Aaron Peirsol Part Two: Swimming at Texas & Nike Sponsorship

Pro Corner with Austin Surhoff

Part One of Austin's conversation with Olympic Gold Medalist & World Record Holder Aaron Peirsol.

Aaron is one of the most dominant swimmers in his events (backstroke) in the history of swimming. In the 2000's, you could count on one hand the number of times he lost a backstroke race in international competition. That level of consistent domination is almost unheard of in the world of sport.

In Part Two, the guys discuss Aaron's time at the University of Texas. It was a shock initially: coming from a unique training group under Dave Salo in California, Aaron had to adjust big time to the Texas heat, the intense training, and the awesome feeling of swimming for something bigger like a close-knit college swim team. They also cover Aaron signing with Nike and going pro after 2 years at Texas.

Estimated episode timeline:

0:00 - Austin introduces the episode

2:00 - Why Texas?

4:30 - How Aaron avoided common pitfalls people fall into in sports

11:30 - Agency to make his own decisions that he developed at a young age

16:30 - Big adjustments to the training at Texas...and the heat!

28:00 - The essential role Kris Kubik played as assistant coach for 3 decades

31:30 - Navigating times where Texas team culture was hurting

44:00 - Going Pro

53:00 - Sponsorship with Nike Swim

1:08:00 - Routines to tune out distractions at the Olympics

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