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The ASCA Annual Awards Banquet 2009 Every Year, there is greater demand for tickets for the Annual Awards Banquet than we can adequately service in the time frame allowed. We must give the hotel a number of guaranteed meals by noon of the Thursday of the Clinic. Yet many coaches do not even arrive at the clinic until after noon on that day. Hence, they are left to “scramble” for tickets. So, in 2009, we will have a new procedure for Banquet Tickets. If you wish a banquet ticket, please email your intention to Amy Saxner in our office ASaxner@Swimmingcoach.org to attend the banquet. Amy will direct you on how to deposit $10 as your banquet ticket, via either check or credit card. Yes, you can also reserve a ticket for your spouse or friend for an additional $25.00. Amy will attach a banquet ticket to your registration packet which you will pick up at registration, in accordance with your payment. When you return the ticket to us at the door of the banquet, we’ll happily hand you a crisp new $10 bill, so as usual, the banquet will be free to you. We have an upper limit of 450 tickets available. When they are gone, they are gone. IF we have any space left once we arrive at the clinic, they will be distributed on a first-come, first serve basis. IF anyone purchases a ticket, then changes their mind, they can redeem it at the registration desk for their $10 deposit. Thank you for assisting us in our efforts to make system out of chaos. John Leonard
2009 Olympic Head Coaches Reunion Dinner Invitation
University of Pretoria and the American Swimming Coaches Association formalize an educational agreement After many months of working on the systems and programs to be offered, a final agreement between the University of Pretoria and the American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) has been reached regarding the inclusion of the ASCA Swimming Coaching Accreditation system and materials into the Tuks Bachelors programs for B (Sports Science) and BA (Human Movement Sciences), as well as a continued education system for the TuksSwimming coaching staff. The University of Pretoria's department of Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure Sciences along with the TuksSport and the TuksSwimming club is committed to investing in their students and coaches through establishing quality education programs for all and ensuring that all are appropriately qualified and internationally recognized when they graduate. The University of Pretoria, its swimming staff, academic staff and management have used the ASCA materials in a pilot project over the past 12 months. Tuks coaches were accredited by ASCA. Two coaches, Igor Omeltchenko (Head Coach) and Steven Bell, obtained Level 5 accreditation, which is the highest level of qualification within the ASCA structures. Larry Laursen (Tuks Swimming Technical consultant) provides the club with advice and a wealth of experience, also holds a Level 5 qualification. This shows coaches that have the appropriate level of education and experience in working with and coaching of international swimmers, and this is backed by a legacy of performance. At TuksSwimming the coaching staff has a combined total of over 94 years of experience at Regional, National and International levels. ASCA's program was chosen because it has the academic AND practical program with deliverables, controls, follow-up and continued education emphasis to be THE program which the University of Pretoria would like to embed into its practical curriculum of Sports Education for swimming coaches. ASCA acknowledges the standard of education, reputation, expertise and experience at the University of Pretoria. This agreement sees the University of Pretoria becoming the first university internally to fully integrate the ASCA swimming coaching material within their formalized degree and certificate programs. The University of Pretoria is recognized for initiatives such as these, whereby they look to provide internationally recognized and modern sport relevant technical additions to their students' and coaches' education. This can be seen in relationships already established with various other international sporting federations and organizations, such as the Golf PGA and NSCA CSCS program. TuksSport (TuksSwimming) is committed to educating our coaches, swimmers and parents and the greater swimming community and supports all initiatives that Swimming South Africa have planned and will implement in the future and all work done through our education programs will be aligned with the requirements of the national body. Through this unique working relationship with ASCA the University will provide exceptional swimming coaching education to its students and interested outsiders. Academic education and appropriately applied training, gained in an environment where Olympians are training with professional coaches, will produce graduates with the expertise and experience to immediately be full members of the coaching profession. It remains the aim of the University of Pretoria to contribute to and provide relevant opportunities for the development of coach education locally, nationally and to our friends in Southern Africa countries whose swimmers are already part of our high performance swimming program.
June 11, 2009
Dear Friends,
It is with sadness and a profound sense of loss, that I tell you today of the passing of our great and good friend, Richard Quick, last night in Austin. (June 10)
I feel this deeply as a very personal loss, as I know Richard as a close and personal friend. It is one measure of his life that I take comfort in knowing that LEGIONS of people around the world, consider Richard to be the same in their lives. If indeed a man's measure is the consideration of what he leaves behind, then Richard was one of us who leaves the greatest of treasure, an admiring and grateful throng of people who considered him, "a close and personal friend." Each of us have specific and individual memories of Richard that we personally cherish. For me, his constant admonition to begin each meeting and later to evaluate each meeting, by the simple measure of "in this meeting, lets make every action for the benefit of those we serve, THE ATHLETES", to be one of his most profound, lasting and inspirational thoughts.
Richard is a great coach, a great leader, selfless in service to his sport and all who participated in it, and most importantly, a man who loved his family and his friends, and let all of us know it.
I will sit with my athletes tonight and tell them about Richard, what he meant to all who knew him and what a difference one committed man can make in the world. And I know that many other coaches around the world today, will do the same.
Our loss is deep and lasting. More importantly, what he has left us, will endure forever as we pass it on to our colleagues and friends, in his name.
With love and respect, I say "GODSPEED, Richard, And PEACE."
John Leonard
Leadership in American Swimming through Education, Certification, Collaboration
TO: All American Swimming Coaches Association Member Coaches
Legal recommendations from a number of cases in recent years have made this very clear..."massage" is on the slippery slope to perceived or real sexual misconduct. It is not a part of coaching. Please take heed and govern yourself accordingly. JL
The SwimSuit/Doping War. Current Status Here are the facts:
Those are facts at this time. All the Best, John Leonard
Masters Swimmer Charlie Lydecker Takes on Olympian Ryan Lochte and Comes Out a Winner Five years ago, Daytona Beach Community College decided it would become a four-year college and changed its name to Daytona State College. With an enhanced academic offering, college President Dr. Kent Sharples wanted to expand the college's sports offering as well. Dr. Sharples announced in the winter of 2008 that Daytona State College would be starting men's and women's swimming in the fall of 2009. Monumental to this decision was the hiring of Head Coach Steve Lochte. Coach Steve is the head coach of Daytona Beach Swimming, which includes an age-group team of more than 300 year-round swimmers and a Masters program of more than 100. Coach Steve is one of USA's most respected coaches, having produced numerous All-Americans and Olympic Trials qualifiers, and is also the father and coach of 2004 and 2008 Olympian Ryan Lochte. Charlie Lydecker is a 45-year old Daytona Beach Masters swimmer. Professionally, he is executive vice president for Brown & Brown, a national commercial insurance broker headquartered in Daytona Beach. Charlie was a four-year competitive swimmer at American University and really thrives in open water competitions. When not flying around the country for business, Charlie can be found at the YMCA pool or the beach training with the other Daytona Beach Masters swimmers and lifeguards. Charlie is also fondly recognized as one of Daytona Beach's greatest community ambassadors. He gives generously of his time and money to many causes each year in Daytona Beach. "We were looking for some PR buzz with the new college swim team," stated Steve Lochte. "The idea of Charlie taking on Ryan in a 200 IM was more of a ‘Wow, wouldn't that be cool' for our local swimming community to see. We thought we could tie it into the new college swim team and maybe raise a few dollars for Daytona State College." Little did any of them know that the Lydecker vs. Lochte Splashdown would become one of the most successful promotions ever seen in the sport of swimming. "Our initial thought was if we worked really hard and networked, we might be able to raise $25,000," said Lydecker. "When word started to get out in January of this event, the Lydecker vs. Lochte Splashdown, there was this unbelievable ground swell of interest. Ryan is from Daytona Beach. He graduated for Port Orange high school. Charlie is so incredibly respected and has given a lot to Daytona. You had two magnetic personalities that everyone liked," continued Coach Steve. Daytona State College got fully behind the event. The university graphics and marketing department developed a Splashdown logo. A promotional poster of the two athletes wearing swim caps and goggles facing each other much like a boxing promotion was also developed. Volunteers placed several thousand of the posters around town. They did media interviews, raising awareness. Tickets were being sold at $100 apiece. The experience would include complimentary buffet dinner from Stonewood Grill & Tavern (where Lydecker is vice chairman of the board), autograph and photography signing with each athlete and of course a ticket to watch the two battle in a 200 IM. Rowdy Gaines was brought in to serve as the master of ceremonies. And Rob Butcher, USMS executive director and a Daytona Beach native, was also brought in to generate enthusiasm. "At the end of February, we'd sold 200-tickets," said Coach Steve. "Give a lot of credit to Charlie. He was calling everyone he knew getting their support and asking them to make contributions. And here he is 20 years older than Ryan, taking on one of the world's greatest swimmers in his prime." With each week getting closer, the ticket sales and donations just kept going higher. "Our pool area only seats 500 and we ended up selling nearly 900 tickets, raising more than $150,000. We put chairs along the pool deck and had standing room only," said Coach Steve. The college is applying for a matching state grant that would take the total tally to more than $300,000: an incredible sum of money for the sport of swimming! As for the swim, Charlie, a terrific open water swimmer and winner of Escape from Alcatraz, was given a 15-second head start. When Masters swimmer and starter Anne Grahams gave Charlie the go, the crowd erupted. It was so loud in the pool, Ryan couldn't hear when he was to go and had to visually watch the starter's strobe. For 175 yards, Charlie Lydecker was in the lead. Going into the last turn, Ryan was about half a body length behind. Ryan flipped and put in his patented underwater porpoise kick to pass Charlie with 10 yards to go. The two finished nearly identical at the wall and gave each other high fives. Ryan's time read 1:49, but they both knew this night was something special. It was much more than a 45-year-old Masters swimmer taking on one of the greatest swimmers in the world. It was a victory for everything good about swimming. "That was by far one of the most fun things I've ever done," said Ryan. "I've been around a lot of swimming and I'm not sure I've ever seen anything like this. The crowd was electric and I think more people were actually cheering for Charlie," said Rowdy Gaines. "I'm so proud of Charlie for representing Masters swimming," said Rob Butcher. "I also think this event, and the success it had raising money, can serve as a template for other college university programs across the country." Charlie Lydecker wrapped it up so well: "The real winner here is swimming and future generations. I applaud Daytona State College for starting a new team. The Daytona Beach Swim Team and the Masters team greatly supported this event. Many in the community who may never have been exposed to swimming got to be part of a great show." Asked about a rematch, Lydecker, who contributed $10,000, said he wished he would have thrown in another $1,000 for an extra second. For more of a recap on the Lydecker vs. Lochte Splashdown, visit www.daytonabeachswimming.org.
