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Get Performance That Hand Paddles & Flippers Can't Touch. ( ^trap on a pair of Aquafins and replaces hand paddles, flippers, experience a revolurion in the way monofins, and pull-buoys, Aquafins you think about aquatic training. swims circles around them - all in Unhke hand paddles one slick and affordable package. and flippers, Aquafins Plus they come with a no-hassle, leave your hands and feet totally free: you no-questions-asked 30 day money back guarantee. So F0EELNyOPLoASTICusrense every part of the stroke, enhancing order your Aquafins ProLite Kit today for only S62.99 technique while pushing your fitness {plus S&H) and you'll understand why coaches and to the limit. Now you can swimmers everywhere are recommending it. wave good-bye to the prob- It's time to stop feeUng the plastic and start NoMOREFLIPPERS lems you've had with other feeling the water. Take the plunge with aquatic training tools: water slap, bHsters, Aquafins, and you'll ^ awkward hand positions, cramps, and a never train the ,^^ct9JAFtf>Si^ limited range of use. Aquafins not only ProLite Kit same way again. To// Vree 1-888-278-2346 $62.99(plus S&H) 2 CUFFS, 4 PREDATOR2 FINS, 4 SPEEDKING2 FINS, 4 WEIGHTS, 1 DOLPHIN CLIP Aquafins definitely maintain afeelfor the This is a miist-have productfor any water while increasing velocity. They also serious swimmer. I highly recommend it utilize the hips and thighs better thanfins." for increasing your distanceper stroke." Coach - Ernie Maglischo Coach - Bill Sawchuk §k Available from: Competitive Aquatic Supply (CAS), Panneil Swim Shop, T&T Swimming, Poco Loco Swim Shop, NorCal Swim Shop, Friends Unlimited SwimShop, Swimmers' Connection, Sylvia's Swimwear, Lincoln Equipment, Swim Zone. In CANADA: Stranco, Diffusion Aquasports, Swimco. For more information visit our web site at http://wvvw.aquafins.COm. Call us at 1-888-AQUAFINS for a dealer near you. AquafinsisaregisteredtrademarkofFrogsportsProducts,Inc.PatentsPending,©1996Frogsports AllRightsReserved — 11 Ak EtobicokePenta,lnlon PDSAInvitational,Vancouver GuelphInvitational October Grinler/WaltonInvitational,Brantford NickJ. Thierry, Editor/Publisher 18-20 EtobicokeSprints SaskatoonYLaserInvitational 25-27 QuakerInvitational,Peterborough IS7(1 nHiTAAifjiiiniuviuftitiLtiiuniniiiitli,HntiiliiiihAvA SFIIClanCup/AgeGroupInvitational,Bumaby IslandInvitational,Victoria InthisissuewefocusonsprinttsarAlexanderPopov November 9^-9LI7 (Intirif*TpimPh^inininnQnincA AA AAA fromRussia.CecilColwininterviewedhislong-time 8-10 MississaugaHarvestInvitational A(]uanaLitInvitational,Richmond coachGennadiTouretskiinSanDiego,whilehewas SwimInternational,Brantford 901 VlnUnUthU/I'/sOW/WAnrUiWiNiatLiioAiimalics,Prvoc^alillma GoldfinInvitational,Saskatoon May onaworld-widelecturetour. IslandPacificCup,Victoria Q7-111 HUolIlIandIiaIInvitat.ionalI,ILondAon Karin HelmstaedwritesonAlexanderPopov 15-17 DRoDuOgeIn&vitOartiIonnvailt,atDioolnlaalr,dSdtees-FOomyieaux in 1 I\PJli\rc.kPe'rjii0nn1gn1IHninirvL'iKl/tCiaIitInioI11rnn1aVrliltU'UiItUinlnU'ljll,PLtLAtn-lHiJ^IALLU'NoC thepersonalitybehindthesuccessfulathlete.Weadd 16-17 DurhamInvitational,Pickering ID-io HyackInvitational,NewWestminster some Quick FacLs on his career including his sea- PDSASeniorCircuit fUiUiCiIpIiJnIhIUIlnVuliltdiUtUiInlnail! sonal perfomiances in his specialties the 50-100 22-24 DartmouthInvitational PPOInvitiitinnil Mntitrp'il freestyle. 29-1 CanadianOpen,QuebecCity (Vj"ililmltHiUidPyjuunyWWpccMt,VV'djMniL"UAUiVn;cplr RacersInvitational,Richmond 9Q-1 YlnUiUiLtlllirVjIht^ilmlnlIiUnIUnMsohlillnl'^o,RIXpCloiliIlmd NeilHarveycontinueswithhisanalysisofOlym- December AAUnUIIa'lilnd'lUilLtl1InlvV/IiLtinitlilnUnl'ldil,R[MiLrIhIiITlilrUiinlnU picperfomiances,thistimeaddingobservationsfrom 5-8 NYACYouthCup,Etobicoke June 1992andbeyond. 61-38-15 OInnttearrpiroovSiennciioarls,ClEatsosbici,coSkheerbrooke 6-8 rNAtoOtPvCarV^JiSrIciUioiUtiUniaJ1n1AUtgCt-leT1TGUilr'LioItUuiIipilsmal,Vr\jilUiUnHi,UrtA\ktp: CecilColwinprovidesaneditedversionofhistalk PickeringInvitational PVijcIioQoQoiIpLI11n1uViItIidtUiUnlnsliall,Il\failmllllA^n"lnlil;^ totheAmericanSwimmingCoachesAssociationWorld ClassicInvitational,Kamloops ]VIS MI'nliuTuiopcJhaiwwI11n1vviitiaatiiinutiifllali Cliniconhisthoughtsonfreestyletechnique.Every- J1a9n9u7ary ll-'l^) IMiMVvmpIidu/rJvQljn/UiriOtcmiliLiiir'iriLikrV\j'lI1n1lni1ivvUimiltniliaUiilitAUtinlunlincbflnllaiilil,nUcdiH,i'ulrPinoxiiniiciulgrLtliunl'iiiMii oneisanexpertin hisownway,butyou'll findhis 10 ClubSprintMeet, Univ,ofToronto July observationsstimulating. 10-12 OakvilleInvitational 4-6 Cdoll^UdMVjllillll[JlUJlMII[Jo,ndllloA LastmonthwesaidColwin'sAustralian articles ProvincialInvitational,Montreal-Nord CniinpPwn11 Mnntrp^l HyackInvitational,NewWestminster OWlnltlcatlrilAUPV^jnaililraitilidnVJudlnlplC?ST1rlil^dildk,IPLtLnUnUiILpUAIK^PC werecomingtoanend,butheassuresmethereare 9-12 RODInvitational,Regina 11 13 OyiliipchupcrlPripuAvviiiinLriiaiijK,^oinipcrinurinunuKwpr quiteafewintheworksforfutureissues. 11-12 BCSeniorCircuit OntarioJuniorProvincials BillSawchuk,fomiercoachoftheHyackSwim 2147--2169 IMnavritkahtiaomnQInuveibteatcio9n7a,lQuebecCity U19-lHA ARulvrjbe(Vrjihtl;aaiiCm1nhiiLa'nlmnup"i\ilohoiininis'uho\,ipRi\sii,\.r.ihiEimd1lnmuinolHnuton Club (1984-96),reviewsanewtrainingproduct,the PerformanceMoneyMeet,Univ.ofToronto 9L^)-9LI7 PictpmPun "siinhiin; Aquafin. Handpaddleswere first introduced in the CoupeEsso.Ste-Foy August 1960sandhavegraduallyevolvedinshapeandsize. BCSeniorChampionships,UBC 31-3 SummerNationals,Edmonton February 10-13 CanadaGames,Brandon TheAquafinismajorevolutionarystepandisCana- 1-2 MooseJawInvitational INTERNATIONAl dian,bothbyinventionandiniLsmanufacture.The 7-9 JuniorNationals,East,Brantford/West,Saskatoon 1996 companyexpectstogopublicontheVancouverStock 14-16 QuebecProvincials,Montreal December 20-23 WinterNationals,Halifax 5-8 LISOpen,SanAntonio,TX(50M) Exchangesometimein 1997. 21-23 MalarInvitational,Hamilton 13-16 EuropeanSprintsandSCChamps,Rostock ThedepartureofDerykSnelling,Canada'smost 28-2 NovaScotiaAgeGroups 1997 successfulcoachduringthepastthreedecades, re- 28-2 OntarioJuniorProvincials,Nepean January CIAIJChampionships,Brock 4-5 WorldCup1,HongKong sultedinasend-offpartyinCalgaryinearlySeptem- BCAgeGroups,Victoria 8-9 WorldCup2,Beijing ber.CherylGibsonwritesabouttheoccassion.Cana- March 22-23 WorldCup3,Espoo da'slosswillbeBritain'sgainandAnitaLonsbrough 68--99 MDaunr/hSaamskInCvhiatamtpiioonnals,hiPpisck,eWriinngnipeg 2258--2269 WWoorrllddCCuupp45,,GMlaalsmgoow writeshowSnellingexpectsthefirstresultsfromhis new appointment to be visible within five to eight SWIM CANADA CONTENTS years. TheOctoberissuehas the finalTAG listingfor longcoursetimes.We'vemadeallthecorrectionsand Contributors:ZNm.J\.TtCioilerwriyn,,EOdtittaowra,&KPaunbnliHsehlemrslaedl,France 3 Calendar,Aboutthisissue up-dates that have been pointed out by attentive AnitaLonsbiough,England,PatriciaYoung,HongKong 4 TourelskitalksaboutPopov readersandtheend resultsshouldmeetwithevery- EditonalAssistant AnitaSmale 6 Intematioiialpersonality:AlexanderPopov PhotoEditor MarcoChiesa, one'sapproval. CompuleiprogiamslorTAG 8 199(1Olyin|)icstatistics:follow-up developedbyEveryWareDevelopmentCorporation. 10 Lookingbackatthe1976Montreal(kinies Thisisthetenthandlastissuefor 1990.it'sbeen PublishedtentSiWmeIsMyeCaralnyaCdoantMeantgsazcoipnyreigehstta©bliNshoedpoirnti1o9n7o4fthismagazine 12 Learning—aboutlearningfreestyle amemorableseason,ourfirstyeareverincolour. maybereprintedwithoutwiittenpermissionfromthepublisher 18 Aquafins thenexttrainingrevolution We'llbebackinJanuaiy1997,andtorellectour The(ollowingnames:SWIMCar]3(laMagwne, JAG.TOPandMakingWaves, areregisteredtrademarksandtheirunauthoriseduseis 19 Successonthedistanthorizon increasedcoverageofswimniingthroughouttheworid SusbtsriccrtliypptrioohnibirtaetdesA:llCalingahdtsar$e3se0rvyeeda.rly 20 Hackwash ournamewill bechangedtoSWIMNEWS,which is Foreign(airmailed)$65 Singleissues$3,00 23-44 TA(i(Top50Age(IroupTimes) the same name we use on our intertul site Allsubscriptionsinclude7%FederalGST 46 MakingWaves InternationalStandardSerialNumber (www.swimnews.com). PublicationsISMSaNil0R3e1g9i-st0r5a6t0ionno 3534 Canadianreaderswillcontinuetoreceiveallthe GatewayPostalFacility,Mississauga coverageof(lanadianeventsastheyhavedoneforthe EditorialOllices OCTOBER 1996 SWIMCanadaMagazine. past 22 years, but we'll graduallyexpand coverage M4X1V4,C3A56NASDuAmaTcehlS(t4.,16T)or9o6n3t-o,55O9n9taFraixo 963-5545 LVCoiiliuimMeCu2t3i,wiNiuMmubienrha1r0223 iroimilherareas,especiallyAustraliaandtheUnited http://www.swlmnews.coni States. SWIM CANADA OCTOBER 1996 / " T: "Yes." COLWIN ON CO C: "Inoneyear?" T:"Notless.Hedoesnotlessthanonehundredstarts. Wehaveaspecialcalculationofaverageresults,so..." TOURETSKI TALKS ABOUT POPOV C:"You'retalkingaboutcompetitions? T:"Competitions,yes." Cecil M. (\)\\\ill Touretski says the word "partners" explains the C:"Hegoestomeets?" communicationbetweenAlexanderPopovandhim."We T: "Hehasno lessthanonehundredstartsinthe GennadiTouretski,fomierHeadCoacliolilu-Australian are[lartiiers,butthereisacertaindistancebetweenus. 100." InsiiliiteofSport,iscoachofAlexmiderPopo\\the 1496 Forexample, lastweek1 movedintoahousewhich is C:"Andthatmeanshemaydotwo100racesinthe OhnipicSO;uid 100freest\ieciiamiiion, thirtymetresfromPopov'shome,butstillIdon'tbother onemeet." in 1%S,GennadiwusUSSRnationalchampion In him.1thinkweshouldrespectourpersonallives,whatis T:"Yes,itlookslikehedoesonehundredlOO's,lOKs the^00;uid1SOOfreestyle.Hecompetedfor1Syeare,firet goingonoutsidethepool.Soif1wanttowatchhim,1tell withaspeedofmorethantwometrespersecond." as:ui agegrouper,dienin 10nationaltrials,buttwice himatthepool,or1callhim." C: "That'sgoodtraining." missedOinnpicselectionbynarrowmargins.Hefinished AskedaboutPopov'sfutureplans,andwhetherPopov T:"Thatisalsolearningtheskillofracingthe100. thiaiintlietrialsforthe1968MexicoCityOlvnipics,and wouldcontinueswimmingifhefullyrecoversfromthe That's the most important thing, because we had no fourtfiintlietri;dsfortlie 1972MunichOlympics. knifewounds hesufferedin aMoscowstreetattackon opportunit}'beforetheOlympics. AccordingtoTouretski,"Themostimportantfactor August25,Touretskireplied,"I'msurehewill,butIwill incoachingistobeyourself.Alotofcoachestiytocopy be more certain afterhe is releasedfrom the hospital PREPARINGFORTHERACE othercoachesorotherprogr;uns.There'salotofdiscus- (September7). Tomorrow his Federationwill make a AccordingtoTouretski,"Thisisbasedonthepsychology siononwhetheracoachshouldbescientific,orwhether presentationtoAlex." ofthecoachesinAustraliawitheliteathletes.Theyare oneshouldcoachswimming-Jiifit'sanart.Eveiycoach afraidofcompetition.Theyareafraidtobedisappointed. shouldfindapersonalwayofcoaching...thewaythatis GOOD REUTIONSHIP Theyareafraidtobreakthecommunication,andgeta bestforoneself,because,firstofall,coachingistheartof TouretskisaidthatheandPopovhaveagoodrelation- negative atmosphere in the school. But I think this communication." shipwiththeirnationalfederation,totheextentthatthe problem is only in the minds of coaches but not in federationhasgivenPopovtotalfreedomtochoosethe reality." THE LOGIC OFEXCEIIEIVCE competitionsinwhichhewishestoenter."Theysaidthat "Theraceisthegoalandthefocusofpreparation. ToureLskisaid,"Ifwelookatthelogicofhowweachieve ifthenationaltrialswerenotincludedinourpreparation That'sthemostimportantthing.Thisisthemosteffective excellence(itdoesn'tmatterinwhatfield:inmathemat- plan,Alexcouldgowhereverhewanted.Thisisverygood typeoftraining.Ifwehavethisgoodbalanceofrecovery ics,inculture, inpolitics),thewayisverysimple:from becauseitshowstheytrustmeandtheytrusthim." andtraining,wecanachieveresults."