Anastasia Gorbenko on IM Training, Pro to NCAA Transition & Breaststroke Flip Turns | Ep. 289
3/14/202654 min
What happens when you’re the first alternate for an Olympic final and get the call only 40 minutes before the blocks? Israeli star Anastasia Gorbenko joins the Social Kick crew to break down the "Paris Drama," her transition from the professional ISL ranks to the Louisville Cardinals, and the story behind the most famous flip turn in breaststroke history.
Anastasia discusses the intensity of the "American way" of training, the emotional weight of representing Israel during a time of war, and how she maintains range from a 29.3 50 breaststroke to a world-class 400 IM.
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First 90 secondsLuke Paddington· Host0:00
[funky music] 2021, she was, what, uh, 17 years old, so she was really young then. No wonder it seems like she's been around forever.
Jon Mullen· Host0:07
Double world champ, 2021. Sick. She got a silver in 2024 at Worlds, right? In the 4 IM?
Luke Paddington· Host0:13
But yeah, definitely a short course stud, that's for sure. I mean, gr- good long course, but really good short course.
Jon Mullen· Host0:19
Just seems like she's competed a lot. Like when you look at her U- her Louisville bio, it's like every single meet she's placed or done something well for years. She's always just there just swimming. This meet, that meet, this meet, this meet. She's so experienced as a racer. And now she's a freshman? Imagine having all that experience under your belt on a world and European stage.
Brian Lundquist· Host0:39
Welcome to Social Kick. We got a full crew. I'm Brian Lundquist, he's Dr. Jon Mullen, that's Luke Paddington, and we've got international swim star and Louisville Cardinal, Anastasía Gorbenko. What's going on, Anastasía? How are you?
Anastasia Gorbenko· Guest0:54
Hey. I'm good, and you?
Brian Lundquist· Host0:56
Uh, Luke is actually selfishly gonna own this episode for us because he is now a 50 breaststroker- Yes ... and he needs every bit of advice- Yeah ... that you could possibly give on how to swim fast breaststroke, and Jon and I are effectively allergic to breaststroke. We're, we're basically- [laughs] ... incapable of doing it. I know that you're good at other strokes, but especially when it comes to sprinting breaststroke, I've never understood it. So Luke's, uh, Luke's gonna soak up all the knowledge he can on this from you.
Luke Paddington· Host1:21
Yeah. I like that we're leading with, uh, telling Luke about his world swim instead of letting him dive into it later. Be- [laughs] Good job just