To: Rules and Regulations Committee (Bruce Stratton, Chair) Dear Bruce, The ASCA would like to submit the following legislation to the process for September 2009 consideration. page 28, Rulebook. Item 102.9 – (Change to the following) Swimsuits worn for all 12 and under age group defined competition and for all 13 and older competition serving athletes below the Level of national A time standards shall be: for Males, knees to navel coverage only. For Females, Hips to Shoulder coverage, only. Purpose: In order to maximize the accessibility of the sport to people of all financial means, we want to limit swimsuits to the most basic design in the developmental levels of the sport, (as defined by both age and performance levels). Limiting design will also limit costs. In addition, we believe that at the age group/developmental level, improvement in the athletes performance should come from increasing athleticism, learning with attention to detail and appropriate training, without technical elements of swimsuit design adding to the enhancement of improvement. Bruce, thank you for including this proposal in the packet of legislation to be considered. All the Best, John Leonard
What’s Up With The Suits? OK, here we go. There is good news, OK news, some bad news as well. First, I was privileged to be part of the FINA Swimsuit manufacturers meeting and a FINA organizational meeting that preceeded it, near the end of February in Lausanne. I was one of three coaching representative, along with Alan Thompson, National Team Director for Australia and FINA Coaches Commission Secretary, and Osvaldo Arsenio of Argentina, Coaches Commission Chair. The athletes were represented by Janet Evans, Athletes Commission Chair, and Alex Popov, who used to swim some sprint freestyle before the new suits came along. I can report to you with absolute certainty that the coaches and athletes were on the exact same page with regard to all issues relating to the suits, at that meeting and since. It is fair to characterize that the athletes and coaches have the most conservative position in the room with regard to the suits. Good news, that FINA invited us to be in the room, good news that they listen to coaches and athletes very carefully, good news that they adopt many of the things that coaches and athletes recommend, bad news that “you don’t always get EVERYTHING you want” (with apologies to Mr. Jagger.) Here is the scenario as it exists today:
And if you’re going to court, you’d better be able to PROVE your points, with scientific measurement. So here is where the “purists” will be unhappy. We cannot fix all that we “know” that the suits do to enhance the performance, because scientific tests do not exist to measure all that we know. (I’ll return to that later.) By the way, I consider myself, at heart, a “purist” and proud to be so. But I am an utter pragmatist when it comes to courts, and lawsuits. So, with those preliminaries out of the way, what’s going to happen? PHASE ONE – We will have real testing against set standards by an independent tester. Hoorah! Almost as good. FINA has banned all wearing of more than one suit. Hoorah! In Phase One – suits will be a maximum of 1 MM thick. This will eliminate a few of the existing suits. Phase one will affect the Rome World Championships this summer. The situation will be “a bit better”. PHASE TWO – will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2010. Both Coaches and Athletes Commission sent near identical requests to the FINA Executive for even stronger regulation than was adopted here. We didn’t get all we wanted. But we got some. Big Thanks to Janet Evans for her passion and voice on this. After conversations with Cornel Marculescu today, it appears that in addition to the above from Phase one, the phase two restrictions will include:
Phase Three – No date has been set yet for a third evaluation of the changes made by Phase One and Phase two, but Cornel assures that the intent is to give it a little time to fairly evaluate what we have achieved with rule changes in Phases one and two, and then, with a nod to the manufacturing cycle, decide if and what changes should be made in Phase three rules. (projecting, it is likely this evaluation will take place post world championships in 2010) What has NOT been addressed so far?
While it is unclear what role if any, compression has on physiological effectiveness of muscle cells, what is completely clear to any athlete and most coaches, is that compression is very effective in limiting and reducing the amount of “body fatigue and body line failure” in the last ¼ of races. A simple study of the 110 world record splits in 2008, shows over 70% with dramatic improvements in the 4th quarter of the race in contrast with previous (non-tech suits) world records. Simply put, the suits are holding the body line together and reducing resistance when the normal body fatigues, “sags” and loses its ability to hold the correct low resistance position in the latter stages of the race. Now here, we have the classic example. We know this is true, but we cannot prove it in any way that is going to stand up in court. My personal quest for 2009 and 2010 will be to find a scientist with a reliable test for how to measure compression values in a swimsuit, so we can take it to the independent lab for analysis and a new rule to be introduced in Phase three. But for the time being, it is a bit of “enhancement” that we cannot prove well enough to take to court when FINA is sued. So we do not create a rule that we cannot enforce. Botttom Line: Let me be clear about this. I am a purist in the most absolute sense. I want to see us swim in jammers for men and hip to shoulder suits for women, with no compression to speak of in either. In phase one, we won’t get there. FINA is moving in the correct direction, and in the correct way. It is a pointless and indefensible position to set in place dramatic rules rolling the sport back to 1999 when it would alienate all the traditional partners who contribute over $100 Million a year to coaches, athletes, federations and FINA and support our sport, AND wind up resulting in lawsuits from manufacturers whom we have mis-treated by pulling the rug out from under their products so quickly as to leave them insolvent. A staged, systematic roll-back to the level we decide is correct is the proper way to treat people, treat companies and treat each other. And that is exactly what FINA has put in place. I will continue to put forth ideas that will be able to be scientifically tested by the independent lab as a way to combat “enhancement” properties of swimsuits. I am certain that the lab and FINA will give each proposal due and proper consideration. It is critical that athletes as well as coaches work collaboratively with FINA to give their ideas...but also to keep in mind that it is not what you “know”, its what you scientifically measure, that will keep you out of trouble in a court of law. FINA has done a fine job of walking that line. My personal thanks to FINA volunteer leadership and the professional leadership of Cornel Marculescu, for moving forward on this issue within the first 12 month period when this issue came to the fore. That willingness to quickly address the issue and consult strongly with its partners, the coaches and the athletes, and implement a solution, speaks very well of the FINA organization. The blame for eight years of heading in the wrong direction can be placed by those who enjoy the blame game. When the ultimate overflow of bad reviews came about in 2008, FINA jumped to solve the problem. That’s real progress. If you are old enough to remember other era’s and other problems, this is a great leap forward. At least one of my very good friends will label me a “FINA Apologist” for these comments. I reject that idea. No one in the world has been more critical of FINA at various times in the last two decades than myself. But when an organization does its best to Your comments are welcome at JLeonard@swimmingcoach.org All the Best, John Leonard
Its Hard Times.....the Right Time to Raise Your Game. Each of you know that your families are facing hard times. They are making CHOICES every day about how to spend their dollars. If you want to keep those families in swimming, you need to provide top value of all their youth activities, to keep ‘em coming back to swimming. One of the most critical areas in providing value, is communicating with and educating the parents as to the nature of our sport. ASCA wants to help you. We want to provide you with a one page email each week that you can hit “forward” on your computer and send instantaneously to your entire roster of families. That one page will be “Swim Parent Newsletter” and it will educate them about all of the issues that you and they know come up in the course of a swimming career. (I’ll bet some of what we have covered may even be new areas of consideration for some coaches!) You know the true-ism...if you say, they half listen....but it sounds self-serving....if an expert says it, its gospel. And the ASCA is a great expert when it comes to educating parents about our sport. The cost? Just $25.00 annually for each ASCA Member. You can distribute this to your entire roster each time, or, if you’re not sure you Swim Parent Newsletter will be in your email box each Monday morning for your use, with something new. One issue, one article, per week. Here’s the link. All the Best, John Leonard , ASCA Executive Director
Fellows ‘09: Call for Applicants Applications are now available for the 2009 Fellows program. Each year the American Swimming Coaches Association selects a small group of coaches to serve a year of fellowship working on a project with a mentor: the Fellows. The program’s aim is to identify and begin educating the future coach leaders of our sport. As such, ASCA Fellows are typically young coaches with a passionate interest in improving American swimming. The fellowship year is a year of education and action. The education portion begins in early September with an intensive “clinic-within-the-clinic” held at the start of the ASCA World Clinic. The Fellows clinic will begin on Monday night (9/7/09) and run through Wednesday (09/09/09), with additional sessions later on in the week--so plan to attend the 2009 World Clinic, as well, which goes through Saturday (9/12/09). The 2009 ASCA World Clinic will be September 8-13, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The action portion of the program consists of working on and completing a project. Each Fellow, under the direction of the ASCA staff and Board of Directors, completes a project during the Fellows year (from the 2009 World Clinic to the 2010 World Clinic). For a second year, the 2009 Fellows project will focus on the ASCA/ College Swimming Coaches Association of America initiative called “Preserve, Protect & Expand NCAA Swim Programs” (PP&E for short). Coaches interested in applying for the Fellows 2009 Class may obtain an application by contacting ASCA Staff member Matt Hooper via email at mhooper@swimmingcoach.org or by phone at 1-800-356-2722. Questions can also be directed to Matt, as well. Application deadline for the 2009 Fellows Class is: Tuesday, March 17, 2009.
ASCA
HALL OF FAME 2009 The American Swimming Coaches Association is proud to announce the members of the coaching profession who will be inducted into the ASCA Coaches Hall of Fame on Friday, Sept. 11, 2009, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at the ASCA World Clinic Awards Dinner.. Coach Bill Wadley, Chair of the Hall of Fame Committee, announces the following newest members: Coach Ron Ballatore – UCLA (and others) Coach Bob Gillett – Arizona Desert Fox (and others) Coach Peter Malone – Kansas City Blazers Coach Jack Nelson – Fort Lauderdale Swim Team (and others) Coach Dick Shoulberg - Germantown Academy, PA. We invite friends of the above great coaches to plan now to attend the Induction Ceremony on Sept. 11, 2009. Congratulations
to all of the new members of the ASCA Hall of Fame. (look for
bio and other materials to be posted to the Hall of Fame section
of this website in the next six months.)
The "Swim
Quick Day” Needs You! Valentine’s Day, Saturday February 14, 2009 is being appropriately promoted as a “Swim Quick Day” for the purpose of raising money in the fight against cancer and for committing our emotional energy toward the healing of ourfriend Richard Quick. Coach Quick is battling an aggressive brain tumor that entered the wrong body, because if anyone can resist it’s damage, Richard can.
