Been Away for a Few Days

We have had a chance to do some reading and thinking about our favorite subject...this profession, the thing we call coaching.


Thinking back to how we got started, why we keep coming back, why we keep at it, what exactly do we think we will get from it...


We don't have any conclusions at this point but we do know it is intriguing...and we don't seem ever to be able to figure it all out...once in a great while we seem to have a grip on it and then, bingo...it slips away...


It might be a training plan that goes sideways or an athlete that melts down unexpectedly...


Or it might be a swimmer who breaks through to a new skill level when something clicks for him or her...


We have come to at least this partial conclusion...it is helpful, maybe even imperative, to be comfortable with the uncertainty of it all...


And it helps to have a set of professional standards on which you do not compromise...


No two people coach the same way but there are certain guidelines which seem to make sense...they include in no particular order:


A sense of fair play - A mutual respect for teammates and coaches - A group dynamic of striving for excellence - A belief in positive outcomes - A willingness on the part of all involved to take risks - A belief in knowing that we don't have all the answers


This list is perhaps pages long but once the core is identified it makes it easier to live with the uncertainty. And we believe that much is critical....living with the uncertainty...


Got a few more weeks to go this season...it's going to be fun and supercharged all the way to the end...and we will have a big smile working on that last day - thinking about both what just happened and what is coming down the road, because we aren't anywhere near being done yet...

A Man of Few Words

We don't know Matt Biondi personally but we really enjoyed getting to know him vicariously reading the first chapter of Chuck Warner's latest book, "And Then they Won Gold."

The book looks into the progression of 8 Gold Medal swimmers from their early years until they reach the pinnacle of their career. While we coach in northern California and certainly know his name, we never personally met or conversed with Matt.

It is really enlightening to know how champions develop their approach to their passion. We especially liked this part of Matt's story...

As a sophomore in high school he earned the fourth spot on the 400 free relay for Campolindo's North Coast Section team with an individual time of 51 seconds in the 100 free. He joined a 46, 47 and a 48 grouping. In the finals of that relay Matt was given the anchor spot. It was a great race with Campolindo missing the gold medal by .07 seconds. Matt's split was an awesome 48+.

In Warner's words, "The skinny sophomore stayed in the pool for nearly 10 minutes hanging on the gutter in disappointment. Finally, Matt pulled himself out and walked over to his coach and sternly said, "Stu that will never happen again."

Matt was indeed a man of his word.

He went on to a long and storied career that ended with 8 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze Olympic medal as well as numerous World Championship and NCAA awards. People marveled at his exquisite stroke technique and his amazing ability to anchor relays getting his fingers on the touch pad first.

He polished his technique early as a way of overcoming his then skinny frame's disadvantage over that of more physically developed competitors. He developed his passion for relays by his disappointment of his sophomore year in high school.

It is probably safe to say all swimmers can learn more from their disappointments than their successes...and so can their coaches and parents.

We recommend adding Warner's book to your library.

A Set With Promise

As we work to fine tune our swimmers' awareness of how to deal with long course racing we have come up with an approach that may work for you. It seems to be working for us; however the final proof will wait for another 4-6 weeks for the season ending meets.

We work on stroke counts and pacing, developing a feel for how to swim over the longer stretch of water. We like this set since it can work in a 33.3 yard pool, a 40 meter pool (our set up), a standard 50 meter or any other length you may be using for your training. You can adjust the intervals as you wish. We did this set twice last week now that the "bulk" conditioning swimming is pretty much done for the summer. We did it on the 1 minute per lap base - in our case 40 meters.

After warm up...
10x40/1 establishing distance off the wall and final stroke count

10x80/2 keeping the stroke count the same on lap 2 as lap 1. We did say that it might be necessary to add 1 to the count on the return trip for free and back due to the different type of foot plant on the wall at the turn but the goal was to make the stroke counts the same

4 rounds of the following (400 meters per round)
1x40/1
1x80/2
1x120/3
1x160/4

On this set we added in to the mix of stroke counts the time factor. We went 10 seconds apart so everyone was leaving on a 0 (zero). At the end of the first lap if your time was 3 (the last digit on the pace clock - 23, 33, 43 whatever - makes no difference the total time) then at the end of the 2 lap swim it would (should) be 6 and then 9 after 3 laps and 2 (12) again after 4 laps.

We had them play around with strokes and times. They could set the time, faster or slower, up to them. The idea was to get them adjusted to counting strokes and hitting times. On Saturday we only did three rounds.

There was very little chatter on the wall as they were comparing stroke counts and times and figuring out what their next number to hit was going to be...some of them were a little shaky on their multiplication tables...we figured it was from using calculators too much. We had a few good natured chuckles on that subject.

