Have You Snorkeled Lately?

Many of you already know about swimming snorkels. If you don't, or don't know where to get one check out your favorite swim shop or try www.finisinc.com. Snorkels do a number of things for your workouts and racing if that's your thing as well. They also get you incredibly fit aerobically.

When you swim with a snorkel first thing to remember is to hold it in your mouth; do not grip it hard or you will end up with tight jaws and that's no fun. It is easy to hold onto this training aid without overdoing so.

When you order one also get a "cardio cap". This is a device that you can eventually slip over the opening thereby reducing the size of the breathing hole. Wait a while before you do this...always move in progressions. If you have never snorkeled begin with a few laps and work your way to perhaps a 1000 yards or so comfortably. That may take some time and we all have time!

We will offer a number of different drills soon but for today let's just do this much: see if you can swim freestyle with a steady six beat kick the entire lap. A common stroke fault is that when you breathe you drop your kick, or do a cross over kick. Either of these is usually a result of your legs compensating for your head rotation. Without getting too technical in this forum we'd suggest a lap of freestyle with a steady six beat kick and pay attention to when you breathe through the snorkel and see if your legs stop when you breathe.

Sooner than later we will have video clips on our site showing some of these drills. And of course, we can always do video analysis of your strokes should you so desire. Give this a try and let us know what you notice about the relationship of your breath to your kick. See you soon...at the pool!

The Power of One Human Mind

This is simply too good. We had to share with all of you. Devon DeMont is the 16 year old daughter of Swim Coach Direct founder Ken DeMont. The Western Zone Gold Sectional meet is next week in Bakersfield. This is a high end US Swimming Senior competition, one that most older swimmers in California and surrounding states strive to attend. Getting "cuts" (qualifying times) is a major season's goal for many swimmers. Devon trains with North Bay Aquatics in northern California. She is in the Senior training group. She made it a goal this year to achieve at least one Sectional cut. The event she was aiming for was the 50 freestyle. And an interesting thing happened on the way to achieving this goal.

Thursday, at the summer Junior Olympic Swim Championships in Concord, CA, Devon swam 100 meters of freestyle in 1:02.15 seconds, improving an impressive 2.8 seconds from her previous best time of 1:04.9...and in the process got her first ever Sectional Qualifying time standard.

Four items of interest in this story are:

1 - Devon was shaved and partially rested for the meet

2 - Devon did swim in a BlueSeventy high tech swim suit

3 - Devon did some visualizing the night before her swim. She wanted to work on her race, keep calm and give herself the best chance to race well. She also used a stopwatch in her visualization. This is a skill we teach, one we have used for 30+ years with our swimmers. She closed her eyes and swam her race and when she hit the touchpad in her personal "movie" she stopped the watch. The time on the face read 1:02.11, a mere .04 (that's four one hundredths!) of a second off her actual swim time. Does visualization work? You will have a very hard time convincing Devon that it doesn't!

4 - At the end of the day, the meet, the season, it is the swimmer in the suit, not the suit the swimmer is in, that matters. Devon has had her eye firmly on the target - getting a Sectional cut - for 5 weeks now. She has been training for years but for the last 5 weeks all of her actions have supported her goal.

We had several swimmers this weekend achieve goals similar to Devon's. I (Don Swartz) chose to highlight her in this instance because of her visualization drill. We are proud of all our swimmers. They are attempting to do something special. They are not willing to be "one of the gang". Average is not something they settle for. Swimming fast doesn't make you a better person. It simply makes you a faster person in the water.

Striving for excellence - your own brand of that - is what makes you special, what sets you apart from the crowd. We are fortunate to have a pool full of special people who happen to be swimmers.

The Olympic Trial Venue from the Inside

Never before has so much been done to allow a swimmer the best chance to swim fast at a meet. The organizers of the Olympic Trials did a fabulous job and the results that followed were good feedback on how they set up the swimmers to be at their best.

If you followed the action on TV you saw what a beautiful complex it was. Set in an arena that is used more for NCAA basketball games or concerts than a swim meet, by putting in a temporary Myrtha pool into the space they were able to create the ultimate in spectator comfort. It enabled the crowd to feed a wonderful energy to the swimmers that spurred them on in an amazingly fast meet.

