Torpedo Swimtalk Podcast with Olympic Marathon Silver Medallist Moesha Johnson

What does it take to win an Olympic silver medal in open water swimming? Olympic 10-kilometre silver medalist Moesha Johnson joins us on Torpedo Swimtalk Podcast to share her journey of her race in the Seine and the intense competition in Paris. Moesha opens up about her race strategy, how she tackled the challenging currents, and the thrill of standing on the podium.

Moesha gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the meticulous planning and mental fortitude required to excel in marathon swimming. She discusses the impact of water quality, athlete safety protocols, and the critical role of the feed zone. From optimal feeding, positions to choosing the right nutrition, Moesha's insights are a treasure trove for anyone interested in the intricacies of open water swimming.

We also chatted about strategic decisions during the 10km race and her 6th place finish in the 1500m in the pool the week before. We also delve into Moesha's rigorous training and recovery strategies and the influence of different training methodologies.

This episode is packed with actionable tips, that you can use in your own swimming journey. Learn from Olympic Silver Medallist Moesha Johnson

Connect with Moesha
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Chapters

• 0:11 Swimmer's Journey
• 11:56 Open Water Race Tactics and Feeding
• 18:24 Racing Strategy and Medal Victory
• 22:33 Training and Recovery for Elite Swimmers
• 29:35 Elite Swimmer's Varied Training and Influences

Transcript

Danielle Spurling: 0:11

Hello swimmers and welcome to another episode of Torpedo Swimt alk Podcast. I'm your host, Danielle Spurling, and each week we chat to an inspiring swimmer from around the world about their swimming journey. Inspiring swimmer from around the world about their swimming journey. Olympic 10-kilometre silver medalist from Paris, Moesha Johnson, is our guest on the podcast today. Mo not only shared her thoughts on the race, the water quality in the Seine and the joy of racing in such an epic venue, but so much more. This is one episode you don't want to miss. Let's hear from Mo now. Hi, Mo, welcome to the podcast. Thanks for having me. Yeah, it's so great to have you here. Congratulations on winning one of the most exciting silver medals at the Olympics. Thank you so much. Yeah, it was so exciting. I watched. I watched every single minute of it. Have you come down off the cloud?

Moesha Johnson: 1:07

yeah, I'm starting to come down off the cloud. Like you know, I'm still seeing people that I haven't seen for like a few months, like as I'm getting out on my holidays. But you know, like for the most part, like I feel like I'm I'm coming back to reality now, thinking about the next season, so that really humbles you knowing that you have to get back into work soon is.

Danielle Spurling: 1:26

I mean, I've heard a lot of people talk about um post-olympic blues. Is that a thing that you've experienced or starting to experience?

Moesha Johnson: 1:33

yeah, no, yeah, post-olympic blues or post anything blues is a legit thing. Um, like from any major meet, I tend to get, you know, a little bit flat sometimes, um, but it's just a natural sort of thing. You know, to have to have a high, you have to have a low, and it's part of life to have ups and downs. And you know I want to do the sports and so obviously you have big adrenaline hits. So to have the recharge you have to go down through a low and yeah, I've definitely had it a little bit, but I'm lucky I've been around family and friends, so know you don't really feel it as much as if you're alone, I guess. Yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 2:09

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Where are you? I know you're on a farm somewhere or you have been. Where's your family farm?

Moesha Johnson: 2:18

So I'm from northern New South Wales, from Tweed, so yeah, I grew up on a farm and I have a pet cow and horses and ducks and chooks. So you know, I've been really hibernating out there and recharging and just kind of hiding from the world a bit, and it's been so, so nice. So yeah, just hanging out with the animals. There's just not much traffic around, no visitors were allowed. Really I had to go out if anyone wanted to see me. So it just really gave me some time to myself just to recharge and just spend time with family and all the rest. So yeah, I'll be getting back out to the city on Gold Coast the next weeks now. But yeah, it was so good, immediately off the back of the Olympics just to go into a little hole yeah, I bet, I bet.

Danielle Spurling: 3:02

And to spend it with family too. That makes it really special, absolutely, absolutely. Now let's look at the race. Can you share with us your strategy for the 10k heading into it, and did it change as the race progressed?

Moesha Johnson: 3:17

yeah, 100%. So I had a race plan and I didn't really stick to it, um, but that's very, that's very, typical of me, I think. You know, with open water, you've got to be very fluid in your approach, um, because, so you know, it's nothing straightforward. So for me, you know, the race plan usually is just sit in the pack, conserve as much energy and then, you know, start moving towards the end. That's a pretty standard race strategy. But it was very clear, um, quite early on in that race, that, due to the current, it was going single file, which meant you're gonna have to sit quite high up in the group. So, um, I used the first few laps to check, kind of what was happening at different points in the race and then, about halfway, I really decided, no, I'm gonna move now. And, um, yeah, I stayed at the front the whole time, which I'm never allowed to do, like normally, it's like a big no-no.

