USMS SwimFest '09 (The SUPER Clinic!)

SwimFest Day 1 Recap – Coaches Round Table More than 30-coaches packed into the conference room in the Homewood Suites in Shenendoah, Texas for tonight’s Masters coaches round table. Seated in the front of the room, moderated by Club & Coach Services Coordinator Mel Goldstein, were seven Masters mentor coaches. The mentor coaches took questions on a variety of topics. Here we provide you a recap of their answers. Tomorrow from 8AM – 4:30PM all the Mentor coaches and 40+ other Masters coaches attending will be on deck (SwimFest is free for any registered USMS coach and is an outreach initiative for USMS). Swimmers signed up for the SwimFest clinic will go through a series of stations including individual video taping. The coaches will be in teams of five and rotate so they all get a chance to work with the Mentor coaches. On Sunday, the Open Water/Triathlete day and final day of SwimFest, the lane lines will be pulled and the Open Water/Triathlete clinic will be led by Sara McLarty and Mike Collins. The Mentor Coaches are: Jim Montgomery – Head Coach Dallas Aquatic Masters; 3-time Olympic Gold Medalist; 2002 Speedo USMS Coach of the Year Whitney Hedgepeth – Head Coach Longhorn Aquatic Masters; Olympic Gold Medalist Kris Houchens – Head Coach Indy SwimFit; 2007 Speedo Coach of the Year; 2006 U.S. Masters Club of the Year Kerry O’Brien – Head Coach Walnut Creek Masters; 1987 Speedo Coach of the Year; 2007 U.S. Masters Club of the Year Sara McLarty – Head Masters Coach USA Triathlon National Training Center; three time Olympic qualifier; 2006 USA U23 Female Athlete of the Year; Winner of the Tiberon Mile Mike Collins – Head Coach Nova Masters; 1990 Speedo Coach of the Year Susan Ingraham – Head Coach Masters of South Texas; 2008 Speedo Coach of the Year Mel Goldstein – Moderator; Founder Indy SwimFit; only Masters member to win Coach of the Year, Club of the Year, Dot Donnelly Service Award and Ransom Arthur Award How do you get swimmers to compete? Kerry O’Brien, “we’ve taken the February Fitness Challenge concept and moved it to March. We call it March Madness. The idea of doing it in March fits our regional and the USMS national calendar. We encourage our swimmers to individually set a monthly yardage goal. We encourage them to set a goal that is a challenge for them. There is a $15 entry fee for March Madness. If the swimmer reaches their monthly goal, they get a raffle ticket. If they go 10% over the goal, they get a second raffle ticket. If they happen to choose one of the four finalists in the Final Four, they get a third raffle ticket. We then get our sponsors to donate gift cards that members can win with their raffle tickets. Then, we take the $15 they paid for the March Madness and will apply it to the regional meet if they compete. The March Madness is a total team thing for us. Once the swimmers get to the end of the month, they’ve put in all this yardage and have a great base. So we tell them to enjoy what they’ve done with a taper for our mid-April meet. We went from 980,000 yards in 2008 to 4.3 million yards this year and a lot more swimmers in our meet, many of them for the first time.” Susan Ingraham, “I don’t just show them lane four because that can be intimidating. I show them lanes one and lanes eight to see that anyone can be in our program. Then I work with them, especially if they are new to the program and have never competed, to see that they can do it. I’m also a really big believer in the postal and fitness events. We encourage all of our swimmers to do those as they won’t have to travel and we can do it together. Mike Collins, “I’ll share with new swimmers the world records in the events of interest to them. Then I’ll share their age group world records. And I’ll share Top 10. Once you do that, you bring it down a level and it doesn’t become so daunting. Our team also enjoys competing so when those who haven’t competed hear the stories and fun that goes into a meet, that can encourage those who haven’t competed to want to try one.” Jim Montgomery, “We host relay only meets as a way to break in those who have never competed. It lets them do it with their other swimmers so they don’t feel so intimidated by the thought of competition.” How do you get new swimmers into your program? Sara McLarty, “First, I’m in awe of sitting up here with all these terrific coaches. I’m the new kid on the block. I’ve been around swimming my whole life but only coaching Masters about six months. One day I was working out and saw a note at our pool that the Masters program was being cancelled. I asked why and they said the coach quit. I jumped in and said I’d coach. I’ve got about 25-swimmers. About 90% are triathletes. So we do a lot of triathlon specific stuff such as sighting and how to swim straight. I’m also very fortunate to be in Clermont that is a hotbed for triathletes. So as word spreads and we have consistency in our program, more people are joining us.” Kris Houchens, “Our Masters programs are in a bunch of locations where there are open lanes and swimmers who are not Indy SwimFit members. We like to send our coaches over to those recreational swimmers and get to know them. By personal touch, we invite them to come join us.” Mike Collins, “We’ve created a 101 program for each stroke, starts, turns and reading the rules. We advertise the 101 program on the Internet, through word of mouth and to parents of age group swimmers. The 101 program isn’t intimidating at all and it’s a great way to get new people up to speed on the vocabulary and how to get going with us.” What road blocks/challenges get in the way of having a successful Masters programs and how do you overcome that? Susan Ingraham, “San Antonio is very challenged by pool space. There just isn’t enough. I started our program from scratch. I didn’t have one swimmer. So I just started inviting anyone who wanted to join to do so. My main program is out of the local Jewish Community Center. As our Masters program grew there, the leaders of the community center took notice. Two years ago, they created a policy that only full year members of the Jewish Community Center could use the pool. I’ve tried for more than two years to get the Jewish Community Center to see the financial value in bringing in those who aren’t full members but they aren’t