— information to knowledge, from knowledge to experi- "However,wedecidedthatitwouldbebetterforAlex "We can use very simple logic if you want to ence, from experience to wisdom, and then to excel- to compete in the trials because there were no other measure anycoach oranytrainingmethod, there are lence. suitablecompetitions. Sohecompeted in his national fourstages:training,activation,stress,recover}'.Train- "Wemeetoldercoaches,suchasJoeKingandJohn trials,andheclocked48.8.Hedidverywell." ing is mostly aerobic and anaerobic threshold work. Carew,whostartedcoachingelite athletes laterin life, TouretskisaidthatPopovusuallyracesoverthe100 Activation,thisisMV02.ThisistheAustralianmethod, andtheyhavemorewisdom.Withthesepeoplewisdomis metresdistanceaboutonehundredtimesinayear."We MV02.Stressishighintensitytraining,orcompetition, quiteanatural thing.Acoachdoesn'thavetohavean hadalotofcompetitionlastyearbutwehadn'tenough thenrecovery." inferiorit}'complexbecausesomeoneelseismorescien- competitionintheOlympicyear." "I asked one coach in Australia about one very tific.Youjusthavetobeyourself,andbesurethatwhat Surprised, 1 questioned Touretski closely on this successful swimmer, whyshe didn'tdo aswell as ex- youaredoingisgoodforthepeopleyouarecoaching.It topic,andtheconversationwentlikethis: pected,andhesaid, 'Shedidn'ttrain.' Isaid, ''Whatdid doesn'tmatterhowmanyswimmersyouhave,thirtyor C:"Heswimsthe 100ahundredtimes?" shedo?'andhesaid'Shedidheartratesets.'Activation, fort\'orone,tobeyourselfisthemostimportantthing." That'swhythey'vegoneup,thenthey'vegonedown." Elaboratingonthedifferencebetweenthescienceof swimmingascomparedwiththeartofcoaching,Touretski saidthat,intermsofart,thisistheartofcommunication, anabilit}'toopenyourselftoothers. DDTEREIVTPSYCHOLOGY "Iwasaswimmerforalongtime.and1reachedaturning pointwhenIdecidedIwantedtobeacoach.Veryquickly, I realizedthatI hadtodecidewhether1couldchange fromthepsychologicalapproachofaswimmertothatof acoach." "Thepsychologyoftheathleteisabsolutelydiffer- ent, because a coach has to be ready to give ever\lhing;maybeweshoulduseaverysimpletermlike: thecoachshouldbeagiver,buttheathlete,bynature,is ataker.Hetakesinformationfromthecoach,andthisis anaturalthingbecauseheacceptswhatthecoachgives him.Andtomakethisstepfromathletetocoach,wehave tochangeourpsychology." Alexander Popov with long-time coach Gennadi Touretski PhotoAlainCoultler SydneyFreelance SWIM CANADA/OCTOBER 1996 " " SEEKIINGCOMPETITION competesagainstNewSouthWales,andalltogether,they IaskedToureLskiwhetherhemadeapointofseekingtop competeagainsttheAISinCanberra.Why?" POPOV'S PREPARAl competition forAlex. Did he seek competition against Asked how he would solve the problems he had GaryHall,ortoswimagainstthefastesthecanfindata mentioned,Touretskisaid,"Fii'stofallyoushoulddecide certainstageoftheseason? whatyouhavetodo.IknowhowtodoitinRussia.Ithink "Organizingcompetitionisquitedifficulthecauseit IknowhowtodoitinAustralia.ButwhenIfirstcameto The Magic Sevens dependson manyfactors," saidToureLski. "You men- AIS,Inoticed'Swimmershaveaveryhighleveloftension. • "Sevenyearsofinitialpreparation,sevendevel- tionedGaryHall.Alexisthebestintheworld,soifthere Whereisitcomingfrom?' opmentalyears, thensevenyearstoperfoimat isagoodconditionforthisswimmertocompeteagainst "It'scomingfromthecompetitivesituationbetween thetop." him,theymaycontactAlex'smanager,atIMG,andask coaches.Wecanneverbesuccessfulasacountrywhilewe ifhewillbeavailable." just compete against each other, and this is the main •"In1000startssince1990,1canhardlyfindthree "Thisisanotherfactorifyouwanttoc—ompetewith goal.WehavetocompeteagainstAmericatoo,wehaveto racesthatAlexlost." aswimmer likeAlex in aparticularevent television compete against Russia, we have to get together and •ThekeytoPopov'ssuccess:"Talentplusconsist- andalltheattendentdetails.Thisisaprofessionalarea, competeagainstthem.Wehavetohelpeachother,andin enthardwork,andworkingnon-stopforperfec- so1don'twanttotouchthis.Thisisnotmybusiness." thiswaywewillhaveagi'eaterteamspirit. tion." OnthequestionofhowmanytopracesPopovneeded • "BetweenBarcelona1992,andAtlanta1996,his to get into shape to produce his best perfonnances, ONTRAININGCOACHES weight incretised by 3 kg (6.6 lbs), and so his Touretski—said, "I think this is the business of every Askedwhathethoughtwasthebestwa\'totrainatalented techniquehaschanged." federation toprepare acompetitive plan forthe na- youngcoach, certification or being apprenticed to an •"AsanathletesinceBarcelona,Popovhaslearned tionalteamandiLsmembers.That'sthemostimportant experiencedoldercoach,Touretskisaid, "I don'tthink to read fear in the eye of opponents, how to thing.Theyhavetodecidewhatkindofcompetitionthey thereexistsoneway.Therecanbedifferentways.Ithink communicatewiththemedia,andevenhowto need." ifyouhavesomeonelikeaheadcoach,hehastorealize managelifeinAustralia." "IsaywhatIneedbutDonTalbotmaysayno.Orwe that there can be different ways. A top athlete can be • "Popov has a good education in coachingsci- couldcompete,let'ssay, inSantaClara,buthehashis preparedathome,inauniversity,orinaspecialcentre. ence,understandshowtotrain,andtobefitfor osthaweynreimsaoordneelloyt,hmaeynrdpoeIpoidpnolineo'nwt.hwaoWnhmitultseotcIrmipatrikecpeizaertheTeagldobeooctdissiaootnhwlsheataetnsd,I ttItaoldheenaptv,eensdaosocnmoeoarscohtrotlhnaeterwreh,.e"wtihllercoyomuehtaovteheatcoop.acBhutthyeorue,naenedd Cahraacmep.iFoenwshpiepopsleinknRoowmheewinas1s9i9c4k,atanthdeWatortlhde theyareresponsibleforthem." ''AlexPopovdoestwothousandkilometerseveryyear European Championships in Vienna in 1995. "That'swhyI think, first ofall,weshould start a havingnotlessthanonehundredstarts.Thismeansthat The reasonwas that he lost his adaptation re- plan.Weneedtoplan,andifweplan,we'llrealizewhat hedoesthirtycompetitionsayear.Thisistheonlywayto serveasaresultofthehighintensityworkthree theobjectivesare,andbywhatmeanswecanachievethis gotoachieveperfection." weeksbeforethestart." goalthroughtrainingandcompetiton, andthingslike • "Popov's technique is based on the three Rs: that." ACLEARMIND Rhythm,Relaxation, andRange." AskedwhetherPopov,asasprinter,wastemperamental •"BeforeAtlanta,Popovdidnotbelievethatsome- THOUGHTSONNATIONALPLANNING and,attimes,perhapsdifficulttotrain,Touretskireplied, onewouldbreak49.0seconds. Ittookmequite "Ifyouwanttoknowmyopiniononwhatshouldbedone "Alexdoesthewholementalworkhimself.Imerelygive some time to explain to him that they would aboutnationalplanningtomakeswimmingsuccessful, himtheframeworkbecausehiscreativeabilitiesareso swimaround48.6seconds. imagine me as head coach of Russia, or any other great.Asacoach,that'sprobablywhatI'vemosthelped country. The first thing I would do would be to start himtodevelop." Touretski on Sprint Training lookingfortalentedcoaches. I woulddoeverythingto ToureLskisaysthatPopovhassuchaclearmindthat prepare these coaches. Give them information, every- hedoesn'thavedifficultyinconcentrating.Bythesame •"Becauseofthedevelopmentofbetterclassifi- thing." token,ToreLskidoesn'ttalkstrategywithPopov."Itiyto cationoftrainingworkloads,endurancedevelop- "Next,Iwouldbringthemtogether,nottochallenge avoidthiskindoftalkbecause Idon'twanttointerfere ment methods have made it possible to incre;ise eachother, not asonesquad, and not ;lsthe national withhisnaturalway,although,sometimeago,Ididshow endurancespecifically.Butsprinttraininginswim- team,butjusttostartdoingthingstogetherinthedirec- himsomestrategies.AsImentionedinmylecture,wedid ming iscomplex, and perhaps atalowerlevelof tionofdevelopingthisparticularsportinthecountry." allthepre-OlympicworkinMarchandApril,andlaterwe evolutionthanthatofotherswimmingevents." "1likeDonTalbot.Hetriestoencouragethecoaches didn'tspeakabouttheOlympics." • "I thinkthatthereisnosuchthinginsprint pe5onally,andthat'swhathedidforScottVolkers;that's When I mentionedthatJohnCareww;isthesame eveiiLsasthespeedfactorlimitingtheperformance, vceorayc,hvetroybgroiondg.cIotahcihneksthteosguectcheesrsaannddtarbaiilnittyhofemtheishveeardy wdoietshnK'itesraeyntPoeorkmiunsc,hatnodPtehraktinCsa,rTeowurheaLdsktiolsdaimd,e"tThhaatth'es but there is acomplicated whole that brings to- gether.strength, agility, endurance andflexibility important." theGolden Rule. Ifyoustartspeakingtotheathlete, it "Let'sgettogether. Let's makeourswimmingthe means that things are not well, and that soon things intoamulti-component'alloy'whichcanbecalled bestintheworld.Toachievetheseobjectives,youneedto probablywill not be good, and that's important to re- 'IndividualHighlyFfficientSwimmiii—gTechnique' haveveryclearmindsandverytalentedpeople. 1think member." (IHKFST)orthewidelyknownname goodtech- everycountryhassuchpeople.Thenthesepeopleshould Touretskisaidthatacoachmustusedifferentstrat- nique." decidehowmanycompetitionstheyneed,andwhoshould egieswith kidsthanwitholderswimmers. "Jim Fowlie bethere." wasoncesurprisedwhen,onedayafteratrainingsession, (From "ThePrcpairi/ion ofA!e.