28 minute read
SWIMMING TECHNIQUE CONCEPTS
BY ROD HAVRILUK
Advertisement
Many sources suggest that swimmers use a different freestyle technique for sprint and distance events. For example, a “straight-arm” underwater motion is often promoted for sprinting and a “bent arm” is frequently suggested for distance events. As explained in Part 1 (SW Jan), science—both physics and research— shows us that a swimmer can optimize performance in events of all distances by using the same arm motion with a different arm coordination. Part 1 also explained the most effective arm coordination for distance events. This article—Part 2 and the final part in this series—explains the arm coordination for sprint events.
OPPOSITION COORDINATION FOR SPRINT OR DISTANCE
The Index of Coordination (IdC) quantifies the relative position of the arms in a stroke cycle (Chollet, Chalies & Chatard, 2000). When one hand begins to pull at the same time that the opposite hand completes the push, the arms are in opposition, and the IdC is zero (Fig. 1, left panel).
Swimmers can use opposition coordination for a range of swimming velocities by varying the average propulsive force. For example, opposition coordination hand force curves for sprint (solid lines) and distance (dotted lines) are shown in Fig. 2. For both the sprint and distance curves, the duration of the propulsion and nonpropulsion phases are both 0.6 seconds for a stroke time of 1.2 seconds and consistent with the model in the left panel of Fig. 1 and the data presented in Part 1 (SW Jan).
The sprint and distance curves are different in the average force generated on each underwater arm motion. For a distance swim— with a peak force of 40 pounds and an average force of 20 pounds per stroke cycle—the velocity is calculated as 1.5 meters/second (substituting values that are typical for fast swimmers: body crosssectional area of 1,000 cm2 and an active drag coefficient of 0.8). For a sprint, fast swimmers often achieve a peak hand force of 65 pounds for an average force of 30 pounds per stroke cycle and a swimming velocity of 1.8 meters per second.
TYPICAL ARM COORDINATION FOR SPRINT
While a swimmer can use opposition coordination for a range of swimming velocities, his/her strength will limit propulsion and, therefore, velocity. Studies conducted over the past 20 years consistently show that swimming velocity increases with the IdC, as shown in Fig. 3.
The data points represent measurements of elite, male swimmers from two studies: in red (Seifert, Chollet, Rouard, 2007) and in blue (Seifert, Chollet, Bardy, 2004). The dotted lines show predicted velocities for higher IdC values. The data also show that swimmers generally increase their IdC over zero as they increase their swimming velocity to sprint pace. SUPERPOSITION ARM COORDINATION FOR SPRINT
An IdC greater than zero is also called superposition. As explained last month in Part 1, swimmers usually have a propulsion phase of about 0.6 seconds, regardless of swimming velocity. For the arms to cycle in opposition, the non-propulsion phase must also be 0.6 seconds for a stroke cycle time of 1.2 seconds, as shown in the left panel of Fig. 1.
To increase the IdC to a positive value, a swimmer must decrease the duration of the non-propulsion phase by eliminating wasted time in the entry phase and moving the arm faster on the recovery phase. As shown in the right panel of Fig. 1, the model completes the propulsion phase in 0.6 seconds and the non-propulsion phase in 0.4 seconds for a stroke cycle time of only 1.0 seconds. Since one arm begins pulling 0.1 seconds before the opposite arm finishes pushing, there is a total overlap of 0.2 seconds on every stroke cycle for a positive IdC of 20%.
Force curves for opposition (solid lines) and superposition (dotted lines) arm coordinations are shown in Fig. 4. For each underwater arm motion, the curves have identical force values over 0.6 seconds of propulsion time. For opposition coordination, the force for one arm begins when the force for the other arm finishes for a stroke cycle time of 1.2 seconds. The average force is 30 pounds per stroke cycle, and the swimming velocity is 1.8 meters per second.
