Torpedo Swimtalk Podcast with Laura Quilter - From Masters Meet To World Stage And Reinvention In Her 30s

What if your fastest swim is still ahead of you? Torpedo Swimtalk Podcast sits down with New Zealand sprinter Laura Quilter, who left the sport for eight years and returned in her 30s to lay down lifetime bests—including a 25.08 in the 50 free at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. Her story blends curiosity, self-coaching, and a focus less is more, challenging the old belief that more metres always equals more speed.

Laura breaks down how she rebuilt her sprint power with targeted strength work and smart periodisation: heavy lifts early in the cycle, then a shift to high-intent plyometrics as race day neared. In the pool, she replaced kilometres with broken 50s using parachutes, fins and paddles, stepping down resistance to convert strength into speed. We dig into the technical details that moved the needle—lateral body line to engage the lats, cleaner kick timing, and start cues like “thumbs to armpits” plus a back-foot loaded stance for a sharper dive. She even rethought her breakout to keep speed from stalling at the surface.

The mental game is just as compelling. As a registered nurse working PM shifts, Laura learned to manage imperfect sleep, test readiness session by session, and keep a simple mantra on loop: be cool. She’s candid about a tough 50 fly in Singapore, the confidence of a heat win in the 50 free, and how breathing choices can swing a race. We also explore recovery at 33 versus 23, creatine dosing, and the freedom that comes from training less but with far more intent.

If you’re a masters swimmer, a coach, or a sprinter chasing tenths, this conversation is a playbook for getting faster with fewer metres, better technique and a calmer mind. 

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome & Laura’s Comeback
• 2:40 The Masters Meet Spark
• 6:30 Shift Work, Sleep, And Performance
• 10:55 Worlds In Singapore: Prep And Nerves
• 15:20 Strength Strategy: From Heavy Lifts To Plyo
• 18:55 50 Fly Lessons And Breathing
• 23:05 50 Free PB, Mindset, And Goals
• 27:35 Call Room Psychology And Venue Insights
• 31:40 Rewriting Training: Minimal Effective Dose
• 36:20 Sprint Sets: Chutes, Fins, And Paddles
• 40:55 Technique Tweaks: Lateral Line And Kick Timing

Transcript

Danielle Spurling: 0:05

Hello, swimmers, and welcome to Torpedo Swim Talk, the podcast celebrating swimmers at every stage, from Masters Legends to Olympic champions. I'm your host, Danielle Spurling, and each week we dive into inspiring conversations from around the world about performance, resilience, and the pure love of swimming. Today's guest is New Zealand sprinter Laura Quilter, a former Commonwealth Games athlete who stepped away from the sport for eight years, only to return in her 30s swimming lifetime best. What started as a casual masters meet with friends turned into a full-blown comeback, powered by a completely reimagined training model. Fewer swims, heavier gym work, smarter technique, and a mindset shift that's made her faster than ever. This year, that comeback took her all the way to the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, where she lined up against swimmers more than a decade younger and threw down a PB in the 53. Laura's story is one of reinvention, resilience, and proving that speed doesn't have an expiry date. Let's hear from Laura now. Hi Laura, welcome to the podcast.

Laura Quilter: 1:22

Thank you. It's nice to be back.

Danielle Spurling: 1:24

Yeah, it's so good to be back talking to you. I know last time we talked was 2023, I think, and you were just dipping your toes back into master swimming and getting and doing a bit of ice swimming as well after eight years out of the pool. And then things have really escalated very quickly. So let's pick up right where we left off and tell me back to that very first masters meet that you got back in the water and how that accidentally kicked off this huge comeback.

Laura Quilter: 1:52

Yeah, it feels quite surreal being here in like 2025. I'm back on the New Zealand national team. I competed at my first ever World Aquatics Champs as a 33-year-old, and I set the fourth fastest time um in history for the New Zealand woman. So like it started literally just from jumping in for a master's event, and it's um it's been a couple of years. I also got engaged, so that's like a big big milestone. Congratulations. Thank you. Yeah, it's it's been um it's honestly been such an enjoyable. I feel like it's been a second life in Swimming because my entire approach to the sport, my understanding of it, and my motivations are much, much different. And um, we can definitely talk about those key differences, but yeah, what a couple of years it's been.

Danielle Spurling: 2:37

I know, I know, absolutely. I mean, when you got back into masters, I remember you sort of saying, Oh, I sort of I I thought I'd give it a go because I wanted to um actually swim in a decent 20 a decent 50-meter pool for a change. What what sort of change were you there? How did you sort of come across that I'm swimming better than I expected?