Danielle Spurling: 4:09

I did it the whole race, but that was the kind of race that this was. I love that. I love that you took it out. It was so gutsy and you were making a statement to everyone on the course.

Moesha Johnson: 4:18

How were you feeling physically when you were leading? I felt great. I felt so strong, so fit. I'd prepared so well for that race. So you know, halfway when you start to make a move it's always a bit nerve-wracking, um, because obviously you can blow up if you're burning too much energy. But I wasn't dragging a big fat pack around, it's just a nice single slipstream. So even though I would have been using more energy than, say, the girls behind me, it wasn't as much as it could have potentially been. So I was really cautious of the perceived effort that I was putting in. But yeah, definitely, like I was having, I was having to really check in with myself and my energy feeling just to make sure that I was going to have enough towards the end of the race.

Danielle Spurling: 4:58

Still, yeah, and I know Sharon led for a brief moment, sort of midway through. Were you tempted to sit on her feet or did you just feel so good that you wanted to race past?

Moesha Johnson: 5:08

well, I definitely like she was leading and it's good for me just to sit in there after those those few laps. And while she was leading, you know, we were both kind of relaxing from what I've discussed with her. I asked her how did it feel for you? And she's like, yeah, it's pretty relaxed. I was like, okay, good, it's for me too.

Moesha Johnson: 5:23

And while she was leading, I really used that opportunity to look back at the path behind us and there's various distinct points in that race where the path would split and I'd have to catch up again. Um, just because of the maneuvers we were having to do around the edge. So, um, I was comfortable. And then I, because I had patterned it out, I was like I'm gonna go to the front because I know where the group's breaking and I want to try and break the group up a little bit. So I was like, oh, maybe I'll push forward a bit and then pull back into the group and push again and just break it down a little bit. But it just so happened it broke down into a group of three and guaranteed ourselves a medal quite early on in that race.

Danielle Spurling: 6:01

It was brilliant to watch. I mean, that current coming back looked so brutal and when you were getting sort of pushed across into the wall and those plant reeds hanging down that were, you know, scratching your arms, it looked so, so terrible. Did you mentally prepare for that current coming back on that, on that lap each time?

Moesha Johnson: 6:19

So we're trained with that in mind and mentally, like I prepared myself, you know, know, I didn't just go and go, oh my gosh, in the current, you know, like I got in knowing that there was a current and it would feel different. So, yeah, the reeds were definitely a bit more of a shock than probably even the current at that point, because I prepared for the current. But the reeds that were swimming through the plants that were hanging were quite sharp, so we all got cuts on our arms. They ended up cutting them for the men's race because I don't think they realized they were sharp either. So that was probably the shock at first. Oh, that was sharp, that kind of hurt, um, and that that bridge definitely was a tricky part of the race that I, like all of us, would have struggled with.

Danielle Spurling: 6:56

So, yeah, yeah, do you like looking back on it now? Obviously you. You started with the current and then you turned around and came back and the finishing shoot was um against the current. Would you prefer it that way, or would you have liked it the opposite way around?

Moesha Johnson: 7:13

um, I liked it that way. Um, the cut like going with the current, it's very hard to feel the water, um, like when you're catching and pulling, kind of not really catching and pulling, it kind of feels a bit soft and loose underneath you, if that makes sense. So, even though the current, you weren't really moving as fast like we've swum in, you know the endless pools we've done a fair bit of training in that so it kind of felt this similar feeling. So I felt like I could feel what I was actually doing under the water. So, um, I I don't think I'd change it at all. I'd maybe move that bridge. That bridge and that pillar was a bit annoying to me. I'd maybe move that, but obviously you can't.

Danielle Spurling: 7:50

I mean, look, it made it a great spectacle because you could see everything, and normally it's a lot harder to get that sort of vision when you're sort of out in more open water, not in a sort of a river system. So that was great for the sport.

Moesha Johnson: 8:03

Yeah, 100%. Like we just kept saying like oh, it's the most iconic open water race we've ever done and the spectators and the crowds were absolutely fantastic. Like Paris Olympic Committee, they did a fantastic job. Like we had lineups at the gate and people could watch, the public could watch, and it's one of the only races where I've had where we had a crowd the whole way around so you could hear them the whole time. And it just made me keen to get more events like this, where you know often we're having where just one point of the crowd and you swim out and around and you basically once a lap. But I'm like, no, let's get some more venues where we can have crowds on both sides cheering for us. It was so good for our sport and so good for us as athletes.

