Sam Short

In this episode of Unfiltered Waters, Katie Hoff continues her Australian series, three and a half weeks postpartum, sitting down with world champion and Australian record holder Sam Short. He just swept the distance triple, the four hundred, eight hundred, and fifteen hundred free, at both Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacs, and broke Grant Hackett's twenty five year old Australian record in the fifteen hundred along the way. So what does it actually feel like to become the swimmer you grew up idolizing. Sam breaks down how data driven his training really is: stopwatch splits, heart rate, lactate readings, and a descending set of 400, 500, 400, 300, 200, and 100 he did weeks before Commonwealth Games with barely any rest between reps. He walks through going out in 742 at trials in the 800 free, blowing up, and still going 1442, then analyzes what it would take to close the gap on the current fastest 1500 swimmers in the world. Katie digs into the recovery side too, and how much he actually trusts data there compared to straight performance numbers. Along the way, the conversation goes places most swim interviews don't: getting disqualified out of an Australian club relay record after a teammate left early, a surf lifesaving background that has him doing beach carnivals every season, a post meet stretch in LA that included a bar owned by a friend of Cody Simpson and, by his own admission, a full week without much sleep, and an ongoing love of homemade spaghetti bolognese he cooks himself three or four times a week. He also admits his first few months living alone came with a washer and no dryer, forcing him to haul laundry home to dry it. Underneath the racing talk is a real look at resetting after a rough Olympic year. Sam is candid that his home Games did not go to plan, and that the version of himself now, more rested, more recovered, and seeing a sports psychologist regularly, is a deliberate rebuild rather than an accident. It is a comeback mindset conversation that lands especially well with Katie, who is working through her own version of that reset with a newborn at home. Whether you're a swimmer chasing a record that once felt untouchable or someone who has never touched a pool but loves a good underdog turned favorite story, this episode delivers. Watch the episode, then head to the comments and let us know: what is one belief about your limits that a single result completely rewrote? Subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast platform, and follow us on social media (https://linktr.ee/unfilteredwaters) for clips, bonus content, and updates throughout the week. Note: this was recorded shortly after Sam's celebration stretch in LA, before he resumed full training for his home short course trials, so his prep timeline may look different by the time this episode airs. FOLLOW SAM SHORT ON: Instagram: @_sam_short SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS dreamrecovery.io use code UNFILTEREDTHIRTY for 30% off #UnfilteredWaters #Swimming #SamShort #KatieHoff #AustralianSwimming