Laura Quilter: 2:56

Well, at that meet, so it was the brand new 50-meter pool that they'd built in the Hawke's Bay, and I was just jealous that I never got to swim in it. Uh, at those champs, I went down with a couple of mates, we took our bikes, we were cycling and um, you know, doing big rides and then rocking up to the pool, very little prep. So it was that in itself was different. But what sparked the proper return was um I did a 50 freestyle on one of the relays and split a 25.9, and I could not believe it because my best ever time was a 25.8 and I was a sprinter. Um, it was from a flying start, so it probably would have been a 26 low, but just to feel that kind of speed and for it to hit me so unexpectedly uh going in, I was training once a week with the triathlon squad, but I was way, way stronger. So that kind of you know sparked that curiosity and the experiment of first, like, can I set a PB in my 30s with a new style of training? And that included, you know, around full-time work now. I'm a registered nurse, so shift work uh is a bit hectic, but it's also a big positive because it means that I can train at the pool during off-peak hours. So that's been a bit of a hidden asset, to be honest, because even though I'm up late and I'm doing different shift patterns and my circadian rhythm is, you know, doesn't exist, uh, it also had great benefits in terms of training. And we can not to jump forward and back, but it was actually really interesting at the New Zealand Nationals. The 50 Freestyle for the first time this year in 2025 was on the first day, and I had requested the day before the Nationals off work, but I'd actually come off a run of PM shifts, which means I was finishing at midnight, and it it was really interesting because I was a bit disappointed with my 50 freestyle at the Nationals. I was tracking the splits I was doing in training were looking like I could do that 24 second, which is what I was hunting after I set the PB. No woman at that time had been under 25 seconds in New Zealand. It's since been broken by um an impressive athlete who had Chelsea Edwards. But to cut a long story short, I um I swam horribly in the heat and I was just kind of shocked. I came home and I slept during the break. But it's that kind of sleep where you feel really heavy. And I woke up and went back and did swim a PB in the night, but I couldn't nap for the rest of the days during the week. And I wonder whether if I'd asked for morning shifts, whether my central nervous system had been more rested, or or whether I'm making it all up and it had nothing to do with it. But it was quite interesting coming off evenings, less quality sleep, um disrupted training patterns, and going into the nationals. Maybe I could have planned that better because when I finally got to the world aquatics, it was a much better swim.

Danielle Spurling: 5:37

Yeah, and you would have had you would have been resting more, obviously. And recovery at this age is is so important.

Laura Quilter: 5:44

It was such a funny experience because we we were there two weeks before they are the world champs in Singapore. So I'm trying to balance, you know, I'm I'm doing 50 metres. I'd actually qualified in the 50 metre butterfly and got a bonus of the 50 freestyle because I'd set the FENA B. Um, so it was a mix of yes, I want to be resting up, I want to be in bed and not doing too much, but also I don't want to, you know, dampen down my sprinting, I don't know what you call it, like yeah, like the central nervous system. So I was tracking my steps and I was still walking around, sightseeing Singapore, and keeping a lot of my strength training, like I kept the maximal effort body weight power work. So still doing a lot of plyo, but much less reps and much less sets. So it was um interesting watching also my garment, my HIV skyrocketed and then normalized when I first got over to Singapore.

Danielle Spurling: 6:37

That is really interesting. And I'm I'm really interested to talk more about the strength and what you did there. So you kept your maximum weights, obviously, the the poundage or the the kilos, but you just did less reps.

Laura Quilter: 6:51

Oh, sorry, no. So I the the pound so the weight came off. I should have looked at this before I came. Um I think it was two weeks out. I dropped the heavy weights and went into more bodyweight plyo work. So there's actually I posted a video on my Instagram. Our uh we had a uh a camp accommodation with a great gym, but our racing accommodation, the gym was almost comical, it was so small. So I was like, well, this is all I've got access to right now. So I still managed to do this um body weight set of say jump split squats, still doing the plyo push-up, so really trying to get the claps in, and um, so the max effort was intensity, but not weight.

Danielle Spurling: 7:32

Right, yeah. And I I know like I I want to talk all about the races first in Singapore. So you had the 50 fly and you had the 53 53. Talk us through how the heats went and then what happened after that in both of those races.

Laura Quilter: 7:49

Yeah, so the the 50 fly was first, and it's it was really disappointing in terms of the time. Like this was the biggest event I'd done, and I I felt really relaxed going in. Like, even in the ready room, before the nationals, before any event, I do a lot of visualization at night. It's almost like the way I get to sleep. I basically just rerun and rerun parts of an event. So going into World Champs, I knew that part of my challenge would be controlling nerves. Um, you know, I had thoughts of maybe I'd suffer from imposter syndrome and things, which I luckily didn't feel, but I I had anticipated that would be a bit of a mental uh barrier. Um so, like the week before that 50 fly, I was imagining what it would feel like to be in that ready room, to be, you know, next to some of those really amazing top women in the world. And I did feel quite relaxed in the ready room, but um it didn't it didn't transpire. I went out like half a second faster to 25 metres than I did at the Nationals and finished over half a second slower. So the back end really hurt, but in hindsight, I had actually um chatted with uh I'm self-coach, but my um club coach, I I worked really closely with Michael, and you know, you don't change anything on game day, but I wondered whether I should have taken a breath because the 50 freestyle was my main event going into the nationals, and I had played with breathing patterns, and it turns out I'm actually faster if I take one breath. Whereas the 50 fly was always a fun race, so I had um copied, you know, Sierra the best in the world, and just challenged myself no breathing, but hadn't actually tested breathing versus no breathing, and because there was only eight weeks between the nationals and the world champs, I didn't really have maybe I would have had time. Um, yeah. So to summarize, I felt like I was relaxed, but the splits show that potentially I went far too quickly, and my second 25, my stroke rate and that time was a lot slower than the nationals. Um, so it it was about my fifth fastest all time. Still faster than the Commonwealth Games, which was the last time I represented New Zealand back in like 2014. So that was a silver lining.

