Unfiltered Waters

In the first episode of Meet Team USA Figure Skating (Frozen Waters), a special mini-series from Unfiltered Waters, Katie sits down with Alysa Liu, a Beijing 2022 Olympian, World Champion, and the first woman to land a quad Lutz. Alysa reflects on stepping away from the sport at a young age, trusting her intuition, and returning with a renewed sense of creativity, connection, and purpose. She opens up about self-expression through skating, fashion, and choreography, the importance of saying n...

In this episode of Unfiltered Waters, Katie sits down in Austin, Texas during the USA Swimming Pro Swim Series with Olympic champions Katie Ledecky, Bobby Finke, Simone Manuel, Kieran Smith, and Jack Alexy to break down how elite athletes actually fuel training, competition, and recovery. From pre-practice meals and post-race nutrition to cooking habits, travel fueling, and lessons learned the hard way, this conversation offers practical, real-world insight for athletes at any level. Whether ...

In this episode of Unfiltered Waters, Katie sits down in Austin, Texas during the USA Swimming Pro Swim Series for a fast-paced, fun, and surprisingly insightful conversation with Gen Z athletes Regan Smith, Anna Peplowski, Claire Weinstein, Rylee Erisman, and Charlotte Crush. From slang like “sat,” “chopped,” and “aura farming” to trends, fashion, social media habits, and what actually defines Gen Z culture, this episode breaks down how the next generation of athletes think, talk, and show u...

In this episode of Unfiltered Waters, Katie sits down with Chari Hawkins, a Paris 2024 Olympian and U.S. heptathlon champion, for a powerful conversation about perseverance, identity, and belief in elite sport. Chari opens up about the long road to the Olympics, rebuilding confidence after setbacks, navigating mental health and pressure, separating self-worth from performance, and why being underestimated became one of her greatest strengths. ----- Subscribe to the show on your favorite...

We spent the day at the University of Virginia and sat down with Katie Grimes for a conversation that felt especially meaningful. In this episode, Katie opens up about her transition from training as a high school athlete at Sandpipers to life at UVA, how dramatically her routine and independence changed, and why the team culture has been the steady anchor through it all. She reflects honestly on a challenging NCAA season, learning to separate her identity from performance, and trusting the p...

Heads up: You’re listening to a highlight compilation featuring clips from several Unfiltered Waters episodes. Audio will switch between episodes without an audio cue. To close out 2025, we pulled together the moments you loved most. This episode is a highlight reel of the conversations that resonated, surprised us, and stuck with this community. From coaching wisdom and Olympic perspective to honesty about pressure, growth, and life beyond sport. You’ll hear unforgettable moments fro...

Katie sits down with Jamie Anderson in New York City at the Team USA 100 Days Out Media Summit for a wide-ranging conversation ahead of the Winter Olympics. Jamie reflects on her journey as the most decorated snowboarder in Olympic history, what inspired her comeback after becoming a mom of two, and how watching the Paris Olympics and Simone Biles reignited something she thought might be done. She opens up about balancing motherhood and elite competition, traveling internationally with young ...

We spent an entire day inside the University of Virginia’s program and sat down with head coach Todd DeSorbo to understand what makes UVA one of the most dominant teams in NCAA history. In this episode, Todd talks through the culture he inherited and how it transformed into the five-time national championship standard it is today. He opens up about leading athletes across two teams, keeping training fresh, balancing chaos with structure, managing big personalities, navigating major NCAA chang...

For this Dynamic Duos episode, we sat down with sisters and Olympic medalists Gretchen and Alex Walsh to talk through the bond, the rivalry, and the daily life behind one of swimming’s most steady, consistent partnerships. We get into how their personalities balance each other, how they’ve learned to support one another on race day without adding pressure, and why their best moments in the sport have always come when they lean into who they are instead of trying to be anything else. They shar...

Reaching 100 episodes feels surreal, so we wanted to slow down, look back, and celebrate what this show has become. In this episode, we revisit the moments that made the biggest splash, the conversations that took us deeper than we expected, and the guests who surprised us, challenged us, and left a mark. We talk about the episodes that changed us, the behind-the-scenes stories nobody heard, and the emotional highlights from the first interview with Caeleb Dressel all the way through the most...

