Swim News - February 1997 (No.225)

48 Pages·1997·5.7 MB·English

by  Thierry, Nick

lA
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SWIMNEWS February
N.J.Thierry, Editor&Publisher CONSECUTIVE NUMBER225 VOLUIWE 24, NUIWBER2
AnitaSmale, CopyEditor FEATURES
IVIarcoChiesa, PtiotoEditor
DaveJohnson on Planningforthe Quadrennial Cecil M. Colwin
FeatureWriters Identifv'ingtlieluigeliolesinCanadianswimmingthatneedtolieaddressed
Cecil Colwin,Ottawa 11 1997 FINAWorldSwimmingCup Karin Helmstaedt
Neil Harvey,Victoria
Increasedparticipation,nineworldrecords,and$200,000
KarinHelmstaedt,France
AnitaLonsbrougti, England inprizemoney,makeitthebest-everseries
PatriciaYoung, HongKong 11 ClaudiaPoll: Here to Compete Karin Helmstaedt
BrianCounsilman, Indianapolis, USA Shortcourseswimmingfocusfor 1997season
GeorgeBlock,SanAntonio,USA 12 FINAWorldCup 1, HongKong Karin Helmstaedt
PaulQuinlan,Australia Australia'sMichaelKlimofftoimpressivestart.
ClaudiaPollsetsthepaceinfreestyle.
InternationalStatisticalSupportGroup: Chineseswimmer'smakethemostoftheWorldCup.
JorgeAguado,Argentina 13 FINAWorld Cup 2, Beijing Karin Helmstaedt
AronneAngtiileri, Italy
RumenAtanasov,Bulgaria Zhivanevskayabettei'sEuropeanbackstrokemark
ChakerBelfiadj,Tunisia 14 FINAWorld Cup 3, Espoo Karin Helmstaedt
SzabolcsFodor,Hungary Chinesewomenwinnineevents
GerdHeydn,Germany SionnBrinn: Frombeachbumtoworldclasssprinter
FranckJensen,Denmark 15 FINAWorld Cup4, Malmo Karin Helmstaedt
BertfiJotiansson,Sweden Denmark'sJacobsenin recordfomi,biggestmeetofseriestodate
MayleneTurner,SouttiAfrica USA'sTravisMyei's:Havingthetimeofhislife
MictielSalles,France 16 FINAWorld Cup 5, Glasgow Karin Helmstaedt
JuanAntonioSierra,Spain Fii-stworldrecordonthetour. China'sXueHanlowersSObre;isLstroketo^O.i;8
FratisekStochI,CzectiRepublic 17 Personality: ButterflyerJamesHickman AnitaLonsbrough
TtirasosTezapsidis,Greece
Aworldrecord-holderofthefuture?
NelsonVargas,Mexico
JanuszWasko,Poland 18 FINAWorld Cup6, Gelsenkirchen Karin Helmstaedt
SumireWatanabe,Japan PankratovandWoudainworldrecordform
MarioC.Xavier,Brazil TaraSloanbreaksCanadianrecordinthe 100breasLstroke
20 FINAWorld Cup 7, Imperia Karin Helmstaedt
ComputerprogramsforTAG,WorldRankings Twoworldrecoi'dsforPankratov
developedbyEveryWareDevelopmentCorporation, 21 The NewSusan Rolph Anita Lonsbrough
Mississauga,ON 22 FINAWorld Cup 8, Paris Karin Helmstaedt
SWIMNEWSestablistiedin1974 Fourworldrecordsclim;L\endof 1997series
Publisfiedtentime©syearly(JanuarytoOctober) 23 JoanneMalar:Justheretoraceandhavefun
Contentscopyright Noportionotthismagazine 24 Men's 1997 World Cup Medallists
maybereprintedwithoutpermissionfromthe
25 Women's 1997 World Cup Medallists
publisher.
