Jan. 7, 2026

25-Year Break To Masters Swimming Podium: Lauren Anderson On Finding Herself Again, EP 300

25-Year Break To Masters Swimming Podium: Lauren Anderson On Finding Herself Again, EP 300
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Season 1

Lauren Anderson proves that speed and joy in swimming are still within reach after 25 years away from the sport. She rebuilt her training from the ground up, and made big time drops in her best events the breaststroke. Her story blends performance insights with honest life change, turning Masters swimming into a blueprint for structure, community, and a fresh start. Lauren is a member of the Palm Beach Masters.

We dig into the practical tools that moved the needle: broken 200s tailored to breaststroke pacing, non-negotiable kick sets to power the second 50, and all-out block work that makes starts, turns, and breakouts automatic under pressure. Lauren shares why many Masters swimmers stall—too much freestyle, not enough stroke specificity—and how to fix it with simple, repeatable sets. She recalls a standout meet in Irvine, racing alongside elite talent, Gabrielle Rose, and explains how those moments of shared excellence energize training for months.

Along the way, Lauren opens up about navigating divorce, moving, and starting a new job during COVID while rediscovering her athletic identity. The pool became a steady ritual and the Masters lane mates a vital community. If you’re ready to return to swimming, sharpen your breaststroke, or find structure amid change, this conversation gives you the mindset, the sets, and the spark to get going.

If this story fires you up, follow the show, share it with a teammate, and leave a quick review on Apple to help more swimmers find us. What’s your best comeback moment? We’d love to hear it.

Email us at HELLO@ChampionsMojo.com. Opinions discussed are not medical advice, please seek a medical professional for your own health concerns.

You can learn more about the Host and Founder of Champions Mojo at www.KellyPalace.com

00:01 - On-Deck Welcome And Setup

00:13 - Meet Location And Guest Intro

00:26 - Quick Ten: Bio And Work

00:55 - Swimming History And Long Break

01:40 - Favorite Event: 100 Breaststroke

01:51 - Training Focus And Kick Work

02:30 - Race Result And Best Time

02:41 - Favorite Accomplishment And Nationals

03:20 - All-Out Starts And Turn Practice

04:11 - Life Comeback And Fresh Start

04:48 - Dream Lunch With Olympians

05:03 - Community, Structure, And Closing

WEBVTT

00:00:01.120 --> 00:00:05.280
It's time for an on-deck interview to help you live well and swim well.

00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:07.360
Welcome to Champions Mojo.

00:00:07.599 --> 00:00:09.839
And now your host, Kelly Palace.

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We are doing an on-deck interview at the beautiful city of Fort Lauderdale Aquatics Center.

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We're at the fall classic short course meters meet.

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And I am with Lauren Anderson.

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And Lauren, we are going to start out just with our quick 10.

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So give us your name, your age, and your team.

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So my name is Lauren Anderson.

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I'm 51, but I will be 52 in three weeks.

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And I swim per Palm Beach Masters Oahoos.

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Very good.

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And um, what do you do for a living?

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I am in social work.

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So I work for a national nonprofit and we work with kids in foster care group homes.

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We provide trauma mental health services and forensic interviewing in a few different states across the country.

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Very nice.

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All right.

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What is your swimming history?

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So I'm the youngest of three.

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And so I started swimming on a swim team when I was um I was the only one that kept at it.

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My two older brothers eventually moved on to other things, but I swam all the way through college.

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I swam at Colgate University in New York State.

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And then I was done when I was 21 and I graduated.

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I was very much done with swimming.

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I ended up taking about a 25-year break after I graduated, got a job, got married, got a dog, got a house, got a kid.

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And so eventually back in 2018 is when I joined the master's team and came back to swimming.

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And it really was like I found a piece of myself that I didn't realize had been missing.

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So that is beautiful.

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So what is your best or favorite event?

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Doesn't have to be the same one.

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I think my best and favorite event is the 100 brushstroke.

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Okay.

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Um, nice.

