What does it mean to be pro?
Host Austin Surhoff talks with the highest achieving professionals in sports - athletes, coaches, executives, and more - about their immersion into the world of being a pro.
Being a pro isn't about the money. It's not about the medals. It's about giving yourself over to the relentless pursuit of excellence.
It's not what you do -- it's who you are.
Aaron Peirsol Part Two: Swimming at Texas & Nike Sponsorship
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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Follow us on Instagram @procornerpodcast for all episode updates
Follow Austin @AustinSurhoff on Instagram and Twitter
Use this homepage for all updates about Pro Corner: https://linktr.ee/austinsurhoff (https://linktr.ee/austinsurhoff)
Thanks for listening!
19 May 2021
Aaron Peirsol Part 1: Career Beginnings & Choosing College Over Going Pro
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 One of our conversation, the guys discuss Aaron's career beginnings - his incredible training environment growing up in Southern California, the heroes and mentors he had early in his career, and his big decision to go to college instead of turning pro after winning a silver medal at the 2000 Olympics. That decision required a level of wisdom not usual found in high school kids.
Estimated episode timeline:
0:00 - Austin introduces the episode
4:10 - Choosing to help out the Texas college team by volunteer coaching for them in his final year as a pro from 2009-2010
13:10 - Why did he decide to help out?
17:40 - His place as one of swimmings biggest stars, and what it means to him to use it to contribute to the swimming family
24:00 - Growing up in a swim Mecca like Southern California - heroes, mentors, great coaches
28:30 - The community that swimming provides
32:00 - The importance of irreverence and silliness when pursuing such high pressure goals like Olympic medals
41:15 - When did he know he wanted to be a pro athlete
46:00 - Choosing college over going pro at age 17
51:00 - How did he have such outsized wisdom and perspective as a high school kid?
60:00 - the importance of sport as teaching tool
Enjoyed the episode? Rate & Review to tell us what you think, and hit Subscribe to be notified of all new episodes!
Follow us on Instagram @procornerpodcast (//instagram.com/procornerpodcast) for all episode updates
Follow Austin @AustinSurhoff on Instagram (//instagram.com/austinsurhoff) and Twitter (//twitter.com/austinsurhoff)
Use this homepage for all updates about Pro Corner: https://linktr.ee/austinsurhoff (https://linktr.ee/austinsurhoff)
Thanks for listening!
5 May 2021
Cal Ripken Jr. Part 2: Playing Through Injury and Changing Positions to Help the Team...plus: the '98 Orioles/Yankees Brawl!
Part two of our conversation with legendary baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr.
In the episode, the guys discuss Cal's role as a veteran leader on the great Baltimore Orioles teams of 1996 & 1997. Cal talks about playing through serious injury - what motivated him to keep playing through pain (hint: helping the team).
He also talks about his move to third base in 1997 after already having a Hall of Fame career as baseball's best shortstop, in order to help firm up the team's defense. Why did he put aside ego and make the move? (hint: to help the team)
The guys also dig into the lighter side of things with Cal's POV of an infamous 1998 brawl between the Orioles and the Yankees. The storylines involved sound straight out of the WWE!
Estimated timeline:
0:00 - Austin Introduces the episode
5:15 - Cal's leadership on the Orioles' 1997 "Wire to Wire" team
10:00 - Playing through excruciating pain to make sure the Orioles stayed in the playoff race
13:30 - What makes someone a "player's manager?" Cal's analysis of what made Davey Johnson a great manager
22:30 - The infamous Orioles/Yankees brawl in 1998 - what lead to it happening? What's happening on the field during a brawl?
30:30 - Cal's decision to move to third base after a storied career at shortstop
Enjoyed the episode? Rate & Review to tell us what you think, and hit Subscribe to be notified of all new episodes!
Follow us on Instagram @procornerpodcast for all episode updates
Follow Austin @AustinSurhoff on Instagram and Twitter
Use this homepage for all updates about Pro Corner: https://linktr.ee/austinsurhoff
Thanks for listening!
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
16 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
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