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Podcast

Swimmer Garret Weber-Gale On Olympic Gold, Healing High Blood Pressure & Haute Cuisine

By January 8, 2013June 14th, 202311 Comments

2-time Olympic gold medalist. Member of the 2008 Beijing Olympic 4×100 freestyle relay that will go down in history as one of the greatest moments in Olympic history.  American record holder.  NCAA Champion.  And the first American under 48 seconds in the 100 meter freestyle.  Garrett Weber-Gale, one of the world’s most decorated competitive swimmers, joins the podcast to talk with Rich about elite performance, professional athleticism, life (and food) at the Olympic Training Center, how he healed his high blood pressure with better nutrition, and his passion for fine cuisine cooking, quality eats and helping people.

NOTE: I am well aware that the audio on this Skype interview is less than ideal.  Issues with Skype not picking up my (Rich’s) microphone properly.  Apologies.  Again, I’m a newcomer at all this and can only promise to have it dialed in better next time.  Thanks for understanding (& try not to hate).

SHOW NOTES

Want to be inspired? Watch below as Garrett & his boys Michael Phelps, Cullen Jones & Jason Lezak do their thing in the 4×100 freestyle relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  Greatest. Olympic Moment.  Ever.

11 Comments

  • Kim Turner says:

    Fantastic Fantastic Fantastic !!!! Your best one yet, by far. Great interview skills Rich. You are a natural.

  • Chris says:

    More great inspiration from two guys who are living their dreams and not afraid to share in their failures to show what they have learnt. Love it and love the vibe.

  • richroll66 says:

    Thanks for the kind words Kim & Chris. Promise to work hard to improve the audio – didn’t realize my external mic was not working on Skype – still getting it all figured out. Will have everything better dialed in soon. Appreciate the support – it’s really fun to do and excited about upcoming guests.

  • Rick says:

    I listen to a lot of podcasts on endurance sport, nutrition and ethical choices. Rich, this is the best that I have found. The subject matter has been varied and tres interesting. Garrett was a tremendous guest. And, of course, both of the hosts are blessed with the rare combo of intelligence, articulateness, and an evolved sense of ethics. Keep ’em coming!

  • Maggie S says:

    I totally agree with Kim. You’re a natural Rich. This was a great show. Thanks for doing this for us!

  • ned says:

    Rich, i listen to a few podcasts a week and you are the best. Your interviews sound like two friends getting together to catch up. So easy to listen to. You are a pro already. Awesome conversation and great questions that you asked Garret. You provide a great service. Thank you !

  • Hi,

    I’ve been looking for a way to comment directly in iTunes, but I guess your website is a better place for this. Firstly, thank you for taking your time and energy to get these out. Because of you, I created a habit of listening to podcasts on my daily runs and find it a really good practice, both physically and mentally. Pity you can’t make more a week, since one lasts for one run only and I run pretty much every day. But then… it made me look up other podcasts. Thank you again.

    Now, two comments/suggestions:

    1) Julie is a great co-host and has a lot of interesting points, but you probably should work out some sort of ‘broadcasting ethics’: It’s quite distracting when one person interjects into another’s train of thought and goes on a tangent that is only kind of related. It is especially distracting when one host is stopped mid-sentence by another. While that definitely works for daily conversation, it makes the podcast sound a bit hostile at times. You can make up a way of signalling the need to talk that’s imperceivable to the listener and that would facilitate a more fluid exchange.

    2) Content-related: I would like to hear more about the idea of a long-term (e.g. Lifetime) plant-only-based nutrition. Are there any studies about that? After all, meat as a food does figure in our culture for at least twenty centuries, most likely much much longer. Could it be that predominantly plant-based diet with little meat once/month (or less) was actually more beneficial and alike “natural” diet than a plant-only one? You do talk how eating is not only about providing all the nutrients (proper chemistry) to our body, but also about providing them in the most appropriate form. I think it could be an interesting point to consider.

    All the best wishes from a listener in Hong Kong. Keep on inspiring!
    ( And may I suggest “Hong Kong 100” or “Lantau 100” as viable challenges? 🙂 )

    Cheers,
    Witek

  • rico says:

    hi, a listener here from toronto, canada. i listened to all of your talks, good stuff. it’s refreshing to listen to people who are trying to make a difference in a system dominated by people who seem to be solely profit inspired. julie seems very informative on the spiritual side of things, very cool dimension of the show. anyhow, i just would like to know if you will ever be discussing the topic of medicinal or psychoactive plants? for example: marijuana, psilocybin mushrooms or DMT. Maybe not an avenue you will go down, so…. just asking.

    again, great job and i’m a fan.
    peace, plants

  • Dr. Nicki says:

    Well I did enjoy listening to this podast while hiking around the bluffs overlooking Rodeo Beach in the Marin Headlands. Great to listen to you in nature. Just a good fit! Ya know, I am an advocate for diversity and “diferent stokes for different folks… to each her (or his) own…” and I know (now) that the podcast is not only vegan focused, but… while I was fine with listening to the interview, it was another thing to check out the Athletic Foodie website and see vivid photos of dead animals on a skewer with Garrett holding a slicer and smiling. That was a turn-off. Just for your consideration… if that type of content/philosophy/lifestyle is what you and Julie wish to represent. Peace…

  • Jim Newell says:

    Thanks for bringing Garrett on the show. High blood pressure is what led me to endurance sport and nutrition. His struggle felt so familiar. I was diagnosed in my mid 20s and have been reducing medication consistently as my knowledge base grows. It has been an interesting ride. I began trying to fix my condition with food and lifestyle changes after hearing about and reading Caldwell Esselsyn’s Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. I’ve now read more than a dozen books, and this podcast (the show in general as well) reinforces so much of what I’ve studied.

  • Aaron says:

    Just listened to this on my training ride today. GREAT interview, I enjoyed it thoroughly and it helped me get through my intervals! He inspired me for sure.

    So I have a question and wasn’t sure where to post it and thought this would be the best place since I don’t have a twitter account. I have been seeing this a lot lately and was wondering if you have noticed it and/or know what it could be related to. I just saw of Brendan Brazier on the ol’ Facebook and a few other people in my own life that have what I call the “vegan eyes”. Which is the dark circles under and it seems around there eyes, almost like they don’t get enough sleep and are constantly tired. I also have a co worker who went to a lecture that Brendan gave here in town and she said that even though he was tan his skin looked dull and she thought he just looked unhealthy and bad in general. Any ideas on this?

    Thanks,
    Aaron

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