\aii(/erl'oj)nrfor "The problem ofcountries like Canada ;md Aus- we had some kids come to the pool, and he saw me the l9%Atlcinla OlyjiipicGa/inv."presoilcdby tralia (America hasn't all theseproblemsbecause they workingwiththem.Hesaid'(iennadi'Youdon'tlooklike CoachGennadiTourclski.atIheAmeriainSwim- haveawholelotofswimmersandcoaches)isswimming anationalcoachwhenyoulaughandjumpupanddown mingCoaches'Asmialion WorldClinic. San Di- isstillnotamajorsport.TheproblemisthatQueensland likethat!'Yes,hut Idid itthatwaybecausethat'showI ego.September1996.ReprintedwithI'ermission.) coachyoungerkids,and Ienjoydoingit." SWIM CANADA/OCTOBER 1996 INTERNATIONAL PERSONALITY ALWAYS A CLASS ACT PLANSTO BEBACK IN SIX MONTHS ANBATTHE SYBNEY OLYMPICS FOOBYEABSFRBMNOW KarinHelmstaedt Itwasahero'swelcomeforAlexanderPopov. Lessthanthreeweeksafterbeingstabbedinthe stomachwhileonholidayinMoscow,thefour-time Olympic goldmedalistflewtoVolgograd (theclub withwhichheisstillaffiliated) toattendanaward ceremonyinhonourofthecity'sOlympicmedalists. Asheemergedfromtheplaneinthecompanyofhis girlfriend,swimmerDariaShmeleva,acrowdoffans welcomedhimwithroses.Hisparents,camespecially from Sverdlovsk to see their only son, were also amongthesupporters. Thinanddrawnafterhisordeal,Alexneverthe- lesskeptupwiththestar'sschedulethatawaitedhim, includingmeetingswithjoumalistsandcityofficials, andthe lengthy awardceremonyduringwhich he receivednumerouschequesfromsponsors,anapart- mentinVolgograd,andanewcar. Obviouslytouched,Alexadmittedthattheava- lanche ofgetwellwishes that he receivedwhile in hospitalmeantalottohim.Hisdoctorexplainedthat Alexwasveryluckythatthedamagehadnotbeen worse:theknifehaddamagedhispleurallining,but not his lungs. Surgery had lasted more than two hours. Alex,forhispart,thankedProvidenceinhisown way: the first thing he did after his release from hospitalwastohavehimselfbaptizedintlieRussian OrthodoxChurch. Despitetheseriousnatureofthesetback,hesays hepreferstoputitbehindhim.Heisasdetemiinedas ever to be in Sydney in four years, and says that nothingwillstophim. Hewilltakeiteasyforawhilehowever,toallow himselftofullyrecover.Alexpredictsthatitwilltake himatleastsixmonthsbeforeheisbackin"competi- tive" shape. But then, over a lifetime, what is six months?Heverynearlylostalotmore. MarcoChiesa 6 SWIM CANADA/OCTOBER 1996 ALEXANDERPOPOV:SEASONALSTATISTICS 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 50METRESFREESTYLE 50METRESFREESTYLE 50METRESFREESTYLE 50METRESFREESTYLE 50METRESFREESTYLE 50METRESFREESTYLE 50METRESFREESTYLE 22,87 F KHARKDEC 2278 F SCSCJUL 21.91 F OLYMPICS 2227 F EUR93AUG 22.17 F W0RLD94 2225 F EUR95AUG 2213 F OLYMPICS 24,00 F TALLNJUN 22.84 F URSJUN 2231 F CANETMAY 22.29 F MONACJUN 2225 F MONACJUN 2252 F CANETJUN 2222 H OLYMPICS 100METRESFREESTYLE 22.98 F MONACJUN 22,45 F BARCMAY 22.52 F CANETMAY 22,28 F BARCJUN 22,53 F TOULMAR 2243 F RUSAPR 50.71 F KHARKDEC 23.32 F MONACJUN 2281 F EDINBAPR 2273 F PARISJUL 22.32 F CANETJUN 2254 F BARCJUN 2290 F MULHAUG 51.21 C URSJUL 100METRESFREESTYLE 23.05 F CISAPR 2279 H PARISJUL 2233 F SCSCJUL 2255 F SYDNJAN 22.94 F CANBMAR 51.40 C MOSCMAR 49.18 F EUR91AUG 100METRESFREESTYLE 22.82 F MOSCMAY 22.53 H W0RLD94 22,56 F MONACJUN 2295 F AISMAR 51.45 R URSJUL 4927 F URSJUN 49.02 F OLYMPICS 22.82 F BARCJUN 22.54 F RUSJUN 2279 H EUR95AUG 100METRESFREESTYLE 100METRESBACKSTROKE 50.38 F MONACJUN 49.58 F CISAPR 2304 F HAMBGFEB 2255 F GOODWJUL 2287 F TOULJUN 4874 H OLYMPICS 57,90 c ROMEAUG 50.44 F SCSCJUL 49.80 F CANETMAY 2307 F PORTOJUN 22.70 F TOECJUN 100METRESFREESTYLE 4874 F OLYMPICS 57.97 R URSJUL 100FREERELJ\YLEGS 5119 F EDINBAPR 23,12 H PERTHMAR 2316 F NSWFEB 4910 F EUR95AUG 4888 F RUSAPR 5798 F URSJUL 48.10 F EUR91AUG 100FREERELAYLEGS 100METRESFREESTYLE 100METRESFREESTYLE 4912 F BARCJUN 49.24 H RUSAPR 58,81 C MOSCMAR 48.71 F EUR91AUG 4783 F OLYMPICS 48,93 F CANETMAY 48.21 F MONACJUN 4923 F MONACJUN 49,56 F CANBMAR 5886 C BERLNFEB 100METRESBACKSTROKE 47.91 F OLYMPICS 4915 F BARCJUN 49,12 F CANETJUN 4944 F CANETJUN 50,37 F AISMAR 5627 C URSJUN 100METRESBACKSTROKE 4915 F EUR93AUG 4912 F W0RLD94 4981 F TOULMAR 100FREERELAYLEGS 56.66 F MONACJUN 56,38 F BARCMAY 4928 F MOSCMAY 4933 H W0RLD94 4983 H EUR95AUG 4788 F OLYMPICS 57.01 F SCSCJUL 56,72 F CISAPR 5060 C PERTHMAR 49.36 F SCSCJUL 5016 F SYDNJAN 48,79 F RUSAPR 57.07 F EDINBAPR 51.28 F PORTOJUN 49.47 F RUSJUN 100FREERELAYLEGS 48,81 F OLYMPICS 100FREERELAYLEGS 5007 F BARCJUN 4905 F EUR95AUG 100METRESBACKSTROKE 47.85 F EUR93AUG 5054 F MULHSEP 4906 F EUR95AUG 55.71 R OLYMPICS 48.83 F EUR93AUG 50.58 F GOODWJUL 100METRESBACKSTROKE 56,22 F RUSAPR 100METRESBACKSTROKE 5120 F NSWFEB 5755 F SYDNJAN 56,69 F AISMAR 56.63 F PORTOJUN 100FREERELAYLEGS 57,55 F CANBMAR 56.79 C PERTHMAR 47.68 F W0RLD94 4822 F W0RLD94 100METRESBACKSTROKE 5568 F RUSJUN 5659 F MULHSEP 5815 F NSWFEB 200METRESBACKSTROKE 2:01.98 F NSWFEB QUICK FACTS Alexander POPOV, RUS BIRTHDATE 16 NOV 1971 PLACE Sverdlovsk HEIGHT 197 cm WEIGHT 89 kg HOME Canberra, AUS/Volgograd OCCUPATION Full-time athlete CLUB Volga Swim Club COACH Gennadi Touretski • 96 Olympics 1st 50 free 22.13, 1st 100 free 48.74, 2nd 4x100 FR, 2nd 4x100 MR • 95 Europeans 1st 50 free 22.25, 1st 100 free 49.10, 1st 4x100 FR, 1st 4x100 MR • 94 Worlds 1st 50 free 22.17, 1st 100 free 49.21 2nd 4x100 FR, 2nd , 4x100 MR • 93 Europeans, 1st 50 free 22.27, 1st 100 free 49.15, 1st 4x100 FR, 1st 4x100 MR • 92 Olympics 1st 50 free 21.91, 1st 100 free 49.02, 2nd 4x100 FR, 2nd 4x100 MR • 91 Europeans 1st 100 free 49.18, 1st 4x100 FR, 1st 4x100 MR • Hold long course world record 100 free 48.21 from 1994 MarcoChiosa SWIM CANADA/OCTOBER 1996 1996 OLYMPIC STATISTICS: FOLLOW-UP Neil Harvey Wliatistheeasyconclu sion':* At the Olympics, pt Howniiuiytimesli:iveyouheardthecomment"Itwill sonal bests don't happen as lakealifetimeIx'stinheatstoaci\micetofinals?"The often as I suspected. Kach p;Bt two Ohiiipics i^esulLs show tliat ifyou are fast swimmer is on a different enough,youwillnotneedabesttimetowin Youmust improvementcuw, arriving . simply win. Alexmider Popo\', the winner in both attheworldtop8levelintime freestylesprintevents,swamthisfomiulatotheletter. fortheOlympics.JeffRouse1 Followinguponthe 1996Olympicstatisticsre- theUSAhasbeen atthego portfroml:Lstmonth,IcollectedsomeresulLsfromthe medal level inthe 100Back- 199-Ol\iiipicsinBarcelonaandthe1988Olympicsin strokesince1990! Thatisnot Seoul.Iwuslookingforapatterninpci-sonaibesttimes acuwbutasixyearplateau. (PB). M;ui\'variablesbegantoappear. AgnesKovacsofHungaiywent \;iriablessuchasage,gender,percent improve- fromarankof100inthe200 ment.en\ironment,andindividualpre-Olympicrank breasLstrokein1995tothesil- Stephen Clarke, CAN, had PBsinthreeswimsintwostrokes allappeared;isadditionalcontributorstotheimpor- ver medal in 1996, a steep tanceofpersonalbesttimes.Trainingmethods,both curveindeed.Let'shavealookatsomeothervariables. finalspot. Itispossibletopredictthetimeneededto ph^'sical:uidmental,havealwaysbeenkeyfactorsin reachthefinal.CzechstatisticianViktorSvobodadoes performance at ;my level, especially at the Olympic FASTERTHAN EVER? apredictionforeachOlympiceventbasedonhisown level.YetthereweremanyOlympicfinalist^inotper- InAtlanta,35%offinalistsswamtoaPB,andjustover formula.Hecalculatesthetimetofinalandtowin.For forming near their PBs. There were even two gold halfofallmedalistsachievedabesttime.Therestof thewintimehegivesaprediction,ahighandalow. medallistsfromrecentOlympicswhohadaPBdating thefieldsimplyrepeatedaperformancefromthepast. Thisyearhewas almost 1%faston hispredictions. backfurtherthan fouryears: KrisztinaEgerszegi in Winningwasnotabouthowfasttheyswam,butwhom Swimmingtoatleasthisfinaltimespredictionswould 1991 andPabloMorales(1992winnerinthe 100fly) they beat. It helps when the world level does not havemadethetop8even'time. in1986.Egerszegiw'onherthirdconsecutiveOlympic improvetoanygreatdegree,:lsw;isoftenthecasethis STEEPCURVESAHEAD? titleinthe200backstroke,andMoralesheldtheworld year.Thewomen's200backstrokeisagoodexample. recordinthe 100Flyfrom 1986to 1995. Both these The bronze medal time has not improved since Iamusingpercentimprovements,ratherthantime,to swimmerswonwithoutapersonalbest.Alookatthe Egerszegiwonherfirsttitlein 1988.Themen's100fly comparebetweeneventsandgendermoreeasily. 1996and1992Olympicsshowed 21of52goldmedals is theoppositeexample. Everyswimmerin the race Atage27.BritishswimmerSaraliHardcastlequali- werewonwithoutaPB (40%). 68of156gold,silver achieved a PB. Aprevious best time herewas ofno fiedforfinalsinthe800freestyleinAtlanta.Sheswam and bronze medals were won without a PB (43%). value. EventhegreatPabloMoraleswouldhavefin- 1.8%slowerthanherPB,from1986! Hadsheequalled Swimmingfastisonething,butswimmingfastenough ished third with his best time. Why do some events herPB, shewouldhavewon theeventby3seconds. towinattheOlympicsisanother. improvewhileothersplateau? Janet Evans, the current 800 freestyle world record In 1992, holder(1989) hasasimilarstory.Shefinishedsixth 25%offinalists thisyearinatime4.3%slowerthanherPB.Attheother neededaPBto endofthecum,youngAgnesKovacswonthesilverin qualify, while the 200breaststroke (PB).Atthe ageof 14, sheim- 56% of proved6.7%inoneyear!Youthalonedoesnotdeter- medalistswere minetheprobability'ofaPB.SandraVolker,a22-year- betterthanever oldfromGemiany,improved3.6%inthe100freestyle before. These to win the silver medal. In the same race. ,\ngel aresimilarre- Martino,29,oftheUSA,sw;untoabronzemedalwith atimejustoffher1992PB.Thismeasureappliesonly sults to 1996. Personal bests inhowtheswimmerarrivesattheOlympicfinallevel. certainly help Thechancesofmedallingaresimilar,regardlessoftlie improvementame. in the year of the Olympics, PSYCH SHEETMATTERS but a previous PBatthislevel CanadianStephenClarkewasranked11thinthe100 hasjustasgood freestylecomingintoAtlanta.Atthemeet,hewonthe Sandra Volker, GER, Improved3.6%since1995to winsilver in 1996MarcoChiesa a chance at a secondseededheatinaPBof 50.14.Thistimewould 8 SWIM CANADA/OCTOBER 1996 have placed him Sth on the pre-Ulynipic ranking. themoneyinI99(i.JeffRouseisagoodexampleofthis All theseswimmei'smadefinals in.Mlanta and Nomiallyhecouldexpecttofinalwiththisperfonn- cuive. they all showedover3%i improvementsometime in ance.Clarkemissedthefinalby0.35secondstofinish In 1991,FranziskaVanAlmsick,at 13,improved the l;Lst five years. There were some examples of in11thplace!Thismeanstheeventwasven'competi- over 3'^" in her 200 freest\'le. In 1992 she inifiroved swimmei'swho showed up on theworld charts the tive. Fiveofthetop8seedsdidnotmakeitthroughto another3%towinthesilvermedal attheOlympics. year before the Olympics (1995) with a time fast finals.Fromthe1996ranklistlastmonth,youcansee Inexperiencecostherthegold,butstill,shecameout enoughtofinalin 1996,yetarenowheretobeseenin howmanyofthetop8 aremissingfromfinals. The of nowhere. The spread between the slowest world the1994rankings.Theytendedtobeyoungerswim- men's backstrokes and the sprint freestj'les are all rankedtime in anyevent (150th) and 1st is usually mers. All men who improved better than 3%. were missing5ofthetop8pre-Olympicqualifiers!Another between6-7%. Anynationalfinalistimprovingabove under22yearsold. SEVENmen'sandwomen'seventsaremissinghalfof 3%for2yearsinarowshouldberightnearthetop!It I looked at the results from the 1992 Olympics for thetop8swimmers. In 199-. FIVEeventswere also soundseiLsy. Howisitdone? similarimprovementrates. missing at least half of the top 8. There are few in 1987, at the age of 13, Krisztina guarantees in any event. Each Olympics appears to Egerszegi improved 5.9% in the 100 back- Women Age Event Time %Imp. becomemorecompetitiveregardlessofthetimes.The stroketoreachtheworldlevel. In 1988,she DagmarHase,GER 23 400Fr 4.07.18 3.78 pre-Olympicrankseemstomatteronlyslightly. NMersheryakova,EUN 20 50Fr 25.47 4.49 