Maggie Nichols Shares Her NCAA Secrets

Samantha Peszek is on a mission to connect athletes, coaches, and parents with the best resources the gymnastics world has to offer. Utilizing Samantha’s gymnastics network, (she really does have cool friends) guests will be experts in their field and shed a light on hot topics, tips for improvement, and inspiration. Listeners will have the opportunity to learn from some of the sport’s greats, participate in giveaways, and apply relevant tips to everyday life, in and out of the gym.

Welcome back to Season 2 of the I Have Cool Friends podcast! Sam welcomes to the podcast collegiate gymnast, Maggie Nichols. Maggie is a junior at the University of Oklahoma and has already accomplished so much in her gymnastics career. Maggie won a gold medal with the American team and an individual bronze medal on floor exercise at the 2015 World Championships. Maggie has also earned five NCAA championship titles, including one team and four individual and she is the only gymnast in Oklahoma’s history to achieve a perfect 10 on all four events. In addition to these incredible feats, she received the first and only perfect 10 from the first meet of the 2019 NCAA season! Maggie is well-known for her motivational messages on social media and uplifting personality, which have contributed to her being an amazing teammate and friend.

In this episode, Sam and Maggie talk all about college gymnastics and its importance to the overall sport today. From the perspective of two gymnasts who trained at both the Elite and collegiate levels, Maggie and Sam both understand the hard work and dedication necessary to achieve gymnastics greatness. Maggie walks Sam through her time at the University of Oklahoma, from their emotional second place finish in last year’s NCAA Championship to the new crop of freshman gymnasts they have this year. Maggie describes how she transitioned to the college scene with such grace and flawlessness. She talks about her coaches and the messages they relay to the team before and after every meet. Finally, Maggie gives her predictions of which teams she believes will be the Final Four on the Floor and shares one piece of advice that college gymnasts can utilize to get better every day.

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Key Takeaways

• Sam thanks her sponsors, Tumbl Trak and Destira
• Introducing today’s guest, Maggie Nichols
• Sam and Maggie recall early memories of each other
• Sam congratulates Maggie on her impeccable Week 1 performance
• Maggie talks about her performance in the first meet of the NCAA season
• NCAA rankings and scoreboard watching
• Sam and Maggie talk about Oklahoma’s Number 1 ranking in the country
• The number of routines Oklahoma is replacing this year
• Maggie talks about Oklahoma’s freshman class of gymnasts
• The advice Maggie has been giving to her freshman teammates
• How Maggie transitioned so flawlessly into the college scene
• The moment Maggie became a fan of the University of Oklahoma
• Maggie’s similar mindsets from Elite to the collegiate level
• The calm competitive mindset that Maggie utilizes
• What Maggie would tell herself if she had to give herself a pep talk
• Maggie’s walks through her preparation and routine on Meet Day
• Maggie discusses her team’s mindset going into Week 1
• Sam takes a moment to thank her sponsors once again
• Maggie’s emotions as she completed the 2018 season
• Maggie describes leaving everything on the floor last season and coming up just short
• Individual goals Maggie has for the 2019 season
• Maggie compares the vibes of last year’s team and this year’s team
• The analogy Maggie would use to describe her team this year
• The consistency of Oklahoma’s gymnastics performances
• What it’s like training with and being coached by K.J. Kindler and Lou Ball
• The differences in training with different coaches at the Elite and collegiate level
• What it would take for Maggie to make a possible return to Elite Gymnastics
• The message Maggie’s coaches gave her and her teammates before and after meets
• Maggie debunks a myth about the University of Oklahoma
• Maggie shares her thoughts on the new NCAA postseason format
• The importance of collegiate gymnastics to the overall sport
• Maggie gives her predictions on which teams be the Final Four on the Floor
• Maggie reveals one thing college gymnasts can do to get 1% better each day
• How Maggie positivity brightened up Sam’s day
• 50:52 — Where fans can follow Maggie

Tweetable Quotes

Ever since I was little, I was really excited to compete in college gymnastics.

I feel like I’m a very calm competitor. For me, when I’m more calm and relaxed and kind of dancing around and having fun, that’s when I do my best gymnastics.

I just want to do the best I can for my team and to help lead to another National Championship in the end for the team.

We definitely just try to stay focused, stay calm, and not many of us like to be dancing around and laughing. Throughout the competition we kind of just like to do our gymnastics and enjoy it and watch our teammates do amazing and be excited for them.

I think that college gymnastics is such a light in the gymnastics world right now. I think that it just shows that all of us love gymnastics so much and it’s so fun and so exciting to compete.

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