Few people consume swimming clinics with as much glee as my friend Nico Messer. In the past few weeks, he’s been at ISCA, ASCA, GAIN and now is hanging out in the Florida Keys, presumably stalking Gary Hall Sr, but we’ll find out when I talk to him.

Later this week, Nico is going to join me on my podcast to give some of the insights he got from his tour. At each stop, he sent messages with suggestions for this podcast, and I want to hear more about what he has learned.

We’ll also address at least one elephant in the room, in that I’m going to ask him why in fact he went to ASCA, something that I have spoken staunchly against. I had quite a few friends in attendance and I want to go into the conversation with an open mind to hear what motivated him to attend at least a day of the conference, despite my obvious bias.

There was also a replacement presentation at the ISCA conference that I’m curious about. Originally, the Monique Burr Foundation for Children was due to speak, but pulled out after they were alerted to Mark Schubert’s presence as a speaker at the clinic. Schubert did not speak, and there was still a “Safe Sport” presentation given.

We’ll also continue the conversation we had a year ago, about what exactly makes a good conference? What are some best practices for conference organizers to follow to get a great experience for everyone attending?

Finally, I’ve noticed that the international reach of many of these clinics seems to grow over time. We’ll talk about what motivates coaches from all over the world to travel (often in groups) to a foreign land.

All that and more later this week on the Swim Brief as I’m joined by Professional Swim Workouts’ Nico Messer.

Got something you’d like to see discussed? Contact me and we may just get to your question.