Kacper Stokowski on Leveling Up Athlete Mentorship & The Future of NIL | Episode 293
4/18/20261 hr 4 min
In this episode of the Social Kick Podcast, we welcome back NCAA Champion and Polish Olympian Kacper Stokowski. Known for his legendary celebrations and underwater dominance at NC State, Kacper is now pivoting his competitive drive into the world of sports business. We discuss his new venture, Level Up Mentorship, a platform designed to bridge the gap between young athletes and elite mentors. Kacper shares his personal journey from a young swimmer in Poland with unanswered questions to an elite athlete realizing the power of a one-on-one connection. We also get Kacper’s takes on the current state of sw...
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First 90 secondsBrian Lundquist· Host0:00
A returning guest. The last time we had him on we were talking all about NC State, and The Diamond, and winning an NCAA title, and his epic celebration jumping on the block. Do you remember that?
John Mullen· Host0:10
Oh, how could you forget? That was one of the best celebrations in all of college swimming.
Brian Lundquist· Host0:14
There's not enough cool celebrations in swimming where people react emotionally, and celebrate with authenticity, and get loud, and we love that. But he's doing something else now, and he came to talk to us about the company that he started called Level Up that's all about mentorship of young athletes and creating a platform so that existing current athletes can make money in the same process.
John Mullen· Host0:38
Yeah, it was great to dive in with him and discuss what it's like to be a mentee, where you talk to an athlete and learn from your favorite athletes and get every question you want answered. Perhaps you want to know how you can plan the best celebration ever, like having props or back flips off the block when you n- win your next swim meet.
Brian Lundquist· Host0:57
I'll just say creating commercial opportunities for athletes to make money in swimming is what we need.
John Mullen· Host1:03
Mm-hmm.
Brian Lundquist· Host1:03
And he also touches on the idea that it might be an avenue for swimming programs at the collegiate level to make money, too. Uh, and so we, we all know about swimming being a non-revenue sport and trying to flip that and the narrative around, you know, needing to monetize swimming to keep programs from getting cut. So if that's un- something that comes down in the future, then awesome. But anybody who's investing in