What you didn't get to see on TV was the warm up pool that was built underneath the stands that was only accessible to coaches and swimmers. There was a full size 50 meter 8 lane pool, with another 8 lanes of 25 meter space available for warm up or warm down that was not for the public or the media to be privy to. They put up a big screen TV so you could watch the action and had a scoreboard so you could see the times posted. This was all within 50 meters of the main venue.

Other amenities included

• A large massage and physical therapy area that was free to the competitors who wanted to use these services.


• A swimmers lounge complete with easy chairs, large screen TV's, computers, and video games.


• Hot tubs for those inclined for such things.


• Sport drinks and water in more than ample amounts for the taking


• A coaches lounge with similar amenities that the swimmers were given (minus the video games).


• A large area with mats and other gym equipment for stretching and getting ready to race.

What a wonderful experience it is to be in such an environment and to see some of the best in the world ready themselves for their races or analyze their races with their coaches afterwards. As hard as it is to believe, much of what they talk about is the same things that swimmers of lesser abilities talk about at their own competitions. Michael Phelps is working on his pacing and his turns just like the rest of the swimmers....he just happens to be going quite a bit faster!

For the meet, the swimmers were posting 45% best times for their races overall. This is an outstanding percentage for a meet that is so challenging to qualify for. Four year ago in Long Beach the percentage for the 2004 Olympic Trials was 18%.

Quite an improvement for America's best!

Ian Thorpe: “Because of this thing called competition”

That is the quote from Ian Thorpe, former Australian Olympic swimmer and world record holder when asked if Michael Phelps could win 8 Gold Medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Thorpe is betting against Phelps. In this Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle sports section, noted columnist Scott Ostler posed the question about whether it is reasonable to expect that Phelps could actually pull off the feat.

The US Swimming Olympic Trials began today in at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska. The top 2 finishers in each event qualify for the Olympic Team in each event. Consider that less than half of the one percent of the swimmers in the country even qualify for the Olympic Trials. You must then finish 1st or 2nd to swim the individual event. (In the 100 and 200 freestyle the top 4 make the relay and the 5th and 6th finishers typically are taken as alternates to swim the prelims of the relays at the Games themselves).

Phelps appears to "own" the 400 Individual Medley and the 200 Butterfly, though nothing is for certain. The other events he competes in have multiple challengers that pose a real threat to his even making our team in the various events. And then he needs to be selected to the relays based upon his performance as well.

In golf not long ago, Tiger Woods ruled the world. Many of his contemporaries began playing for second. If Tiger was "on" he was unbeatable. However, golf, like swimming, has many competitive people in its ranks and the one thing history teaches us is that it is much easier to win a championship than to defend one.

When Woods, or Phelps, or Roger Federer win consistently it actually motivates many in their sport, pushes them to places they have not been and thereby changes the landscape - forever; as did Woods, Phelps and Federer when they came up into the championship ranks...and so it goes.

Some people say that competition isn't healthy; that it puts too much pressure on others; that it destroys the purity of the game. Our view is that competition, when entered into in a spirit of willingness, a spirit of genuine love of the game, brings out the best in each of us. It increases our appreciation of our sport and our place in it.

Whether I am a weekend warrior, an up and coming Olympic hopeful or world champion the benefits are the same. I find out what matters to me; how to perform under some scrutiny and where my personal limits are.

We suggest that you go to the pool soon and push yourself a little and see what your reaction to that is. Let us know and tell us how we can help!

(Olympic Trial coverage is on the web and on TV all week long. Check your local listings for details.)

Why Do I Do This Sport?

Another story….
There is a young man on the team I coach who has had an extremely successful swimming career to this point. He has competed at the National level and done well in his High School swimming. Next year he will be swimming at the college he has chosen, and they are quite happy to have him on the team.

With all that he has going for him in the world of swimming, he has gone through more than one wave of questioning why he even doing the sport in the first place. He stresses over the fact that there is pressure when he competes and that the training can be no fun. When I reminded him of all he has accomplished over the past year he acknowledges that it was all a blast and he wouldn’t trade it for anything, but he still has that feeling of stress and lack of fun. His continuing swimming was in doubt...he felt burnt out.

