How NCAA Champion Swimmer Carsten Vissering Made the USA Olympic Bobsled Team

Carsten Vissering was an absolute force during his time in the pool. Breaking national high school and age records as a teenager, he went on to swim for the University of Southern California in college. As a Trojan, Vissering won an NCAA title in 2018 as a part of the 200 medley relay and 2 Pac-12 Titles. Once Vissering walked away from swimming, though, he wasn't done with elite sport.

After aquatic retirement, Vissering still wanted to compete and ended up stumbling into bobsledding in 2022. He made the US national team and worked his way up the ranks until, earlier this month, he qualified for the 2026 US Olympic team. Vissering will compete next month in Milan Cortina donning the Red, White, and Blue.

SwimSwam sat down with the now winter athlete to discuss what training, competition, and the mental side of bobsledding is all about. Vissering details the nuances and hardships of the sport. He also tells his personal side of the story, sharing his drive to still compete, the will to learn and grow in a new sport, and the balance it takes to be a full-time athlete and work at a Big Four consulting firm.

0:00 Carsten Vissering Introduction
1:25 Pre-Olympic Training Camp in Austria
5:00 Training for Olympic Bobsled
12:00 Crashing
21:40 Surprise Olympic Qualification
25:54 Developing Sprinting Mechanics
34:40 Working Full Time at Ernst & Young
38:06 Bobsled World Cup Circuit
42:50 Racing on the Hardest Track in the World
46:45 2Man vs 4Man Bobsled
50:20 Olympic Prep