Making Waves: Kristen Gary on Mastering Swimming and Inspiring Champions at Any Age

Have you ever wondered what drives a person to return to the demanding discipline of competitive swimming after a long hiatus? Join us as we welcome the incredible Kristen Gary, multiple Masters World Champion and passionate advocate for the sport, on Torpedo Swim Talk. Together, we traverse her swimming narrative, from the early splashes in summer swim leagues to the rigorous training regimen that led to her accolades. Kristen's commitment to the New York Athletic Club and her impactful work with the Trident Swim Foundation illustrate the profound effect swimming has had on her life, as well as on the lives of countless others, as she champions the sport's transformative power.

The thrill of competition doesn't wane with age, and Kristen is a living testament to that. Our conversation takes a turn into the world of masters swimming, where personal bests are redefined and the camaraderie within the community is as much a part of the sport as the races themselves. Kristen shares her strategies for managing the pressures of major events like the FINA World Championships and imparts wisdom on how to keep the flames of passion for swimming burning brightly through different life stages. Her experiences serve as a beacon for any adult pondering the return to competitive sports, proving it's never too late to chase the clock and your dreams.

But it's not just about personal achievement; it's also about giving back. The episode sheds light on the nurturing of young talent through swim programs for underprivileged youth, celebrating the successes of swimmers from all walks of life. As Kristen discusses the symbiotic relationship between swimming and academic success, as fostered by the Trident Swim Foundation, listeners will be inspired by the stories of resilience, dedication, and triumph that transcend the pool. And as we touch on the intersection of swimming and art, Kristen's journey serves as a reminder of the countless ways in which the love for swimming can enrich our lives, communities, and the world at large.

Transcript

Danielle Spurling 0:28

Music. Hello Swim Talkers and welcome to Torpedo Swim Talk. I'm your host, danielle Sperling, and each week I take a deep dive into the swimming journey of master swimmers from around the world. Today's guest is a multiple Masters World Champion. She swims out of New York for the New York Athletic Club, which she's also chairperson of, and in her spare time has co-founded the not-for-profit Trident Swim Foundation. Today I welcome to the podcast the lovely Kristen Gary. Hi Kristen, welcome to the podcast. Hi Danielle, thanks for having me. Oh, you're welcome. Have you managed to get a swim in today?

Kristin Gary 1:10

Today I have not. I have been a little bit lazy, but I try to get in, I would say three or four times a week. I have really no excuse, because the pool that I swim in is like three blocks from my house, so when I'm late it's even worse, because I really have no excuse, because my the pool that I swim in is like three blocks from my house, so when I'm late it's even worse because I really have no no excuse. Um, where are you based in the U S? Um, I live in Manhattan. Um, I'm on 55th street, so kind of right in the epicenter of New York city. I'm right behind Kearney hall and just a couple of blocks from Central Park. So it's a great area, it's like super central and I love it here, yeah.

Danielle Spurling 1:51

And what pool? When you make it to training, what pool are you based out of?

Kristin Gary 1:56

So I swim for the New York Athletic Club, which is a private club that's on Central Park South and 7th Avenue in New York City, is a private club. That's on Central Park South and Seventh Avenue in New York City. For many years I trained when I first got back into swimming and when I was swimming first swimming masters. I trained with a club called Red Tide which I was a member of for very many years, which I love and adored. But then I kind of made the switch over to New York Athletic Club, and they're both in Manhattan. Red Tide had a couple of pools around the city and then the New York the AC has its own pool and its own facilities and so it's great.

Danielle Spurling 2:36

Is the New York Athletic Club a short course yards pool? Oh, yes, oh, yes, oh yeah, there are.

Kristin Gary 2:45

Swimming in New York is a challenge. There are, believe it or not. There are quite a few pools, but they're very hard to get into. Just the restrictions on access, especially with COVID, it's just been crazy, crazy. So a lot of uh master's teams here in the city have actually shut down because all the pools that they were renting just stopped renting, so there was no swimming and it's still.

Kristin Gary 3:12

it's still really hard. I mean, I don't think they're back actually. So luckily, I was, you know, part of this private club where we stopped for a while, but eventually we we opened up again where we stopped for a while, but eventually we opened up again.

Danielle Spurling 3:27

Yeah, it has been like that across the world. I mean a lot of people I've spoken to have come up with creative ways to, you know, get some swimming in and obviously lakes and oceans and things. But, it's a little bit more difficult in New York, isn't it?

Kristin Gary 3:41

That's great in the summertime and if you're not in New York City. But I mean, this is just my personal opinion. I don't love swimming around New York, as, what you know, some people love it. It's just not really my bag, um. So I I do really enjoy open water swimming, but um yeah, not not around here, so um it's been nice to have the pool back open, I bet I bet.

Danielle Spurling 4:09

Look, tell us how you first got started in swimming. What led you there?