This begs the question of why you are doing this sport in the first place (or any sport for that matter). Something about it must make you want to keep doing it or most likely you would have given it up fairly quickly. For most competitors it is the thrill of the race. Most swimmers can vividly remember their first race and the feelings they got from it. Back when you started (especially if you started out very young), what time you did for the race was most likely not important…trying to win or perhaps finishing were much more important elements.

As you move on and swim for a long time, these basic elements sometimes disappear as we chase the all important time standard or something similar, but I think remembering the basic joy you get out of being a competitive swimmer is something that you should connect with every now and then. When you look at Masters swimming, for most swimmers your times will get slower as you get older. You will most likely post times that are not as fast as your younger years, but the joy of competing can be just as rewarding. Times were not real important when you started and I can make a case that they should not be important after a long time at doing the sport as well. I really believe this type of mind set actually helps you do better as you are swimming with less performance pressures.

I am happy to report that after some soul searching my young friend has started training again with a renewed vigor. There is no guarantee that it will continue, but I think his ability to reconnect with his love for the sport has him coming back for more.

Remember why you are doing this!!

Remember What Got You There

Recently a talented young swimmer I have the privilege to work with has made a huge step for any swimmer to make. She has qualified for the Olympic Trials at a fairly young age. As you can imagine her team mates, coaches, and family were quite excited with the accomplishment and we are making plans to be there for the swim.

A lot of work went into getting her to this point. While the support certainly worked hard to give her (and others) the best chance to achieve her goals, ultimately it was her hard work that got her the Olympic Trial invitation. There was certainly a lot of training and sacrifices that went into making this dream come true.

An interesting thing happened after the goal was achieved. This swimmer began to train with less vigor and desire and began to show signs of trying to take an easier path than before. After a few weeks of this downturn in dedication, we went to a bigger meet that was sort of a test run for the trials. It was really no surprise that she did not do well. Everything that was accomplished just a few weeks before suddenly looked so imposing to her.

Since that meet, I am happy to say our swimmer is back to work and is determined to bring her best race to Omaha. A lesson was learned and hopefully the pitfall can and will be avoided in the future.

Often times it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to achieve meaningful things in your life. When you do achieve an important benchmark, whatever that may be, it is wise to look back at what you did to get to where you are. To get to a higher mark may take more work than before and that is the nature of life. Most likely you will have a difficult time getting to where you were by doing less, although most people will try that method, usually with little or no success.

So if you have done something great in your life, remember what got you there. If you have that type of mind set, getting there in the future will be easier to accomplish.

What Makes Something Real?

The swim suit wars have heated up, or should we say, the battle has been joined. The cover of this month's Swimming World Magazine shows an underwater photo of the TYR Tracer Rise and the new Speedo LZR suit with a swimmer between in what presumably is yet another suit. The title on the cover is "Meet the New World Record Holders". It implies that the suits are the new record holders. And on page 6 publisher Brent Rutemiller writes an article titled "A Voice for the Sport - Who Rules The Pool?"

What follows is in interesting look at the FINA rule GR 5.5(b) Material. He states that "FINA changed the definition of fabric altogether, catching many leading manufacturers, athletes and national governing bodies completely by surprise during an Olympic year."

Just this week FINA announced that new suits by Mizuno, Arena and Adidas have been cleared as meeting the rule. Others cannot be far behind.

And the Olympic Trials in Omaha for US swimmers begin on the 28th of this month! The Games themselves begin August 8th in Beijing, China.

SwimCoachDirect has been intimately involved in the Olympic experience since 1972. We know what is at stake when it comes to racing for one of the most coveted prizes in our sport. We can say without a doubt that each swimmer has "the suit" on their minds. "The suit" is the one which each individual believes will help her/him swim fastest.

At the end of the day, it is the swimmer inside the suit that achieves recognition, either personally or worldwide. Today at the Japan Open Kosuke Kitajima set a new world record in the mens 200 breast with a time of 2:07.51, breaking Brendan Hansen's 2 year old time of 2:08.50. Earlier Kitajima wore a T-shirt stating stating "I am the swimmer" in protest of the Japanese Swimming Federation restrictions on the suits that Japanese swimmers can wear.

Each swimmer will definitely wear the one he/she believes is the fastest. As many elite swimmers have, Kitajima choose the LZR. At this level no one wants to take a chance. Each swimmer wants everything available, within the legal limits. That, in our opinion is what makes something real.

