Dear Bebe,

My training camp with The Race Club in the Florida Keys was a fantastic experience from beginning to end.

Booking your camp was very easy; Ms. Hall is very friendly and accommodating.  Bebe ‘makes it happen’ – booking dates, suggesting hotels, invoicing and payment – and it’s fast and convenient.

The cost of the camp is more than justified, considering the (incomparable) nature and quality of the coaching.

Founders Pool is a huge, world class, long course training and racing facility.  The pool deck is big and beautiful.  The Keys are gorgeous and the people there are cool, laid back and fun.

The coaching and instruction involved essentials from technical, training, racing and psychological perspectives.

As regards technique, get your head down and backside up, breathe properly, otherwise reduce drag by getting your elbows high and your hands shallow, rotate your torso to recover, without needless effort and shoulder strain, quickly and efficiently and increase your stroke rate to maintain momentum.  There are a lot of drills that teach, demonstrate and reinforce this basic form.

The anaerobic threshold, multiple station 5X (8X 1:00) training day was a blast;  Dr. Hall considers that you must replicate and experience the physiological effects of racing, often, if you want to race well/swim fast.

From a psychological standpoint, focus, perform as well as you can (including by acknowledging your limitations and taking advantage of your strengths) don’t think too much. i.e., about more than one thing at the time, and be positive.

Anyone of any ability can train at The Race Club.  I was by far the oldest and worst swimmer but Dr. Hall structured the training so that I didn’t hinder anyone else and they didn’t undermine me.  I was swimming 1:30 100′s (insert excuse here) and the other swimmers were at least 20 seconds faster.

There were a lot of nice boys and girls and their families, including parents, brothers, sisters, all of whom were really great, which seems typical in the swimming community.  (I took email coordinates from the kids I swam with, non of whom thought they would be hanging out with a 48 year old trial lawyer from Montreal!)

I learned a lot from Dr. Hall (which has been evident in every workout since I returned to Montreal).  Not just about swimming but also important lessons one is never too old to learn about attitude and comportment.

I really liked Bebe Hall because she is smart, sweet, funny and helpful.

And, no doubt like everyone else who meets him, I admire, like and respect Dr. Hall very much.  He’s a fantastic teacher, a very nice man, smart as hell, and a supremely accomplished coach and swimmer who deals with many national and international calibre coaches and swimmers everyday (so he can and will certainly help you).  When Dr. Hall speaks – slowly, calmly, never shouting, articulately and covincinly – everyone listens, understands and learns.

I am very proud of the hat Dr. Hall gave me (admittedly for swimming a very slow 50, but for me, pretty good) and it is sitting on my desk at work.  You can’t allow yourself to become jaded, you have to take risks, learn new sports, train, compete, make new friends and admire new coaches and athletes, all the while celebrating your inexperience.  I have learned that you must use the washroom before you get wet – this must be one of the more uncomfortable experiences in sports – and speaking of uncomfortable experiences, be careful about your middle region when diving off the blocks.

P.S.:  I just got my CD with the analysis of my strokes (such as they are).  Of course it’s humbling and jarring.  More important, it is very illustrative and instructive.  I take this opportunity to thank Dr. Hall and Bebe Hall, very much, for an absolutely fantastic experience that I hope to repeat, often, and which I highly recommend to any swimmer, slow or fast, young or old, competitive or recreational.

Yours very truly,

David Wiseman

Montreal, Canada