Full Transcript for When Panic Attacks During A Swim Meet with Geffen Chang, EP 323

particular groin stretch. 00:03:58.799 --> 00:04:00.239 Where did you like learn that particular stretch? 00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:00.879 I thought it was cool. 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:10.000 When I was swimming out of California for high school, I would get constant groin pain, and sometimes I would like even pull it, and it would be really, really bad. 00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:10.400 Wow. 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:20.319 And I'd go to the doctors and they show me some stretches, and I would do that every single time before I go on the blocks, and that just made my breaststroke feel better faster. 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:21.840 And I just didn't really help. 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:24.560 Can you can you give it an audible for our listeners? 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:27.040 What is it what what would you describe it as? 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:40.480 I describe it as like doing like a big sumo squat, and then from there you kind of like stretch to one side, and then you get that real good stretch, and then boom, you go to the other side, and it just feels really good on the groin, so you're like finally letting it loose. 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:44.800 Yeah, so feet as wide as you can get, and then deep knee bends. 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:47.040 It's almost like that's almost like the what do they call that? 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:49.439 The horse stance with where you twist it. 00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:57.920 Okay, so I happen to overhear that you I know you swim the 400 IM like I did, then the 200 fly. 00:04:58.160 --> 00:05:01.200 Yes, and and you have the 1500 coming up. 00:05:02.640 --> 00:05:03.840 And you did 100 breasts. 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:04.160 Yeah. 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:06.320 So how many events today? 00:05:06.640 --> 00:05:07.840 I've done four so far. 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:09.760 I've done the 200 freestyles as well. 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:10.400 Wow. 00:05:10.640 --> 00:05:15.680 And then now I'm going off to in about maybe 40, 45 minutes, yeah, 1500 meters. 00:05:16.320 --> 00:05:17.840 How you pace that thing? 00:05:18.160 --> 00:05:19.920 I just watch a lot of Bobby think. 00:05:20.080 --> 00:05:24.400 So, you know, I just save it for the last save for the last 50, honestly. 00:05:26.640 --> 00:05:26.879 There you go. 00:05:26.960 --> 00:05:27.439 That's a good plan. 00:05:28.960 --> 00:05:29.520 Where did you go to high school? 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:30.480 What was the name of your high school? 00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:31.600 Uh I went to Leland High School. 00:05:31.760 --> 00:05:34.560 Leland's out in um by the Bay Area. 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:37.360 What was your favorite stroke in college and high school? 00:05:37.520 --> 00:05:38.560 I was always a breaststroker. 00:05:38.960 --> 00:05:42.720 So my coaches, they looked at my other strokes and said, it's a waste of time. 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:43.200 Wow. 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:44.240 That's brutal. 00:05:44.320 --> 00:05:46.400 So you're talking 50, 100 and 200? 00:05:46.640 --> 00:05:46.800 Yeah. 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:49.360 So I was always just doing 100 and 200 breaststrokes. 00:05:49.439 --> 00:05:49.520 Okay. 00:05:49.760 --> 00:05:51.920 And that's it, even in practice. 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:52.720 Really? 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:53.439 Even in practice. 00:05:53.840 --> 00:05:58.000 Yeah, well, because like they're like, what's the point of practicing everything else if you're not good at it? 00:05:58.160 --> 00:05:59.360 What was your favorite set? 00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:00.560 Favorite set? 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:04.480 Probably in college, it was this is an infamous set. 00:06:04.640 --> 00:06:06.480 My best friend and I talk about it all the time. 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:08.960 It's 3100s on the 110s. 00:06:09.520 --> 00:06:10.720 3100s on the 110. 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:11.760 Yep, and that that's freestyle. 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:12.720 That's freestyle, of course. 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:14.800 Um yeah, I was gonna say, I think yeah. 00:06:15.200 --> 00:06:15.840 What were you coming on? 00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:16.960 Like 57, 58? 