Thefollowingnames;SWIM. TAG, TOPand Making 26 International Personality: DerykSnelling Paul Quinlan
Waves, areregisteredtrademarksandtheir TheBriLstargetAustralia
unauthorizeduseisstrictlyprohibited. 28 Technique: What Made Kieren Great? Cecil M. Colwin
All rightsreserved. Dr. Ralph RichardsdiscussesthephysiologyofPerkins'doubleOlympic
Subscriptionrates:Canada$30yearly successandtheimportanceofalong-tenn trainingplan
InquireaboutbulkdiscounttoclubteamsinCanada. 29 CoachingAccreditation Cecil M. Colwin
Foreign(airmailed)$65Cdn. ProducingwinningcoachesandswimmersinAustralia
UnitedStates$35US
Singleissues$4.00
Paymentsbycheque,bankmoneyordersandVISA
VISApaymentsrequiiecardnumberandexpirydate
Allsubscriptionsinclude7%FederalGST
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ISSN0319-0560
PublicationsMail Registrationno.3534 Dr.RalphRichards
GatewayPostalFacility,Mississauga. DEPARTMENTS
EditorialOllices:
SWIMNEWS, Calendar 3S RecordSettei's
356SuMma4cXh1VS4t.,,TCoAroNnAtoD,AOntario AboutThisIssue 37 CIAII Besfl'imes
Tel:[phone]Fax:[phone] TOPTinyOlympicProspects 38 CanadianT()|i 10
http://swimnews.com 32 l5ackw;Lsh 40-45 TACi (TopAge(iroupTimes)
34 WorldRankings 46 MakingWaves
SWIM NEWS/FEBRUARY1997
ABOUT THIS ISSUE CANADIAN CALENDAR INTERNATIONAL CALENDAR
Nick I. niicrn, Kditor/Publisher 1997 1997
Febniar)' February
20-23 ' WinterNationals,Halifax 21-24 MoscowCup(50m),RLIS
Tlusmoiitl)wecoverexteiisiwlythe FINAWorld
21-23 Malarinvitational,llaniiilon 22-23 FrenchInterclubs,Chalon-sur-Saone
Clipseries.Paris-b;LseciKariiillelnistaedttravelledto 28-2 NovaScotiaAge(Iroups March
ill! llie coni[x?titions ;uid \vix)te the meet reports as 28-2 OntarioJuniorI'rovincials,Nepean 28-2 LuxembourgOpen(50m),LUX
;lsniiuiyfeaturesonthei)rominentpersonalities C\M\Championships,Brock GreekLCChampionships,Athens,GRE
ontlietour,jet-leg;uidtliefluweivjustsomeofthe BCAgeGroups,Victoria LeisurlandInternational,IRL(25m)
March 7-9 TmavaCupSlovakia,SVK
obstaclesshehadtoovercome.
6-9 Man/Sa.sk(;hain|)ionsliips,Winnipeg 12-14 SouthAfricanChampionships,Germiston
Thenineworldrecordshetteit^dduringthetour 8-9 DurhamInvitational,Pickering 13-16 AustralianChampionships,Adelaide,AUS
indicatetlieexcitement diat thesecompetitionsare 21-23 NBTeamCliainpionsliips,Fredericton 18-22 LISJuniorNationals-West,CollegeSm.TX
now generating. No wonder Australia, Brazil, and April USJuniorNationals-East,Orlando
Canada;uiepkuiningtohostfuturecompetitionsin 4-6 EtohicokePentathlon USJuniorNationals-NorthEast,Bloomington,IN
5-6 PDSAInvitational,Vancouver 20-22 NCAAWomen'sChamps.,Indianapolis,IN,USA
anexp;insionoftlieseries.Theaddedmediaexposure
11-13 GuelphInvitational 20-23 SouthAfricanJuniorChampionships,Bloemfontein
canonlybegoodforswimming. Grinter/WaltonInvitational,Brantford 27-29 NCAAMen'sChamps.Minneapolis,MN,USA
The second and final portion of the interview 12-13 PickeringInvitational 29-31 SouthAfricanDevelopmentChamps.,Boksburg
withDaveJohnsonbyCecilColwinleadsoffthisissue. 12-13 SaskatoonYL;iserInvitahonal April
Witli mostoftliemajorinternationalcompeti- 18-20 HTACInvitational,Halifax 30-3 AustralianAGChampionships,Sydney,AUS
18-20 IslandInvitahonal,Victoria 8-11 USNationalYMCAChampionships,Ft.Lauderdale
tions(WorldCh;uiipionships,CommonwealthGames,
25-27 OntarioTeam(ChampionshipsA,AA,AAA 12-13 MulhouseInternational(50m),FRA
Olympics)intheFarEastduringthenextthreeyears, AquanautInvitational,Richmond 17-20 IIIWorldSCChampionships,Gothenburg,SWE
carefulbudgetingwillbeanaddedchallengeforDave 29-1 Youth/SWADNationals,Regina 19 LaConjnaIntemational,(25m),ESP
andSXC. May 26-27 SkopjeIntemational(50m),MKD
Forthosenotoldenoughtoknow,CecilColwin 9-11 NBCanadaGamesTrials,SaintJohn ToulouseIntemational,FRA
HollandiaInvitational,London May
hadthepositionasDaveJohnson,withtheCanadian
Dr.RalphHickenInvitational,Etohicoke 2-4 LatinCup,Lisbon,POR
AmateurSwimmingAssociation (CASA) asSNCwas CascadeGrandPrix,Calgary 9-11 AkropolisIntemational,Athens,GRE
known until the 1980s. Colwin was appointed Na- 16-18 HyackInvitational,NewWestminster AntwerpGrandPrix,BEL
tional Technical Director in 1972, following the 23-25 GuelphInvitational 15-18 FrenchChampionships,Mennecy,FRA
MunichOlympics,andstayedinthepostuntil 1977. PPOInvitational,Montreal 16-17 HaifaCup,ISR
23-25 CanadaCupWest,Vancouver 17-18 8-NationalYouth,DEN