Danielle Spurling: 8:41

Yeah, I mean it really. It was great and it was good that it lined up that sort of. In Australia we could watch it at sort of 4 o'clock. It wasn't one of those early morning 4.30 starts.

Moesha Johnson: 8:51

Yeah, it was so good for like, yeah home, it was so good over there, so good for us four. It was just such a fantastic race and obviously very interesting race as well, with the dynamics of the environment.

Danielle Spurling: 9:02

Yeah, yeah, the tactics were so interesting. I'm just, I'm really interested to think about. Like, when you're in the guts of the race, how do you sort of, if you're starting to feel a little bit physically tired, how do you sort of what self-talk do you use to get yourself through?

Moesha Johnson: 9:20

I definitely talk to myself or I talk like, have a conversation I don't know what you want to call it um, this race was one of the races I didn't talk to myself as much because I have to talk myself through like contact with other athletes, normally like when you're getting hit or knocked around or you're bumping into each other. I really have to self-book those situations, um, but when I was the environment, it was more just like, kind of, just, you know, moving on, like, oh, I hit it, I hit a branch, that's it, move on, you know, um. So for me, the self-talk wasn't as strong as some other races I've done, um, but definitely like. I was like, yeah, I just. I think I just felt so strong throughout the race that I didn't have those moments of like, oh, no, like um, where there's some races where I'm like, okay, stay calm, you got this, you know, and you have to really calm yourself down.

Moesha Johnson: 10:10

But this race, you know, I really just tried to switch off a few times and I just started singing my song and you know, just, just like, you know, you had to just go through the paces of the laps, but because it wasn't a packed swim, it was more just checking in with my tactics, checking in with where I was positioned and just making sure I was not burning too much. You know energy stores and just, yeah, just staying calm and, yeah, just making sure I was. I have to make sure I'm concentrating and not drifting off. So, um, yeah, definitely, when you get those moments of tiredness, you know sometimes I'll go, okay, I'm gonna pull back a bit and let someone else lead. But, like I said, I just went into that race feeling so strong and so fit what?

Danielle Spurling: 10:49

what song were you singing to?

Moesha Johnson: 10:50

yourself. So, um, I was singing poison by alice cooper. It's gone. A lot of people have asked me this question. Um, it's not my normal song, like it's just a new song that started coming in the rotation but it stuck in my head and everyone was like that's so ironic because of the water quality debates and stuff, you know. But it was good I can. I only knew a few words, but at least I knew the tune and you just kind of roll with it. You can't. I'm not going to physically change the song that I got stuck in my head, so and obviously had a good beat because you you look like you were right up on top of the water and, flying along, you could tell that you were feeling good.

Moesha Johnson: 11:24

Yeah, yeah yeah, so it must have been a good beat. I can't think of it right now, but I was embracing it. Yeah, you kind of just embrace whatever thought comes your way. That's a good thought.

Danielle Spurling: 11:34

Yeah, yeah, for sure. I know you had a practice event in the sand leading up to it, but were you apprehensive about the water quality when there was all that sort of rain a few weeks before it started?

Moesha Johnson: 11:45

yeah, so we got, yeah, we got to train the day before the race. We had the option. Not every athlete took that option, which I was a little bit surprised by, um, but you know we've had on and off. You know we've been watching the weather and the results. We knew the rain would change it, but at the end of the day, this is the Olympics and for me, you know, I was going to get in and race and they had a few contingency plans and they weren't going to put us in if the water quality was bad.

Moesha Johnson: 12:12

You know they have, they have a number and it's the same for every race that we do it. So there's a water quality result and if the waterfall is bad, we don't race and if it's under this number, we're right. So if it's a thousand, units of whatever it is or whatever they measure I'm sorry, I don't know the numbers, but the number is one thousand. If it's over one thousand, it's cancelled or postponed. If it's under one thousand, we hold it and that's a standard number. So, yes, obviously, like we've been watching it, but, um, you know we had some good weather. If it wasn't gonna be held the first day, we had two days and then we had, it didn't fit in those two days. Then we're going to move venues, so we were always going to race um.

Moesha Johnson: 12:49

And then on top of it, we had a really great medical team on the australian olympic committee and we had an oral vaccine and we had antibiotics, we had mouthwash, we had body wash. So no matter what for me, I was so comfortable with the water quality, I was covered. For me it was just okay. What's my race plan? What's the current weather conditions? I need to feel the race. So the water quality for me was absolutely like it was the least of my worries. It'd been a problem. You know, media hyped it up all the time and I just didn't want to get caught up in that. I just wanted to okay facts if it's on, it's good, if it's not, yeah, I think that's a great mindset to have going into it.

