Core Development and Connectivity in the Beginning Swimmer

I have heard it said, that the most important and influential school teachers, are those that teach kindergarten.  Similarly, I believe that the coaches that have the biggest influence on the future of a swimmer, may just be Novice group coaches and Learn to Swim Instructors.  For the last few years I have been working to develop and grow the Northern Lights Swim Club Learn to Swim Program, and most recently, I have taken over as the coach of the NLSC Anchorage Novice group.  In both capacities, I have come to realize the importance of teaching young swimmers how to engage their cores and maintain their connectivity while swimming.

I have recently begun taking regular classes at Studio One Pilates in Anchorage.  The classes have really made me contemplate the effectiveness of what I have been teaching my swimmers.  What drills and exercises are actually engaging my athletes in a way that translate into future success in the water?  What can I improve?  What do I need to learn?

It wasn't long before I realized that my swimmers learn arm and leg movements relatively easy, but the effectiveness of those movements are limited by the strength and stability of each athletes core.  Think about your only developmental athletes and you will begin to understand what I am saying.  There is a lot of stimulus in and around each of them, but are they really engaging their bodies effectively?

I have begun focusing on three basic abdominal muscle groups:

• Rectus Abdominis - for short axis power and stability and turns
• Obliques - for long axis strokes and torsional power
• Transverse Abdominis - general core stability

It is important to realize that these muscles don't really work independent of each other.  That said, athletes need to develop a cognitive awareness, a feel if you will, for each of these groups.  Their ability to consciously engage each these muscle groups will enhance their power and connectivity while swimming.

Rectus Abdominis

I was watching my Novice swimmers struggle with flip turns, and I pulled them out of the water to instruct them.  "Use your abs", I said.  They all know where their abs are, but none of them could actually flex them when asked to.  Thinking on my feet, I asked them to place their hands on their upper abs, just below their sternum.  I then asked them to laugh.  They could all feel their abdomen tighten below their hands.  We literally spent the next few minutes practicing laughing!  It has ended up being one of the most effective awareness drills in my toolbox.

Actual development of the Rectus Abdominis muscles is pretty straight forward.  I like two, in water, exercises.  First, dolphin kick on their backs in a streamline position.  I like to use fins because it seems to encourage a bit more abdominal engagement.  Fins also let them feel some speed and feel more effective.  Feeling speed and progress in the water is important, and fins help with this.

My second exercise uses somersaults.  I send them off on a 25 or 50 in which they perform a somersault every 5th stroke (hand hit).  Before I send them off, I prompt them to use their laughing muscle to begin each somersault.

Obliques

The need to effectively engage the obliques, especially in long axis strokes, is pretty obvious.  Oblique torsional strength and control allows for effective arm and leg movements, and minimizes the need to engage muscle groups that may take the body out of alignment.

I start with the swimmer out of the water.  While holding their head in my hands, and asking them to keep their feet planted, I ask them to twist.  For some of them, this exercise is a bit more difficult than you might think.  I takes some coordination and thought.

In the water, I have a few exercises:

• Kicking on back with fins and hands at side, I ask them to rotate each shoulder and hip toward the ceiling after every 10th flutter kick.  I watch them closely to make sure they aren't just shrugging their shoulders out of the water.
• Kicking vertically, with fins, and hands either streamline or crossed over the chest, I ask them to turn first to the right, and then to the left.  It is important to make sure they don't twist by taking themselves out of alignment (leaning/lunging).
• Kicking streamline, with fins, horizontally, in a streamline.  Send them off on a 25 or 50, I ask them to rotate to the right, and then to the left, with a 1/4 turn every 5th kick.  Again, it is important to make sure they don't initiate their twisted by taking themselves would of alignment.  Many of them will try to use their heads to initiate this twisting motion.  Be sure to encourage torsional movement initiated from the core, rather than the extremities.

Transverse Abdominis

This layer of muscle is beneath the other abdominal muscles, and strengthening it is tricky.  For young swimmers, it is probably impossible to isolate, and develop, the transverse abdominis on it's own.  That said, some basic isometrics can help younger swimmers to begin to engage this fundamental stabilizing muscle.

• Isometric leg lift - While on their backs, with their hands underneath their hips, have the swimmers lift their legs about 6 inches off the ground while lifting their head just off the ground.  This does not isolate the transverse abdomnis, but I believe it activates it.  This exercise also stimulates the rectus abdominis.  Have them hold this for 15-30 seconds for three to five repetitions.
• Planks - While propped up on their forearms and toes, have your swimmers hold their entire body in a straight lined (including their head).  Have them hold this for 15-30 seconds for three to five repetitions.  Be sure to make corrections to their body positions during each rep.  Don't let them raise/drop hips or head out of line with the body.

I don't really have any in water drills for the transverse abdominis, but the dryland exercises with create awareness.  I use words like "feel the tightness", or "flex your belly" when I want to try to engage this muscle while swimming.

Conclusion

I think it is important for the developmental swim coach/instructor to constantly be engaging the muscle groups outlined above.  If we wait until they are more advanced age group swimmers, we may have allowed them to develop bad habits that misalign them in their swimming.  These bad habits can be nearly impossible to overcome.

Take the time while they are developing to engage the core and promote connectivity.  I believe it will pay off in the long run.

Swim-Life Resolutions

Like many people, I have been riveted by the writing of Chris DeSantis over at the Swim Brief over the last few days.  He has had a remarkable week, during which he has interviewed the USA Swimming chief, Chuck Wielgus, and revealed some very personal history.  I think he is making a great impact on the future of swimming in our country.

Making a difference is something, in which, we should all endeavor.  I know I have coached thousands of kids over the last 20 years.  I have worked hard to provide more swimming opportunities to kids in my community.  However, I find myself wondering if it is enough.  Perhaps "my community" needs to include more people, or geographical area.

It is the time of year to be making resolutions.  I did  pretty well on last year's (I miss you madly Taco Bell, McDonald's, etc).  This year's resolutions will be with a design to have more of an impact on the world around me.

USA Swimming:

After last summer, I found myself frustrated with USA Swimming's leadership, rules, and decisions.  I vented long and often on this blog.  I vowed to be involved, and I even went to the USA Swimming convention in Jacksonville.  I submitted an application to be even more involved by requesting a committee position.  While the committee appointment was not granted by President Stratton, I vowed to continue my participation.