Kristin Gary 4:13

um, as as a little kid yeah, as a little kid, oh wow, I haven't thought about that in a long time. Yeah, um, I started swimming summer swim league. I don't know, you probably have the same thing in Australia. We have clubs in the summertime. Where you're, you can be basically any age and if you can get across the deep end or if you can get across the 25 yard pool, you can join the team. And I started swimming when I was probably six and I and I just loved it. You know I loved being in the water all the time and you know, and I and I just loved it. You know I loved being in the water all the time and you know, I was just so happy there. We played sharks and minnows and Marco Polo, and you know we're constantly going out to diving boards and getting in trouble and running in the running around in the pool deck, and that, to me, was the best in the summertime. So that's how I got into it.

Danielle Spurling 5:03

Yeah, and then did you gradually sort of compete in high school in America. I did?

Kristin Gary 5:09

I competed in high school. I swam for club teams in. I'm from Connecticut, so I swam for club teams in Connecticut. And then I went to, I swam for four years at Duke University, which is in North Carolina, Um, and so I made it to the end. You know, I mean I mean I'm of an age where when we uh, you know, basically after college swimming, there was nowhere to go and there's nothing really to do after that. So when my hand hit the wall in the last race in college, I'm like, oh, I'm done, I'm never going to swim again. You know, now, what? Now? What do I do? Who am I? So? So I took about a decade off and I did a whole bunch of other stuff.

Kristin Gary 6:00

I moved to Italy, I was studying, I was getting my master's, I lived abroad for a long time and eventually came back. And I came to New York City in the early nineties and you know, I still wasn't swimming, but I was starting to really miss it. And and I was really and when you come back, when you come to a city, you don't know anyone, the camaraderie that you have in the pool and the camaraderie that you have with your swim team, you really can't find and that the closeness of those friendships and kind of the immediacy of understanding. You know, these people in a lane with you, it's really hard to find elsewhere. And so I I started missing it, and I was also. You know, you're in New York city, so you're going out all the time.

Kristin Gary 6:45

And so I started missing it, and I was also. You know, you're in New York City, so you're going out all the time. And so on one hand, you know you're like dinners and parties and bars, and I'm like, wow, I've really got to balance it on the other side, because it's going to start, I'm going to start tipping over soon. So that's what kind of drove me back into the pool. And you know, I never thought that I would race again, I never thought that I would compete again. And then you know, once you get back in the pool and you start doing sets, and then you meet other swimmers and it just, it just kind of you know, sneaks back in. So that's how I got back into the pool and I've been doing it ever since really.

Danielle Spurling 7:27

Yeah, that's a really good explanation of, I think, what a lot of people go through, having that training structure all through sort of teenage years and into university and then, yeah, same with Australia.

Danielle Spurling 7:39

There was nothing after you quit swimming, although we don't have that college system here, but you know I spent many years out of the water myself and when I just started swimming it was like a whole new world again, because I think not only the racing but, as you say, the um, you know the little chats you have in the lane at the end of a set or in you know in between your hundreds that you're doing. I don't think other people outside of swimming can quite understand how you can have a conversation that lasts the whole training session.

Kristin Gary 8:10

Exactly exactly. You're like wait, I have three seconds to finish my sentence.

Masters Swimming Competitions and Preparation

Danielle Spurling 8:16

I need a breath. But yes, that's the answer to your question and I'll tell you the rest at the next end. Oh, yes, and when you got back into master swimming, how long was it before you started competing again?

Kristin Gary 8:33

I think it took me a couple of years. I was really happy, just, you know, seeing friends and and maybe it took a year. I think I was really kind of nervous and I remember the first swim meet that I ever went to was a kind of it was a local meet here in the city when we used to have swim meets in New York city. We haven't had them in years now. Um and I I was surprised at how familiar and yet how nerve wracking it was at the same time. Like I was at, you know, kind of a dinky little local meat and I cannot tell you the butterflies that I had in my stomach before going off the block for the first time in 10 years I thought I was going to have a heart attack block.

Kristin Gary 9:25

For the first time in 10 years I thought I was going to have a heart attack and but then there's something that's also so kind of familiar and connecting to that too. It just like brings up all of these amazing memories and sensations of when you're a little kid and then you race and and it's very addictive. You know, I I like to race and and I love that. Like intensity, even though you're you know it doesn't matter necessarily, it's just any. It's a really great feeling of satisfaction when you actually, you know, see your time's going down and you're getting faster. And so that was basically what happened. You know, just like that little bite, and I was basically right back at it.

Danielle Spurling 10:11

You were cool. Yeah, how did you? Deal with the? Yeah, absolutely. How did you deal with the sort of the, the mind game that you have? You know your old PB from back in college, to what you swim now? How did you sort of think about that?