Danielle Spurling: 9:56

That that's a big silver lining. It must have been oxygen debt, that's why you dropped off a little bit.

Laura Quilter: 10:02

I think that was part of it because I felt really good to 25 and I needed to breathe, and um, I could feel myself shortening, but I I chose not to take that breath. Butterfly, particularly, you're at risk because you're breathing forward, you might swallow water, freestyle, really low risk. So I didn't change my plan, even though who knows, who knows? So, like to be completely honest, I was I was really angry after that event. Um, I felt like I'd prepared really well, and it was just definitely frustration at myself. Like I felt like there was more there, but I think being a bit more mature, I think being able to ride those feelings a bit more like surfing, surfing the emotion is a bit uh better. When I was younger, I'd kind of sit in those feelings, I would let that you know, disappointment and frustration really just keep me down. Um, so I let myself feel angry, frustrated, whatever I needed to for about an hour, and then it was more of a like an active exercise to say, well, you've got a 53 now, like there's no pressure on this, like you know, it's a bonus event. Um, and I breathed twice in that because I was like, you know what, I'm just gonna go exactly by feel. I was super chill going in, and that was a massive PV, and the most frustrating thing, I finished in 2508, so I missed my goal of 24 by like under 0.1 of a second. So like that, yeah, such a high cut, yeah, can't be mad about the PB, but it was tantalizingly close to that 24.

Danielle Spurling: 11:32

Don't you hate it when you set yourself for some kind of PB in your mind? And it's always I always set it like say you know, 25, 0, 0. I want to go under that. And then I'm always just like 0-1 over it or zero two. I can never just get that little tiny bit underneath. I wonder if it's psychological and I should set it a little bit further under, and then I'll just be under.

Laura Quilter: 11:54

Yeah, that's actually not a bad, not a bad um strategy. I think I think for me the other frustrating part was like reaching world champs was just an absolute pinnacle. I've done, you know, I've returned to the pool for two years. I didn't know whether I wanted to keep swimming, so like to know that my times kept dropping. So technically I haven't reached my ceiling, which is like that that was a hard pill to swallow. Yes, I definitely wanted a PB, but it was quite interesting psychologically to be like, you know, what do I do moving forward? Do I do another cycle into the nationals? Do I go for Comwife Games next year? Um, but man, did it set me up for a great holiday with my family, my fiance over in um Southeast Asia after that. I was just buzzing after that 50 freestyle.

Danielle Spurling: 12:37

That's exciting. So they all came over to watch you race.

Laura Quilter: 12:40

They did, they did. And the other thing I forgot to mention was it was such a like sport is such a psychological whiplash, isn't it? Because in that 50 fly, I was one of the center-ish lanes, but I finished last in the heat, and like seeing that 10 next to your name is just you know, it's a bit gut-wrenching, but then conversely, like oh sorry, I'm in opposition in that 50 freestyle. I got first in my heat, and that felt so cool.

Danielle Spurling: 13:06

That's amazing. How how far were you outside of the the semis for that?

Laura Quilter: 13:11

Um I think it was a 20, I want to say like a 24-7 or a 24-8. So still in a 50, yeah, close, but not not a fingernail away.

Danielle Spurling: 13:22

Yeah, but still, if if you think if you're thinking of continuing on to next year, that's that's a really a great goal to have to get through to that next one because now we've got the 50s and 50 form.

Laura Quilter: 13:35

I know that is so exciting. I definitely messaged a few old buddies when uh the 50s got announced at the Olympics about, you know, get back in the water, let's have an old girls crew.

Danielle Spurling: 13:46

Well, I mean, LA's only a few, it's only three years. You could definitely hang on to that.

Laura Quilter: 13:51

I know. The hard thing being a woman though, right, is I'm 33, so there's other big priorities that are swirling around in my brain at the moment. So in terms of like life goals, there's um some bigger, bigger goals.

Danielle Spurling: 14:02

Yeah, understood. What was it like? Well, you just talked about being in the call room and being a little bit more um able to manage your nerves. What was it like sort of being in there with you know kids? I suppose, you know, some late teenagers and early 20s, much, much younger. Or how did you how did you feel? Did you sort of communicate with them or were you in your own space?

Laura Quilter: 14:24

Definitely in my own space. Like it's interesting. At that level, everyone is they're not there to make friends, they're there to compete. So the vibe is um it's interesting because obviously those girls that are really at the top of their game, they've got friends in the core room with them. Um, me and my I was actually really lucky. Zoe and I were both in the 50 fly, so I had another Kiwi there, but we both tend to keep to ourselves in that call room. So I think I helped um someone put their cap on, but otherwise I was just just chilling out. I didn't take any music in, so it was just you know, tapping the feet away and hoping I wasn't gonna get too nervous.