Katie sits down with Oksana Masters at Team USA’s 100 Days Out Summit in New York City for one of the most powerful conversations Unfiltered Waters has ever had. Oksana opens up about her journey from Ukrainian orphanages to becoming a seven-time Paralympian, the role rowing played in teaching her she could be an athlete, and how she’s balanced drive, identity, and belonging across four different sports. ----- Subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast platform, and follow us on social me...

Katie Hoff and Missy Franklin put their friendship to the test in a “Who Knows Who Best?” challenge inspired by the Newlywed Game. From favorite coffee orders and post-meet meals to childhood idols, guilty pleasure snacks, and hidden talents—nothing is off-limits. The result? A hilarious, honest, and completely unfiltered look at two Olympic champions who know each other almost too well (but not quite). This one’s all laughs, callouts, and a few surprises. ----- Subscribe to the show on your ...

Four-time Olympian and Olympic champion Chad Le Clos sits down with Katie in Carmel ahead of World Cup Stop 1 to talk comeback from injury, the real story behind his rivalry era with Phelps, and how a brutal stretch around Tokyo pushed him to address mental health and rebuild purpose. He opens up about family, legacy, and a new project he’s launching beyond LA—plus some rapid-fire fun. ----- Subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast platform, and follow us on social media (https://linktr...

Olympic medalist and world-record holder Noè Ponti sits down with Katie in Carmel, Indiana ahead of World Cup Stop 1 to talk Paris (4th/5th and what he learned), the mental reset that set up his short-course world record in the 100 fly, and the rare “Grand Slam” of medaling across Olympics, Euros, and Worlds. He opens up about trusting his gut during a brief U.S. college stint (why he went home after a month), how he handles near-misses (“he won the race, I didn’t lose it”), and the simple wo...

Katie sits down in Carmel, Indiana with best friends and superstars Regan Smith & Kate Douglass to talk origin stories (rooming together at Junior Worlds in Indy), the chaos and comedy of last year’s World Cup travel, and why their friendship works even with their different personalities. They swap “trauma bonding” tales, hotel horror, heat, and a teammate’s mosquito nightmare—then jump to this year’s U.S. swing and what they’re excited to race. You’ll also hear how they actually support ...

Katie Hoff and Missy Franklin break down the sweeping NCAA changes hitting this season: B-finals removed from the night session (places 9–16 now score off prelims), only an A-final at night, a reshuffled order of events with diving integrated in shorter segments to keep energy high, and a new qualification model that blends auto-bids with descending time lists. They explain who pushed the proposal (CSCAA → NCAA oversight), why timing landed awkwardly after the season started, and what it mean...

Two-time Paralympic silver medalist and shark attack survivor Ali Truwit returns to Unfiltered Waters for an in-person sit-down in Nashville—fresh off premiering her Stronger Than You Think documentary. She opens up about competing in Paris while managing flashbacks from the underwater camera, the support system that carried her, and the nonprofit she’s built that’s already raised over $100K to fund prosthetics and water safety for girls. Ali also shares why she’s training to run the NYC Mara...

New USA Swimming CEO Kevin Ring joins Unfiltered Waters to share first impressions after Golden Goggles, why he sees this moment as a fresh start built on transparency and real vulnerability, and how he plans to support the full ecosystem—athletes, clubs, coaches—while “turning the page.” Priorities include removing barriers to water access and backing the whole athlete (performance, mental health, nutrition, medical) on the path to LA 2028. Ring also outlines a year-round storytelling push (...

Olympic gold medalist, American record holder, and world champion Simone Manuel returns to Unfiltered Waters for an in-person sit-down in Austin. She traces the climb back from overtraining and the breakthrough of dipping under 53 again with a 52 for the first time since 2019. We dig into what really happened at Worlds—the team illness that rattled camp, the timing of outside commentary—and what support swimmers need from USA Swimming. Simone opens up about the resources and next steps with B...

Australian icon Cate Campbell sits down with Katie for a candid conversation about clearing the Aussie–U.S. “banter” that went viral and why it was always about respect and rivalry pushing the sport forward. She lays out how a people-first culture beats results-at-all-costs—and how that shift transformed Australian swimming. ----- 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 th...