Led by three-time Olympian Gary Hall Sr. the Race Club sessions focused on the science of swimming—along with good, sound feedback relating to skill improvement and innovative training ideas. It was one of those experiences where you couldn't wait to get back home and get to work using some of the new ideas. In all, Gary—and his TRC assistant Nico Messer—were more than helpful, forthcoming and open to the exchange of working towards the notion of better, more efficient swimming. And they did it all by using our swimmers as the Guinea pigs!
I tend to think a lot of coaches in this sport—particularly head coaches—shy away from welcoming hands-on advice as it relates to training their own swimmers. They have no problem trading and sharing ideas... but to actually allow someone to sit down with your kids—for any amount of time—well, that's not such a comfortable thought for some. It's as if they might be admitting they need help or maybe that they aren't really up to the task of figuring out how to get the most out of their swimmers—how to make them faster.
But after reading a terrific book written by legendary coach Bill Walsh (The Score Takes Care of Itself"), it was clear to me that the only way Bill was able to become the coach he was was by being a virtual "sponge"... by watching what coaches around him were doing—and why they were doing it. Bill learned a lot from the likes of Paul Brown and others whom he worked and developed under. He mentioned that he would have been crazy not to have taken special note of those he worked under—those who showed innovation and inspiration in building successful programs. At the same time, he also took note to what wasn't working and that too became an integral part of his growth process as arguably the greatest football coach of all time.
My own swim coach, the late Kevin Perry (known affectionately as "KP" to those who trained under him), became one of the most noted age group swim coaches in California, if not nationally. Had he lived to this day, he would have rightly become notorious for having developed a kid named Tyler Clary, whom he trained for many years at FAST in Fullerton, CA. Instead, KP will go down as one of the best swim coaches in the US whom many have never heard of. I don't mean this disrespectfully; KP was more about the kids than receiving any props from his peers. However, those who were in the “know” knew exactly who KP was.
I took many mental and actual notes during my six years as an athlete under KP (usually forced to do the latter because of team journaling). His style was very innovative, and while most programs around us in the Bay Area were focusing their training on swimming lots and lots of yards, KP was ahead of his time because he was giving us a steady diet of speed, technical skills, recovery, and threshold sets. Our program flourished under this style as we went from a program that had previously no swimmers qualifying for Nationals, to a team that possessed more than ten.
Like Bill Walsh's "west coast offense" (a title Bill actually despised) where the "football minds" of the time mistakenly took Bill's system as "gimmicky" and not "real football," so too, KP's style of training was thought by some to be "the easy way out" of good old fashioned hard work. They thought just because we swam 5-6 k per practice (although sometimes it was much more, other days much less), the practices were easier.
Having personally been in other programs that trained for massive "aerobic conditioning" (10,000+ yards per practice), I can honestly say I never threw up as much as I did when I swam under KP. The lactate/VO2 max sets were the most physically and mentally demanding series of sets I'd ever embark on during my swim career... more difficult that my college swimming experience, which encompassed swimming sometimes twice the distance, but at a much lesser intensity level.
KP gave us a heavy dose of mental preparation as well—highly unusual in those days. And KP demanded that we associate ourselves with excellence in everything we did—not just swimming. Aside from my parents, I can easily state that KP was the most influential person in my life... someone who was fair minded by demanding the most of me, EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. There were no "days off" with KP...
My interactions with Gary and Nico reminded me of my days talking to KP... there was a clear love for the sport and a welcoming presence for anyone willing to listen and learn when conversing with them. Gary isn't the kind of guy who will tell you, "it’s my way or the highway" in terms of sharing his ideas... he’ll simply tell you, "this is why I believe what I do and why..." I liked his approach to the sport—everything was about efficiency. Efficiency leads to faster...
The Race Club Camp was awesome, and we will surely return. As for what happened next, we had a few Junior Swamis who competed at the CHAT meet, and two more Senior Swamis who competed in the Bay Area (Santa Clara Grand Prix and the De Anza A-B meet, respectively). The times right now might not be mind-boggling, but I feel we're moving in the right direction just as long as we continue to trust in the work we put forth. We might not be swimming farther than anyone out there, but we are likely training as intensely.
More to come (promise!)
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