PHOENIX, Arizona, April 6. ON today's edition of The Morning Swim Show, Nathan Adrian talks about his performances at the Indianapolis Grand Prix and watching the California Golden Bears repeat as NCAA champions.
Swimsuit malfunction aside, Adrian says he was happy with how he did at the Indianapolis Grand Prix and is taking his swims as a positive sign for things to come. Adrian offers his thoughts on the international competition in the months leading up to the Olympics, how he's training and how he thinks the United States will fare in London. Be sure to visit SwimmingWorld.TV for more video interviews.
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Peter Busch: This is The Morning Swim Show for Friday, April 6th, 2012. I'm your host Peter Busch. In the FINIS Monitor today we'll talk to Nathan Adrian. He's one of the best freestylers in the world right now and he joins us right now in the FINIS Monitor from Berkley, California. Nathan, welcome back to the show. How are you doing? So I know you're, you know, a great swimmer and everything, but your college team does even better when you leave than when you were there? What's going on here?
Nathan Adrian: I know, man. They really shocked everybody. I'm so happy for them. It was pretty incredible to watch.
Peter Busch: Yeah. I mean, freshmen and sophomores, that was pretty amazing.
Nathan Adrian: Yeah, I mean, I remember I was doing an interview last year and, you know, I was telling somebody, just when you think you're irreplaceable, you know, they go and sign a class like they did. That class really stepped it up and did everything they needed to do to win.
Peter Busch: All right, so I'm not sure if you're aware of this but there's a picture of your backside going around the Internet right now.
Nathan Adrian: Yeah, yeah, I heard that.
Peter Busch: Did your agent put you up to that?
Nathan Adrian: Absolutely not. No.
Peter Busch: Tell us the story.
Nathan Adrian: I would love to just see what I can go in a 100 freestyle without a ripped suit.
Peter Busch: Yeah, so, okay, so we're at Indianapolis Grand Prix and with it right off the start that it just ripped down the back?
Nathan Adrian: I hadn't even started yet, man. I was — I bent over when I stepped up on the blocks and, as I bent over, I felt it, but we were just about to take your marks, so I just kind of went with it.
Peter Busch: Any temptation to be, like, guys, can I get a mulligan here?
Nathan Adrian: Yes, absolutely. If it would have been when we were walking up to the blocks, then I maybe I would have been able to talk my way into delaying it a little bit, but it was just way too late at that point.
Peter Busch: You wanted to see what it would feel like. Just swim a whole 100 free liberated and free.
Nathan Adrian: Don't we all. Peter Busch: New meaning to the word 100 free, right?
Nathan Adrian: I guess.
Peter Busch: Well, you still go 48.6. That's a heck of a time.
Nathan Adrian: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I was happy with that. Happy with that, you know. Like I said, I would love to go back and see if I could go a little bit faster, but, you know, 48.6 is okay for right now where we're at.
Peter Busch: And 21.8 in the 50 is real good for right now.
Nathan Adrian: Yeah, yeah, also a good swim. I mean, what can I say? I'm a sprinter, man. I always want to go faster though. There's no satisfying that.
Peter Busch: Well, you definitely want to go faster after seeing somebody like James Magnussen go 47.1.
Nathan Adrian: Absolutely.
Peter Busch: I mean, what does that do for your psyche seeing that somebody is that much faster than the rest of the world right now, you know, especially when it comes to the relay and Australia looks pretty darn good?
Nathan Adrian: You know, I mean, there's nothing you can do about that. I really have been fortunate in having coaches that have guided me and taught me that I need to control what I can control and, you know, that's me and what my preparation leading up Olympic Trials, hopefully, Olympic Games, you know. Outside of that, it's not something that I can do anything about. So, you know, at this point, I just can't — I don't.
Peter Busch: Does America have to have somebody go in at least 47-mid so that they're not so far behind on that relay, assuming that Magnussen can lead off of something like that again?
