The Gold Medal of Recovery with Carrie Steinseifer Bates

The Gold Medal of Recovery with Carrie Steinseifer Bates

What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? This conversation between Coach Blu Robinson, co‑host Marissa, and three‑time Olympic gold medallist swimmer Carrie Steinseifer Bates is packed with grit, sport stories, and very real recovery talk. Carrie shares how growing up in an alcoholic home pushed her towards the pool, where she found both success and safety.

The water became her refuge: a place to pour out anger and fear because, as she puts it, “No one can see you cry under the water.” You’ll hear how a 16‑year‑old Olympic champion went from the high of Los Angeles 1984 to the devastation of missing the 1988 team and drinking “to not feel” for the first time. The chat is candid and often raw.

Carrie talks about drinking as a young mum, the gradual slide from weekend glasses of wine to dangerous bottoms, and the terrifying night when police turned up after a welfare check and she entered treatment for the first time. Her line about being “sick of getting A’s in treatment and F’s in life” says it all about doing recovery work on paper but not in reality.

You’ll also get a powerful look at relapse, shame, and the moment she chose to be fully honest in treatment after a home detox that she describes as “incredibly dangerous.” Losing her job and legal rights as a mum at 94 days sober didn’t send her back to the bottle; instead, she doubled down on meetings, support, and movement.

The sporting thread runs through everything, from her childhood grind in the pool to returning to swimming after 18 years and training for an Ironman so she could show “addicts and Alcoholics that we can do absolutely anything that we put our minds to.” If you’ve ever felt like you’re more than your addiction – or more than your medals – this story of turning pain into purpose might be exactly what you need today.