HeoriginatedmanyinnovativeideasincludingTAG,
29-1 YouthChampionships,Regina VizmuCup,Kecskemet,HUN
which has been an integral part ofthis magazine 31-1 AquanautInvitational,Richmond SwedishGrandPrix,SWE
sinceourfirstissuein1974.HewrotethefirstCoach- June 20-24 OceaniaChampionships,Brisbane,AUS
ingCertificationManualsforSwimmingCoachesfor 6-8 AgeGroupInternational,Etohicoke 23-25 USSGP,Phoenix,AZ,USA
thevariouslevels. NovaScotiaAgeGroups ViennaIntemational,AUT
ClassicInvitational,Kamloops 24-25 MareNostrumMonteCarlo,MON
PaulQuinlaninterviewedDerykSnellinginAus- 13-15 MooseJawInvitational 27-29 MareNostmmBarcelona,ESP
tralia,andheexplainswhathisjobintheU.K.isall 27-29 McComiickInvitahonal,Hamilton June
about. 28-1 Man/SaskChampionships,Regina 30-1 SevenHills,Rome,ITA
Dr.RalphRichards,CoachingandDevelopment July PragueIntemational,CZE
Co-ordinator for Australian Swimming, was inter- 4-6 EastCoastChampionships,Halifax RosenheimIntemational,GER
viewedbyCecilColwinandhetalksonhowwinning CoupeEssoII,Montreal CanetIntemational,FRA
OntarioCanadaGamesTrials,Etohicoke PiestanyIntemational,SVK
coachesandswimmersareproduceddownunder,as 11-13 QuebecProvincials,Sherbrooke ZagrebGoldenBear,CRO
well assomeobservation, on Kieren Perkins' long- OntarioJuniorProvincials GijonIntemahonal,ESP(25m)
tenm preparation as the underlying reasons forhis BCChampionbships,Richmond HarkanyCup,HUN
12-14 AlbertaChampionships,Edmonton SwedishGrandPrix,SWE
success.
We are experiencing long delays in receiving 25-27 EasternCup,Sudbury 12-15 ScottishOpen,Glasgow,SCO
Augusl 21-22 TournamentofNahons,Vienna,AUT
majorcompetition resultsinCanada. Manyrequest 31-3 SummerNationals,Edmonton 21-25 MediterraneanGames,Ban,ITA
fortheJuniorNational resultsonourwebsitehave 10-13 CanadaGames,Brandon USSGPCharlotteUltraSwim,USA
remained unmet aswe have not received these. It November 27-29 SlovakGrandPrix,Bratislava,SVK
sometimestakesfivetosixweebforbiggerresultsto 28-30 CanadianOpen,TBA MeetingdelaLiberie,Caen,FRA
arrive.Wecan'trankthemifwedon'thavethem! F1e9b9r8uary 28-29 LPjourtboljIanntaemCautpi,oSnaLlO,POR
Formajornationallevelmeets,ifmeethostsfax 20-22 JuniorNational,East,Quebec July
thefinalsforsenioreventseachday,wewillputthem JuniorNationals,West,B.C. GreekOpenChampionships,GRE
online. March IntemationaldelCastello,Bellinzona,SUI
Edmonton has received approval from SNC to 12-15 CaniidianWinterNahonals,(50m),TBA CzechOpenChampionships,Prague,CZE
May 4-6 USSGPJanetEvansInvitahonal,LosAngeles,USA
make a bid to FINA to host the 1999 World Short 22-23 CanadaCup,West,Vancouver 5-6 BalticSeaGames,Vilnius,LTU
CourseChampionships.Theywillbeincompetition 28-31 Youth&SWADChampionships,TBA
withHongKong.Wewishthemsuccess.
4 SWIM NEWS/FEBRUARY1997
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COLWIN ON COACHING
DAVE JOHNSON ON
PLANNING FOR THE QUADRBWIIAL
CecilM.Colwn gramandwhywewerenot[lerformingwellinterna- country), we'll give you, or augment your living
tionally. Myconclusionsweresimple:Ifyouwantto allowanceexpenses,uptofivecards."
Thenextqiuidreniiialproniiscsloheaperiodfraught improveperformances,youneedtodescribeexactly
withdifficultchallengesand(.laisionsforCanadian whatyouwanttoseehappen. WeakAreas
swimming. "WhenIlookupanddownthelistofevents,Iask Johnson said that the program was developing in
Themajormeetsduringihenextfour\eai-swill myself:'Whatdowehavetodofortheathleteswhoare momentum,buttherewere"stillhugeholesinCana-
entail long journeys, big time changes, major ex- intheprogramnow?Whatdoweneedtodoforthe dianswimmingthatneedtobeaddressed."Hesaid
penses,:uidcarefulpreparation. athleteswhoareonthethreshold,andwherearewe thatweakareaswerebeingidentifiedandaddressed
Thisyear,thenationalteamwilltraveltothePan goingtogetthenextgroupofathletestocomeinand inanefforttoimprovethem. "Forexample,Ithink
PacificmeetinFukuoka.japan.In199<S.therewillbe supportthiscast?'" thatourfreestyleprogramneedsalotofwork."
hvo more trips across the Pacific: to the Common- Johnsonsaidthathehadrewrittenanumberof Itisalsopossibletospendtoomuchtimeimprov-
we;dthGamesinKualaLumpur,Malaysia,andtothe programsandinitiativessoastorewardbothcoaches ing one's weaknesses, instead of enhancing one's
WorldChampionships,inPerth,Australia.Expenses andswimmersforachievinginternationalsuccess. strengths.
