Frank Busch: "If You Have a Problem, Call me"

This is part 2 in a continuing series of reports from the CSCAA conference May 19-21 in San Diego, California. For part 1, click here.

Frank Busch comforts a college swim coach at the CSCAA Convention

"719..." I furiously pulled out my cell phone. Frank Busch was giving me his cell phone number and giving me free license to call it. But the leader of "America's Swim Team" wasn't just talking to me, he was talking to over 200 college coaches who had gathered to see him speak. It was a bold way to start a speech, but Busch was trying to make a bold point: things would be different in Colorado Springs.

Even still, it was far from the most dramatic thing that Busch said in his speech. He went on to promise the coaches in the room (and the country) that they would be given unfettered access to all the data gleaned by the high performance staff in their pursuit of fast swimming. The info would be disseminated via a website, although I take this with a bit of a grain of salt since Busch effectively admitted that he doesn't use the internet.

Still, the coaches in the room had some tough questions that needed to be answered. In the wake of Dagny Knutson's decision to forego her signed NLI to attend Auburn and instead go to a Post Graduate Center, coaches were suspicious that the previous regime was steering athletes away from college. Busch said not only would he not advise any high school swimmer to skip college, but that the national team was "committed to the Post Graduate Centers through 2012, then after that we'll make something better".

I can't help but contrast Busch's speech to Mark Schubert's attendance at the very same convention two years ago in Chicago. Schubert came primarily to convince us that we should back USA Swimming's push to ban bodysuits. He spent the rest of the convention looking vaguely grumpy and saying little. Busch engaged the crowd, even when they seemed a little hostile, and met them head on. He answered every question with care and emotion.

It remains to be seen whether Busch can change the culture in Colorado Springs. One coach I spoke to told me he thought that Busch would be gone by 2014 (He is committed through 2016) just because he wouldn't be able to stand the atmosphere. He seems full of energy to change things at the moment, but he has only been in town for one month. There was an audible gasp when Busch at one point admitted in an answer that USA Swimming had done a "terrible job" of being open and sharing their knowledge. Let's hope that the National Team staff becomes something that all of American swimming can be proud of.