Danielle Spurling: 13:25

Could you actually?

Moesha Johnson: 13:29

well, well, actually I can't remember, I wasn't paying that much attention, but I know, like you know, I've done a lot of murky water races and the color of the water has never been an indication of water quality. Um, so for me, like I don't like looking underwater, whether it's clear or not, in the ocean or the river that's. You know, it was this thing that I struggled to get into open water, because I didn't want to have water underneath me. So I think when I'm swimming, I do shut my eyes a little bit and I don't like to look. So sometimes I'll have a little glance, but I am trying not to look down. Yeah, it's just, that's my personal thing, yeah, that makes complete sense.

Moesha Johnson: 14:05

Yeah, yeah, I don't know. I just have this random fear that, like I'm gonna, some weird deep sea creature or river creature that that I've not discovered before is going to pop up or swim over a dead body. You know, like they just don't want to know what's underneath me.

Danielle Spurling: 14:18

That's fair enough. I'm interested in hearing about the feed zone. Firstly, what sort of did you consume during the race and did you change your feed plan? You obviously had an idea of what you were going to do. Did you change that when you came into the race?

Moesha Johnson: 14:35

I think they got like so, course wise and tactical wise, it was quite tricky because we're being washed down and I kind of because I was one of the first feeding stations I was coming up a bit wider and then cutting across, which my coaches told me later wasn't good, but I think it was good. Um, so there's a lot of different tactics and depending where you were, you know, like you know, say, for example, sharon Van Rondeau was at the other end of the feed station, so she'd grab a feed and then float with the current down with a feed. So I think the feeding was quite interesting, this one, if you were watching it, especially depending where you were sitting in the pack. And, yeah, because there was so much push coming off that that that position in the river. So it's something that I'd love to experience again, to figure out myself how to do it better, because I don't think I did it very well, I'm not sure. Well, I thought I did it well, but then, looking back, I'm like, oh, actually it'd be fun to play with that.

Moesha Johnson: 15:27

But yeah, coming in, you know, I thought you know, when they're 1600 meter laps, sometimes you don't need to feed every single lap. Um, so I thought about maybe changing it up a little bit, but once the current was there, I just really wanted to make sure my energy stores were topped up and I wasn't, you know, I wasn't lacking anything or burning too much energy, so I just decided to feed every single lap, just to be safe. And then if I missed it, I missed it. But yeah, I have, because in doha, our qualification, I had two feeds knocked out of my, my thing. So I have a little bit of a paranoia of like missing a feed. Now, like obviously I can do it. I didn't do hard, you know, so I can do it. But I'm like, okay, I'm just going to take every feed that I can, because in those conditions you just want to make sure you're not lacking energy towards the race.

Danielle Spurling: 16:12

Oh, and in terms of what I have in my feeds yeah.

Moesha Johnson: 16:15

So, um, you get a variety between the athletes, but it's always a high carb mix and um a mix of caffeine or no caffeine or gels. So for me this is an accidental brand plug. I'm not sponsored, but I've been using cis beta fuel. Um, it's like the highest refined form of carbs that you can kind of get um. Sometimes if I want to add a little bit more concentrate, I'll add a bit of a gel, but it's so high the concentration of carb mix anyway, that you know I just stick to the normal ratios. Um, I did add caffeine this race. I am not consistent with my caffeine across races, I just go on the feeling of what I want. Um, so, yeah, I did have caffeine and carbs, pretty simple.

Danielle Spurling: 17:02

Um yeah, yeah, did you. Did you find it um difficult to get back into your stroke rate after you'd taken that sort of little break in the middle? Or was it a nice little?

Moesha Johnson: 17:12

rest. No, it's something that we're quite used to Like. I always struggle. Just I think you need a few strokes just to let it settle in your stomach. But you know it's something you practise in training. You're having hard drinks in training and doing intensity sets. So, especially for pool swimming, we'll sit and take gels during high intensity, which open water isn't. So I think you know, um, the whole race was changing pace and changing. You know practicing feeling. So for me I didn't struggle with it, but some people might.

Danielle Spurling: 17:41

I'm not really sure we'll be back with Mo after this short break. Did you know that you can now subscribe to the show and by becoming a supporter, it helps us continue to put out our weekly content which is free to all who listen. You can become a subscriber through following the link in our Instagram bio at Torpedo Swim Talk Podcast or via the button on our Torpedo Swim Talk website. It's as little as $3 and the subscription gives you extra content which I know you're going to enjoy. You get advanced notifications about new episodes and upcoming guests. You get four swim training workouts a month, become a member of our private WhatsApp group and a shout out on the show. And what were your sort of talk us through the last 500 metres of the race?

