In Chill Chat, Bustle chats with celebrities about all things wellness, from daily routines to tricks for a good night’s sleep. Join Team USA swimmers Erin Gemmell and Claire Weinstein as they share how they stay motivated, take care of their mental health and share their favorite memories with teammate Katie Ledecky.

When you watch an athlete at the top of his sport, it’s easy to forget how young he is… until he attributes his ability to wake up for 5 a.m. practice to the quiet atmosphere of his — *checks notes* — dorm room.

“The last thing I do before I go to bed is have a nice chatting session with my roommate,” says Erin Gemmell, 19. “It’s easier to wind down talking in the dark than staring at my phone.”

She was rested enough to help Team USA win a silver medal in the Olympic 4×200-meter freestyle relay on Aug. 1, swimming alongside teammates Katie Ledecky, Claire Weinstein and Paige Madden.

Gemmell was born into a family of competitive swimmers from Maryland (her dad, Bruce, coached Ledecky). This fall, she will be a sophomore at the University of Texas, where she swims competitively.

Her teammate Weinstein, 17, is even younger. She swam the fastest 200-meter freestyle on the team (under 1 minute, 55 seconds), breaking her own record and becoming the fourth-fastest American woman in the history of the event. The New York-born athlete has verbally committed to swim for the University of California, Berkeley, in 2025.

Below, Gemmell and Weinstein explain how they stay focused while working out up to 13 times a week, and what it’s like to work on Ledecky’s nails.

So many kids dream of being in the Olympics. You actually did it. How does it feel?

Gemmel: As a kid, you don’t realize how big a dream it is. When I was 7, I just expected that if I kept swimming, I would eventually win an Olympic medal, but as I realized, it doesn’t work that way at all. The chances of me being able to survive this and have all the right circumstances to get to this point were disastrously slim. It’s crazy and I’m so happy.

How to stay motivated when training gets tough?

Weinstein: You’re probably going to have more bad days than good days. And on the bad days, you have to get out of practice, learn something, and recognize that you did something good—even if you didn’t do it in the time you wanted, or you didn’t have the success you wanted, you’re getting better.

Gemmel: Every day is important, but not in the sense that it has to be perfect.

What is your daily routine? Your workout routine?

Weinstein: Eight to eleven swim sessions a week, and we usually lift weights twice a week. Of course, half of those are morning sessions at 5 a.m. So a typical day, I I would wake up at 4am, work out from 5 to 7am, eat breakfast, do homework, rest, eat lunch, go to a late workout, eat dinner, go to bed, and then do the same thing the next day.

How do you get up at 4 am?

Gemmel: A lot of the struggle is that I have to put my phone down. So at 9 or 10 p.m. I know I have to do it or I’ll feel the consequences.

How do you take care of your mental health?

Weinstein: My biggest struggle is that I get really anxious and doubt myself. People joke about self-affirmations, but they really help me — in the pool, just making sure I trained for this, I’m prepared, I can do this.

Gemmel: Journaling really helps me. I can throw every single thing that’s in my head out on the page, in my worst handwriting that no one could ever read, and then it’s on the page, not in my head. It’s like, throw it out, let it go. We move on.

What other favorite self-care methods do you have?

Weinstein: I love essential oils. I have a diffuser at home.

Gemmel: I’m a big fan of forcing myself to do nothing, because often if there’s something I could be working on, I feel like I have to do it. So I usually schedule Saturday and Sunday afternoons where I know I’m not going to do anything. I’ll just watch a show or read a book for fun. That really helps me recharge.

What is your favorite Katie Ledecky memory?

Weinstein: The 2022 World Championships in Budapest. It was my first time meeting her. I was so nervous, and just having her and Leah Smith as veterans in the ready room really helped me. She’s just a really good person to look up to.

Gemmel: Last summer I watched her do her own nails and said, please let me do that. It’s really nice to have a normal, non-sporty, “girly” activity at a slumber party where we can just talk. I get to do someone’s nails, which I love, and she gets a nice set of nails.

What’s next?

Weinstein: I can’t afford to take a long break because next month I have the Open Water World Juniors in Italy. I have to swim 7.5 km in the ocean. Honestly, I think most swimmers would agree that they don’t like taking a break because getting back into shape is literally the worst thing that can happen to you. You just feel awful in the water. After a week off, it takes three weeks to feel good again.

Gemmel: Last year I did my best to embrace swimming in college, but there was always that “Olympics are coming” feeling in the back of my mind—a kind of impending doom. I can’t wait to come back for my sophomore year of college with a little more experience, live more in the moment, and have fun.