Carrie Thiederman

April 7, 1962 – September 22, 2015

 

This piece, written by Carrie no less, was in the San Francisco Chronicle last Friday the 25^th. Wrap your head around this if you can…

“This is what she knows: that when you least feel like it, do something for someone else; that learning requires a willingness to be bad at something for a while, and that is okay;…if we had no winter, spring would not be as pleasant; that love must be outwardly shared and compassion acted upon; that people who deeply listen and closely observe radiate light from within and access their empathy…”

And she finished with this, “Smile when the people you cherish enter a room. Let them see your eyes light up. Again and again. And again.”

We spent this weekend at our season opening meet. We were surrounded by fellow coaches, swimmers, parents and officials. If Carrie had been any of those, she would have felt right at home.

Another Ken Masterpiece

Ken came up with this gem week. It took exactly 2 hours, has no fluff and everyone stayed engaged pretty much the whole way since the targets kept moving and were perceived as doable. We find that if we challenge them regularly while allowing for some measure of success, they respect that and lean into it. Make it so difficult that only one or two can succeed and bunches throw in the towel. Our training goal is to keep them on their game start to finish…we succeeded with this one for the most part.

Wmp 4x50/.50

Fins on...

9 x 200 3:00 (3 rounds of 3)

1. 4 and 8 non free – 1^st 200 laps 4 & 8 non-free

2. 4 and 8 hypoxic - 2nd 200 laps 4 & 8 one breath

3. IM

4 x 50 drill to swim... Choice drill... Get rid of the fin feel

Kick set

4 x 25 :40... Easy UWDK...15 meters – simply feel the underwater dolphin motion

8 x 25 :40...UWDK at effort ....15 m – race the person next to you 15 mtrs under

4 x 25 :40... Easy UWDK...15 meters – as above

8 x 25 :35...UWDK at effort ....15 m – as above

4 x 25 :40... Easy UWDK...15 meters – as above

8 x 25 :30...UWDK at effort ....15 m – as above

4 x 25 :40... Easy UWDK...15 meters – as above

8 x 25 :25...UWDK at effort ....15 m – as above

28 minutes

Swim an easy 400... 3 dolphin kicks off each wall

4 x 50/.50 swim as beautifully as possible... Count strokes

Main set – crank the 100’s fast, the 50’s are recovery and put your stroke back together

4 x 50 :50 easy

1 x 100 fast 1:20

4 x 50 :50 easy

2 x 100 fast 1:20

4 x 50 :50 easy

3 x 100 fast 1:20

4 x 50 :50 easy

4 x 100 fast 1:20

4 x 50 :50 easy

4 x 100 fast 1:20

4 x 50 :50 easy

3 x 100 fast 1:20

4 x 50 :50 easy

2 x 100 fast 1:20

4 x 50 :50 easy

1 x 100 fast 1:20

Set takes 53:20 to do... 26:40 easy and 26:40 at effort

On this set we had many of the stroke specialists swim the last lap of each 100 on the way up at stroke. On the way down the 100’s were free fast with the last 100 all stroke. The buy-in was enormous. Group energy was very high, lots of encouragement in the lanes. For the most part everyone was focused and very present.

7600 yards

The Jarred Hayne Experiment

“This whole journey was never about making a roster or being on a team,” Hayne said after learning he’d made the cut. “It was about giving myself an opportunity. I wanted to take a risk, put myself out there and put my faith in action. Faith without action is dead. This whole journey, I’ve never felt so alive.”

This quote is from Scott Ostler’s story in theSF Chronicle 9/6/15. It is about the great Australian rugby player who has made the 53 man roster for the NFL SF 49ers. He can run back kicks and runs, especially in the open field very dynamically.

As we begin our fall season and talk about goals with our team we will share the “faith without action” comment.

We had a great summer season of racing. We expect to bounce off of that into an even better fall season. We are asking our swimmers answer 3 questions for us.

1 – What are you willing to do to make your goal happen?

2 – What sacrifices will you make?

3 – How many training sessions will you miss?

We think holding swimmers accountable for their progress helps set them in a position to put their faith into action.

Words of Wisdom

We were going through some old notes today and found this from a weekend that Ken and Rick DeMont had in Tucson. It is about 5+ plus years old and to our way of thinking is still very relevant today…and so we share.

5-24•10 more from ken/rick

Never ASSUME that any great swimmer knows anything." Re-teach all the time.

"Athletes both Learn and Forget."

"Keep in mind the Power you have to instill the Dream."

"One at my goals is to get a smile out of each swimmer at each practice."

"There are three phases that swimmers will go through Please the Parent, Please the Coach, and Please Themselves. The last is the goal we all should seek."

"You need to have a lot of good swims before you have a Great Swim."

"I love to set up my practices so we have a lot of eyeball to eyeball racing."

"One of my key questions is, "How Important is the success of the Team to you? If it is, then everyone's individual success is important to you." I ask this when I have one swimmer who has a breakthrough and changes the pecking order in training status."

"Who does trash talking in practice help'"

"Sometimes you need to be stern with someone in practice. If you are, come back later and make sure to explain it to them."

"YOU have to challenge your swimmers with specifics on each set."

"The pain you feel now is similar to the pain you will feel in a race. To each race, there will come a point where you either defeat the pain, or you give in to it. Practice is your time to practice defeating that pain."

"Pull someone aside each day and spend time talking to them about life, their progress, and how they are feeling about things."

"Everyone on the team can develop more leadership capabilities."

"Discipline, through structure, is one of the most valuable things we give to the athlete in our sport."

^"Logbooks might be the single thing that can improve a swimmer. They should put in the key sets; not the whole session, stroke corrections that they were given by the coach, and develop a major list of all the ways to improve that the coach has given them. In meets, they should record race splits, race tactics, and comments from the coach."

"Ask "where was I in this meet one year ago?" Taking the long view can change the perspective on a "plateau"."

"Every Team Needs Its Olympic Games. Make one meet that meet. Emphasize that Great Athletes perform their best at the Big Meet."

"Meets are the most important part of training".

"Things I have observed that American Swimmers need to work on more...

1.     Streamlining. (Vertical jumps to streamline off the bottom of the pool.)

2.     Film those vertical Jumps and SHOW them good streamlining.

3.     Learning to avoid looking at the wall on flip turns.

4.     Tighter flip turns. (Especially when wearing the long suits.)

5.     Proper breathing mechanics in all four strokes.

6.     Ankle flexibility and improved kicking. (The future in all strokes looks leg dominated.)

7.     Finishing the race without lifting the head early. Face in until you stop the touch pad. The race goes to s/he who STOPS THE CLOCK first, not who touches the wall first.

Good Swimming!