Beyond the Blocks: How we built the ultimate swimming experience for Ohio Swimming.
I am still buzzing from this past weekend. We just wrapped up the 2026 Beyond the Blocks conference, put on by CG Sports in partnership with Ohio Swimming.
The background story
Following the recent merger of Ohio Swimming and Lake Erie Swimming, their athlete executive committee had a brilliant vision to create a one-of-a-kind event. They didn't just want a standard clinic; they wanted an experience that served four distinct stakeholder groups: athletes, coaches, officials, and parents. Because of our team's nearly nine years of experience running the LEAD summit, Ohio Swimming came to us to build it. I immediately looped in my LEAD partner, Courtney Randolph, to help map out and run the massive schedule. The result was nothing short of spectacular.
Here is a quick breakdown of how we took over The Ohio State University:
The Morning: We kicked things off with two simultaneous swim clinics featuring six Olympic and National Team athletes, alongside a full staff of coaches on deck working with the kids.
The Afternoon: We transitioned over to the gorgeous Ohio Union building. Lilly King delivered her world-renowned keynote, "Lilly Unleashed," complete with a massive photo and autograph session. From there, we ran dozens of classroom sessions and workshops. We had panel discussions covering nutrition, confidence, and mental performance, and we even brought in a Gen Z behavioral therapist for a highly valuable parent session. Coaches and officials also had their own dedicated educational tracks.
The Evening: We wrapped up the day with "Ohio Night Live," a late-night talk show hosted by Kieran Smith. He brought our athletes on stage, asked them questions, and played fun, newlywed-style games.
To capture the magic, we took a page out of the Winter Olympics' playbook and utilized an influencer and media arm. We brought in our clients from the Social Kick podcast to attend, document the event, conduct interviews, and release a recap video.
All told, we had nearly 12 athletes and speakers from the CG Sports roster in attendance to pull this off. The response from the market has been absolutely amazing, our social media blew up, and I've received so many positive messages and phone calls. We are already getting strong interest in continuing this event for 2027 and 2028.
It is incredibly rewarding to see this level of full-scale event programming come to life. A huge thank you to Ohio Swimming, our athletes, and everyone who made it happen!
Excited for the rest of the year and to bring Beyond the Blocks to more LSC's.