fortliese longtripswillprobablybetwo-and-a-half "Becauseoflimitedfinances,ratherthancopy- "I amwellawareofthatreality,andoneofthe
timesmorethantheusualcostsfortravellingtothe ingtheUnitedStatesprogram,whichsetsatargeted thingswe'vebeenguiltyofinthepastwastobring
CommonwealthGamesandWorlds. amountofmoneyforagoldmedalasincentive,we everybodyback to the level ofthe lowest common
CanadianHeadCoach,DaveJohnson,acknowl- haveapointsscore.Aworldrecordisworth10points; denominator.Wemustbecarefultosafeguardwhat
edgedthattheinternationalcalendarwouldbevery aCommonwealthrecordisworth 5points; aCana- isgoingwell.Tothisend,I'velookedatwhatthey've
busyforthenex1fouryears. "Theprospectoftravel- dianrecordisworth3points;andapersonalbesttime doneinAustralia,andinitiatedsomeprogramsover
lingtothePacificRimregioninthenextquadrennial receives 1point. Dependingonthelevelofthecom- the1astfewmonths,basedonstrokeandeventcamps.
isven'much in frontofus. The bottom line is the petition,wegradeplacingsinthefinals. We'regoingtoprovidevariouslevelsofsupportforthe
significantfinancialhitthatwe'regoingtotakewith "Attheendoftheseason,weanalyzehowmany developmentofdifferentpartsoftheprogram.
each of those respective competitive opportunities. swimmersintheprogramscoredpoints. Ifatotalof "Inthepast,webroughteven'bodytogetherinto
It'snotlikeaflightwithinNorthAmerica,whichcosts 150pointsisscored,andonepersonmanagestoscore bigtrainingcamps,anddidn'treallyachievemuch.
$550 to $750. We're talking about two-and-a-half 50ofthem,thispersonwillwinonethirdofthepot. Wehadalotofkidsinthewatertraining,butthey
timesthatairfaretothemajorityofthoselocations." "Inmostyearswe'vehad$30,000inthepot. In didn'tfocusontherightthings."
theOlympicyearwehad$50,000inthepotforthe
Selection Criteria swimmers.Weprovidedthesameopportunityforthe DevelopingMomentum
AccordingtoDaveJohnson, "Wewillneedtotakea coaches,exceptthatwegavethecoachesfiftycentson Wliileit'scomparativelye:isytodevelopmomentum
carefullookatachievingworld-classselectioncrite- the dollar, because acoach can have two or three inaprogram,it'sahardertasktomaintainit.Thisis
ria. events, andtwoorthreeathletescompetingineach probablythemostdifficultgoal aleader, orapro-
Wovwill the huge expense of attending these one. gramdirector,hitstomeet,
majormeetsbecovered?Whatwouldhedoiffunding "Thefocusofthisprogramwasn'treallyonthe "ThebiggestrealityforCanadianswimmingis
driedup?Wouldbigpoliqchangesbeneeded? amountofmoney,butthecoachputtingaswimmer tonottakeadeepbreath, andsay: 'Ha!We'reback
"We've planned the lasttwelve months on the on an international team, and the swimmerbeing wherewewere,'becausewe'renotevenclosetowhat
smallestfinancialcontribution from SportCanada competitivelytoughandsuccessful.Thisschemehas we'recapableofachieving,
in twelve years. Webenchmarked the contribution becomeabadgeofhonour." "Wemustcarryouttherealitychecktoo.Outof
fromSportCanadatowardsthebudgetat$800,000," Johnson mentioned anotherscheme, basedon 58possible'A'finalpositions,Canadahad11'A'final
Johnsonsaid. 'Wewillhavetomakesmartdecisions. competitivesuccess,called"TheEnhancedCarding swimsintheOlympics.So,beforewebecomejubilant
But, from themotivationalviewpoint, althoughwe Program." aboutthose 11finals,wemustrealizethatthereare
seekworld-classperformances,we'llstill needtobe "There's a layered aspect to this program. If 47otheropportunitiesforclubprograms,university
carefulnottomakethecriteriatootight." you'rean'A'cardedswimmer(whichisbeinginthe programs,andnationaltrainingcentrestocontrib-
topsbcintheworld,twopercountry,orplacinginthe utetogreatersuccessforCanadianswimming."
Planningthe National Program topsixattheOlympicsorWorldChampionships),or Countries,such:isAustraliain 19^2 attheMu-
Johnsonexplained, "Forthefirstsixmonthsofthis ifyougetasecond,orthirdorfourthorfiftheventthat nichOlympics,achievedgreatresultsanddeveloped
job, I thoughtalotaboutthereasonsforthe large areof'A'calibre,orof'B'calibre(whichisbeingin amomentum,butitwasbasedontheachievements
amountofdissension anddisharmonyin thepro- theinternationaltoptwelve,basedontwoathletesper of three or four great swimmei"s. Wlien these star
6 SWIM NEWS/FEBRUARY1997
swimmersretired,Australiagotabronzemedalatthe monwealth (iames, World (championships, andthe "NotPerformance Oriented"
1976MontrealOlympics.Youcan'tputallyoureggs Olympics),theMarchcompetitionwillbeheldinthe "ThedilemmainCanadianswimmingisthat,other
inonebasket;youneedsuccessivewavesofathletes longcourse.Thedifferenceisthat,insteadofhaving than thecoachesofthetopthirty-oddswimmersin
comingthrough. fourcycles,wewillnowlookatthi'eecyclesperyear. ourprogram,wehavefartoomanycoacheswhotrain
DaveJohnsonsaidthat he isworkingwith Ian "Thedilemmausedtobethatoursumniercycle, merelyforthesakeofti'aining,withoutfocussingon
Currietodevelopatrackingsystemforhighperfomi- thefourthone (basicallyfromtheendofMaytothe anyparticulargoal.