Moesha Johnson: 18:28

So the last 500 metres was against the current. I just wanted to be in the lead because I knew that current was hard to pass people. It was the best position to be in to guarantee a better medal. But obviously under that bridge there was two options and I tried sharon's option the lap before and I absolutely stuffed it up. I ran into the edge everyone probably saw that I ran into the yellow thing, um, and I was like, hey, I'm not doing that again. It didn't work for me, even though it was probably a better route.

Moesha Johnson: 18:56

Um, and I knew that coming under the bridge that time that whatever way I took, sharon would go the other way. And you know she practiced it better than me the day before, um, she had a training partner with her and I was doing it alone, so she really nailed her skills that bit better. Um, but obviously, coming under I was like, okay, I've committed to this way, I'm gonna go this way and she commits that way. So I'm just gonna commit and I did. And then coming in, you know I just wanted to stand her feet as long as I could, but you know she's talented athlete, she's got much more speed at the end than I do, but it's so hard to know when to push because of the current.

Moesha Johnson: 19:29

It's like, okay, do I start pushing now or now? Um, but she kind of took off a little bit sooner and the girl behind me, I'd kind of secured my place. I just wanted to go in strong and yeah, coming into the touch pad, you just kept swimming and it just wasn't getting any closer and it was just like you just see us nearly stop right at the touch pad. There's a strong current under the pontoon pushing us up. So it was a little bit. It was a strange finish, but it was also I. We wanted a group of girls, so it's quite basic at the same time.

Danielle Spurling: 19:57

Oh, it was brilliant to see it was. It was such an exciting race.

Moesha Johnson: 20:00

It really was yeah, I've had a lot of people say that to me and they're like it was so nerve-wracking, especially like people who don't understand it like, or even people who understand and I was leading so early on.

Danielle Spurling: 20:10

they're like, well, I stressed, a lot of people out no, I could tell that you were up on top of the water. You looked so comfortable and confident. You could tell you just were just had that. You're in that wave, that beautiful wave that we see, and you're certainly in that in that race. Have you got the medal there by any chance?

Moesha Johnson: 20:28

I do, I do, I've got it here. So one moment um how beautiful is that it's massive yeah it's so big, isn't it? Yeah, that's the, that's the Eiffel Tower, that's dark gray and that's like the Paris design, and then on the back is the classic um Olympiad it's beautiful how much does it weigh? Um, I would love to know the actual weight, but it's heavy, like everyone gets the shock when they hold it. So maybe like 500 grams Wow, yeah, but I'm not very good with weights. So, yeah, but it definitely it's hefty.

Danielle Spurling: 21:06

It's a hefty thing, it's beautiful, beautiful to have and well-deserved, yeah, thank you. Thank you, congratulations on also making the final of 1500 in the pool and coming six. That was an amazing achievement to be representing Australia in the pool and in the marathon. Yeah, what were your thoughts on your 1500 meter final?

Moesha Johnson: 21:27

yeah. So obviously, like I would have loved to have been under 16 minutes that's always just a good, good target time but I just didn't quite have that front end speed that I was wanting and I think you know it's because I'd focused on the 10k, just flattened out a little bit some of the that front end speed. Um, but you know, to swim to 1500s at 16 minutes, back to back, under such high pressure environment, and to be in the final with a french girl, like you know, I absolutely did not take that for granted. Um, yeah, I think I think if it was only the 1500, then maybe, like I would have been, maybe a little disappointed in the time, but as we saw for some races, it wasn't about time or about placing.

Moesha Johnson: 22:06

So, um, to come away, six have done an Olympic final with such a fast group of girls. You know that was faster than Tokyo and I thought Tokyo was fast. Yeah, I just yeah. I'm in a race with Katie Ledecky and girls going 1540, 1541 and 1544. You know that's incredible. So, yeah, I'm pretty proud of that race too.

Danielle Spurling: 22:30

Yeah, it was a great race. How did you recover like? What was your recovery like between the heat and the final? What did you do to get yourself back up for the final?

Moesha Johnson: 22:39

yeah. So it's something we don't really get to practice a lot in terms of that style, but we do practice saying like racing, 1500 one day and 800 the next. So, realistically, like you just practice it every day in training, um, you know you do it hard, set one day hard for the next day. So eating, well, um, hot, cold bars if you need them, norma tech or compression massage if that works for you, um, sleeping, um, and just yeah, but like you're fit enough that that, or if you haven't, if you're not prepared for a backup, like that, you probably haven't trained it properly um true, but yeah, for me it was just more about staying calm, to be honest, um in that environment.