2. We can prove to ourselves what Richard already knows and has taught his swimmers for years: the mind and it’s emotional content can change anything if we focus hard enough on a specific task. This will be a day to swim concentrating on our love and well wishes for Richard Quick. If computers can run on “wireless” Richard will feel our energy as will the invasion into his body!
Swimming
Fast in Practice Looking back in the history of swimming, one piece of the picture is remarkably clear. Over time, the percentage of time that serious athletes have trained at close to race pace, has dramatically increased. Accurate reports from the 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and 50’s will show that only rarely in practice, did athletes come close to race pace swimming in training. During the 60’s and early 70’s distance was king and coaches compared notes about how much yardage they put in each day (and probably told a few whoppers along the way....) which resulted in an escalating distance war.....but the fact is, in the USA, training two hours before school and about 3 hours after school is about all anyone can do....if there is homework to done, meals to be eaten, etc. Now 5 hours a day, divided by a very fast 12 minutes per 1000 yards average, and you are going to top out quickly at 25,000 per day. (Reports tell us that 20K per day was not uncommon...but 25K might be the absolute tops.) Now once that practical limit of 20K a day is reached, how do you “improve” by changing the stress? Naturally, you swim faster. What are the consequences of 20K a day? A few that coaches and athletes experienced were mental fatigue with the sport (is that burnout?) physical fatigue and an inability to get to race speed very often for events shorter than a 1500, and of course at some point, the body (usually the shoulder....) goes into rebellion and biomechanics of even slightly flawed strokes taken over 20K a day takes its toll. Meanwhile, our international rivals in the old Eastern Bloc countries, especially East Germany, were kicking our butt during the 70’s and 80’s. Coaches in the USA beat up on each other about “what are we doing wrong”. Over time, we heard the East Germans say, “we train harder than anyone”. And a few Eastern Bloc coaches and scientists came to our ASCA Clinics and talked to us of “accelerated methods of recovery” and related topics. Still, we didn’t get the full picture. Then we watched many of their best athletes do a meet warmup at major international competitions that consisted of 30 minutes of stretching, a 100 stretch out in the pool and a couple of very fast 25’s or 121/2s and get out! What did that mean? Eventually, we came to the realization that our rivals were beating us by training far more INTENSELY (more yardage at race pace or faster) and far less VOLUME, than we were doing in the USA. The “scratch your head” part of this was that every American Coach knew that more intense work fatigued swimmers faster than long, steady, smooth distance training. And when you did train intensely, it took longer to recover than it did from those 20K a day sessions of low intensity. So how were they doing it. By the late 80’s our suspicions were confirmed definitively. The entire eastern bloc, led by a magnificently efficient system in the old East Germany, were using drugs to recover more quickly beyond the ability of the human body without drugs to do so. So they could do “more intense work, more frequently, than their rivals in the west.” Then the eastern bloc shattered at the end of the 1980’s. And only China emerged in the 90’s as progeny of the old East Germany, though they were much less perfect in their doping execution than the East Germans. (that is another long story of its own....) Scattered others used drugs but the day of an entire section of the world using something that others were not using was over. Meanwhile, an interesting development and experiment was taking place.....in various clubs, universities and training situations around the USA, in reaction to the “limits” imposed by American society on the 20K a day training methodology, various coaches began experimenting with the idea of increasing the amount of race pace training in their training plans. The same experimentation was going on in the land down under, our rivals in Australia. Surprisingly, over time, we can deduce that today, many world-class programs do MORE intense work than the old East Germans did in the 70’s and 80’s or the Chinese in the 90’s. (more in terms of percentage of training at race pace and above.) How can that be? Is the entire world on drugs now? I think not. But coaches have learned that we can expect MORE in terms of high performance in practice, than we thought we could, and recover in time to do it more frequently during the course of the week. ALL of the old doped records are gone.....beaten by (we hope) clean swimmers of today. (OK, so some of todays records might be compromised also...but no where near as many as in the past.) With few in the world doing the 20K a day training efforts, we have swum faster. We are stronger, faster, and we train HARDER than ever before. We hear of the “magic number” of 14K a day now, for swimmers ranging from sprinters (100/200) up through the milers. And a large percentage of that 14K is now done at velocities much closer to race pace. And a significant percentage of that 14K is done at FASTER than race pace. Athletes eat better, rest more and have learned to recover faster. And maybe, we have learned that some of the limitations we assumed from the past in terms of what athletes are capable of, were self-imposed limitations. What are the “magic percentages” of race pace work? They perhaps vary from coach to coach, program to program, time in the season to time in the season, but they are significant. Much more work is done at the edge of aerobic/anaerobic interactions than ever before. And more is being done at velocities that are beyond that which will happen during the race. Why this last? Why faster than race pace? One of the key bio-mechanical and physiological interactions that we now recognize is that as body velocity increases, the ability to streamline the body and get it out of the way of the water in front of it, is critical to continuing to increase speed. When we train at race speed “plus”, we teach the body to get out of the way of the water. Many coaches use fins, paddles, assisted towing, etc. to stimulate the body to “learn” by feel, how to retain its least resistant shapes. Now what does this mean if you are an age group coach today and you are preparing an athlete for the next stage in their development? Some things DO NOT CHANGE....first, Biomechanics (good stroke technique) comes first. We have to learn to swim slowly WELL, first, then swim faster with good technique. Then FAST with good technique and then, “race pace PLUS” with good technique. But the first job of an age group coach is teaching good technique. Second, laying down a good endurance base between the ages of 10-14 for girls, and 12-16 for boys, is critical. And again, this is not about long, slow swimming. Its about developing the ability to swim faster on less rest. Slow 1000s won’t do this. The ability to “cruise” (to use an old term) on less rest is critical. If your cruise speed is 100’s on 1:09 (on a 1:20 base) today, six months from now, you’re trying to be 1:07 or 08 on a 1:15 base, etc. Timeout: remember, the world record pace in the 1500 for men now is 57 seconds plus per 100 meters. Is that slow swimming? No, there is no “slow swimming” in races anymore. Finally, whether you are training 8 and unders, or training senior swimmers, fast swimming in practice is how today’s elite athletes are improving their racing skills. The major issue with young swimmers is that they are typically in “horrible” physical condition when you get them. They may NEVER have moved fast in their lives....you will have to teach them to be BETTER athletes, which means better limb speeds on land and especially, in the water. The ability to move LEGS in kicking and arms in pulling, and the ability to maintain body “integrity” (good body position) are all muscular and endurance components for young swimmers. Each day, they need some work at race effective speed and pace. For most of these young swimmers, that means some time per stroke cycle work in the 1.0 to 1.6 seconds per stroke range. Slower than that, and they won’t race well, faster than that and they won’t hold the water well. Of course, no matter what age the athlete, no radical or sudden changes will work out well. First, understand how much actual yardage per day/week/month, you are doing at race pace, or above race pace (or both). Next, very gradually increase those percentages. How much is gradual? Probably 5% per week is acceptable. Next you will want to know, increase until what percentage of practice is at or above race pace. Good question. Enjoy the challenge of deciding that for yourself. Consult with those you admire in terms of how their teams swim. Decide where todays “box” of accepted practices is...and then decide if you want to stay “within the box” or go outside the box. Remember, nothing GREAT was ever achieved by staying inside someone else’s box of expectations. Do you want GREAT, or will you settle for Good? All the Best for Great Coaching.