Danielle Spurling: 14:58

Yeah, and what did you think of the pool?

Laura Quilter: 15:00

Beautiful, gorgeous, right? I only swam in it three times, so I got in once before the comp and then I did my two events in it because my events were so far down in the program that I had to do all my warm-ups and prep in the uh training pool.

Danielle Spurling: 15:13

Yep, yeah. But that actually that training pool was pretty nice as well and really well, really well set up.

Laura Quilter: 15:19

Yeah, no, I was such a cool location, like the the whole experience was pretty amazing and the the strictness of it, like it's been so long since I've had to wear accreditation and you know, even trying to trying to get into the facility and stuff and making sure that you've got that cred on you the whole time.

Danielle Spurling: 15:36

Yeah, I mean it was that I thought they managed it really well. Obviously, I didn't go to the part you went to, I went to the masters later, but um it it was run so beautifully and just no no problems along the way at all.

Laura Quilter: 15:48

Oh, that is awesome. Yeah, it's the the same for our one. It was very, a very amazing event.

Danielle Spurling: 15:54

Yeah. Now I just wanted to think back to your early career and you were probably you know swimming 10, 11, 12 sessions a week. Now you and you were coached, now you're self-coached, you're swimming sort of three, three, four sessions a week and doing a lot of weights. What was that big change for you and how did you how did you structure that? What what sort of research did you do to make that sort of be such a a great sort of win for you in the end?

Laura Quilter: 16:23

I think when I first decided to set the challenge of trying to beat my personal best after the masters in 23, I wanted to like challenge my entire narrative of swimming and be like, I want to be at dual PB, but almost like how little can I swim to do that? And I'd seen some exciting strategies coming out of you know, Cam McAvoy is the king of this um specific sprint training, and I had the benefit of going all the way down to the 50. I didn't have to worry about any other event except one lap of freestyle. So from there, I definitely um I followed Cam stuff a lot because he was the world lead in that in that space, and then I was very lucky. I actually did a personal training certificate a few years ago, and so my understanding of um, you know, the principles of strength training and overload and how to build power was pretty rudimentary. So, from taking that basic understanding, I started to look into the literature about how to better structure programs, and um, while I'm self-coached, like I had so much help that in 2024 I did have a personal trainer who taught me a lot about the Olympic lifting because I've always had a bit of a fear of fast heavy weights. So when I started doing things like power cleans, um I really wanted my technique to be good. Like that's the that's the reason I'm here. Like, technically, I I find it really fascinating to get into how our bodies move. Um, and I also relied on my fiance heavily because he's a physiotherapist, he's been on a few trips with the New Zealand team. He is like the expert in the space. So, how it looked is I would get these ideas, I would structure my week, and I'd get all the key sessions, and I'd like show Alex and he'd be like, Why are you doing heavy weights and then doing a speed set? Like switch these round and you know, helped me to better program in not only the key sessions but also fatigue management. So, um, what my week looked like this year, if we just take it down to 25 when I was truly self-coached, so I wasn't um training with the swim club or the PT. Um I was swimming three times a week Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, and I was lifting Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday was fully off, but then I was doing some mobility. So I was six times a week, which like a lot of recreational people are doing way more than that. So I think it was um it was challenging psychologically to be like, I don't need to be doing more. You know, I'm a nurse, so I have this philosophy of minimal effective dose. Um, you basically need to give your body the least amount of stimulus for your goal because anything over that is superfluous to need and potentially going to actually do damage. So um that that was quite interesting, and there were a few times where I had to question my own um programming. So I think our bodies lie to us a lot. So I think I've got a good understanding of my energy systems and whether I'm prepared to do, say, a heavy weight session. But often I would be so fatigued after, particularly after a really stressful day at work if we'd had a lot of um acute patients or something. I'd just say go to the pool or go go into the weights room, do your warm-up and begin the first set and see how you feel. Honestly, nine times out of ten, I would end up doing like PVs, or I'd feel amazing. And I was like, I don't understand how an hour ago my whole mind was like, no, you need to have a hot chocolate and a nap. And then I'd get to the pool and be like swimming amazing. So I think it was also such a fun experience and being like suspicious of my mindset and how I thought my body felt. Um, but you know, that one out of 10 time felt terrible. I'd come home and have a nap and be like, oh, that that was the right call. So I think that minimal effective dose and being um suspicious of your own uh psychological state were quite good learnings.

Danielle Spurling: 20:11

Yes, yeah, exactly. What did what did you change in the water? Like, have you been doing a lot of work with parachutes and um power stacks and things like that?