I will continue to work hard for my LSC as the Admin Vice-Chair, and I plan to attend the convention again.  I will do my best to stay abreast of the work the committees are doing, and I will again attempt to a contributor to the committee process, by throwing my name into the hat next fall.

American Swim Coaches Association:

I am a life+ member of ASCA, and it is probably time for me to become more involved in that organization.  I am not a fan of the leadership of my organization.  I resolve to get more involved in the business of ASCA, and it's influence on USA Swimming.  I must admit that I am very ignorant about "my" organization, but I will try to be more involved.

Blogging:

I resolve to tone down my rhetoric and hot headed postings.  When I read from bloggers like those at the Swim Brief and the SCAQ blog, I am impressed.  I am impressed at the tone they set and influence they have.  We need more of them.

I will continue to write about the things that niggle at me, but I will not allow myself to blog and come off sounding like a member of the fringe of USA Swimming society.  I vow to do more research and come at the topics from a more powerful position.  I know that we need change.  I will be a part of the solution.

I will address issues about USA Swimming, Athlete Protection, ASCA, etc with a constructive tone.  I will avoid the rantings of the previous year.


I am resolved

Report from USAS Convention - Club Development and Athlete Protection

I got on the plane in Alaska yesterday at 4:30p (EST) and landed this morning in Jacksonville at around 10:30a.  I think I squeezed in an hour of sleep on the flight, but suffice it to say, I am bushed!  I missed out on a couple of meetings that I would like to have attended, but I did get to go to a couple of very interesting committee meetings.

The first meeting was the Club Development Committee, chaired by a coach I respect a ton, Allison Beebe.  We got to see some interesting numbers, presented by Tom Avischious of USA Swimming, concerning membership retention, composition, etc.  My engineering juices go into overdrive whenever I see tables of statistics like that.  The committee then delved into coach's education.  The Online Coach's education webinars that USA Swimming has are very good, and we were let in on some statistics about there use.  The webinars have been seen around 7500 times.  Two thirds of those are watched after they have been archived on the USA Swimming website.

Then the meeting got interesting.  Whether or not coach's education should be mandatory.  The peanut gallery really started to pipe up on this issue.  What do the reader's of this blog think?  Should coaches be required to take ongoing education classes?  Should it be encouraged, but not required...perhaps setting up a recognition system?  Should we leave it alone?  I am against mandating continuing education, but I am for setting up some sort of recognition system.  What do you think?  There are some LSC's that sponsor coaches education.  Many clubs support coaches education.  What situation are you in?

USA Swimming's Deck Pass was unveiled to the committee.  I have already written about how cool I think it will be once the iphone/android apps are up and running.

After the Club Development Committee was done with the room, the Athlete Protection Committee came in.  There are a couple of folks on this committee that I have a lot of respect for as well; Margaret Hoelzer and Mary Liston are both folks I have had the pleasure to work with before.  The Chair, Jim Crampton, also seems like he is a great guy.  The meeting started with a bit of a teaser from Praesidium, the folks who are providing the online Athlete Protection Training.  There will be a full presentation tomorrow, but I have to say, I think this is going to end up being a good program.  I put that last statement in bold, because I have been publicly skeptical, on this blog, since it's announcement.  I think we should have started with this before letting the lawyers get a hold of the whole process.  The only negative thing about the program is that I heard someone say it is free.  That is not true.  Our volunteers and coaches may not be paying Praesidium directly, but I am sure that we (USA Swimming) are paying a pretty penny to Praesidium.

Having said my nice stuff, I have to say I have some reservations about some things that are coming down the pike from the Athlete Protection Committee.  There is going to be a push to require an Athlete Protection Officer and Athlete Protection Committee on every LSC board.  There is going to be a requirement to have all new officials go through the same pre-employment screening that newly hired coaches are now required to have:

• Motor Vehicle Report
• Education Verification 
• Employment History Check/Reference Check

Furthermore, it is going to be recommended (code word for soon to be required) that new officials

• get fingerprinted
• go through a social media check
• go through a Google search check

As painful as this is going to be for small/remote clubs (like the ones on Alaska), I think these are going to become the law of the land.  I predict a major reduction in the number of volunteers coming out to officiate.  This will be devastating for clubs that are so isolated and small, that it takes a majority of their parents just to field an officials crew.  This does not even bring into account the expense of the program.  It looks like we are looking at an increase in splash fees in our LSC.  Someone has to pay for the background checks, pre-volunteer screens, etc.

Tomorrow will be chock full of excitement!  I will be sure to give you all the run down.  Stay tuned.

Tips for Interviewing New Assistant Coaches/LTS Instructors

Over the last 5-6 weeks my coaching staff has gone through quite a bit of change.  I had two great assistants move on to work on other life ambitions.  Combining that with my upcoming fall session in our Learn to Swim and Stroke School program, means that I have been conducting a lot of interviews over the last 2-3 weeks.

There are definitely a couple strategies that I have used during this round of interviews that I feel worked really well.  It has taken me years to discover some of techniques, and some of methods I have been doing for years.

• Be at the interview early.  Get there before your candidate gets there.  You can tell a lot about a person by how timely they are to a job interview.  You tell the candidate a lot about you if you get their after them.
• Dress professionally.  You probably expect this from them, but they are going to learn a lot about how important you think the job you are offering is by the way you dress.  I think a collared shirt and long pants are good for an interview.
• Write down your set of questions.  You may come up with more during the interview, but conducting an interview in "freestyle" mode can be rough.  You will almost always forget to ask a question you needed to ask.
• Whenever possible, conduct the interview as a panel of interviewers.  I think a panel of 3 is nice.  You take turns asking questions, and the two not asking get to focus on not only the question, but the body language, the answer, everything.  Sometimes when you are asking questions you miss out on these little things.
• Choose a public place for the interview.  This is good for a couple of reasons.  For one, you make sure you are both safe by conducting the interview in a public space.  Second, you can see how focused your candidate is on the interview.  Now, I don't have an office for this kind thing, so if I had one, I would probably prefer to conduct the interview their, but then I would have to make sure that I had at least one other interviewer with me at every interview.
• During the interview, be sure to:
• Start the interview by specifically asking them if they understand the exact days and times you will need them to be at work.  Obviously this is key, but for some reason it was a tough one for me to learn.  If they can't be at work, then you just saved yourself the time of an interview.  
• Be sure to make it clear that, if you hire them, you expect at least 2 weeks notice if they are going to quit the job.  A lot of young people don't know this particular standard.  Of course, there is nothing illegal about just quitting, but it is a generally accepted norm.  I don't think it is too much to ask.  I have actually had one of my Learn to Swim instructors quit a couple of weeks into a 2 month session, via texting, about an hour before lessons were about to start.
• Make sure that you leave the interview with all of the candidates contact information.  This should be on the resume, but this may be a candidates first resume...you may have to fill in some blanks.
• Follow up with a phone call or, at the very least, an email.  Whether or not you are going to continue the selection process with a candidate, let them know where they stand.  Don't just leave them wondering.