Danielle Spurling: 23:17

So yeah, yeah, and obviously the 10k was your sort of your main focus. But you get into the village and obviously you had the training camp before. But getting the village, what do you do for your training to keep going during that sort of week of pool competitions?

Moesha Johnson: 23:33

for pool between between pool and open water. Is that what?

Danielle Spurling: 23:35

you mean Well, I mean you didn't have your 1500 till later in the week, yeah, yeah, so obviously you weren't racing the early part. So how did you keep your training specifically for you going?

Moesha Johnson: 23:46

Yeah, so basically you just plan with your coach what you know what it's going to look like and you just plan for your day that your race is day one. So for me the 1500 was day one. For me that's day one of mo's racing, so you just plan it like that. So, um, they have a training pool and a comp pool and you just go off and you do your training, you stick to it and you do your sets like normal. So for me my 1500 was on day one, even though it was on like day four or something. Um, but obviously, like at trials, it was a really good practice for me. I was at the last event on the last night, so I really had to practice how to manage the crazy environment around you, so I felt really prepared for it.

Danielle Spurling: 24:27

Yeah, because that must be hard when you're still focusing on your training and then you've got all these teammates coming in with medals on the first night and fantastic swims and the excitement that goes along with that exactly so you really have to put a lid on yourself.

Moesha Johnson: 24:41

I always I tried to go to the training pool more often where it was calm and relaxing and, yeah, you don't want to be burning that energy, um. But yeah, definitely, trials really prepared me for it and it really prepared me then for this backup. You know I had to do the 10k after all, my teammates had finished and we're on holidays, you know. So I was when really holding my myself together, knowing that, yeah, you kind of really just had to kind of remove yourself a little bit, unfortunately, but that's what you have to do when you want to perform.

Danielle Spurling: 25:12

And, in terms of the village, when they had all finished their pool swimming, were you still staying in that apartment by yourself or did you move with them?

Moesha Johnson: 25:20

So what happened after my 1500 final? I'd requested to go out into our staging camp with the open water, so I left the village. So I wanted to just calm down, decompress and reset and come in with my teammates who had the same goals that I had. Um, and it worked out really, really well. So I left my apartment and came back in with the open water group and then we went into our own apartment with open water oh that's good yeah, that would have worked out well.

Danielle Spurling: 25:49

Yeah, now I just wanted to have a little bit of a talk about your training. I know you've worked with Michael Boll on the Gold Coast with his squad in the last few years but you decided to change your training base to Germany. What prompted that change?

Moesha Johnson: 26:00

Yeah, um, quite like a number of things. Um, so I went on training camp with them, uh, in 2022, just off the back of worlds, and did the open water with them. And then I asked you know, we spoke with bolly and we decided to do a training camp in february of 2023, and we've spoken about a few different things and when I got over there, we had a couple of chats and he's like, look, if you think you should stay, I feel like I, I would encourage and support you. Um, so, basically, I went on training camp and just never came home.

Moesha Johnson: 26:36

Um, so for me, it's just europe knows how to do endurance training in europe. It's their passion. Um, you know, they got tour de france and all that in their their blood and they got access to high altitude. And you know, they got tour de france and all that in their their blood and they got access to high altitude. And you know, I was doing so much training over here alone and, um, it was just so nice to go over there and be amongst other hard workers and people who are willing to do the extra volume and the extra distance. And they're all doing the same double up I'm doing the 1500 and the 10k. So it just was a good fit and they welcomed me and, yeah, it's a very different style of training to what I was doing um with Michael and yeah, it's obviously worked out really well how?

Danielle Spurling: 27:22

how is it different what? What was the difference that you really noted?

Moesha Johnson: 27:26

so for me it was doing the, the aerobic um, maybe I don't know what people would know it as a2 or bz2, um kind of level. So really working in that blue zone, green zone, heart rate level. Um, we did a lot more threshold in australia so, um, I really built a big aerobic base. Now that, um, I'm building on, I'm actually building from that again so I could swim at threshold all day and red zone in the heart rate. You know when you do the heart rate, yeah, um, but I couldn't sit slow in a pack, I could only pace it up. So I had to really train myself to be able to swim slow and efficient, um to conserve energy for the end of the race how interesting.

Danielle Spurling: 28:21

How big is the squad? How big is the squad there?

Moesha Johnson: 28:24

so on the olympic team we had eight swimmers. It was quite a big group of us, very successful group, very self-driven group, very self-motivated um. So in my group, uh, maybe around 12 to 16, it's changed a little bit in the olympic year.