As you watch the coverage on TV (or in person if you are so fortunate) be ready for lots of discussions and debates over "the suit".

Assigning Value

We have begun training again for our 4th and final block of the season. Our high school NCS and CCS championships are in the rear view mirror and we are looking clearly down the road to the California State Sectionals in late July in Bakersfield and then to the US Swimming Nationals in Minneapolis in August.

Our training has naturally changed from taper to work. We as coaches love this. The swimmers have other feelings! Many like the "burn" associated with increased work loads accompanied by lactic acid. The feeling of nausea that comes from maximal exertion is another "good thing - bad thing" as well. And then comes dealing with occasionally slower practice times as the work load ramps up. This is followed perhaps by doubt. Doubt is never a positive sign. We have had a few swimmers this week wonder if they are "alright" because their practice times are slower, or it takes more effort to do a certain time than it did a couple of weeks ago. Some have said they feel weaker.

The normal cycle of training, adaptation, recovery and finally improvement is in progress. What is critical to adjusting to this cycle is making sure you don't assign too much value to the times you swim either in practice or meets that take place when you are training at a high level of effort. Some days are simply better than others. There are all kinds of reasons (not the same as excuses - which we do not allow to enter the conversation, not on our pool deck!) why this happens; fatigue from the end of school year and final exams. A new job, a move, a change in address and change in living situations all make for stress and that can make for slower training performance. If you have recently ramped up to a new level of training, perhaps because you are more motivated, you will find slower practice times occasionally part of the process.

Not to worry. The cycle is working. If you train, then adapt by building in recovery time, you will see improvement in your practice times. Then if you go to a meet or open water swim, or triathlon you will get improved results as well.

Enjoy your training. If you race, make certain you enjoy that as well. If it isn't fun, why bother? Let us know what you think. Go to the pool today. Get out the door and go!

Chasing Times vs. Chasing People

We spent much of this holiday weekend at our North Coast Section Swimming and Diving Championships. (complete results). It was interesting to see the difference in the type of competition the high school setting provided versus the type that US Swimming meets often provide.

Swimming is a sport that teaches from an early age the value of achieving time standards. As an 8 or 10 year old we learn that if we go a certain speed we compete in one type of meet. If we swim faster then we “advance” to a higher level of competition. What this actually turns out to mean is that we then swim in meets where most swimmers are trying to achieve an even higher level time standard so they can go to an even more advanced meet. And so it goes until one day the swimmer qualifies for the Olympic Trials, by achieving yet again another even faster time standard.

In high school and collegiate swimming there is another dynamic at work, one that ultimately has nothing to do with time standards. This is the pure competition factor. This weekend many swimmers reached new and higher (sometimes the same as faster, sometimes not) levels of performance based upon their individual and team desires to win races. This same dynamic comes into play at the college level regardless of which level, NCAA Division I, II, III or NAIA swimming, you are competing.

We saw several athletes and team go places they had not been in terms of their speed due to the pure competitiveness of the meet. What is interesting to note is that the US Swimming process ultimately ends up in the same place as well. In this country it is the Olympic Trials. In the FINA world it is the Olympic Games themselves. At Olympic Trials once you make the final in your event then it immediately is not about times (which is what the swimmer chased for years, even decades in some cases) but rather about place. The top two make the Olympic Team. You could break a world record and finish third which means you watch on TV like everyone else. At the Games, once you qualify for the final, again based on times, the emphasis changes once again to place. Touch the wall 1st, 2nd or 3rd and you come home with a medal. Touch 4th through 8th and you don’t even get a ribbon!

So, what, if any, is the lesson here? Ultimately, swimming teaches us about how we handle a wide variety of competitive and potentially stressful situations. Some are more private and about personal achievement. Others are more public and involve a higher level of general recognition. Both have value; both are worthwhile; neither is better, they are simply different. As a footnote, it is fascinating to see how some swimmers really need the spotlight to achieve their best while others do not. That is, once again, why sport often mirrors life.

Let us know what you think! See you at the pool…

Courage and Trust – The Two Things You Need at the Moment of Truth

We have been at several meets this weekend; our local high school league championship and the Santa Clara International Invitational. The local high school meet is followed next week by the Section meet which is the culmination of the scholastic athletic swim season. The Santa Clara meet is a tune up for many of the swimmers going to the US Olympic Trials. The meet also featured many foreign swimmers from diverse countries such as Australia, Wales, Great Britain, South Africa, Mexico and Japan.

