Fix Your Starts & Turns NOW or Lose at NCAAs | Night Swim Podcast (Dax & Elvis Roast Bad Technique)

·24 min·1 clip

Elvis says Big 12 swimmers had the worst starts and turns he saw all conference weekend, especially Arizona State.

The pool wall is where this episode keeps coming back. Dax and Elvis start loose, moving from the Tier Pro Series in Westmont, Illinois to their comment section before the technique talk takes over. Ilia becomes the main target. They make a strange but useful point: a swimmer can be so talented that coaches might hesitate to fix the obvious flaw. In this case, the flaw is the turn. Elvis says the turns look bad enough to make him pull his hair out if he had any, which is pretty much the show in one line: loud joke, real coaching point underneath. Talent does not get a free pass here. The roast keeps returning to the same idea. You can be a monster in open water and still give away free yards at every wall. They even stop to define vulnerable, then use that definition against him. A bad turn is an exposed position. It gives the swimmer next to you a place to attack without needing more raw speed. The image is simple and mean in the right way: if the person beside you hits the wall clean, snaps out, and is already on your hip, your weakness has become the race plan. Stay close. Survive the swim. Take the third turn. Kentucky gets hit after that. The relay exchanges are treated as rough enough to joke about people losing jobs, but the point is not just the joke. Speed does not save a reckless start. Their fix is direct: project upward like a rebound, lift off the blocks, then find the dive in the air instead of just falling forward. The tone is roast-heavy, but the standard is serious. If your start or turn leaks time, everyone can see where to hurt you.

As heard by us

A turns-and-relay rant with sharp edges.

This episode breaks down starts, turns, and relay exchanges, with most of the attention on Ilia's turn work. Dax and Elvis keep circling the same point: there is still speed left if those walls get cleaner, but even a strong swim can get exposed there.

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Why you'd press play

If your wall work costs you races, this is the blunt fix.

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