Laura Quilter: 20:20

Yeah, so I got a couple of sessions on power stacks. Obviously, they are um linked with a lot of the clubs, so they were awesome for a couple of sessions, but my primary weighted sessions were with the parachute, the socks and paddles. One of my favorite sets was um five times broken 50 freestyle. So I'd do the first set would be maximum weight, so I'd use the big blue, heavy parachute, and big paddles, and I'd do 13 strokes with the best technique I could at maximum intensity. So 13 strokes, heavy chute, big paddles. I'd rest for 30 seconds and repeat that three times because that would roughly be 50 meters. So 13 strokes three times. I'd do that exact process for two sets, then I'd drop it and become slightly lighter. So I'd take the paddles off. Oh sorry, that first set I had fins, so it was heavy shoot, big paddles and fins. The second set I would go down to fins and a red chute. So two heavy, one moderate, then I'd go lighter for the fourth set. So I'd take the fins off, but with the red chute, and then the last set in the early season, I'd stay with the parachute, coming near the end, I'd start to do body weight, so that last set would be just um swimming, trying to maintain that technique. And it's um, you know, that session, what is it, five broken 50s? It'd take me two hours.

Danielle Spurling: 21:39

It's amazing.

Laura Quilter: 21:40

Yeah, because I'd do really easy swimming or just chill out. Like I it's quite funny. The pool that I love training at here is um AUT Millennium, and there's the National Aquatic Centre, it's got the big 50 where I used to do all my training 10 years ago, and there's this like learn to swim pool that's at like 33 degrees, but it's 25 metres long. Like 90% of my training was in this like warm learn to swim pool. Because I'm a sprinter, I've been just hanging out doing not much for long periods. I found that warm pool really, really helpful. If I tried to do that in the big pool, I got too cold and actually had to get out, shower, that kind of stuff. So that was quite a funny. Um, I was very lucky that I had access to that facility.

Danielle Spurling: 22:18

And did you change anything technically with your stroke?

Laura Quilter: 22:22

Yes, I did. Again, getting a lot of inspiration from sprinters around the world. Um trying, I know this sounds really weird, but rather than like rotating forward and back, like this is something that you can really see underwater um from Cam, again, bringing up him so many times. But he's got the most unique stroke where he looks like he moves side to side. And when I talked about this with Alex, uh, he's um a Fitwater, he does canoe polo, which is a crazy sport in itself. But he said, yeah, it makes sense because when you when you paddle a kayak, I can't remember the terminology he used, but basically it makes sense to move the body laterally rather than tipping it, you know, shoulder up, shoulder down, thinking about shoulder just forward. So you're kind of moving, yeah. So to think about that, I was you know, floating my scapula forward and really trying to like get like get that rib cage out. And um, I felt like when I did that, so rather than focusing on moving the shoulders forward and back and and went side to side, I could activate my lat more. And I think a lot of swimmers struggle to feel the activation of the lat. They often complain about fatigue and like the triceps or the shoulders. So learning how to position the arm to get that lat engaged is really helpful. Um, and then the other thing that I really focused on was the kick timing because that is like the key. If you can align those propulsive forces, that's where your power comes from. So I think yeah, those were kind of the key things that I changed. And also the um breathing. I decided to start breathing this year because I'd done a few timed efforts and whittle down the kicks underwater. So I got really specific. I ended up with six kicks underwater.

Danielle Spurling: 24:05

Did you did you work on your dive much at all?

Laura Quilter: 24:08

Yeah, and it was so frustrating. I mean I have really, really worked for my power. Like I'm not a naturally fast person, like it's all been driven from gym work. Um so I touched the shoulder of a lot of top New Zealand sprinters. Um, Carter Swift is phenomenal off the blocks, he's just got this ability to get his body flying through the air really well. So he gave me a few tips because I found it because the dive happens so quickly, right? It is really hard to practice different aspects, and because I'm 33, my back flares up if I do too much diving.

Danielle Spurling: 24:43

Oh, okay, yes.

Laura Quilter: 24:44

Yeah, so I've got this like every now and again, it's not not huge, but I get a niggle in my like lower right back, and I found with excessive dive practice, like it would flare up. So I had to be, I didn't know exactly what I was working on. So one of the most useful cues that um Carter mentioned was to basically zip up. So almost think about thumbs to armpits, because one of my biggest issues is like when I dived and I watched it on video, I looked like this rainbow, so I'd like just like fall into the water no matter how powerful it felt. So to try to get that chest up, no other cue worked until he said that thumbs to armpits, and that really made me lift my stern and get an open chest and get a better flight angle. Um, so that really helped. I also went from a front foot dominant stance to a back foot. So you see, Roland Stuarman's really um, I hope I said that name right. He's really famous for that. He would pull back quite hard on the block and then fire forward. And he had a world-class dive in his time. So yeah, from front foot dominant to leaning slightly back, trying to load that hamstring. That was uh quite an interesting learning point.

Danielle Spurling: 25:47

Yeah, I think you've got a you've made a good point there because you you can get a lot more power from that bent leg on the kicker than you can off the front leg.

