Access expert advice from the world’s top swimmers and swim coaches. Whether you want to learn about stroke technique, race strategy, or training plans, you’ll find informed answers from top experts like Emma McKeon, Bob Bowman, and many more.
Chad has good underwater technique and is a tough, courageous, and aggressive racer who isn't afraid to take risks. Transcript: "I think Chad's technique is first off really good underwater and I've had a swimmer that trained with him and when he is on a roll, he is extremely tough. He has a very high ability to withstand kind of the pain of training and and I also think he's he's a courageous racer. He's very aggressive, not afraid to go. Go out and die and do it again, and again and again. And he's a, he's a risk-taker in a good way."
I prefer to use a traditional periodization approach in my training, focusing on building strength and power from January to April and then taking a break to rest and recover. Transcript: "For me Petra, summer traditional period iser. So I like to go bigger work in the winter cycle with short, rest as more of a focus like to add in more arrests in the cycle, from January to April and they're like to get really specialized fast and specific specific in cycle 3. So I've done some stuff we reverse periodization before, I find it a little bit clicky and little bit messy, and I like to just be quite traditional in the way that I period eyes."
During tapers, I focus on drinking plenty of water and getting adequate sleep by setting a bedtime for myself. Transcript: "During tapers. Something that I'm always making sure I'm doing is drinking a ton of water. I'm pretty bad about drinking water, but normally for me, like, carrying around like one of those big water bottles and making sure I'm finishing it, like one of those gallon ones that really helps me. So, I'll do that on paper. And then I always, once I get on the taper like set up bedtime for myself, making sure I'm not going to bed any later than that. So It's typically like 9:30 and just trying to keep myself on ice and sticking to that. So, sleep and water. The two things I really hone in on"
Running is not a good way to develop aerobic capacity in swimmers; there are better options that won't sacrifice their health. Transcript: "I don't think so, man. There are so many other better ways of developing aerobic capacity in swimmers. Just get rid of anything that has the impact of running because you cannot sacrifice your swimmers' heaps, niece, backs just for the sake of aerobic conditioning. I mean, you have better options."
Ryan beat Michael in the Shanghai World Championships, going 154.0 to Michael's 154.1. Transcript: "I ask myself this question a lot, and the answer is very simple. Ryan out-touched Michael in Shanghai World Championships, end of story. Beat him in the world championships, went 154.0, Michael's 154.1, and that's how it is. So congrats to Ryan, and I hope you're having a good day."
As a head coach, it is important to give new team members some freedom and trust in order to build a successful relationship. Respect their experience and let them do their job, while also providing feedback and allowing them to learn from any mistakes that may be made. Transcript: "So as a head coach, if I've brought someone on board that's relatively new to the program and you're trying to establish trust, I guess I would, you know, at that point I've done all the background checks and I've decided this guy's a pretty trustworthy person. You know, I've spoken to him on the phone, brought him on board. At that point, as a head coach, as a leader, I've got to give that person some leeway to do their job. I've got to give them some freedoms and respect their intelligence and their experience level to say, hey, they know the requirements of the job. We've spoken about that. Now, let them do their job and kind of step back a little bit and see how they do. The other way is, you know, I've seen bosses that are extremely controlling and basically very micromanaged, whether it's a trainer, another coach, a staff member, and then I think all levels of trust are just gone out the window. So I think as a head coach, you've got to give your staff, trainers, outside coaches a little bit of leeway, let them do their job, and you build up trust from there. They probably do a pretty good job. You talk about it and you let them learn from their mistakes. You let them learn from their experiences and you move forward together."