Anyway, play around with the idea. If it has merit to you give it a try and see what happens. We figure that as the next several weeks unfold we can expect to see improvement in their repeats both time wise and stroke count wise. We expect this will translate into some fine swims from the blocks.

As we get closer to the big meet we will decrease the number of rounds, perhaps decrease the number of laps...that kind of thing.

Let us know any variations/improvements you think of. Thanks and have a great week in the pool!

Is It Worth It?

You are a coach, or maybe a swimmer; perhaps you are a parent. You – or your swimmer - have just made the qualifying time – the cut - for an important meet.

BUT…the meet is a long way from home. Maybe it is a rather expensive plane ticket away. Plus the hotel cost will be higher than if you had made your cut earlier. And then we have to figure out a way for the coach to make the trip as well…right? The coach is an integral part of this process.

For the swimmer it is a chance to compete at a higher level, with your new group of peers. For the coach it is a clinic, an opportunity to grow professionally and personally.

If the meet is the US Olympic Trials it is a no brainer – you and the coach go; period.

Somehow, some way the money is found and you both are at the meet. Your hotel might be 20 or 30 minutes from the pool…no big deal – you are in THE MEET!

Ken just returned from Trials with two of our girls who each had a single event. Neither of them will forget the experience. It has changed their lives – forever. If you stop and think about it, what has been the highlight of your athletic life so far? If you are an athlete or a coach chances are it was some prestigious meet or event. Certainly there are a multitude of races and meets you will remember for all the various reasons. But if you have ever been to the Olympics, or the Trials, or Nationals, or Junior Nationals, or Sectionals – well you get the drift here.

Most important thing in your life – perhaps, but probably not…yet still a remarkable experience and at the time, perhaps the defining moment in your development.

If the meet is not the US Olympic Trials you must decide if the trip is worth it, or not. You must decide what the goals of your swimming or coaching are. If the goals are to move up when opportunity presents itself then you must be prepared to act on the opportunity.

Here in Northern California we have target meets. In December it is either the Husky Invite or Sectionals. We attend one or the other. Our faster swimmers go to either the Junior or US Open meet. Even if there is only one swimmer we go. Why? We are a competitive swim program with goals to race at the top…simple.

In March it is Clovis or Orlando. We go with whoever qualifies. If we need two coaches we take them. It is how our program looks at competitive swimming.

This summer it is Trials or Sectionals or Clovis or Indianapolis.

The point of this discussion is simply that you need to apply the same standard to all the big meets as you would to the Olympic Trials…make the cut and you go…and take the coach with you since she or he has a vested interest in your performance and their own professional development.

Words of Wisdom from Those Who Know

At North Bay Aquatics we are very fortunate to have some swimmers who move on to colleges with big time swimming programs. JD – as he is known to all of us – is one such student/athlete. He is swimming and studying at the University of Arizona…which makes Ken feel enormously proud since Ken is an All-American from the 70’s at Arizona…and he actually graduated as well! Eric is the Head Coach and he held a team meeting recently. JD shared the content from that meeting…in a word, awesome. Thank you JD for sharing with NBA. We really appreciate your presence on our team.
  -------  

Eric had all of the swimmers who have been Olympians give everyone a piece of advice before they leave for Trials.  Everything was geared toward Trials and the Olympics, but it can easily be applied to swimmers at any level going to their big meet.  For that matter, the advice can be relevant to anyone who needs to perform when it counts.  

Below are my paraphrased highlights.  You can see how important smiling and relaxing are at big meets.  Mistakes and omissions are mine; credit for any good stuff goes to the respective Olympian.  

Best,  

JD  

-- 
Jon Denton-Schneider
Eller College of Management - Entrepreneurship, Business Economics
College of Humanities - Spanish (Portuguese Concentration)
The University of Arizona, Honors College
   

Crissy Perham - 1992 silver medalist, 100 fly; relay gold medalist

  Crispy qualified for the 1991 World Championships team.  She remembers being very nervous on deck because it was her first major international meet.  Matt Biondi came up to her and asked, "Are you having fun?"  She said, "Yes, of course.  This is what I do; after all, I'm a swimmer, so of course I'm having fun being at Worlds."  His response: "Well, then can you please make your face look like you’re having fun?"  

Albert Subirats - 2008, 2012 Olympian for Venezuela
 
Albert didn't perform as well as he wanted to in 2008 because he treated the Olympics as something bigger than they really were.  "It's just another meet," he said, "but I forgot that in Beijing.  If you're going to Olympic Trials or the Olympics themselves, you have to take the 'Olympic' part out of it.  Don't freak out - it's the same 50, 100, 200, or 400 meters you always swim."  

