Meet Floyd, the bulldog of Olympic swimmer Chase Kalisz

Two-time Olympic medalist Chase Kalisz has a special relationship with his english bulldogFloyd, who helps him navigate the ups and downs of mental health as a professional athlete. Ahead of Paris 2024, Chase and Floyd teamed up with Zero on his Fuel Incredible campaign, which highlights the relationship between eight Team USA athletes and their pets.

“The biggest thing Floyd does for me is it doesn’t matter if I have a good day, a bad day, if I swim well, if I swim bad,” Kalisz tells Daily Paws. “No matter what, I walk through my door, he comes running to me every time, and there’s no better feeling than that in the world. And anyone who owns a pet knows how great that feeling is. I can just see him and see his excitement and that it helps me relax, just relax and feel loved.”

Inspiration from Michael Phelps

Kalisz’s fondness for English bulldogs dates back to childhood, but more specifically, his brotherly bond with Michael Phelps, who is also reportedly a pretty good swimmer.

“I grew up training with Michael Phelps at a very young age, and he would always bring his English bulldog, Herman, to the pool,” Kallis says.

But Herman didn’t inherit his dad’s love for swimming, instead he used the exercise time to get a good night’s sleep.

“Herman would slowly make his way to the pool at the slowest place he could go, and then he’d just plop down and sleep by the pool,” Kalis says. “And then (Phelps) would come out of practice and Herman would be excited and come back.”

Bringing Floyd home

Just a few years later, Kalisz would become a Bulldog himself by committing to the University of Georgia, home of the Georgia Bulldogs.

“At the time, I still really wanted a bulldog in my head, and it probably didn’t hurt that I was surrounded by bulldogs and in bulldog country,” Kalis says.

But Kalisz was patient and waited until he finished school to take the plunge into dog ownership in 2017. Since then, he has been the proud owner of Floyd, now a six-year-old English bulldog, who provided much-needed emotional support to the Olympian during the most stressful and sometimes loneliest years of his life.

“Obviously swimming is not a team sport,” says Kalisz. “My training partners—I consider them my teammates, but at the end of the day, you have to step up and deal with everything yourself. The stress of training—the mental aspect, the competition—it’s all on you.”

Swimming with Floyd

In addition to routinely relaxing on the couch together, Kalisz has taken Floyd on several water adventures outside the house, including the pool, just like Phelps and Herman, and the beach. And it turns out that Floyd may be the most talented swimming bulldog in the breed’s history, showing promise from an early age.

“When Floyd was younger, we had a great daycare in Athens (Georgia),” says Kalisz. “I was there one day, we put him in the training pool and he finished swimming to the deep end. But Floyd’s not much of a swimmer these days, so maybe I’ll get him back in the pool, and we’ll see where he’s at.”

Olympic Games in Paris 2024

However, Floyd’s swimming adventures may have to wait until dad returns from the 2024 Summer Olympics. Kalisz is a two-time Olympic medalist, winning silver in 2016 and gold in 2020 in the men’s 400m individual medley, qualifying once again.

What about Floyd? Well, you can bet he’ll be supporting dad from afar. “When I’m racing, he’ll be with my friends, and they’ll put him in front of the TV,” Kalisz says. “And my parents had a party last time with NBC cameras and they had to bring Floyd in for a video, so I got to see him for a little while.”

But Kalisz won’t feel satisfied until he meets his favorite pup in person.

“I’m excited to, first of all, go through the Olympics and, you know, hopefully represent our country really well and do my best,” Kalisz says. “But I can’t wait to get home. It’s been a very crazy, busy year, very stressful. I really can’t wait to get home and spend weeks doing nothing with Floyd and just hanging out with him.”

And make sure you and your dog catch the 2024 Olympics this summer, starting July 26 in Paris!