For superposition coordination, the force for one arm begins 1-tenth of a second before the force for the other arm finishes for a stroke cycle time of 1.0 seconds. The average force is 38 pounds per stroke cycle, and the swimming velocity is 2.1 meters per second. The benefit in sprinting with superposition as opposed to opposition coordination is a 100-meter time of 46 seconds instead of 52 seconds.
Dr. Rod Havriluk is a sport scientist and consultant who specializes in swimming technique instruction and analysis. His newest ebooks are “Approaching Perfect Swimming: Optimal Stroke Technique” and “Swimming Without Pain: A Comprehensive Guide to Preventing and Rehabilitating Shoulder Injuries,” and are available at swimmingtechnology.com. Contact Rod through info@ swimmingtechnology.com. All scientific documentation relating to this article, including scientific principles, studies and research papers, can be provided upon demand.
TOTAL ACCESS MEMBERS CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE REFERENCES FOR THIS ARTICLE.
NOT A TOTAL ACCESS MEMBER?
YOU’RE JUST A CLICK AWAY: SWIMMINGWORLD.COM/VAULT
FIG. 1 > The model demonstrates optimal freestyle technique for opposition coordination (left panel) and superposition coordination (right panel). FIG. 2 > Opposition coordination hand force curves for sprint (solid lines) and distance (dotted lines) events.
FIG. 3 > The data from two studies show the increase in swimming velocity with an increase in the Index of Coordination.
FIG. 4 > Graph of hand force for opposition (solid lines) and superposition (dotted lines) coordination.
SUMMARY
Optimal freestyle technique for sprint and distance is identical with respect to the arm motion throughout the stroke cycle, but the arm coordination (as measured by the Index of Coordination) is different. While a swimmer can swim a wide range of velocities with opposition coordination, a swimmer will only achieve his/her fastest velocity with superposition coordination.
GOLDMINDS
BY WAYNE GOLDSMITH
JUST GO WITH THE FLOW
How can you control—and even master— your emotions? The answer is by learning to become a more resilient swimmer. Here’s how...
It is relatively easy to prepare to swim fast at a targeted competition: • Attend training regularly and give your best every time you get into the pool for practice and when you turn up at the gym for dryland workouts.
• Get plenty of sleep.
• Work hard consistently to improve your stroke technique and racing skills.
• Eat well. Drink lots of fresh water and juices.
• Spend time every day on your mental health and well-being.
Swimming fast seems to be a relatively simple task, yet so many swimmers fail to swim at their best when they get to a meet.
That’s because meets add one important piece to the performance puzzle: emotions!
It’s more than just preparing to swim fast. What really counts is preparing to swim fast IN THE ENVIRONMENT WHERE YOU’LL BE RACING.
So, what’s the key to racing to your potential when and where it matters? The key word is “resilience.”
RESILIENCE DEFINED
Resilience doesn’t mean you’re “bulletproof”—i.e., being impervious to every possible problem and challenge you’ll ever face.
Resilience is your ability to choose how to respond to the things that happen to you...and in doing so, being able to bounce back from them quickly and decisively.
A resilient swimmer isn’t someone who never feels emotions. Rather, he or she is someone who’s been trained to manage their emotions in important moments and in critical situations: someone who’s learned to master “the emotions of the moment.”
THE EMOTIONS OF THE MOMENT: WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
As human beings, we are creatures of emotion. We feel sad. We get mad. We experience joy, and we suffer through pain and anguish. It’s all part of being human.
However, as a competitive swimmer...while it is important to experience emotions, it is also vital to learn how to stop them from negatively influencing your performance.
Here’s a wonderful saying that’s so very true:
If you don’t control the emotions of the moment, The emotions of the moment will control you.
When the emotions come—and if you don’t learn to recognize and control them appropriately—they will often overwhelm you and cause you to race poorly.
Even the most well-trained and highly experienced swimmers experience emotions around competition time. Olympic swimmers lining up for the final of their favorite event—even an event that they may have raced hundreds of times in their career—will still experience emotions such as fear, joy, doubt, excitement...and maybe even a touch of terror!
