Cieslak, who competes for Poland, is a 2012 Olympian, as well as a three-time NCAA champion and a two-time medalist at the European Championships; moreover, he is a national record holder of Poland.
He is looking forward to competing for the Cali Condors in the second season of the ISL, which will be held in Budapest, Hungary, next month. “It feels great. I can’t wait to race,” he admitted. “It is a dream come true for me to race for a team like Cali Condors.”
“I experienced team swimming before because I swam at the University of Florida for four years. It really is the team factor that really motivates you. Everyone plays a role on the team, and it definitely makes the athletes more engaged in the meet,” he said.
He praised Jason Lezak for being the team’s General Manager. “It is actually great to have him as the General Manager. I love speaking with him. He and I are both similar since we both coached ourselves for a good amount of time. He is the perfect GM for me since I am following into his footsteps. He is always accessible to us and responsive,” Cieslak said.
After college, he co-founded the swimming technology startup Phlex, which now equips many swimmers all over the world.
Cieslak is one of the four co-founders of Phlex, which is a tech company that is focused on bringing innovation to the contemporary swimming world. “Phlex is going good. Phlex is one of the reasons I got back into swimming,” he admitted. “I started testing the product and simply having the tech company, I had to swim every day. That got me hooked into swimming again.”
“Getting more data from Phlex gives swimmers a new, fresh approach. It forces us to think about swimming in a different way,” he added.
For more information on Phlex, check out its official homepage and its Facebook page.
On being a swimmer in the digital age, Cieslak said, “It’s convenient. It’s definitely easier to get information. Since I coach myself, I go on Instagram and I look from drills and sets from all of these cool swimming coaches. Same thing with YouTube. They are both very handy. I am someone that utilizes vlogs and the Internet for sure.”
Cieslak listed the butterfly as his personal favorite stroke in the sport. “I would say the butterfly is my favorite, but I will be swimming the individual medley (IM) in the ISL this season, so I’ve been training in backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle as well. The butterfly is my go-to,” he explained.
For young and aspiring swimmers, Cieslak encouraged them to “enjoy the sport.” “It definitely has to do with the ‘joy’ factor,” he said. “You can go far in any sport if you feel the love for it. Find what you really enjoy in the sport and try pursuing that part of the sport. For me, I love the racing, and I am also excited about health and fitness. I work out every day and I spend a good amount of time and energy on eating well and living a healthy life, and that drives me as a swimmer.”
While he loves all water sports, “surfing and kitesurfing” are two of his favorites.
Cieslak defined the word success as “reaching his full potential.” “Getting to the highest level that I can potentially get. Maximizing my potential, really. I would call that success,” he said.
To learn more about Polish swimmer Marcin Cieslak, follow him on Instagram.