Laura Quilter: 25:55

Yeah, yeah, but I saw so many. It looked like a lot of those top women were preferably, you know, putting weight into the front leg, which is why I had started doing that. As soon as I started getting a bit of tension on the hamstring, and I have to shout out Mitch Nien from Club 37 in New Zealand because he really helped me at one of the mates feel this. He basically got me to like lean back as far as I could, and so I could it felt like my hammy was gonna rip that back leg. And then he said, All right, go from that point there. So I could feel the tension in my hamstring of the back leg, so it was ready to go like a coil. Whereas prior to that, I would get this like my weight was on my front foot, I would almost dip down and then go forward. And I think leaning, not hugely back, leaning slightly back, trying to get tension in the hamstring really helped get more power. I'm also I'm super tall, right? So like I don't necessarily pay too much um attention to the reaction times. Because you see, Gretchen Wolf, she's not the fastest off the blocks. She is by far the one of the best in the world to 15. So whatever she's doing underwater and her entry angle, there's a lot more to a dive than just the reaction speed. You've got power off the blocks, you've got your flight angle, you've got your entry angle, you've got the position under the water, whether you come up steep or whether you kind of come out a little bit flatter, like a lot of the endurance guys do. Some of the sprinters are quite steep.

Danielle Spurling: 27:19

No, that's a good point. Kate Kate Campbell was very much like that as well, being tall like yourself. She her reaction time was always a little bit slower off the blocks.

Laura Quilter: 27:27

So that's why like I think for taller people, you definitely want to, you don't want to have 0.8 reaction speed, but I think getting down to those real quick reaction speeds um when you've got a bigger form can be hard. It's not impossible, but it's it's very challenging.

Danielle Spurling: 27:42

But I think also what you say about what happens underwater after you've after you've dived in, and even your obviously your entry into the water makes a big difference because if you mistime that, as we know, you start um dragging against the water.

Laura Quilter: 27:55

And actually, one of my good friends, she was the former national record holder before Chelsea uh got it in 2025. She was watching one of my um just my regional swimmates, and she said you need to start breaking out earlier because she said I was reaching the top and then starting to stroke, and she goes, You almost want half a stroke underwater so that by the time you're coming out, you're like launching yourself out. And I think that actually really helped, but it took a long time to get used to because you know, I have broken out of a dive or out of a turn how many times over the last 20 years to like try and even make that micro change for it to be slightly earlier. Sometimes I'll break up and be like underwater, like it felt like I had a piano on my back. Um, and then other times it was um it was spot on. So that was quite a good tip from her about a slightly earlier stroke, so that when I'm coming out, it's not I'm not at the surface and starting to stroke, it's happening slightly earlier.

Danielle Spurling: 28:52

I love that. I think that's great advice. How about how about your recovery? Like when you were swimming back in 2014, was recovery sort of much in the sort of conversation then, or is it completely changed and you're doing something really different now?

Laura Quilter: 29:08

This is one thing my younger self, I think, won. Um so recovery, I was I was really, really disciplined in my 20s. Like I had the I had the support too. So like in my 20s, I was in like high performance and then in the club program, but I studied from home. I got, you know, I didn't work, I was very, very fortunate. I had a lot of family support, scholarships. So I had the capacity to act like a high performance athlete. I didn't have the funds to be able to access things like cryotherapy, massage very frequently, but I had time. So in my 20s, I was really, really rigid. I had a set bed time. Um, when I first met Alex and you, you know, like 8 30, like he's gotta be out because I'm in bed. Um, so my sleep and my eating was actually really, really good in my 20s. The only thing that wasn't so good was I was With being light, so I suffered from amenorrhea. I, you know, didn't menstruate for a long time because I thought lighter was better. So my recovery and my nutrition was good, just not enough food. Um, fast forward to my 30s, like it's just life, right? Like, I'm working around shift work, I'm working around friends, like I didn't drink in my 20s at all during season. Like, I'm not afraid to have a couple of glasses of wine on the weekend if I'm with friends or family. Um, eating takeout every now and again, like the recovery. I wouldn't consider my recovery going into the nationals as a high performance athlete. Like, I would expect more from a performance athlete, particularly around sleep. I mean, as a nurse, like I just didn't have control over my bed times, unfortunately. But I definitely could have improved with um being more strict on bedtimes and um my nutrition was good, and I think that I was better at supplements now. I take creatine, protein, I think, much more cognizant of the amount of fuel I need versus in my 20s. So, yeah, to summarize, I think my 20s, I was actually much better at the sleep side and being really stroked, but in my 30s, a bit more flexible, which for my mindset and me as a person, I'm much better not being super rigid and hanging my performance on this idea of having to have eight hours every night and weighing 68 kgs. Yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 31:24

Yes. Hey, with create creatine, I know you just mentioned you you take that. What's your what's your daily grams that you take? And did that give you a feeling of sort of heaviness in the muscles? Because it it holds a lot more water in the muscles.

Laura Quilter: 31:38

I'm really lucky. Like I don't feel any different with creatine. Um, yeah, so very, very lucky. I was taking five a day, and then I read a couple of articles about high dose creatine being quite beneficial in like um cognition and recovery, particularly for I mean, I'm not a menopausal woman, but I think they're starting to find some benefits for um older populations. I'm not an expert on this, like I'm not a nutritionist, but I think I was taking up to 10 grams for a week or two just to trial it, but uh five was the was the most common. Because I'm also big, right? Like I'm I'm six foot one, 75 kg, so I think my dose would be different to a four foot nine woman.

Danielle Spurling: 32:24

Absolutely. Now you've got this new elite swimming career, which I hope that is gonna continue. You're you're nursing full-time, and on top of that, you have this huge social media presence where you're coaching athletes and then you're sharing a lot of that online and your strength work as well. How do you fit it all in? And are you gonna continue doing that three-way split?

