 |
The Third 50Author: Glenn Mills & Wayne Goldsmith
The Third 50 is that pivotal time in a 200 race. It demands physical and mental toughness to finish the race. Wayne Goldsmith and Glenn Mills discuss various topics from swimming technique, mental health and wellness, coaching tactics, and more. Language: en Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
Listen Now...
S3 E6 - SOCIAL MEDIA & SPORTS
Episode 6
Sunday, 20 September, 2026
Season 3, Episode 6: Social Media & Sports — with Dr. Valerie GruestOne spelling note first: the transcript reads "Valerie Gruest" consistently throughout, except one self-introduction moment where it's transcribed "Gruost" — almost certainly an ASR mishearing. I've used Gruest everywhere; worth a quick double-check against her own bio before this goes out.Dr. Gruest — a Northwestern alum, 2016 Olympic swimmer for Guatemala, and now an assistant professor of strategic communication at New Mexico State — joins Glenn and Wayne to talk about what social media is actually doing to young (and not-so-young) athletes.In this episode:The research: heavier social media use tracks with more anxiety, depression symptoms, and loneliness — and today's kids process something like 54x the daily information their grandparents didBody image predates the feed — swimming's "smaller, leaner" culture starts at age 4 or 5; social media just adds a second, harder-to-escape layer of comparisonThe number that stops the room: ~54% of elite aquatic athletes report an eating disorder or body-image issueA practical framework for parents and coaches to walk an athlete through a harmful post, instead of just telling them to get off their phoneWayne's coaching angle: "you can't out-influence the influencers" — the coach-athlete relationship is the one thing content can't replace (same argument he makes about AI in coaching)Not just kids — Glenn brings up the "Enhanced Games" and supplement marketing aimed at older ex-athletesWhy blanket phone bans don't work — and what to do instead on deck