However, the important thing is that they’ve learned how to manage their emotions so they can perform when and where it matters.
CHOOSING TO CHOOSE
The key to learning to manage the emotions of the moment is to understand that you can learn to choose how you will react and respond to them.
Thoughts, emotions and feelings start by seeming to fly into your
brain from somewhere “out there.”
One moment, you’re feeling great, then a few negative thoughts appear from nowhere and, suddenly, you’re stressed and feeling terrified.
In reality, thoughts, emotions and feelings begin and end with you.
There are no actual “thoughts” in the water! The starting blocks of a gold-medal race don’t carry any “emotions” with them. The warm-up zone before a big meet isn’t full of “feelings.”
The thoughts, emotions and feelings you experience are YOURS. Because YOU created them, YOU—and only YOU—can control them.
THE RESILIENCE FLOW MODEL: F.E.L.T.
Not everyone can simply shrug off difficulties and laugh away problems and setbacks. But you can learn how to respond to the challenges—and their accompanying emotions—that life sometimes throws at you.
The F.E.L.T. (Feelings, Emotions, Language and Thoughts) Resilience Flow Model is a simple way of managing the emotions of the moment by “talking” with yourself and quickly and simply dealing with your thoughts, emotions and feelings as they arise. Here are a couple of practical examples:
Challenging Situation #1: Feeling nervous behind the blocks. F.E.L.T. response:
• I am feeling a bit uncertain—even doubtful of my race performance today.
• My emotion is fear.
• I will (self-talk—i.e., language) focus on my breathing and on my leg drive from the blocks.
• I think that the feelings and emotions will just flow away, and I will race at my best.
Challenging Situation #2: 20 meters to go in a tough, competitive 100 butterfly. F.E.L.T. response:
• I am feeling pain, and I don’t know if I can keep going.
• My emotion is anxiousness.
• I will (self-talk—i.e., language) stay relaxed and smooth and build my kick all the way to the finish.
• I think that the feelings and emotions will just flow away, and I will finish strongly.
The key in both of these situations is noticing the thoughts and ideas and feelings, then choosing NOT to allow them to have any influence over your performance.
It’s OK to feel angry—just don’t let your anger affect your backstroke.
It’s fine to feel sad—but stop your sadness from impacting your breaststroke turns.
EMOTIONS AND FEELINGS ARE IMPORTANT, BUT...
It’s important to feel and to express your emotions appropriately. Life is full of wonderful moments and inspirational situations where feeling joy and happiness and love and surprise will literally take your breath away.
But you are so much more than your feelings and emotions. You are a thinking, learning, growing, vibrant, passionate, wonderful human being capable of achieving so much.
Swimmers are not robots. Even the greatest swimmers are not super-human (although, at times, their remarkable feats make it seem like they’ve come from another planet!).
They’re ordinary people doing extraordinary things in challenging situations...and an essential aspect of that is learning to control your emotions before, during and after competition.
Wayne Goldsmith is one of the world’s leading experts in elite-level swimming and high-performance sport. Be sure to check out Goldsmith’s websites at www.wgaquatics.com and www.wgcoaching.com.
SUMMARY
1. Bad things happen to good people. Tough times can be experienced even by the nicest humans on the planet. Everyone experiences ups and downs, successes and failures, wins and losses. That’s life.
2. The key to resilience isn’t searching for ways to avoid the tough times. It’s about accepting that, occasionally, you will have to face challenges and difficulties...AND that you will choose how to respond to them.
3. Practice the F.E.L.T. Resilience Flow Model...and take control of your life! The next time you experience a problem or start to feel overwhelmed by the emotions of the moment, apply the F.E.L.T. Resilience Flow Model...and choose how you will respond to the problem. It will change your life!
TRAINING THE PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE THEN & NOW
In his lengthy career, Gregg Troy has mentored athletes of all ages and abilities, which has given him a unique perspective of how to prepare post-college grads for excellence at the international level.