Christine Magnuson - 2008 silver medalist, 100 fly; relay silver medalist

  Christine talked about how seeing herself as an underdog was critical to her making the team in 2008.  "No one expected anything from me at Trials last time, there was no target on my back.  That's how I'm going to think about it this time around, too," she said, even though she is one of the "favorites" to make the team.  She also gave advice on how to keep yourself from over-thinking the whole thing: "Pick someone in your heat and focus on beating them.  And it can be for any reason.  For me at Trials in 2008, I chose someone because I thought she was a real jerk."  

Matt Grevers- 2008 silver medalist, 100 back; relay gold medalist

  Grevers focused on something similar to Crissy.  "Even if you're super nervous, just smile.  I don't care if you've made finals and you're going crazy inside, just smile.  Smiling relieves so much stress and helps with your nerves.  Every time they call my name, I just do this," he said, and made his goofy trademark grin.  

Ed Moses - 2000 silver medalist, 100 breaststroke; relay gold medalist

  Ed's message was similar to Christine's.  "In 2000, I made the team when no one expected it.  But in 2004, I was the favorite in both breaststrokes and I didn't make the team in either event.  I cared too much about what other people thought of me, and I let that get to my head."  

Amanda Beard- 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 Olympian; multiple-time gold medalist, world record holder
 
Amanda said she likes to think about how there are bigger things in life than swimming.  "Before every race, I always spend time with my family because they remind me that swimming isn't everything.  When I'm behind the blocks, I always wave to them - they go crazy, and it makes me smile.  If you guys need to, you can wave to them, too, because they're always drunk and they'll love it."    

Space Shuttle, Helicopter, Tarmac

Here in northern California we had our high school championships four weeks ago. The day after that weekend concluded we gave our team Monday off. On Tuesday we had a team meeting about the next three weeks. Those weeks are filled with school activities including finals, making up for all the work that was put off to finish projects, graduation parties, lunches and graduation itself. Everyone gets caught up in the scene, even the freshmen. It is a challenging three weeks to be a swimmer with your eye on the summer season.

We spoke to our team about this period saying that every year we see some who remember to train as much as they can, making some sacrifices socially to stay on track. We even had a meet on our schedule - the Summer Sanders Invitational in Roseville, CA - to mark the end of this three week period. While at the meet Ken and I observed pretty much what we expected to see. Some kids rocked really well including Junior Nationals and Olympic Trials cuts, some fought to hang on and others got a nice tan.

Last week, on Wednesday at our team meeting, Ken gave one of his all-time best performances as our head coach. He spoke about the summer racing season. We outlined the schedule of meets and how the first weekend in August we were taking a large group to Clovis, CA for a great senior meet. They have two 50 meter pools, three finals and always very warm weather. Conditions are usually perfect for fast swimming at the end of summer. You can also make your summer Junior National cuts at this meet earning a trip to Indianapolis. It is a really meaningful way to end the summer. And the time standards are not super tough so nearly all in our training group can make the meet.
But then Ken tossed in the caveat. You cannot go to the meet simply by having the time standards. You actually need to be ready to race well and to add to the team effort. So, if you are not ready, either because you haven't trained enough, or properly or haven't raced enough, or properly then you stay home and start your short summer vacation a little sooner.

He said our group can be split into three sections. He made everyone feel comfortable with his delivery. He had a big smile on his face. He told a few stories from his own high school and college summer training and racing days. He became one of them, a peer and yet still their leader...I had visions of the pied piper!

He said, we have some people on the space shuttle...we have some on the helicopter - which as everyone knows just hovers...and then we have some people on the tarmac. They all were laughing and they all got it without being uncomfortable. It was masterful...coaching genius, especially the delivery.

Afterward I had Emmy ask me, "Don, where do you think I am?" I replied, "The shuttle." She laughed and said, "No, I am on the tarmac. I took three days off after high school championships; three days off after finals; three days off to get my lifeguard certification." We smiled at each other...point made, case closed.

After this Saturday's workout, a gem that covered 6800 meters long course, Isabelle declared with a smile and a note of personal triumph, "I am off the tarmac!"

It is now seven weeks to Clovis and this much is certain...some, maybe most, will go. Those who do will be ready and will succeed. Those who stay home will know the choice was theirs all the way. It is a valuable life lesson, that much is certain.

