08/09/2026
✨One Week✨
It’s officially been a week since I’ve been home from Scotland. I’ve hardly had time to reflect with my knee surgery and all, but looking back at the photos reminds me just how incredible the moment was. It would take a entire podcast episode to explain just how many obstacles Joanna Evans and I navigated and overcame to get to the Commonwealth Games.
I’m beaming with pride for both of us. Really excited for this team’s next chapter.
07/27/2026
✨Commonwealth Games 2026✨
When Joanna first asked me to help her train for the Commonwealth Games I almost said no because I thought “I’m just a high school track coach. What do I know about performance coaching at that level?” Let alone a sport I knew very little about. I was terrified of failing her.
But she believed in me and most importantly she believed in herself. She believed that she could make a comeback at the highest level after being away from the sport for 4 years.
Her belief was so strong that day in and day out it pulled me through. There were days that I would sit there agonizing over her programming for hours and second guessing every little detail.
I finally stopped trying to pretend to be a swim coach and owned the fact that I am who I am and started looking at her training like the technical detail obsessive track coach that I am. That’s when the magic started to happen. Things started to click and there was a shift in both our confidence.
What Joanna has done here is truly extraordinary. So much so that it’s hard to put into words just how incredible what she has done is. The commonwealth games hosts 74 countries. It’s the second largest international games in the world. Second only to the Olympics.
We finished 14th overall in the 400 free, 9th overall in the 200 free and 13th overall in the 100 free. It was absolutely epic.
I say we because this is a team. She introduces me as coach but really Jo and I are teammates. We discuss technical changes, we review programming and we make competitive decisions together. I want her to have autonomy over her work because at the end of the day this is her life’s work.
And for only spending about 8 months truly preparing for this meet I’d say that all the crazy ideas and technical adjustments are working.
This team runs on self belief.
I want to give a huge thank you to everyone who has helped get us to this moment. Jay and the rest of the coaches at Hill Country Aquatics for giving us a place to train. Special shout out to Coach Jack for helping us refine Jo’s turns. They were spot on the whole meet.
The University of Texas Athletic Performance staff for bringing me on as an intern with t