BY MICHAEL J. STOTT
For 20 years (1977-97), Gregg Troy coached The Bolles School boys and girls to 25 state team titles and five of the school’s 18 mythical high school national championships (awarded by Swimming World Magazine).
He also coached at the University of Florida (1998-2015) and led the Gator women to an NCAA title (2010), served as Pan American Games head coach twice (1995 and 1999/men) and an Olympic assistant twice (1996/women and 2008/men), and was head coach of the 1992 Thailand Olympic team and the 2012 U.S. men’s Olympic squad.
Now coaching with the ISL’s Cali Condors and the Gator Swim Club as its high-performance coach, Troy admits, “There is a difference between training college athletes and the professionals. The individual differences are greater, and the planning and scope are much longer. Here we are on a two-year plan.”
Troy trained most of his present group as collegians. They are predominantly 200-and-down swimmers (race time under 2:30) with about half representing foreign nations. Familiar names (mostly male) include Caeleb Dressel, Ryan Lochte, Tom Peribonio, Nils Wich-Glasen and Joe Martinez. Ages of the athletes range from early 20s to 36 (Lochte).
WHAT’S DIFFERENT
Unlike collegians, Troy’s present group includes professionals who are slightly more specialized. That means fewer people with greater variety within the practice itself.
“While these athletes are putting as much time in the water as before, consistency of training and regular practice attendance remains extremely important,” he says. “It is worth noting the structure of that practice time is age-dependent and event-specific. Swimmers are doing less threshold work, and it is spread out more, especially when we go max volume.
“Before they may have been doing between 2,000-3,500 plus threshold; now it’s more in the 1,500-2,000 range. When we do quality, it is higher and better because the athletes are mentally more mature.
“The training is much more a cooperative effort because of the smaller group size and maturity of the athlete,” he says. That communication allows each swimmer to get precisely what he needs and is most likely quite different from his lane mates.
“We do every bit as much long swimming—generally about 85% of previous volume,” says Troy. “Group dryland is done in stations, but the bulk is accomplished with other coaches and exercisespecific trainers. In any case, I coordinate what they are doing in the water.
“Our training is focused on long course. That said, strength work is really, really important, though not so much as in short course. The swimmers have different strength coaches, so individual programs are modified. One similarity is that the athletes tend to get off weights a bit sooner, given that strength maturity comes with age,” he says.
Coach Gregg Troy now works with the Cali Condors of the International Swimming League and is the high-performance coach at the Gator Swim Club, where he trains a group of 15 professional swimmers. [ PHOTO BY PETER H. BICK ]
IN THE WATER
“We are not as race-specific as you might think,” notes Troy. “As they get older, some swimmers become so race-specific that they forget how to train. We have days that are intentionally not racespecific, just with good solid general training. We may do it once a week or in one or two-week blocks.
“Training is especially important for the older guys because if they don’t train, they don’t get better. For instance, we might go a shorter series, but x-number of times through.” Following is a major short course set of 350 yards done in early December. Says Troy, “We were trying to challenge them in ways that were slightly different from what they’d seen before.”
4 Rounds:
• #1: 1 x 100 (pretty) on 1:20, 75 (strong) on 1:00, 50 (fast) on :40; 4 x 25 (max effort) on :20 • #2: 1 x 100 (strong) on 1:20, 75 (fast) on 1:00, 50 (max effort) on :40, 4 x 25 (pretty) on :20
Among some of the professional swimmers coached by Gregg Troy is Caeleb Dressel, who produced one of the greatest single-day performances last December at the ISL Grand Final in Budapest. In the span of two hours, he became the first man to break the 48-second barrier in the 100 fly (47.78/SCM), added a world record of 20.16 in the 50 free and shaved 2-hundredths off his own American record in the 100 free (45.18). [ PHOTO BY MINE KASAPOGLU/ISL ]
• #1: 1 x 100 (fast) on 1:20, 75 (max effort) on 1:00, 50 (pretty) on :40; 4 x 25 (strong) on :20 • #2: 1 x 100 (max effort) on 1:20, 75 (pretty) on 1:00, 50 (strong) on :40, 4 x 25 (fast) on :20 • Break
• Swim 50 EZ
• Repeat each 15-minute round doing choice stroke at slightly longer interval
Definitions:
Pretty: Looking for really, really good technique Strong: Something you could swim for a long time, but get very tired Fast: a really fast swim Max effort: absolutely best effort
“The set was 2,300 yards total, but the variety kept them engaged and made the work relevant to race speed. Before we might have been a little more consistent on the interval all the way through and descended it. This set is really difficult when done right while being technically sound,” says Troy.