Why
An Elite Athlete in Swimming Should Want The Focus on Themselves
and Not on Technology. The Olympic Sport of Swimming has always been characterized by one outstanding feature...it is FAIR. Athletes line up next to each other, each having prepared as well as possible for the “big moment”. They have abided by the rules of the game, done their legal best to be ready to give all they have to give in pursuit of personal excellence and achievement. Then the gun goes off, great performances ensue and accolades follow...and the next morning in the paper, a substantial amount of the credit goes to a swimsuit company? This radical change in the sport, dating from January 2008, is perverting the entire outlook of our sport for the future. No longer will the athlete who has trained the hardest, learned skills the best, steeled their nerves best to the demands of high level competition, necessarily win the race. Instead, superior suit technology, produced by research and development by scientists in labs, likely determine the winners. Worse, not all suits are equal. The “fitted suit”, made specifically for the individual athlete and their body, is a far superior innovation compared to the “off the shelf model” of the same suit that is tried on by myriad athletes before one decides “this fits well enough”. In point of fact, there is considerable debate in scientific terms of whether a non-fitted technical swimsuit is in fact better than good fitting older suits. This means that 99% of the athletes competing at the World Championships are at a disadvantage to the few athletes who are indeed measured as the prototypes of the suits. A serious disadvantage. The next consideration is the issue of where praise SHOULD lie. Does the sport want praise to be for the money to develop new technology, or old-fashioned hard work, attention to detail and competition hardened experience? Next, every child-swimmer wants to “be like Mike” and the other international heroes of our sport. They will naturally ask their parents to spend $300-600 for a technical suit and many, not wanting to be seen as “bad mommies or daddies” will capitulate, at least once....(or until they discover that the suits have a very limited useful shelf-life...who wants to spend $500 for a 12 year old that will be useful for a dozen swims? pretty expensive swims!) The more subtle and much more destructive influence will be on those athletes whose parents cannot possibly afford a suit of that expense. Now their children are relegated in large part to the back of the pack, the essential “fairness” of the sport is lost, and children will leave the sport in DROVES, if success in swimming is now perceived to be something you can BUY for your child. The fine-tuned sense of fairness of the child will immediately see that winning can be purchased. And they already know who’s parents have all the money. The Olympic Sport of Sailing has it right. Every Olympic Sailor sails the exact same boat. The emphasis is on the skill and abilities of the sailor. Swimming needs to change its rules to eliminate high tech suits and keep the emphasis of our sport where it has always been...on the effort, skill and preparation of the athlete. Ski jumping is the same case. Years ago, commercial companies started making jump suits that acted like sails...the governing body said “NO” loudly and firmly and now regulates the suits that jumpers may wear. The athlete, not the attire, is the focus of the performance. The argument has been made that if the companies can’t sell these high tech suits, they can’t afford to financially support the athletes. This is nonsense. They supported athletes before the new tech suits came out, they support them now, with the suits limited NOT FOR SALE and only available to the world-level athletes, and they will support athletes in the future because they need the elite athletes to endorse their product, in order to gain marketing advantage. Mr. Phelps could endorse a burlap bag if it had a Logo on it, and still be richly rewarded by the company and should be. Finally, our swimming athletes should realize that vast numbers of golfers and tennis players are sponsored by equipment companies, despite the fact that equipment in both sports are strictly regulated. The commercial companies need the endorsement of swimming’s top athletes just as they do in every other sport. All existing records and results should be unaffected by a change in these rules since they conformed to the rules existant at the time of performance. The latest nonsense is that Parents or Companies will “sue” someone if they create rules that retain a level equipment field. This is utter nonsense. Most every sport regulates equipment. Do you see parents suing little league so their kids can wear metal spikes? Any governing body has every right to decide on appropriate attire and equipment and enforce those rules. Where do we want the emphasis in our sport? On the manufacturers or the athlete? Please support the roll-back on suit rules to an earlier, simpler suit for men and women. John
Leonard
Tech
Suits – The State of the Debate The University of Texas, less than 24 hours before its big December meet, does not have its new suit shipment. Many Universities are told they may or may not get suits by February for the conference champs, leaving the opening that some will...and some won’t. Some will qualify in super-suits and some will wear old technology. The CSCAA pleads with the NCAA Swim Committee to put the new suits on hold once again until the mess is sorted out...and the NCAA Committee is slow to respond. CSCAA
President George Kennedy takes the principled stand that their
team will not compete in the new suits. Rumors are rife (and some confirmation) that a suit is on the way that gives bio-feedback to the wearer to reduce or remove the feelings of pain. And its supported by 100 million dollars worth of work by a major pharmaceutical company, which clearly can benefit from a “no-pain” suit. At age group meets across the world, high tech suits appear, making in some cases a totally unfair competition between the “haves” and the “have-nots” and in other cases provide comic relief as mommies with more money than sense buy suits that “you can grow into” for their little darlings, and watch as they flounder in the $500 potato sack. Coaches, happy for years to accept the support check from the swimsuit company that helps put food on their family’s table, find themselves in an terrible dilemna...they know the suits are bad for the sport, but the checks are good for their bank accounts. National Federations, with millions on the line in sponsorships, face the exact same challenge....oppose the suits, but how to support the companies who are their sponsors? And the companies just did what they are paid to do...make money and make faster suits to do it. Where
does the fault lie? With FINA. The terrible bottom line...CHAOS in the sport of swimming. Now, Cornel Marculescu at FINA (Executive Director) is not convinced that this “issue” is not just a few American Coaches and Forbes Carlile arguing against the suits. (Dinosaurs in the muck.) The ASCA is working daily to make sure that the WORLD impressions of need for change goes to Cornel. You can all express your opinion by emailing Cornel at office@fina.org . Feel free to tell him that I recommended that you write. (that will make me popular in Lausanne!) So far, USA-Swimming President Jim Wood has stepped up to make sure that FINA knows that the USA favors a review and change in the rules, and the USA has submitted relevant proposals for rule changes to be submitted to the FINA Congress next July. The USA has taken the lead in this argument in every way, starting with the ASCA Board position in September, 2008. Signing on in support have been the Head Coaches of Germany, Russia, and Slovenia, with Australia and Canada promising written support by the end of the year. Many other nations are debating their stance on the issue now. Domestically, Southern California and Indiana so far have passed suit legislation even stronger than the legislation we were able to get passed restricting the use of the suit to 13 and overs at the USA-S Convention in September. More LSC’s will likely follow. In January, 2009, FINA will host a Coaches Conference in Singapore, of which i will have the opportunity to play a role in both managing the conference and shaping the debates on issues ranging from the suits to the World Competition calendar. In praise of FINA, its the first real opportunity for FINA to listen to its coaching group and we hope for a real discussion and communication. Also in January, the FINA Technical Swimming Committee will meet in Miami and will review the USA-Swimming proposal on the suits. We can hope for their support. In February, 2009, FINA will meet with the swimsuit manufacturers...and hopefully will have a broad imperative to change the existing rules. We shall see, post that meeting, where things stand. This is a battle for the soul of our sport. Shall it continue to be about hard work, attention to detail and athleticism, or shall it deteriorate into a soul-less contest of engineering expertise. Is it sport, or is it commerce? Let
FINA know where you stand. Cornel Marculescu – office@fina.org,
President Mustapha Larfaoui – fax 213-21-740-096 (Algeria),
Treasurer Dr. Julio Maglione – fax: 598-2-902-4071
How
high throughput methods could revolutionize drug testing in
sport Did you see the new television show “Life on Mars”? The main character is a police detective who is transported back in time from 2008 to 1973. During an investigation the main character asks his 1973 fellow-police detectives how long it will take to find out if fingerprints from a crime scene match any records in the database. One 1973 detective replies that it will take about 2 weeks. While the 2008 detective is thinking that two weeks is an incredibly long time and in 2008 it would only take a few hours, the second 1973 detective interjects that it’s amazing what technology can do to get the results back so quickly. As with crime detection, quick accurate results in sports drug testing can dramatically improve the odds of catching the bad guys. This fictional story reminds us that technologies we take for granted today were beyond the realm of science fiction only 30 years ago. What does this have to do with drug testing in sport? Methods that are currently available for testing biological samples to identify genes, proteins, and many other substances were beyond imagination 30 years ago. The classical approach in biology and medicine has been to test for one substance in one sample at a time. Tweaking the testing protocols might allow for increased throughput, i.e. faster sample processing, for testing for one substance in as many as 20 or 30 samples at one time. These methods were standard in the 1950’s through the early 1990’s. The convergence of increased computing power, implementation of stringent quality controls on reagents for testing, development of specialized software tools and machines in the late 1990’s has led to the development of methodologies that allow for testing of hundreds and even thousands of substances in a single sample. In addition, these new technologies allow for analysis of hundreds of samples at once and require very small amounts of sample material. That is, using today’s technologies it is feasible to analyze samples from a few hundred individuals quantifying hundreds or thousands of substances at one time. And even though the current methods require much less sample material from each individual, the results are far more precise than previous methods. Because samples can be run in parallel, using less sample material and less time, these new technologies have dramatically reduced the cost of sample analysis for each substance from dollars to pennies and reduced the time to analyze samples from weeks to days. In addition to more rapid testing and analysis, these new capabilities provide a “profile” on the thousands of genes or proteins in a sample and this profile is extremely sensitive to substances such as cigarette smoke and prescription drugs to name a few. This profile, which has been referred to as a physiological profile or a “physiological passport”, provides a detailed physiological fingerprint for each individual. Consequently, these new technologies allow us to not only ask: Do we find evidence of “Banned Substance X” in the sample from this athlete? But also allow us to ask: Do we see changes in a person’s physiological profile that suggests use of a banned substance? In an era when some cheaters are collaborating with chemists for access to the latest designer steroid or growth hormone rather than using “Banned Substance X”, the availability of testing methods that identify abnormal profiles without prior knowledge of all substances currently in use by cheaters is a powerful tool. Biomedical scientists and clinicians transitioned to high throughput methods more than 7 years ago; maybe it’s time to increase the odds of catching the cheaters and leave behind the decades’ old approaches for drug testing in sport. If not, it’s just “Life on Mars” for clean athletes.
What
Swimsuits to Wear, When and By Whom: The array of swimsuits now on the market are daunting to parent, athlete and coach alike. Throughout history, marketing has mixed with design to first make suits that covered less and less, and now to make suits that cover more and more of the human body, under the assumption that certain engineered fabrics move more easily through the water than human skin. And in the works since early in 2008, suits that cover large portions of the body in order to control, via resiliant panels, the sort of “body line deterioration” that always results when an athlete tires. And along the way of course, the manufacturers have raised the prices of all suits to astronomical levels, where the top suit on the market now costs more than the average age group swimmer pays to practice for the entire year. So what is “suitable” for what athlete in what situation? Here’s a guide for coaches: At the Novice Level......regardless of age.....the emphasis in our sport should be on learning to swim the strokes correctly, which includes maintaining good body position in the water unaided by a high-tech swimsuit. The appropriate suit? The simplest competitive suit made by any of the manufacturers. Good fit is important. Snug, simple, basic. Encourage parents not to purchase suits that athletes will “grow into”...by the time they do so, the suit will be exhausted and in need of replacement. A good suit will last the ordinary age grouper about 3 months if worn to both practice and swim meets. More if a suit is only worn to swim meets. These should be “minimal coverage suits”...for boys, knee to navel, or less, females, Shoulder straps to hips. (not over the shoulder suits.) Many boys, especially those new to the sport, will balk at using the old style small “Speedo”. They want the jammers to the knee. This is about modesty and societal associations.....good to go with the Jammers, mon. At the elite age group level, coaches should still ENCOURAGE athletes to wear “normal suits” with a good fit, with the same coverage rules as above. The longer into their careers that the athlete can improve without the “silver bullet” of “suit enhancement”, the better. At certain zone level competitions, its possible that coaches will begin seeing a majority of “technical suits” of various types. Some actually work, some are just placebo effect improvements from the hype of putting on a new suit. At this level, the coach has to make a choice as to the effect of having their athlete wear their “normal suit” while the competition is in something exotic. This is a tough area. Remember that chances are, once the suit comes off in the next meet, times may slip back to where they were previous to the “super suit swim”. This can be tough to handle for the athlete, the parent and thus, the coach. The temptation will be for Mom or Dad to say “little Susie is soooo disappointed in her time...why don’t we let her wear the super-dooper suit all the time?” What Mom may not realize is that that $300-$500 dollar swimsuit may only be effective for 6-12 swims. Then it becomes a very expensive bag of water. And now Susie needs a new suit every two meets...or maybe that means twice a month. Gee, the sport suddenly got very expensive! Coaches, keep the children out of the “super suits” as long as possible! And when they do wear it, remind them that there is difference in their performance levels and once it comes off, their times may not be the same as with it on. So where IS it appropriate to wear that Super Suit? Well, Olympic Trials sounds good. Senior and Junior Nationals sounds likely. If the times at Seniors set the qualifying times for Seniors, the athlete may have to use the suit to Qualify for Nationals, at the Regional Meet. Maybe not. The ordinary club meet, Junior Olympics for accomplished swimmers? Ordinary high school meet? I’d recommend you stay in your “normal” suit. High School State Championships? If you’re a senior, you probably are going to wear the best thing you have, which may be the super suit. If you’re a junior, can you live with wearing your “normal suit?” The key to remember here is that once you put on the Super Suit, you are likely to now establish two standards for yourself...your best time WITH the suit and your best time WITHOUT the suit. These suits work well. Most of us, including this writer, would like to see them banned from all competition, so the emphasis in our sport stays on the athlete and their hard work, dedicatio and attention to learning. But while they are still legal, you, whether a new age group coach or an experienced professional, have a lot of challenges to face and decisions to make. Chose wisely. JL Disquieting
Thoughts...Fallout from the Great Swimsuit Debate of 2008 I’m proud that the ASCA Board took a firm stance opposed to the use of the new high tech swimsuits introduced in 2008 at its most recent Board Meeting in September of 2008. I’m gratified that the Board asked me to work on solving this issue in a reasonable way. I’m happy that the USA Swimming House of Delegates voted to restrict, in a “beginning” sort of way at its most recent meeting in Atlanta in Sept. I’m delighted that various Local Swimming Committees of USA Swimming have chose to enact even more restrictive legislation within their own LSC since then. Its
nice to know that a very authoritative source tells me that
nearly 100% of Australian Coaches agree with us and want the
tech suits banned for all ages including internationals.