silverattheOlympics. MichelleSmith,27, SusanO'Neill,AUS, 19 200Fly 2.09.03 4.40 HOWOLD ISTOOOLD? won threeeventsin 1996. Shew^is ranked KyokoIwasaki,JPN 14 200Br 2.26.65 7.96 Howdoesagefactorintopeifomiance?Rememberthe 2ndin1995and17thin1994.Priorto1996, F.VanAlmsick,GER 14 100Fr 54.94 3.49 averageageofwomenfinalistsin1996was21.5years, Smithdidnotrankinthe400freestyle. No F.VanAlmsick,GER 14 100Fly 1.00.02 3.82 in1992itwas20years;whilein1988itwas19-3years. comparison can be made, butshe did im- Men Thisisadefinitetrend.Whyistheaverageagerising? prove considerably. Is Smith too old to be AlexanderPopov,EUN 21 50Fr 21.91 3.8 Ismoneykeepingswimmei'sinthesportlonger?Ai'e improvingso much? Herimprovements in MarkFoster,GBR 22 50Fr 22.52 3.0 otheropportunitiesallowingwomentostayinlonger? DaynonLoader,NZL 16 200Fly 1.57.93 3.6 Basedonthelargenumberofwomentraininginother (I995-96),1.7%(1994-95),and3.1%(1993- countries,theopportunitiesmustberisingfor"older," 94),forathreeyearimprovementof6%.Thisisnota This is a list of many ofthe best swimmers in the post-university age women. Training centers could steepamebyanymeasure.Tocompare,hereisalist world. It is eiisy to see that improvement ratescan alsoallowgreaternumbersofswimmerstocontinue ofswimmersfrom 1996whohadimprovementover e;isily top 3% in asingle season, regardless ofage. training at a higher level while also working for a 3%sometimeinthepast6years: Everyimprovementcuwmaynotincludea3%spike living. This would apply to both men and women. at the international level. However, There are still as many "juniors" (18 and unders) Women Age Event Year Time %Imp. youshouldfindmorethanone'^+% makingfinals,andtheagespread(oldesttoyoungest) MichelleSmith,IRL 24 400IM 93-94 4.47.89 3.12 improvement season, however far is;tslarge. DagmarHase,GER 23 400Fr 91-92 4.07.18 3.78 back,foreven*swimmerinthefinals. The percent of juniors in the women's finals SamanthaRiley,AUS 22 200Br 93-94 2.25.53 4.36 changeddrasticallyfrom1988to1992.Almosthalfthe SandraVolker,GER 22 100Fr 95-96 54.88 3.68 women'sfieldin 1988werejuniors.Thisfigurefellto SandraVolker,GER 22 50Fr 95-96 25.14 3.49 MORE WORKTO BE DONE 27%inboth1992and1996.Agemaynotbeakeyfactor PenelopeHeyns,RSA 21 200Br 94-95 2.26.98 3.69 Gettingback to the ideaofpersonal inperfomiance,butthedemographicsaredefinitely PenelopeHeyns,RSA 20 100Br 93-94 1.09.79 4,65 bests as a performance indicator, I changing. "Senior"finalistsperfomiedasmanyPBs VeraLischka,AUT 20 100Br 95-96 1.09.24 3.88 havetoadmitthereismoreanalysis asdidthejuniors.The1996women'smeetwasslower MinoucheSmit,NED 19 200IM 94-95 2.17.66 3.94 toliedone.Therearesomanyfactoi's CM andthefieldwasolder.There;isonsforthisaresti11out ChristinPetelski, 18 200Br 93-94 2.36.34 5.95 involved. The stress of the Olympic there. The men'seventsshow nodifference between HitomiKashima,JPN 16 100Fly 95-96 59.43 3.27 (lames is veiy large. Those who are 1996and1992;theaverageagewasthesameforboth CristinaTeuscher,USA 15 200Fr 93-94 1.59.71 4.28 abletocontroltheirfocusandsome- meets. AgnesKovacs,HUN 15 200Br 95-96 2,25,57 6.70 how step ouLside of the "hot zone" BrookeBennett,USA 14 800Fr 93-94 8,31.30 4,65 whiletheycompete,maybetheones IMPROVEMENT ATANYAGE F.VanAlmsick,GER 14 100Fr 91-92 54,94 3.49 whoperform thebest. Comparingagetopercent improvement, I looked at GettingaperformancetotheOl- everyswim,fromthepreviousPBtothecurrentbest.I Men ympicTop8levelasearlyinacareer alsowentbacklookingforlargejumps(greaterthan BrendanDeDekind,USA 20 50Fr 95-96 22,59 5.04 as possible is probably a good 1x1. 3%)sometimeintheprevioussixyears.Thereareno DanyonLoader,NZL 18 400Fr 93-94 3,48,62 3.81 Regardlessoftheshapeofllii'cune. cleardifferencesbyage.Someswimmersimprovedin P.V.d.Hoogenbaiid,NED 17 200Fr 94-95 1,48,78 3.53 will need to get there at some agradualcurvewith0.5%to2,0%improvementstejis. NessierBent,CUB 19 100Bk 95-96 56,83 3.51 |)oint. Othersimprovedinasinglespikeimprovementofover PavioKhnykin,UKR 21 iOOFly 90-91 54,43 3.39 Maintaining a world perform- 3%,Somehadtheir"spike" uptofouryearsagoand (Khynikinwasworldrankedfreestylersince 1988) ance level is difficult, but no more maintainedperformanceinto1996;.some"spiked"in DennisSilantiev,UKR 18 200Fly 93-94 1,59.81 4,16 (litficultthan performingapersonal the 1995-96 season, fiming the Olympics perfectly, (Silantievdoesnotshowuponeither 1993or 1992; best at (heOlvmpics. Sti11othershadagreatmeetin1992inBarcelona,only %improvementisfrom 150thfor 1994) toslowdownforacoupleofyears,reboundingrighton (Note:ageisfortheyearofmeasuredimprovement) SWIM CANADA/OCTOBER 1996 9 — rapidrisetoi)rominence.Storiesofdrugs,steroids,muscle FLASHBACK mass,etc,wereover-played.Therewereenoughperform- ancesbynon-GDRathletestodemonstratethatanyonein theworldcansucceedgivenapositiveenvironment. LOOKING BACK AT THE 976 MONTREAL GAMES 1 TheGDRwithitssupportprograms,financialadvan- tages(7%ofallprofitsfromindustryhavetobeUimedover maleandafemaleathletew:lsanOlympicfirstthatembod- tothedevelopmentofsportandrecreationforallemployees iedtheOlympic.spirit. andtheirfamilies),socialprestige,educationalopportuni- CunvntlybetidimcbofEkilhousieUniversity, wasmi Theswimmingcompetitionstartedthenextday.The ties,scientifictalentsearch,medicaltesting,facilities,insti- mishintiXkicbwiththe1976CaiuuiimiOh'nipicsiiim CaiKidian team trained immediately afterthe ceremony tutesforthetrainingofcoaches,detrainingandsocietal letit/i and coached \ancy Garapick to two bronze andthenreturnedtotheOlympicVillage.Swimmershada reassimilationsimplydemonstratewhatcanbeachieved medalswimsinthe100-200backstroke. 9:00curfewintheVillageuntilthecompletionofcompeti- throughorganization.Theseedsfortheircurrentsuccess tion.Thosewhodidfinishearlyintheprogramweremoved weresownover20yearsago. Miinymillionsofwordshavebeenwiitlenabouttbe downtowninordernottodisturbthoseathletesstillcom- Inanysociety,onesurewayforsporttodevelopisto OhnipicG;uiies,iiiillionsoffeetoffilmshot,andbom'sof peting. allyitwithfullcommunitysupport:toturnonnon-athlet£S radio ;uid tele\ision coverage transmitted since the firet Themuch-publicizedovercrowdingintheVillagew:is totheintrinsicjoysofsportsliketrackandfield,gymnas- G;unesofthe modem era. Thesewerewitnessedby just nowhere near asprevalent as the mediapredicted. The tics,swimming,andmanyothers.Thiswaythey'llknow 60,000peopleatdieOlympicStadiuminAthensin 1896, apartmentswerewellplanned.Theyeachaccommodated what it is all about and want to see those gifted and when311 atliletesfrom 13nationscompeted. uptotwelveathletesand/orofficials,dividedamongstthree dedicated athletes have achance to achieve the best of TheflameofdieXXIst Ohnipiad\mextinguished rooms.Extratoiletsoneachfloorrelievedotheranxieties. whichtheyarecapable. eiglityearsago.The1976MontrealOlympicsrepresented NancyGarapickhadlunchthedayaftertheopening Physicaleducationprogramsintheschoolshaveto die world's most photographed, chronicled, and talked ceremonywiththeRoyalFamily,withPrinceAndrewasher continuetoimprove.Ifchildrenaretumedonandgradu- aboutassemblyofmodemtime.Indeed,thereweremore escort! atefromprimaryandjuniorhighschool,hungn,'formore media representatives accredited in Montreal than there Swimming competition in one of the world's best ambitious sporting and recreational opportunities, diey w^re adiletes, even before the withdrawal of 29 African facilitieswasspreadovereightdays,withthe nations. sixthdaybeingarestday. AsoneofsLxmembersoftheCanadianOlympicswim The greatest swim meet ever held in teamcoachingstaff,1wasfortunatetoexperiencefirsthand Canada saw its swimmers have their finest thedramaandexcitementofthefirstOlympicshostedin hour. Twosilverandsix bronze medals in- Canada, creasedCanada'shaulofswimmingmedals MayorDrapeau's1970promisetotheIOCwaskept byexactly100%overthosewoninMunichin almost. The Games did enjoy a security safeguard that 1972,whereswimmerstook4ofthe5medals protectedeveryathleteandofficial:theGamesdidopenon claimedbyCanadians. schedule,andinsuperbfacilities.Itcannotbesaid,how- InMontrealover72% (8—of11) medals ever,thatdieywerepoliticallyunblemishedorfinancially were shared by 14 swimmers 36% of the modest,inspiteofthefactthatthemajorityofthesitesfor swimmingteam. the21sportsalreadyexisted. Following the Olympic Trials in Canada.Quebec,Montreal, andCOJO,did, notwith- Etobicoke.June1-5,1976,ateamofISwomen 1^ standingthepolitics,security, inflation,commercialism, and 20 men eamed the right to represent andnationalism,stagetheworld'sgreatestsportspectacle Canada in Montreal. 66% of the women's Backstrokers Wendy Hogg and Nancy Garapick widiagreatflairoforganizationandpageantry. team made at least one ofthe 13 women's Theopeningceremonycertainlyliveduptothesuper- finals(6of20).30%ofthemen'steammadefinal,thatis, willcreatetheirowndemandforfacilities,coaches, and latives ofprevious Olympic openingceremonies. Teams placedinthetopeightintheworid.54%ofallracesswum funding. beganassemblingbehindtheOlympicVillageat1:30pm intheGamesbyCanadianswerelifetimebests.Therewas It is from this viewpoint that one would hope the onJuly17.At3:00,Greeceledtheparticipatingteamsinto atleastoneCanadianin18ofthe26eight-swimmerfinals. MontrealOlympics,andsuccessiveGames,beaninspira- the stadium. One hour later the 400-strong Canadian Intwoevents,theCanadianteamplaced3inthefinals. tionforincreasedparticipation,andsupport,insportacross delegationentered.Canadawasthelastofthe8,700partici- Swimmerswereresponsibleforexactlyhalfofthe108 Canada, pantsofthe94countriestoenterthestadium. points,whichplacedCanada11thintheunofficialnations ReprintedfromSWIMMagazine,July1984M03 ThemarchthroughtheOlympicParktothestadium point standing. A considerable improvement from 21st providedtheinitialburstofemotionalarousal.Thousands placein 1972. Editors Note: The stunning domination ofinternational ofpeople cheered their support for all athletes, and in Canadianswimmingclearlyestablisheditselfasthe swimmingbyGDRwomenfrom1973to1989wasbuiltuponan particular, Canadian athletes. This emotional high cli- premieramateurandOlympicsport in Canadaandthe organized system of anabolic-steroid use. 20 prominent East maxedasteamsapproachedandenteredthestadium.We onlyoneinwhich,atthattime,couldjustifiablyclaimtobe GemiancoachesadmittedinawittenstatementinDecemberof seemedto'float'aroundthestadiumwiththesupportofthe aworidpower. 1990.Theiradmissionprovidedconvincinge\idencetliatsenior crowd. Canadianswimmersaccomplishedtheseoutstanding sportadministratorsofthenow-dissolvedCommuniststatemade The arrival of the Olympic flag was of particular performancesthroughtheirownpersonalcommitmentto performance-enhancingdrugsacriticalpartofthetrainingpro- significance. Ittookplace atthefarendofthestadium thesportandtheirassociationwiththethreefundamental grams.Theeffectivenessoftheprogramw;)ssuchthatnoGDR wheretheCanadiancontingentwasassembled. factorsinsportdevelopment:organization,finances,and swimmerwasevercaughtorpenalizedfordruguse. BrendaParks, a 16-year-oldmemberofmyHalifax coaching. Thetaintedperfomiancesandinternationalsmedalshavenot TrojanACwaschosen asoneofthefourgirlsinthe 12 Canadawasrankedasfourthintheworld;isaswim- beentaken awayastheInternationalOhnipicCommitteeand personOlympicflag-bearingparty.Irecollecthersighof mingpoweratthe1976GamesbehindtheUSA,GDR,and major international sports federations do not punish adiletes relief,andsmile.themomenttheflagreachedthetopofthe theSovietUnion.Inwomen'sswimmingtheGDRwaspre- retroactivelywithoutanadmissionbydieathlete..Asaresultstlie athletesinvolvedareinnodangeroflosingdieirmedalsorrecords. flagpole.ThearrivaloftheOlympicflamehomebybotha eminent.Themediawasfullofspeculationregardingtheir 10 SWIM CANADA/OCTOBER 1996