I wrote this posting, in part, to see if I could coax any comments and suggestions that would help with future interviews.  So let me have it.

The Future of USA Swimming

I was watching Rollerball (1975 with James Caan and John Houseman) the other day.  It was on sale on iTunes, and I had to get it, and it made me think about the future.  The my future, the future of the country, the future of our sport, and the future of USA Swimming.

The ultimate tough guy,
and no I don't think I am Jonathan E

Part of this is because I have been working on making the Alaska Swimming Bylaws conform to the USA Swimming Bylaws.  I have been working diligently on getting Alaska Swimming through the LEAP process so that we don't get fined and I don't lose my membership (read "Do we need to make a change in USA Swimming?  How about ASCA?").  The Bylaw updates are challenging because we have not been updating our bylaws to conform with USA Swimming for the last 10 years.  It seems that when we make a change to the AK Bylaws we have to notify USA Swimming, but not the other way around....but I am not really writing about  that.

What I am writing about is the conforming and the thumb of USA Swimming pressing down on me/us.  I am headed to the convention in September, and I am hoping to get a feel for the organization from the administrative angle.  It has been 10 years since I have been to the convention, and I feel like there has been a lot of change.

I am worried about the loss of some individualism at the LSC and club levels.  I feel like one of our founding fathers  who argued about states rights vs. federalism.  Right now we are drifting toward the "federalism" of our sport.  I don't feel like this is a good thing.  There are some things that should be taken care of by USA Swimming, and some things that should be handled by the LSC, and others that should be handled at the club level.  Lately, however, more and more things are being dictated by USA Swimming, and less is being left up to the LSC's and clubs.

Why Swimmers are Special...in a good way

200? Great Alaska Open
Championship men's team,
I mean look at those suits!

I joke around a lot about the general goofy nature of swimmers.  I remind my swimmers often, tongue in cheek, about how "special" they are.  But the truth is, swimmers really are special.  They are special by virtue of the fact that they work so hard, endure hours of practice, and most of all because of the environment they choose to embrace...an aquatic environment.

I was just reading an article in Scientific American entitled "Why is Swimming the Most Deadly Leg of a Triathlon?"  SA reports that, while rare, the majority deaths that do occur in triathlons, do so during the swimming portion of the event.  Most of these deaths are heart related, and due to the delay in treatment caused by getting them out of the water, they are most likely to pass during the swimming leg of the race than the bike and run, where help is more immediate.

These unfortunate deaths are a actually a reminder of just how challenging an environment swimmers embrace every day.  The simple fact of the matter is that humans are land animals.  We are best suited for land, and frankly, water is an inherently dangerous place for humans.  The fact that swimmers embrace the sport of swimming says a lot about their personalities and mental/physical toughness.  For those of us that coach swimming, I think that we enjoy surrounding ourselves with these special human beings.  It is the unique traits of the swimming athlete that, among other things, draws us to the sport.

Just something to think about at you next practice as you poke, prod, cajole, yell, etc for your swimmers to get in the water.

Athlete Protection Training - the latest USA Swimming non-athlete membership requirement

USA Swimming is initiating it's Athlete Protection Training this fall.  Before a non-athlete member can register for the 2012 membership year, they must successfully complete an online course.  The following excerpt is from an email from Cathy Durance, USA Swimming's Member Services Coordinator:

TO:  LSC Registrars

As you know, a new membership requirement will be mandatory for all non-athletes effective with the 2012 membership year, which begins 9/1/11. The new requirement is the online Athlete Protection Training (APT). Unfortunately, the APT will not be available until 9/15/11 so there is a two-week period when 2012 non-athlete members will be unable to meet the membership requirements. When you enter a 2012new member or renew an existing member, the SWIMS record will be flagged if the person has not passed the APT and a 2012 card will not be generated. Here’s what you can do during this lag time:

NEW NON-ATHLETE MEMBERSIf you have a brand new non-athlete member who joins during this two week period, you can provide them with a letter that will be valid through 10/15/11, giving them one month to pass the APT. A copy of the letter is attached; you should print it on your LSC letterhead and mail/email/forward it to the new member since you will not be able to print a 2012 membership card.

NON-ATHLETE MEMBER RENEWALSDo not renew the non-athlete until the end of September. These non-athletes have membership cards valid through 12/31/11 (unless a coach cert expires, but you will be able to print an updated 2011 card as long as you don’t renew them for 2012), so there should be no urgency to print a 2012 card for them. If you want to renew them in September, be aware that their SWIMS record will be flagged until they pass the APT. My recommendation would be to hold them until they have had a few weeks to complete the APT, but you can enter them into SWIMS altho they will be flagged until they have completed the APT. No 2012 card will be generated until they pass the APT.

APT QUEUEThe APT requirement will work exactly like the background check. The results will load directly into the same SWIMS queue and auto-match to the member’s record. (There will be a new option in the queue to search for just an APT, just a BGC, or for both; we will demonstrate the new options at the convention SWIMS workshop.) The APT results will work exactly like the BGC but you will be able to tell them apart when you are in the queue.

It will take about one hour to complete the online training course. There is no fee to take it. Once the final exam has been successfully completed, it will appear in the SWIMS queue the following day (never on the same day the test was passed). Members must take the training and they must pass the final exam. If they log out before passing the exam, it will not count and nothing will appear in the queue.

