“I want to swim the 50 free and the 50 Free” – Getting swimmers to swim outside their comfort zone.
Many years ago, my age group and high school coach Steve Dzina put me in the 100 Butterfly in an invitational in Buffalo. I had never swum it in a meet before but I had been swimming it more and more in practice. I was a bit nervous, but swam it any way and actually enjoyed it. After the race I went up to talk to him and he told me something that is to this day one of my principles of coaching. “Everyone can swim the 50 Free and 100 Free, now you have something else you can do.” Very simply put swimmers need to be coached so that they can swim outside of their comfort zone. The coaching that goes with that philosophy takes a lot of work and commitment from all 3 sides of our “Swim Team Triangle”. From the Coaches it takes developing each swimmer and the skills they have at every age. From the swimmer it takes the commitment and confidence to try other strokes and events. And maybe most importantly support and understanding from the parents to make things all come together.
Over the years as a coach I have always felt that I needed to put swimmers in a position to have success when trying something new. I would never put a swimmer in a race where I knew they would DQ or not finish the race. All the hard work done in practice has to have a reason and has to be rewarded. By challenging swimmers to try new events they expand their abilities and options in the sport so that they are always fresh. This can mean putting an 8 year old in the 100 free, a 10 year old in the 500, or even a college freshman swimming the 200 Butterfly.
Case in point. One of the most talented swimmers I have ever coached was a young lady from Akron New York. She came to swim for me at Genesee Community College and her career really took off. She was a hard worker and loved swimming the events that she had in high school. The fun thing is that in college the 100 Butterfly can be the 200 Butterfly. Over our semester break I worked with her and a couple of others on improving their fly. They worked on sets and drills designed to make them stronger, and more efficient in swimming butterfly.
Our first meet after break I put her in the 200 Butterfly. When she looked at the line up the look on her face was nothing but fear. Even a few tears from this incredibly talented freshman appeared. We went over a race plan that she would follow and after a couple more words of encouragement she got in and swam. It was incredible to watch, smooth and effortless just like I knew she could. She finished first in the race with a time just a few seconds off the school record. She looked at the time and literally jumped all over the deck happy and laughing. I asked her how she felt and she replied, “I stuck to the plan and I feel great!” The smile on my face was just as happy.
Encouraging swimmers to try things outside of their comfort zone, and putting them in situations where they can succeed, expands what they can swim and want to swim. The next year this particular swimmer took on the 400IM a challenging event she had never swum before. By the end of the season she was second at the NJCAA National Championship meet in the event.
How we coach is the key. How we create workouts is secondary to how we motivate and support swimmers of every age. The fun part is watching our swimmers swim an event for the second time because it is the one chance when there is a 99.99% chance of swimming a Personal Best. Waiting at the finish line along with the best time are always at least two huge smiling faces: swimmer and coach.
As coaches we are always fighting “staleness”. Swimmers who work hard and swim the same things over and over can experience this. The most recognizable signs of this condition can be a persistent plateau or worsening in performance that is not improved by either short-term rest periods or reduced training. We try to treat each, case by case, and look at their overall training and competition. This happens often in high school swimming when coaches feel the need to put the same swimmers in the same events meet after meet. The swimmers are then expected to fire up and swim fast in the same event at the end of the season. Over time, they have lost the “feel” for what may be their favorite or best event. The cure is simple. Change things up. Put the swimmer in something outside the box to train for and swim. The result is a happy swimmer who now has new challenges in front of them.
Side note: It has been a while since my last post. I have had writers block and thanks to some “grounding” from one of my assistant coaches I am back ready to bring you words of advice and encouragement on the journey to Swim Smart, Have Fun, and Swim Fast.
PMA!
Coach Scott