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Swim Canada - October 1996 (No.223) PDF

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Call us at 1-888-AQUAFINS for a dealer near you. AquafinsisaregisteredtrademarkofFrogsportsProducts,Inc.PatentsPending,©1996Frogsports AllRightsReserved — 11 Ak EtobicokePenta,lnlon PDSAInvitational,Vancouver GuelphInvitational October Grinler/WaltonInvitational,Brantford NickJ. Thierry, Editor/Publisher 18-20 EtobicokeSprints SaskatoonYLaserInvitational 25-27 QuakerInvitational,Peterborough IS7(1 nHiTAAifjiiiniuviuftitiLtiiuniniiiitli,HntiiliiiihAvA SFIIClanCup/AgeGroupInvitational,Bumaby IslandInvitational,Victoria InthisissuewefocusonsprinttsarAlexanderPopov November 9^-9LI7 (Intirif*TpimPh^inininnQnincA AA AAA fromRussia.CecilColwininterviewedhislong-time 8-10 MississaugaHarvestInvitational A(]uanaLitInvitational,Richmond coachGennadiTouretskiinSanDiego,whilehewas SwimInternational,Brantford 901 VlnUnUthU/I'/sOW/WAnrUiWiNiatLiioAiimalics,Prvoc^alillma GoldfinInvitational,Saskatoon May onaworld-widelecturetour. IslandPacificCup,Victoria Q7-111 HUolIlIandIiaIInvitat.ionalI,ILondAon Karin HelmstaedwritesonAlexanderPopov 15-17 DRoDuOgeIn&vitOartiIonnvailt,atDioolnlaalr,dSdtees-FOomyieaux in 1 I\PJli\rc.kPe'rjii0nn1gn1IHninirvL'iKl/tCiaIitInioI11rnn1aVrliltU'UiItUinlnU'ljll,PLtLAtn-lHiJ^IALLU'NoC thepersonalitybehindthesuccessfulathlete.Weadd 16-17 DurhamInvitational,Pickering ID-io HyackInvitational,NewWestminster some Quick FacLs on his career including his sea- PDSASeniorCircuit fUiUiCiIpIiJnIhIUIlnVuliltdiUtUiInlnail! sonal perfomiances in his specialties the 50-100 22-24 DartmouthInvitational PPOInvitiitinnil Mntitrp'il freestyle. 29-1 CanadianOpen,QuebecCity (Vj"ililmltHiUidPyjuunyWWpccMt,VV'djMniL"UAUiVn;cplr RacersInvitational,Richmond 9Q-1 YlnUiUiLtlllirVjIht^ilmlnlIiUnIUnMsohlillnl'^o,RIXpCloiliIlmd NeilHarveycontinueswithhisanalysisofOlym- December AAUnUIIa'lilnd'lUilLtl1InlvV/IiLtinitlilnUnl'ldil,R[MiLrIhIiITlilrUiinlnU picperfomiances,thistimeaddingobservationsfrom 5-8 NYACYouthCup,Etobicoke June 1992andbeyond. 61-38-15 OInnttearrpiroovSiennciioarls,ClEatsosbici,coSkheerbrooke 6-8 rNAtoOtPvCarV^JiSrIciUioiUtiUniaJ1n1AUtgCt-leT1TGUilr'LioItUuiIipilsmal,Vr\jilUiUnHi,UrtA\ktp: CecilColwinprovidesaneditedversionofhistalk PickeringInvitational PVijcIioQoQoiIpLI11n1uViItIidtUiUnlnsliall,Il\failmllllA^n"lnlil;^ totheAmericanSwimmingCoachesAssociationWorld ClassicInvitational,Kamloops ]VIS MI'nliuTuiopcJhaiwwI11n1vviitiaatiiinutiifllali Cliniconhisthoughtsonfreestyletechnique.Every- J1a9n9u7ary ll-'l^) IMiMVvmpIidu/rJvQljn/UiriOtcmiliLiiir'iriLikrV\j'lI1n1lni1ivvUimiltniliaUiilitAUtinlunlincbflnllaiilil,nUcdiH,i'ulrPinoxiiniiciulgrLtliunl'iiiMii oneisanexpertin hisownway,butyou'll findhis 10 ClubSprintMeet, Univ,ofToronto July observationsstimulating. 10-12 OakvilleInvitational 4-6 Cdoll^UdMVjllillll[JlUJlMII[Jo,ndllloA LastmonthwesaidColwin'sAustralian articles ProvincialInvitational,Montreal-Nord CniinpPwn11 Mnntrp^l HyackInvitational,NewWestminster OWlnltlcatlrilAUPV^jnaililraitilidnVJudlnlplC?ST1rlil^dildk,IPLtLnUnUiILpUAIK^PC werecomingtoanend,butheassuresmethereare 9-12 RODInvitational,Regina 11 13 OyiliipchupcrlPripuAvviiiinLriiaiijK,^oinipcrinurinunuKwpr quiteafewintheworksforfutureissues. 11-12 BCSeniorCircuit OntarioJuniorProvincials BillSawchuk,fomiercoachoftheHyackSwim 2147--2169 IMnavritkahtiaomnQInuveibteatcio9n7a,lQuebecCity U19-lHA ARulvrjbe(Vrjihtl;aaiiCm1nhiiLa'nlmnup"i\ilohoiininis'uho\,ipRi\sii,\.r.ihiEimd1lnmuinolHnuton Club (1984-96),reviewsanewtrainingproduct,the PerformanceMoneyMeet,Univ.ofToronto 9L^)-9LI7 PictpmPun "siinhiin; Aquafin. Handpaddleswere first introduced in the CoupeEsso.Ste-Foy August 1960sandhavegraduallyevolvedinshapeandsize. BCSeniorChampionships,UBC 31-3 SummerNationals,Edmonton February 10-13 CanadaGames,Brandon TheAquafinismajorevolutionarystepandisCana- 1-2 MooseJawInvitational INTERNATIONAl dian,bothbyinventionandiniLsmanufacture.The 7-9 JuniorNationals,East,Brantford/West,Saskatoon 1996 companyexpectstogopublicontheVancouverStock 14-16 QuebecProvincials,Montreal December 20-23 WinterNationals,Halifax 5-8 LISOpen,SanAntonio,TX(50M) Exchangesometimein 1997. 21-23 MalarInvitational,Hamilton 13-16 EuropeanSprintsandSCChamps,Rostock ThedepartureofDerykSnelling,Canada'smost 28-2 NovaScotiaAgeGroups 1997 successfulcoachduringthepastthreedecades, re- 28-2 OntarioJuniorProvincials,Nepean January CIAIJChampionships,Brock 4-5 WorldCup1,HongKong sultedinasend-offpartyinCalgaryinearlySeptem- BCAgeGroups,Victoria 8-9 WorldCup2,Beijing ber.CherylGibsonwritesabouttheoccassion.Cana- March 22-23 WorldCup3,Espoo da'slosswillbeBritain'sgainandAnitaLonsbrough 68--99 MDaunr/hSaamskInCvhiatamtpiioonnals,hiPpisck,eWriinngnipeg 2258--2269 WWoorrllddCCuupp45,,GMlaalsmgoow writeshowSnellingexpectsthefirstresultsfromhis new appointment to be visible within five to eight SWIM CANADA CONTENTS years. TheOctoberissuehas the finalTAG listingfor longcoursetimes.We'vemadeallthecorrectionsand Contributors:ZNm.J\.TtCioilerwriyn,,EOdtittaowra,&KPaunbnliHsehlemrslaedl,France 3 Calendar,Aboutthisissue up-dates that have been pointed out by attentive AnitaLonsbiough,England,PatriciaYoung,HongKong 4 TourelskitalksaboutPopov readersandtheend resultsshouldmeetwithevery- EditonalAssistant AnitaSmale 6 Intematioiialpersonality:AlexanderPopov PhotoEditor MarcoChiesa, one'sapproval. CompuleiprogiamslorTAG 8 199(1Olyin|)icstatistics:follow-up developedbyEveryWareDevelopmentCorporation. 10 Lookingbackatthe1976Montreal(kinies Thisisthetenthandlastissuefor 1990.it'sbeen PublishedtentSiWmeIsMyeCaralnyaCdoantMeantgsazcoipnyreigehstta©bliNshoedpoirnti1o9n7o4fthismagazine 12 Learning—aboutlearningfreestyle amemorableseason,ourfirstyeareverincolour. maybereprintedwithoutwiittenpermissionfromthepublisher 18 Aquafins thenexttrainingrevolution We'llbebackinJanuaiy1997,andtorellectour The(ollowingnames:SWIMCar]3(laMagwne, JAG.TOPandMakingWaves, areregisteredtrademarksandtheirunauthoriseduseis 19 Successonthedistanthorizon increasedcoverageofswimniingthroughouttheworid SusbtsriccrtliypptrioohnibirtaetdesA:llCalingahdtsar$e3se0rvyeeda.rly 20 Hackwash ournamewill bechangedtoSWIMNEWS,which is Foreign(airmailed)$65 Singleissues$3,00 23-44 TA(i(Top50Age(IroupTimes) the same name we use on our intertul site Allsubscriptionsinclude7%FederalGST 46 MakingWaves InternationalStandardSerialNumber (www.swimnews.com). PublicationsISMSaNil0R3e1g9i-st0r5a6t0ionno 3534 Canadianreaderswillcontinuetoreceiveallthe GatewayPostalFacility,Mississauga coverageof(lanadianeventsastheyhavedoneforthe EditorialOllices OCTOBER 1996 SWIMCanadaMagazine. past 22 years, but we'll graduallyexpand coverage M4X1V4,C3A56NASDuAmaTcehlS(t4.,16T)or9o6n3t-o,55O9n9taFraixo 963-5545 LVCoiiliuimMeCu2t3i,wiNiuMmubienrha1r0223 iroimilherareas,especiallyAustraliaandtheUnited http://www.swlmnews.coni States. SWIM CANADA OCTOBER 1996 / " T: "Yes." COLWIN ON CO C: "Inoneyear?" T:"Notless.Hedoesnotlessthanonehundredstarts. Wehaveaspecialcalculationofaverageresults,so..." TOURETSKI TALKS ABOUT POPOV C:"You'retalkingaboutcompetitions? T:"Competitions,yes." Cecil M. (\)\\\ill Touretski says the word "partners" explains the C:"Hegoestomeets?" communicationbetweenAlexanderPopovandhim."We T: "Hehasno lessthanonehundredstartsinthe GennadiTouretski,fomierHeadCoacliolilu-Australian are[lartiiers,butthereisacertaindistancebetweenus. 100." InsiiliiteofSport,iscoachofAlexmiderPopo\\the 1496 Forexample, lastweek1 movedintoahousewhich is C:"Andthatmeanshemaydotwo100racesinthe OhnipicSO;uid 100freest\ieciiamiiion, thirtymetresfromPopov'shome,butstillIdon'tbother onemeet." in 1%S,GennadiwusUSSRnationalchampion In him.1thinkweshouldrespectourpersonallives,whatis T:"Yes,itlookslikehedoesonehundredlOO's,lOKs the^00;uid1SOOfreestyle.Hecompetedfor1Syeare,firet goingonoutsidethepool.Soif1wanttowatchhim,1tell withaspeedofmorethantwometrespersecond." as:ui agegrouper,dienin 10nationaltrials,buttwice himatthepool,or1callhim." C: "That'sgoodtraining." missedOinnpicselectionbynarrowmargins.Hefinished AskedaboutPopov'sfutureplans,andwhetherPopov T:"Thatisalsolearningtheskillofracingthe100. thiaiintlietrialsforthe1968MexicoCityOlvnipics,and wouldcontinueswimmingifhefullyrecoversfromthe That's the most important thing, because we had no fourtfiintlietri;dsfortlie 1972MunichOlympics. knifewounds hesufferedin aMoscowstreetattackon opportunit}'beforetheOlympics. AccordingtoTouretski,"Themostimportantfactor August25,Touretskireplied,"I'msurehewill,butIwill incoachingistobeyourself.Alotofcoachestiytocopy be more certain afterhe is releasedfrom the hospital PREPARINGFORTHERACE othercoachesorotherprogr;uns.There'salotofdiscus- (September7). Tomorrow his Federationwill make a AccordingtoTouretski,"Thisisbasedonthepsychology siononwhetheracoachshouldbescientific,orwhether presentationtoAlex." ofthecoachesinAustraliawitheliteathletes.Theyare oneshouldcoachswimming-Jiifit'sanart.Eveiycoach afraidofcompetition.Theyareafraidtobedisappointed. shouldfindapersonalwayofcoaching...thewaythatis GOOD REUTIONSHIP Theyareafraidtobreakthecommunication,andgeta bestforoneself,because,firstofall,coachingistheartof TouretskisaidthatheandPopovhaveagoodrelation- negative atmosphere in the school. But I think this communication." shipwiththeirnationalfederation,totheextentthatthe problem is only in the minds of coaches but not in federationhasgivenPopovtotalfreedomtochoosethe reality." THE LOGIC OFEXCEIIEIVCE competitionsinwhichhewishestoenter."Theysaidthat "Theraceisthegoalandthefocusofpreparation. ToureLskisaid,"Ifwelookatthelogicofhowweachieve ifthenationaltrialswerenotincludedinourpreparation That'sthemostimportantthing.Thisisthemosteffective excellence(itdoesn'tmatterinwhatfield:inmathemat- plan,Alexcouldgowhereverhewanted.Thisisverygood typeoftraining.Ifwehavethisgoodbalanceofrecovery ics,inculture, inpolitics),thewayisverysimple:from becauseitshowstheytrustmeandtheytrusthim." andtraining,wecanachieveresults."