"I Never Thought It Would Be Me"

Those were the words out of Brigitte (Jo Jo) Winkler's mouth after she qualified for the 2012 US Olympic Swimming Trials last night while winning the 100 meter breaststroke race in Roseville, CA. Her time was 1:11.99. Several of her North Bay Aquatics teammates had a more reasonable shot at the prestigious meet's cuts. In the end, she was the one left standing in a somewhat nerve racking weekend of racing.

The lesson learned by Brigitte and her teammates was that nothing is assured and to some extent nothing is impossible.

Hard work, determination, trust and courage are all needed. There are some 300,000 registered swimmers in US Swimming. 1700 have been invited to try out for the Olympic Team. That means that .02% of the swimming population will be in Omaha.

The next lesson is that there are three stages following something remarkable (either a positive or negative situation)...Shock, Disbelief, Acceptance.

Jo Jo has had several conversations with her coaches about this process. If you cannot get to acceptance then you most usually stall out, never to repeat that awesome "unbelievable" event again.

Regardless of the outcome you need to move into the acceptance phase in order to move forward, either to new greater heights or to put aside a major disappointment and regain your footing.

There will be several swimmers who make the Olympic Team who no one is even considering right now. Likewise, there will be several favorites who miss. It happens every time. That is why they swim the events in the first place.

The first step in the process is to get invited. Congratulations to Brigitte and all those who will be in Omaha. It is a rare and distinct opportunity to say the least.

A final thought we shared with her is this; be grateful - and ask for more. She has accepted her results and is now ready to move forward. She is not done.

+ VS. -

USA Swimming sends us a weekly newsletter. Two weeks ago this was part of the message. We think it is a concise way for us as coaches to help our swimmers when they say, "How can I stay positive?" Most of them know the value of it; they simply don't have a set of tools to do so. This has got to help...

Thank you USA Swimming and Jon Gordon!

14 Simple Strategies to Be More Positive

By Jon Gordon

With the release of The Positive Dog a lot of people have asked me where the inspiration for the book came from. It was inspired by the story about a man who travels to a village to speak to a wise man. He says to the wise man, "I feel like there are two dogs inside me. One dog is positive, loving, kind and optimistic and then I have this fearful, pessimistic, angry and negative dog and they fight all the time. I don't know who is going to win." The wise man thinks for a moment and responds, "I know who is going to win. The one you feed the most. So feed the positive dog."

We all have a positive and negative dog inside of us. It's part of our human nature. The key is to feed the positive dog and starve the negative dog. The more we feed the positive dog the bigger it gets and the stronger it becomes. The actions are simple. We just need to make them a habit and do them every day. Here are a few ways to feed the positive dog:

1. Practice Gratitude - You can't be stressed and thankful at the same time. Gratitude is like muscle, the more you exercise it the stronger it gets. Take 10 minutes each day and make a list of what you are thankful for. You will fill your body and brain with costless and priceless anti-depressants.

2. Take a Walk of Gratitude - I do this each morning and it feeds me all day long.

3. Turn off the News - Starve the negative dog.

4. Smile More - It enhances your serotonin levels and uplifts you.

5. Focus on Get to vs. Have to - Read the article here.

6. Read uplifting books or devotionals.

7. Get together with a positive, uplifting person.

8. Reach Out - Call or visit someone who has made a difference in your life and thank them. (Research shows this is a huge happiness booster)

9. Write a few Thank You Notes Today - When you thank others you feed them and yourself.

10. Watch a funny movie that makes you belly laugh.

11. Take out your Telescope - I often talk about a telescope when encouraging people to create a big-picture vision for their future and dream about the life they want to create. The telescope represents our dream for the future and, according to Barbara Fredrickson; research shows this is a simple way to boost positivity. Today dream about your future and it will feed you with positivity now.

12. Be a Coach - Coaches bring out the best in others. The best coaches mentor, encourage, praise, inspire, and lead with optimism and positivity. Today, feed others and yourself with positivity by being a coach.

13. Start a Success Journal - Write down the one great thing about your day. The more you look for success, the more you will find it.

14. Decide to Make a Difference - When you help other people with their problems you forget about your own.

What strategy will you start today to feed your positive dog?

Alex Tarics, 98

Alex Tarics, the world's oldest Olympic gold medalist at 98, has a hobby.

Most evenings, after his wife Elisabeth goes to bed, Tarics sits at the kitchen table in their Belvedere home and works on "unsolvable" mathematical equations. It's something he has done for fun since he sold his structural-engineering company in 1990.

Tarics has solved two or three of these unsolvable problems, attacking them from an engineering viewpoint rather than with standard mathematical methods.

"I am not a professional mathematician, I am a dilettante," Tarics says. "I am an engineer, so I can look at these problems differently and come to different conclusions. I do it for the love of the science."

