The audio industry provides the opportunity to work with many unique and talented people all over the world on fun and intriguing projects - this is one of those. With a unique name like Spindrift Beck, "Spin" for short, how could one not gravitate with interest to hear what she has to say. For the past few months I've been doing post audio engineering on Spin's podcast titled "Swimcerely with Spindrift" which can be found exclusively on iTunes. Working on her podcasts have been beyond gratifying specifically because they are built around pro swimmers and olympic athletes dishing their great stories of achievement and inspiration. It's amazing to hear each individual describe the steps it took to get to the podium - and beyond! You'll hear of the many challenges, trials and tribulations that each individual had to face tied in with humorous interactions and questions from Spin. From personal fears to parental guidance, regardless of whether or not you are a swimmer, the podcasts are sure to entertain any listener. With Spin as an achieved swimmer herself, hosting comes naturally as she is always well informed, eloquent and cheerful with each guest.
So let's get our feet wet and make the interviewer an interviewee with Spindrift Beck!
Brandon: First, we have to address your name, Spindrift - Where did it come from and how does it feel to have such a cool and unique name?
Spin: So, the definition of Spindrift is, roughly: the thin sea spray that blows off of an ocean wave on a particular type of windy day. My aunt was given the name Pamela at birth, but was a total free-spirit, child of the ‘60’s and, when she was 16, read the word in a book and convinced my grandfather to take her down to the Dallas County courthouse to legally change her name to Spindrift! She’s my dad’s sister, so he and my mom named me after her (which ended up working out nicely with the water reference, since I became a swimmer). I love my name, and never get tired of explaining it to people….except in places where I’m in a hurry like Starbucks or on the phone with customer service reps, in which case I make up a fake name. :)
B: I don't blame you! What made you want to put together a podcast?
S: I listen to podcasts constantly. It’s gotten to the point where I fear I can’t be alone with my own thoughts; I’ll turn on a podcast to have something to listen to as I walk from the kitchen to the living room! One of my favorites is called "You Made it Weird" (hosted by comedian Pete Holmes), in which host Pete Holmes chats with writers, actors, and comedians about their lives. It’s not always funny, often it’s insightful and unexpected, and I just love the chance to hear some of my favorite people in the entertainment industry speaking so frankly about stuff like comedy, sex, and God. As a former swimmer, I felt there was a “hole in the market,” if you will, for this type of interview format in the sport. So, I decided to try to fill it with my own podcast, where I try to let the interviews go where they will, but am always subconsciously channeling the "You Made it Weird" format. Learning the ropes of the actual technical aspect of the process, on the other hand, has been a whole other challenge (thank God for you, Brandon!), but I’m working on it.
B: Yes! Thanks for the props! What is it like to meet and interview some of the people who have inspired you growing up?
Megan Jendrick w/her Olympic medals.
S: It’s been incredibly thrilling! I’ve definitely had some “pinch me” moments, like when I got to sit down with my literal childhood hero Megan Jendrick (2000 Olympic gold medalist, 2008 Olympic silver medalist) for her episode. When you reach a certain level in competitive swimming, you start to lose that child-like awe of other swimmers, because suddenly you’re racing them or swimming next to them in warm-up and it becomes detrimental to your competitive edge to look at them as heroes. But, with Megan, I had a moment sitting in her living room, where I was like, “Wow. I’m having a conversation about swimming with the woman whose 4-foot poster I had on my wall as a child.” It felt so unreal, and so special. And, you know, it’s also been neat to interview more of my peers, as well, people like Alyssa Anderson and Katie Meili and Felicia Lee who I’ve been on teams with and raced against, because I’ve found that I’ve gotten to learn so much about these people that I never knew before. So all spectrums of the experience have been really fun.
B: Who has been your favorite interview so far? Why?