Regarding kicking, “Our swimmers are doing even more kicking than they were before—partly because the volume is down. The kicking we do is really fast. As a group, our yardage is between 50-60 kilometers a week. Sometimes we kick more depending upon the cycle we are in, but average kicking is 25% or 1,500 yards per practice.”
THE BODY AT ACTIVE REST
are technically sound. Their large volume days are their recovery days working on very technical stuff—i.e., swimming at 120-140 heart rate (HR) as opposed to the 140-160 they would have done before. It is not easy, though. It is very focused.
“For instance, Ryan (Lochte) is still a real beast in training. However, he falls apart more,” observes Troy. “Occasionally, I’ll ask for a little less really high quality to make sure his technique is correct. Caeleb (Dressel), however, does way more swimming than the others, and a lot of that is in the 120-140 HR with excellent technique.”
Troy has modified the practices to facilitate recovery: “We used to go three mornings a week and double on M-W-F. We don’t double Friday anymore...just go twice M-T-Th. That gives them 24 hours off Friday to Saturday morning and 36 from Saturday to Monday morning. As a result, our Saturday and Monday morning practices have gotten consistently better because athletes are getting the recovery time they need.”
A SAGE OBSERVATION
Troy adds, “In some circles, there is a massive concern that you have to swim fast all the time. I don’t believe that’s true. If you are doing so, you are not getting better. You train to get better; you rest to go faster. And if you swim fast all the time, you are not training to get better. With the older guys, it is about getting better, and we are not afraid to challenge our swimmers.”
One way he does that—in addition to having Gator Swim Club head coach Robert Pinter on deck—is to add variety by bringing in other different coaches. “Athletes will do the work, but you have to stimulate them a little more,” Troy says. “Doing so makes you a better coach. You have to be thinking of ways to do different things because they’ve seen everything. We are not selling out our principles or compromising our demands, but trying to create new ones,” he says.
While not doing high-quality sets as often, Troy does have some favorites, although he may reduce the number of reps or frequency:
• LC = 8 x 50 on 2:00; 2 on 1:30; 1 x 50 from a dive (3 rounds)
“Before we might have gone every other week. Now we may go once every four,” he says. “The biggest variation is how often the athletes go really hard. They still do, just not as often. And when they go an easy day, the technique is outstanding.
“Mechanically, this is the best group I’ve ever worked with. They respond really well to direction and for what we are looking.”
Sounds like professionals at work.
Michael J. Stott is an ASCA Level 5 coach whose Collegiate School (Richmond, Va.) teams won nine state high school championships. A member of that school’s Athletic Hall of Fame, he is also a recipient of NISCA’s Outstanding Service Award.
joe plane
Five years into his time at Iowa Central, head coach Joe Plane has positioned his Tritons to challenge perennial champion Indian River for NJCAA supremacy.
BY MICHAEL J. STOTT
Q. SWIMMING WORLD: How did you get started swimming?
A. COACH JOE PLANE: I grew up swimming in my grandparent’s backyard pool, but never swam competitively. I quit Boy Scouts in November of seventh grade when a friend and I joined a swim team. I’ve been in love with it ever since.
SW: Kelly Kremer was your coach at John Brown University.