TELLING YOUR MEMBERS ABOUT THIS NEW REQUIREMENTYou will have to post a notification with your 2012 non-athlete membership forms to let people know about this new requirement. You can refer people to this link: www.usaswimming.org/protect. But the link to take the training will not be available until 9/15/11.

About the only truly good thing I can say about the APT is that it won't cost our volunteers any money.

USA Swimming's "partner" for the APT is a company called Praesidium.  Here is an exact quote from their website:

Child molesters love water.

They love bumping into kids in the wave pool. Using goggles to watch kids underwater. Loitering around the changing areas and bathrooms. Taking pictures or videotaping children without permission. Returning day after day to play with unsuspecting toddlers in the kiddie pool.

Your water park faces three dangers: First, that an adult guest will molest a child; second, that an employee or contract vendor will molest a child; and third, that a child will molest another child.

But these dangers can be reduced.

We can identify where in your park molesters will lurk and how to monitor those areas. We can train your managers in careful screening and selection of employees and vendors. And, we can teach your employees how to spot inappropriate or suspicious behavior and interrupt it before an incident happens.

Child molesters love water. Give them one less place to love. Call Praesidium.

Pretty scary...definitely inflammatory....I better get my training right away!!!

To be honest, I have no idea what the training video will entail, nor what the test will be like, but I am beginning to feel a little creeped out by USA Swimming and it's quest to make our sport safe.

So far, we have a background check that is required, at one level or another, for every non-athlete member of USA Swimming.  This is definitely a reasonable requirement for coaches, and maybe even the officials, but I am a little dubious that the computer operator, meet director, etc should have to complete one.  Most of these volunteers have little if any contact with the swimmers.  Timers come closer to the swimmers than most officials, and I don't remember seeing the meet administration checking USA Swimming registration for any timers....ever.  And what about the spectators at meets?  What is keeping them from taking compromising videos or photos of our swimmers?  What are we really doing to protect our swimmers?  To me, it just seems like a big show to prevent litigation, not really a major effort to protect kids.

I am assuming that the APT will give non-athlete members some training on how to recognize potential threats, of a predatory nature, to our athletes.  Spend enough time around a pool, and you will see some creepy characters.  In my 20+ years of coaching, I have had to call the police on 4 separate occasions because of "predatory" or obscene behavior.  I suppose the training may heighten someone's awareness of the behavior of these kinds of animals, but again, I am dubious.

I know that, on my club at least, these background checks and requirements are taking a toll on volunteerism.  I think it is doing more to deter good people from helping than it is to keep the real animals from doing what they do.  We might even be training predators to make their behavior even harder to detect.

Imagine the volunteer/predator who has never been caught.  They come up clean on a background check.  Now they take the APT and realize, "oops, I better change a couple of my methods so as to continue my creepy ways".

The bottom line is that I believe in getting the information out to the volunteer members.  Blanket them with emails, brochures, etc.  But to put them through another training and test; well it borders on the ridiculous.  I really think we are going to lose more good people that we will deter bad people.  And in the end, that may end up hurting the swimmers the most.

Is USA Swimming going the way of Swimming South Africa?

I ran across an article in the South African online Times Live entitled "Swimming faces mass exodus", and it got me to thinking.  In the article former world record holder, Gehard Zandberg, describes a disconnect between the administration of Swimming South Africa (SSA) and the swimmers.  Zandberg says that the success of South African swimmers has been despite the plans implemented by SSA.  Furthermore, he states that “We don’t rely on the federation anymore and we are making our own plans to scrape funds together.  I believe many of our local swimmers will go overseas in the next ten years.”


With the latest SCAQ Pro-swimmer blog entries, concerning the tech suits and loss of sponsorship dollars, will our swimmers be facing the same kind of choices.  Is USA Swimming doing enough to support our swimmers...especially our National Team?  I already feel like there is a disconnect between USA Swimming and the needs of our "developmental" senior swimmers.  Could USA Swimming do more to support our to support our top end athletes financially?


Ultimately, we don't want our swimmers to feel like some of the swimmers in South Africa feel.

The Crossover Turn for Back-to-Breast in IM's - Everyone should be doing this turn!

I am sure I am not the only one who has noticed this, but in the Women's 400m IM at the FINA World Championships I noticed a huge advantage to performing the crossover turn for the Back-to-Breast turn.  World record holder, Stephanie Rice (AUS) had a nearly 3/4 body length lead over Elizabeth Beisel (USA) going into the turn at the back/breast transition.  Rice did the traditional open turn while Beisel performed the crossover.  The difference was astounding, and they left the wall at the same time.  With the momentum of the turn, Beisel went on to pull away in the breaststroke and free and take the gold in the race.  Check it out the video below, there is a great shot of the back-to-breast turns from underwater:

I learned the crossover turn, as a swimmer, over 20 years ago (for the purposes of Back-to-Back turns), and, as a coach, I have tried to teach it to swimmers every season, with limited success.  However, after watching the above race, I believe it has to taught...to every swimmer.

The turn is not as easy to learn as some of the other tumble turns, but it is obviously a technique that, when mastered, is superior to open turns.  In an effort to find better ways to teach the crossover, I have stumbled across two great videos.  First, on YouTube:

The breakdown of each part of the turn is meticulously outlined.  All in all a great video.

The 2nd video is a GoSwim.tv DVD "Teaching Progressions with Steve Haufler".  The entire video is filled with amazing progressions for teaching young swimmers skills and turns for all strokes.  One of the progressions is for the crossover turn.  I recommend the entire DVD; it is a must for all club coaches.

The bottom line is that if we are not teaching our swimmers this turn we are holding them back.  Even Michael Phelps has started doing it (I think he was inspired to master it when Ryan Lochte started challenging him).  Check out the videos...let me know what you think.

Why we don't need "Tech Suits" in Swimming

One of the best....ok, make that two of the best things that happened at the 2011 FINA World Swimming Championships were the new world records.  When Ryan Lochte (200m IM) and Sun Yang (1500m Free) broke and set new world records it should have removed all doubt about whether or not we need the so called "Tech Suits" once and for all.

As a coach, there is nothing more disconcerting than whether it was your mentorship or the suit that helped your swimmer get a best time, win a race, etc.  I am of the opinion that suits are meant to hold stuff in...as tightly and comfortably as possible.  Other than that, there should be no aid given to the swimmer.  We all know that the technical suits from Speedo, TYR, Jaked, Blueseventy, etc provided much more than just a means to keep body parts in, they provided buoyancy; for some more than others.