Kristin Gary 10:28

Um, well, I did my best times as, like a 43 year old, really Wow, yeah, and I, you know, part of it is like, part of it is the fact that swimming, the sport of swimming, has developed so much since we were in the pool training when we were little kids or in high school college. You know, my coach wasn't that great in college and you know it was kind of rough, like the fact that I like swimming. That he didn't beat it out of me was like, you know, like a miracle. You know like, oh, 16, 400 is ready. Go, you know, I'll see you in an hour or whatever it is.

Kristin Gary 11:05

So hour and 20 minutes, um so, but people, the techniques are so different now and you know, for example, I think a big difference is you don't have to touch the wall and a backstroke turn Uh, that's kind of a big deal, uh, and all the underwater kicking, which I basically had to try to teach myself and get halfway decent at that, also didn't really exist. You know, no one could fly underwater. That was like, what are you doing? So you know, those made big differences in in how you know fast you could swim. So, but anyway, I did like, I did my best times. As you know, an old person.

Danielle Spurling 11:46

That's an amazing accomplishment. I mean, did your training? Did you notice a big difference in the training as well? Obviously, the technique, um in the race, backstroke particularly, has moved forward at college, but had the different type of training that you did, or was it?

Kristin Gary 12:02

I think we did a lot because I wasn't swimming every day like, I was swimming like four times a week maybe, and and I think it was like a lot less slog and a lot more, um, quality training and a lot more, you know, doing speed work and things like that. That really helped, you know, um, and also it was, I think that when you're at least this is my experience, you know when you're younger, it's like it's nerve wracking and you're so involved in it and everything is like life and death if you drop a 10th or not. And when you do it as an adult, you do it for the joy of swimming and the joy of the sport and your connection with your friends in the water, and I I think that that coming going to a meet or going to a practice in that very positive place makes a big difference yes so that's, that's, that was my experience.

Kristin Gary 13:02

And now, like, now, that was like 10 years ago for me. So you know, I definitely don't expect to be doing those times now. You know, I was talking to one of my teammates last night who's much younger than I am and he's just starting to kind of contemplate that, you know, like the fact that he's I mean, he was on the US national team he was amazing. You know, he's an amazing athlete, it's amazing swimmer, and he's like, yeah, I'm going to go to this meet. He's like and how am I going to, how am I going to deal with you know, my times being so far off, what I was doing, and I'm like you just will, like it's going to happen and you're going to have fun at just okay, and you're gonna love it and you're gonna come back.

Danielle Spurling 13:45

He's like you know what I think that's, I think you're right so yes, I think I think as you age up in master swimming, it's you know a lot of people say to me you are doing a pb for that year oh, right, right, I mean, we're definitely beating the people on the couch, right, that's right, that's exactly right. You've had a lot of success at FINA World Championships and so on. How do you prepare for a competition like that?

Kristin Gary 14:18

I don't, I pray, I don't know. I'm like I dread it the entire time Cause I'm I really prefer short course and we don't have a lot of opportunity to swim long course. So sometimes I feel like, uh, I was at, I was in, uh, korea the last one that I went to was Korea, uh, and I swam a hundred fly, which I can't even remember ever swimming a hundred meter long course fly, and I was up on the block and I literally like just about to take my mark and I'm like I was laughing to myself. I looked to the other end of the pool. I'm like, man, I hope we make it back. Wow, that's going to be a fun race. Anyway, it went fine, that's going to be a fun race. Anyway, it went fine.

Kristin Gary 15:05

So how do I prepare? I? I really the thing that I try to do most is, you know, I try to increase the strength work that I'm doing. I think that you know, the thing that you notice the most is that you, you really have to hit the gym. Um, that's what I would say. I mean, I think, the yardage, um, that's so personal and some people don't need that much. Other people need a lot more. I, I swim the 200 backstroke, which is so painful for me every single time. Um, I, you know I can't kick enough, right? Um, I can't do enough in my kick sets, so, but, um, yeah, I think it's just basically like upping the intense and the intensity for, you know, a few months before and and like six months before, really kind of going back into the gym and trying to work on that as well yeah, so.

Danielle Spurling 16:00

So how many sessions a week would you do in a lead up to a big competition like that for in the water work?

Kristin Gary 16:06

In the water, I would say four Yep and probably three in the gym.

Danielle Spurling 16:14

Yes.

Kristin Gary 16:15

Yeah.

Kristin Gary 16:16

Yeah, I mean honestly, my, I need rest too. People forget that, you know, when you're 20, you know your recovery time is so much faster, right, and and now I really feel like, wow, I'm exhausted. You know like I need to take a day off and like you know, when I feel like that I I definitely do. I'm not one of those people that's like obsessed with how many yards I do and you know, like a metronome, like I, just I, a lot of the times I go on on the feeling of like how do I feel in the morning and my, how sore am I.

Kristin Gary 16:56

So I also like we I've been organizing for like past almost 20 years is this training trip that we go on, and it's just like you would think it is. It's to an exotic island in the Caribbean, of course, because if you're going to torture yourself, you have to do it in a nice place. Of course, because if you're going to torture yourself, you have to do it in a nice place. So, yeah, we've been going to Barbados for many, many years and it's. The people are so nice and the facility is lovely and it's always warm and sunny with beautiful waves.

