Speaker 02

  Actually, well dang, I don't know that I'm gonna let that cat out of the bag. Because it hasn't been announced officially, but I'll just say I've wanted to compete in a meet in Israel for many years, and I am Jewish, and you are not allowed to compete at that meet if you were going to the world championships as well, because they're at the same time. So, in two thousand five and two thousand nine, they have this meet every four years. Um, I went to the world championships and did not go to this meet in Israel, but this year I'm finally getting the opportunity to do it, and I'm super excited about it. I've always wanted to do it, and they haven't announced it officially yet, so I'm not gonna

• 11:48Speaker 02

  uh, go there, but I'm sure some of you guys will know what that, that competition is.

• 11:53Speaker 01

  Right, I think I know what it is. I'm not allowed to say it myself either.

• 11:58Speaker 02

  Uh.

• 11:58Speaker 01

  I better not, right?

• 12:00Speaker 02

  You better not, Rich.

• 12:01Speaker 01

  Okay, alright, I won't. I don't wanna jinx it. I don't wanna screw anything up for you, so, but...

• 12:06Speaker 02

  You know, it's the second largest sporting event in the world. This year, there'll be uh, eighty-five hundred Jewish athletes from like a hundred and thirty countries competing, so it's pretty special, Leo. I'm very honored and, and excited to be part of it.

• 12:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, very cool. I mean, I, I know athletes who have participated in the, uh, not aforementioned event, if it's the same thing I'm thinking about, and, and uh, they, yeah, and they, you know, it was a life, it was a life experience for them, but, you know, I know guys that did it, you know, twenty, thirty years ago, and they still talk about it being one of the greatest experiences of their lives.

• 12:38Speaker 02

  Yeah, absolutely.

• 12:40Speaker 01

  Very cool. Well, Garrett, you are one of my favorite athletes, certainly one of my favorite swimmers, but one of my favorite athletes in, in any discipline, and I was trying to remember how we first got acquainted. Uh, I, I know it was through Twitter. I don't know how it happened. It was several years ago, when I, when I, you know, you first got on my radar, and we chatted a little bit. I've been following you ever since, and I just love, you know, kind of your life path. I love your enthusiasm and your positive attitude, and, you know, you're really so generous in, in kind of providing a window into what it's like to, you know, live and, and be a professional athlete. And you're great on social media, you know, you just, you share so openly about, you know, what you're going through and all your experiences. It's been really fun to, to watch your career unfold.

• 13:26Speaker 02

  Well, I appreciate it. That is my goal to hopefully give people a look inside what it's like trying to compete and be on the world stage and, and, uh, you know, they didn't have Twitter really at the 2008 Olympics when I competed, but I have really tried to do as best job I could, keeping people in touch and, you know, the world championships I've been to and, uh, it's just a really unique opportunity for me to try and inspire people, teach them some things about being healthy, eating healthy, cooking healthy, and I really enjoy and I'm honored that people follow me and that I get to interact with them.

• 14:03Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's cool. It's been really fun for, for me personally, and I know a lot of other people have been getting a lot out of it. So I want to take a, I want to take a step back and kind of go back to the beginning. You, you grew up in Wisconsin and I, I assume you swam at a, a club team there?

• 14:19Speaker 02

  I did. I swam at, in Wisconsin. I swam for Nicolay High School and I swam for Schrader YMCA for a little bit and, uh, just grew up in Wisconsin all my life, swimming and sailing and skiing and, uh, I'll tell you about beyond Colorado. I see this mountain every day. I'm like, golly, I wish I could go out there skiing. It'd be great.

• 14:37Speaker 01

  Yeah, you don't want a broken ankle though. I don't think that would bode well for...

• 14:42Speaker 02

  No, would not be good.

• 14:43Speaker 01

  Yeah. So let's stick to the pool for now. Plenty of years later on when you can ski.

• 14:48Speaker 02

  True.

• 14:49Speaker 01

  So when did it start to click in like that, you know, when did you first start to show real promise as a swimmer and think, wow, this, this could be, you know, something beyond, you know, the local club team and, you know, maybe I could take this to the next level?

• 15:03Speaker 02

  Yeah, well, my mom and her brother and her father all swam in college and my mom actually had my sister and I in the water when we were six weeks of age, even if it was just for like four minutes, just to get us used to the water. And so I was always around the pool and always around swimming. I was on a summer league team when I was a kid and I was always naturally really good at swimming and... I we lived around the corner from this outdoor pool in the summer and all our friends would be there. My sister and I would s- we're we're just pool rats. We spend all day there and and it just kind of was a natural progression somewhat. And my parents, they were really smart in that they forced um my sister and I do many different things. So even if we wanted to swim year round,

• 15:48Speaker 02

  they wanted us to do something else. I played soccer, I ran cross country, I played middle school basketball, I played baseball, we went to summer camp. Um my sister got really into art and it wasn't until my freshman year of high school that I started swimming year round. And actually, this was kind of a defining point for me. My parents, I love basketball and I thought maybe I'll swim one year and then play basketball the next year. Cause they're at the same time in Wisconsin during the high school season. And my parents said, no, you should pick whatever you think you're gonna be best at and do it to the best of your abilities and really focus on it. And I thought that swimming would be my best option for really pursuing it at a hi- at a high level and

• 16:30Speaker 02

  and I thought and knew that I was a good swimmer, but had never really put the effort forward, swimming year round or going to morning practices or spending time in the weight room. And so I decided to swim and that was the first time I'd ever swim year round, my freshman year of high school.

• 16:44Speaker 01

  Interesting. I mean, that's unusual, I think. I mean, most swimmers that reach your level start to do the two a days in the year round training, you know, as early as, you know, twelve years old or so.

• 16:55Speaker 02

  Yeah, and I think that there is a place for that for some people, but I've seen so many kids get burned out. Their parents have this desire to have them be this great athlete, whether it's swimming or cross country or basketball, whatever. They push their kid to do something year round and grind it out and really it's just, it's not possible for most kids to do it for so many years. And so when I started doing it freshman year, year round, I was excited about the challenge and the and the possibility of how fast I could get, cause I'd never really worked before. You know, I would swim for four months and then play basketball for three months and then play baseball for four months and and

• 17:35Speaker 02

  I just started working hard and it was a funny thing. When I started working hard, I started going faster and then I worked harder and I went faster. And then I started going to the weight room and I got even faster. So it was just a natural progression.

• 17:48Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm. And how long before you started kind of posting times that you know made an impact on the national scene?

• 17:57Speaker 02

  I went to the YMCA Nationals and I won my freshman year. I uh I won the state high school me in the hundred backstroke my sophomore year and then my junior year at the YMCA Nationals, I went forty-five for it was a pretty fast time in the hundred freestyle and I got second. And after that, we made a really unique decision, my family and I, we we were kind of of this understanding that to really be great at something, you have to have a great coach and be in an environment that can help you swim faster and push you to a new level. And in Wisconsin, we didn't really think that there was a coach that could take me there and there wasn't a program that had swimmers that were dedicated enough and wanted to push

• 18:42Speaker 02

  the envelope enough. So we looked at going to either a team in LA, um Nova Aquatics just south in Irvine. And then we looked at going to to Texas, this one with Randy Reese, who's actually the brother of my coach now. And my mom and I went to Texas after uh my junior year, we spent a summer there and and I got so much better. I begged my parents to let me stay the first semester of my senior year of high school. So my mom and and I stayed in Texas and I swam and I got so much better. I was training like crazy and it was so exciting because for the first time in my life, I was around other kids who really were passionate about working hard and becoming great swimmers. And that my senior year of high school, when I went back to Wisconsin to compete in high

• 19:27Speaker 02

  school swimming, I broke the national high school record in the hundred freestyle. So it really made a huge difference for me.

• 19:32Speaker 01

  Uh-huh, interesting. And you know, kind of, you know, between the lines of what you're saying, there's obviously like a huge amount of family support.

• 19:41Speaker 02

  Yeah, and I tell people it's great that you think that I have the gold medal at the Olympics, but ultimately, it's not just my gold medal, it's my parents' gold medal, it's my sister's gold medal, it's my grandparents' gold medal, my coaches'. It takes an enormous community of people, a support staff, to help develop an elite athlete, or a concert pianist, or whatever it is. And I couldn't do it alone. And my parents, you know, I was living in Texas with my mom, my dad was living in Wisconsin. My sister was in school in Rhode Island, so it was very um trying times for them and and I thank them,

• 20:21Speaker 02

  you know, so much. And really, the greatest um moment of the Olympics for me was seeing my parents in the stands when I was on the award stand and and how happy they were and how fulfilled they were. I knew how much dedication and sacrifice, how much money they spent, how many times they'd driven me to morning practice at five thirty. And that was just such a great moment.

• 20:42Speaker 01

  Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think there's a, yeah, there's this idea, yeah, there's this idea that because it's an individual sport, that, you know, it's kind of all for one and and, you know, if you if if you win, then it's you're the one who, you know, made it happen. But it's just impossible at the level that you're at in any sport to, you know, achieve what you've achieved without, you know, dozens of people behind you helping to make that possible.

• 21:08Speaker 02

  Absolutely. There's no question about it. And and really, it I think one of the most important things that I've been taught from my parents and also from my coaches at at University of Texas is that it's really important that you go and thank as many of those people who helped you and help them understand what a difference they made in your journey. Because really, that's one of the most important aspects, always being grateful for the people who helped you get there.

• 21:35Speaker 01

  Yeah, for sure. And I mean, that's a lesson for life, you know, really.

• 21:39Speaker 02

  Yeah, for sure. I mean, Eddie Reese, our coach at Texas, he always tells us after every meet, you know, go shake the hand of every single official on deck. Those guys are volunteering their time. Thank them for being there and supporting you guys. So that's what we do.