Laura Quilter: 32:47

Um, it's so it's so funny because I'm I'm a crash and burn human, like I get energy from the more that I do, um, and then it reaches almost this crisis point, and then like almost everything drops. And I've kind of cycled through that, it's just part of my personality. Um, so yes, I do want to keep doing it. That high performance athlete side, like to be honest, you're probably one of the first people I'm talking about this with. I'm not really sure about the future of um competitive swimming, like long term, I want to be doing master's swimming absolutely. But the open level stuff, like I've signed up for my first running event and high rocks, jumped on that bandwagon. So I'm still training really intensely in the gym. But um, this is probably the longest I haven't swum for since when I when I came back from the World Champs. I just had a break and I really enjoyed it. So, um, in terms of the three-way split, the the swimming is a big question mark. Um, the social media coaching, absolutely. I've got a really cool group inside my virtual swim squad, hoping to launch my strength squad again soon. Um, and that's targeted at um you know improving the musculature required for swimming, um, and then the nursing side, absolutely, because I need to pay my mortgage. Don't we all? Yeah, but I think I think I'm so proud of that like Instagram page because the only reason there's so many followers is it's it was just all my ideas and my concepts of swimming like out into the internet sphere. So I think the fact that people have followed it and engaged with it means that the knowledge and the ideas I have around swimming and strength and conditioning resonate, and it's been quite cool hearing people of different demographics. You know, I've got like competitive kids that find it really interesting, and I've got master swimmers or people learning to swim. So it feels very special to be in a position where I can talk about something I'm so passionate about and continue to learn. Like I documented my whole ice swimming journey on that. Um, so it's been a ride. So definitely um continue with the coaching and the nursing. Um, and I will compete for the rest of my life in what capacity. Who knows?

Danielle Spurling: 34:52

Yeah, well, look, master swimming would be so thrilled to have you because and it's it's such a lifelong sport. I mean, we we've got in my club alone, we've got two um swimmers in their 90s. Oh and one of them went to the the Masters Worlds in Singapore and you know broke three world records and three gold medals and just a marvel, like completely fully switched on, just still able to get up on the blocks and swim. And yeah, it's so inspirational.

Laura Quilter: 35:20

That's and you Aussies do master swimming so well. Like, I'd love to come over and do one of the um like the big meets over there, and having those 90-year-olds around you, like that's why I named my social media and my coaching Aura Move, because Aura is that you know, it's the sensation or the feeling that you get from movement. And so the coaching's not just about like go do 2100's threshold, it's about the well-being and experience of how movement can bring enhancement in different parts of the life of your life. So I think it's quite important that like, you know, I think swimming is the most amazing activity, obviously biased, but you can do it at 90, like pending any shoulder injuries or anything, you know. It's it's a very gentle sport um that you can continue to do at all ages.

Danielle Spurling: 36:05

And I love the fact that um I read that you um actually helped your dad get into his first race. Tell us, tell us a little bit about that.

Laura Quilter: 36:13

Yeah, it was like the most exciting 45-second race of my life. So my dad, um, we actually almost lost him last year. Try not to get emotional about it because it was a very um, it was a freak health accident. Like he was he's very, very lucky to be here. Um, and he just in passing, after it all, you know, he's back, um, happy Murray. Um he said, Oh, imagine if I did 50 free at the New Zealand Masters and I just jumped on it, like I was so excited. I became his um self-appointed coach. And the funniest part is he's one of my like most adherent clients. Like my dad is amazing with if you, you know, if he wants to do something and you set him these sessions, he will do it. And it was such a fun experience because dad hasn't ever done a competition, he's 65, he's never, you know, he's been to swimming events his whole life because of me. But he I had to design sessions that were purposeful but weren't more than 600 meters long. So, like it was a really interesting coaching experience for me because I knew dad, I knew what his goals were, and so we did, you know, we've just managed his fatigue particularly. He was getting um, he had the clearance from doctors to work out again, but it was it was a shock to the system. So his first 50 time trial, he was complaining that he couldn't lift his arms up because his body just hadn't done like a maximal intense, like sorry, a maximally intense activity for like 20 years. And he got better and better. Um, and when he got to the nationals, he did a 15-second PV and was so nervous watching, like he didn't even know how to put a cap on. I made sure he knew to put like the the goggles under the goggles under the cap so they didn't leak. Um, you know, it was it was such a fun experience, and I really enjoyed coaching coaching dad.

Danielle Spurling: 38:03

That's amazing. Will he continue on with his master swimming?

Laura Quilter: 38:06

That was his, I think, one big show he could have meant to prove it prove it to himself. But now I'm joking, my brother's back from the UK and New Zealand, so I'm saying we should get a full quilter relay there next year. You know, mum, dad, my brother, and I, yeah, because Ben, my brother uh swam competitively until he was about 18, 19 as well, maybe a bit older. Yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 38:25

Wow, so there'll be a quilter relay on the uh the next World Masters in Budapest.

