Happy New Year!

I used to swim for Eddie Reese. He used the quote, “Practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.” That is true.

The problem with doing 9 to 10 thousand meters a practice is that it is nearly impossible to hold a perfect stroke through that distance. Things get sloppy with fatigue; look at some of those flip turns out there, and they don’t change to perfect for the big race. Watch the starts of the 1500 guys at the Olympics, most of them are TERRIBLE. I think that it’s safe to say that for the most part the further the distance a swimmer claims as their event, the worse their stroke technique, start and flip turns are. They sacrifice this for more aerobic capacity.

What would happen to Track and Field if the coach said, “Okay, this year we are going to train everyone for the marathon. Sprinters, discus throwers, and pole vaulters fall in!”

Most long jumpers would quit. Most anyone that wasn’t born to be a marathon runner would eventually quit. And if they were sold on the “never give up” theme they would develop as athletes as they developed in physical maturity at a slow pace, or get injured.

That is one thing that an age group coach has to their advantage. As kids grow they will get faster, even if a coach doesn’t have a clue as to what they are doing.

You might say that I’m off here. Javelin is a different sport than high jump. One thing that the Olympics has shown me is that athletes come in all shapes and sizes. You see it every day in the Olympic village. A woman basketball player, a weightlifter, a gymnast, all the best in the world look absolutely nothing alike.

I’m reminded of a conversation I had with a team mate in 2004. She had mentioned in conversation that she liked Ian Thorpe because he wasn’t that stringy in body type like so many other swimmers, and she felt better about her own figure knowing that Ian was one of the best swimmers in the world. I was shocked. I turned to her and said, “YOU are one of the best swimmers in the world. You are an Olympian and only a few swimmers have ever swum faster than you, and that’s about to change. WHO could possibly tell you that your body type isn’t perfect for swimming!?” I think that it says a lot about how exclusive the sport is.

The introductory swim programs, age group swimming, excludes any athlete that isn’t a gazelle marathon type who’s shoulders (and mind) can handle 10 thousand a day. I will argue that it’s too selective. It eliminates so much talent from our sport. There isn’t as much difference between a 100 meter breaststroker and sprinter as a weightlifter and gymnast. There is a considerable difference though. The young swimmers aren’t able to voice their frustration with, not the inability to swim 10 thousand a day, but their limited ability to swim 10 thousand a day. Unfortunately, most times they are called lazy and considered weak (terms I was very familiar with). If a young swimmer has the muscle make up of a sprinter, throwing them 10K every day is like asking the weightlifter to walk a balance beam. They can do it, but they’ll never be great at it either.

I sympathize with an age group coach that has a large group of swimmers. There are just too many kids to start specializing at that age. I don’t know what the solution is, but I can’t understand how swimming 10,000 meters a day helps feel for the water. I can’t feel my arms after 6 or 7 thousand. How can you perfect stroke technique with such fatigue?

What makes a great age group coach is their ability to identify the strong points of each of their swimmers and encourage them into the right event. Put the weightlifter in the power events and put the lithe aerobic animal in the distance lane. Then explain to them why they are there.

To the age group swimmers I say this, give yourself as many options as possible. Don’t call yourself a 100 meter breaststroker because Amanda Beard is one and you like Amanda. At 14 you may not know if you are a sprinter or a distance swimmer, but you’ll figure it out. Play other sports. If you exclusively train for one you have ruled out the other as a possibility. Keep your options open. Don’t gripe every time you get a distance set either.

Follow your dreams but pick your dreams wisely. The best figure skater in the world will never play starting center for the Miami Heat. My cousin was a born gymnast. He was hyperactive and would literally do back flips while you were trying to talk to him. At some point it hit me. That’s cool, I want to do back flips too. I signed up for the gymnastics team. I was about 5’10 and 65 pounds. I walked into the gym and the coach looked at me like, “What are you DOING here?” He knew I would never be a good gymnast. He didn’t say anything. It didn’t take me long to figure it out. No matter how great he was as a coach I wasn’t going to make it as a gymnast. BUT, I knew when I joined the swim team years later that I had tried gymnastics and basketball and soccer and football (an even funnier story than my gymnastics experience). I knew what I was missing and that made it easier to keep my commitment to swimming later on.

I have had so many kids tell me that they are sprinters and their coaches make them do distance. It takes more than saying, “I’m a sprinter!” to be one. You have to prove it. Start posting some sprinter times to get out of the distance lane. Set some goals with your coach. Say, “Coach, what do I have to go to prove to you that I got that sprinter gene? What’s it gonna take?” Coaches love this. They will give you some outrageous time. Don’t just get the time, blow it out of the water.

Swim smart,

Gary Hall Jr.

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