Nathan Adrian: Yeah, you know, really, I don't know. I don't know. What's great is seeing that there are a lot of fast guys, you know, on the right track to go fast this summer. It's really nice seeing Michael throw down such good times through this whole season, you know, he's got a big drop in him come August time and, you know, Ryan was going fast in that 100 as well when he threw on a suit and popped a 49-low or 49-mid in that 100 freestyle.
Peter Busch: I saw you on deck at Federal Way during the men's NCAA championships. And then I also saw you swimming one day. It looks like you were next to Josh Davis, was it?
Nathan Adrian: Yeah, yeah.
Peter Busch: I couldn't quite tell what was going on but you guys raced each other for a 50 or something?
Nathan Adrian: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Peter Busch: Tell us what — I couldn't quite hear. What did you go or what was the bet?
Nathan Adrian: Well, there was no bet, but Josh said — Josh had been hopping along in my workout and he was like amazing me a lot. He was keeping up through a good amount of effort so pretty strong. And then come that last one when we were supposed to about 100 rate and rhythm, he decided that he wanted to go off a block and I wanted to go off a push and we just had a little race go.
Peter Busch: Well, you still beat him by about a body length, so that's a good sign for America's chances this summer, right?
Nathan Adrian: Well, I might have pushed a little faster than a 100 rate and rhythm just coz there's a little race on the line.
Peter Busch: What did you go in a 50 push?
Nathan Adrian: I was about 20.0 or 20.1.
Peter Busch: That will work.
Nathan Adrian: Yeah, it was good. It was one of my better ones.
Peter Busch: All right, so how are you feeling in training right now?
Nathan Adrian: Feeling good. Feeling good. You know, I went through a good cycle and now I'm coming back and starting a new one. It's always really exciting to come in the weight room, kind of see what Nick Fulger has planned for us, kind of see what Dave has on his agenda, everything that we do in the water. It's pretty specific, you know, and Dave takes a meet like the Indianapolis Grand Prix and sees what we need to work on. Some of our starts, our breakouts, our turns were a little bit sloppy, so even as soon as this morning, we were starting to work on that stuff and it's really coming together.
Peter Busch: So you rested for that meet, for Indy?
Nathan Adrian: Not fully. We came down for a couple weeks, but nothing like a shave and taper meet.
Peter Busch: Now, is that just because you don't want there to be such a long stretch just to build up to the Trials? You wanna have a little bit of come down somewhere in the middle?
Nathan Adrian: Absolutely. Absolutely. It is really hard to train that long without having to race, you know, and having a great race in March adds just a little bit of a break. It's a good time to do it, too. I think it fits in perfectly with our schedule.
Peter Busch: All right, so, right now, in April of 2012 looking back on April of 2008, does it just seem like you were a completely different person and that you were clueless and had no idea what you're doing and now you've got a greater understanding of what it will take to get on the medal stand this summer?
Nathan Adrian: Yeah, absolutely. You know, I was 19 at the time, so I'd only been through one year college and, you know, I'd like — we'd like to think that I matured a lot since then, but I don't know, Dave might tell you otherwise.
Peter Busch: Nathan, one more question and it's a very important one before you go. There's a specific person who I work with and here at Swimming World. Her name is Kaitlin and she's very interested to know if you have a girlfriend.
Nathan Adrian: I do not have a girlfriend, no. Not at the time.
Peter Busch: Oh, there is some smiling going on behind the camera right now, buddy. All right, well, if you wanna maybe send a couple of pictures of you with a ripped swimsuit or maybe without a swim — wait, no, I didn't say that — and just, you know, you can send them personally and I'll pass them along to Kaitlin. That would be — we could set something up here.
Nathan Adrian: All right, man, I'll have the guys get on that at practice.
Peter Busch: Well, Nathan, fun catching up with you. This might be my last time here at Swimming World TV talking with you. It's been a lot of fun interviewing you over the years and I can't wait to see what you do this summer.
Nathan Adrian: All right, it was great to talk to you, too, man. Have a good one.
Peter Busch: All right, thanks. That's Nathan Adrian joining us in the FINIS Monitor. No girlfriend for Nathan Adrian, huh, huh, huh. All right, that's it for today's show. I'm Peter Busch reminding you, as always, to keep your head down at the finish.
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