00:06:17.280 --> 00:06:19.600 Yeah, no, some of these guys were just ridiculous. 00:06:19.840 --> 00:06:20.000 Wow. 00:06:20.080 --> 00:06:21.439 Yeah, 1500 meter swimmers. 00:06:21.840 --> 00:06:23.600 And they're coming at like 53s. 00:06:23.840 --> 00:06:27.200 Yeah, I think we he wanted us uh Coach Pete Hovlin, right? 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:28.160 Absolute legend. 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:30.080 He wanted us to hold 105s. 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:30.720 Wow. 00:06:30.960 --> 00:06:34.080 But obviously I was not holding anywhere near 105s. 00:06:34.240 --> 00:06:37.439 So he was like 110 for uh the second group. 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:39.680 And I I didn't I barely made one tens. 00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:42.400 I was making like the first seven, right? 00:06:42.640 --> 00:06:43.120 First six. 00:06:43.200 --> 00:06:44.480 And then after that, I dropped off. 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:48.400 I went to like 115, 120, but that was the hardest set. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:53.760 So what about your like your best and and or favorite event or events? 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:57.520 I love the two breast because um I don't feel rushed in the two breast. 00:06:57.920 --> 00:07:01.920 It feels more flowy, and the two breast, it just feels so much better. 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:02.480 It does. 00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:02.640 Yeah. 00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:04.240 100 feels a little faster. 00:07:04.400 --> 00:07:05.600 Yeah, exactly. 00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:07.760 What about like your biggest comeback? 00:07:08.080 --> 00:07:11.280 So, what are some of your biggest things you've had to overcome in some of your like your biggest comeback? 00:07:12.080 --> 00:07:17.360 All throughout college and my high school career, I could never finish a 400 IM race. 00:07:17.520 --> 00:07:22.400 I would always stop at the freestyle because I would feel like I'm choking on water. 00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:25.680 I would feel

super anxious and I'll get panic attacks like crazy. 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:30.080 And that actually happened a little a little bit today when I was doing the two fly, when I was in the 4 a.m. 00:07:30.400 --> 00:07:33.600 But that's why I keep doing it because I know I'm not gonna die. 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:33.760 Right. 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:34.000 Right. 00:07:34.080 --> 00:07:37.439 And I have to just keep telling myself when I'm doing these races, I'm gonna be okay. 00:07:37.520 --> 00:07:37.680 Yeah. 00:07:37.840 --> 00:07:43.200 So this 1500 meter is gonna be more of a test of will rather than going to best time. 00:07:43.439 --> 00:07:44.080 That's so cool. 00:07:44.320 --> 00:07:48.960 So when you say you quit, do you mean like you literally didn't finish? 00:07:49.200 --> 00:07:49.920 Oh, I did finish. 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:55.280 I would stop, I would hold on to the lane line, and I'll everyone would just be like, what is going on? 00:07:55.439 --> 00:07:58.560 This is like at a D1 college level or a D3 college level. 00:07:58.640 --> 00:08:00.960 Then I'll be like, What the what is this? 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:02.560 And we've never seen this before, right? 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:04.400 Before you swim your 100 free. 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:07.040 So you would finish your hunter breasts and then stop at the wall. 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:14.240 No, I would be like midway through my 100 free, like I have a 75 left, and then I'd just stop because I'd be like, I can't breathe. 00:08:14.320 --> 00:08:15.520 I can't breathe properly. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:21.600 So I've had panic attacks like that in a meet, and they're no fun. 00:08:21.840 --> 00:08:25.680 So do you have panic attacks or anxiety at other times in your life? 00:08:27.200 --> 00:08:31.760 Not really, unless it's happened before, then I then it kind of gets to my head. 00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:33.759 But that's the whole thing, right? 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:38.080 Is it just it just gets to my head and I just gotta let myself know. 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:39.919 And that's where the practice comes in, right? 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:46.320 That's if I haven't practiced it before and I know I haven't done it before, I'm going to quit. 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:48.159 That's sure without a doubt. 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:50.320 And if I don't, you got lucky, right? 