— information to knowledge, from knowledge to experi- "However,wedecidedthatitwouldbebetterforAlex "We can use very simple logic if you want to ence, from experience to wisdom, and then to excel- to compete in the trials because there were no other measure anycoach oranytrainingmethod, there are lence. suitablecompetitions. Sohecompeted in his national fourstages:training,activation,stress,recover}'.Train- "Wemeetoldercoaches,suchasJoeKingandJohn trials,andheclocked48.8.Hedidverywell." ing is mostly aerobic and anaerobic threshold work. Carew,whostartedcoachingelite athletes laterin life, TouretskisaidthatPopovusuallyracesoverthe100 Activation,thisisMV02.ThisistheAustralianmethod, andtheyhavemorewisdom.Withthesepeoplewisdomis metresdistanceaboutonehundredtimesinayear."We MV02.Stressishighintensitytraining,orcompetition, quiteanatural thing.Acoachdoesn'thavetohavean hadalotofcompetitionlastyearbutwehadn'tenough thenrecovery." inferiorit}'complexbecausesomeoneelseismorescien- competitionintheOlympicyear." "I asked one coach in Australia about one very tific.Youjusthavetobeyourself,andbesurethatwhat Surprised, 1 questioned Touretski closely on this successful swimmer, whyshe didn'tdo aswell as ex- youaredoingisgoodforthepeopleyouarecoaching.It topic,andtheconversationwentlikethis: pected,andhesaid, 'Shedidn'ttrain.' Isaid, ''Whatdid doesn'tmatterhowmanyswimmersyouhave,thirtyor C:"Heswimsthe 100ahundredtimes?" shedo?'andhesaid'Shedidheartratesets.'Activation, fort\'orone,tobeyourselfisthemostimportantthing." That'swhythey'vegoneup,thenthey'vegonedown." Elaboratingonthedifferencebetweenthescienceof swimmingascomparedwiththeartofcoaching,Touretski saidthat,intermsofart,thisistheartofcommunication, anabilit}'toopenyourselftoothers. DDTEREIVTPSYCHOLOGY "Iwasaswimmerforalongtime.and1reachedaturning pointwhenIdecidedIwantedtobeacoach.Veryquickly, I realizedthatI hadtodecidewhether1couldchange fromthepsychologicalapproachofaswimmertothatof acoach." "Thepsychologyoftheathleteisabsolutelydiffer- ent, because a coach has to be ready to give ever\lhing;maybeweshoulduseaverysimpletermlike: thecoachshouldbeagiver,buttheathlete,bynature,is ataker.Hetakesinformationfromthecoach,andthisis anaturalthingbecauseheacceptswhatthecoachgives him.Andtomakethisstepfromathletetocoach,wehave tochangeourpsychology." Alexander Popov with long-time coach Gennadi Touretski PhotoAlainCoultler SydneyFreelance SWIM CANADA/OCTOBER 1996 " " SEEKIINGCOMPETITION competesagainstNewSouthWales,andalltogether,they IaskedToureLskiwhetherhemadeapointofseekingtop competeagainsttheAISinCanberra.Why?" POPOV'S PREPARAl competition forAlex. Did he seek competition against Asked how he would solve the problems he had GaryHall,ortoswimagainstthefastesthecanfindata mentioned,Touretskisaid,"Fii'stofallyoushoulddecide certainstageoftheseason? whatyouhavetodo.IknowhowtodoitinRussia.Ithink "Organizingcompetitionisquitedifficulthecauseit IknowhowtodoitinAustralia.ButwhenIfirstcameto The Magic Sevens dependson manyfactors," saidToureLski. "You men- AIS,Inoticed'Swimmershaveaveryhighleveloftension. • "Sevenyearsofinitialpreparation,sevendevel- tionedGaryHall.Alexisthebestintheworld,soifthere Whereisitcomingfrom?' opmentalyears, thensevenyearstoperfoimat isagoodconditionforthisswimmertocompeteagainst "It'scomingfromthecompetitivesituationbetween thetop." him,theymaycontactAlex'smanager,atIMG,andask coaches.Wecanneverbesuccessfulasacountrywhilewe ifhewillbeavailable." just compete against each other, and this is the main •"In1000startssince1990,1canhardlyfindthree "Thisisanotherfactorifyouwanttoc—ompetewith goal.WehavetocompeteagainstAmericatoo,wehaveto racesthatAlexlost." aswimmer likeAlex in aparticularevent television compete against Russia, we have to get together and •ThekeytoPopov'ssuccess:"Talentplusconsist- andalltheattendentdetails.Thisisaprofessionalarea, competeagainstthem.Wehavetohelpeachother,andin enthardwork,andworkingnon-stopforperfec- so1don'twanttotouchthis.Thisisnotmybusiness." thiswaywewillhaveagi'eaterteamspirit. tion." OnthequestionofhowmanytopracesPopovneeded • "BetweenBarcelona1992,andAtlanta1996,his to get into shape to produce his best perfonnances, ONTRAININGCOACHES weight incretised by 3 kg (6.6 lbs), and so his Touretski—said, "I think this is the business of every Askedwhathethoughtwasthebestwa\'totrainatalented techniquehaschanged." federation toprepare acompetitive plan forthe na- youngcoach, certification or being apprenticed to an •"AsanathletesinceBarcelona,Popovhaslearned tionalteamandiLsmembers.That'sthemostimportant experiencedoldercoach,Touretskisaid, "I don'tthink to read fear in the eye of opponents, how to thing.Theyhavetodecidewhatkindofcompetitionthey thereexistsoneway.Therecanbedifferentways.Ithink communicatewiththemedia,andevenhowto need." ifyouhavesomeonelikeaheadcoach,hehastorealize managelifeinAustralia." "IsaywhatIneedbutDonTalbotmaysayno.Orwe that there can be different ways. A top athlete can be • "Popov has a good education in coachingsci- couldcompete,let'ssay, inSantaClara,buthehashis preparedathome,inauniversity,orinaspecialcentre. ence,understandshowtotrain,andtobefitfor osthaweynreimsaoordneelloyt,hmaeynrdpoeIpoidpnolineo'nwt.hwaoWnhmitultseotcIrmipatrikecpeizaertheTeagldobeooctdissiaootnhwlsheataetnsd,I ttItaoldheenaptv,eensdaosocnmoeoarscohtrotlhnaeterwreh,.e"wtihllercoyomuehtaovteheatcoop.acBhutthyeorue,naenedd Cahraacmep.iFoenwshpiepopsleinknRoowmheewinas1s9i9c4k,atanthdeWatortlhde theyareresponsibleforthem." ''AlexPopovdoestwothousandkilometerseveryyear European Championships in Vienna in 1995. "That'swhyI think, first ofall,weshould start a havingnotlessthanonehundredstarts.Thismeansthat The reasonwas that he lost his adaptation re- plan.Weneedtoplan,andifweplan,we'llrealizewhat hedoesthirtycompetitionsayear.Thisistheonlywayto serveasaresultofthehighintensityworkthree theobjectivesare,andbywhatmeanswecanachievethis gotoachieveperfection." weeksbeforethestart." goalthroughtrainingandcompetiton, andthingslike • "Popov's technique is based on the three Rs: that." ACLEARMIND Rhythm,Relaxation, andRange." AskedwhetherPopov,asasprinter,wastemperamental •"BeforeAtlanta,Popovdidnotbelievethatsome- THOUGHTSONNATIONALPLANNING and,attimes,perhapsdifficulttotrain,Touretskireplied, onewouldbreak49.0seconds. Ittookmequite "Ifyouwanttoknowmyopiniononwhatshouldbedone "Alexdoesthewholementalworkhimself.Imerelygive some time to explain to him that they would aboutnationalplanningtomakeswimmingsuccessful, himtheframeworkbecausehiscreativeabilitiesareso swimaround48.6seconds. imagine me as head coach of Russia, or any other great.Asacoach,that'sprobablywhatI'vemosthelped country. The first thing I would do would be to start himtodevelop." Touretski on Sprint Training lookingfortalentedcoaches. I woulddoeverythingto ToureLskisaysthatPopovhassuchaclearmindthat prepare these coaches. Give them information, every- hedoesn'thavedifficultyinconcentrating.Bythesame •"Becauseofthedevelopmentofbetterclassifi- thing." token,ToreLskidoesn'ttalkstrategywithPopov."Itiyto cationoftrainingworkloads,endurancedevelop- "Next,Iwouldbringthemtogether,nottochallenge avoidthiskindoftalkbecause Idon'twanttointerfere ment methods have made it possible to incre;ise eachother, not asonesquad, and not ;lsthe national withhisnaturalway,although,sometimeago,Ididshow endurancespecifically.Butsprinttraininginswim- team,butjusttostartdoingthingstogetherinthedirec- himsomestrategies.AsImentionedinmylecture,wedid ming iscomplex, and perhaps atalowerlevelof tionofdevelopingthisparticularsportinthecountry." allthepre-OlympicworkinMarchandApril,andlaterwe evolutionthanthatofotherswimmingevents." "1likeDonTalbot.Hetriestoencouragethecoaches didn'tspeakabouttheOlympics." • "I thinkthatthereisnosuchthinginsprint pe5onally,andthat'swhathedidforScottVolkers;that's When I mentionedthatJohnCareww;isthesame eveiiLsasthespeedfactorlimitingtheperformance, vceorayc,hvetroybgroiondg.cIotahcihneksthteosguectcheesrsaannddtarbaiilnittyhofemtheishveeardy wdoietshnK'itesraeyntPoeorkmiunsc,hatnodPtehraktinCsa,rTeowurheaLdsktiolsdaimd,e"tThhaatth'es but there is acomplicated whole that brings to- gether.strength, agility, endurance andflexibility important." theGolden Rule. Ifyoustartspeakingtotheathlete, it "Let'sgettogether. Let's makeourswimmingthe means that things are not well, and that soon things intoamulti-component'alloy'whichcanbecalled bestintheworld.Toachievetheseobjectives,youneedto probablywill not be good, and that's important to re- 'IndividualHighlyFfficientSwimmiii—gTechnique' haveveryclearmindsandverytalentedpeople. 1think member." (IHKFST)orthewidelyknownname goodtech- everycountryhassuchpeople.Thenthesepeopleshould Touretskisaidthatacoachmustusedifferentstrat- nique." decidehowmanycompetitionstheyneed,andwhoshould egieswith kidsthanwitholderswimmers. "Jim Fowlie bethere." wasoncesurprisedwhen,onedayafteratrainingsession, (From "ThePrcpairi/ion ofA!e.\aii(/erl'oj)nrfor "The problem ofcountries like Canada ;md Aus- we had some kids come to the pool, and he saw me the l9%Atlcinla OlyjiipicGa/inv."presoilcdby tralia (America hasn't all theseproblemsbecause they workingwiththem.Hesaid'(iennadi'Youdon'tlooklike CoachGennadiTourclski.atIheAmeriainSwim- haveawholelotofswimmersandcoaches)isswimming anationalcoachwhenyoulaughandjumpupanddown mingCoaches'Asmialion WorldClinic. San Di- isstillnotamajorsport.TheproblemisthatQueensland likethat!'Yes,hut Idid itthatwaybecausethat'showI ego.September1996.ReprintedwithI'ermission.) coachyoungerkids,and Ienjoydoingit." SWIM CANADA/OCTOBER 1996 INTERNATIONAL PERSONALITY ALWAYS A CLASS ACT PLANSTO BEBACK IN SIX MONTHS ANBATTHE SYBNEY OLYMPICS FOOBYEABSFRBMNOW KarinHelmstaedt Itwasahero'swelcomeforAlexanderPopov. Lessthanthreeweeksafterbeingstabbedinthe stomachwhileonholidayinMoscow,thefour-time Olympic goldmedalistflewtoVolgograd (theclub withwhichheisstillaffiliated) toattendanaward ceremonyinhonourofthecity'sOlympicmedalists. Asheemergedfromtheplaneinthecompanyofhis girlfriend,swimmerDariaShmeleva,acrowdoffans welcomedhimwithroses.Hisparents,camespecially from Sverdlovsk to see their only son, were also amongthesupporters. Thinanddrawnafterhisordeal,Alexneverthe- lesskeptupwiththestar'sschedulethatawaitedhim, includingmeetingswithjoumalistsandcityofficials, andthe lengthy awardceremonyduringwhich he receivednumerouschequesfromsponsors,anapart- mentinVolgograd,andanewcar. Obviouslytouched,Alexadmittedthattheava- lanche ofgetwellwishes that he receivedwhile in hospitalmeantalottohim.Hisdoctorexplainedthat Alexwasveryluckythatthedamagehadnotbeen worse:theknifehaddamagedhispleurallining,but not his lungs. Surgery had lasted more than two hours. Alex,forhispart,thankedProvidenceinhisown way: the first thing he did after his release from hospitalwastohavehimselfbaptizedintlieRussian