Swimmers.
Talking with other swimmers.
About swimming.
And some other things.
Swimming is a social activity. No matter how we got started in the water, we all made friends along the way. Even for you crazy distance swimmers, the time spent with your friends and teammates outside the pool far exceeded the time spent in the pool. Those conversations, those bonds, those connections that brought us close together were so often forged during the shared suffering of training and the quest to get faster. We all relished the reprieve that came with letting the heart rate come down, moving lanes, grabbing a board, and doing something without an interval. Social Kick was an opportunity to let loose, hang out with your friends and talk about whatever.
We started Social Kick because we’re friends, and we all love talking about swimming. No intervals, low heart rate, with freedom to move lanes in the conversation. None of us swam together in our early years, and then swimming brought us together once our careers ended. Now we do swim together, and we get to hang out and share our conversations about swimming with you. Come let loose with us, grab a drink if you want, and let’s do some Social Kick!
Meet “the guys”
Dr. John Mullen
Physical Therapist
John is a former Division I swimmer and Academic All-American at Purdue University. He was a National Qualifier and Big 10 Finalist. After graduating from Purdue, he received his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of Southern California. He then started the popular online publication Swimming Science and published the book Swimming Science. John has published multiple peer-reviewed articles focusing on swimming strength and conditioning, injury prevention, and recovery.
John grew up in Centerville, Ohio and trained with WTRC Sharks. Growing up her made numerous Top 16 NAG lists, where he ate at least one hot dog before each swim.
John now resides in the Seattle, WA area and owns a rehabilitation and performance gym in Santa Clara, California where he has helped over 20 Olympic swimmers. He loves spending time with his wife (who is a swim coach, who could have guessed), running, biking to work on his single speed, and listening to 90s hip hop music.
"Shook Ones by - Mobb Deep is the best swimming pump-up song of all-time" -John
Bryan Lundquist
‘Iron’ or ‘Mountain Bryan’
Bryan is a former World Record holder in the 4x100m Freestyle Relay SCM and American Record holder in the 50m Butterfly LCM (the first American under 23 seconds in 50 butterfly long course.) A member of 4x NCAA and 4x SEC Championship teams at Auburn, Bryan was part of the great Auburn sprint programs of the 2000s under David Marsh and Brett Hawke, and anchored 2x NCAA Champion & NCAA-record setting relays.
A USA National Team member, Bryan represented the US internationally at the World Championships (SCM), Pan American Games, and World University Games.
Bryan grew up in Marietta, Georgia and trained with Stingrays Swimming. His 6&U Georgia state record in the 25yd free (16.31) stood for 26-years. Now, he thinks a 16 second 25 in practice is pretty good.
Bryan now resides in Colorado and still loves swimming, but now spreads his time among trail running, cycling, Ironman racing, and various endurance challenges totally unbecoming of his nature as a pure sprinter. He’s completed 2 Ironmans under 10 hours, was the first age grouper out of the water in Kona (2022), and will race the 2023 Boston Marathon.
“Pound for pound, the 50 free is the hardest race in swimming.” -Bryan
Luke Paddington
‘Luke Worldwide’
Luke has been involved in the sport that he loves for over 40 years, both as an athlete and coach. He swam for his home country of Trinidad and Tobago for 10 years, enjoying several international meets. As a sprinter, he swam for McGill University for five years where he came within a tenth of qualifying for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Afterwards, in Montreal, he started his coaching career with the elite athletes at McGill. Returning home, he coached club swimming for five years, becoming a Trinidad National Team Coach and working with several Olympians. This new career brought him to California to run his own club and coach the largest girls high school team in the USA at the time. A move to Florida got him back in the pool and the joy of Masters swimming, becoming a top ten ranked swimmer in USMS.
Luke lives in White Plains, NY, and challenges anyone to a dive 50 at his Masters club, but relies on wearing fins to be competitive. He is married with two busy kids and works as an avid storyteller, making films about Tech and the Caribbean Diaspora.