interested. Their decision has hurt my program. I’m down about 1/3 of my membership but I’ve decided to recruit from within the Jewish Community Center membership. I also haven’t given up on hoping I can change the minds of the center leadership to allow non-members to come workout with us and pay some type of discounted fee to the community center.” Mel Goldstein, “When I created the Indy SwimFit concept, the YMCA was initially very opposed to it. They thought I was trying to create a competitive swim team that was going to take up all the lane space and shut out their members. I told them my goal was to create a fitness program. And if you are in a YMCA and you are trying to get lane space, my best piece of advice is do not use the word team! YMCAs have a fear of teams for the reasons I shared. So I laid out a program concept for them. Our program is owned by the YMCA. YMCA members pay $28 a month extra to practice with Indy SwimFit. Non-YMCA members pay $52 a month extra. In either case, the YMCA wins and we always keep a lane or two open for members who are not part of Indy SwimFit.” Whitney Hedgepeth, “Our team is owned by the University of Texas. They control everything. They set the dues. They set the lane times. We can’t even e-mail our members because they control the membership list. Last year we hosted the Short Course Nationals and all the profit went to the University. The tradeoff though is that I’m a University employee. It’s a secure position and the benefits are terrific.” How many social functions do you have? Jim Montgomery, “We are a very social program. We host four meets a year as a way to interact socially. We do team coffee’s every Saturday morning. We encourage members to travel with us to events in California and Hawaii, which are destination markets. I’m from Wisconsin so I host brat meals in the summer. Overall, I would say 1/3 of our membership is social so I look to my assistants and me to create that atmosphere. I additionally try to recruit 20 and 30-something coaches so they can relate and continue creating social events.” Kerry O’Brien, “We did an in-depth study a few years ago and found out the one area we were missing was social. So we went out and recruited young board members to infuse some life into creating social activities.” Whitney Hedgepeth, “We have a group that likes to run and bike so our assistant coaches and me will jump in on Saturday’s to run with our swimmers. It creates a connection away from the pool.” Mel Goldstein, “Listen, we might be swim coaches but we are in the people business. Building relationships is a key. Doc Counsilman taught me years ago to learn everyone’s name. And then call them by it. Each one of us does a terrific job on the deck. Each of us has our own challenges though off the deck. Whitney has shared that Texas owns the program. They can’t use e-mail to communicate with their swimmers. They are limited with lane space. But she has a white board that is hers. She uses that whiteboard to communicate with her team about the Saturday morning run or bike, or breakfast.” How do you find good coaches? Whitney Hedgepeth, “I write all 15 of our workouts each week. I coach nine of the workouts. The other six are run by volunteers. For our volunteer coaches, their dues are free for the months they coach. While I might not have a lot of control in most areas, I require the assistants to be personable and know something about the swimmers.” Mike Collins, “I have a trick for me and my coaches to remember names. I make everyone use a sharpie and write their name on their equipment.” How do you bridge the gap between your elite swimmers and those that are novices? Kris Houchens, “We have the same intervals for all lanes but you change the distance based on ability. We all start together and finish together. We are also fortunate that our fastest swimmers are grounded and not egotistical. Our team has a culture with our fast swimmers of supporting those who may not be as fast as them.” How do you help swimmers get their intervals during practice? Mike Collins, “Our very first practice is 6 x 50’s usually on 2:00. I ask each person at the end of each 50 what time the just went. It teaches them right off the bat how to read the clock and learn things like descend. The rest interval also gives me a chance to give them other instruction they will need when joining our team.” How do you help individuals set goals or help your teams reach its goals? Susan Ingraham, “I give people goals if they don’t have them. It might be the 10K or one of the postals. It might be a meet. But I listen to what the swimmer wants and then I will help them set the goal.” Marcia Aziano commented, “Go the Distance is a great way to help with your goals. Go the Distance is a free USMS fitness program. The swimmer tracks the yardage they do and sends them in. When they hit certain milestones, they are able to get things like patches, certificates, and caps. It’s a great accountability program.” What is the business side of your program? Jim Montgomery, “Our program is a for profit business. You ideally want no more than 25% of your total revenue going towards pool rental. Then I have to factor in coaching costs and other administrative costs. Our biggest breakthrough has been the Internet. We use it for education and membership. 90% of our registration is online and we have one administrative person who manages it all. Online registration has cut down significantly on our costs. We also must offer quality coaching for the one hour a day people give us. We pay our assistants well offering up to $18 for a one hour practice. If we have a coach who does more such as keeping the log book and other administrative stuff, we might pay up to $30 an hour for a practice. But that just tells you how much we value our coaches.” Kerry O’Brien, “We have a terrific relationship with our city. I’m a full salaried employee of the city and my assistants are part time. Each swimmer pays a $240 annual fee to Walnut Creek Masters that includes their USMS membership. Part of that $240 fee helps to offset some of my benefits and our assistant benefits. Some of it goes into team operation so we can run socials and meets. The swimmers then pay a daily, monthly or punch card fee to the City of Walnut Creek.” Tune in tomorrow night for a day two recap...