anceathletes.Theyhavedoneacasestudyofathletes early part ofAugust), was too short to prepare for "Agoodexample isthattherestoftheworld is
intheCanadianswimmingsystemwhoachievedAor quality long course perfomiances. I don't want to gettingupandperformingataveryhighlevelinthe
Bcardingstatus.Theytrackedtheseathletesback,to destroyourshortcourseabilities,butlet'sfaceit,the Decembertimeframe,and,thenagain,atsomepoint
developacontinuumoracurvetoseewheretheywere real measureofhowwecome tobe measured as a betweentheMarch-Apriltimeframe.
whentheywere 12, 13, 14, 15, 16,andsoforth. world swimming nation is whether or not we can "Now that we have a 'four-year-template' to
"Ourobjectiveistodetectath- workfrom,therespectiveprovin-
leteswhowilleventuallyreachAor cial programs can now fall into
Bcardstatus. Thenwewilldecide line, and put their provincial
whatprograms are needed to en- championships,andtheirvarious
sureacontinuousflowoftalented other program needs into place,
athletes. andfitthemaroundaveiystrong
"Weintendtoprovideaseries and standardized domestic pro-
ofinitiativesforournationalyouth gram."
and junior youth programs. This What will DaveJohnson do
contrastswith thesingleopportu- withtheOlympicathletewhowon
nitywe used to give them, which a gold, silver, or bronze medal?
wascompetinginanEightNations Willhegivethatswimmerathree-
Meet,forwhichwespent$70,000, peakseasontheverynextyear,or
justtogotoonecompetition." re-start the long, slow build-up,
Johnson said that there was withonlyoneortwopeaksinthat
now a more balanced program, firstpost-Olympicyear?
which would be tailored to indi- "Whatwe'vetriedtodoislook
vidualneedsaswell. ateven'individualcaseonitsown
merits, and plot a strategy that
ShortandLongCourseMeets allows for the specific needs of
Inthepast,therewascriticismthat individualswimmers.It'snotjust
meetschedulesdidnotalwaysmeet theswimmingneeds, but it'sthe
theneedsoftheathletes' seasonal holistic needs of the athlete. In
preparation.WhatisDaveJohnson somec;ises,anathletewhogotto
doingtoremedythisproblem? the Olympicpodium gave up an
"Inpreparingforthisnextfour- awiullotofschooltimeandcareer
yearcycle,I'velookedatwherethe plansintheproce.ss.
majorcompetitionsare,andwhere "We want to encourage the
Canada iswith reference toworld developmentofliigh-pert'ormance
level swimming, and I've tried to athletes,butwealsowanttohave
structure a program that is basi- goodcitizens, andwewant them
callyabetterfitthan inthepast. lofeelthattheprogramcanallow
"Theprogramworkslikethis: tlieseelementstoco-exist.
fromSeptemberthroughtoDecem- "For example, take Curtis
berwillbethefomialshort-course Mvden, who was immensed in
season. From December until swimmingpreparationshistyear.
March, part of the program will The strategy developed by Deiyk
retam manyofthetraditional do- 'Wehavefartoomanycoacheswhotrainmerelyforthesakeoftraining, (Snelling), andacoupk'ofother
mestic meets, some in the short without focussing on any particular goal." MarcoChiesa people in hissupjiort grouji, was
course, some in the long course, that academicswouldbehispri-
culminatinginaWinterChampionshipsthatwillbe swim inthelongcoui'sepool. orit)' thisyear, and he's nowfollowingthrough on
heldinthelongcourse. "But, I don'twantpeopletogetthewrongim- thatplan.Thisisthestrategywewouldliketohavefor
"ThisyearwiththeWorldShortCourseCham[)i- pression. Shortcourse is avaluable tool, andwe're asmanyathletesaspossible.
onshipsinApril,wewill havethatcompetitionover goingtousetheinternationalshortcourse()p|)ortii- "Forinstance,lastnightIwaswatching'I'V,and
the25metrescourse.Butin 199«, 1999,and2000,as nitiestodevelopourteamtoitsfullest.' 1saw(AirtisMydenontheSpecialOlympicspresenta-
weprepareforthemajoreventsofthatcycle (Com- tiononTSN.Sportleadei's,suchasCurtis,haveplayed
SWIM NEWS/FEBRUARY1997 7
" "
a 01^part iii llie ile\i'k»piiii.'nl ol malia awaiviiess shouldbepartoftheteam,i)r()videdthecoachcom- matically in twenty years. So, because you took it
about oursjx^rt, ami this has aiilal the growth of mitstoone-hundred-percentinvolvement. twentyyearsago,you'renotreallygivingyourath-
a)r]H)ratesponstirsliip.' In preparingforAtlanta,Johnson involved the letesthekindofservicethattheyneedanddeserve,if
swimmei"s'coachesthroughout,fromtrainingcamps you're goingtocall yourselfan intemafional-level
An tighl-\c;ir IMau tothe(ianu's. When (lanadianswimmers, manyof coach."
