COLUMNS
Sponsored by
guttertalk
WHO WAS YOUR INSPIRATION IN STARTING A CAREER IN COACHING? BY ANDY ROSS STEVE MELLOR Associate Head Coach, LSU [PHOTO BY LSU ATHLETICS]
I came to help my team a couple of times in the weeks after my athletic career was done when I had shoulder surgery, so I would help with a stopwatch in my good hand and just incorporate feedback when I felt it was necessary. Athletes responded to me, they gave me a feeling in return of “buy in” and “excitement” from the insight I provided, so I would say that it was the swimmers themselves who inspired me to consider coaching. Once I was in the profession, I looked back on my time in
England under the guidance of Sean Kelly and the way he prioritized building a relationship with his athletes, knowing them in ways at times better than they knew themselves. This became my priority once I felt I had a couple of years of experience under my belt of experimenting with training methods that worked best, so I started to insist upon getting to know my athletes from their ambitions and weaknesses, to their favorite things in life and the things they fear most. Sean was always a great example to me of what it meant to put an athlete’s experience first, and I want to believe I have been able to incorporate this influence of his within my coaching. CONTINUED ON 48 >>
VIRTUAL MEET?
WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED After this long break, your athletes and team deserve the best in timing as they come back to the pool. We offer everything you need to time your meets within any budget including: wireless stopwatch timing, pushbutton systems, and touchpad solutions. All offer complete semi-automatic timing options and 1/100th of a second resolution to ensure you get the most accurate times on record.
For more information on our complete line of timing solutions, scoreboards, and video displays, call us at 800.279.0111 or +1 970.667.1000.
© 2020, Colorado Time Systems
FEBRUARY 2021
SWIMMINGWORLD.COM
47