OK... I am on my way to Texas. Arrived WAY too early to the airport. Very unlike me! Can you tell I'm excited? A real masters swimming FANTASY CAMP :) Kinda wish I was attending as a swimmer, but then then I wouldn't hear all the good coaching discussions on deck. Will try to cover some of it for those who are like me - and need instant gratification when it comes to swimming events. Pretty sure most swimmers and coaches may not have realized how cool this SwimFest09 is going to be... Wish you were all going to be there!

OK... I am on my way to Texas. Arrived WAY too early to the airport. Very unlike me! Can you tell I'm excited? A real masters swimming FANTASY CAMP :) Kinda wish I was attending as a swimmer, but then then I wouldn't hear all the good coaching discussions on deck. Will try to cover some of it for those who are like me - and need instant gratification when it comes to swimming events. Pretty sure most swimmers and coaches may not have realized how cool this SwimFest09 is going to be... Wish you were all going to be there! Look forward to the updates! Enjoy!

SwimFest Day 2 Recap We started at 6:30 this morning with set up and in just over 90-minutes, checked in around 100 swimmers and 40 coaches for day two of SwimFest. Each swimmer got a SwimFest printed TYR training bag. The bag included a FINIS Snorkel, product samples from sponsors such as Tri-Swim and Speedo, a USMS bag tag and SwimFest t-shirt. By 8:30, our seven Masters mentor coaches and the 40 additional Masters coaches were in their stations and ready to go. Today’s program was geared towards pool swimmers. Tomorrow the lane lines will be pulled and the focus is on open water/triathlon swimming. Each Mentor coach had a station assignment for the day. They included the following stations and Mentor coaches: Short Axis – Kerry O’Brien Long Axis – Jim Montgomery Dry Land – Susan Ingraham Open Water – Sara McLarty Video taping – Mike Collins and Whitney Hedgepeth FINIS station – Kris Houchens Swimmers were in teams of roughly 15 to 20. They spent about 50-minutes with Mentor coaches and as many as 10 other coaches in each station. With this many Masters coaches, there was a lot of one on one attention for the swimmers. The Masters coaches were able to interact with the Mentor coaches and vice versa. Every 50-minutes, both the coaches and swimmers would go to another station. I had an opportunity to interview several coaches and swimmers. Here is their take away. Steve Morris: head coach of the Plano Wetcats. Steve’s team recently set two national records, in the 200 freestyle relay and 200 medley relay in the 55+ age group Why did you come to SwimFest? Steve: “I loved the idea of being able to interact with all the coaches. I wanted to practically work on deck with coaches rather than a clinic in a classroom setting. This has definitely been that experience and I’m picking up ideas I can take back to help my team.” You just worked with Kerry O’Brien on short axis. What did you learn? Steve: “Kerry gave us coaches instruction on deck. He shared with us things to look for and pay attention to in the butterfly and breastroke. We then had the swimmers go through a series of slow motion drills where Kerry looked to us to give feedback to the swimmers. One thing I took away was the importance of fluid arm entry and catch for a more efficient stroke.” What did you pick up from working with Mike Collins in the video tape station? Steve: “Mike’s analysis and word pictures are tremendous. He is giving instant feedback and I’m learning the vocabulary he uses so I can take it back to my swimmers. I do a lot of video taping so watching and listening to Mike has been valuable.” Kevin Joubert – head coach BATC Masters in Baltimore. Why did you come to SwimFest? Kevin: “I wanted to learn from other coaches and programs and not be stuck in a vacuum thinking I know everything.” Tell us a little bit about BATC Masters, the team you coach? Kevin: “I’ve been coaching BATC nine years. My team is all triathletes. We have about 80 swimmers and only a handful ever go to swim any swim meets. They are focused on triathlon training. I really like though the USMS Postals. Our entire team does the 1-hour Postal the last day of January. I additionally like to use the other strokes as motor input and to help them with their freestyle.” What have you learned working with Sara McLarty? Kevin: “Sara is the fastest open water triathlete swimmer in the country so I really was looking forward