• 21:53Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's good. I mean, when I when I was writing my book. And it got to the part where, you know, I turned it in and it was, it was essentially completed, but I still had to write the acknowledgements, you know, the thing that goes at the end where you kind of thank everybody that, that helped you out. And, you know, initially, I was just gonna sort of thank the, you know, my family and people that kind of helped me write the book, but the more I started writing it, I was, I was started to think like, no, this is, this book is the story of my life and all these things that happened and it's appropriate for me to, you know, address and thank everybody that, you know, played a part in making this journey unfold. And so when I turned in the acknowledgements, it was like, you know, 10 pages long. It was like 10-page-long love letter to essentially everybody who, you know, helped

• 22:37Speaker 01

  me out my whole life.

• 22:39Speaker 02

  That's awesome.

• 22:40Speaker 01

  My editor and my publisher were like, this is too long, like, we can't, you know, this is gonna screw up our pagination and I, and I had to like fight this battle and say, no, you don't understand, like, this is like, if anything, this is like the most important thing, like this, I have to have this in here. And they had to like reformat the whole book to like make it fit and everything. But yeah, it's, it's, you know, you have to do that and, you know, those people need to know that that's how you feel.

• 23:04Speaker 02

  Yeah, that, that's true. And, and there is this ongoing thought about what does, you know, what is winning something really mean? Like, what does an Olympic gold medal really mean? You're not obviously competing and devoting your life to go to the Olympics because you want a materialistic object. And it's interesting, the medal is beautiful and I love it. I mean, I love sharing and, and showing people the medal, but I guess what really is the most satisfying for me is, is having my parents and my sister and all those people who supported me be happy because, you know, they put a lot of, it's like an investment.

• 23:48Speaker 02

  You don't know if you're gonna get anything back from it, but I just tried to give as much happiness and fulfillment back to repay everything that everyone did for me.

• 23:58Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm. And the medal is just, it's a symbol, it's a symbol of the journey. And I'm sure when you're, you know, 85 years old, you'll fondly, you know, think back on that four-by-100 free relay or other highlights of your career, but you'll probably even more fondly look back on, you know, just hanging out with the guys that you trained with and, you know, in the locker room after practice or, you know, all of that is really, you know, where the, where the real value is.

• 24:24Speaker 02

  No doubt about it.

• 24:26Speaker 01

  So cool. So, alright, so your family kind of, you know, really goes the extra mile to, you know, get you out to Texas and take you to the next level. And so I assume that then attending the University of Texas was kind of a no-brainer for you, or, you know, were you looking around at other schools?

• 24:42Speaker 02

  Yeah, I definitely was. I looked seriously at Cal, at Stanford, at USC, at Arizona, and at Texas. And it came down to USC and Texas for me. And I really, when I went to Texas in high school, that was no relation to the fact that I ended up going to Texas. But Texas was great. I wouldn't have rather gone to any other school. The coaches there, really the reason I went to Texas is because I thought it was the best world of swimming and academics. And I really believe that the coaches would be there for me more than just swim coaches. And I think the fact that Eddie Reese and Chris Cubic at Texas cared for me more about

• 25:25Speaker 02

  Garrett the person as opposed to Garrett the swimmer, that's really why I progressed and excelled in swimming and also did well in school.

• 25:34Speaker 01

  Interesting. Well, I mean, for those who don't know, Eddie Reese is one of the most, if not the most legendary swim coach, you know, in the history of modern swimming. And he was the coach of Texas when I was in school, which dates me, you know, back in the mid and late 80s. And Texas was an absolute powerhouse back then and has remained so for such an incredibly long period of time. And I don't know that I've ever heard anybody speak ill will of Eddie. I mean, he just, you know, he's an amazing guy and an amazing coach.

• 26:02Speaker 02

  No doubt. Yeah, he really is.

• 26:05Speaker 01

  So you show up at Texas and you become a member of this, you know, iconic swim program. And then something happened with your health when, I think you were about 19. Can you talk a little bit about that?

• 26:17Speaker 02

  Yeah, so I went to Texas in the fall of my freshman year was two thousand and three. And when I was nineteen, um, really kinda in the start of two thousand and five season. Um, started my junior year, I went into the training room and I got my blood pressure taken. And they said, okay, well, your blood pressure is kind of high. Why don't you come back, you know, tomorrow or the next day and we'll retake it. And so I went back the next day and it was high again and they they said, well, why don't you just keep coming back and we'll just test it before you go to practice so. I got to the point where I was going to the training room every day and the doctor was taking my blood pressure every day before I went to practice.

• 27:02Speaker 02

  And after about a month, they said, man, your blood pressure is always constantly high and so they started. Running some tests and I saw cardiologists and I saw nephrologists to look at my kidneys. And actually on three different occasions, my blood pressure was so high that it it forced me to. Not go to practice. The doctor took the reading and at one point it was two thirteen over about one ten. And the danger was is when you actually go work out, your blood pressure goes higher. And it put me at a really severe risk of having a stroke or heart attack and. It was it was a mind blowing experience for me. Just a year earlier than that, um.

• 27:45Speaker 02

  The summer after my freshman year high school of college, I missed making the two thousand and four Olympic team when I was eighteen years old by one place. And a year later, after two thousand and four Olympics, I was sitting on my couch. And the doctor had told me that day that I couldn't swim because my blood pressure was so high. And I was there sitting there thinking to myself, you know what? My Olympic dream might be taken for me and it's no fault of my own. And that was a really scary realization for me. I really had no idea. How serious high blood pressure was or could be or or even that it was gonna potentially stop me from swimming, but I kinda decided I needed to figure out a way. To change this and I needed to figure out a way to lower my blood pressure.

• 28:30Speaker 01

  It's interesting. I mean, that's very unusual for somebody that young to have that condition. I mean, is did they? You know, what what were the doctors telling you? I mean, is this a genetic thing? Is this just a freakish thing?

• 28:41Speaker 02

  They really didn't know what to say. They have no idea why it's like that. Interestingly, there are other young athletes in certain sports that have high blood pressure. Some people think that it is the added stress that you put on your body from so much training in the weight room and the pool. Uh, um, you know, some people will say it's your personality. I mean, I'm pretty high strung. I'm a big perfectionist in a lot of ways. Um, I don't really think that's what it is. I think I'm a pretty relaxed guy most of the time, but. I don't know. I think doctors are really good at fixing things sometimes, but they're not very good at telling you why something happened in the first place.

• 29:21Speaker 01

  Mm hmm.

• 29:21Speaker 02

  And so no one ever was able to figure out why I have high blood pressure, which is frustrating.

• 29:26Speaker 01

  Yeah. So, but but they did have an idea of what you should do next.

• 29:32Speaker 02

  Well, yeah, I mean. The doc, they wanted to put me on medication. I said, there's no way I'm gonna take medication right now. You know, I'm tested by. Three different drug testing organizations and I hate putting anything in my body that I don't have to. So. I said, what else can I do? And they said, you can try and refine your diet and you can try and do some relaxation exercises. So. I started to see a nutritionist and figured out what I needed to eat and some of the things that I could do to lower my blood pressure. And the only problem was is that right around this time I had moved out of the dorm. You were freshman sophomore year in the dorm at Texas and I had no idea how to cook anything. So even if I knew.

• 30:16Speaker 02

  What I should be eating, I had no idea how to cook anything, which was a big problem. Luckily.

• 30:23Speaker 01

  Knowing you, knowing you now, that's very hard to believe, but.

• 30:26Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's crazy. So, growing up, my sister, my mom and dad always cooked everything for me. And I loved eating good food, but I had no interest in learning how to cook. And part of the thing was in high school, you know, I'd get done swimming at seven o'clock at. Night. So by the time I got home, you know, they had to have dinner ready for me. Otherwise, I mean, I was just the nastiest grouch if I'm hungry and my blood sugar is low. So I never knew how to cook and my parents luckily had the foresight, the holidays that year to give me some private cooking lessons from a chef in Austin where I live. And I would go over to this guy's house and he was a teacher at the Texas Culinary Academy Culinary Institute in in Austin.

• 31:06Speaker 02

  And I'll go over to his house on Saturdays and for about five hours, we would just cook in his house and he taught me knife skills and how to make a stock and how to. Whatever, cook a chicken, roast vegetables, make a cake. I mean, anything I wanted to learn, the guy would just teach me. And it was a blast. It became a huge passion for me. And really what it was is swimming, as you know, is very long term gratification. We worked for months and months and years so that hopefully sometime down the line. We have an opportunity to go best time and fulfill our dream. Well, cooking.

• 31:45Speaker 02

  You work for thirty, forty five minutes, an hour in the kitchen, and all of a sudden you have something that is hopefully delicious, if you're doing it right. Is fueling you. In my case, was lowering my blood pressure. And it was really an exciting time for me because it gave me a release from school. It was kind of a a way that I relaxed.

• 32:03Speaker 01

  And what were the kind of foods that you were learning how to cook that were having an effect on your blood pressure? I mean, what was the switch?

• 32:09Speaker 02

  Yeah, well, originally it was just simple things, you know. I kind of came from the normal swimmer's mentality and. A little bit of swimmer's mentality is that a lot of swimmers and athletes in general have an entitled. Mentality on food and eating, which is I work so hard. I'm training my butt off. I can eat anything and not gain the pounds. I can eat anything and I'm fine. So. Living in the dorm, you know, a lot of it is not the healthiest food. And so I worked just to do some small things. I worked to cut out salt in my diet. I took the salt jaker off my table.