Kristin Gary 17:33

I mean, I know you're used to that in Australia, but in New York City we don't get so much of that. In New York city we don't get so much of that, and especially in February, march, when it's, you know, like 30 degrees and sleeting here, um, it's a really nice way to take a break and like really focus on swimming. So we do doubles. You know, we hit the pool twice a day. We go for open water swims. There's really good surfing there actually. So people who like to surf go surfing. But it's, it's tiring and and when you come back from that you're, you're in pretty good shape you know, a week of doing doubles has its effect.

Danielle Spurling 18:08

Absolutely, and you can rest in between, obviously, because you're not working, you're on holiday, so everything's more chill.

Kristin Gary 18:14

Yeah, exactly, and you know the people, the, the people who come on it, for basically friends of mine, all friends of mine, and it's really like a mental recharge as well, because you don't have to think about anything. You know, like I've organized it so all our meals are taken care of, they're ready. When you get there after practice, there's nothing to do other than relax and lie in the sun or go to the beach and you just have to worry about your next workout, you know, and finishing it, that's it. So you leave all your worries at home in, like the cold, in the snow in New York, and uh, and you go to Barbados for a week and it's, it's fun, that's. That's like the best way to like kick off the. You know the winter like intensity season for us, like we have short course yards, that's our short course yard season. So, yeah, that's a, it's a good way.

Danielle Spurling 19:08

It sounds lovely, do you? Do you take a coach with you or you just, yeah, coach yells at us.

Kristin Gary 19:19

It's great. He tells us we're slacking off. It's like it's legit.

Danielle Spurling 19:25

That's good, and so earlier on you mentioned that you're a member of the New York Athletic Club. Tell us about your involvement there and the way that that club works hmm, okay.

Kristin Gary 19:47

So the New York Athletic Club, uh, I think it was founded in 1868, so it's one of the or it might be, no, I think the Olympic Club is the first, I think it's the second sports club that was founded in the United States, and it is it's its sole purpose and mission. At that point, or actually when it was founded it was really instrumental in codifying what we consider sport today. So they were very instrumental in the sport of swimming, and especially in water polo. So instead, what's the reason we don't swim 33 yards, or why do we swim 25 yards or 25 meters? All of these things were being worked out in at the end of the 1800s, and so they were always kind of on the forefront of that, and their mission has always been to support athletes in their bid to get to the Olympics. So what we're doing is that there, once you do, once you graduate from college, you're not under the kind of the control of the NCAA anymore, and there are a lot of swimmers now, like swimmer Olympians are getting older, right, so they're graduating college and they're getting faster and they're getting better and they need support, and so New York Athletic Club provides financial support for elite athletes.

Kristin Gary 21:03

We also have a city house team, which is a team of local swimmers, primarily, I would say. Swimmers are just graduated from NCAA Division One programs that are now working and like fully living in New York city and going to their jobs and but they still, like you know, like I did, miss swimming after they graduate. So they come to the New York athletic club and they join the team. So I'm head of that team as well. So we're we are. We compete USA, so we go to USA meets and we also compete masters. We do both.

Danielle Spurling 21:40

Right, okay, that's, yeah, that's interesting. So it's like a one club. We call them a one club here in Australia, so they're masters and opens, open and age swimmers as well yeah, so, yeah, I think so.

Kristin Gary 21:53

We don't have any kids, like, there are no kids on our team. It's adults, yes, but the you know all most of the adults, since they're young adults, are still super fast, so they're fine in usa swimming, um, and yeah, it's great. I mean it's a really nice way to meet all kinds of different people coming into the city, uh, and, of course, then there are a lot of master swimmers and older swimmers at the club too, so it's a really nice as, as again, like, one of the great things about swimming is that you can do it forever and you can always combine people, and so you have, you know, 25 year olds with 65 year olds in the same lane doing things, similar things, and it's um, it's really nice so, yeah, that's a really great way of looking at it and um approaching it.

Danielle Spurling 22:38

I love that, and you just you mentioned that the New York Athletic Club sponsors swimmers on their journey to the Olympics, do you? Know, that you're sponsoring. They're not training there. They could be dotted all around the country.

Supporting Swim Programs for Underprivileged Youth

Kristin Gary 22:51

Yeah, they are. Yeah, well, we have one local swimmer. Her name is Emily Escobedo. She just won Worlds in the 200 breaststroke. So that was amazing. Very proud of her. And she's local, she's, you know, like New York girl, so that's great. The other swimmer we have right now is Ryan held, who also just had a fantastic world championships. Um it, he trains in Arizona, um, and then we have we also are working with the Duluth sisters and they're kind of scattered all around, but, um, katie was on the Olympic team, um, this year, so she was on one of our relays that meddled, so that was great. Um, yeah, so we have like a small, small but mighty cadre of elite athletes, athletes that we love. We actually were one of our swimmers that swam locally with us and then also went to your trials. His name is Matt Target. I don't know if you know. Yes, yeah, so he was swimming in New York for a while and now he's out in LA, but, yeah, so he, you know, is with the club as well. He's awesome, he's great.

