Once upon a time, in a swimming pool in the far north, near the arctic circle in upstate New York, I learned a lesson. There was a lane we called “the national team”. Some of these 8 or 9 bodies had national cuts and others just aspired to have the national cuts, and were close. They all thought they were special. They came early, they stayed later, they were “the National Team”. MORE>>>
It was a morning after a night rain fell cooling
the normally hot and humid Austin air that I arrived at the Circle C
Ranch Community Pool. I walked on deck at 5:45 am to find a man
staring intensely down that pool. This is exactly how I pictured
Randy Reese from the descriptions I had read in previous years and
from his past swimmers and friends, a man extremely confident and
extremely focused. I introduced myself to him, he said a quick
“Hi,” and continued to stare down the pool completely
concentrated on how he was going to orchestrate the morning’s
events. MORE>>>
To:
Committee For the Public Hearing of USOC Direction
From:
Chuck Warner, Head
Swimming and Diving Coach, Rutgers University,
Vice-President American Swimming
Coaches Association, Date:
April 24, 2003
I offer these written ideas in place of what I desired to be spoken
words at the “Public Hearing” you are holding in New York
tomorrow. I was prepared to make the trip, but told I would not be
permitted to speak. I will be brief.
In
Africa, I am told, they speak of two hungers. There is the
lesser hunger, which arises
to satisfy the needs of the body, and there is the greater
hunger which arises to satisfy the needs
of the spirit [Charles Handy, The Hungry Spirit].
Having just
satisfied the lesser hunger with a graduation dinner,
please join me for a few minutes and consider with me a few
thoughts about the greater hunger. The beauty of leadership,
our topic for this evening, is
that depending on how, and where, and when it is exercised, it
can, and ideally it should, satisfy both hungers.MORE>>>
The
recent and disturbing turmoil at the USA Olympic Committee is
a timely reminder that USA-Swimming, its constituent coaches,
athletes and volunteer leaders all must periodically do a “check
up” to ensure that we are maintaining our standards as the
best and most successful National Governing Body in all of
sport. The World’s most successful sports team, the USA
Olympic Swimming Team, deserves nothing less than the world’s
best support system. MORE>>>
Here
is what Jamie Drobny, now a working adult, had to say in a
letter to her old high school swim team members. The
Coach, proudly, is John Casadia of Vineland high School in New
Jersey. MORE >>>
At
Eastern States Clinic, conducted by Peter Daland and Sue Davis in
Valley Forge, PA, I first saw Coach Dave Kilmer with his new
underwater camera. (His company, Underwater Camera Company of
America, phone 619-997-7946, email Dave@ucca.biz,
website www.ucca.biz ) My first
impression was “ya, ya, ya, another underwater “system."I
was wrong. MORE >>>
It
is abundantly clear from the results of the round table evaluations
of the findings of the Governance Task Force and the consultants
hired by USA-Swimming, that only two items are of “negative
concern” by the existing delegates to the USA-S convention. Those
are; the make-up of the USA-S Board of Directors and the make-up of
the House of Delegates. Predictably, those chosen and selected by
the “present method” support the present method. Duh. MORE
>>>
There’s
no such thing as a healthy tan. Recently, several public
health organizations have reported that malignant melanoma,
the most deadly type of skin cancer, is spreading in epidemic
proportions throughout our population. These reports have come
from the American Cancer Society, the American Dermatological
Association, the Centers for Disease Control, and the Skin
Cancer Foundation. All of these organizations have claimed
with alarm that skin cancer is on the rise.
MORE
>>>
It may be that
most Americans are obsessed with being thin, but if you look
around you’ll see that most are overweight. In fact, at
least one-third of the adult American population is
approaching obesity (depending upon height, at least 20 to 30
pounds overweight), and nearly one-half are considered
overweight. This is more than a 10% increase from the
1980’s, and the number continues to climb. MORE
>>>
The
testimony to the Commission, at least as covered in the
general media, has been very thorough and balanced, however I
would like to add a couple of issues that I think have been
overlooked and perhaps offer a couple of pieces to you that
can help you solve this puzzle.More important, I would ask that the members of this
Commission shift their vision to a problem much greater than
sports.That
problem is the status of boys in our society today.
There is absolutely no
question that, in its 30-year existence, Title IX legislation
has considerably advanced women's intercollegiate athletics.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 was initially
established as an anti-discrimination measure guaranteeing
that no one would be excluded from federally assisted programs
or activities on account of gender.
Recovery
based training is a new way of looking at training for
swimming. It is based on the principle of recovery and is
sensitive to each individual athlete’s ability to deal with
the stresses and loads of training and preparation for
competition. In comparison,more traditional trainingmethods rely on a philosophy of “work based
training”which
subjects athletes to predetermined training loads which must
be completed regardless of the athlete’s recovery level,
leaving them open to illness and injury through over training.
Coach Bill Dorenkott
of Penn State Men’s and Women’s Swimming has a great line
he uses….its from Mother Goose and her famous Rhymes.
“Good, Better, Best. Never Rest Till Good Is Better And
Better Is Best.” MORE >>>
The
Board of Directors and Staff of the American Swimming Coaches
Association are focused in 2002 on several key issues in
American Swimming. We urge all those athletes, coaches and
officials in swimming to get behind the following items. MORE >>>
There are no short cuts to the top. The attributes of
success are now, as they always have been, determination,
innovation, commitment, a positive attitude, the desire to
achieve and old fashioned hard work.
