What Makes Cal Best (Men's Edition)

Last week, I wrote about what I thought made the California women's team the best in the country (besides the obvious "swimming faster than everyone else" part). This week, I hope to do so for the men. I don't pretend to know as much about Dave Durden as I pretend to know about Teri McKeever. Still, from afar, I think there are some obvious advantages that Cal is employing.

Danish Phenom Mie Ø. Nielsen

"Who is Mie Ø. Nielsen? How tall is she? What does she eat for breakfast". For the first time since I've been writing this blog, American swimming fans are actually curious about a Danish swimmer. Why? Because 15 year old Mie Ø. Nielsen went 59.62 at the Danish open to surge into 4th in the world rankings in that event. I'll pretend not to be hurt that no one seemed to care when Danish women went faster times than anyone in the US in the 50,100,800 and 1500 free this past summer. Let me be your one stop shop for more on the latest Dane to become an international contender.

Breaststroker's Lament

This is the cover of my new book on breaststroke technique.  Or, well... it might as well be.

The breaststroke was my specialty in college.  I know how fickle it can be, and as a coach it can be horribly frustrating.  I have had swimmers who can't do the stroke correctly without rest.  I have had others who get the timing one day and then not the next.  I have even had some who have a lousy 100 and then ace the 200 the next day.  It can seem random, but I have enough of an eye for the stroke and for my swimmers that I know when it is "on" and when it is not and I can often help them get on target in the warm-up pool.

McKeever Magic: What Makes Cal the Best

You would be smiling too if you'd dropped as much time

Earlier this week, I went to visit a local club coach. I look forward to visiting his team because he's always ready to engage good coaching conversation. Knowing that I had just been to women's NCAAs, he hit me with it point blank: "What's the difference between Cal and everyone else?". It's a tough question. Often coaches are tempted to study success and reverse engineer it for themselves. It hardly ever works that easily. I would say often that's because we tend to latch onto the objective data. How are they training? Of course that's important, and I do think Cal has advantages over the rest of the NCAA field in that regard. But this blog is going to be about the subjective.

URGENT-- The Viking Needs Your Help!

Don't worry... it's for a race.  NOT so I can make a funny blooper picture.

I need a tech suit.  Not just a jammer.  I need one of those rubbery, full-body, cheaty-cheater suits, like an X-Glide or a Jaked.

I am 6'1" and 3/4 and weigh about 200 pounds.  I can squeeze into a size thirty blueseventy jammer (although size 32 might have been more appropriate.)  If you have one of the old illegal suits laying around that you think might fit me and you know someone who is going to NCSA Jr Nationals this week, please pass it on to them to bring to me.

I don't know what I can give you in return, but I am hoping to make a video with it.  I have never worn one, but I surely am gonna need it because I opened my big fat mouth and there is no way I can win the race I might have coming up unless I can make up for 15 years of anti-fitness immediately.

Help a brother out if you can, eh?!

Hey... I don't really consider it cheating. You really can't expect me to stretch out a taper that started in 1996, right?  The guy I wanna race has been in serious training!

.

Is it Cool to Cheer for Michael Again?

Remember this? Here's hoping for more

Olympic years are different. They have a way of making the time since the last event seem totally irrelevant. The swimmer in recent memory who this used to hold most true for was Gary Hall. Hall seemed to go into hibernation after winning gold in the 50 free in 2000. And yet there he was again, in Athens, getting his hand on the wall first. Now, witness the recent signs that "THE GREATEST SWIMMER OF ALL TIME" is starting to look like it again, dropping world leading times at the Columbus Grand Prix. There is no doubt in my mind that Michael Phelps can once again wrest his crown as the world's best swimmer from Ryan Lochte this summer in London. The question is: do we (swimming fans) want him too?

Adding to Your Coaching: Professionalism

Over the last two years, this blog has turned a critical eye to the coaching world. It is, in many ways, a diary of my own journey through the coaching ranks. Much of that attention in the past two years has been focused on reshaping attitudes towards abuse of swimmers. Today, I'm going to tackle a more benign topic which is nevertheless sorely in need of changing. Swim coaches in America are, more often than not, unprofessional.