The Road to LA28: Where It Begins

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Not in the way most people do, counting down the years or wondering who will make the team, but thinking about the athletes who will actually be there.

Because here’s what keeps coming back to me. The swimmers we’ll all be watching in 2028 are not waiting for that moment. They are already in it. I get to see that up close because I help create events for these athletes, and I see the work they are putting in behind the scenes.

They are getting in the water on the days they do not feel like it. They are learning how to handle pressure before anyone is watching. They are building something most people will never see. And it made me pause, because that is not just about swimming. It is about life.

I remember hearing a story about Michael Phelps after his first Olympic Games. One of the co-captains shared how disappointed he was with one of his finishes. Instead of sitting in that disappointment, he got right back in the water and started training again almost immediately. It seems like, even at a young age, he knew exactly what he wanted, or maybe more clearly, what he did not want. That feeling of knowing you could have done more tends to stay with you. It leaves a mark. His decision to begin preparing for the next Games right away may have come from a simple place. He never wanted to feel unprepared again. And over time, that mindset showed up in the results the world would eventually see.

Whether you are raising a young athlete, leading a team, or simply trying to grow into the next version of yourself, it is easy to believe that the big moment is somewhere out in the future. That one day everything will come together, and that is when it will matter most. But what I have learned, being around Olympians and watching how they live and train, is this. The moment does not make them. The preparation does.

And most of that preparation happens quietly, long before anyone is watching.

That is really why we do what we do with our BREAKOUT Swim Clinics. It is not just about technique or drills. It is about creating an environment where athletes can step into something bigger. It is about being around people who have lived it, hearing what it is like to train with purpose, and beginning to believe, maybe for the first time, that this could be them.

I have watched kids walk onto the pool deck unsure of themselves and leave standing a little taller. Not because everything suddenly changed, but because something inside of them clicked. They started to understand what is possible, what it actually takes, and that they are capable of more than they realized.

And honestly, that never gets old.

When you spend time around Olympians, you begin to notice something. It is not just their talent. It is how they think. It is how they show up. It is how they respond when things get hard. It how they navigate failure. Most of the Olympians you see succeeding today have also been the athletes who failed, over and over again, on their way to the top. The difference is they didn’t stop when they experienced failure. They took a step back, reevaluated, made adjustments and kept going. Their goal mattered more than the discomfort of trying again, and again, and again.

That is what we want to pass on, because those lessons do not stay in the pool. They carry into school, relationships, careers and life.

So as the excitement begins to build toward LA28, I want to offer this simple thought. If your athlete has even a small spark inside them, a desire to grow, to get better, to see what they are capable of, this is a really special place to start.

Our summer camps are open, and we would truly love to have you with us. We keep our groups intentionally smaller, so athletes receive real attention, connection, and time with Olympians. And because of that, when sessions fill, we simply close registration.

Before the world watches in 2028, there are quiet moments happening right now that will shape who gets there. Maybe this is one of them. And I really believe this. The difference is not who has the most talent.

It is who steps in early and keeps showing up.

Show up to a camp. Show up to a clinic. Or even bring one to your own team.

Because sometimes the biggest moments in life begin in places that feel small, quiet and almost ordinary.

Until they are not.