ASCA
Seeks Nominations for the 2009 Peter Daland Award The Daland Award Committee, chaired by USA-Swimming Head Coach and National Team Director Mark Schubert, is seeking nominations for the Daland Award for 2009. The Daland Award is presented to a coach who has made significant contributions to the governance of our sport, while at the same time contributing significantly to the international swimming success of the USA. The Award recognizes that coaches must not only coach, but must also lend their expertise to leading the administration of the sport. Nominations for this award should be sent to Coach Schubert at USASwimming@aol.com. Thank you in advance for your consideration of this request.
2008
ASCA Awards ASCA
Coach of the Year 2008
Age Group Coach of the Year Daland
Award Hall
of Fame Gold,
Silver, Bronze Awards of Excellence
Counsilman
Memorial Lecture Contributors Our thanks to the following individuals and organizations who have contributed to the financial success of the Doc Counsilman Memorial Lecture Fund. Additional contributions are sought and can be made payable to the Counsilman Memorial Lecture fund and sent to: Coach Bob Groseth, 2311 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL. 60208 . Credit card payments can be made by calling the ASCA office with the request at 800-356-2722. OUR
THANKS TO: And
the following individuals have donated by dedicating their speaking
fees at the world clinic to the Counsilman Fund:
04
vs 08 Trials Review American coaches did a terrific job preparing their athletes to swim their best at the Trials. Here are some comparisons between the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Trials. 2008 Review Improved Times
2004 Review Improved Times
ASCA
Awards of Excellence 2008 The
ASCA Awards of Excellences are bestowed annually to the coaches
who have swimmers reach the top-8 at various national championship-level
meets. The meets for 2008 are:
The
Big Home Run in Omaha You have heard, and will hear, a lot about the Omaha USA Swimming Olympic Trials that were held last week. Deservedly so. Lets hand out some big congratulations right now. Omaha is no longer “just a baseball town”. Its a swimming mecca. The town embraced the sport like nothing I can remember. Everywhere you went the man and woman on the street were totally in tune with the event. Including the guy in the quick stop that i hit every morning for my 5 AM Diet Coke....he asked me about the meet every day. The vision came from USA Swimming’s Executive Director Chuck Wielgus. The best “number two man” in the world, Mike Unger, enacted that vision, in cooperation with H2Omaha’s great director, Harold Cliff. Harold’s on-site leadership and direction caught just about every possible detail from the near perfect seating, to a fabulous warmup pool, to perfect “hosting” capabilities. The production of the meet was head and shoulders above any other swim meet I have ever attended anywhere in the world, including every Olympic Games and World Championships. If FINA wanted to see what swimming “can be”, they needed to be in Omaha. Sadly, they were not there, except for potential future FINA President Julio Maglione from Uruguay, for one day. The swimmers were remarkably fast, and letter-perfect in their media and crowd responses. Whether they triumphed like Katie and Michael, or suffered the fate of now four time 3rd place winner Hayley McGregory, they were fantastic with the fans, especially the children and portrayed our sport exactly as we all would wish it to be shown.....class people performing as elite athletes. The hotels were close, very nice, convenient and did i mention close? The restaurants were varied, close, very nice and did i mention close? The crowd was animated, excited, and due to a great venue, Close to the action. The warmup pool was huge, complete, and did i mention, close? (and convenient for the athletes and coaches. The city’s swim coaches, led by Docker Hartfield and Doug Krecklow of SwimOmaha, opened their practices to visiting swimmers from ages 8 to 48 and they came to practice by the dozens each day. Young swimmers could stay in shape while visiting for the Trials. Thanks guys. Much more will be said, and deserves to be. In the baseball city, this was a huge Home Run. Hit by Chuck Wielgus, Mike Unger and Harold Cliff. (and their staffs and sponsors.......) Congratulations Guys.......I left Long Beach 4 years ago saying “can’t top this”. I left Omaha Thinking (but not saying) the same thing. I know they will “make a way” to do so in four years. Thanks for the memories, Chuck, Mike, Harold and the City of Omaha! (yes, we would love to come back in four years!)
International
Swimming Hall of Fame “The International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) would like to invite you, the members of CSCAA and ASCA, to attend the 45th annual Toyota International Swimming Hall of Fame’s Honoree Induction Ceremony…..and we are making it easy by bringing the induction to you! Please join ISHOF Honorees and emcee’s Rowdy Gaines and Debbie Meyer on Sunday, July 6, at 1 pm at the Qwest Center in Omaha, located next to the pool. ISHOF is hosting this year’s induction during the USA Swimming Olympic Trials so we may bring this spectacular event to the largest gathering of coaches, athletes, Olympians, and fans of swimming! This is your chance to socialize with old friends, make new friends, celebrate and honor aquatic heroes, and show your support of the International Swimming Hall of Fame! As a Member of ASCA and/or the CSCAA, you will receive a 25% discount off the $100 luncheon price. In addition, your discounted $75 dollar ticket will include a one year membership to ISHOF. If you are currently already a member of ISHOF, you may attend the ceremony for a ticket price of only $50! To take advantage of this fabulous opportunity (and seats are limited), please contact Meg Keller-Marvin, as soon as possible at 954-474-7010, home office; (954) 815-7946 (cell) or via email at marvingardens840@comcast.net prior to June 27, 2008. This offer is good for advance ticket sales only! Tickets at the door are $100. Please consider attending this once in a lifetime event as we honor the greatest of the great! Please join us in honoring Honorees: Fred
Deburghgraeve (BEL) Honor Swimmer ** Melvin Stewart was inducted in 2002 but was unable to attend, so he will be honored this year Other Award being presented at luncheon will include: Al
Schoenfield Media Award: Rowdy Gaines
“What
Universities do is take in teenagers and turn them into people.” “What Universities do is take in teenagers and turn them into people.” “Ten years from now, how many of your students will use what they learned in calculus? But ten years from now, how many do you think will be using the lessons they learned in athletics? Hence the validity of athletics as a part of education”. “Thus, Universities should subsidize the cost of athletics. The question is, how much is enough?” If ever there was an NCAA President who “gets it”, its Dr. Myles Brand. A philosopher by trade, his address to the CSCAA told fundamental truths about the nature of NCAA sports, NCAA administration and NCAA politics of Olympic and Non-Olympic Sports. Dr. Brand urged college coaches to strongly and continuously promote their sport to the larger audience of University and community, and be the strongest possible advocates for the sport which contains true “student-athletes”. In very direct language, he told College Coaches to “fight for their sport”. In a later meeting with CSCAA, USA-Swimming and ASCA leadership, Dr. Brand agreed to support and push forward several proposals to strengthen collegiate swimming. We are grateful for his wisdom and support and are working now to bring these ideas to fruition. JL
5 Critical
Action Steps for Any College Coach TODAY Realize that your program and every program in the USA, need to be in “URGENT” mode, today and everyday, if you wish to Preserve, Protect and Expand Collegiate Swimming.
As in “just do this”. Make sure you clarify, simplify and justify the importance of your swim program to your University and Community.
