Todd DeSorbo And The Power of Confidence

This article originally appeared in the 2025 World Championship Preview issue of the SwimSwam Magazine. Subscribe here.

When talking about the most dominant teams in women’s swimming, one name often comes up: Todd DeSorbo and the Virginia Cavaliers.

Coaching a team consistently producing top-tier talent, he acknowledges that comparisons are inevitable. But is his team the best?

“You know, I’d like to think we’re comparable to the best women’s teams in any sport worldwide,” he muses. “Obviously, we’re not pros, so it’s a bit different. But a few years ago, I used to jokingly tell the team, ‘This is the best team in the conference, the best team in the country.’ Then it became, ‘This is the best team in the world.’ It was a bit of a joke, but, well, maybe there’s something to it.”

His team’s international performances certainly suggest that there is. With athletes excelling in multiple strokes and events, their dominance is undeniable.

Women’s sports, particularly swimming, have grown tremendously in recent years. The level of competition is deeper than ever, and the rivalries are thrilling to watch.

“There are so many great athletes pushing each other to new heights,” he says. “Look at backstroke—when you have Kaylee (McKeown), Regan (Smith), Bacon (Phoebe), Claire (Curzan), and Katharine (Berkoff) all in the mix, you’ve got five girls who can swim under 2:05 in a 200 backstroke. That’s insane. The 100 fly at the U.S. Olympic trials had three women go sub-56—that’s absurd. The level of competition is what makes it so exciting.”

Todd believes that this intensity is what makes women’s swimming special. “These athletes are so competitive, and they keep pushing each other. Nobody wants to lose. And when they go head-to-head, they elevate the entire sport.”

So, what’s the secret behind his team’s success? A big part of it is his training philosophy—one that emphasizes versatility and prevents athletes from getting boxed into a single stroke or event.

“We try to keep people versatile and bring out the best in them, no matter what event they specialize in,” he explains. “If you’re a freestyler and all you ever train is freestyle, you’ll get bored. But if you train IM, if you mix in backstroke or butterfly, you stay engaged. And, honestly, it makes you a better swimmer overall.”

This approach extends to daily practice routines. “We do a lot of variety in our training. Everybody trains IM—sprinters train for 100 IM, middle-distance swimmers for 200 IM, and the upper group for 400 IM. Even in workouts that focus on a specific stroke, the first third of practice is all IM to get them warmed up. The goal is for them to be well-rounded and adaptable.”

This method has yielded incredible results. “Gretchen’s breaststroke was a shock even to me,” he laughs. “Most of what she does doesn’t surprise me because I see it in practice, but that one did. We don’t even specifically train breaststroke with her, yet she pulled off an amazing race. That’s what I mean about versatility—it pays off.”

But coaching isn’t just about time and technique—it’s also about understanding the mental side of competition. And coaching female athletes, in particular, comes with unique challenges and rewards.

“I always say, if I knew I was going to be a coach, I would have majored in psychology instead of accounting,” he admits. “Numbers and data are great, but confidence is everything.”

Todd’s biggest priority? Making sure his athletes believe in themselves. “Day-to-day training is centered around building confidence. By the time they step up on the blocks, they should already know they’re ready. If they’ve done the work, they should feel good about their training and be confident in their ability to perform.”

Competition within a team can be tricky—teammates need to push each other, but they also need to maintain confidence and avoid burnout.

“At least in Gretchen’s case, there are not too many people who can push her in practice because she trains and swims at such a high level. I think for the most part, we’ve tried to just take the team approach that, When Gretchen was a freshman, and Kate was a junior, I pulled them aside and said, ‘You guys can use each other to get better. If you train next to each other and push each other, it’ll elevate both of you.’ But at the same time, I told them that if they ever needed a break, they should let me know, and we’d switch things up. And sometimes they do. Gretchen even said at one point, when Kate was around the globe this fall for the World Cup and then for a three-week break over Christmas,  -And I never thought I’d say this, but I really miss having Kate around-.”

He’s mindful of how constant competition can wear on an athlete. “I don’t need Gretchen and Claire going head-to-head every single day in the same stroke. Half the time, they’ll do the same workout but with different strokes, so they’re still training together but not directly competing.

Comparison is natural, but as I tell them all the time, ‘Comparison is the thief of joy.’ They should be measuring themselves against their past performances, not against each other.”

With the talent level rising every year, predicting the next big race is nearly impossible.

“There are so many great events right now. The IM races, the backstroke showdowns, the insane depth in sprint freestyle… Who knows what the most competitive event will be in three years? But what I do know is that these women will keep pushing the sport forward.”

And with a vision like his one leading the way, the future of Virginia swimming is in very good hands.

DeSorbo believes that the gap in attention between men’s and women’s swimming has significantly decreased, particularly in the U.S. He attributes this to the rise of high-performing female swimmers, such as Kate Douglass and Katie Ledecky, who have helped drive more excitement for women’s events.

He also points out that in men’s swimming, there may be fewer dominant superstars in certain events, which can sometimes make women’s competitions more predictable and thrilling. “The men’s events often lack a clear favorite, whereas in the women’s events, you have big names like Katie Ledecky where you know she’s likely to win. That superstar power creates excitement.”

DeSorbo’s coaching career wasn’t initially focused on training women, but it evolved naturally as UVA’s women’s team progressed faster than the men’s. “When I started at Virginia, both teams existed, but our men’s team was much further behind. We were able to get the women to a higher level much quicker, and that momentum just kept building.”

Having coached both genders, he believes success is more about coaching style and program structure than gender itself. “At NC State, I was more involved in coaching male sprinters because the men’s team was stronger. But here at UVA, it’s the women’s team that’s leading the way.”

Data says that there are very fewer female coaches rather then male. DeSorbo attributes the gender gap in coaching primarily to lifestyle choices, particularly balancing family life with the demands of coaching. He shared an example of a former assistant, Mallory Hall, who left coaching to spend more time with her children.

“Coaching is demanding for anyone, but for women who also want to raise a family, it can be even more challenging. It’s not that women can’t lead a team—there are great female coaches out there. It’s just that the profession requires so much time and travel that some women choose to step away.”

He personally works to support female coaches in the profession, noting, “My associate head coach recently became the head coach at Texas A&M. I want to help develop young coaches, male or female, but certainly, I recognize that there are fewer women in this field, and I want to change that.”

One of the key differences DeSorbo highlights in training women is their approach to strength training. “Women often take longer to embrace the weight room. There’s been a stigma for a long time that lifting weights will make them ‘too big,’ but that’s not the case.”

He stresses that strength training is crucial for high performance and has been a game-changer for UVA’s top swimmers. “The ones who have taken their performance to the next level—Paige Madden, Alex Walsh, Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh—are the ones who fully committed to the weight room. Strength is beautiful, powerful, and the key to success.”

His theory is simple: “If you can embrace strength training, you will fly.”

To prove his genuine love for competitions and challenges, Todd has also launched a challenge that could truly become historic. It seems that he has contacted Dean Boxall, the Australian coach who leads Olympic champions Mollie O’Callaghan and Ariarne Titmus, inviting him to bring his team to the United States for an unprecedented showdown between the women’s teams. Could this be a real battle for the title of the best women’s team in the world? Who among you would pay for a ticket to this show?