However, traditional ways of looking at training have revolved
around – WORK BASED TRAINING: how much work an athlete can
do and the intensity level of that work. MORE >>>
1.
Coach “face to face…” get down low and see the swimmers
eyeball to eyeball without them having to crank their head
back to see you, or staring at your belly button. Bend, sit,
squat down, whatever gets you eyeball to eyeball. Don’t be
afraid to get up close and take up their whole view so you
have their complete attention, either.
1. Get a mentor. Use the
mentor. Learn from the Mentor, don’t try to impress the
Mentor with all you “know.”
2. Learn to sell your ideas. Go
to the bookstore and buy a book on sales. What you do all day
is sell your ideas to parents, athletes and support personnel.
Learn to be good at it.
3. Go watch another coaches
workout. A great coach if you know one. Any coach if you
don’t. You can learn and reflect on your own coaching while
watching anyone else coach. Sometimes good to watch coaches in
other sports (which are naturally inferior to swimming) do
their thing also.
The
Common Threads of Successful Swimming Technique By
Marshall Adams
Discussions presented
in this paper are centered on the importance of the adductor
muscles of the shoulder in all competitive strokes. The
majority of examples cited are from the crawl stroke and
butterfly, but the threads of common factors to success run
through every stroke. The paper draws it conclusions from
discussions of the core muscles of technique, the nervous
system organization that provides the conscious and
unconscious control of these muscles, the water that compounds
the problem of movement within an unfamiliar medium, and the
peculiarities of the shoulder joint that limits our movements.
This unique view of human swimming propulsion draws upon
principals, when analyzed in their entirety, that have
profound implications for swimming instruction...
The
"X" Factor By
Dr. James Counsilman
Is
there any one factor or trait that determines a successful
swimming coach? If there is, could we educate a coach to have
this particular trait? The business world has long wondered
what makes a good executive, a good administrator, or a good
salesman. Research into this ingredient of success has led to
the use of multimillion dollar testing bureaus...
Playing
Favorites By
John Leonard One day a few years
ago, a club board member accused me of "having
favorites" on our club team. Several other parent board
members nodded their heads in agreement The implication was
that this was a terrible sin. When I was a younger coach, I
thought it was terrible also. And he was right. I did have
favorites. My favorites were those athletes who most fervently
did what I asked of them. Those that did, I gave more
attention to. I talked to them more. I spent more time
teaching them. I also expected more of them...
Even
My Eyebrows Hurt! Edward H. Nessel, R.Ph.,
M.S., M.P.H. ASCA Newsletter Volume #2001-7 Just about
everyone who strives to be - the
best they can be develops sore muscles at some time, so it is
amazing that this is still mostly a mystery. Consider this: we
don’t really understand the main source of pain, we don’t
understand why it takes so long to show up, most of the
treatments suggested don’t work consistently, and there is
no reliable way to prevent the problem except taking it easy.
Including
Swimmers With a Disability:
A Guide for Coaches Foundations of
Coaching Level 1 - Chapter 12 Swimmers with a
disability participate in USA Swimming programs for the same
reasons as “able-bodied” swimmers - they want to have fun,
they enjoy swimming, they want to be with friends and make new
friends, they want to “get in shape” and stay healthy,
they want to improve their skills and performances, and they
enjoy competition. Swimmers with a disability are attracted to
USA Swimming programs because of the quality of coaching and
competition, and they are participating in greater numbers
every year
2.Criticize not just the issue at hand, but generalize
about the person’s background as why they would act that way
in the first place….
3.Criticize the motivation of the creator.
4.Criticize the tastes and judgment of anyone who does
not agree with your criticism.
5.Make Threats in Your Criticism.
Its
not just what we say, but how we say it, that our athletes
remember.
Our
Kids Initiative
In early May of this 2000, the OUR KIDS INITIATIVE was
created. The rationale for the INITIATIVE is based on each
governing body consistently stating"we are in it for the kids". This is the
commitment of the leadership in each organization but,
unfortunately, four separate rule books prohibit the possibility
of serving ALL KIDS.The concept of the INITIATIVE is to have all five
governing bodies look at ways to truly be in it for ALL KIDS,
not just those in each respective group. Each organization plays
a strong role in the positive development of their swimmers.
Respectfully, each group has gotten closer to standardization
than ever before but with the INITIATIVE, the dialogue between
the leaders will be greatly increased to actively seek ways for
uniformity to occur.
BULLETIN BOARD:
CHEVRONS
Let them display their
accomplishments!
Age Group Emblems
Team Record
Holder
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are dedicated to providing you with innovative and quality products
for training and competition. Special:
Until August 31, 2000, Colorado Time Systems (CTS) is offering a 5%
off special on our new Pace Clock/Shot Clock display (model SASC9-4)
to all A.S.C.A. members. Pace Clock &
Water Polo Shot Clock in One: The SASC9-4 is the most
versatile Pace Clock around. Designed with large, nine-inch
characters, it can be used as a programmable pace clock and as a
water polo shot clock. It operates through the Ultimate Pace Clock
controller or the System 5 Sports Timer. Choose between red or green
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