HOW THEY TRAIN MEGAN MORONEY AND ASPEN GERSPER

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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.

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.” Here’s a typical Gersper SCY training set: 3x the following: • 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 @ 0:25 (hold stroke count) • 1 x 100 easy

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.”

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 Amazon, B&N and book distributors worldwide.

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