Danielle Spurling 24:08

Yeah, I saw.

Kristin Gary 24:09

That's our Australian connection, that's your Australian connection.

Danielle Spurling 24:12

Yeah, have you seen the? I think well, here it was on Prime video the Head. Above Water series because Matt Target made a little bit of an appearance in that. Oh did he. He was doing a little bit of training with Cody Simpson, with Brett.

Kristin Gary 24:27

Yeah.

Danielle Spurling 24:28

For a little while. You should look at that little documentary because he has a few cameos in it that you might be interested in?

Kristin Gary 24:35

Oh cool, no, I'll definitely check it out. That's great.

Danielle Spurling 24:39

Yeah, just followed four Australian swimmers. So a past retired one, which was Ian Thorpe I've heard of him, I'm sure you have. I'm sure you've heard of the others Following Bronte Campbell, who obviously getting towards the end of her swimming career. Kyle Chalmers at the beginning, obviously a big gold medalist. And then Cody getting towards the end of her swimming career kyle charmer's at the beginning, obviously gold medalist. And then cody who is trying to break into these right, and they just follow these four swimmers heading up to the just before our, our trials last year.

Kristin Gary 25:12

Yeah, so very interesting. Have a look, I will definitely watch that.

Danielle Spurling 25:16

That sounds great yeah, yeah, swimmers, I think swimmers enjoy that one. Just a reminder that Torpedo Swim Talk has partnered with VMeet Swim to bring you a free-to-enter Masters Virtual Swim Meet. You can enter our team or create your own. This is a fun, non-sanctioned meet, meaning times can be taken at training with a push-off or a dive in any format and submitted in short course meters on the digital portal format and submitted in short course meters on the digital portal. Really just an opportunity to challenge yourself and have some fun and see where you are against your friends, your squad mates and master swimmers around the world. Links to enter the meet will be in the show notes underneath. Join us and have some fun with this great new initiative. Don't miss out some fun with this great new initiative. Don't miss out. Tell us a bit about your foundation that you, um, are involved with how the other the other piece of my swimming pie.

Kristin Gary 26:15

I have lots of pieces of swimming pie going on, yes, part three.

Danielle Spurling 26:20

You know three thirds.

Kristin Gary 26:22

Yeah, haven't you um so, back when I started swimming masters in New York City, new York is obviously very diverse place and your friends, I have friends of all shapes and colors and, um, and I love that about New York, um, I love how, uh, how many different people are in the in a small and intense environment. But when I went to the pool it was quite homogeneous. So I just, you know, I wanted to understand why, and you know, there, from from my perspective, I I just had never experienced, um, I mean, growing up, I there weren't very many, um minority swimmers and I just didn't know very many. So, you know, I kind of started to dig into it, uh, with two other friends of mine, um, jeremy Fane and Alan Fishman, and so we were both kind of like, we're all kind of like circling around this idea of like how can we give back to our city and and try to teach kids all the great things that we learned as student athletes? And so we, you know, we were thinking about like, oh, we'll help do college essays, or, you know, we'll help teach little kids how to swim. And you know, honestly, like, every single time we tried to like get involved in something, it was really, it was actually really hard so and they weren't doing what we wanted to do.

Kristin Gary 28:21

So our idea was to combine academics and swimming because for us, that was really like the crux of our childhood and what led us to what we I mean. I mean, I'm sure this is debatable but, like you know, having successful adult lives, right, and being happy, right and being happy, succeeding, um, being fulfilled with your job and your life, and you know why. What happened, like, what were we doing that really like, gave us the lessons and the structure to get to this place and you know, obviously it's swimming, because it's such a beautifully structured sport. So, um, we decided to create a foundation that supports underprivileged children in New York City. We started off in New York City and then we've grown to Louisville, kentucky, and to Los Angeles, so we have three cities.

Kristin Gary 29:02

Kentucky is on a little bit of a hiatus right now because of the pool situation there, but our primary, our first program, was in New York, and now we have two programs here and we have three programs in LA, and so we work with high schools and we will teach anyone in the high school how to swim, and most kids come to us not knowing how to swim, and but every day we have an academic portion as well. So we focus really heavily on doing your homework every day, which is a skill that these kids really need to learn. That serves them well all the way through college as well, and we do a lot of work with well when they when we were having them, like these college preparatory exams that they would have to take and college essay writing and also financial aid. So our goal I mean our goal is to create happy humans that swim, that know how to swim pretty well, and get them into a really good college so they can have all the choices in life that we had.