• 32:49Speaker 02

  Absalting my foods, I started uh doing little things like instead of drinking the juice, eating the whole fruit, um going from romaine lettuce to spinach or to kale. Or um you know, carrying a water bottle around me through the day. Instead of just always being thirsty, just tiny little things that I would do in my diet. Made a difference and so, you know, this chef, he would teach me how to. Um, you know, uh, this is a different thing. I know you're um totally plant based.

• 33:21Speaker 01

  It's okay, man. I'm I'm an open minded guy. I'm just, I'm interested, I'm just interested in.

• 33:25Speaker 02

  He would teach me little things like, hey, this is how you cook a piece of salmon on on the grill. This is how you can um cut a grapefruit, just the simplest little things. This is how you can make a chicken sock. So you can make a chicken soup. I made fresh pasta. He taught me how to make a tomato sauce. He taught me how to roast beets in the oven. Just all these little things that I'd never learned how to do before. Became easy things that I could do in the kitchen, which provided me delicious food. Something healthy and that was nurturing me. Um, and so a lot of it was lowering my blood pressure. Just by understanding the basic principles of cooking responsible food.

• 34:09Speaker 02

  Cutting out some of the junk. I usually, as a swimmer, would eat until I felt full. And my big thing is I tell people eat until you feel good and stop. And I know this is a little bit hard to tell some people because I'm very fortunate. To be able to come back for more food later and I know that there are many people in this world, many people in this country. Who don't know where their next meal is gonna come from. And I very much take that um into account. I'm very appreciative that I have the food. But it's better for me to come back for something later in an hour than to totally gorge myself at one sitting. So all these little things added up to making a really big difference in how I felt.

• 34:53Speaker 01

  But essentially, it's about reducing the sodium. I mean, that is that the core principle? Behind the lowering the blood pressure or?

• 35:01Speaker 02

  Yeah, a lot of it was the sodium, a lot of it I think was um preservatives and and little um you know just junk that I was eating that I didn't realize.

• 35:11Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, I would imagine that pretty much most, if not all, processed foods are kind of off the menu for you. I mean, because they're so high in sodium by nature, even when they don't taste like it, like when you learn how to really read a label. You realize like, you know, the crazy amount of sodium that's in so many things that you wouldn't even imagine, even like a Coca-Cola. You know, it's crazy high in sugar and salt.

• 35:36Speaker 02

  It's it's nuts and I really can't tell you a pinpoint answer of what lowered my blood pressure. But even little things that I did, like switching from, you know, I never thought about not using just regular white flour pasta or cooking white rice. And as stupid as that might sound, it never really crossed my mind and and partly because you know, I wasn't the one cooking, I was eating in a dorm, the dining hall, the athlete dining hall. And my parents always cooked relatively healthy when we were growing up, but not to the extent that I do now, not to the extent they do now, because we just didn't really know. We didn't really know that white flour pasta was not great for you.

• 36:17Speaker 02

  Um and interestingly enough, I'm reading a book right now called Wheat Belly, which will tell you that, you know, whole wheat flour pasta is not any better for you any anyway. So that's another topic of discussion, but my point is, is that it was a lot of little things like switching from romaine to spinach and kale or switching from white pasta to whole wheat and switching from white rice to brown rice or kamut. Just all those little things really added up to making a big difference. And it took me about a year and a half to see this change. I mean, it took me a year to a year and a half to get into cooking, to see my blood pressure lower. I did lower it to ranges of about one forty over eighty with my diet after a year, a year and a half. And then after that,

• 37:02Speaker 02

  the doctors really wanted me to go on medication to lower it to the one twenties over about seventy. Because as an athlete, they want it into a lower range because I am working out so much. So it took a year to figure out a medication that would work. As I told you, I'm tested by different drug testing organizations and. Of the seven classes of blood pressure medication, four of those are banned substances. So there were only three classes we could work in to figure out what would actually work for me.

• 37:38Speaker 01

  During that period of time, when you first started to learn how to cook and eat better, and it took a little while for the blood pressure to come down, did you have fear when you were training? Were you sort of trepidatious about how hard to push yourself in the pool?

• 37:53Speaker 02

  Yeah, I really did. And sometimes I still have that now, to be honest. I mean, there are stories out there where people drop dead on a basketball court. And I can't tell you that that didn't go through my mind. In a hard practice, you know, your stomach is burning, your chest is burning, your arms are just feeling like wet. There were definitely times, and still are sometimes, where I think to myself, is this really good for my body? Is this putting my body in a place where it could potentially cause severe harm? And it's something that crosses my mind. And I think that it's probably something that should cross most people's mind once in a while, because we are exerting a lot of energy. And I'm sure at your level, doing the Ultraman,

• 38:38Speaker 02

  it's got to have crossed your mind at some point.

• 38:42Speaker 01

  Yeah, of course. I mean, for sure. But in the world in which you're operating in, you know, hundreds of a second make all the difference. And so you really do have to take yourself all the way to that, you know, as far as you can go. I mean, the difference between a gold medal and not going to the Olympics is determined in those, you know, those workout moments where you got to push it all the way. And, you know, holding back a little bit is going to have an effect.

• 39:09Speaker 02

  Yeah, and I think that ultimately, it's almost like a split second to a three-second little blip where that happens in your mind and you think about it. When I go to a race, I mean, there have been times, I remember a time in 2010 at the Pan Pacific Championships, my shoulder was really bothering me. And I remember, you know, going that afternoon before the race and thinking to myself, you know what? If my shoulder just falls apart in this race, that's what's going to happen. I'm going to... Grip it and rip it as I would if my shoulder didn't hurt and you know luckily it didn't but uh when you go to the race you can't have that in your mind you just need to go and execute your plan

• 39:52Speaker 02

  regardless of what might be happening outside.

• 39:56Speaker 01

  Do you have any like mental tips or tricks or like visioning or any kind of thing like that that you do before your races to get you in that frame of mind?

• 40:07Speaker 02

  Yeah, a a great sprint coach named Mike Bottom who uses coach at Cal and who coaches at University of Michigan right now. I I went to a sprint camp when I was younger that he was a coach at and he told me that there is a point in every race that is a different point for every person. Where you get to that point and you say wow this really hurts. Or you say you know hell yeah this is awesome I'm gonna push through the pain. And that's what separates the good swimmers from the great swimmers so. What I did after learning that kind of idea from him is I would envision what my body is going to feel like at that exact

• 40:50Speaker 02

  moment in time in the race which usually happens for me about seventy five to eighty meters in the hundred freestyle. And I envision what it's gonna feel like at that moment. And then I try and get myself excited for what that's going to feel like and pushing through that because that's when I know I'm gonna be able to beat a lot of people. So I get excited about that point knowing that pushing through it is getting me to where I wanna go.

• 41:15Speaker 01

  So rather than sort of having a fear perspective of you know of what's to come embracing it embrace the suck.

• 41:24Speaker 02

  Yeah, you have to embrace it and you almost it's like if you're in a tug of war if you're it's like if you're on a bull you're showing that bull who's boss I mean you in that race have to show the pain who's boss I mean do not let it get the best of you because if you let the pain get the best of you you're never gonna have a shot at doing what you wanna do.

• 41:44Speaker 01

  Yeah, your history. So cool. So I want to get back to the food stuff a little bit. I mean, you know, my experience being a swimmer, you know, back at Stanford in the eighties, I mean, it really was just sort of eat whatever's in front of you. And there was almost a pride of, you know, who can outeat the other guy. And nobody ever really thought twice about what we were eating. It was just, you know, we just gorged ourselves constantly. And, you know, I can remember coming back from morning workout, just eating an enormous breakfast of, you know, pancakes and, and eggs and bacon, and just whatever, you know, they would cook up in the dorm. And then having to sleep for like two hours, you know, part from the workout, but also part from just, you know, caloric overload. And so I'm interested

• 42:27Speaker 01

  to know, like, you know, I, I guess I've been assuming that times have changed and, and that, you know, elite swimmers are more conscious of what they're eating. So, I mean, obviously you are, but is that, are you in the minority? Or are, do you, do you find that like your teammates, for example, at the training camp, or when you go on these national trips, or even at University of Texas, are, are the athletes paying attention to what they're eating? Is there a logic to their diet? Or is it still just, you know, calories are king?

• 42:58Speaker 02

  It pains me to say this to you, Rich, but it's basically the same as it was when you were in school.

• 43:05Speaker 01

  I had, I had a feeling that was the case.

• 43:07Speaker 02

  I mean, it really, it, it's just insane to me. I'm at the Olympic Training Center, and you would think that they are just on top of the ball. You'd think that they have everything the best you could imagine. And I'm so happy I'm here. I'm happy that they allowed me to come here and train. I'm, it's just a wonderful place. But they're serving in rich white pasta. They're serving white rice. Um, you know, they're serving whipped cream in a big bowl to, for everyone to put on top of their waffles with syrup. You know, I went to make peanut butter and jelly sandwich the other day, and I looked at the jelly and I said, hey, does this have high fructose corn syrup in it? And she said, oh, let me go ask, actually.

• 43:51Speaker 02

  You know, it's made with high fructose corn syrup. It's just mind blowing to me. The athletes, I mean, they're pounding the food here. Where I'm from, I mean, the athletes at University of Texas, I see it all the time. They are just eating anything and everything until they feel full and they walk out of there and then they take a big nap, just like you said. And I think that some people are starting to learn more and I've really made a strong effort to help other athletes and mentor them. And I talked to the guys at University of Texas and some of them are definitely cleaning their act up. And it's making a difference. And I'm always amazed by these people that say, wow, I can't believe how much of a difference having a good diet makes. It's like, uh,

• 44:36Speaker 02

  do you think that the Formula One teams are putting unleaded gas in their cars? No, they're not.

• 44:42Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 44:42Speaker 02

  You know, they're putting high performance fuel in their cars so they can get high performance out of their machine. And that's the exact same thing as an athlete. And, um, you know, I think that really the greatest barrier is people don't know. It's a lack of knowledge.