At both meets there was a fair amount of “sizing up” the competition. Some swimmers were more rested than others, some not at all and even a handful of shaved swimmers could be observed plying their craft. For most, these meets, while important, are more like dress rehearsals. It matters not if your name is Natalie Coughlin, Michael Phelps, Aaron Peirsol, Dana Vollmer or Brendan Hansen. Everyone is seeing where they are training wise right now with something important happening sooner than later.

They also serve another very valuable purpose. They give each swimmer, regardless of specific readiness, a chance to practice testing her/his measure of courage and trust. When the big race (or job interview or school test) is upon you it is important to have courage; courage to face your opponent(s) and courage dealing with your inner most fears (which everyone has from time to time). And you must have trust; trust in yourself.

Where do you get courage and trust? In our opinion, you get it each day as you prepare, as you practice. One of your goals each day could be to do something you have never done before, or do it longer, more relaxed or smoother. This applies to all of us regardless of our talent level or our personal ambition. There is value in working to do a task or skill correctly even if you are not trying to make the Olympic Team. Doing so will give you a greater sense of personal satisfaction. More importantly it will establish a higher level of awareness as to the value of what you are doing, regardless of what it is.

Give it a try and let us know what you think. Thanks and we’ll see you at the pool!

Respect and Responsibility

We had an email float across our screen this week with some words of wisdom based on the teachings of the Dalai Lama. One of the thoughts was to “Follow the 3 “R’s”:

Respect for Self, Respect for Others, Responsibility for All Your Actions.

What a simple yet profound concept; a very few words that carry such an impact.

It seems that sports in general and perhaps swimming more specifically give us a chance to practice this concept; the 3 “R’s”. Swimming is a sport or an activity, depending upon your viewpoint that can be engaged in for a lifetime. Very few football players are even playing touch football at age 50. Yet many folks, masters and fitness buffs a like, can imagine themselves swimming literally for the rest of their lives. They have Respect for Self.

Swimmers tend to be an inclusive group as opposed to some activities that foster exclusivity on the part of members. In this way we have Respect for Others. Lap swimmers and competitive masters support each other nearly universally, at least in our experience.

We encourage the swimmers on our team to be responsible for their swimming careers. Similarly we work to instill that same level of personal awareness in our masters group. In her stimulating book, “5 Steps To A Quantum Life”, Natalie Reid says the first step is to Take Responsibility because you cannot change something unless you are responsible for it. Swimmers know they can do almost anything they want with the sport but that they must do it. No coach or instructor can make it happen. We help facilitate but you wear the suit, put on the goggles and take the plunge.

Perhaps we all could be kinder to ourselves. We often give so much credit – even admiration – to others for their achievements while forgetting that we deserve the same. If you are involved in sport for fun or fitness or competition you are a participant. You are definitely not a spectator. For this fact alone you need to credit yourself, respect yourself.

Age 6 to 90

Quite awhile ago I remember going to a masters meet where there was a woman over the age of 90 who was to compete in an event. Being a smaller meet, just about everyone in attendance was interested in watching her do her thing. I was struck not only by how wonderful it was for her to be participating (and hoping to be just as spunky when I reached that age), but also how she really didn't have any worries about how she looked in her suit. She was happy to be there and very comfortable with who she was. I have also been to a multitude of meets where 6 year olds were participating in their very first competitions. Watching a 6 year old do their first races is a wonderful sight to behold. What is striking to me as I write this is they often have the very same attitude that the elderly woman had in terms of their comfort in their physical presence. Often times their suits don't seem to fit right and everything seems in disarray, but they are happy with who they are and have no real worries about their appearance.

We as a society can learn much from our youngest as well as our oldest and be proud to be able to participate in anything we really want to do regardless of what we think we look like. The first step to getting in shape in swimming is actually taking that first step and getting in that pool even if you don't look like Natalie Coughlin or Michael Phelps in a swim suit. Do it a few times and you have started a habit that has many benefits. After awhile you will notice a change in your being, sometimes in a physical sense and almost always in a mental sense. This type of lifestyle gets easier and better with use, so get out there and enjoy being part of an active and healthy life!