Since the ban in 2009, all has been calm, but the controversy appears far from over.  But after reading the two part essay (click here for part 1 and part 2) at the SCAQ blog, and the subsequent comments from readers, I am concerned that there are still those out there that want the suits back.  The professional swimmer who wrote the article gave a great account from his/her perspective (a perspective most of us have not been privy too).  The technical suits were bad for business...the professional swimming business.  I want as many swimmers as possible to make money in their craft.

My biggest gripe about the suits is that, right now, there is not that much difference between a $100 suit and a top of the line $300 suit.  If you don't have much money to spend on a suit, you are not at much, if any, of a handicap.  However, if you bring back the technical suits you suddenly make swimming a game of "haves and have nots".  The difference between the $100 suits and the top of the line $500-$600 suits was enormous.  Heck, the difference between the $300 suits and the top of the line suits was enormous.

One of my biggest fears is that FINA, under pressure from the suit manufacturers, will revert back to allowing the non-textile suits.  Such a change would bring a long a rebirth of swimming not being about the swimmers, but their suits.  I hope it does not happen.  What is great for the manufacturers and retailers of suits is not necessarily what is good for the sport.

The Facts about Senior Swimming in America

For the last few months I have been espousing a very critical point of view regarding senior swimming in America.  I believe that USA Swimming dropped the ball when, in 2001, they changed the progression of senior swimming. Please see my earlier entries:

• Save Senior Swimming in the USA
• Senior Swimming in America - The Progression We Should Be Following

To sum it up, I believe that the USA Swimming Senior Development Committee has made it more difficult for an LSC level senior swimmer to progress to the National ranks.  Please read those earlier blog entries for the total breakdown of the former and current progressions and why I dislike the current progression.

One of the effects of the current progression is that it holds back our younger senior swimmers.  It may even cause attrition within our sport.  "But Cliff", you say,  "what facts do you have to back up your thesis?"

Well, I have crunched the numbers for each of the following USA Swimming National Teams (these are the only lists I could find within the time period of the current progression):

Over the years, National Team has aged.  The Women seem to be relatively unaffected ranging from an average age of 21.6 to 21.9 (actually dipping to 19.8 in the 2006 Pan Pacs).  On the other hand, the average age of the men has risen dramatically, from 21.3 to 24.8.....whoa!!!

Now, in all fairness, I believe that Title IX may be affecting our men's numbers.  Having said that, with the popularity of heros like Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, you would think that it might balance out Title IX.  I really think that our progression of championship meets is playing a significant roll in the aging of our team.  Assuming Phelps and Lochte are nearly done, we are going to be in big trouble by the time the 2016 Rio games come along.

The time to act is now!  Bring back the Region Championships....bring back the three tiered Junior National format!  We can keep Sectionals, but we need to bring back those smaller steps in the progression.  Without those steps we create an atmosphere in which only the early bloomers thrive.

We need the USA Swimming Senior Development Committee stop just thinking about collegiate age swimmers and the super talented early developers.  We need to cultivate senior swimming holistically...bring along every level of senior swimming in our country.

Save Senior swimming in the USA

After a week of fast swimming at the Western Zone (Blue) Sectional Championship, I was still left with a bitter taste in my mouth.  The meet was dominated by large clubs, local clubs, and University affiliated programs.  I am not envious of their performances (hard work is hard work and should be rewarded), but I am frustrated that the progression of senior swimming in USA Swimming is weighted toward those groups...and it handicaps smaller programs.  Please follow my thought process.

We got rid of Regional Championships in lieu of the Sectional Championships.  The Region meets drew from a smaller population base, so it was necessary to make the Sectional Championship time standards faster than the old Region time standards.  In doing that, we just removed a step in the progression from local senior swimming and national caliber senior swimming.  In other words, the local senior swimmer has a much bigger hurdle to jump in order to travel beyond the LSC Senior Championship.

Back in the days of Region Championship meets, a big travel team for me was around 15.  For sectionals it around 5.

At the same time we got rid of the Senior Region meets, we got rid of the three site junior format.  We replaced Jr's West, Southeast, and Northeast with a single junior meet.  Again, this increased the population base and which forced even faster time standards, so close in fact, that they are only fractionally different than the National time standards.  We have managed to make hurdle even higher.

Back in the days of the three site Jr Nationals I typically would take 2-4 athletes.  Now it is more typical to have 1...if I am fortunate enough to have one at all.

Now, all of this is fine if we primarily want to encourage the early bloomers and most gifted athletes.  But as someone who has coached under both progressions, I have to say that kids, of all skill levels, deal better with incremental challenges.  Throwing daunting steps in front of them does not promote the sport, but rather alienates those who are not "fast" early on.  I firmly believe that one of the reasons that we have more post-grads on the National Team is because our younger up-and-comers are simply less numerous than back in the day.  We are smothering the future of USA Senior Swimming with a progression that favors only the older and/or the most gifted.

It is much easier to build a senior group when more kids qualify for the next level of championship.  Swimmers are more likely to want to attend a championship if they have teammates who are attending.  Swimmers are more likely to attend a meet when they have more qualifying times for that meet.  For all of these reasons, I think it is important to have a more gentle progression out of the LSC Senior Championship.  Bring back Regions (you can event keep sectionals if you want).  Bring back the old Jr Nationals (if it bothers you to have 3 Jr National meets, perhaps these can be the Sectional meets...after all, it is just a name).

A change must come.  If we are not careful, we are going to discourage the base and lose them forever.

USA Swimming Travel Policy - Is it more than about protecting swimmers?

As a part of the recent LEAP Level 1 trials that Alaska Swimming has been undergoing, we have found it necessary to address the Team Travel Policy requirements as mandated by USA Swimming as of December 31, 2010.  One of the things that sticks out, and is somewhat problematic for smaller clubs is the requirement that "Regardless of gender, a coach shall not share a hotel room or other sleeping arrangement with an athlete (unless the coach is the parent, guardian, sibling, or spouse of that particular athlete)."

