The Training Arena - Q&A with Caitlin Leverenz

Here is our monthly SwimOutlet.com blog featuring a Q&A with an Arena athlete talking about all things training! November's edition features 22-year-old Caitlin Leverenz, a 2012 Olympic Medalist and NCAA athlete at University of California Berkeley. Leave a question or comment for Caitlin to answer at the bottom by November 29 and you’ll be entered to win an Arena towel and goggles!

1.) We all know long training sessions are not always the most glamorous, what is the thing you love most about training and what’s your least favorite?

The thing I loved most about my training is how variable it is at Cal. My coach, Teri McKeever changes things up and I never know what practice is going to look like. I love that I have a variety of ways to workout - anything from swimming to weight lifting, spinning, running, yoga, cardio dance.

Right now my least favorite part of swimming is waking up at 5am for practice, especially on days when I have a lot of school or I have to be on campus all day. It makes it hard not to fall over and take a nap in every class!

2.) Is there a favorite drill or training routine that you like to do. Something that just gets you motivated?

Before I swim in any practice or any meet I have a little dryland routine I do. Mainly, it includes a lot of slow stretching to get my muscles moving and then I do some jumping rope as well. I also throw in something fun by doing a few handstands or cartwheels.
3.) What suit do you usually train in and give us any idea of any training accessories that you really like to?

I love the Stormy Flow practice suit by Arena. I have it in purple and in blue and I wear either one of those two every morning. In the afternoons, I wear my green Graffiti one-piece by Arena. That one has more of an open back for better tan lines!
I like traveling with the Arena buoy/kickboard all-in-one. It makes my life easier when I can pack one piece of equipment for more than one purpose.

4.) What out-of-water training is top on your list?

Top on my list right now is yoga. I have just recently gotten into yoga and I love it. It’s such great core work and I like that it teaches you how to use your breath. Right now, I do only an hour a week but I plan to bump it up more in the spring. In a few weeks I am trying the stand up paddleboard yoga!

5.) Talk about your build up to the 2012 Olympics where you won your first individual medal (bronze in the 200m IM). What was the key for you?

The key for me in winning the bronze in the 200IM in the London Olympics was many years of hard work, and then more importantly getting up on the block and trusting in that hard work. I had an amazing mentor and coach in Teri McKeever who pushed me more in the three years before the Olympics than I ever had been pushed. Then when I got to London I had to know and trust that I had put in the hard work and energy to make me a serious medal contender.

6.) Where are you looking to improve the most and are you trying anything different in your training to do that? What’s the goal for the next few years?

I really want to improve my athletic abilities outside of the pool. I think as my career goes on and as I get a little older I have to find new ways to push myself and I have to find way to change up my training a little bit. I have done that by doing a good amount of running in the beautiful hills of the Bay, and I have taken up yoga, like I mentioned before. Both are useful in different ways but both have really contributed to a better overall fitness and athletic ability.

Don’t forget to leave a question or comment for Caitlin to answer at the bottom by November 29 and you’ll be entered to win an Arena towel and goggles!