Nominations
for the ASCA Board of Directors Election Now Being Accepted It's that time of year. The ASCA will elect 5 Board Members at its September World Clinic Business Meeting. Our current group of Board Members, whose term expires this fall are Bill Rose, Peter Malone, Jim Tierney, Bill Wadley and Richard Shipherd. Each is eligible to run again this fall, and we hope they will do so. If you would like to nominate someone for the ASCA Board, please obtain their permission to nomimate them first, then send to the ASCA office (either electronically to JLeonard@swimmingcoach.org) or snail mail to John Leonard, ASCA, 5101 NW 21st Ave. Suite 200, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309, the following information:
We will publicize all candidates on our website and at the World Clinic. Thank you. John Leonard
Time
(and Impetus) To Move Outside Our Comfort Box The latest and greatest Game Plan devised by the USA Swimming Staff under the wonderful leadership of Executive Director Chuck Wielgus sets an ambitious goal......”Build...Increase Membership. Goal: We seek to increase membership by at least 20% by 2012.” Two key strategies under this umbrella goal are “Create a Centralized On-line Registration System” and “Develop bridge programs that seek to transition youngsters from learn to swim programs to competitive teams” Lawdy, Lawdy, I AM A BELIEVER! If we want to grow the sport, lets stop yakin’ and GROW THE SPORT! Great Goal. Great strategies. Now allow me to stop cheerleading and think of what this will mean in terms of needs: 1) Some more pool time for most clubs. (start getting creative...you may not need even a 25 yard pool for a bridge program from lessons to team. I teach my novices in a 12 yard area of the pool. Better control. Better focus. Better teaching results. 2) Capable, exciting, child-loving (as opposed to just sport-loving”) new coaches. Don’t need to be young. Don’t need to be old. Just need to be dedicated to helping young and new swimmers improve. Start thinking who might fit that mold for your club. 3) More swim meets. More SHORT swim meets. More Swim Meets that are great opening experiences to our sport. Since 20% bigger registration immediately implies 20% “new” swimmers, the chances are they will be “B” and below level athletes when they start out. 4) More entry level swim meets raises the next issue.....more entry level OFFICIALS. And therein lies our next great challenge in raising our numbers. Because volunteerism is down. Number of new LSC officials are down. Getting parents to volunteer to do officiating is down as the economy demands a greater and greater premium on compensated employment. Many LSC’s cannot today, appropriately field officials to run the number of swim meets we already need. So, whither the future? In exploring this, I went to a man who doesn’t “ask to be asked”, the redoubtable John Wilson of Athens, Georgia, USA-Swimming Vice President and himself a world class elite meet official, who came up through the officiating ranks in Ohio, where, in those days, one just became “an official” and not all the fancy titles we have today. His reply to my question was immediate and fair. “how hard is it to officiate a novice meet?” Clearly, not too hard. Know the strokes. Know what is legal. Understand it. Watch the water. Be fair. Be reasonable. Be aware of the philosophical concept of “if its giving someone an advantage not allowed in the rules, it deserves a disqualification” So, John, we make it easier for parents to be officials? Well, not so fast. We have no evidence now that the “difficulty” of becoming an official is the key problem. It may be, because how long does the average parent officiate? Well, the average child is probably in USA Swimming for about four years....so the average parent probably officiates about 3 years, at best. Not enough time to climb the big meet pyramid. Or any pyramid. So, what’s the answer? Use a different population. Who, like Martians? No, worse. Or better. Teenagers. Huh? Teenagers? Yes, teenagers. In one of our fastest growing and most significant competitors, soccer, kids officiate for kids. Bigger kids for little kids. Teenagers officiate soccer matches between little kids. All the time. As a matter of course. They have energy, knowledge of the sport, a keen sense of fairness, and oh, did i mention....energy? Also, they are more familiar with the internet than most of us are with our own face. So an on-line course and test to certify teenage officials who have either left the sport on a daily basis, or are summer only swimmers, or “high school only swimmers”, make a GREAT source of new officials for our coming expansion. They know swimming. They love swimming. They already know most of the rules. (especially how to swim the strokes) and they do the concept of “Fair” a lot better than some adults. And, they need part time employment. Whether they volunteer at officiating novice and “B” level meets, or whether we pay them a minimum wage, they are the best possible help we can recruit to help fuel our growth. And it will put a young, fresh, “cool” face on our officiating at the entry level meets....not the very serious, very formal face of adult officials...and in case you haven’t noticed, the coolest “sports” for kids are skateboarding, wakeboarding, snowboarding, etc. where no parents are around, no parents know anything about the sport, and no parents interfere. Its a fantastic idea. I hope our USA Swimming Officials group will set about creating an entry level “swim official” test that we can use as we grow to our new “raise you 20%” goal. Its the way to go. Back to the future. Kudos to John Wilson. Our “out of the box thinking” award of the year.
Complete presentation available in PDF(Adobe Reader) format.
Let's
Keep the Tech Suits With The Senior Swimmers The last two weeks I have been at our LSC Junior Olympic Meet and our LSC “Division II” meet, which is a nice way of saying, “the last B meet where you can qualify for Junior Olympics”, without making any of our supposedly delicate children swoon upon hearing that they are in a “B” meet. (but that’s another story.) One of the most disturbing trends that I have seen is age group swimmers, particularly 12 and unders and 10 and unders, in the new hi-tech suits made by all the swimsuit companies, in prelims and finals of these local meets. First of all, congratulations to Speedo, and all the other swimsuit companies. Some have done real and very expensive research and come up with fabulous suits that clearly assist the swimmers in swimming faster...much faster. Others have simply done the “Burger King Thing”. (Burger King does little to no demographic or other studies when it locates its restaurants.....it lets McDonalds spend its money on those expensive studies and then Burger King just opens across the street from every new McDonalds....saves them a lot of money and they get there 3 months later....so what? Good bottom line approach. Trust your best competitor to do the heavy lifting.) Now, the old man coach in me sighs at the sight of the new suits on anyone, but lets face it, they are here, they are good and they work. When it comes to setting World Records, American Records, Ugandan Records, Finlandian records, and making Senior/International Cuts, you’d better have one of these suits on, because the people swimming the fast times and setting those standards for the meets, are wearing them. If you don’t wear them, you are out of it. Unfair for you if you’re NOT wearing one. Case in point, over 440 College Women have qualified for the NCAA Division I meet this year with the “A” cut..phenomenally fast. The biggest number in any prior year to make the NCAA Meet with BOTH “A” and “B” cuts has been 259. Every college conference meet in the country was incredibly fast....why???? .....The Suits. Again. Good for the companies, Good for the Senior/International Swimmers. Now, we get to the Division II Age Group Meet where the goal is to swim fast enough and well enough to qualify for the Junior Olympics. And low and behold, here are the high tech $150-$450.00 suits on 10 and unders and 11 and 12 year olds. “B”
Level 10 and unders and 11 and 12 year olds. But Mom and Dad want to “support” their child, and they are told that those $150-$450 suits “work” and will make their child faster. And good parents help their child swim faster, right? Right? Right? SO........”honey, get the American Express card out and lets get Clarence one of those fancy new suits, so he can beat ________.” Meanwhile, some of those same parents are objecting when the club wants to raise dues from $50 a month to $70 a month, because the club wants to pay their coach some more, so he can get rid of that 15 year old car, and actually drive to practice in something safe. He does the teaching of the swimmers. Some of those same parents don’t respond when the coach says “Clarence really would improve a lot faster if he came to practice 3 times a week instead of twice." Or, “Gee, if you could get Clarence to look up from his cell-phone and text messaging when I am trying to talk to him, I’m pretty sure he’d listen and learn better.” Or, “Please help me get Clarence to understand that hard work in practice is what will help him swim better and faster in the meets”. Or, “You said that you’d like Clarence to turn better and can I fix that? Yes, I can, but I need Clarence to pay attention to his turns when he’s practicing if he’s to improve, and not just slop his way through practice without attention to details like turns. I’m here to teach and I need him to be here to learn”. By buying the Tech Suit for Clarence, his parents are teaching him that you can buy the things you want in life. You don’t have to work for them. You can simply buy speed. You can fix anything that you lack with enough money. No need to work hard. No need to Pay Attention. No need to Learn. And, of course, reassuring themselves that they fully support their child in swimming....”you know what we did at the meet this weekend? We bought Clarence a $400 swimsuit? Can you imagine that? When I was a kid, i swam in my underwear and now my kid has a $400 suit! But boy, did it work! In his old suit, he hadn’t beaten “_______” in the 200 free all season, but with this new suit, he dusted that boy!” So Clarence, who all season has gone 2:25 in the 200 yard freestyle, puts on the suit, goes 2:18 and qualifies for the JO’s where he puts it on again and low and behold, drops ANOTHER 2 seconds and gets to 2:16. Hooray for Clarence! Mom is happy. Dad is happy. Clarence thinks its pretty cool...for about 10 minutes, until he gets out his $200 cell phone and goes back to texting his friends. Since he’s really more into that than the swim meet, or swim team, or practice. Now what happens? Well, there are a couple of scenarios. Lets say Clarence goes to a meet, (a regular, ordinary, one session age group meet) about two weeks later. Mom says, “oh honey, you did so well in your new suit, put that on again and lets see you GO!”. So Clarence does. and surprisingly, he just goes about the same time...and actually, it maybe took some more work to get there. And his next swim is worse. And the one after that is worse still.... Clarence is disappointed. Mom and Dad are disappointed. Coach walks over and says “let me see that suit. How many swims have you worn it for? Twelve? Well, these things wear out you know...they’re only good for just so many swims before they no longer do what they did do.” Now Dad is just a tad suspicious......... “what did you say?” “I said, these tech suits are not intended to be worn all the time. The material fatigues, wears out and you need a new suit if you wear it very often” At this point it dawns on Mom and Dad that another $400 suit is going to make this a pretty expensive swimming month. And they haven’t even paid their club dues yet. Or their entry fee escrow account. And they are $800 in the hole. Mom puts her foot down. “No more tech suit. Back to the jammer. We’ll buy you the tech suit for Championships only.” Good. Firm decision, reasonable for the family finances. Very fair. So two weeks later, Clarence goes back to his next age group meet, in his old jammer. And his 200 free slips back to 2:23. Long face on Clarence. Long face on Dad. Mom says, “maybe you’re just not cut out for this sport” “or maybe your coach just didn’t prepare you properly for this meet”. Or, “he’s not really a very good freestyle coach anyway, did you see Clarence’s stroke fall apart in that 2nd 100, honey?” NOOOOBODY IS HAPPY! Clarence says to himself (or maybe even out-loud) “I can’t swim fast without the suit.” What is lost in all this of course, is that the reason his parents got Clarence into swimming was to make him more “fit” and “healthy” and give him a chance to “compete” and “learn to work for things” and be part of a good group of hard-working, dedicated kids. What Clarence and his parents should have been doing is working to improve his practice attendence, his love of the sport itself, his ability to focus and learn, and his technical swimming skills...his strokes, his starts, his turns. His improvement should have been coming from “real stuff” and not a $400 swimsuit. Then when he dropped to 2:23 from 2:25, it would have been a real improvement and everyone could have been happy and he would have been ENCOURAGED to work harder, pay more attention, and focus on the tasks he needed to improve. Instead of relying on the “magic pill”of the suit. The solution to all this? Very simple. Ban the suit for age group competition. Nothing below the knee nor over the shoulder in any competition except Senior/International Swimming events. Keep age group athletes focused on improvement coming from hard work, more practice, more attention in practice and quality coaching of good strokes, starts and turns. The real stuff. The right stuff. The only stuff that matters. And make a rule to do this. Not just “an agreement among coaches”. We know there are always renegades who will do whatever a parent wants to get their kid to swim fast...whether a $400 suit or a hypodermic needle full of HGH. Its like the arms race....if Johnny has a $200 suit, then Clarence has to have a $400 suit. The problem is not with the suit manufacturers. They’re in business to make money. And by getting senior swimmers to do marvelous times, they do that. But lets not allow commercial considerations to DESTROY the purposes of age group swimming. Again, Applause to Speedo and the others for a job well done. Let the suits do their magic at the Senior/International Level of swimming. At the age group end, the magic is in the process of working and learning. Lets keep it there. John Leonard Postscript: Southern California swimming has had this rule in place since 2000. The Rule reads......”swimwear in age group competion...The swimsuits worn for all age group competition, shall conform to USA Swimming Rule 102.9 and shall not extend past the top of the shoulder (the acromial process of the scapula) nor further down the leg than the top of the kneecap (Patella).”