I understand the primary purpose of the requirement is to protect swimmers from potential sexual misconduct by the coaches, and to protect the coach from a crazy swimmer making false accusations.  In fact, USA Swimming goes so far as to recommend "Athletes should not ride in a coach’s vehicle without another adult present who is the same gender as the athlete, unless prior parental permission is obtained." and  "When athletes are age 12 & Under, chaperones and/or team managers may stay with athletes. Where chaperones/team managers are staying in a room with athletes, they should be the same gender as the athlete and written consent should be given by athlete’s parents (or legal guardian)."

This seems like it is getting a little extreme.  Imagine a scenario in which I have only two swimmers qualified for a meet like Nationals...one male, one female.  I would be required to have a female adult chaperone on the trip, just so that she can ride in the car with us.  I would be required to get 3 separate rooms.  I could not stay with my male athlete...but the chaperone would be able to stay with my female athlete.  How does that make any sense?  I mean I have to take a more stringent background check than the chaperone...right?  Some of these requirements and recommendations don't make much sense. (special note: since the writing of this blog post it has been made apparent to me that the chaperone and coach background checks are of the same stringency, my apologies for the inaccuracy).

The bottom line is that there are swimmers/families that I could trust to travel alone with their children.  In today's climate I would no longer even share a suite with a female athlete (though 20 years ago I did), although I would drive alone with them.  I would be willing to share a room with nearly any male swimmer (on a case by case basis) if, because of financial reasons, would not otherwise be able to afford the trip.  Of course none of this matters because USA Swimming does not allow it.

I feel like we have reacted to and then overreacted to the sexual misconduct scandals that have rocked our sport.  We need to have at least some trust...right?

And then there is the conspiracy theorist in me that thinks this is all part of a plot to sell more hotel rooms at the Marriot.  Seriously, think about it, in the scenario that I outlined above, I go from needing two hotel rooms to three...a 50% increase in revenue for Marriot.  It may be a bit of a reach, but at this point I wouldn't put it past Big Brother at USA Swimming.  Something to think about anyway.

Senior Swimming in America - The Progression We Should be Following

In 2001 I attended the Senior Development Committee meeting (at the USAS Convention) that handicapped senior swimming in America.

Prior to that meeting the progression of senior swimming in USA Swimming was as follows:

• LSC Senior Championship
• Region Senior Championship
• Junior Nationals (West/Southeast/Northeast)
• US Open
• Nationals

The progression seemed to work well in that the incremental steps from one championship were such that relatively even.  A similar percentage of swimmers would qualify for the next meet in the progression.  If %x of swimmers at the Region level qualified for Jr's, you could expect approximately the same percentage at Jr's to qualify for Nationals.

On 9/11 the Senior Development Committee decided to mothball Jr's and replace it with Sectionals.  Oh they eventually brought Jr's back but they eliminated the West, Southeast, and Northeast versions of the meet and made a super fast single meet.  In doing so, they made the step from Jr's down to the next meet (in this case Sectionals) huge, effectively destroying the progression.

That was not the way it was supposed to be when those of us in the peanut gallery left the meeting on 9/11.  Our understanding on that day was that there would be a Sectional series each spring, but Jr's (the 3 meet format) would remain intact every summer.  Obviously this is not the way things turned out.  It would seem that the members of the committee at the time decided it was too inconvenient, for their big time programs, to have to travel to two separate locations every summer for Jr's and Nationals.  I agree that it may be inconvenient for the larger "powerhouse" teams to travel to two different meets locales.  But for most teams, that is a problem we would love to have to deal with.  

I see that while at least one person from 2001 is still on the committee, there are at least a couple newer committee members who actually work with non-college age swimmers and are people who's values I trust.  Perhaps we could convince the 2011 Senior Development Committee to consider balancing the steps toward elite senior swimming.  Not all of us have built in National teams in our programs...we have to develop ours the old fashioned way.

LEAP....backward

Why does USA Swimming has LSC's jumping through hoops?  and should we put a stop to it?  could we if we wanted to?

I have been a coach in Alaska Swimming for 20 years and involved in our LSC's governance since 1993.  During that time I have served as the Age Group Chair (2 terms), Senior Chair, Legislative Coordinator (2 terms), Coach's Rep, and now as the Administrative Vice Chair.  I have attended the USAS Convention only three times, my last in 2001 in Detroit.  I watched the events of 9/11 unfold on tv before as I was getting dressed to attended a Senior Swimming committee meeting.  I was the only member of the Alaska Swimming delegation to make it to the convention that year, so I attended every committee meeting I possibly could.  During my tenure, nothing has frustrated me more than the LEAP and the process for attaining the mandated Level 1.  Please read on as I digress for a few moments.

It was my last USAS Convention due in part to those bad memories of 9/11, but also because I didn't really feel like anything a guy from North Pole, AK said would matter.  For instance I watched as a group of big program coaches killed Jr. Nationals (West, Southeast, and Northeast) and replaced it with the current Sectional - Jr National - National format.  Though this is a tangent from my essay's theme, I have to say, I think that was a bad move.  It made the leap from local/regional senior swimming so huge that it has effectively demotivated an entire generation of swimmers who actually used to have a shot at step by step attaining a National cut.  In my opinion LSC Senior Champs, Senior Region Champs, Jr Nats (3 regions), and then Nationals was a much better progression.

I bring this all up because it is partly my fault that we have LEAP at all, since I was not there to vote or speak out against it.  Believe me, I know what it is like to be part of the process and then be sniped at by those who refuse to participate.  Having said that, it is almost impossible to have an impact at the USA Swimming level unless you are in the inner circle.  I refer back to my digression about the progression of senior swimming that we are currently stuck with.  I was there, I commented from the peanut gallery, but it did not matter.

It is not that we have a LEAP that bothers me, it is the implementation that is all wrong.  Instead of setting out a list of 50 things that each LSC should have/complete and then giving us a checklist to complete on our own, they are forcing us to jump through hoops and then threatening us when we fall behind (please refer to my earlier post about Do we need to make a change at USA Swimming?  How about ASCA?).  I feel like I am being treated like a child with a power hungry adult watching over my shoulder.

My most recent complaint stems from Alaska Swimming's completion, and submission, of our Level 1 LEAP tasks/chores, documents, etc.  After submission, we were notified that our bylaws need to be updated to change all references of USS to USA Swimming (not really tough, and not a big deal) and to make sure all of the changes that have been made to the USA Swimming bylaws are reflected in our bylaws...ok, this could be a problem.