• 44:58Speaker 01

  Yeah. And it, you know, everybody understands that in order to get stronger or faster, you have to train hard. And there is a direct relationship between the training and performance. But there's still a huge gap in understanding or in practice when it comes to, you know, applying that equation to food and performance. And food, you know, food just for, you know, overall health, but food and performance in the athletic context. And you know, if I'd known one tenth of what I know now when I was swimming, I just, you know, I, I think back and I go, my God, I could have done this. I could have done that. I could have been so much better. And it's, it's, it's gotta be, you know, frustrating for someone like you who, who gets this on a certain level to see that going on.

• 45:44Speaker 02

  Yeah, it it is frustrating and and really what I've learned is that. You can only give people insight and advice kind of in the parameters that they're willing to take. When I first started getting into nutrition and into food and cooking. I wasn't ready to give up a lot of meat in my diet. Or cheese or not have cold cuts for sandwiches um during the day and that was kind of the early. Stages of my journey with food and nutrition. And as I got into it more and more, I started reading, I started seeing nutritionists more, I started learning, I started. Seeing what worked in trial and error within my own performance in my own body.

• 46:27Speaker 02

  And every single year, my diet becomes more and more refined to the point where now, I mean, I rarely have meat. I personally don't believe that having meat once in a while is going to kill you. I think that humans are omnivores and we can eat everything. I think to the extent that Americans eat animal products i- is causing huge problems. Um for the health of our country, but you know, I don't eat much meat now and if I had. If you told me five or six years ago, Garrett, you're not gonna be eating much meat, I'd say you're crazy. I mean. It's just these little things that over time seem manageable and they seem like they're going to make a difference and you are willing.

• 47:12Speaker 02

  To try them because you wanna see the result they might be able to make.

• 47:15Speaker 01

  Right, and I think you're you're very wise in saying that, you know, people are only willing to, you you have to meet people where they are and. If you get into this sort of advocacy position in terms of what you should and shouldn't eat and start, you know. Telling people what they should or shouldn't do, you're not gonna have a very good result, you know, I I've, you know, I I do very little of that. I mean, I just sort of. Do what I do and, you know, if people are interested, I'm happy to talk to them about it, but, you know, the the preachiness thing is really, you know. Never, never works anyway and.

• 47:48Speaker 02

  Yeah, and you know what, I'm here. To give insight and to give information based on what I know, what I've learned and through my own personal trial and error. And my greatest hope and intent is to help people when they have questions and give them advice when they ask for it and help them work within their constraints. And really, I don't want to drastically change anyone and drastically try and um, you know, attack them for eating what they're eating because a lot of people, you know, what they're eating. Um, you know, is very close to their heart and is tied to their emotions and the only way that can change is over time.

• 48:27Speaker 02

  And I guess our greatest desire should be to help people be better a year from now than they are right now.

• 48:35Speaker 01

  Yeah, and it is very, very emotional. It's it becomes really, really tricky. So uh, you have to tread really lightly with people, I think.

• 48:43Speaker 02

  Yeah, and and people eat emotionally like crazy. And some people eat a lot, some people eat a little when they're emotional, some people eat fatty foods, some people eat sugary foods. And um, you know, hopefully that can start curbing less and less and and actually what I've found, the crazy thing is when you stop eating sugary foods, you don't crave them.

• 49:06Speaker 01

  Right.

• 49:07Speaker 02

  When you stop eating salty foods, you don't want salty foods.

• 49:10Speaker 01

  But you have to break that craving cycle and that's kind of an issue that I have with people that advocate these these programs or diets where they give themselves a cheat day once a week or every once in a while because if you do that, then you're never really break free of that that that craving cycle. You're always kind of beholden to that thing.

• 49:29Speaker 02

  See, I don't know that I agree with you there because what I do is I allow myself, you know, one or two cheats per week. And I have a big sweet tooth, so if I want, sometimes I'll go have a donut. Or sometimes I'll go have a brownie, something like that. And I know that I'm just gonna have it one or two times a week, or if I want a piece of pizza, I don't think a piece of pizza is going to kill me.

• 49:55Speaker 01

  I would agree with that, but I think that there that requires a certain discipline. And I think that your your discipline is probably at a higher level than the average person, because you you also have these performance goals that are incredibly important to you that motivate your food choices.

• 50:09Speaker 02

  That's absolutely true.

• 50:11Speaker 01

  But if somebody is prone to, you know, emotional eating, then they're not even aware of, you know, what's causing them to crave something once in a while, and and and they're not going to have that, well, you know what, I have world championships coming up in two months, maybe I shouldn't eat that, you know, they don't have that that sort of carrot and stick that you have that you can hold on to.

• 50:30Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's that's a great point. And I mean, I remember before the 2008 Olympic trials, I didn't have a dessert or anything sweet like that for three and a half months. And I just decided it wasn't helping me get to where I wanted to go, wasn't helping me fulfill my goals, so I just didn't do it. And I think it really is important, whatever we decide to do, that we need to have a goal, something we're working towards. Otherwise, we kind of just end up in this random, you know, float where we just have no idea where we're going.

• 51:02Speaker 01

  And when you're doing that, you're you're always going to sort of fall prey to your default, you know, bad habits, I think.

• 51:08Speaker 02

  Yeah, I I think that's true. And and I'm I'm interested to hear what you have to say about this. Do you really do you think that most people think that food really is directly correlated with their health?

• 51:23Speaker 01

  Well, I think I think-

• 51:27Speaker 02

  I think that, but I'm not sure a lot of the people in the US think that.

• 51:34Speaker 01

  Well, they may think that. I mean, I think that there's there's there's an awareness and an understanding that, you know, if you eat healthy foods, you're going to be healthier. But it's sort of like telling somebody who's a smoker that, you know, smoking's bad for them. I mean, they understand it intellectually, but there's a huge gap between that understanding and altering, you know, a longstanding practice or habit.

• 51:56Speaker 01

  And I think most people operate on, you know, default. Like, they know, like, hey, you know what? I probably shouldn't go to McDonald's. But, you know, I'm late for work and it's easy and it's cheap and, you know, all just, you know, I'm not gonna worry about it.

• 52:09Speaker 02

  That brings me to a perfect, um, point. And I know you're the interviewer here, but one of my greatest desires, long-term, is to create a delicious restaurant concept that is quick with food that is cooked responsibly. I think there is a huge market for that.

• 52:28Speaker 01

  You're speaking my language now, buddy. I agree, I agree. And, you know, listen, I live in Los Angeles where everyone is a lot more, uh, well, I mean, in Austin, they are for sure. I mean, it's the headquarters of Whole Foods and it's, it's, in many ways, it's kind of a, you know, plant-based nutrition mecca. But, you know, Los Angeles is similar in that, you know, there's tons of people that are very focused on eating healthy foods and, and there are some great, you know, new restaurants that have been opening up around LA that are, you know, affordable and they're quick and they're fast and they're delicious and super healthy. Like, you know, Cafe Gratitude is, is one of my new favorites. And I think, and, and the place is packed all the time, which shows you that, you know,

• 53:11Speaker 01

  if you can make it delicious and you can make it, you know, within the, the budget parameters, that it, you know, when, when there's a decision to be made, that people are gonna want that.

• 53:23Speaker 02

  Yeah, there is no question about it.

• 53:26Speaker 01

  So that's good. So that brings me into, uh, Garrett Weber Gale and the, and the world of restaurants. So, so you start learning, so, you know, when we were talking about your background, you started talking about how you were learning how to cook and, and you had this guy who was teaching you and, and, and so essentially what happened is it had planted this seed, this love of food, this love of cooking, um, that has kind of taken you on this amazing journey over the last couple of years. So I wanted to, you know, hear you talk a little bit more about that.

• 53:55Speaker 02

  Yeah, I basically just got really into food and cooking and it became my second passion outside the pool. And I credit a lot of my success in swimming, a lot of my success winning two gold medals in two thousand eight to the diet that I had and the nutrition that I had. And in two thousand eight at the Olympics, right after the Olympics, I went on the Today Show in Beijing and when I was leaving, a very famous chef named Daniel Balloud was going on to do a cooking demo. And I went up and talked to him and just said hi and told him how passionate I was about food and cooking and he gave me his card and said, oh, come, you know, to my restaurant in New York sometime and and uh, you know, we'll talk.

• 54:36Speaker 02

  And so I went to his restaurant and long story short, I became great friends with Daniel since two thousand eight and he really inspired me to do really what I had done in the swimming world in the food world, which is I think in a lot of ways to be the best and to really learn, you need to go and surround yourself with people who are doing it at extremely high level. So Daniel inspired me to go cook in famous kitchens around the world. So in two thousand nine, the world championships was in Rome. And I went for a month after that world championships and cooked for uh, at a little restaurant in the countryside of Umbria, the province just south of Tuscany. In two thousand ten, Daniel

• 55:21Speaker 02

  actually arranged for me to cook with his best friend Michel Traglou in uh, France for five weeks and that restaurant's one of the most famous restaurants in the world, had three Michelin stars for the past forty-four years, which is the highest rating any restaurant can get. Um, in two thousand eleven, I worked at a restaurant called Noma in Copenhagen, which has been rated the number one restaurant in the world the past three years. And this past summer, actually, I went to a restaurant in Spain called Cellar Con Roco, which has been rated the number two rated restaurant in the world the past two years. And really, my goal at going to these places was to figure out and learn classic techniques and recipes. And transform them into healthier fare.

• 56:07Speaker 02

  And I really believe that working in these kitchens, I could pick up little tricks and tips. And and make delicious food for myself and for other people and have it be healthy.