Danielle Spurling: 28:39

So and one of your main competitors, sharon, is training alongside you. How, how did that go, oh?

Moesha Johnson: 28:45

she's fantastic. Um, we're great friends. Um, we're such different athletes so for us, like, it's not like we're going to swim the same race. Um, you know, she, her strengths are different to my strength in training, her strengths are different to my strength, but polar opposite, um, and you know, she's like literally the go to the sport and I've learned so much from her. She's, you know, I've been great company in training and yeah, we've gotten along really well and it's just been such an honor to train alongside her. And yeah, like no one else has done what she's done. You know, three olympic medals and open water like all, there's only other girls with one, so you know, and two goals. So for me it's been so special and you know she's just been such a great friend to me and outside the pool we've had a lot of fun this last year and yeah, it's been great.

Danielle Spurling: 29:34

That's really nice. What town are you based in when you're over there? So I'm in a city called Magdeburg.

Moesha Johnson: 29:40

I'm in Magdeburg.

Danielle Spurling: 29:42

And can you share with us what a typical training week pre-paris look like for you in that sort of lead up?

Moesha Johnson: 29:48

yeah, so we don't really do these typical training weeks. We fluctuate between 10 sessions and 12 sessions, um, it's a very fluid program so, um, but yeah, we're pushing up some, some bigger volumes and we're gonna block at altitude, um, and we do six land sessions a day but also a lot of focus on recovery, like sleeping, eating, hot-collar bars, massage, physio. But yeah, I didn't have a typical program because I was everywhere, I was back here for trials and then I was over with them for a few weeks and then I had to join back in with Swimming Australia and then we moved and we moved so I would fall over the place. So I don't know if I could say I had a typical training week. Um, we just had to really work within the travel confinements that olympics bring.

Danielle Spurling: 30:35

So yeah, and hang on. Did you just say six dry land sessions a day or a week, a week, a week?

Moesha Johnson: 30:40

sorry, I don't know, I don't know it might be, but you know we do dry land before swimming. Yeah, we, we swim and then we do like a stretch afterwards just to relax the body so we can recover. And then we will do a dry land like cardio, strength, circuit power stuff or sometimes yoga, depending kind of the load we're in. And then you know, you come back and do it again in the afternoon, warm up dry land, warm up trial and warm up swim recovery, sort of stretching.

Danielle Spurling: 31:10

But that's it, yeah and is a lot of the training over there in open water or is it all in a pool?

Moesha Johnson: 31:17

no, we do all our open water training in a pool. The only exposure we get is maybe racing and then like the training sessions before racing at the venue. Um, but yeah, if we get the access somewhere we will do it, but it is hard to access open water venues yeah, fantastic.

Danielle Spurling: 31:34

And when do you head back over there, or are you heading back over there soon?

Moesha Johnson: 31:38

yeah, yeah, so we'll be heading back over there. I think you know that that program is what really suits me and my physiology. Um, so I'll be heading over end of. September, start of October, I think so.

Danielle Spurling: 31:50

I haven't really made a set plan yet.

Moesha Johnson: 31:51

So I've got to start making some plans for the next season, because you know you've got to do it all again.

Danielle Spurling: 31:56

Yeah for sure. Have you got any sort of? Are you thinking about the World Champs in Singapore next year, or have you got something else on the horizon?

Moesha Johnson: 32:04

Yeah, no, obviously it's world champs. Um, the challenging part for me is um commonwealth games. I don't have any of my events in commonwealth games, so, um, no, 1500, no 10k, no 5k, no, nothing. So I'll be looking at 2026 as a year that might be a little bit alternative, but typically it's like world champs or olympic games that you target in that year. Um, and then 2026 for me, without some games. I might do like the World Cup circuit, or maybe I'll just have a bit of a relaxing year in preparation for the final two years in the Olympics.

Danielle Spurling: 32:35

And I was a little bit off track, but I was really delighted to discover. Your uncle is Brad Cooper, Munich gold medalist in the 400 free. Has he had much influence over your career?

Moesha Johnson: 32:46

Yeah, so he's married to my mum's sister, so that's how we're related. We're not like blood related, but he's, you know, had a big influence in my life. They, my auntie Cheryl and uncle Brad. They owned a lunch or swim center so I grew up there. My mum was working there, so they really encouraged my mum to let me swim because I just loved swimming as a little kid and they couldn't keep me out of the water.

