HOW THEY TRAIN MEGAN MORONEY AND ASPEN GERSPER

[PHOTOS BY MIKE JURUS PHOTOGRAPHY ] www.NZcordz.com

Here’s a typical Gersper SCY training set: 3x the following:

>> MEGAN MORONEY >> ASPEN GERSPER

HOW THEY TRAIN MEGAN MORONEY AND ASPEN GERSPER

BY MICHAEL J. STOTT

While not mirror images, the traits of two of Sid Cassidy’s more successful swimmers are strikingly similar: versatile (breaststroke-challenged), uber competitive, won two Florida high school titles as ninth-graders, national-level abilities, terrific relay swimmers and great students who survived disruptive health issues. One, Megan Maroney, graduated from college in 2020; the other, Aspen Gersper, is still in high school. •2 x 125 free/stroke/free/stroke/free @ 1:40 •2 x 75 @ 1:20 (hold best average) •2 x 125 free/stroke/free/stroke/free @ 1:40 •4 x 50 stroke at 200 pace @ 1:00 •2 x 125 free/stroke/free/stroke/free @ 1:40 •8 x 25 at 200 pace @ :25 (hold stroke count) •1 x 100 easy

MEGAN MARONEY

Moroney got her first Olympic Trials cut at age 14 in the 100 backstroke and contributed heavily to Saint Andrew’s 2011 junior national title (with only four girls). She completed her college career at the University of Virginia as a 17-time CSCAA All-American and 11-time All-ACC honoree, and is listed on the Cavaliers’ top 10 times list in the 50-100-200 free and 100200 back.

During her early teens, Moroney’s training was aerobically focused. In high school, Cassidy began refining her speed: “At 14, I remember her racing a set of LCM freestyle 400s. We had a group of decent older males who had not yet been challenged by her. She crushed the set, and the boys never took her lightly again. She made our team so much better.”

Says Moroney, “I’m so thankful for the time I had at Saint Andrew’s. I don’t think I would have had the college career I did without it. Saint Andrew’s is filled with amazing people who had such a positive impact on the person and athlete I became. Every friend I made, every race I swam, every practice I grinded through, every 5 a.m. alarm, every lesson I learned—I am grateful for every single memory.”

ASPEN GERSPER

Aspen Gersper just competed in Wave 1 of the U.S. Olympic Trials. Her swims in the 100 free and 100 back were a continuation of an outstanding COVID-influenced season in which she won FHSAA titles in the 100 yard back (54.51) and 100 fly (54.28) and an NCSA 13-14 age group crown in a meet record 50 back (26.00).

“We were thrilled to see Aspen gain so much experience at Wave 1 Olympic Trials,” said Cassidy. “I was quite happy to see her moving up the ranks, holding her own and competing so well with so many older female swimmers. It was a good step forward and will prove quite valuable in the years to come.” After Round 3: •200 all-out race for time!

“Most Saturday mornings, we do a LCM test set and bring in the Gold with our Platinum swimmers, treating it like a meet simulator,” says Cassidy. “We typically assign a meet-type warm-up and then dive anywhere from four to eight all-out races, keeping it festive, and finish each week FAST,” says Cassidy.

“We generally cycle in our LCM training MWF mornings 5:30-7:30 a.m. and Thursday afternoons 4-6 with Saturday mornings during the school year. We go to all LCM mornings in summer: 2.5 hours. We follow up with doubles Monday through Thursday, keeping our Saturdays open for test sets or meets.”v

Michael J. Stott is an ASCA Level 5 coach, golf and swimming writer. His critically acclaimed coming-of-age golf novel, “Too Much Loft,” was published in June 2021, and is available from Bookbaby.com, Amazon, B&N and book distributors worldwide.

TOTAL ACCESS MEMBERS CLICK HERE TO SEE MEGAN MORONEY’S AND ASPEN GERSPER’S PROGRESSION OF TIMES.

SC: The quarry taught me how to swim 200 meters in a straight line. Those lessons served me well in all of my open water racing and especially during my fouryear streak of winning the South Jersey lifeguard events.

While coaching with Bob (Mattson), he encouraged me to represent Middle Atlantic Swimming as an athlete rep at the 1981 Snowbird USAS Convention. I wandered into a meeting listed only as “Long Distance Swimming” to see what that was about. Dale Petranech and Penny Dean welcomed me. From that moment, I have served USA Swimming as an open water volunteer.

While I was at Florida State University, I coached Jay Wilkerson in the pool. His true-grit training habits led me to believe he would be able to compete in the 1991 FINA Open Water World Championships (25K) in Perth, Australia. He became a national champion and was a part of the first USA Swimming Open Water World Championship team. That experience as a national team coach solidified my commitment to USA OW Swimming.

When Dave Thomas, Rick Walker and Carol Zaleski came to me six years later with a request to replace Dale Petranech on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee, I reluctantly gave up the position of national team head coach to enter the world of FINA and SW: Your OW accomplishments as an administrator are legion. Is morphing 10K for the USA into a sanctioned Olympic Games 10K near the top of the list? SC: Putting on that event in the back bays of Atlantic City, Margate and Ventnor was a labor of love for both my wife, Kara, and me. Seeing that event serve as a precursor to the eventual Olympic marathon event gives me a sense of pride.

Along with Australia’s Chris Guesdon and Fiji’s Dennis Miller, we formed a pact in 1996 as the youngest FINA members to make Olympic inclusion our No. 1 goal. There were some dark days on the road, and yet there were some strong advocates in our corner.

I do remember addressing the Olympic International Operations Committee in the mid-90s, saying we would have open water in the Olympic Games. That comment was met with audible laughter. Luckily, we had great support from some key leaders, including Jim Wood and Denny Pursley.

SW: Your podcast, “Stories with Sid”— how did that come about? SC: That was a byproduct of the COVID quarantine and a spinoff from the “Swimmer Joe Show,” a decade-long venture with good friend, Joe Auer. SW: Izaak Bastian and Lauren Hew are just some of the Caribbean swimmers who have found a home at Saint Andrew’s. SC: Izaak and Lauren are two of the best. The migration really started with my assistant coach, Ramon Walton, coming from Jamaica as an 11th-grade student in the fall of 2007. He went on to become a record-breaking student-athlete at the University of Kentucky, and we stayed close when he returned to south Florida to train.

He inspired me to attend the CARIFTA age-group championship meet, where I was truly blown away by the enthusiasm and excitement the Caribbean Federation countries brought trying to best one another in team spirit. I became hooked, and my annual pilgrimage to the Games to support our own Caribbean athletes has only led to more families following. v

Michael J. Stott is an ASCA Level 5 coach, golf and swimming writer. His critically acclaimed coming-of-age golf novel, “Too Much Loft,” was published in June 2021, and is available from Bookbaby.com, Amazon, B&N and book distributors worldwide.

TOTAL ACCESS MEMBERS CLICK HERE TO READ MORE Q&A WITH COACH SID CASSIDY. NOT A TOTAL ACCESS MEMBER? YOU’RE JUST A CLICK AWAY: SWIMMINGWORLD.COM/VAULT

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