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So uh with that in mind, what kind of training regimen do you do to, you know, to get ready for a meet like this?

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So I have started incorporating more strokes specific sets in for my meets because a lot of master's practices are very freestyle heavy or I am.

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So I've been trying to focus more on brushstroke.

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And so I'll do some rope-in 200 sets, either 450s or 75, 50, 50, 25.

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Um, and I've also started making sure I kick at every practice, and I'm doing breaststroke kick, so four to five hundred different sets of kicking and to get my legs strong because I need that for the 200.

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Did you swim the hunter breast today?

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I did swim the hunter breasts today.

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How was it?

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It was my best short course meter time by almost a second and a half.

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So I'm happy with it.

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Very good.

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Very good.

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So actually, I skipped this question for some reason.

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Your favorite swimming accomplishment.

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Um, I think when I went to Irvine for spring nationals a couple of years ago, and it was my best meet as an adult.

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And I swam next to Gabby Rose in the brushstroke events.

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Of course, this was like a year and a half before the she kind of came into the limelight in the um Olympic trials, but she was in the same age group as me.

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And I had a really great swim, and that was just like really fun to be able to do.

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And now to look back and be like, I swam against an Olympian almost, you know?

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Yeah, that's very cool.

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Um, how about you alluded to a favorite set?

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Um, is there anything other than like a broken 200 or another set you really love for your breaststroke?

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So, one of the things that we've been trying to do is every so often actually do really all out off-the-block sets.

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Um, so we've been doing like 75 off the block, and then we get a good four or five minutes, but it's all out and then a 50 off the block and then a 25 off the block.

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And I'll do that for freestyle and for breaststroke.

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And usually on a Saturday, it takes a long time to do because of the recovery period, but it's I think gotten my body a little bit more used to that all-out swimming and off the blocks and turns fast because I think as a master swimmer, we don't get a lot of historically, I haven't gotten a lot of turn and start practice.

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And so being able to do that has been helpful.

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Totally agree.

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I think that is the missing piece for people that really want to be competitive.

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All right.

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What is your biggest comeback in life?

00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:14.960
I do think it is swimming.

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2018 was kind of a pivotal point for me because I came back to swimming.

00:04:18.959 --> 00:04:24.800
And then I had some the next two years, I would say, from 2018 to 2020, I had some big life changes.

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I ended up getting divorced, um, moving, and starting a new job all at once.

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And it was sort of, it wasn't even really a comeback, I guess.

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It was more of like a refresh.

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And it was in the middle of COVID, which made it even more interesting.

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But it was, I it was like a new beginning.

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And that was uh, I look back at that time very fondly.

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Very nice.

00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:48.160
I would say a 25-year layoff is a comeback.

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Um, okay, what Olympic swimmer, and they could be dead or alive, um, would you like to have lunch with?

00:04:54.160 --> 00:04:56.879
I mean, can I have lunch with Gretchen Walsh and Kate Douglas?

00:04:57.439 --> 00:04:58.079
Sure, sure.

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They're friends, they'd probably allow that.

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I love it.

00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:02.959
Um, okay, fun fact about you.

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I have a 23-year-old daughter and two grandcats, and that's about it.

00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:10.079
Nice, nice.

00:05:10.160 --> 00:05:11.040
That that's a fun fact.

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All right.

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Is there anything that I haven't asked you that you would like to share with the master swimming community?

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I think that swimming has been such a huge part of this period of my life, you know, my 40s and now my 50s, and helping me feel grounded, finding a community, staying healthy, staying sh structured, I guess, and disciplined.

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And I just think it's such an incredible community that we all have in master swimming.

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And I'm so glad that I found it.

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Wonderful.

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Thanks for spending this time with me today, and good luck.

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Thank you so much.

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Thank you for listening to the Champions Mojo podcast.

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Would you consider leaving us a five-star review on Apple?

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That's like getting a best time for us.

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Kelly and our team would be so grateful.

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See you next week for another boost of mojo.