Kristin Gary 30:10

And swimming is the carrot, because kids love to swim and the more they know about the sport, the more they enjoy it. They bring their friends into it and it's been really successful, like our kids. We have 100 percent graduation rate from college, from high school, and we don't track our kids in college because they're adults and we don't can't do that. But you know they come back to us and they call us and they stay in contact with us and we know they're doing well and we know they're doing well. You know we just had drinks with one of our kids who graduated probably 10 years ago and who's now like a financial analyst in Wall Street, you know like. So they're happy and they're doing well and we work really hard on creating an environment and really teaching the lessons that we all learned from swimming when we were little kids.

Danielle Spurling 31:10

Yeah, that's a marvelous, marvelous idea. How does it work on the ground? Do you have a representative in at the school or does the school recommend people that apply, students that apply for it?

Kristin Gary 31:23

We will take, like, anyone who wants to follow our rules. We take Um, so you just have to listen to us. Basically, um, so we're happy to teach anyone how to swim, and um, and kids learn so fast. You know, it's like we have, we've had kids that didn't know how to swim and then two months later they're swimming at 200 freestyle. You know, I mean not fast, but they're in there, they're swimming eight laps, you know, and without holding onto the lean line, doing a flip turn. So they're, they learn really quickly and so we work. We have an academic advisor who runs the study hall and and then we have coaches that that coach practice.

Danielle Spurling 32:08

Right, and how many student athletes have you got in the foundation at the moment?

Kristin Gary 32:13

Well, it's been a rough couple of years because we've had no access. You know, when we were when we stopped abruptly in March of 2020, you know we had about, I would say, 50 kids in each of our programs so and we had three three in New York and one in Louisville and three in LA. So we had a lot of kids and in the summertime we also run learn to swim programs. So we teach, we go into for free for the community, so we go in and waterproof the kids in the summertime and it's like that is also so satisfying.

Kristin Gary 32:48

When this summer, it was very difficult I don't know if you have the same problem it was very difficult to find people to work in aquatics because, basically, the pipeline had dried up, no one was taking their lifeguarding exams, no one was getting in the pool, no one was certified. So I taught swimming this summer. I'm an art dealer but I was in the pool teaching kids how to swim this summer and it was great. Like you know, we had one. We had a couple of girls that 16 had never swum before. They into the shower, shallow end, and screamed like bloody murder, like I thought they were dying when they touched the water and I was like, oh god, this is gonna be a long two weeks. By the end they were swimming in the deep end, diving underwater, um, swimming back and forth in the lane. I mean it was just, it was great. So it was, um, it's very um, I'm very proud of them.

Danielle Spurling 33:46

Yeah, that's so rewarding to be involved with that and it really is wonderful initiative that you've come up with there. That's thank you. Thank you. Back to a little bit of your swimming. Oh, okay, let's put the spotlight back on you. Um, tell us about a race that you've done that you feel satisfied with. That's a good question. One spring to mind oh my gosh, that I feel satisfied with yeah, that's a, that's a yeah, a tricky question, because are we ever satisfied? But right, mostly satisfied.

Swimming and Art

Kristin Gary 34:24

I should, but mostly satisfied, I should say Mostly satisfied, I would say you know, honestly, when I was, you know when I did my best time in both the 100 and 200 backstroke. You know, like ever, my lifetime best time, that was one of the most satisfying moments I've ever had in my life. I can't tell you. It was like years of of like I don't know like work and like it, and I didn't expect it to happen and that was like the most beautiful thing about it. It was like one of these swims where I touched the wall and I looked at the clock and I'm like, you know, like it was like the you know in the cartoons. I like I couldn't believe my eyes and it felt so good and that was so satisfying. It was like all you know, I guess, like all swimmers have difficulties and go through really hard periods when they're training and and that just kind of made it all worthwhile. It was like, okay, now, now I'm, that's good, I'm, I'm happy with that, yeah let's get down to the nitty-gritty of that.

Danielle Spurling 35:37

So where were those two best times? Slum, what pool where were they?

Kristin Gary 35:43

yeah, one was in Virginia yep at like a um, I don't know, like a local. That wasn't local. It was like um a zone meet, I guess. I think't remember where it was honestly there there, I think it was probably maybe at Harvard, that I it's the hundred backstroke, yeah, and those are the. Those are the races where you get out and you're like bounce out of the pool. You're like, wow, that was great, that was easy. I think I could do that again and then maybe you don't, but that's okay, it felt that good.

Danielle Spurling 36:31

It's funny how those, those races, you never. You never feel any pain in them either, Cause your memory of them is the reward that you get at the end when you see the time. So you forget, hey, and I'm sure they did hurt.

Kristin Gary 36:47

Oh, I'm sure, yeah, I'm sure, but I'm sure, but I have, I have. No, it's like your mind must play that trick on you. Yeah, on purpose, right like you have no recollection of the pain, just of like the most glorious endorphin laden feeling ever after that and were they, uh?

