Technology and the Swim Coach

Sarah Connor was totally over-reacting about the whole "skynet" thing.  The machines ain't taking over squat.

Really?  Some day we are all going to be replaced by fancy micro-chip powered robots?  That's funny.  In my experience, technology seems to do nothing but fail.  I ain't worried about the machines taking over...  half the time they can't even run a darn swim meet.

Praise for USA Swimming's Education Program

If you've read the title, I can understand how you'll be a little startled. Over the course of writing this blog I've been very critical of USA Swimming in regards to their attitude towards child protection. Yesterday, as is now required of me to be a USA Swimming coach, I completed an education program regarding child protection that USA Swimming has set up with it's partner, Praesidium. And guess what? I thought it was pretty good.

Oh, Hey Pitt!

I was enjoying a brief respite this weekend from what has been a far busier fall than I anticipated. Of course, when you have a smart phone you are always sort of at work. An e-mail flashed into my inbox. Pitt and Syracuse were joining the ACC.

You'll notice that I left Syracuse out of the title. It's not a snub at their recently departed swimming program. It's more at their University for shamefully dropping swimming. Although the details have yet to be hammered out, it appears that Pitt will be the newest ACC team.

Could the PAC-12 TV Deal Bring Back Husky Swimming?

Do they have a chance to get back in the race?

 
I just wanted to point out a link today from the Seattle PI in which the author, who plainly states that he doesn't give a rip about swimming, speaks up to support bringing our beloved Husky swim programs back.  He states that since the University of Washington blamed hard financial times as the culprit forcing them to cut the mens and womens swimming programs for a whopping 1.2 million in savings, they really don't have any reason to not bring them back.  They just landed a sweet tv deal in which they will bring in about 12 million annually over what they previously received.

From the article:

British Comedy, Swimming and Charity. What's Not To Love Here?

David Wallliams swimming past my brother's house this past weekend for Sport Relief

David Walliams, actor and comedian best known for the BBC show "Little Britain" (and Little Britain USA on HBO) swam the length of the Thames, about 135 miles total, for the British charity Sport Relief.  The swim took him 8 days to complete.  He said he was in tremendous pain and he and was  warned by the health authorities he'd be swimming through sewage.  Sure 'nuff, on day 3 it resulted in a bad case of "Thames Tummy" and yet kept calm and carried on (get it?  get it?)   He raised over $2 million.

Nighttime Snack: Top Ten Public Pools in the World!

This one's in Denmark so even DeSantis can enjoy!

I have a new bucket list.  Yahoo has come out with a list of the "Top Ten Pools Even Nobodies And Losers Can Use" and every single one looks amazing.  The link is here http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-40677568 and if you click on it you'll never want to go to the Y ever again.  

Can We Please Admit We Have a Problem?

When I read yesterday that Ben Sheppard, USA Swimming's (now former) Diversity Consultant and club coach in the Oakland area, had been fired, I have to admit I wasn't that shocked. I wasn't shocked because I know that there are far more coaches that have inappropriate sexual interactions with their swimmers than have been "caught" That is pretty depressing. Sheppard wasn't someone I knew well, or at all, but he was a facebook friend. In this weird new era, Ben Sheppard and I were "friends" although I never recall having a conversation with him.

View From the Stands: A Swim Fan's Survival Guide to "Off Season"

The Minnesota Grand Prix is 64 days away

The other night I found myself watching swimming on You Tube.   At one point I said to myself, "this must have been what it was like during the Great Depression when people ate rutabagas they grew in their front yard and made clothes out of potato sacks."  I wondered if there were Hoovervilles for swim fans where we could all go, get a hot meal and re-watch Worlds or irrelevant NCAA races from 2003.    I really don't want to get heavily involved in another sport so I've been coping with enormous handfuls of chocolate chips and large blocks of cheese.  Desperate times require desperate measures.

Scared of Realignment

Gratuitous headline photo loosely tied to Texas A&M

Is college swimming staring down it's Ragnarok?

It Finally Boiled Over

The Viking is gonna be typing a little slower than usual for a while...

I have hardly blogged all summer. I have just been too busy. Renovations, teaching, high school swim, summer league, USA coaching, swim lessons... in a small town the swim program can often seem like a one horse show. I have tried a few times to write about it all, but have abandoned the post every time. The frustrations I have are aimed in too many directions, and none of it is really anyone's fault. It just all adds up to being more than one person can handle.