LEAD, Don’t Follow with Olympic Swimmer Kara Lynn Joyce

Like, rate, and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! (https://apple.co/2Nq9und) Follow Unfit on Instagram (https://bit.ly/3hxTUnD). DRUM ROLL PLEASE. We are so excited to share our conversation with 18-time NCAA Champion, three-time USA Olympian, four-time Olympic Silver Medalist, (and now friend of the pod) Kara Lynn Joyce (9:50). Kara takes us back to when she first got her start in the sport (17:23), her impressive collegiate swimming career, and what it was like to compete at the Olympics...THREE TIMES. Training to qualify for her third Olympics looked very different from the first two—she moved to Colorado to train with another swimmer who was on her way to global stardom, Missy Franklin (25:18). Their training and friendship is captured in the documentary, Touch the Wall. After two decades of competing at an elite level, Kara had to transition to normal life, and struggled figuring out what she wanted to do (33:48). She began working with young female swimmers and soon discovered the coaching she was able to provide them outside the pool was more transformative than her actual swimming instruction. That’s when she created the LEAD Sports Summit; an annual, all-inclusive event connecting female athletes with Olympic champions and experts in sport and mental health. In May 2020, Kara and her team launched a project two years in the making: the LEAD Sports Academy, a suite of online courses for building skills in confidence, leadership, mental health, nutrition and more (40:34). We chat about the importance of providing teenage athletes the resources to help them through their adolescence, and how the moments in between competitions and training often have the most impact (45:45). Check out the brand new LEAD Sports Company website (https://www.leadsportsco.com/) and stick around through the end of the episode for some piping hot Olympic tea. Follow Kara on Instagram (https://bit.ly/3jI6cJT), Twitter (https://bit.ly/3jGkdI2), and watch Touch the Wall on Prime Video (https://amzn.to/3oEdj9X) or Vudu (https://bit.ly/3kFyk1r).