Spindrift with Ariana Kukors
(2012 Olympian, world record holder)
S: I’ve loved them all for different reasons, but two really stick out in my mind. The first was with Arianna Kukors, 2012 Olympian and former world record holder. Listening to her speak about her career is like taking a master class in the mental determination it takes to become an Olympian. I found myself hanging on her every word; more interested in listening to her stories than thinking of the next questions I was going to ask! The other is with Matt Thompson, my childhood best friend and a phenomenal swimmer in his own right. He was openly gay during his swimming years, which was a fairly rare experience in competitive swimming back in 2005 when he was breaking national records, something he discusses in depth in the episode. His interview in general seems to be a sort of “fan favorite,” I’ve had the most people reaching out with messages and comments about that episode, which is fun for both me and Matt, as we are sort of comedy-duo legends in our own minds.
B: Where did it all start for your own personal swimming career?
S: I started swimming year-round when I was 6 years old and immediately fell in love. I think where it kind of started in a real, competitive sense was when I was 15 and got my first Olympic Trials cut and placed 3rd in that race at US Nationals. That race was the first time where I kind of went, like, “Oh. Maybe this is something I can really do!”
B: What was a moment where you felt most challenged in your swimming career?
S: While I really loved getting to represent the University of Texas as a Longhorn swimmer and I adored my teammates even more, I struggled through much of my collegiate career due to injuries and a mid-season coaching change. It was tough, because I’d gone from really never struggling in my career, always winning, etc., to having to really combat a lot of tough stuff that was coming at me and my teammates at once. It definitely made us stronger, and it made me appreciate all aspects of the sport a little bit more, including other athletes with injuries and not-so-smooth careers. When winning comes easily to you, it’s hard to understand that other, slower athletes might be just as driven or work just as hard as you. If you stop winning, I think you start to realize that that’s not always the case; I learned to have empathy for the other side of the athletic experience, for sure.
B: What kept you motivated to keep going through every hardship?
S: I think my teammates were a big help to me – swimming is technically an individual sport, but you train every day alongside other people who know exactly what you’re going through, how painful it is, all of that. It’s a very bonding experience, and that was a huge help.
B: What do you wish someone would have told you when you first got into swimming?
S: I know this is probably the cheesiest answer, but I really feel that there is such importance in enjoying the journey. In competitive sports, there’s an obvious emphasis placed on goal-setting. In swimming especially, it’s basically all about the time on the clock. For me, I find that since retiring from, I really don’t remember a lot of the times or rankings I achieved; my fondest memories involve stupid inside jokes with my teammates, the smell of chlorine on my skin after a long swim meet, the satisfaction in completing a tough set in practice. I don’t think that I took as much time to really soak in some of those moments as I could have, and I wish I had!
B: Some of the questions that you ask in your interviews at the end are hilarious! Can you give a couple examples of the questions and some of your favorite answers?
S: Thank you! I love any moment when the guest kind of loses him or herself in a moment of candid-ness, which tends to happen toward the end of the episodes when we do sort of a fast-paced question and answer segment at the end. In it, I always ask the swimmers things like whether or not they pee in the pool (spoiler alert: most of them say yes), if their suit has ever ripped during a meet (spoiler alert: also yes), and stuff like that. One of my favorite moments in an interview was when Olympic gold medalist Alyssa Anderson talked with me about a bad race she swam at Olympic Trials (which is a meet that’s extremely frenetic in its energy: 15,000 fans screaming, a temporary pool sitting in the center of a basketball arena, fireworks, everything) in which she was far from finishing and could hear the crowd roaring for the 1st place girl, could feel the heat from fireworks exploding over her head, and just couldn’t figure out whether to laugh or cry at the situation. I loved hearing about that.
Spindrift with Madison Kennedy (Pan Ams silver medalist, NCAA team champion)
B: What's in the near future for "Swimcerely with Spindrift"?
S: Just more conversations with interesting, fast, funny swimmers! Leading into the Olympics this summer, hopefully there remains an appetite for an inside look into the minds of these athletes!
Swimcerely's latest podcast is with Olympic gold medalist Tyler Clary which is now available for free via iTunes. It can also be found featured on SwimmingWorldMagazine.com or streaming below. Please be sure to subscribe and stay tuned!
To keep up with Swimcerely and Spindrift please follow her on the following social sites:
Twitter: @spindriftbeck
"Swimcerely with Spindrift" Cover artwork by Alex Leigh Franklin