Laura Quilter: 38:30

How good would that be? Although I might be a low one by that point.

Danielle Spurling: 38:35

Yeah, exactly. But you can have slash slash quilter. Hyphen, hyphenated. Everyone that comes on the podcast, and we did this last time. I always do the deep dive five, but I wanted to do yours particularly about the Singapore worlds. So I just thought you could maybe give us one moment in Singapore where you felt like you really belonged here again.

Laura Quilter: 38:57

I think it was seeing that PB on the board and winning a heat. Like I know that's very outcome focused, but I wasn't expected to win that heat. I wasn't seated to win, and that just felt like a yeah, like all the work that I had done, it had it was shown in that 2508. It culminated like so. I mean, I love the objectivity of it. So yes, um, we get a lot of peripheral benefits subjectively, but seeing that time was just like, yes, the work that I've done, the amount of research and training that I've done myself, like that's I deserve that.

Danielle Spurling: 39:34

Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, because you did it yourself, it it means so much more, I think, as well.

Laura Quilter: 39:40

Yeah, yeah, I did it myself, but with significant support. So I'd just definitely say that I'm not not gonna stand up here and think that I I managed to do it without, like, you know, a lot of people in my life, um, technically, sports side, and also emotionally, just to be like, nah, keep going. Or think about it like this. Yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 39:58

And how about one sort of like mantra or uh motivational thing that you had in your head when you swam that 55 and 53?

Laura Quilter: 40:05

Be cool. I'm I'm really, I'm really a nervous person, so I just had this thing being like, be cool, like the fact that you're even here is amazing. Like you decided to just like randomly get back into swimming and now you're in Singapore. So be cool was almost on a loop for me a lot. And it would push out a lot of those, you know, quiet voices that were saying you shouldn't be there, or you know, what happens if you don't do well, Ryra?

Danielle Spurling: 40:30

Yes, yeah. And how about one sort of one thing about the whole competition there that surprised you?

Laura Quilter: 40:37

Definitely how busy it was. So I just assumed at the world chance that you'd have like a lot of space and you know to warm up and that kind of thing. Was not expecting it to feel like I was back at like a 10-year-old regional meet, like, you know, fingers to feet. It was so busy. So that was yeah, probably not the most interesting one, but I was shocked by how many people were in the in the warm-up pools.

Danielle Spurling: 40:59

In the warm-up pools. Did did New Zealand have did you have your own lane or you just mixed in with everyone else?

Laura Quilter: 41:05

No, we would it was like sardines in there. It was that training, that warm-up pool was just absolutely chocker. It was it was an experience.

unknown: 41:14

Yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 41:15

And what was one swim that someone else did that really blew you away?

Laura Quilter: 41:21

I think um the Ladecki 800 with oh my gosh, what's the Australian's name?

Danielle Spurling: 41:29

Lani, Lani Palestine. Lani, that's okay, and summer Macintosh that one.

Laura Quilter: 41:34

So I was just, I thought it was such an epic battle. Like you've never seen Ladecki flanked by two people for that long, right? Like she's so dominant and she's such an amazing athlete. But to see, yeah, to see the Aussie really, really pushing her, like that was such an exciting event. And it's also an event that I don't normally, you know, I pay a bit of attention to it now because we've got Erica Fairweather. But prior to that, 800, I was like, Nama Sprint gal, you know, through and through. So I think that that 800 women's event was definitely a highlight.

Danielle Spurling: 42:03

And I I'm so looking forward to seeing what happens in LA because as Lani did such a or broke the world record on the World Cup tour a few weeks ago. So yeah, she's she's closing in for sure.

Laura Quilter: 42:14

She's an amazing athlete, yeah. And she's yeah, just a phenom to watch.

Danielle Spurling: 42:19

Yeah. She's so she's a um got a surf life-saving background as well.

Laura Quilter: 42:23

Which is why I think I I enjoy watching her so much because I've got a surf background as well.

Danielle Spurling: 42:27

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Well, Laura, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. Um, what a what a great story you've got. And and I think everyone that's listening, and we have so many master students listen, they're all going to be so inspired because they're all trying for that. It's for them, it's not about winning either, it's about PB.

Laura Quilter: 42:46

Yeah, no, thank you so much for having me back. It's always a fun chat.

Danielle Spurling: 42:50

Yeah, thank you so much. Okay, and take care. And then next time we chat, we'll hear about the wedding.

Laura Quilter: 42:55

Yeah, beautiful.

unknown: 42:57

Okay.

Danielle Spurling: 42:57

See you, Laura.

Laura Quilter: 42:58

Bye.

Danielle Spurling: 42:59

Bye. Thanks for tuning in to Torpedo Swim Talk today. The podcast celebrating swimmers at every stage. If you'd like to support the work that goes into these episodes, you can do that with a one-off buy me a coffee or a small monthly contribution. Both options are under the support tab on the Torpedo Swim Talk website, and the link is in the show notes below. Any support is hugely appreciated. And I'd like to give a big shout out to two people who've come on as supporters this week, to Jared and Christina. Thank you so much. Your support means a lot to me. Until next time. Happy swimming and bye for now.