• 56:20Speaker 01

  And what an amazing experience to go to these, you know, exotic world famous restaurants and and sort of, you know, apprentice under these incredible chefs. I mean, amazing.

• 56:31Speaker 02

  Yeah, it was it was fantastic. I what I learned from these guys was just as much about food and cooking as it was about life. And these chefs have very similar attitudes to elite athletes or probably elite business people. I mean, they are elite business people in their own right, but they're very dedicated to what they do. They don't take shortcuts. They uh sacrifice a lot of their life to this idea of creating great food. And giving people something that they can enjoy. And um, you know, probably the greatest thing that ever happened from this journey. Was in two thousand ten, after the Pan Pacific Championships, I thought maybe I was gonna retire from swimming.

• 57:15Speaker 02

  And I went to France and I didn't have any intention of swimming while I was there. But the second day I was there, they said, all right, it's time for you to go swim.

• 57:26Speaker 01

  Hey, you don't understand. I'm not swimming right now. I'm cooking.

• 57:29Speaker 02

  Yeah, I kinda I told him, I was like, no, it's my vacation. And and they said, no, you know, you need to go swim. We don't wanna take you away from your swimming. And so it was like the second day, so I was like, all right, I'm not gonna get into a fight with these guys right now, you know? And they had a fifty beautiful fifty meter Olympic sized pool in this little town of sixty thousand people in the countryside of France. And they gave me a bike. I biked ten minutes to this pool. I got in the water. And I started swimming and I really had no expectation. And I just kind of got back to the roots of swimming when I was a kid and just enjoying it. And and playing around in the water and swimming until I wanted to get out and was satisfied with what I had done.

• 58:12Speaker 02

  And sometimes I swam for thirty minutes, sometimes I swam for an hour and twenty minutes, sometimes I did a fifty and then I went and rode the slide. And and and it just kinda got me back to my roots of swimming. And and really, one of the most important things that happened to me over there was I was talking to the chef. And I said to him, I said, do you ever get sick of? Coming to work, I mean, do you ever get sick of your job? Because as a as a swimmer, I don't know if this happened to you when you were a swimmer, or happens to you now, sometimes when you're gonna go on a long bike or run. I mean, I just don't wanna go to the pool sometimes, and it happens probably to every athlete. Sometimes you don't wake up from morning practice, but you do.

• 58:50Speaker 02

  For, you know, a long time, I was wondering in two thousand ten, shouldn't I be doing something that makes more of an impact on the world? Than me just swimming back and forth. And the chef said to me, he said, well, of course, I mean, there are times when I don't wanna come to work, but it's my obligation. And I have a talent in the kitchen, and it's my obligation to pursue that talent. And it's my obligation to teach the younger generation under me so that they can find their own talent. And it really struck a chord in me, and it re-inspired me to swim and continue following my passion in the pool.

• 59:28Speaker 01

  But I also think, you know, underneath that is the importance of finding the joy in it, you know what I mean? Because you can't, your talent will be

• 59:38Speaker 01

  will not be fully expressed unless you really are doing it, you know, embracing the joy of it. And if you lose the joy and it becomes a job, then I think you're you're you're ultimately not going to realize your potential, whether it's in the pool or in the kitchen or or anything else.

• 59:54Speaker 02

  Yeah, I think that's that's definitely true. Um, you know, you have to have the joy for it, you have to have the passion for it. But it is a little bit difficult, and and you know this when I say it is. It is hard to enjoy the workouts that we do. I mean.

• 1:00:10Speaker 01

  That's for sure. I don't think I don't think a normal person can has any concept of of, you know, how difficult it is to do what you do, and just how brutal the training sessions are and the workouts.

• 1:00:21Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, I'll swim for an hour and a half every, you know, three mornings a week, and then I'll lift weights hard um, for an hour and a half, four days a week, and on Wednesday I'll do an hour of core work. And then I'll go swim for two hours, and then I'll swim on Saturday. And between that, I'm doing physical therapy, and it's just, it is a lot of work. And when we finish workout in the pool or the weight room, it's not like we're just, we've got all these endorphins going, we're feeling good. I mean, I am racked.

• 1:00:51Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:00:51Speaker 02

  I go home and I am just tapped out. And so even though I do love swimming, and I have the passion for it.

• 1:01:01Speaker 02

  You know, it is still difficult.

• 1:01:04Speaker 01

  Of course, of course, it's and to do it year in, year out like you have and to, you know, be a professional, um, you know, I would imagine it's incredibly draining, which I think, you know, makes it all the more interesting and impressive that you would choose to, you know, you you go to the world championships or the PanPax or whatever meet it is and the season's over and, you know, Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps are going to Las Vegas and you're going to go to Europe and like work your ass off in this kitchen now. I mean, you know, you just go directly to, you know, another really intense work situation because you have this passion.

• 1:01:41Speaker 02

  Yeah, I'll tell you what, cooking in these restaurants is probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. It is harder than training for the Olympics. When I was at Noma in Copenhagen, the head chef there, Rene Rizziapi, he he said, dude, you're a masochist. I mean, you're here on your vacation, you're just out of your mind. We would get into the kitchen at eight forty-five and we would work straight until five o'clock. We would have what they call lunch from five to five forty-five. That was the only break of the day. And then from five forty-five until midnight or twelve thirty, you would work.

• 1:02:15Speaker 01

  And so what were you doing? You were in the kitchen so helping prepare the dishes? Or what exactly, like specifically was it that you're do that you that you've been doing in these kitchens?

• 1:02:24Speaker 02

  So it's all, I mean, it's a plethora of different things. I mean, anything from cleaning mushrooms to foraging for rosehip berries, to foraging for mushrooms, to uh cutting sardines, to smoking sardines, to um helping them make stocks. When I was in France, they let me uh cook a lot of the meats, which was ridiculous. I mean, the sous chef was there working with me and and keeping an eye on everything and helping me. But, I mean, they really taught me a lot about how to cook meats there. Um, you know, we would make purees of artichokes. We would do a insane amount of things. And the really interesting thing about working in a kitchen is that working in a kitchen is not

• 1:03:08Speaker 02

  It is very technical, but you can teach anyone to have good knife skills. Or to learn how to roast beads or clean mushrooms or make a beef stock or make make a vegetable stock. It's all about repetition, just like in sport. I mean, I can teach someone with enough time how to have a beautiful freestyle. And you might not be the most proficient at the beginning, but with more practice and with nurturing. You will get there. And so in the kitchen, it's really awesome because every day is new. Every day you're doing something different. The difficult part is is that. You're on your feet. I mean, in Spain this summer, it was nuts. I was on my feet for fifteen to sixteen hours a day.

• 1:03:50Speaker 02

  Working in this kitchen that's hot, that's crammed and a lot of the time you're standing stationary. I would finish. And my knees and my ankles will be swollen, my back. I mean, I'll tell you what, I consider myself. I'm not maybe as tough as you are, Rich, because you're a freak, but.

• 1:04:07Speaker 01

  Believe me, you're plenty tough.

• 1:04:09Speaker 02

  I consider myself to be pretty darn tough when it comes to physical and mental pain. And the first week when I was in France, I'll tell you what, I didn't even know if I was gonna be able to finish that week. My back, my neck were. Finished, man. I was just, it felt like I'd gotten hit by a truck. I was so, it was nuts.

• 1:04:28Speaker 01

  And you don't even speak the language, right?

• 1:04:31Speaker 02

  That that was tough too. I mean, that was definitely, um, you know, tough. Some of the guys spoke English, but. You know, certainly not everyone and really it was just, it was fantastic. I mean, I'm working on writing a book right now. About how I think, you know, a lot of healthy food, quote unquote, healthy food tastes like crap. And I went on this journey around the world to figure out how to make delicious food that's healthy. And kind of stories from these journeys along with recipes and and I think that. You know, there are a lot of inspiring stories within this.

• 1:05:07Speaker 01

  Oh, that's great, Matt. I didn't know that you were working on a book. That's fantastic.

• 1:05:11Speaker 02

  Well, I haven't sold it yet and uh, you know, I don't know if it's gonna be any good yet, but I think the content is definitely there.

• 1:05:17Speaker 01

  Well, uh, I would like to help you. So I learned a lot about the book world, so we can talk more about that later.

• 1:05:24Speaker 02

  Sure. Really my goal, Rich, is is just to help people understand that it's not difficult to be healthy. It's not difficult to have delicious food that that is healthy for you. And, you know, I was talking to a guy the other day, um, that this business that he's worked with, their average, um, annual healthcare costs are two hundred million dollars, big corporation. And five percent of the people that work at that company are incurring a hundred and sixty million dollars worth of the costs in healthcare.

• 1:05:56Speaker 01

  Unbelievable.

• 1:05:58Speaker 02

  And, you know, but a lot of those people, I think, I mean, who doesn't want to be in shape? And who doesn't wanna be healthier? I think this is something that everyone wants and thinks is a great idea, but I think a lot of people don't know how to do it. They're they're, it's a daunting task to them. And my greatest goal is to be able to help people realize that they can get their life back. They can see greater performance mentally and physically. It's fun and and there are so many ways to do it.

• 1:06:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, you and me both, buddy. You're, again, you're speaking my language. I think that people are, everybody wants it, but people are, there there's a fear barrier. There's intimidation. Uh, you know, people think it's too difficult, it's too expensive, they don't have time. Um, and it's it's scary because in order to enact change, you kinda have to look at some uncomfortable stuff and and make some changes that in the short run might be a little uncomfortable. But I think that, you know, better health is within everyone's grasp in any given moment, you know? But it requires a decision and it requires action.