Moesha Johnson: 33:08

I just was in every swimming lesson I was allowed to be in and yeah, and then I just kept progressing through squads and my mom like my auntie said to my mom oh you just gotta let her race, she just wants to race. So it's kind of been something that's been quite instinctive for me. But you know, they really helped my mom and guided my mom and you know I trained under Brad for a number of years before I moved up into some of the high performance squads. So he's had a big impact on my life and taught me a lot. You know, I feel like I learned a lot of Don Talbot little tricks through him.

Danielle Spurling: 33:37

So yeah, um, it's been fantastic and he's been a great mentor yeah, he would have been so proud of you as all your family would have been. Yeah, yeah, he was so shy he family would have been.

Moesha Johnson: 33:47

Yeah, he was so shy. He brought out the medal and I was like we've got to get a photo and he's like oh, I don't know. But, yeah, it was such a special moment to share our Olympic medals together.

Danielle Spurling: 33:56

Yeah, that's fantastic. A bit of a difference in size there. Oh yeah, and one question I wanted to ask you too how did you? What was the first reason that you discovered the open water? Because you obviously started off with pool racing. What was your entree into it?

Moesha Johnson: 34:19

yeah. So they've always wanted me to do open water and I always just was like not interested, I like the pool swimming. But I think you know, to me covert really really brought about that first thought of like oh, I could do this. Um, you know, when we're in lockdown I did a lot of ocean swimming, staying up to the water, and I was like, okay, okay, maybe I could do this, so something. Then after that that we looked at expanding me into, especially after I missed the Olympics in the pool in the Tokyo trials. I needed something to keep it interesting and open water was a little sideline project that's now become the frontline runner, so yeah, absolutely did.

Danielle Spurling: 34:59

You did you used to swim other strokes, or was it always just freestyle for you?

Moesha Johnson: 35:03

no, I've swum other strokes as a little kid. I was more of a breaststroker, I am swimmer oh um, but I'm just not like the strongest girl around so I did struggle to keep up. You know I needed longer than 200 meters um, and my butterfly you know for 400 I am my hundred fly like isn't as strong. So, um, I just naturally always just just like moved into the distance swimming and unfortunately that was just freestyle. But yeah, I did a range of things when I was younger.

Danielle Spurling: 35:32

And aside from your own race, what was your favourite swimming memory from the Paris Games?

Moesha Johnson: 35:37

There was a lot of fantastic races and obviously, like Leon Marchand, summer McIntosh, undeniably like fantastic. You know athletes and racers. But you know, like Katie Ledecky, you know to be in her races and see her just be such a goat in the sport. You know that was a great race, um, you know, I even loved the women's 100 free. Sarah sostrom, like I know, like obviously we would have loved to see australia in there, but you know that was such a fantastic race by her and she hasn't actually won the gold medal even though she's a world record holder and she's such an incredible athlete. That was amazing 100 freestyle by her and, yeah, even cam mcavoy's 53.

Moesha Johnson: 36:14

But you know, for me the standout race of the week was probably the women's 800. I thought that was a fantastic race. You know katie ledecky, you know she's such a standout but she fought for it. And ariane, you know she fought for a silver medal and um third place. That was an incredible race by her and I was just really like I still am mind blown by that race. For me personally, I struggle with the 800. I just can't figure out how to race it. Um, it's just not clicked for me, um and so to see them racing it so well, so many fast girls in that race it was amazing.

Danielle Spurling: 36:47

Yeah, it was so interesting because they approached it so differently.

Moesha Johnson: 36:50

Yeah, absolutely, ariana and katie yeah, and ariana, she really gave it to katie and, like she, even in ariana's interviews, she said no, it's a race I'm really proud of. I really fought for that silver medal and, you know, third place she even split it to perfection and this is so strong. You know, it's so nice to see a new name off there in the mix and swimming so well yeah, that was.

Danielle Spurling: 37:12

That was a great race, that's. It's good that you've mentioned that one as well, because I don't think many people have yeah, I don't people even think, people even realize how fantastic that was.

Moesha Johnson: 37:22

Like I'm I'm just being frozen and watching that race on repeat, like it's so good, oh, mo.

Danielle Spurling: 37:27

Thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. You've been very generous with your time and letting us have an insight into that great race and once again, congratulations.

Moesha Johnson: 37:37

Thank you so much and thanks for having me.

Danielle Spurling: 37:39

Yeah, you're welcome. Okay, take care. Thank you. Bye. Take care, mo. Thanks to Mo for sharing her olympic journey with us today. I adored hearing all her perspectives on the 10k and other parts of her swim journey. I hope you did as well. For more insights into behind the scenes and what's coming up on the podcast, become a subscriber of the show, and you can do that through our torpedo swim talk website. Till next time, happy swimming and bye for now.