00:08:50.480 --> 00:08:55.680 But if I'm going into a race and I practice it a hundred times, two hundred times, three hundred times, right? 00:08:55.840 --> 00:08:56.800 Then I know I could do it. 00:08:56.960 --> 00:09:02.240 So I'm gonna get scared, I'm gonna have a panic attack, then I say, I'm all right, I've done it a million times, right? 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:03.200 So Yeah. 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:05.200 I absolutely love that. 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:23.200 And thank you for being vulnerable on that because that's really I think many more people have that than are willing to talk about it, where people might say, Oh, I couldn't get air, or you know, you see people that stop and get out sometimes in masters or even in in CAA meads. 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:29.279 So yeah, I think it's it's a real thing, and certainly one does overcome it when they practice it. 00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:31.200 So that's the beauty of practice. 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:31.920 All right. 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:38.240 What is a little known fact about you or a fun fact that maybe not everybody knows about you? 00:09:38.639 --> 00:09:39.279 Really? 00:09:39.680 --> 00:09:40.560 Oh man. 00:09:40.879 --> 00:09:44.240 It's no secret to me and to everyone who knows me. 00:09:44.560 --> 00:09:46.000 I'm a natural breaststroker. 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:48.480 So the first 150, I cruise it. 00:09:48.560 --> 00:09:50.720 I cruise it like I'm doing a 400 breaststroke. 00:09:51.040 --> 00:09:52.960 And the last 50, I just turn the jets on. 00:09:53.200 --> 00:09:54.240 That's the best feeling in the world. 00:09:54.480 --> 00:10:01.040 Because whether I catch someone or not, like I feel fast, I feel just like I'm flying. 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:07.600 And especially when I'm at the end of a race and I'm hurting, it's the most like euphoric feeling in the world. 00:10:07.920 --> 00:10:08.399 That's awesome. 00:10:08.560 --> 00:10:09.680 And what about that last turn? 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:17.040 Are you oxygen depleted on that third wall on like a 200 long horse meters breaststroke where you have to suck it up and just like you're seeing stars? 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:18.080 Or do you have enough oxygen? 00:10:18.159 --> 00:10:19.840 Or how do you do that last turn? 00:10:20.159 --> 00:10:23.040 Uh it depends on how the race is going. 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:27.360 But if I'm pretty exhausted, I'm still gonna turn on the engines, and if I die, I die. 00:10:28.560 --> 00:10:30.399 But do you have a full pullout? 00:10:31.040 --> 00:10:33.440 Um, sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. 00:10:33.920 --> 00:10:39.519 Sometimes I just do a full pull out, but sometimes it's just really, really quick. 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:43.920 Or sometimes I just push off, do one dolph kick, pop up and go straight into it. 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:50.560 Because I know the second I'm like out under out from under the water and I'm just doing my stroke, I'm so much faster. 00:10:50.879 --> 00:10:52.480 Yeah, that's incredible. 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:53.759 All right, well, thanks. 00:10:53.840 --> 00:10:55.519 You've got to get ready for your 1500s. 00:10:55.920 --> 00:11:01.440 But is there anything that we haven't asked you that you just want to share with fellow master swimming listeners? 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:09.600 I'm honored to be on a podcast, uh, and I'm so thankful and grateful that I met you guys today at this meet. 00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:19.840 And I want to shout out Missoula, Montana for uh the kids that I coach at Miss, the Missoula Y Team, and also Mac, which is Missoula Plot Club. 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:20.560 So awesome. 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:21.040 All right. 00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:22.240 Well, thanks for being on the show. 00:11:22.560 --> 00:11:23.360 Yes, of course. 00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:24.159 Thank you for having me. 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:25.759 Appreciate it. 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:29.360 Thank you for listening to the Champions Mojo podcast. 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:33.040 Would you consider leaving us a five star review on Apple? 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:35.519 That's like getting a best time for us. 00:11:35.680 --> 00:11:38.320 Kelly and our team would be so grateful. 00:11:38.560 --> 00:11:41.200 See you next week for another boost of mojo.