The
Doc Counsilman Memorial Lecture Fund Following the passing of legendary Coach James “Doc” Counsilman, the American Swimming Coaches Association asked a group of his closest colleagues to create fund to achieve one of Doc’s most well goals....the improvement of swimming by using ideas from well outside the sport of swimming. Doc always sought ideas from professionals and dedicated practicioners in other fields, in order to enhance his coaching, and encouraged the members of our profession to do likewise. The
Committee for the Counsilman Memorial Fund is chaired by Coach
Bob Groseth of Northwestern University. The purpose of the fund is to help afford the fees and expenses of “special speakers” whom we otherwise could not afford to fund to speak the Annual ASCA World Clinic. The first three of these speakers included Hobie Billingsly of Diving and IU, C.M. Newton of Basketball Hall of Fame, and Marcus O’Sullivan, the great Villanova Track Runner and now coach, and in 2007, Vern Gambetta, the world’s premier expert in dryland development for swimmers. To make a contribution to this fund, send a check to Bob Groseth at 2311 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL. 60208. If you prefer to use a credit card, contact John Leonard at ASCA, who will then write a check to the fund. (JLeonard@swimmingcoach.org.) The THANKS OF THE COMMITTEE GO OUT TO THOSE WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED and CONTINUE TO CONTRIBUTE. Among
those organizations and individual who have made contributions
in more than one year are: For those too young to have benefitted directly from contact with Doc Counsilman, it is wise to recognize that we all, in the profession of coaching swimmers, stand on the shoulders of giants and owe them a huge debt. We pay that debt by honoring their memories and remembering their contributions to the great sport we have today. Doc Counsilman was one of the American Giants. John Leonard
A wonderful
line from Chuck Warner... "Once again, swim coaches know that "impossible" is just defining the difficulty of the task."
Practice Over
the Christmas Holidays, I re-read portions of “The Magic of
Thinking Big” by David Schwartz. I try to do that every year,
don’t always succeed. I do always know that when I re-read it,
I’m a better person when I am done.
Bartsch
enjoys life around the pool "Never coach." More than 40 years ago, Ed Bartsch received this advice from his coach at Michigan, Gus Stager.Now the assistant coach in charge of distance swimmers for the Penn State men's and women's swimming and diving teams, Bartsch has a colorful coaching past and has no regrets about his career choice. "I've been very, very fortunate that I've been able to work with really outstanding people everywhere I've been," he said. Bartsch's diverse coaching experience is difficult to match, but he also has a distinguished history as a swimmer. He captured both AAU and NCAA national titles and won the gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke at the 1963 Pan American Games. But after collecting championships as a swimmer, Bartsch followed the advice of his coach and put aside his coaching dream to focus on a career in business. He earned a masters of business administration from Southern Methodist, did post-graduate work in finance at Oklahoma and went on to spend more than 20 years in the business world. However, in 1988, Southern California head coach and long-time friend Peter Daland offered him a coaching position, and Bartsch decided it was time to get back to doing what he loved. "He was looking for an assistant coach, and I just had made a decision that I wanted to sell my businesses," Bartsch said. "I got to do what I'd always wanted to do for 20 years." While working as the associate head coach at USC, Bartsch got involved in numerous other swimming programs, including clinics in foreign countries and coaching a Los Angeles-based club team, Team Trojan. Bartsch traveled to both Peru and India to teach swimmers and coaches, and while it was difficult adjusting to coaching people from other countries, he said he learned a lot from his experiences. "You get to know kids that are tremendously receptive," he said. "They want to learn and they're so enthusiastic that they do 90-percent of the interpretation. They were terrific, and we communicated very well even though it was a sign language more than a verbal one." But Bartsch said that his most memorable international experience stemmed from his success while coaching Team Trojan. Eighteen months before the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, the Philippine Amateur Swimming Association asked Bartsch if he would coach their swimmers that had qualified for the Olympics. Bartsch agreed, and the Philippine swimmers moved to Los Angeles and joined Team Trojan. About one month before the Olympics, he was approached with an offer to be the head coach of the Philippine team at the Olympics. After initially refusing the offer out of respect for the coaches from the country, he accepted a second offer and went on to help the swimmers break eight Philippine national records in Barcelona. "It was a great honor, and they could not be nicer and more supportive," he said. "The athletes were just great. I had worked with them on a daily basis for 18 months, so I had gotten to know them quite well." The majority of Bartsch's coaching career has been spent at the college level. He left USC to take over as head coach at Villanova in 1994 and led the women's team to back-to-back Big East championships in 1995 and 1996 before leaving the program following the 1999-2000 season. In 2001, Penn State head coach Bill Dorenkott asked Bartsch if he would come to Penn State to oversee the distance swimmers. "One of the reasons we asked Ed to come over and be a part of our staff is because he brought a wealth of experience and knowledge," Dorenkott said. "That in itself is a unique element to what he brings to our program. There are a lot of times our athletes or our coaches will go to Ed and ask for advice just based on experience." Bartsch's wealth of experience makes him well-qualified as an assistant coach, and he said that he accepted a position as an assistant because Dorenkott was willing to give him a lot of independence as a coach. Dorenkott believes Bartsch's ability to practically relate experience to his athletes is a major advantage. "We've never had a stronger distance program than during the period of time while Ed's been here," Dorenkott said. "We've had a good distance swimmer here and there, but just our depth and our quality of distance swimming over the past seven years has been remarkable and that's attributable directly to Ed and his influence over our program." Bartsch's distance swimmers have taken over the Penn State record books. The top four women's swimmers in Penn State history in both the 1000 freestyle and 1650 freestyle all swam under his direction. As he stands on the pool deck watching practice, the different aspects of Bartsch's personality and coaching style are conveyed. Every swimmer who walks by en route to the locker room jokes with him. But when it comes down to instructing in practice, Bartsch is all business. While he is tough on his athletes, they trust him and know he truly cares about their success. "I swam my best times last week," sophomore Stephanie Roop said. "The first thing he said to me was, 'I'm proud of you,' and that means so much coming from him." Standing next to her, junior Sarah Baker was quick to agree that Bartsch genuinely cares about his athletes' performances. "It's not like just another coach being like 'Good, more points for the team,' " Baker said. "He really cares about how we're doing and that's why he's so intense in practice and on the pool deck." When asked about his proudest moment as a swimmer, Bartsch described the feeling of winning gold at the Pan American Games. He said the most emotional moment occurred when he stood on the podium afterward and listened as the national anthem was played. Forty-four years after earning Pan American gold, Bartsch prepares his swimmers to have similar moments in which the feeling of accomplishment becomes overwhelming. "When it comes down to it, when I step up on the block at Big Tens, I'm going to know that he's prepared me to be the best I can be," Baker said. "Hands down, I'm not going to doubt it at all." Bartsch was told that it is too difficult to make a living as a swim coach. But with so much enthusiasm and passion for the sport and a desire to help others succeed, it appears that he made the correct career choice. "I've never felt it was the place; it was always the people," he said. "Whether there was a language barrier or not, they were just great people to work with. And that's why I think I really look back on it and I say it was never the wrong decision. I've never been happier doing what I'm doing because of the young people I'm working with."
Listen
closely; Hurry slowly Yesterday I got an email asking for ideas. “I am interested in getting a swim program off the ground with our Elementary/ Middle schools and quiet frankly don't know how to get the ball rolling.” It is getting more and more difficult to have programs like that, because laws like No Child Left Behind (along with the various state adaptations) mandate "seat time", so taking even very young kids out of class is difficult. On the other hand, AFTER SCHOOL activities are now REQUIRED by the Federal Government, especially fitness programs that reduce obesity. This might be the best approach. When you are developing any new product or service offering, my recommendation is to spend 6 months doing "research". Talk – individually - to your potential customers (in this case it is school board members, principals, administrators). See what THEY need (not what you want to do or sell). See what their obstacles are. Then spend the next 6 months coming up with a menu of different ways you can get around their obstacles and meet their needs. See if you can get them to pick one and try a pilot program. They might need to get a grant to do a pilot, but obesity-related grants are out there. It could take some time to research, develop a menu of ideas, get (administrative) buy-off on one, get grant funding, etc. Most people fail in developing a new product or service because (a) they to sell a product instead of meet a need; and (b) they aren't patient enough to deal with organizational inertia. Every organization has inertia from a small family, to a huge, overly-regulated bureaucracy. If you can listen closely, and be patient enough to hurry slowly, you can grow a family or school district into a long-term customer.