Johnsons;udtJuilsomeonehadsuggestedhedevelop them al llirii'fii'stbigmeet,didbetterthanexpected Johnsonsaidthatthesameappliedtotechnique,
aneigl\t-ye;irphuiintothe90sandbeyond.However, at the Atlanta Olympics, a team coach said: "Dave physiology, andpsychology. "It'sveryimportantto
hefelttl\atlong-leniiplanningshouldheessentially Johnsontui'iiedtheteamaroundbecauseheallowed havethesecomponentskillsintegratedintoaprepa-
quadreiuii;dtoquadrennial. ustocontrolthedestinyofourownathletes." rationmodelthatwillallowforpeakperformanceat
"Short-temiphuiningistotheworldchampion- Johnsonsupportsthecoach-swimmerrelation- therighttime."
ships at tlie mid-point of each quadrennial. I'm shipfromnovicetointernationallevels,andbelieves Johnson believes in a team approach to the
trying to gearourprogram in such away thatwe inthemodelof"fromthecradletothepodium,"";is preparationoftheathlete."I'mtalkingaboutateam
always have a group of atliletes who are in the faraswecanpossiblyprovidethisopportunity." of staff: coaches, paramedical, medical, and sport
identified pool (say tlie junior team, a group of Hesaysthebigmotivationforanycoachistobe sciencestaff. The keydifferencetoourapproachat
atliletes who are being groomed in international able to develop an athlete to international class, previousOlympicsisthatthecoachnowunderstands,
competition,;uidagroujiofathleteswhoaregoing because this has always been the test of acoach's firstofall,whatthemenuofservicesis,and,secondly,
forperfoniKuicesatthepcKliunilevelinmajorworld theories,strategies, andacumen. howtogoaboutusingit,andthatitdoesn'tallcome
ewnts)." ontothetableatthesamepointintime."
Johnson said each category needed to have a CoachingDevelopment
constiintebbmdflowofpeoplecomingin theone Questioned on the topic of coach education and DecisionMakingandCommunication
side,andgoingouttlieotlier,andnotfallingbackto development, Johnson said that he considers the Most decision making rests withJohnson. He says
thelevelbelow. coach as "integral to the long tenn success ofthe "Canadiansaregreatconsensusbuilders,butsome-
Canadianprogram."Hesaiditwasimportanttogive timesthis isto afault." He listenstovariousview-
"Each-One-Teach-One" coachestheopportunitiestobepartoftheprogram, points,makesadefinitivedecision,andsays"Thisis
In developing a junior national team initiative, andtounderstandtherequirementsofthesportatthe where we're going, guys. You're going to have to
Johnsonhasintroducedtheideaofattachingasmall highestlevels.Hewantedcoachestoinfluenceevery- followalong."
group of juniorswimmers to teams going to such one interested in swimming, not only their own When asked ifcoacheswould beencapsulated
meetsasthePanPacifies,Hesaidthatthenatureof athletes. withinafomialnationalprogram,orremainfreeto
thecompetitionallowedhimtoswimasmanypeople What about the certification program?—Some- dotheirownthing, andsucceedasaresultoftheir
ashewantedinthepreliminaries."Webroughtthree timesitcanbelikeobtainingadriver'slicence one individualefforts,Johnsonreplied,"Itrytogiveevery
menandthreewomentoAtlantain1995.Twoofthe mayturnouttobeagooddriverorabaddriver. coach thechance to design one'sownpreparation
women madethe Olympic team, andoneofthem, "Whilecertificationisn'ttheonlyanswer,we've strategyinthecontextofthebigpictureofpreparing
JessicaDeglau,wentontomakeanOlympicfinal. had atremendous numberofcoacheswhowereso formajorgames. Obviously, we havepoolsessions
Ubuiltsomebridges.Therewassomementoring resistanttothiscertificationideathattheybasically bookedforcertaintimes,butthedesignofthetrain-
ofthe youngerswimmersbythe seniorswimmers. gotleftinthewakeofwhereworldswimmingistoday. ingprogramisuptothecoach."
