In this video, I continue talking about how coaches can impact the culture around the teams that they work with by advocating for themselves and their own families. It's really important that we as coaches realize the value we have and leverage that for a better situations for everybody:
Steve Schaffer on Relationships and Coaching
This week's edition of the Swim Brief features a conversation with Steve Scheffer, the head coach of Grand Canyon University. Steve offers a lot of personal insight into how he came to value relationships and family a lot more through his coaching career.
He also breaks down some "myths" of the sport that can keep coaches trapped in a cycle of overwork, just to stay competitive with others.
Where is Swimming's "4 Hour Work Week"? Masters!
In this video, I talk about a story that is all too common but somehow ignored when a lot of practices are made. Why is it that so many older swimmers are able to maintain and even gain in performance after their "real" competitive careers are over?
I truly believe that these older swimmers (masters) are where a lot of the innovation is coming from in training swimmers, and I would like to see more of it trickle down to younger swimmers.
When Great Parents Go Wrong: Jenn Verser on College Recruiting
Jenn Verser is the founder of Maverick Athletic Consulting, which offers personalized guidance to prospective student athletes looking to continue swimming in college.
Jenn and I go way back to our days coaching against each other. We talk about some of the pitfalls that people often fall into in the college recruiting process, as well as some parts of the landscape that are changing.
Coaching and Relationships
Coaching swimming and relationships. It's a big deal that isn't discussed enough. Privately, many elite swim coaches will tell you that it's just a "fact of life" that your relationships come second to your job.
If you're lucky, you find someone who will put up with that (should they have to?). I got sad reading about the reasons that Denis Cotterell will no longer be coaching full time. I was sad because he had foregone committing himself to another person for so long so that he could pursue coaching success.
Isn't this something we need to change? Can swim coaches stop the mutually assured destruction of each other's relationships?
Swim Brief: Garrett McCaffrey on Olympic Trials and Swimming Media
Seven years ago, in the ancient days of podcasting, I gave it a try. There were basically no swimming podcasts out there. Today, there are swimming podcasts, but I couldn't find any featuring what I love in podcasts- people that know each other having a real life conversation, the kind of conversation I have on the phone nearly every day with other people in the swimming world.
For the first podcast, I called up my friend Garrett McCaffrey, the head coach of Phoenix Swim Club. Garrett is more than a coach though, he's been on the media side of the sport for some of the biggest events, and we get into that over the course of our conversation.
Why Omaha 2020 is A Good Thing
The Olympic trials are headed back to Omaha, and not everyone is happy about it. I talk about the positive experiences I have had with Omaha and why I think it is a great location for our Olympic trials.
I also talk about how the meet is far from perfect, and what the profile of a host city for Olympic trials should be.
How to be successful combining programs
Several big name college teams have gone from single gender to combined programs recently, with mixed results. Here is one thought on how to make that successful.
To read the Swimswam piece i referred to that goes through some historical data on recently combined programs, go here.
Explaining My Job To a Three Year Old
How would you explain your job to a three year old? What is at the core of coaching that even a little kid can understand?
Write me a comment or send me a note!