Congratulations
Mike and Amy Parratto! Mike
and Amy Parratto inducted into Dover Sports HoF DOVER - After the 2007 Dover Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Paul LeSieur had a gift for Jim Dunn. It was a picture of a frog bench-pressing some weights as a coach encouraged it on. Twenty-one years earlier Dunn had hung the picture on LeSieur's locker at Dover High School. Written under the picture was "I've got my money on you LeSieur" and it was autographed by Dunn. The picture LeSieur, one of the night's honorees, gave to Dunn, another one of the inductees, brought a huge smile to Dunn's face. It was just a small token of thanks LeSieur could give to Dunn, who has touched the lives of so many Dover athletes. "I was excited to see Paul because I don't get a chance to see him all the time," Dunn said. "It's a good time, and everyone is still young enough to enjoy it." Dunn was one of six people inducted into the Hall of Fame. LeSieur was another, and there were also Jahn (Tibbett) Janetos, Mike and Amy Parratto and Chris McKenney. Dunn and the Parrattos went in as contributors and Janetos, McKenney and LeSieur were all inducted as athletes. Dunn was recognized for his 39 years of coaching football, most of which have been spent at Dover. The Parrattos are longtime coaches of Seacoast Swimming Association, one of the most successful swimming programs in the Northeast that produced swimmers such as Olympic gold medalist Jenny Thompson, who was at the ceremony. Janetos excelled in both track and football at Dover and the University of New Hampshire. LeSieur played both football and baseball for the Green Wave and went on to play in the minor leagues for the New York Yankees' organization. McKenney was a football standout who played at Springfield College and is now the head coach at Maine Maritime. The room at the Dover Lodge of Elks was filled with some of Dover's greatest athletes of all time. Dunn wanted to be the first one there for one reason. Not to get a good parking space so he could quickly get to his car after the ceremony to listen to the University of New Hampshire football game on the radio, and not to get a good seat - they were reserved. "I had to get here early because I didn't want to miss anybody," Dunn said. "I didn't want to do that." There was somebody at almost every table that had either coached with or played for Dunn, and there were just more than 200 people at the ceremony. It became obvious how many lives he has touched when he asked them all to stand. Thompson is the most notable of the swimmers SSA has produced, but there are many others that the Parrattos have helped get into college or win state championships. They moved from the Boston area to coach in Dover, and now they are in the city's Sports Hall of Fame. "They basically made me," said Thompson, who is the most decorated U.S. Olympian of all time with eight gold medals, three silvers and one bronze in four different Olympic Games. "Swimming wasn't the only thing. It's also their support, their coaching and teaching me the ways of the world." The first team the Parrattos coached when they moved to Dover was the Seacoast Stingrays, which lost the first seven races in its first duel meet. Now they are churning out Olympic gold medalists and college swimmers. "It's pretty incredible," Mike Parratto said. "That's the satisfying thing, to see people go on and be successful." After he was done with sports, Janetos made a career out of flying in the Air Force, National Guard and Continental Airlines. "I'm very proud to be selected to this," Janetos said. "All I have to say is thank you to my coaches and my teammates that made me look good." LeSieur currently lives in Raleigh, N.C., where he is the director of finance of the North Carolina Department of Education. McKenney still holds the high jump record at Dover. His brother Doug is also a member of the Hall of Fame. "This is a special night for me and a great honor," Chris McKenney said. "Being inducted with so many great athletes means a lot to me." There are now 92 people in the Hall of Fame, which began in 1979. Inductees have to be nominated. The nominations are reviewed by a nine-person committee and voted upon. It takes a majority vote to get in. Committee Chairman Marty Riordan said there were about 40 applications this year. The committee tries to keep the nominations to about "four or five" people every ceremony, which now takes place every two years. "This is great," Riordan said. "It's almost an extension of Thanksgiving. It's family. This is a Dover sports family."
Complaints
in the In-Box After less than a year of serving as Technical Vice-President for USA Swimming, the most common (by far!) complaint that landed in my email inbox was about “Zones”. So at last fall’s USA Swimming convention, I used the early-morning coaches’ caucus for a “town meeting” on Zones. What I heard surprised me. The standard complaints were brought forward, but I got to hear “the other side” as well. Coaches who used the Zone meet as the high point of their summer season. Coaches who had attended the last 13-18 consecutive Zone meets. Age Group coaches who use Zones as the bridge to senior swimming. All were completely happy with their historic Zone meet. The more I reflected on it, the more I realized that the coaches who were using the Zone Championships were involved in the design, format and scheduling of the meets, and the meets met their needs – well. The frustration I was hearing was from those for whom the Zone Championship did not meet their team’s needs. They wanted the Zone Championship to fill that void. That “void” seemed to be 3-dimensional. It was a geographic void. Some areas of the country had a much greater void than others. It was a calendar void – primarily (although not exclusively) late summer. And it was a time standard void. There are a significant number of swimmers who fall somewhere between the Sectional level and the Junior National level that need a “Championship Meet”. The Zone frustration was felt by those coaches who were trying to fill those voids with the existing Zone Championships. The problem isn’t with the Zone meets. The problem is that we aren’t meeting the needs of a significant number of developing swimmers and their coaches. The problem was most commonly defined as “the old Junior National group”. Under the current Junior National format, the gap between Nationals and Juniors has been reduced by 50% (from about 4% to about 2%), while the gap between Juniors and Sectionals increased by 50% (from 4% to 6%). Below is a one-event sample that demonstrates the “gap” I was hearing about. The current Sectional standard from one, successful Section is about 8% slower than Seniors. The “old” Junior meets split that in half and were about 4% slower than Seniors. The new (current) Junior standards are only 2% slower than Seniors, leaving a 6% gap between Juniors and Sectionals. Women’s
200 free Nationals Juniors 2000
Jrs. Southern Zone/Western Section Additionally, as many of the Sections have migrated to mid-July to become National qualifiers rather than end-of-season championships, this “calendar gap” compounds the “time standard gap”. This effect becomes most profound in areas where the school year is “late” (i.e. late starting and/or late ending) causing a “geographic gap”. Shooting from the hip, I think we need a “Zone Junior Championship” (in most Zones), late in the summer (late-July/early August). Since I like to think with facts rather than impressions, I am going to request the actual data on numbers of swimmers that fall into these gaps. In the meantime, if you have ideas or comments, please send them to asca@swimmingcoach.org . We will try to publish the most interesting ideas.
Swimming
Fast in the Morning In
2008 in Beijing, the world's athletes will be faced with the
need to swim fast in the morning.....since that is when the
Olympic Gold Medals will be won, thanks to the commercial need
to put the Games on TV in USA Prime Viewing Time.
Give
athletics credit, literally The following was presented as a speech to the Princeton University Varsity Club in May. As director of athletics, let me share with you what amounts to my athletics commencement address. I hope my theme isn’t too sobering, considering the festive nature of this banquet. At past PVC banquets, a common refrain from many of our speakers and recipients has been that the athletics experience at Princeton is inherently co-curricular. Most, if not all, student-athletes and past participants feel in their collective souls that the athletics experience was every bit as educational as the classroom experience. Jon Veach, a starting tailback and captain on our football team who graduated in 2005, wrote a paper for Professor Hal Feiveson, in which he stated: “The reason athletes put so much time and dedication into athletics is because the athletes do not view varsity athletics as simply an extracurricular activity but rather a vital part of their life and an intense learning experience. I have been an athlete since I was 8 years old, and I can honestly say that the summation of my athletics experiences to this point has prepared me for the hard times of my life better than any other experience. Varsity athletics are imbedded with an abundant number of life lessons, values and striking comparisons to the real world. I believe so strongly in these values that I feel varsity athletes should be given some type of academic credit for the countless hours of training and learning.” Jon’s comments provoke the question: Is it time for the educational-athletics experience on our playing fields to be accorded the same educational and academic respect as the arts? Isn’t it, as I believe, a co-curricular activity, too? On January 20, 2006, President Shirley Tilghman proudly presented to the board of trustees the President’s Arts Initiative, a vision for Princeton that includes an arts neighborhood, expanded programs in the creative and performing arts, and a commitment to integrating those offerings into a broader liberal education. The president stated that Princeton “fully embraces the creative and performing arts as an essential part of the educational mission.” The president further pointed out that “by participating in the arts, our students develop cognitive abilities and forms of intelligence that complement training in other disciplines, and in some cases they discover and develop talents and interests that will shape their careers and principal avocations.” Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon has been appointed by President Tilghman as the new chair of the arts initiative. As Princeton’s own Poet Laureate, Professor Muldoon commented that: “We’ve come to understand more widely at Princeton that the arts may be central to the experience here — not necessarily overshadowing any of the other areas that a student might pursue — but that there’s something about the way in which the arts make us understand who we are and what we’re doing that I think has become...more central to the university’s idea of itself. “We will be attempting to make it clear that the arts are central to the life of an educated person, whether she or he might be majoring in chemical engineering or computer science or whatever it might be. One of the delights of Princeton has to do with the curriculum that allows computer science and chemical engineering and comparative literature majors to write poetry and produce plays.” Who among us would not agree with President Tilghman’s and Professor Muldoon’s compelling assessment of the arts and the significant role they play in contributing to a broad liberal arts education? But also, who among us does not believe that athletics at Princeton is itself a discipline that tests our physical and cognitive abilities? Athletics competition nourishes our collective souls and contributes to the holistic education of the total person in the same manner as the arts. In his recent book, “Excellence Without a Soul,” Harvard’s former Dean of the College and professor of computer science Harry Lewis courageously points out the mission drift at Harvard and other research universities from their respective commitments to undergraduate education and teaching. He criticizes the growing academic-educational divide and he also argues for a different professorial rewards system that places a greater value on teaching. But in his book, Lewis didn’t limit his commentary to Harvard’s role in the academic cosmos. As a former faculty representative to the Ivy Policy Committee on Athletics, Lewis, too, is a proponent of intercollegiate athletics as practiced in the Ivy League and heartily endorses its contributions to the individual and collective soul of a university. He concludes: “Like scholarship or mathematics or music, athletics at their best operate in a glorious parallel universe in which the lucky and the skilled can temporarily dwell and excel, detached from the banality of ordinary life. Competitive ambitions and financial rewards need not corrupt sports, no more than awards debase the value and purpose of learning or of art. The pursuit of excellence in any area can be more than entertainment — it can be a thing of beauty that brings profound satisfaction to the human spirit.” In a very real sense, student-athletes are also engaging in a form of the creative and performing arts, but what differentiates us is that we do so in a competitive, collaborative and cooperative way — and like great theater, the anticipated outcomes of our games remain in doubt. Bill Coplin, professor of public policy at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, professes that “intercollegiate athletics may be the single-most important educational activity available to undergraduates who see college as a way to prepare for a professionally rewarding career, regardless of the field.” Professor Coplin observes that intercollegiate athletics is almost unique in its ability to help participants develop professional competencies such as critical thinking, time management, teamwork, goal-oriented behavior, competitiveness, confidence, persistence/endurance, loyalty, discipline, taking criticism, dealing with setbacks, leadership, flexibility and adaptability. If we
accept what Coplin affirms, and if we believe that intercollegiate
athletics contributes to the development of core competencies
and analytical thinking, why is it considered a distant cousin
to the arts when it seeks academic legitimacy, even though
the vast majority of its participants view it as having educational
legitimacy? To continue
on the same theme, George Santayana, the distinguished Harvard
philosopher, observed in his 1894 essay etitled “Philosophy
on the Bleachers” that: Which
brings me back to the original question: Why isn’t the educational-athletics
experience in the academy considered to be as worthy of co-curricular
respect as the arts? Or even more confounding, why do so many
academicians question the legitimacy of the hyphen between
“educational” and “athletics” when they evaluate the intercollegiate
athletics experience? To the contrary, “Isn’t athletics,”
as Trinity College professor Drew Hyland hypothesized, “the
sweatiest of the liberal arts?” Gary Walters is director of athletics at Princeton University. He is completing his term this month as a member and chair of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee |
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