• 1:07:11Speaker 02

  Yeah, and and I think that really to be better or good at anything, you have to go outside your comfort zone and and feel a little bit troubled at some point. You know, when I was learning to cook, I was super frustrated for a little while. I mean, I never had something that came out at the right time and some of it tasted like crap, but I figured it out and I went outside my comfort zone and every single time I went in the kitchen, I got better at it.

• 1:07:44Speaker 01

  So what do you think are some of the things that you could tell, you know, somebody who's listening? I mean, a lot of the listeners, you know, the podcast, they're, you know, a lot of triathletes, but also people from all different kinds of walks of life who, you know, are tuning in just to, you know, get some tips on how to be healthier, some takeaways, some easy, simple things that they could, you know, implement into their life to, you know, help them change for the better.

• 1:08:07Speaker 02

  Well, I mean, first off, I think eat until you feel good, not until you feel full. I think that's a huge thing. You know, humans in their DNA, I mean, we were created to eat when we could get nourishment because we didn't necessarily know where we were going to be able to hunt or gather our next meal. But we're just not in that, we're not in the Ice Age anymore. We're not in that kind of early period in our civilization. So eat until you feel good. Come back later if you're still hungry. Really try and cut down on the sugars. About three years ago, I started looking at all the sugar and before that I didn't really care or think about it. I started looking in all the sugar of things

• 1:08:49Speaker 02

  that I was eating and it's ridiculous. I mean, like you mentioned earlier, how much sugar is in everything that we eat now?

• 1:08:57Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah.

• 1:08:58Speaker 02

  And most of the time that sugar, it turns directly into fat. So not only does it turn into fat, but it skyrockets our insulin level and it makes us on this high and then an hour to an hour and a half later, we go down and we feel like crap. So that's a big thing. You know, one thing that I really realized that made a big difference is that when I cut the salt shaker out, kind of probably for a week or two, it was pretty difficult and it, the food didn't taste the same. And what I realized is that our palate will adjust and our taste buds kind of start tasting more of that natural food as opposed to the salt. And so cutting out the salt shaker really made a big difference for me because

• 1:09:42Speaker 02

  I didn't feel as heavy and as bloated all the time.

• 1:09:45Speaker 01

  Right.

• 1:09:45Speaker 02

  You know, before I was eating a lot of sodium and many things and, and now I really don't. Um, you know, as I said, I'm, I would say I'm mostly plant-based. Now, I'll have a piece of fish and, and some meat once in a while. Um, I'll have cheese once in a while as well. But I noticed a huge difference when I stopped eating as many animal products as I used to. I mean, I used to have eggs in the morning, cold cuts for lunch, some type of meat, um, at, at dinner. I used to drink milk, a yogurt, and the concept of that, it's not really, doesn't really make sense that humans are eating so many animals. And I'm sure I don't

• 1:10:25Speaker 02

  need to tell you this, but I mean, I just started slowly cutting animal products out, and I'm not lactose intolerant, and I cut dairy out, and I felt so much better. And they're great alternatives. I mean, I love rice milk, I love almond milk, um, soy milk is, is pretty good. Coconut milk, if you get the unsweetened version, is really good as well. Um, keep it simple. You don't need to make drastic changes in your cooking. Like I said, try kamut. I don't know how many of the listeners know what kamut is, but it's a really awesome grain that's hearty, that provides a long-lasting energy. It's easy to make. Um, you know, kale. I never ate kale before. It took a little bit of

• 1:11:10Speaker 02

  getting used to the texture, but I love it now, and I never have salads that don't have kale in them.

• 1:11:16Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's great. And I, I think it's interesting just to hear you talk about, you know, reducing animal products in your diet. Um, you know, being the athlete that you are, I mean, we're, you know, we're very different kinds of athletes. I think people have gotten used to the idea of, you know, the long-distance runner who's vegan, or the triathlete, or what have you, the endurance athlete. But, you know, your event lasts all of nineteen seconds, and it requires an unbelievable amount of strength and explosive power. And, you know, for sports like that, you know, the operating, you know, consensus really is, you know, more, the more animal products, the better. As you know, I, I just, I, you know, I have visions of you, you know, chugging raw eggs in the morning, like Rocky

• 1:11:57Speaker 01

  style, you know, before you hit the weight room. So, I, you know, I was hoping to have you speak to that a little bit more.

• 1:12:04Speaker 02

  Yeah, well, I I mean, I'm fir- first of all, I'm not like most world-class sprinters. I'm on the shorter end, I'm six-two, um, which for world-class sprinters is is somewhat short. Um, you know, I weigh a hundred and eighty-five pounds. Nathan Adrian, who I'm swimming up here with, he's like six-six and weighs two-twenty-five or two-thirty. So that gives you a little bit different view. And most of the sprinters are much bigger guys, much stronger. But ultimately, you can get all the protein you need. And I'm not preaching one diet over the other. And when I say diet, I mean a lifestyle. I don't mean a diet to lose weight or a diet to get a six-pack. I mean, a diet is a lifestyle.

• 1:12:47Speaker 02

  And the diet that I eat is mostly, um, plant-based and with some animal products in between there. But, you know, you can get all the protein you need as an athlete from quinoa and beans and legumes. And as an athlete, I actually do supplement some with whey protein, um, which is important to me, and I did that even when I was eating animal products. But I think that really it's a lack of knowledge that people don't realize. I mean, I never realized that you could get so much protein from plants.

• 1:13:20Speaker 01

  Right, well, I didn't either, you know, I mean, it's it's it's not something that is accessible knowledge. So.

• 1:13:26Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:13:26Speaker 01

  Hopefully, that's changing somewhat.

• 1:13:28Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:13:29Speaker 01

  Because of guys like you. So anyway, I had a I had a a question from Twitter I wanted to ask you. I asked, I I put it out to Twitter if anybody had questions for you. And one guy had a pretty good, um, question. Oh, it's actually, it it looks like it's a girl, Sandra. Uh, Mrs. Raggo on Twitter asked, do you eat differently during taper than during in-season training? And if so, how? And what about hydration?

• 1:13:56Speaker 02

  I I would say in season I eat more volume. When you're working more, you're gonna get hungrier um or more hungry more often. And so on taper, I will eat less. I might eat a little bit more often just to give myself a little bit more constant stream of energy. But I will eat um smaller meals. In terms of hydration, I would say that I'm drinking about same amount. And I drink an electrolyte drink during the day a lot um called Electromix, which I think really helps me not have to carry as much water um but maintain the same level of hydration.

• 1:14:37Speaker 02

  And actually, it's really tough in Colorado. I don't know if you've ever been out here training, but in order to it's it's it's hard to stay hydrated out here. I mean, I don't know if it's the altitude or the dry air.

• 1:14:48Speaker 01

  Super dry.

• 1:14:49Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, it's been tough for me to stay hydrated out here, even drinking a lot and having electrolytes. But usually, uh in the season, I'm probably about a hundred and eighty six pounds, a hundred and eighty seven. And during taper, I'm usually about a hundred and eighty three, a hundred and eighty four. So that drops down a little bit. We're not lifting quite as many weights, which which will lean me out muscular wise. But yeah, taper is definitely different. I mean, you want to continue to be strong, but you don't wanna be bulky. So that's why we eat a little bit less.

• 1:15:24Speaker 01

  Right. In cycling, they always talk about um watts per kilogram because cyclists tend to get, you know, super lean when they're training really hard. And, you know, the top cyclists all have what's called a power meter. I don't know if you've heard of this before, but it's.

• 1:15:39Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:15:39Speaker 01

  So they have power meters on their bike and they they know how many watts they're exerting. Um so they can get really specific and technical in their training in a way that you can't really in swimming because you don't know, for example, how many watts you're pulling with your, you know, your freestyle stroke when you're exerting force through, you know, through your pull, right? It would be nice to be able to know that. Maybe science will come up with that device at some point, but uh in cycling, you can. Know very specifically what that is. And then you have to find the right ratio of, of, you know, weights, of, of how much you weigh to, because when you start losing weight, your watts are going to go down. And you want to be lean, you want to be light, because weight is very important in cycling. But if you get too lean, then, you know, you've, you've kind of dropped off the cliff.

• 1:16:23Speaker 01

  You got to put weight back on to get those watts back up.

• 1:16:26Speaker 02

  Yeah, and it's, it's really similar in swimming, actually. I've competed and raced at one seventy eight, and I've raced all the way up at one eighty eight or one eighty nine. And what I've realized is that for the two hundred freestyle, which is not my specialty, I'm way better at one seventy eight or one seventy nine. Um, you know, one eighty eight really is a little too bit, too bulky. I have a lot of power, but I can't hold it for quite as long. Somewhere in between one eighty three, one eighty four, um, is really the ideal weight for me. And, and everyone can find their ideal weight. It just takes a little bit of trial and error. And, and I've been competing at the world-class level for ten years.

• 1:17:08Speaker 02

  And so I've had a lot of time to do trial and error and test things. And you've been cycling and being an athlete for a long time, and you have as well. And so what I tell people is that you start on this journey, start slowly refining, and, and you will figure out what is your ideal weight. You'll figure out what is your ideal diet for the healthy life that you desire.

• 1:17:31Speaker 01

  Right, that's great advice. And that also speaks to something I wanted to touch on too, which is, you know, uh, you know, back when I was swimming, and I talk about this in the book, it was sort of, you know, volume, volume, volume was king. And, you know, swimming four hours a day, and at times up or, you know, fifteen to twenty thousand yards a day, and, and just kind of doing that for months on end and, and having no sense of like pace. Like every time I went to the pool, we'd do a short warm-up, and I pretty much like just blasted every set, you know, every day and every workout. And you do that for however many months, and then kind of hang your whole season on a two-week taper and see how it goes.