to her on deck session. She is teaching the swimmers to arch their back and throw in a couple of hard kicks when they arch to stay more horizontal in the water. I’d never heard that before. Most open water or triathlete coaches are so focused on the front end of the stroke such as head position and arm entry but her tip there, and what to do with your feet, is something I can take home.” How do you recruit and retain members to your team? Kevin: “Our website www.baltimoretriathlon.org is a big tool for us. We continuously update it with results and information. Word of mouth and having current triathletes encouraging their friends to come join us is another valuable tool.” Is coaching full time for you? Kevin: “I wish. I would love to be a full time coach but we’re maxed on lane space and it’s just not possible. I’m a chemical engineer for the DOD and coaching is something I love to do.” Dana Burkhart, Michelle Kagy-Schwartz, Cherly Kupan (aka the “Bad Girls”); SwimFest participants Have you ever had this many coaches on deck that have worked with you? Girls: “No, and thank you to them. We got so much attention and interaction with all the coaches. The video taping and feedback from it was terrific. It seems like everytime we stopped at a wall, there was a coach right there with a comment for us. To have this many coaches offers a lot of perspective and opportunity for take away.” Do you think a beginner could have done this clinic? Girls: “Absolutely! This was not a hard core competitive clinic but was a technique clinic. It would be great for anyone who is just getting into swimming or is fitness minded.” Ahelee Sue Osborn; Masters coach and big champion of Masters swimming. What do you take away from today? Ahelee: “I’ve never seen anything like this and hope we can do it for years to come. It was an amazing experience today to work side by side with so many knowledgeable and dedicated coaches. We all wanted to learn more, exchange ideas and for me it was an opportunity to keep developing as a coach.” Kyle Deery: a recent college graduate and newbie to Masters swimming. You swam competitively at Florida and the Olympic Trials. You’ve seen a lot in swimming. Did you get anything from today? Klye: “Susan Ingraham’s dryland medicine ball and pilates workouts were intense. She simulated all the strokes using the medicine ball to show core balance. She was also making corrections when you would simulate the backstroke for example. The coaches working with her were really into it too. I looked over at one point and there were 10 of us on medicine balls and each of us had our own coach helping us with body position or corrections. I think she also hit some muscles in my shoulders I didn’t even know I had. It really was something to watch her energy and attitude she gave to swimmers when they were in her station.” So that is a wrap on day two. We've taken a lot of pictures and video that we will be positing online. Tomorrow we'll bring you day three from SwimFest.

What the Wookiee said! This looks terrific. Thanks to Rob Butcher's daily and detailed reporting, I will face next year's outing fearlessly! (57.6 degrees F in Lake Michigan today. Did a half-mile, most of it asleep and side-stroking, after a Masters workout.)

Anything that you did not like ?

Anything that you did not like ? Yeah, that I couldn't go :badday:

Rob, A SUPER BIG THANKS for putting this all together! This is an awesome event, that will only get better with each year. I encourage everyone to consider coming to this event next year. I know I will...this is so worth the investment! Thanks to Rob, Mel, Kerry and everyone that is helping this event! John

A few shots from SwimFest09 today! Kerry O'Brien rocked in the short axis sessions! Olympic Gold Medalist, Jim Montgomery smoothed everyone out in the long axis drills. Kris Houchins managed the FINIS swim gear lanes and wow... SHE HAD ALL GOOD THE TOYS! Heather and WOOKIE wrapped up the day pretty happy! The open water drill lanes were run by Sara McLarty who tossed out great ideas to simulate the openwater in any length pool!

SwimFest09 - Saturday Sessions! Coaches Whitney Hedgepeth and Ahelee Scoreboard welcomes USMS! SwimFest09 swimmers and coaches are thanked by Mel Goldstein and Rob Butcher. Coaches Chair, Chris Colburn with coaches for the weekend, USMS President, Rob Copeland and Fitness Chair, Marcia Anziano. Coaches Whitney and Mike Collins viewing underwater video of a swimmer currently in the water.