The future is now

Good morning. Welcome to the now. 

The summer Aquatic World Championships before an Olympic Games always contains a special prize: the 10km Open Water podiums punch their tickets to the Olympics! 

If you've never watched a 10km race, stop what you are doing and watch this year's highlights from the women's race. 

You will see grit, determination, and strength. You will see the first Olympians qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics. You will see 17-year-old Katie Grimes making history. 

Grimes became the first individual to qualify for the 2024 U.S. Olympic team in a photo finish while racing in the women's 10km open water race. It's one of those races that elevates your heart rate and has you jumping on the couch as the swimmers barrel to the finish (or maybe that's just me?). Grimes slapped the board one tenth of a second ahead of Sharon van Rouwendaal and Ana Marcela Cunha (the last two Olympic gold medalists in the event). 

No big deal, right? Wrong. As of right now, Grimes could potentially become: 

• The youngest American athlete to compete in consecutive summer Olympics since Pokey Watson's 1964 and 1968 berths and 

• Become the second American to qualify for the Olympics in both the open water and pool events. 

And those are just straightforward Olympic statistics. 

This is just the beginning of an exciting countdown to the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games (officially 372 and 405 days away).

The future is in every practice, meeting, and connection we make. The future is created through our actions and how we pursue the goals we set for ourselves. The future is now. 

-- Taylor and the CG Sports Co team

P.S. Nervous about missing upcoming news from CG Sports? Follow us on Instagram (@cgsportsco), Facebook (CG Sports Management), and, of course, our weekly newsletter.

Is there anything Elizabeth Beisel can't do? Within the last few weeks Beisel has: 

• Joined "We Need to Talk" to discuss the importance of ocean safety, 

• Launched a new website and merchandise line for Block Cancer, 

• Delivered the key note speech to the company Happy Nest, and 

• Participated in Narragansett Bay's 47th Save the Bay Swim. 

After surprising the wrestling community with his retirement, James Green recently sat down with FloWrestling to discuss why he chose to come out of retirement and return to competing. 

In this interview, Green also talks about his struggles with hip injuries and the surgeries he has gone through to prevent further injuries. 

Watch the whole interview online. 

Jacob Pebley will be joining the Yale Bulldogs coaching staff for the 2023-24 season. Pebley joins the swimming and diving coaching staff as an assistant coach. 

Pebley shared, "It is a great honor to have this opportunity to join the Yale coaching staff and begin to contribute to a program with such a rich history of excellence both in the pool and in the classroom."

Throwback: Explaining Usage Rights Clauses in Athlete Endorsement Clauses

In the world of sports endorsements, usage rights clauses grant a company the right to use an athlete’s name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights. This is the main reason a brand or company is interested in sponsoring an athlete in the first place. They want the ability to use an athlete’s likeness in a commercial, magazine advertisement, or on their social media platforms.

This clause is usually a win-win for both the athlete and the company. For the company, having the usage rights to an athlete’s NIL is what helps a company promote its products and make money through its partnership with the athlete. For example, Gatorade paid retired NBA star Dwayne Wade for the ability to use his NIL in their commercials. The idea is fans and consumers would see this commercial, associate the Gatorade brand with one of their favorite athletes, and go purchase Gatorade at the store over other sports drinks.

For the athlete, the ability to grant NIL rights to a company is exactly how endorsement earnings are made. Without expressly granting these rights to a company via an endorsement contract, it is illegal for a company to use an athlete’s name, image, or likeness in any way.

Even though usage rights can be very beneficial for both parties, there are still a few things to keep in mind when agreeing to the legal language in the usage rights clause.

Read the remainder of "Usage Rights Clauses" online. 

Cierra Burdick was named MVP of the FIBA 3x3 Women's Series Pristina Stop. Team USA held off France for the title in an exhilarating 13-14 game. 

BioSteel

Hydration is an important part of our every day lives, but finding a drink that is tasty, healthy, AND hydrating can be difficult. For the last 15 years,BioSteel has been committed to providing the healthiest and safest hydration products in the business. BioSteel's products focus on clean, healthy, hydration with no artificial flavors, zero sugar, and five essential electrolytes. 

BioSteel is committed to helping athletes in multiple fields hydrate properly andhas partnered with multiple athletes and organizations, including the NHL, USA Hockey, U.S. Soccer, and more. 

Click here to shop all of BioSteel's products, including sports drinks, hydration mixes, proteins, and more. 

Champion's Mojo, Episode #217: "Unlocking Better Performance: Heart Rate Monitoring & Resistance Bands"

What if you are having trouble getting your heart rate high enough in practice to mimic a swim meet race and then feeling awful in the meet? This show covers the answer to a  listeners email question that you might have as well. Masters Swim Coach and Host Kelly Palace, dives into the nitty-gritty details of heart rate monitoring and how you can get your heart rate up in practice to improve your tempo, power, heart rate.....and meet performance!

Catch up on EVERY episode at ChampionsMojo.com.

Oscar De La Hoya - Boxing Champion & Founder of Golden Boy Promotions

Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya), Boxing Champion, Olympic Gold Medalist and Boxing Promoter joins Sports Business Radio for a candid conversation about his revealing new documentary that debuts July 24 on HBO and Max. De La Hoya pulls no punches in this two-part documentary that sets the record straight on the TRUE story of his life and boxing career. In this interview with Sports Business Radio, De La Hoya tells us why he chose to tell the real and raw story of his life instead of the manufactured version we had been told previously about “The Golden Boy.”

Catch up on EVERY episode online!