Danielle Spurling 37:04

were they short course, uh, meters times of course.

Kristin Gary 37:07

Yeah, yeah they were, they were short course, they were short course meters. I've had some really nice swims at world championships too. I mean those, those are. I mean that's so that's pretty intense meat. I think, um right, yeah, it's a pretty intense meat. And you know, like, obviously, master swimming, it's like one and done right, there's no trials and finals, so you really only get one shot. So you know, like, obviously, master swimming, it's like one and done right, there's no trials and finals, so you really only get one shot. So you know you have to keep your together, you know. So there's a little. I feel like there's a lot of pressure on that. You know, you've traveled halfway around the world and you've prepared for such a long time and you know. But those meets are wonderful. I mean, I, I love going to them just to see people from all over all over the world. I went to Perth.

Danielle Spurling 37:54

I was there when you guys had it in 06. Yeah, yeah, did you enjoy going to Perth Western.

Kristin Gary 38:00

Australia. I loved Perth. Yeah, I stayed in Fremantle. Beautiful yeah and um, I was there. You know the meet is long and I had to get there a few days in advance to kind of acclimate and stuff um. So I had a glorious time there. I loved it. It was a great meet and I was completely awestruck by your facilities. I'm like, how many pools does one place have?

Danielle Spurling 38:27

This is amazing. Yeah, we do have a lot of pools in Australia, a lot of 50 meter outdoor pools. Yep, we're lucky. Getting back to something you said about pressure and going to a world championships Obviously you feel that pressure most when you walk out behind the blocks. How do you deal with those butterflies before you, particularly backstroke when you you don't dive off the block, you hop in the water and you come back to the wall. So there's more time to even think about those nerves. How do you get over that?

Kristin Gary 38:55

I don't know. I think just even thinking about it is making me nervous right now. I think I'm getting butterflies right now, also because I haven't raced in such a long time. I don't even know who knows, right. I mean it's gonna be a mess, but whatever. Um, how do I deal with it? I like to chit chat with people in the wedding room because, like if I just sit there by myself and like stew in my own thoughts then, then I'm in trouble. You know, I figure like you've done everything you possibly can to prepare, so you just gotta let it go right, just let it happen, do rest, jump in and, uh, take a deep breath, otherwise, yeah, once the starting gun goes, all of those.

Danielle Spurling 39:48

Yeah, I mean honestly I try to keep.

Kristin Gary 39:49

I try to keep it light. You know god, it's already intense enough. Yeah, all those nerves around behind the blocks in the marshalling room, and then you buy into that.

Danielle Spurling 40:02

You end up getting more nervous yourself, don't you?

Kristin Gary 40:05

Right, Right, I mean for sure. How much more nervous can I get? It's like I'm even more times going to run to the bathroom.

Danielle Spurling 40:13

You know I'm actually sweating at the moment because I'm have you. Do you in well. Let me ask this question With masters meets in America in the last few years, have you been as a backstroker, have you been using the backstroke ledge in races there, or is it not commonly used?

Kristin Gary 40:37

Oh yeah, I think I think most people are trying to learn how to use that. I mean, it's hard. I mean I think that for me, the upper body strength, to actually pull all of yourself out of the water and then get out of that tiny little ball that you're in is really tough. And you know not to sound like I'm a thousand years old, but I've had a hip replacement and so, like, getting into that, into that starting position is, is rough. So, um, but I try to.

Kristin Gary 41:11

I you know I do my best uh but yes, I think they're very helpful and they do remove um part of the anxiety of slipping Like I don't. When I have those, I I don't necessarily worry about, like the back plant that I've certainly done a few times when you're, when your feet slip to the bottom and then you go nowhere, which is the worst feeling ever. Yeah, are you a backstroker?

Kristin Gary 41:42

yes, yes so I know exactly what you're talking about, so yeah, yeah, I've had a few slips before yeah, and I think also also the backstroke start has changed so much.

Danielle Spurling 41:54

I know when I was a teenager it was a much more curved, tiny little ball, whereas now, as you say, you pull yourself up quite straight, yeah, and if you're waiting there and if you've got a starter who's holding you and you're thinking, oh my gosh, I can't hold on much longer because you've got to have so much upper body strength to get up like that, so much yeah.

Kristin Gary 42:14

Yeah, upper body strength to get up so much. Yeah, yeah. And then you have to swim after that. I'm like I'm wasting all my muscles.

Danielle Spurling 42:19

Absolutely just going back to something you mentioned before, um, you're an art dealer in your professional life. How do those two, which I suppose outwardly look like very different sort of um pathways in life there's athletics and art how do they both combine?

Kristin Gary 42:36

How do they combine? That's a good question. I think that for you know so much of my life. It was focused on swimming when I was younger and I realized, you know, I had that wake-up call at the end of college. It's like, okay, well, what are you going to do? And I realized, you know, I had that wake up call at the end of at the end of college. It's like, okay, well, what do you, what are you going to do? And I and I really wanted to develop other facets of my life and personality and interests and passions, and I and I knew that I needed to find something else that was really fascinating to me, and so I had taken art. I was an art history major in in college and I decided to. I decided that I wanted to learn Italian and speak Italian, because why not, right?