Now you will remember that one of my volunteer jobs with Alaska Swimming has been to serve as the Legislative Coordinator.  For 4 years I made sure to submit any changes to our bylaws to USA Swimming for approval...and we always got the thumbs up.  Want to know how many times I was notified of changes to the USA Swimming bylaws, you know, just in case they might affect us?  You guessed it...I was never notified!  My successor...never notified!

I think before we have any LSC jump through the process of LEAP we should make USA Swimming go through the process...at a board and staff level.  I really think these folks don't have a grip.  How can they expect us to have our stuff together when they don't even communicate with us at a meaningful level?  Part of me thinks the staff at USA Swimming may have cooked this up just to ensure job security.

Bottom line is that we need to make some changes at the board level so that we can make some changes at the staff level, maybe starting with the CEO.  There are some staff at USA Swimming who I know work hard and have been very helpful to me and my club (Bill Krumm and Rick Bishop for instance) but I honestly don't understand why we would ever employ someone to administer a program like LEAP.

Believe me, I will be in Florida this September!

Please, share your thoughts on this matter.

Do we need to make a change at USA Swimming? How about ASCA?

There is something rotten in the state of American swimming.  USA Swimming is doing well competitively, but there are some serious issues that are beginning to appear in it's administrative side.  The American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA) provides many useful services, but it's leadership is the source of much scorn, and the organization seems to have a monopoly on coaching certification and accreditation.  Has the time come to make a change in the USA Swimming leadership?  Do we need an option to ASCA for our coaches?

I have been a member of Alaska Swimming for 34 years.  I began swimming competitively at the age of 7, and have been swimming and for, and then coaching from that point forward.  From a time before USA Swimming was the National Governing Body (NGB) for the sport.  The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) governed swimming back in the day, and while a lot of things have improved since the Amateur Sports Act of 1978, some things have gotten worse.

I was at the USA Swimming convention in 1997 when Chuck Wielgus took over as the CEO of our organization.  I attended many of the workshops and meetings, and was extremely impressed with the efforts he and his staff were making in the branding and marketing of our sport.  I was convinced that he had what it would take to make USA Swimming, and it's athletes, household names.  I was right, and USA Swimming actually has become the biggest Olympic sport with the biggest stars.

Under the Wielgus regiem we have a lot for which to be thankful.  However, in recent years, we have begun to see and hear things that may be an indication that it is time for a change.  His interview with 20/20 in April 2010, concerning sexual abuse by some coaches, was a disaster.  He came off as arrogant and insensitive, and while I sincerely believe that he does care about the victims  of the abuse, the damage was done...and he knew it.

His response was to revamp and re-implement a fairly weak background check system that was being used by USA Swimming to screen out monsters and sexual predators like those brought to light in the 20/20 investigation.  There has been some question however, as to how much money USA Swimming is getting as a "kickback" from the firm contracted to perform the background checks...Acxiom.

There is no argument from me that background checks for all coaches in USA Swimming is necessary.  It is a tragedy that any adult could abuse any child in such a way.  However, now USA Swimming has expanded it's search for these sexual predators to all officials and key deck personal (computer operators, deck management, etc).  I can't help but think that perhaps this is starting to get a little on the ridiculous side.  As people like the computer operators at swim meets begin to line up to be checked two images come to mind: 1) Big Brother from Orwell's 1984 and 2) the cash that is being stuffed into USA Swimming's pockets from background check kickbacks.

I can't imagine a reason that a computer operator would need a background check when there is nothing keeping a "creeper" from videoing swimmers in there racing suits.  What is next...background checks for everyone who walks into a swim meet?  Why not?  It is certainly much more likely that a deviant would be sitting in the stands at a swim meet than in a white shirt, on deck, with all eyes on him/her.  Does anyone else think this is crazy.

Then there is the is my most recent beef with USA Swimming...the LSC Evaluation & Achievement Program or LEAP.  This is a program who's stated purpose is to help LSC's become more effective.  A noble pursuit I suppose.  My biggest issue with the program is that it is mandatory.  Just recently Alaska Swimming came up against the deadline for completing their LEAP Level 1.  The program has 50 separate items that need to be checked off or uploaded for evaluation.  As an executive board member of Alaska Swimming I received an email with the following letter attached.  Keep in mind, this was our first warning:

Whoa!  What kind of organization did I volunteer for?  By my estimation, Alaska Swimming has been doing just fine since the early 1970's.  Since when did we need USA Swimming to come in and "spank" us for getting our assignment in late?  And why are we being forced to complete this LEAP anyway?  Where was this $100/day fine going to go?  Any most of all, who wants to be a member of an organization that institutes such punitive actions against it's volunteers?

Let's segue from USA Swimming to ASCA by taking a look at the requirements (other than the background check) for being a coach member of USA Swimming.  A coach must have current CPR, 1st Aid, Safety Training for Swim Coaches.  Great!  Safety first is what I say.  Let's make sure all of the swimmers and coaches on deck are in a safe environment, and let's make sure that all of the coaches are trained to recognize and take care of whatever emergencies may arise.  No problem, I have met all of those requirement and I have been hired to be a coach by a board of parents...or better yet, I will start my own club.

But wait, there is one more requirement...each coach must pass the "Foundations of Coaching" test.  Well how hard can it be?  I'll just log into USA Swimming at take this test.  Wow, it has 180 questions. Ok, this is going to take some time.  Oh, it seems to have a lot of questions that refer to this video and online text book...which by the way costs $25 (in addition to your annual USA Swimming registration fee).  Who publishes this incredibly one sided and often questionable video?  Why it's  USA Swimming....and ASCA.

I have been a member of ASCA since 1992 and a life plus member since 1995.  I have attended dozens of clinics and workshops over the years.  I have taken correspondence classes and traveled to special training classes.  I have been a member of USA Swimming and ASCA long enough that I am "grandfathered" from having to take this "Foundations of Coaching" test, but I have taken it with several of my assistant coaches...and it is esoteric, subjective, and poorly written.  How is it that ASCA is the only authority on who is qualified to be a swim coach?