JP: He was 24, and I was 20. Kelly was mature, professional, excited, highenergy, knowledgeable...and he pushed us to our limits. Knowing he was from Drury College, we knew how fast he was and that he was used to winning nationals every year. He wanted us to perform at the highest level of which we were capable. I swam new events that became my best. Back then, we swam with drag resistance. I went extreme, wearing five briefs, long johns, cut-off long johns and a female suit. At the University of Minnesota, he is only three hours away. We talk regularly and are still very close.
SW: With a background in mechanical engineering, math and physics, how did you end up as a swim coach?
JP: In 1997 while at an engineering internship, my high school coach John Hamlin called and asked if I’d be interested in coaching a rec team. I coached part time from April 1997 until November 2000 when I was offered my first full time coaching job as the head coach at Wolverine Aquatics in Ann Arbor, Mich. Richardson, Bob Bowman and John Urbanchek... and from watching Michael Phelps work out?
JP: Coach Richardson liked my engineering mindset, and we talked often about the testing and use of the color charts in a variety of practice settings as well as team culture and leadership. He trusted my knowledge of stroke technique, and I often took the women to the diving well and used the underwater camera to make stroke adjustments.
Watching Jon work with Olympiccaliber men was enlightening. He related to them personally, and his constant positivity was infectious. Bob was more intense than Jon and Jim, and in some ways, more like my personality. He had fun with the swimmers, but the expectations and the intensity of the workouts were different. I also proctored a Michael workout one day. He was a normal guy with extraordinary talent.
SW: What did you learn from Greg Meehan while serving as recruiting coordinator at the University of the Pacific?
JP: Greg and I worked very well together. He allowed me to coach my group my way and recruit how I saw fit. We communicated daily on our team goals. We agreed we needed to build the team around studentathletes that would work well with both coaches and one another.
SW: The junior college setting can present significant challenges, especially in recruiting. How do you convince American kids and their coaches that junior college is a viable academic and athletic option? Coach Joe Plane
Head Men’s and Women’s Swimming Coach/Assistant Athletic Director Iowa Central Community College Fort Dodge, Iowa
• University of Northern Iowa, M.A., mathematics, expected May 2021 • Western Michigan University, B.S., mathematics, 1999 • John Brown University, mechanical engineering, 1997 • Head coach, Iowa Central Community
College, 2016-present • Head coach, Cedar Rapids Aquatics
Association, 2014-16 • Head coach/owner, The Swim Club of
NorCal, 2008-14 • Assistant coach/recruiting coordinator,
University of the Pacific, 2006-08 • Head coach, Sylvania Tsunami Swim
Club, 2004-06 • Volunteer assistant coach, University of
Michigan, 2004-06; volunteer assistant, 2003-04
• Head coach, Wolverine Aquatics, 2000-04
• Head coach, Battle Creek Aquatic Club, 1998-2000
• Head coach, Marshall Community Swim
Club, 1997-98
Since 2017, Coach Plane’s ICCC men have finished second once, third twice and fifth once at the NJCAA National Championships. His women have been third three times and fourth once. In 2020, he coached five athletes to 11 NJCAA All-America recognitions.
$13,000 for the whole year for in-state students, which includes tuition, room and board. Junior college helps alleviate the rising cost of education and student loan obligations. I emphasize the opportunities to save money, to get faster and to get more college-level exposure and possibly earn scholarship money.
We do get some students who have struggled academically in high school. This is their chance to start fresh, perform better in the classroom and hopefully move on to a school for which they weren’t originally eligible. We also have numerous career paths for students who aren’t so keen on sitting in a classroom, but still want to swim. At Iowa Central, we have 55 programs in areas such as automotive, electrical, welding, dental hygiene and nursing, just to name a few.
I’ve done well attracting good male swimmers to come to ICCC. One big goal is to raise our women’s numbers to take 18 to nationals. I give our team members a true college athletic experience. We swim six two-hour workouts and lift three-to-five times per week. We compete against mostly colleges and universities, and we win more dual meets than we lose. It also helps that Iowa Central is the best junior college athletic department in the country, having won the Daktronics Cup 11 out of the last 12 years and the last six in a row. And we have won the Learfield Directors Cup the last four years.