• 1:18:10Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:18:11Speaker 01

  And now, you know, the way, my approach to training in triathlon is very, very different. You know, it's a periodized schedule. There are built in rest days and then there are built in rest weeks and you know, I do lactate testing to see if I'm training too hard or getting overtrained or overtired and I've become much more aware and conscious of the impact of recovery and rest on long-term performance gains and so I'm interested to know, you know, what it's like in elite swimming these days in terms of, you know, that kind of approach and how rest and recovery is incorporated into the heavy training regimes that you guys are doing.

• 1:18:49Speaker 02

  Well, rest and recovery is, you know, a huge deal and I can speak on this very intimately, actually. I didn't make the 2012 Olympic team and that was because I didn't get enough rest this summer to compete at my best of the trials. In 2011, I had the second fastest 100 freestyle relay split in the world at the 2012, or excuse me, the 2011 World Championships and I went 48.1 in the 100 freestyle, which is what Nathan Adrian won the 100 freestyle this summer at the trials in. And my goal in 2012 was to go 47 in the 100 freestyle, which is what I had gone in 2008 when I won the Olympic trials. And my coaches and I

• 1:19:34Speaker 02

  decided that I really needed to get stronger. So I killed myself, literally in the weight room, four days a week and we didn't realize how much extra rest I needed before the Olympic trials. And I knew I needed more rest and I was talking to my coaches, telling them I needed more rest and ultimately, we didn't realize how much extra rest I needed. And I got to the meet and I didn't have any speed and I missed making the Olympic team and it was a huge disappointment for me. And really, to some degree, swimming is a little bit in the old ages. Some programs still really grind it out and wait on the rest and that's the program that we do at Texas, which has worked wonders for countless Olympians

• 1:20:16Speaker 02

  who've won gold, silver and bronze medals, broken American world records and it's worked wonders for me in the past. This summer, it didn't work. At Cal, up here... They focus a lot more on explosiveness, being an all-around athlete. We do have rest days, rest afternoon periods. Um, it's interesting because we grind it a lot more in Texas. We rest for five or six weeks. At Cal, they don't grind it out quite as much. They do more specific work. And so from talking to the guys here, they'll rest for about two weeks before their big meet. And it's very different. You can have some of the same results, and everyone is getting there on a different road. So.

• 1:20:56Speaker 01

  Right. So in other words, they're building in rest periods throughout the season.

• 1:21:01Speaker 02

  Correct. That's what they seem to be doing. I don't know all the intricacies of their program, but yeah, they're building in some rest periods um, during the season and during the week. And that's really important. And that's something we don't really do much at Texas, which is um, not the philosophy that Eddie and Chris have. And it has worked brilliantly for them in the past. And it's worked, uh, it continues to work for people. It didn't work for me this year, which obviously if you want something to work for you, you want it to work in the Olympic year. But um, you know, we thought that maybe to go s- times that I'd never gone, I needed to go someplace I'd never been. And it was a risk that I

• 1:21:40Speaker 02

  took and it bit me in the butt, which really, I mean, hurt very bad emotionally. I mean, I was very disappointed by it, but I still went to the Olympics in London, cheered on a bunch of people and went and did some appearances with sponsors. But yeah, it's somewhat of a gamble. I mean, in any sport, you're working hard and you do everything you possibly can to compete your best, but ultimately, you never really know what's gonna happen.

• 1:22:07Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm. So then I guess part of being at the Olympic Training Center now is, is to kind of learn from that experience and see how, you know, these guys at Cal are doing it and try to figure out a way to maybe possibly build some of that into your repertoire to avoid that pitfall.

• 1:22:21Speaker 02

  Yeah, I, I really, the reason I wanted to come up here is because for about three years, I've wanted to get with these guys and see how they're training and see what they're doing in the weight room and, and see how they're swimming really fast during the season. Usually I swim very fast at the end of the season, and I don't swim during the season as well because I'm so broken down from training. And so I wanted to come and see what these guys are doing, see how they're resting during the week, see some of the explosive stuff they're doing. And. Figure out ways that I could try and incorporate that to my system at Texas. And like I said earlier, you always need to, once you stop being on the pursuit of knowledge and thinking you know it all, that's when you're gonna stop.

• 1:23:04Speaker 01

  Right.

• 1:23:05Speaker 02

  And so I'm just on a journey of trying to always figure out more and learn more and be around the best and figure out ways that I can refine myself and teach myself to be better. And that's what I'm doing up here and I'm, I'm really thankful that these guys let me come train. And, and I've just been delighted. I mean, I've been so happy being here. It's been such a thrilling experience for me.

• 1:23:28Speaker 01

  Very cool, man. Well, cool dude, you've, I've been taking up a lot of your time. I don't wanna take up too much more of it, but I do wanna talk about a couple other things really quick. I mean, first of all, I wanna hear all about Athletic Foodie, which is your website that, that you and I think your, your family is involved in as well, which speaks to

• 1:23:45Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:23:45Speaker 01

  continuing support of your family and involvement in your life and your passions and kind of what Athletic Foodie is all about and, and where you're headed with that.

• 1:23:54Speaker 02

  Yeah, I have the greatest family in the world. I'm just gonna say that. Um, they have supported me on everything that I've ever done and really in two thousand and eight, after the Olympics, I knew how much diet and nutrition made in my success. And I knew and realized that I needed to help other people attain success through diet and nutrition. And so we came up with this idea of starting a business around this and we came up with Athletic Foodie. And really Athletic Foodie's goal is to help people live a better life through better nutrition and follow their passions and, and follow those passions to a higher level based upon what they eat.

• 1:24:38Speaker 02

  And so we have athleticfoodie.com, which is right now an online resource for people to find information on how to eat healthier and live healthier. I write for it. We have several nutritionists that write for it. A physical therapy group sometimes contributes as well. We have recipes on there. And our whole goal is to try and help people understand some of the things that we've talked about today, which is uh, the simple Ways that they can be help healthier and the dramatic difference that it makes and so. That incorporates a couple of different things that we're working on. One is. Um, you know, a book that I've been working on. One is a TV show concept that I'm trying to work on right now. Um, my real long term goal for athletic foodie to make a restaurant concept that I can start in Austin and take across the country.

• 1:25:22Speaker 02

  I think there's a huge market for people who. Want something like I said, that's delicious, that's fast, that's cost affordable and it's cooked in a responsible way. And um, in video content, we've started to do some videos, nutrition, easy cooking demos. Little kitchen tips and my whole focus, like I said, is just helping people realize how they can be healthier. And I'm not in it for the money. I'm not in it for the fame. I'm just in it for. You know, helping people. There is a a kid who swims on the Longhorn Aquatics team. And I've been working with his mom to help her lose weight and get her life back.

• 1:26:01Speaker 02

  And uh, she's lost fifty pounds so far and she wants to continue losing and she's on this incredible journey. And you know, I remember in two thousand and nine, a guy came up to me at an autograph signing that I was doing and he said. You know, thank you so much for the work that you do through your blog. He said, I've lost sixty five pounds and you've really inspired me. And that alone, I mean, that will keep. Keep it going. I mean, if I can affect people in that way, even on a small scale. That is just a huge thing and Eddie Reese of Texas always says that our our duty and our goal in life is to help people.

• 1:26:41Speaker 02

  And I think that I have a huge purpose on this earth and sometimes I'm not quite sure exactly what that is or how it's gonna turn out, but. If I can just help one or two or ten or a hundred people be healthier, then that's my aspiration.

• 1:26:57Speaker 01

  Well, you've already, you've already achieved that aspiration. I can assure you of that.

• 1:27:02Speaker 02

  Well, thanks. And another real cool thing I'm getting involved with actually is uh with the Whole Kids Foundation. Whole Foods has Whole Kids Foundation as part of their their division and I'm athletic foodie and myself is sponsoring a campaign for a school garden at Becker Elementary School in Austin as well as a green classroom for kids to learn how to cook healthier and take things from the garden and clean them and know how to cook them and why it's nutritious for them. So that's really a huge deal. I love working with kids and um that's a big aspiration of mine to continue nurturing the younger generation.

• 1:27:41Speaker 01

  That's awesome, man. I mean, that's that's really where it's at. You know, it's it's sort of getting to kids when they're young before these habits become too entrenched and teaching them about food, teaching them how to cook and and and what's nutritious and getting them started right. And you know, that's a big reason why I brought my family out to this farm in Hawaii where we've been living and we've got the kids working in the the fields and they're learning how to, you know, pull the carrots out of the land and wash them and and we have them, you know, cooking recipes in the kitchen and learning how to cook and and it's been, you know, phenomenal. And they take us, they take pride in it, you know, there's a there's a certain pride in learning how to do that and becoming self-sufficient with food. There's a confidence that you can, I can just see it, you know,

• 1:28:23Speaker 01

  happening before my very eyes and and, you know, you just, you can't put a price tag on that.

• 1:28:28Speaker 02

  No, you can't. And and kids are nuts. I mean, I've spoken to a lot of elementary schools this past year and I've started speaking at more college campuses about health and nutrition and following your passion. And I remember a specific elementary school, Cassis Elementary School in Austin that I spoke to last spring, and I always have the kids rattle out a bunch of unhealthy foods that they eat and I always have them rattle out a bunch of healthy foods that they eat. And just to see the comparison and always figure out what the kids are eating. And this one little kid who's probably six years old, he raised his hand and we were on the healthy part and I said, you know, name as many healthy

• 1:29:10Speaker 02

  things as you guys can. This little six-year-old kid raised his hand and he said, kamut and millet.

• 1:29:18Speaker 02

  I mean, are you kidding me? A six year old knows what kamut and millet? It's just amazing. And you're right. I mean, kids, if they pull something out of the ground and they clean it, I mean, they have ownership over that. They get so excited about it. It's just a beautiful thing to witness.