Danielle Spurling 43:29

Why not Like?

Kristin Gary 43:30

and Italy is like my favorite place in the world, and so it just kind of brought me over there. I moved to Italy originally just to learn Italian and then I did that and I enrolled in and got my master's in Italian art history. So it and that was like a great period because I really didn't think about swimming at all. You know, I thought about, I thought about art, so I wanted to continue with that and it it mixes well. I think that I work for myself, I'm a private dealer, and so I do a lot of projects on my own and I think that the you know, the, the discipline and the, the kind of intensity of swimming works well with art dealing, because there's a lot of research and there's a lot of kind of digging around by yourself. And I think it's like a similar approach mentally. You know there's the mental approach to swimming I think has served me very well in what I do for my profession.

Danielle Spurling 44:33

So are you an artist yourself?

Kristin Gary 44:36

No, I'm terrible. I can draw a stick figure. I'm really, I'm really really terrible. But that's not what art dealers do Right. And so and I specialize in, in old master paintings, so everything really old and crusty and dirty and that's what I love.

Danielle Spurling 45:03

Where were you based in Italy when you lived there?

Kristin Gary 45:05

I was based in Florence, beautiful.

Danielle Spurling 45:07

Yeah.

Kristin Gary 45:08

Yeah, it was not terrible. Yeah, it was not. It was not a terrible period of my life, hard to bear, obviously.

Danielle Spurling 45:18

Right, I always like to ask people that come on the podcast to do a fast five questions and you can just say what pops into your head. They're not okay, they're not onerous, don't worry. Favorite pool that you've ever swum at Icebergs, icebergs, fantastic. It's beautiful, isn't it Amazing? Actually, just as a side point, I don't know whether you caught on the news that there was an underground volcano eruption.

Kristin Gary 45:47

Oh yes, it's all over the news here.

Danielle Spurling 45:50

Right, because there was a tsunami warning. Yeah over the news here, right, because there was a tsunami warning. But yeah, yeah, someone posted the other day a picture of icebergs, and the waves coming over the top of that pool were amazing, just wow, yeah oh, I mean, I think my two of my favorite pools are in are in australia that pool, and then the other one that's underneath the bridge.

Kristin Gary 46:11

It's underneath, uh, under the harbor bridge, the bridge, yes, and it has like the luna park that's right behind it yes, it's just so beautiful and you see the luna park and you're under the bridge and you're in australia and it's like perfect yes, unfortunately that one's closed at the moment being renovated but they are opening it up again.

Danielle Spurling 46:29

Yeah, oh good, oh good, beautiful pool. What's your favorite pre-race meal?

Kristin Gary 46:36

um, it is an omelet with cheese and mushrooms. Lovely, and you can get that anywhere. And lots of coffee, um kick or pull oh kick, definitely kick any day. Yes, I mean, I can put fins on and never stop same kick morning or afternoon training morning.

Danielle Spurling 47:08

I hate to admit it, but I it's better yeah, I agree, yeah, and favorite now this is a tricky one favorite all-time set, training set or your go-to set I mean, I like doing back, so I love doing backstroke sets.

Kristin Gary 47:25

So anything with like descending intervals and backstroke is my jam.

Danielle Spurling 47:31

Yes, yeah.

Kristin Gary 47:33

Oh, good answer.

Danielle Spurling 47:36

Well, Kristen, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. It's been really lovely.

Kristin Gary 47:40

Thank you so much for having me.

Danielle Spurling 47:41

It's been so lovely seeing you. Oh, you're welcome Lovely. Hopefully we can meet in person one day.

Kristin Gary 47:47

I would love that. I would love that. Have you ever been to New York?

Danielle Spurling 47:50

I have been to New York. I actually I went to um, I went to Montreal FINA worlds and then I went to New York afterwards for a week.

Kristin Gary 47:59

Very nice. Well, when you come back, you'll have to let me know. Yeah, definitely, We'll catch a swim, Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. It's really been a pleasure and um and I'm, I'm honored really.

Danielle Spurling 48:12

Absolutely no. It's been great having you and hearing about your swimming story, so thank you very much.

Kristin Gary 48:18

Stay healthy and be well.

Danielle Spurling 48:20

Yes likewise.

Kristin Gary 48:23

All right, thank you. Okay, bye for now. Take care.

Danielle Spurling 48:26

Take care, Bob. Thanks for listening in today. I hope you enjoyed my chat with Kristen. You can check out the Trident Swim Foundation website in the show notes. Also, don't forget that the virtual master's meet we are hosting in conjunction with VMeet Swim is running through to the end of February. You can enter through the link in the show notes. Till next time. Happy swimming and bye for now.