SW: Knowing your team members will be shorttimers, what do you look for in a recruit?
JP: First and foremost, I’m looking for hardworking people who are respectful and do things the right way. I preach family and that we support each other’s goals and dreams. Practices are going to be hard, so athletes need to be open to that. I’m a pretty high-energy guy, so they get to know me a bit during visits when I spend two-plus hours with them giving them a campus tour. I share team stories of good times as well as times when I have had to excuse even our best swimmers who weren’t living up to squad standards.
From a scholarship standpoint, we’re looking mainly for swimmers who can score in the top eight at nationals. Scoring in the top 16 earns smaller scholarships. We want to consistently be one of the best teams in the country. Getting student-athletes here that share those goals is important to me.
SW: Is the Fort Dodge campus location a plus or minus?
JP: I love this question. Each time I get someone on campus for the first time, they are blown away by how nice it is. We have 1,300 students who live in our campus apartments. The apartments are twobedroom with one or two bathrooms, full living room and full-size kitchen. We also have a wonderful cafeteria where enrollees have access to 19 meals per week. Our campus is on par with any (NCAA) D-III school. Students who come here get a true college experience, just as they would at any school of 1,200+ students. If a recruit is interested in a visit after talking to me on the phone, I’m very confident that they will be even more interested once I give them the full campus tour.
SW: Any plans to expand your recruiting efforts beyond the Great Plains?
JP: We have had swimmers from 16 different countries and as far away as Florida and Texas. We do get mostly Midwestern kids, and I would definitely like to increase our recruiting area. I have an assistant coach for the first time in my five years, and she has created a nationwide database. We plan on throwing out a very wide net moving forward.
SW: How did you attract Billy Cruz, who became a five-time NJCAA national champion, to ICCC?
JP: Billy didn’t perform in the classroom as he needed to in order to be an NCAA qualifier. He’s very competitive, and he didn’t like the idea of sitting out a year. He chose to go to junior college and graduate. We had placed second at nationals Billy’s senior year in high school. His dad gave me a call, we chatted, and Billy decided to come even though I was out of scholarship money. He was a great leader in the water and out. He graduated well from IC and is now at the University of Southern California.
SW: How do you build a team culture in the two years you have a student-athlete?
JP: Building the culture requires being fully honest with recruits about what we are, what we want to be and what I expect. It is imperative to empower sophomores to lead by example. I’m a very honest person. I lay out expectations. If met, I am happy. If not, the athletes know the consequences. I assign roommates whom I think will mesh well together based on personality. I try not to put internationals together who speak the same language. The goal is to get them more comfortable speaking English, so they can be more successful in the classroom.
SWIM MART
REACH LONG KICK STRONG
SW: What’s the plan to carry your recent momentum through a delayed 2020-21 swim season?
JP: We were lucky to train all of first semester. We had eight hours of contact early on, and then we were allowed 60 consecutive days of full practice. We also had a scrimmage with Iowa Lakes and had several time trials with suits that we streamed on Facebook. The last Friday before Thanksgiving, we rested a second time, got suited, time-trialed, live-streamed and had almost all season bests! Those performances have gotten the swimmers excited for this semester and for nationals.
SW: What’s it take for ICCC to overtake Barton and Southwestern Oregon at nationals and challenge Indian River for the national championship?
JP: Our men were second at nationals in 2019 and third in 2020, missing second by only 14 points. The men’s goal for now is second. Any year that we can take 18 swimmers in one gender to nationals, I believe we have a chance as much as anyone. Our women were third in 2017-19. With only eight women, we were fourth last year, just 30 points out of third. On the women’s side, we need to build our numbers. I keep getting fantastic women, but it’s been difficult to get more of them to see past the junior college stigma. Last year, we finished with 24 men and eight women.
CONTINUED ON 45 >>
