Nick Folker, The Swimming Strength Coach

This is part 3 in a continuing series of reports from the CSCAA conference May 19-21 in San Diego, California. For part 1 "Salo Taught me a Butt Dive", click here. For Part 2 Frank Busch: "If You Have a Problem, Call me", click here.

Nearly every coach in the room was insanely jealous. In front of us stood Nick Folker: cool, confident and speaking with an awesome South African accent. If you thought he looked more like an elite sprint freestyler than a strength coach, it's because he does. Folker had us at "hello", and for several reasons. 

Both Cal Men and Women had just won the NCAA title a couple months ago in March. One of the things I have noticed about swimming coaches is that many of us are egotistical by nature. When we get outcoached and outswam by a team like Cal, its easier on our swim coaching egos to heap praise on a non swim coaching member of a successful team. Try it with me:

"Their AD really supports the program down there..."

"I mean, with that facility, how could they not be successful"

or the slightly more personal:

"They've got an amazing strength coach. He was an All-American for Hawaii so he really knows swimming"

The latter, is of course, exactly what people say about Nick Folker. I am not, however, suggesting that Folker is receiving undue praise. In fact, this is one case where I think he's getting an absolute appropriate amount of credit and praise for what he's doing.

When you listen to Folker speak, his method of training athletes sounds so fundamental, so simple, that you wonder why more coaches aren't doing it. To Folker, no two athletes are the same. They have different body types, different capabilities and flexibility, and they train for different things. He has to design training accordingly. Lastly, of course, all gains in strength have to be gains in relation to body weight.

To give an example, Folker discussed with us how Tom Shields has been held back from squatting with weight on a bar in his time at Cal. The revelation can be mildly shocking, but the reasoning is sound. Folker said that in early testing Shields' hamstring flexibility was so poor that he purposefully prevented Shields from squatting because he knew he was destined for injury.  

 

On the final morning in San Diego, coaches were given the chance to preview a Folker work out. The thought wasn't terrifying at all- I knew I was in good hands. What followed was fun, engaging, creative but above all else simple. Everything made sense. It shouldn't have taken a former swimmer to bring this much clarity to strength training for swimming,  but we're all lucky he's here anyway.