Thisbuiltaninternaldynamic,orpressure,andsome I am talking about the types of information that Johnsonsaid thecoachesweresupportive, and
oftheyoungerswimmersweresoenthused bythis coachesneedtohaveiftheirathletesaretobecome were allowedtodesign theprogramsfortheirown
opportunitythattheytransferredsomeofthisenthu- truly competitive at the world level. We're talking swimmers.Thisapproachproducedtheresultsseen
siasmtosomeoftheperhapsmorejadedlong-term abouttheperfonnanceanalysisprofilingthatisbe- inAtlanta. "Ithinkitworks,"saidJohnson.
membersofourteam!" ingdone, inthiscasebyDrSmith,whodoesallthe Whenaskedtocommentonp;istOlympicteam
Atonetime,theChineseusedtoencouragetheir measuringofthevariouscomponentsoftherace." reportsthatcontainedcommentssuchas"Wedidn't
topathletestosharetheirexperience,knowledge,and Asked if this information was included in the have a good perception ofwhat we were going to
skillswithothers.Thispracticewasquaintlyreferred certification program, Johnson said "No. It's in- encounter,"Johnson said, "Ifyou tell athletes and
toas"each-one-teach-one."Everytopathletehadto cluded in the national team protocols that these coacheswhatyouaretryingtoachieve,andtellthem
beamentortoanup-and-comingathlete. coaches are becomingconversantwith, because of early enough, there's time to obtain feedback and
"Weactuallydidthisin thesecampsthathave the interaction andthemodelthatwe arebuilding modifyit.Theneverybodycangetonsideandsupport
just goneby. We put the Olympic veterans in with insideCanadianswimming. the plan. This way, you'll have a betterchance of
some ofthe new youth and junior kids who were "I'm trying to make the learning experience success.
invited to their first national camps. We have also much more hands on and much morepractical. I "I have a simple strategy: I always give the
donethisin manyofourmajorbuild-ups intothe believe that certification has missed the boat on a coachestheinfomiationfirst,sotiieyareneverblind-
Olympics. This 'cross-pollination' is averyhealthy numberofissues.Butoneofthethingsthathappens sided by swimmers saying: 'You decided we were
dynamic. whenacoachbecomesinvolvedinthiscertification goingtohaveadayoffonSundayafternoon.Nowwe
processisthattheykeeptheirmindsactive. suddenly find there is a test set scheduled for that
The Coach-SwimmerRelationship "It's like the coach who says to me: T took afternoon.' The coach should know the schedule
Becausethecoach-swimmerrelationship isimpor- strengthtrainingtwentyyearsago.'Youknow,andI beforetheswimmer,andsoIalwaystiytosetupthis
tanttotheswimmer'swelfare,Johnson'spolicyis: If know,thattheinfomiationthat'savailabletousin hierarchyofcommunication,anditworkswell."
acoachputsanathleteontheteam,thenthecoach thatparticulararea,forexample,haschangeddra- DaveJohnsonw;is;isked;dioutcommunication
8 SWIM NEWS/FEBRUARY1997
onthenationallevel.Doeseverybodyknowaboutthe takenintemisoflimitedqualifiedtimecommitments waywerecognizeit."
plan?Coachessay they need the infomiation to be bytheathletes,theeventselections,andmanyother Johnson said that the merit oftheschemewas
abletosupportit.Towhatextentarecoachesinvolved factors." that itwouldprovide a greaterdepth that, in turn,
indecisionmaking? JohnsonsaidCanadahastheopportunitytode- wouldpushcompetitorstobettertimes.
Johnsonreplied, "Inan idealworld,onewould signitsownprogramby"factoringuniversityswim-
likethemtobefullyvettedonalltheissues,andtobe mingintothecountry'sdeliverysystemofhighper- DuckingforCover
abletocometoapositioninconcertwiththenational fomiancesport. Johnsonsaid,"Rightnow,thedilemmathatI'vefaced
philosophicaldirection. "The universitieshavetremendousfacilities, in repeatedly, in the las—t three years, is that I go to
"However, we know that we've been guilty of the main. They have the infrastructure to support championship —meets provincial oreven regional
organizing ourselves to death, so much so that I high-level perfomiances, and, in fact, the highest championships expectingtoseethebestkidsstand-
acceptthecommentthatnoteverybodyknowswhat's performingprogramsinthiscountry,historicallyin ingupandcompetingagainsteachother.
goingon.ButIbelievesomeoftheonusandrespon- the last ten orfifteen years, have all been linked to "In many cases, they're not even at the meet.
sibility for finding out what's going on is part of university programs: the University of Calgary, the Thosewhodoattenddon'tevenswim in theirmain
becominganinternationalcoach, ;uidtheyneedto PacificDolphinsatU.B.C.,whereIwas,atKeyanowith eventsagainsteachother.Ithinkthey'reduckingfor
taketheresponsibilitytofindout. theUniversityofAlberta,NorthYorkandtheUniver- cover.Youdon'twin,andyoudon'tbecomeasuccess-
"Thephoneisthere,and,equally,Ineedtotake sityofToronto,theUniversityofLaval,andsoforth." fulswimmerifyouduckforcover."
tiieresponsibilitytogoaroundthecountryandde- Johnsonsaidtherew;isaneedformoreintegra-
livertheprogram. I'vedonethisquiteabitbygoing tionofuniversityswimmingintothemainstreamof Team Spiritand Discipline
tocoachingconferences,andsoforth,onceayear.We SNCswimming.Headdedthat,incertainareasofthe Johnsonsaidthatheemphasizedtheteamapproach
haven'thadtheopportunityto usetheSWIMNEWS countiy,universityswimmingisstillanisolatedsec- throughouttheentireprogram.Hesaidthathisphi-
magazinevehicleasmuchaswepossiblycould." tion of the program. "They take the approach of losophy is: "Nobody is bigger than the team" (To
Johnson said itw;is necessary to know the big 'We'reseniornow.Wedon'tneedtocompeteinthese which I addednobodyisbiggerthanthesport).