• 1:29:32Speaker 01

  Mm hmm. For sure, man. Well, awesome, dude. You're doing great work. You inspire me. And, uh, you know, I love, like I said, I I love following your journey, man. I can't wait to see what's next for you. So how long are we gonna have to wait before you have your own restaurant?

• 1:29:48Speaker 02

  Um, you know, I'm really not sure what swimming holds for me, to be honest. I I'm definitely committed to swimming this summer and and swimming fast in Israel. But I don't know. I'm definitely gonna leave the door open for twenty sixteen.

• 1:30:03Speaker 01

  Mm hmm.

• 1:30:03Speaker 02

  Um, I I don't know if I will pursue that or not. Like I said, I really, I think I have a a huge purpose to help people and want to do that. And I know at some point that it's gonna overtake my passion for swimming. And I'm not really sure about the restaurant. I think that's more of a long term thing. I I I would hope that within three years, if I'm not going to swim. Otherwise, um, you know, after two thousand sixteen, I'm working on the book really hard now. Um, working with someone about some video and some TV stuff. Um, you know, I'm doing a lot more public speaking at college campuses and schools, but the restaurant, I think is just such a brilliant concept. I've been working a ton

• 1:30:47Speaker 02

  at three now with the food would be. I know a bunch of people in the restaurant world. Who knows? My original goal was to have it open in two thousand and fourteen, by the end of two thousand fourteen. Um, I it really depends on how a couple of things develop after this summer, whether or not I continue pursuing swimming or if I take a break. And if I take a break, um, I think opening something by the end of two thousand fourteen is is definitely realistic. And I I'm smart enough to know not to do it by myself. You know, I'm not, um, a chef. I'm not a restaurant man yet. And I think to be really successful, what I need to do is with someone who has successfully owned and operated restaurants. Because ultimately, like I said, I'm not in the idea of opening a restaurant because I think it's gonna get me rich.

• 1:31:31Speaker 02

  I want to create a place people can go and eat something that immediately makes them happy, that nourishes them, and that they can have quickly. And I think that the future is bright. I mean, hopefully you and I and 500 other people will help the country get out of this epidemic of health crisis that we're in right now. And I think we're on our way to doing it.

• 1:31:55Speaker 01

  Yeah, we are. We need more guys like you. And I commend your passion. You know, I know what it's like to, well, not quite exactly, but you know, I have a sense of what it's like to be a competitive athlete at your level. And it's a very, very all-consuming thing that you kind of have to put blinders on. And the outside world, you know, has a hard time penetrating that. And most athletes that I know at your level, they're so focused on their sport, there really isn't time to even develop much of an interest in anything outside of the sport. And the fact that you have such a robust, you know, joy and passion and love for food and health is really an extraordinary thing. It's not, it's not, it's not something you see every day. And so I urge you to just, you know, I'm so excited

• 1:32:40Speaker 01

  for what the future brings, and I just urge you to just keep going now. Can't wait to see.

• 1:32:44Speaker 02

  Yeah, well, thanks. And I've known for a long time, you know, you can't just swim, you can't just be a professional athlete. That train is going to end at some point, and you need to figure out what's next. And luckily, you know, I had this passion for food nutrition develop. And I really tried to push the envelope as much as I could while swimming. And it's provided me a great outlet. So please, listeners, check out athleticfoodie.com. And you can email me from the website if you have questions. And I look forward to hopefully catching up with you guys soon.

• 1:33:16Speaker 01

  Yeah, absolutely. And if you want to find, if you want to find Garrett on Twitter, you're, what is it, you're G. Weber Gale, right?

• 1:33:23Speaker 02

  G. Weber Gale, yeah.

• 1:33:24Speaker 01

  Right, one B. G. W. E. B. R. G. A. L. E. And Athletic Foodie has a Facebook page too, right?

• 1:33:32Speaker 02

  Yeah, Athletic Foodie's on Facebook, and we have Athletic Foodie on Twitter.

• 1:33:35Speaker 01

  Very cool. All right, man. Are you gonna be doing any like public speaking gigs or anything like that coming up? Is there anything else you wanna let people know about that's coming up in the future?

• 1:33:45Speaker 02

  Um, you know, I don't have anything on the table right now, public speaking. But um, yeah, I'm working on a couple of things. I'm working on a group that does a lot of campus speaking. And I'm also trying to talk with a guy named Adam, who you know, um, who does a lot of healthy speaking as well. So, I mean, my goal is really-

• 1:34:04Speaker 01

  I have Adam a call, actually. Thanks for reminding me.

• 1:34:07Speaker 02

  Yeah, I gave him a call the other day. And, you know, I wanna just share my story and hopefully inspire people. And any opportunity I can get to do that is, is what I'm about.

• 1:34:18Speaker 01

  Right. Very cool, man. Well, thanks so much for taking the time and uh, and uh, you probably have to go down to the cafeteria and get something more to eat.

• 1:34:27Speaker 02

  Yeah, actually, hey, can I tell you one more thing that I'm really excited about I forgot to mention?

• 1:34:31Speaker 01

  What's that?

• 1:34:32Speaker 02

  So, in uh, in London, I worked with Hilton Hotels. And I met a bunch of people who own different hotels around the country. And I spoke to this, this group of hotels um, in November out in California. And we're going to work on four of their hotels, one in the north, one in the south, one in the east and one in the west of the US. And we're working to implement some healthy concepts into the hotels. So, that's one of the things I'm working on pretty hard right now. And uh, if it's successful, I think there's an opportunity to implement and do some other hotels around the country. So, I'm pretty pumped about that. And uh, we'll see how it goes.

• 1:35:10Speaker 01

  Very cool, man. And how old are you? Forty-two?

• 1:35:15Speaker 02

  You know what? I did a clinic, a swim clinic, which is one of the other things that I do. I love giving swim clinics to the kids. And we have athletic food swim clinics that I do healthy cooking demo at. We have nutritionists that comes, my mom comes. We focus on swimming and nutrition. And this fall, I gave a clinic and um, one of the kids asked, "How old are you?" And I said, "How old do you think I am?" The kid said, "Fifty-seven."

• 1:35:39Speaker 02

  Fifty pushups on the deck, I was so ticked.

• 1:35:41Speaker 01

  Yeah, my point being is you're, you're so young, man. Well, how, but I actually don't, how old are you? Twenty, yeah, twenty seven. Alright, man. Your whole life's ahead of you and you already, you already got so much going on, it's crazy.

• 1:35:54Speaker 02

  Well, I'm working on it. So, thanks for your support, Rich. And, and really, you are an inspiration. You've, you've done some incredible things and continue to do so. So, if we work together, hopefully, we can make big things happen.

• 1:36:05Speaker 01

  I would love to do that, man. So, let's stay in touch.

• 1:36:08Speaker 02

  Alright, thanks, Rich.

• 1:36:09Speaker 01

  Alright, man. Peace. Take it easy, buddy. Bye bye.

• 1:36:13Speaker 01

  Alright, that's it for today. Hope you enjoyed Garrett as much as I enjoyed talking to him. A phenomenal guy, so, full of information and full of life, more importantly. Uh, if you want to check out some great products to fuel your plant-powered lifestyle, check out Jai Lifestyle, jailifestyle.com, Jai Repair Plant Powered Protein, I love it. Uh, B12 Supplement, our cookbook, all that good stuff. Uh, you want to follow me on Twitter, I'm at Rich Roll. I'm also on Facebook. Uh, my personal page filled up, so there's a fan page, you can check that out. Um, I'm digging being on Instagram, too. I'm at Rich Roll on Instagram. Been posting lots of pictures of our experience here at Common Ground on the North Shore of Kauai.

• 1:36:57Speaker 01

  Uh, lots of some cool pictures of our experience here. And, uh, we're wrapping up our, uh, our little journey here, uh, in the short term. We're going back to Los Angeles at the end of this week. We'll be back at Common Ground soon, um, but, uh, we gotta go back and attend to some business. It's been like two and a half months since we've been home. Uh, and when I get back to LA, I'm lining up all sorts of amazing guests for the podcast. I'm trying to get Brendan Brazier on the show. Uh, you know Brendan as the formulator of the Vega product line. He's a great guy. He's, he's essentially my neighbor. Um, and I know that he's heading out of town shortly after I get back, so I'm trying to get him in, uh, before he has to take off again. So, fingers crossed on that.

• 1:37:39Speaker 01

  And a bunch of other, uh, people I'm trying to schedule right now. I don't want to speak out of school before I have them nailed down. But, um, it's gonna be a good lineup. And like I said, I'm gonna try to start- Doing this a little bit more regularly than once a week. I'd like to get it up to two or three times a week. But I want to make sure that I keep the quality high and keep the guests solid. So that's it for now. You want to, if you've been enjoying Julie on the podcast, you can find her on Twitter at J I S E E D. She's on Instagram at Srimati, S R I M A T I. If you want to check out her music, you can go to Srimatimusic.com and you can sample her songs or download them, what have you.

• 1:38:24Speaker 01

  Good stuff. What else do I have to say? I think that's it. Common Ground, Kauai. If you want to learn more about what's been going on at this amazing piece of property, this sustainable community and organic farm where we've been living, you can check that out online at CGKauai.net. It's been an amazing experience here and I'm going to be blogging and talking about it a little bit more. So that's it, I think. Thanks for stopping by. Thanks for the support. We appreciate it. If you've enjoyed the program and you have a free moment, I would not begrudge you if you threw a nice comment up on the iTunes page. It would mean a lot to us and we're going to keep doing our best to bring you some

• 1:39:09Speaker 01

  positive energy and some good information. All right? So until then, we're out of here. Peace. Blance.

• 1:39:58Rich Roll?

  The.

• 1:42:08Rich Roll?

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• 1:44:18Rich Roll?

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