Wisdom of a Champion

•  "You have to have a dream, something you want to accomplish. And then you have to work at it very, very hard. Mainly, you have to have willpower, which outlasts many years of hard work and disappointments."
•  "You cannot be a success unless you accept failures. If you think that when you lost something, it's all over and you give up, then you beat yourself. Don't let this happen."
•  "The willpower is the most important thing, and anybody has willpower in an inexhaustible supply. It's just how much of it a person uses."

Thanks to Scott Ostler who writes for the San Francisco Chronicle for sharing this wonderful story. Click the link below to read more:

"His Golden Years have lasted 76 Years"

Scott has mastery when it comes to the use of language. His pieces range the entire gamut.

Mary is Quite Extraordinary

This is crazy, but true. We just finished our high school season. On our club team we train swimmers who compete for 9 different high schools in the North Coast Section and the Central Coast Section of the CIF here in California. What a party!

And what an eye opener...every single year!

This year the honor for most impressive comment goes to Mary - her real name.
In her team's 400 Free Relay at the end of the NCS meet she cranked a 53.79 split. She has never been anywhere near sub 54 before. She got sucked up into a race and just "went for it". She was in a word "spectacular". She went where she had never been before, inspired by the relay situation.

We asked her, "Where did that come from?" Her response was, "I don't know, I just went for it, the team need me to go fast, so I did."

We said, "You don't train that way on a consistent basis Monday - Saturday, and yet you were able to pull that swim off. Awesome!"

We then asked her, "What if you trained that way Monday - Saturday? What do think would happen then? What might the possibilities be?"

We were inspired to be better coaches by her reply.

She said, "But what if I do train that way and it doesn't pay off?"

And there folks is the crux of the life lesson involved. As Ken - my coaching partner in crime - so eloquently put it, "The benefits of the process actually outweigh the benefits of the results."

Lessons from Mom

Every one of us has a Mom. Today is a special day for her recognition - whether she is with us or not (not in our case).

Yet the lessons we learn will remain forever. Here is what I can remember learning from Helen Swartz...in no particular order.

You will play and learn to read music. This began with the piano from 6-9 years old followed by the clarinet until 12. Then came Pony League football, but we still played music on Sunday afternoons and I was in the church choir until 18. I still play wicked air guitar and married Madeline 25 years ago...oh; I met her when she was singing in a band called Fat Chance when I owned a small rock joint in San Rafael, CA the 80's...fat chance I should be so fortunate!

You will always do your best in school. In doesn't matter if you get top marks or not; always do your best. That is why I changed my coaching technique in 1971; fortunately I had athletes who proved me wiser than my years.

Growing old is not for sissies. Mom ultimately died of renal failure but still smiled to the end. I will do the same.

She complained a lot as a younger person but when she hit her 70's she stopped; I mean she literally stopped; and she had a lot to complain about. Our conversations invariably had the questions; 1 - what are you doing for fun these days? And 2 - are you doing what you enjoy?

Finally, I can never remember her telling me to "be careful"...this when we jumped off the roof of the garage at 9 Holbrook Street in Palmer, MA into leaves holding the four corners of a sheet thinking the landing would be soft...she said, "You need a bigger pile of leaves."

What a woman...

Thank You Jack Bauerle

At the ASCA Clinic last September we somehow got a sheet of paper with this set on it from Jack Bauerle at Georgia. We ran across it last week when cleaning up some papers in our home office. Jack, thanks for sharing...it is an awesome set and the concept is so straightforward that it can be the basis for countless others.

As Jack says in his description, "set is straight through and if repeated throughout the season is a great set to gauge progress on, or simply adjust the challenge level." He also notes that "you can adjust the intervals and do this kicking, pulling or strokes."

We set up a white board with four levels of step downs. There was, as promised from Jack, immediate engagement both physically and mentally. Also, it can be done as scy, lc, or scm. We did this short course yards. We went on the 40 seconds. Another thing we liked about this was that all swimmers went on the same interval and while some got a little more rest than others, they were all in the same group, as it were.

It is a nice way to grab a quick 2000. Here goes:

40 x 50 free on the .40
Round 1 hold pattern = 4 at .31, 3 at .30, 2 at .29, 1 at .28
Round 2 hold pattern = 4 at .30, 3 at .29, 2 at 28, 1 at .27
Round 3 hold pattern = 4 at .29, 3 at .28, 2 at, 27, 1 at 26
Round 4 hold pattern = 4 at 28, 3 at .27, 2 at .26, 1 at max speed

No rest between rounds...have at it. You will be pleased!