pictureinordertomakeclear,concisedecisions. "I lowerlevelsofcompetition.'" "And that's one of the re;isons that I've gone
wouldliketothinkthat I'vedonethis. But I'm not JohnsontalkedaboutthedirectiontakeninWest- downthisroadaroundthedisciplinecodeinsideour
perfect,andI'veprobablystumbledafewtimes." emCanada,wherecollegiateswimmingisintegrated national team.Althoughwetookalittlebitofheat,
TheverynatureofJohnson'sjobalwaysentailed directlyintothemainstreamofSNCseniorprogram- andeven(SWlMNEWS's)KarinHelmstaedttooksome
beingopen tocriticism, whetherhewas doing the ming,andsaid,"Thisisthedirectionweshouldtake. slapsatmeforhavingsomehardlines(inthis,1think,
rightthingorthewrongthing. "Whatweneedisanintegratednationalchampi- actually,theathletesappreciateknowingthatthereis
"I'mmorethanawareofthat,havingcoached onships, and funds to be put aside for univei-sity this kind ofcare and concern forthem, and that's
for long enough to know that, even when you're programsthatscoreinthenationalchampionships. reallywhat it is, and that theycan geton with the
givingtrainingprogramstoathletes, noteverybody Weshouldsupporthigh-perfomiancecollegiateswim- businessofpreparing.
feelslikedoingthesamesetonaparticularday." mingbyi)uttingaunivei'sitygrantprograminplace, "I'm not naive enough to think that certain
not as a 'stand alone' but rather as a combined thingsarenotgoingtohappen,but1thinkthatthere
ExcessiveTravel championship, with theseniornational champion- needtobesomeparametei^saroundwhichyouoper-
Therehavebeencomplaintsthatcardedathleteswere shipsfactoredintotheuniversityprogram. ateanyteam,particularlywhenyoustarttogetsome
sometimesexpectedtotravel totheotherendofthe "For example, the big drawback in Canadian youngerathletesintheteam.
country to compete in a meet, or else lose their sportisthatwehavetoomanyduplicatedprograms. "An athlete at the '94 Commonwealth Games
funding.Wouldn'tthisaffecttheseathletes'training It is expensive to move around this countiy. For said, 'Well,ofcoui-se, I'mgoingtogooutandparty,
programs,orwhattheircoachesenvisagetobepartof example,SwimmerAwinsanationalclubchampion- anddothisanddothat,becausethat'swhattheydoin
theirseasonalpreparation? shipinweekone,andintheverynextweek,goestothe thenationalteam.'
"There's no question that Can;ida is a huge univei'sities'nationalchampionshiptowinthesame "It was appalling to me that this mindset was
country,butwehaveprovidedafour-year-calendar eventagain. considered the appropriate behaviour, and the role
plan that's primarilyfocussedon buildingtowards "Weshould recognize thoseprogramsthatcan modelwasthenational team. Itabsolutelyhadalot
internationalsuccess. contribute andperfonn attheseniornational level, to do with the infiuence that I've brought to tlie
"Thepointcanbemadethatnoteveryoneisan andrewardthoseuniversityprogramswithhighper- national program in termsofhavingathletescome
internationalswimmer.Butwhatwe'resayingisthat formance funding to pui-sue that track inside the backtonationalchampionshipsattheconclusionof
carded athletes need to understand that there is a universitysystem. the Olympic (lames, and continue their coiporate
responsibilitytothecommunityofswimming,andto "SothebottomlinewouldhethattheCanadian responsibilities,andshowthattheycanstillperform
—
oursponsors governmentagencies aswell asthe collegiateprogramwouldparticipateinthenational at the conclusion ofan Olympic cycle after the big
corporatesector." clubchampionships andbescored against the SNC meetisover.Althoughtherehasbeenalotofcriticism
seniorprograms. Theywouldcompete on thebasis about this, it's been a dynamic that's made our
Integrated National Championships thatathirdplaceperf'ormanceinthenationalcham- program stronger. Whenewr a team is (li,st'i|)liiu'd.
Johnson is not happywith university swimming in pionshipswould be third in the SN(; nationals, but they|)erformwell.
Canada.Hesays,"Wehavedevelopedaprogramthat winneroftheuniversitychampionship. "Ifthere's no internal discipline, no individual
ismodelledon theAmerican NCAAprogram. Ifyou "Forthesakeofdiscussion, and an even better perfonnance will create a team dynamic that will
talktotheAmerican universitycoaches,you'll hear example,thewinnerofthegoldmedalistheSNCand have the whole program firing. I believe thai 'C'lu
theyaredismayedatthedirectiontheirprogramhas theuniversitychampion,andthat'sit.Thatwillbethe swimmerdoesnotaprogram m;ike,' "
SWIM NEWS/FEBRUARY1997
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