OrthodoxChurch. Despitetheseriousnatureofthesetback,hesays hepreferstoputitbehindhim.Heisasdetemiinedas ever to be in Sydney in four years, and says that nothingwillstophim. Hewilltakeiteasyforawhilehowever,toallow himselftofullyrecover.Alexpredictsthatitwilltake himatleastsixmonthsbeforeheisbackin"competi- tive" shape. But then, over a lifetime, what is six months?Heverynearlylostalotmore. MarcoChiesa 6 SWIM CANADA/OCTOBER 1996 ALEXANDERPOPOV:SEASONALSTATISTICS 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 50METRESFREESTYLE 50METRESFREESTYLE 50METRESFREESTYLE 50METRESFREESTYLE 50METRESFREESTYLE 50METRESFREESTYLE 50METRESFREESTYLE 22,87 F KHARKDEC 2278 F SCSCJUL 21.91 F OLYMPICS 2227 F EUR93AUG 22.17 F W0RLD94 2225 F EUR95AUG 2213 F OLYMPICS 24,00 F TALLNJUN 22.84 F URSJUN 2231 F CANETMAY 22.29 F MONACJUN 2225 F MONACJUN 2252 F CANETJUN 2222 H OLYMPICS 100METRESFREESTYLE 22.98 F MONACJUN 22,45 F BARCMAY 22.52 F CANETMAY 22,28 F BARCJUN 22,53 F TOULMAR 2243 F RUSAPR 50.71 F KHARKDEC 23.32 F MONACJUN 2281 F EDINBAPR 2273 F PARISJUL 22.32 F CANETJUN 2254 F BARCJUN 2290 F MULHAUG 51.21 C URSJUL 100METRESFREESTYLE 23.05 F CISAPR 2279 H PARISJUL 2233 F SCSCJUL 2255 F SYDNJAN 22.94 F CANBMAR 51.40 C MOSCMAR 49.18 F EUR91AUG 100METRESFREESTYLE 22.82 F MOSCMAY 22.53 H W0RLD94 22,56 F MONACJUN 2295 F AISMAR 51.45 R URSJUL 4927 F URSJUN 49.02 F OLYMPICS 22.82 F BARCJUN 22.54 F RUSJUN 2279 H EUR95AUG 100METRESFREESTYLE 100METRESBACKSTROKE 50.38 F MONACJUN 49.58 F CISAPR 2304 F HAMBGFEB 2255 F GOODWJUL 2287 F TOULJUN 4874 H OLYMPICS 57,90 c ROMEAUG 50.44 F SCSCJUL 49.80 F CANETMAY 2307 F PORTOJUN 22.70 F TOECJUN 100METRESFREESTYLE 4874 F OLYMPICS 57.97 R URSJUL 100FREERELJ\YLEGS 5119 F EDINBAPR 23,12 H PERTHMAR 2316 F NSWFEB 4910 F EUR95AUG 4888 F RUSAPR 5798 F URSJUL 48.10 F EUR91AUG 100FREERELAYLEGS 100METRESFREESTYLE 100METRESFREESTYLE 4912 F BARCJUN 49.24 H RUSAPR 58,81 C MOSCMAR 48.71 F EUR91AUG 4783 F OLYMPICS 48,93 F CANETMAY 48.21 F MONACJUN 4923 F MONACJUN 49,56 F CANBMAR 5886 C BERLNFEB 100METRESBACKSTROKE 47.91 F OLYMPICS 4915 F BARCJUN 49,12 F CANETJUN 4944 F CANETJUN 50,37 F AISMAR 5627 C URSJUN 100METRESBACKSTROKE 4915 F EUR93AUG 4912 F W0RLD94 4981 F TOULMAR 100FREERELAYLEGS 56.66 F MONACJUN 56,38 F BARCMAY 4928 F MOSCMAY 4933 H W0RLD94 4983 H EUR95AUG 4788 F OLYMPICS 57.01 F SCSCJUL 56,72 F CISAPR 5060 C PERTHMAR 49.36 F SCSCJUL 5016 F SYDNJAN 48,79 F RUSAPR 57.07 F EDINBAPR 51.28 F PORTOJUN 49.47 F RUSJUN 100FREERELAYLEGS 48,81 F OLYMPICS 100FREERELAYLEGS 5007 F BARCJUN 4905 F EUR95AUG 100METRESBACKSTROKE 47.85 F EUR93AUG 5054 F MULHSEP 4906 F EUR95AUG 55.71 R OLYMPICS 48.83 F EUR93AUG 50.58 F GOODWJUL 100METRESBACKSTROKE 56,22 F RUSAPR 100METRESBACKSTROKE 5120 F NSWFEB 5755 F SYDNJAN 56,69 F AISMAR 56.63 F PORTOJUN 100FREERELAYLEGS 57,55 F CANBMAR 56.79 C PERTHMAR 47.68 F W0RLD94 4822 F W0RLD94 100METRESBACKSTROKE 5568 F RUSJUN 5659 F MULHSEP 5815 F NSWFEB 200METRESBACKSTROKE 2:01.98 F NSWFEB QUICK FACTS Alexander POPOV, RUS BIRTHDATE 16 NOV 1971 PLACE Sverdlovsk HEIGHT 197 cm WEIGHT 89 kg HOME Canberra, AUS/Volgograd OCCUPATION Full-time athlete CLUB Volga Swim Club COACH Gennadi Touretski • 96 Olympics 1st 50 free 22.13, 1st 100 free 48.74, 2nd 4x100 FR, 2nd 4x100 MR • 95 Europeans 1st 50 free 22.25, 1st 100 free 49.10, 1st 4x100 FR, 1st 4x100 MR • 94 Worlds 1st 50 free 22.17, 1st 100 free 49.21 2nd 4x100 FR, 2nd , 4x100 MR • 93 Europeans, 1st 50 free 22.27, 1st 100 free 49.15, 1st 4x100 FR, 1st 4x100 MR • 92 Olympics 1st 50 free 21.91, 1st 100 free 49.02, 2nd 4x100 FR, 2nd 4x100 MR • 91 Europeans 1st 100 free 49.18, 1st 4x100 FR, 1st 4x100 MR • Hold long course world record 100 free 48.21 from 1994 MarcoChiosa SWIM CANADA/OCTOBER 1996 1996 OLYMPIC STATISTICS: FOLLOW-UP Neil Harvey Wliatistheeasyconclu sion':* At the Olympics, pt Howniiuiytimesli:iveyouheardthecomment"Itwill sonal bests don't happen as lakealifetimeIx'stinheatstoaci\micetofinals?"The often as I suspected. Kach p;Bt two Ohiiipics i^esulLs show tliat ifyou are fast swimmer is on a different enough,youwillnotneedabesttimetowin Youmust improvementcuw, arriving . simply win. Alexmider Popo\', the winner in both attheworldtop8levelintime freestylesprintevents,swamthisfomiulatotheletter. fortheOlympics.JeffRouse1 Followinguponthe 1996Olympicstatisticsre- theUSAhasbeen atthego portfroml:Lstmonth,IcollectedsomeresulLsfromthe medal level inthe 100Back- 199-Ol\iiipicsinBarcelonaandthe1988Olympicsin strokesince1990! Thatisnot Seoul.Iwuslookingforapatterninpci-sonaibesttimes acuwbutasixyearplateau. (PB). M;ui\'variablesbegantoappear. AgnesKovacsofHungaiywent \;iriablessuchasage,gender,percent improve- fromarankof100inthe200 ment.en\ironment,andindividualpre-Olympicrank breasLstrokein1995tothesil- Stephen Clarke, CAN, had PBsinthreeswimsintwostrokes allappeared;isadditionalcontributorstotheimpor- ver medal in 1996, a steep tanceofpersonalbesttimes.Trainingmethods,both curveindeed.Let'shavealookatsomeothervariables. finalspot. Itispossibletopredictthetimeneededto ph^'sical:uidmental,havealwaysbeenkeyfactorsin reachthefinal.CzechstatisticianViktorSvobodadoes performance at ;my level, especially at the Olympic FASTERTHAN EVER? apredictionforeachOlympiceventbasedonhisown level.YetthereweremanyOlympicfinalist^inotper- InAtlanta,35%offinalistsswamtoaPB,andjustover formula.Hecalculatesthetimetofinalandtowin.For forming near their PBs. There were even two gold halfofallmedalistsachievedabesttime.Therestof thewintimehegivesaprediction,ahighandalow. medallistsfromrecentOlympicswhohadaPBdating thefieldsimplyrepeatedaperformancefromthepast. Thisyearhewas almost 1%faston hispredictions. backfurtherthan fouryears: KrisztinaEgerszegi in Winningwasnotabouthowfasttheyswam,butwhom Swimmingtoatleasthisfinaltimespredictionswould 1991 andPabloMorales(1992winnerinthe 100fly) they beat. It helps when the world level does not havemadethetop8even'time. in1986.Egerszegiw'onherthirdconsecutiveOlympic improvetoanygreatdegree,:lsw;isoftenthecasethis STEEPCURVESAHEAD? titleinthe200backstroke,andMoralesheldtheworld year.Thewomen's200backstrokeisagoodexample. recordinthe 100Flyfrom 1986to 1995. Both these The bronze medal time has not improved since Iamusingpercentimprovements,ratherthantime,to swimmerswonwithoutapersonalbest.Alookatthe Egerszegiwonherfirsttitlein 1988.Themen's100fly comparebetweeneventsandgendermoreeasily. 1996and1992Olympicsshowed 21of52goldmedals is theoppositeexample. Everyswimmerin the race Atage27.BritishswimmerSaraliHardcastlequali- werewonwithoutaPB (40%). 68of156gold,silver achieved a PB. Aprevious best time herewas ofno fiedforfinalsinthe800freestyleinAtlanta.Sheswam and bronze medals were won without a PB (43%). value. EventhegreatPabloMoraleswouldhavefin- 1.8%slowerthanherPB,from1986! Hadsheequalled Swimmingfastisonething,butswimmingfastenough ished third with his best time. Why do some events herPB, shewouldhavewon theeventby3seconds. towinattheOlympicsisanother. improvewhileothersplateau? Janet Evans, the current 800 freestyle world record In 1992, holder(1989) hasasimilarstory.Shefinishedsixth 25%offinalists thisyearinatime4.3%slowerthanherPB.Attheother neededaPBto endofthecum,youngAgnesKovacswonthesilverin qualify, while the 200breaststroke (PB).Atthe ageof 14, sheim- 56% of proved6.7%inoneyear!Youthalonedoesnotdeter- medalistswere minetheprobability'ofaPB.SandraVolker,a22-year- betterthanever oldfromGemiany,improved3.6%inthe100freestyle before. These to win the silver medal. In the same race. ,\ngel aresimilarre- Martino,29,oftheUSA,sw;untoabronzemedalwith atimejustoffher1992PB.Thismeasureappliesonly sults to 1996. Personal bests inhowtheswimmerarrivesattheOlympicfinallevel. certainly help Thechancesofmedallingaresimilar,regardlessoftlie improvementame. in the year of the Olympics, PSYCH SHEETMATTERS but a previous PBatthislevel CanadianStephenClarkewasranked11thinthe100 hasjustasgood freestylecomingintoAtlanta.Atthemeet,hewonthe Sandra Volker, GER, Improved3.6%since1995to winsilver in 1996MarcoChiesa a chance at a secondseededheatinaPBof 50.14.Thistimewould 8 SWIM CANADA/OCTOBER 1996 have placed him Sth on the pre-Ulynipic ranking. themoneyinI99(i.JeffRouseisagoodexampleofthis All theseswimmei'smadefinals in.Mlanta and Nomiallyhecouldexpecttofinalwiththisperfonn- cuive. they all showedover3%i improvementsometime in ance.Clarkemissedthefinalby0.35secondstofinish In 1991,FranziskaVanAlmsick,at 13,improved the l;Lst five years. There were some examples of in11thplace!Thismeanstheeventwasven'competi- over 3'^" in her 200 freest\'le. In 1992 she inifiroved swimmei'swho showed up on theworld charts the tive. Fiveofthetop8seedsdidnotmakeitthroughto another3%towinthesilvermedal attheOlympics. year before the Olympics (1995) with a time fast finals.Fromthe1996ranklistlastmonth,youcansee Inexperiencecostherthegold,butstill,shecameout enoughtofinalin 1996,yetarenowheretobeseenin howmanyofthetop8 aremissingfromfinals. The of nowhere. The spread between the slowest world the1994rankings.Theytendedtobeyoungerswim- men's backstrokes and the sprint freestj'les are all rankedtime in anyevent (150th) and 1st is usually mers. All men who improved better than 3%. were missing5ofthetop8pre-Olympicqualifiers!Another between6-7%. Anynationalfinalistimprovingabove under22yearsold. SEVENmen'sandwomen'seventsaremissinghalfof 3%for2yearsinarowshouldberightnearthetop!It I looked at the results from the 1992 Olympics for thetop8swimmers. In 199-. FIVEeventswere also soundseiLsy. Howisitdone? similarimprovementrates. missing at least half of the top 8. There are few in 1987, at the age of 13, Krisztina guarantees in any event. Each Olympics appears to Egerszegi improved 5.9% in the 100 back- Women Age Event Time %Imp. becomemorecompetitiveregardlessofthetimes.The stroketoreachtheworldlevel. In 1988,she DagmarHase,GER 23 400Fr 4.07.18 3.78 pre-Olympicrankseemstomatteronlyslightly. NMersheryakova,EUN 20 50Fr 25.47 4.49 silverattheOlympics. MichelleSmith,27, SusanO'Neill,AUS, 19 200Fly 2.09.03 4.40 HOWOLD ISTOOOLD? won threeeventsin 1996. Shew^is ranked KyokoIwasaki,JPN 14 200Br 2.26.65 7.96 Howdoesagefactorintopeifomiance?Rememberthe 2ndin1995and17thin1994.Priorto1996, F.VanAlmsick,GER 14 100Fr 54.94 3.49 averageageofwomenfinalistsin1996was21.5years, Smithdidnotrankinthe400freestyle. No F.VanAlmsick,GER 14 100Fly 1.00.02 3.82 in1992itwas20years;whilein1988itwas19-3years. comparison can be made, butshe did im- Men Thisisadefinitetrend.Whyistheaverageagerising? prove considerably. Is Smith too old to be AlexanderPopov,EUN 21 50Fr 21.91 3.8 Ismoneykeepingswimmei'sinthesportlonger?Ai'e improvingso much? Herimprovements in MarkFoster,GBR 22 50Fr 22.52 3.0 otheropportunitiesallowingwomentostayinlonger? DaynonLoader,NZL 16 200Fly 1.57.93 3.6 Basedonthelargenumberofwomentraininginother (I995-96),1.7%(1994-95),and3.1%(1993- countries,theopportunitiesmustberisingfor"older," 94),forathreeyearimprovementof6%.Thisisnota This is a list of many ofthe best swimmers in the post-university age women. Training centers could steepamebyanymeasure.Tocompare,hereisalist world. It is eiisy to see that improvement ratescan alsoallowgreaternumbersofswimmerstocontinue ofswimmersfrom 1996whohadimprovementover e;isily top 3% in asingle season, regardless ofage. training at a higher level while also working for a 3%sometimeinthepast6years: Everyimprovementcuwmaynotincludea3%spike living. This would apply to both men and women. at the international level. However, There are still as many "juniors" (18 and unders) Women Age Event Year Time %Imp. youshouldfindmorethanone'^+% makingfinals,andtheagespread(oldesttoyoungest) MichelleSmith,IRL 24 400IM 93-94 4.47.89 3.12 improvement season, however far is;tslarge. DagmarHase,GER 23 400Fr 91-92 4.07.18 3.78 back,foreven*swimmerinthefinals. The percent of juniors in the women's finals SamanthaRiley,AUS 22 200Br 93-94 2.25.53 4.36 changeddrasticallyfrom1988to1992.Almosthalfthe SandraVolker,GER 22 100Fr 95-96 54.88 3.68 women'sfieldin 1988werejuniors.Thisfigurefellto SandraVolker,GER 22 50Fr 95-96 25.14 3.49 MORE WORKTO BE DONE 27%inboth1992and1996.Agemaynotbeakeyfactor PenelopeHeyns,RSA 21 200Br 94-95 2.26.98 3.69 Gettingback to the ideaofpersonal inperfomiance,butthedemographicsaredefinitely PenelopeHeyns,RSA 20 100Br 93-94 1.09.79 4,65 bests as a performance indicator, I changing. "Senior"finalistsperfomiedasmanyPBs VeraLischka,AUT 20 100Br 95-96 1.09.24 3.88 havetoadmitthereismoreanalysis asdidthejuniors.The1996women'smeetwasslower MinoucheSmit,NED 19 200IM 94-95 2.17.66 3.94 toliedone.Therearesomanyfactoi's CM andthefieldwasolder.There;isonsforthisaresti11out ChristinPetelski, 18 200Br 93-94 2.36.34 5.95 involved. The stress of the Olympic there. The men'seventsshow nodifference between HitomiKashima,JPN 16 100Fly 95-96 59.43 3.27 (lames is veiy large. Those who are 1996and1992;theaverageagewasthesameforboth CristinaTeuscher,USA 15 200Fr 93-94 1.59.71 4.28 abletocontroltheirfocusandsome- meets. AgnesKovacs,HUN 15 200Br 95-96 2,25,57 6.70 how step ouLside of the "hot zone" BrookeBennett,USA 14 800Fr 93-94 8,31.30 4,65 whiletheycompete,maybetheones IMPROVEMENT ATANYAGE F.VanAlmsick,GER 14 100Fr 91-92 54,94 3.49 whoperform thebest. Comparingagetopercent improvement, I looked at GettingaperformancetotheOl- everyswim,fromthepreviousPBtothecurrentbest.I Men ympicTop8levelasearlyinacareer alsowentbacklookingforlargejumps(greaterthan BrendanDeDekind,USA 20 50Fr 95-96 22,59 5.04 as possible is probably a good 1x1. 3%)sometimeintheprevioussixyears.Thereareno DanyonLoader,NZL 18 400Fr 93-94 3,48,62 3.81 Regardlessoftheshapeofllii'cune. cleardifferencesbyage.Someswimmersimprovedin P.V.d.Hoogenbaiid,NED 17 200Fr 94-95 1,48,78 3.53 will need to get there at some agradualcurvewith0.5%to2,0%improvementstejis. NessierBent,CUB 19 100Bk 95-96 56,83 3.51 |)oint. Othersimprovedinasinglespikeimprovementofover PavioKhnykin,UKR 21 iOOFly 90-91 54,43 3.39 Maintaining a world perform- 3%,Somehadtheir"spike" uptofouryearsagoand (Khynikinwasworldrankedfreestylersince 1988) ance level is difficult, but no more maintainedperformanceinto1996;.some"spiked"in DennisSilantiev,UKR 18 200Fly 93-94 1,59.81 4,16 (litficultthan performingapersonal the 1995-96 season, fiming the Olympics perfectly, (Silantievdoesnotshowuponeither 1993or 1992; best at (heOlvmpics. Sti11othershadagreatmeetin1992inBarcelona,only %improvementisfrom 150thfor 1994) toslowdownforacoupleofyears,reboundingrighton (Note:ageisfortheyearofmeasuredimprovement) SWIM CANADA/OCTOBER 1996 9 — rapidrisetoi)rominence.Storiesofdrugs,steroids,muscle FLASHBACK mass,etc,wereover-played.Therewereenoughperform- ancesbynon-GDRathletestodemonstratethatanyonein theworldcansucceedgivenapositiveenvironment. LOOKING BACK AT THE 976 MONTREAL GAMES 1 TheGDRwithitssupportprograms,financialadvan- tages(7%ofallprofitsfromindustryhavetobeUimedover maleandafemaleathletew:lsanOlympicfirstthatembod- tothedevelopmentofsportandrecreationforallemployees iedtheOlympic.spirit. andtheirfamilies),socialprestige,educationalopportuni- CunvntlybetidimcbofEkilhousieUniversity, wasmi Theswimmingcompetitionstartedthenextday.The ties,scientifictalentsearch,medicaltesting,facilities,insti- mishintiXkicbwiththe1976CaiuuiimiOh'nipicsiiim CaiKidian team trained immediately afterthe ceremony tutesforthetrainingofcoaches,detrainingandsocietal letit/i and coached \ancy Garapick to two bronze andthenreturnedtotheOlympicVillage.Swimmershada reassimilationsimplydemonstratewhatcanbeachieved medalswimsinthe100-200backstroke. 9:00curfewintheVillageuntilthecompletionofcompeti- throughorganization.Theseedsfortheircurrentsuccess tion.Thosewhodidfinishearlyintheprogramweremoved weresownover20yearsago. Miinymillionsofwordshavebeenwiitlenabouttbe downtowninordernottodisturbthoseathletesstillcom- Inanysociety,onesurewayforsporttodevelopisto OhnipicG;uiies,iiiillionsoffeetoffilmshot,andbom'sof peting. allyitwithfullcommunitysupport:toturnonnon-athlet£S radio ;uid tele\ision coverage transmitted since the firet Themuch-publicizedovercrowdingintheVillagew:is totheintrinsicjoysofsportsliketrackandfield,gymnas- G;unesofthe modem era. Thesewerewitnessedby just nowhere near asprevalent as the mediapredicted. The tics,swimming,andmanyothers.Thiswaythey'llknow 60,000peopleatdieOlympicStadiuminAthensin 1896, apartmentswerewellplanned.Theyeachaccommodated what it is all about and want to see those gifted and when311 atliletesfrom 13nationscompeted. uptotwelveathletesand/orofficials,dividedamongstthree dedicated athletes have achance to achieve the best of TheflameofdieXXIst Ohnipiad\mextinguished rooms.Extratoiletsoneachfloorrelievedotheranxieties. whichtheyarecapable. eiglityearsago.The1976MontrealOlympicsrepresented NancyGarapickhadlunchthedayaftertheopening Physicaleducationprogramsintheschoolshaveto die world's most photographed, chronicled, and talked ceremonywiththeRoyalFamily,withPrinceAndrewasher continuetoimprove.Ifchildrenaretumedonandgradu- aboutassemblyofmodemtime.Indeed,thereweremore escort! atefromprimaryandjuniorhighschool,hungn,'formore media representatives accredited in Montreal than there Swimming competition in one of the world's best ambitious sporting and recreational opportunities, diey w^re adiletes, even before the withdrawal of 29 African facilitieswasspreadovereightdays,withthe nations. sixthdaybeingarestday. AsoneofsLxmembersoftheCanadianOlympicswim The greatest swim meet ever held in teamcoachingstaff,1wasfortunatetoexperiencefirsthand Canada saw its swimmers have their finest thedramaandexcitementofthefirstOlympicshostedin hour. Twosilverandsix bronze medals in- Canada, creasedCanada'shaulofswimmingmedals MayorDrapeau's1970promisetotheIOCwaskept byexactly100%overthosewoninMunichin almost. The Games did enjoy a security safeguard that 1972,whereswimmerstook4ofthe5medals protectedeveryathleteandofficial:theGamesdidopenon claimedbyCanadians. schedule,andinsuperbfacilities.Itcannotbesaid,how- InMontrealover72% (8—of11) medals ever,thatdieywerepoliticallyunblemishedorfinancially were shared by 14 swimmers 36% of the modest,inspiteofthefactthatthemajorityofthesitesfor swimmingteam. the21sportsalreadyexisted. Following the Olympic Trials in Canada.Quebec,Montreal, andCOJO,did, notwith- Etobicoke.June1-5,1976,ateamofISwomen 1^ standingthepolitics,security, inflation,commercialism, and 20 men eamed the right to represent andnationalism,stagetheworld'sgreatestsportspectacle Canada in Montreal. 66% of the women's Backstrokers Wendy Hogg and Nancy Garapick widiagreatflairoforganizationandpageantry. team made at least one ofthe 13 women's Theopeningceremonycertainlyliveduptothesuper- finals(6of20).30%ofthemen'steammadefinal,thatis, willcreatetheirowndemandforfacilities,coaches, and latives ofprevious Olympic openingceremonies. Teams placedinthetopeightintheworid.54%ofallracesswum funding. beganassemblingbehindtheOlympicVillageat1:30pm intheGamesbyCanadianswerelifetimebests.Therewas It is from this viewpoint that one would hope the onJuly17.At3:00,Greeceledtheparticipatingteamsinto atleastoneCanadianin18ofthe26eight-swimmerfinals. MontrealOlympics,andsuccessiveGames,beaninspira- the stadium. One hour later the 400-strong Canadian Intwoevents,theCanadianteamplaced3inthefinals. tionforincreasedparticipation,andsupport,insportacross delegationentered.Canadawasthelastofthe8,700partici- Swimmerswereresponsibleforexactlyhalfofthe108 Canada, pantsofthe94countriestoenterthestadium. points,whichplacedCanada11thintheunofficialnations ReprintedfromSWIMMagazine,July1984M03 ThemarchthroughtheOlympicParktothestadium point standing. A considerable improvement from 21st providedtheinitialburstofemotionalarousal.Thousands placein 1972. Editors Note: The stunning domination ofinternational ofpeople cheered their support for all athletes, and in Canadianswimmingclearlyestablisheditselfasthe swimmingbyGDRwomenfrom1973to1989wasbuiltuponan particular, Canadian athletes. This emotional high cli- premieramateurandOlympicsport in Canadaandthe organized system of anabolic-steroid use. 20 prominent East maxedasteamsapproachedandenteredthestadium.We onlyoneinwhich,atthattime,couldjustifiablyclaimtobe GemiancoachesadmittedinawittenstatementinDecemberof seemedto'float'aroundthestadiumwiththesupportofthe aworidpower. 1990.Theiradmissionprovidedconvincinge\idencetliatsenior crowd. Canadianswimmersaccomplishedtheseoutstanding sportadministratorsofthenow-dissolvedCommuniststatemade The arrival of the Olympic flag was of particular performancesthroughtheirownpersonalcommitmentto performance-enhancingdrugsacriticalpartofthetrainingpro- significance. Ittookplace atthefarendofthestadium thesportandtheirassociationwiththethreefundamental grams.Theeffectivenessoftheprogramw;)ssuchthatnoGDR wheretheCanadiancontingentwasassembled. factorsinsportdevelopment:organization,finances,and swimmerwasevercaughtorpenalizedfordruguse. BrendaParks, a 16-year-oldmemberofmyHalifax coaching. Thetaintedperfomiancesandinternationalsmedalshavenot TrojanACwaschosen asoneofthefourgirlsinthe 12 Canadawasrankedasfourthintheworld;isaswim- beentaken awayastheInternationalOhnipicCommitteeand personOlympicflag-bearingparty.Irecollecthersighof mingpoweratthe1976GamesbehindtheUSA,GDR,and major international sports federations do not punish adiletes relief,andsmile.themomenttheflagreachedthetopofthe theSovietUnion.Inwomen'sswimmingtheGDRwaspre- retroactivelywithoutanadmissionbydieathlete..Asaresultstlie athletesinvolvedareinnodangeroflosingdieirmedalsorrecords. flagpole.ThearrivaloftheOlympicflamehomebybotha eminent.Themediawasfullofspeculationregardingtheir 10 SWIM CANADA/OCTOBER 1996

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