The Executive Director of ASCA is John Leonard.  He has been in this position for over 26 year and it would appear that be a coach of any stature in USA Swimming, you must "kiss the ring" of John Leonard.  This is the same John Leonard that has allegedly, according to various websites and blogs (www.usswimnscandal.com, scaq.blogspot.com, curbnorthside.blogspot.com), had multiple brushes with the legal, moral, and ethical boundaries espoused by the very organization he leads.

Is there a cabal between John Leonard and Chuck Wielgus to control swimming in the United States?  Are these the kind of people that we want to have "lead" us.  John Leonard seems to be out of control and a particularly bad influence on the direction of our sport.  Likewise, it would seem it is time to take the positive things (branding, TV coverage, etc) that Chuck Wielgus has given us and move on to someone who can provide leadership away from the negatives...a growing, power hungry, and overpaid bureaucracy.

What is the next step?  I am not sure, but something has to be done...soon...before all the progress we have made is lost.

The Importance of Sculling - the lost drill

When I was a kid we spent we spent a lot of time working on our feel for the water by sculling.  For me, an average swimmer at best, it was something that really helped me develop distance per stroke and a really good catch in all of my strokes.

As a 20 year veteran in the art of coaching swimming I spend a lot of time reading swimming texts, watching swimming videos, and researching swimming websites.  One thing that I have noticed over the years is that sculling is not often mentioned as a drill for teaching/coaching in swimming.  It is something that I think needs to make a comeback.

Sculling helps kids learn how to apply a continuous force on on the water...from the catch to the finish.  The simple act of laying on your back and sculling (without kicking), head first really does promote the feel for the water.  Using a large pair of paddles will help encourage athletes, somewhat like fins during kicking, by increasing their velocity (sculling is not really a fast drill).

Once sculling on the back is mastered, then additional styles can be employed to further develop and enhance swimming skills.  Sculling on the back (feet first), sculling on the stomach head first (hands deep and slightly in front of the shoulders), etc.

Regardless of the style or equipment used during the drill, I think it is important to bring sculling back.  At least once a week...if not more.

Finis Swimmer Snorkel in Butterfly

I have used the Swimmer's Snorkel, by Finis, for many years as a breath control and stroke technique device.  I have used it mostly in Freestyle, a little in Back and Breast, but very little during Fly.  Last week I observed on of my college swimmers using one for an entire set of fly.  I had to ask her about it afterward to see what her thoughts were.  She said it allowed her to swim more fly through a set without breaking down.  I however, noticed something more, but thought I would give it a more thorough try with a larger group...my senior boys.

Last Friday I gave a set of 25's Fly with snorkels and fins.  Throughout the set I encouraged the boys to keep their stroke profile, there stroke undulation, as tight as possible.  I really wanted to encourage them to engage their core more in the process of each stroke cycle.  When you have the snorkel on, you don't have to recover up to get a breath, but it also encourages a shallower downward motion as the hands are driving forward.  Undulate too deep, and your snorkel fills.  Recover to high, and you may as well not have on a snorkel because your face will be out of the water.

It was a real challenge for some of the boys to tighten up that body undulation.  However, once they got the hang of it, they began to use there core muscles (abs, lower back, upper legs) more in during each stroke cycle.  They were using there heads and arms less, and using their core more.  The result was more forward velocity in each stroke and fewer strokes per length.

I am sold on using the snorkel for fly, and encourage you to give it a try.

Fly Side Breathing

Side breathing as performed by Christine Magnuson

Side breathing during butterfly is nothing new.  However, I remember watching Mel Stewart winning the 200 Fly in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.  It was something new to me then, but it just now that I am starting to see why it might be a good thing...at least for some swimmers.

Since Mel's success there have been many to imitate his side breathing technique.  For some swimmers, I believe, it may be the best option for their fly stroke.

Reason #1:  There is an imbalance in the recovery between the right and left side.  Some swimmers "lean" to the right or left during the recovery of their arms.  This poor balance could be corrected by breathing to the correct side.  For instance, if a swimmer's right arm recovers a bit higher than their left, breathing toward the left side might tend to draw that right arm down a bit.

Reason #2:  The upper body is recovering too high out of the water.  If a swimmer recovers too high out of the water, asking them to breath to the side may help lower their head position.  By asking them to breath to the side and keep their lower cheek on the surface of the water, they may be able to keep their head lower on the breath.

Whether it is the 1st or 2nd reason, the result is the same, a tighter undulation during the stroke.  Such a body motion would encourage a swimmer to engage their core throughout the stroke, instead of just throwing their upper body up and down during the stroke.

Tomorrow I have another idead for encouraging a more core strength during the undulation in butterfly.

Tempo and Breastroke

I have been spending the weekend at the 2011 Santa Clara International.  The 200 Breaststroke was Friday evening, and I had the pleasure of watching the likes of Rebecca Soni, Amanda Beard, Brendan Hanson, and Eric Shanteau.  They are all American legends in the stroke and sport, and I wanted to pay particular attention and see if I could pick up some insight into what helps make them successful.

Rebecca and Amanda were first, and I decided to take stroke rates for Rebecca.  Her first 50 tempo was right around 115 strokes per minute.  She then took it up to 121, 225, and then 130 on each of the remaining 50's.   I was able to see and increase in Amanda's stroke rate as well, though I was not able to time it (only one watch).  Rebecca's splits were :33.51-:35.65-:37.10-:37.12.  Amanda's splits were :33.72-:37.05-:38.21-:38.55.

Eric and Brendan were next, and I decided to measure Eric's stroke rates.  He held is 1st 100m pretty steady at 110-115 strokes per minute, but he rapidly increased his tempo, up to around 125 strokes per minute, by the end of his 2nd 100m.  Brendan also increased his tempo dramatically.  During the last 50 he had a tempo that was clearly faster than Eric's.  Eric's splits were :30.59-:34.06-:34.31-:34.56, while Brendan's splits were :30.85-:34.57-:34.35-:34.79.

I have always coached my breaststrokers to work their distance per stroke at the beginning of their races and to work their tempo towards the ends.  My rationale is that they need to feel the water and gradually increase that tempo throughout the race.  In doing so, they will be able to hold their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th splits tighter together.

In our Santa Clara International sample batch, the ladies splits drop off a bit more that the guys, but they are swimming longer and, as a result, probably endure a bit more fatigue throughout the race.  The guys hold their splits pretty tight.  I really think that my recommendations hold true and are supported by these results.

Something to consider.