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From Age Group to
Elite
By Jim Rusnak, Splash Magazine Managing Editor
For whatever reason, some clubs just have a knack for
developing talent. They’ll take kids who walk through their
doors as age groupers, and a few years down the line have them
standing atop the medals podium at Nationals, or donning the red,
white and blue as members of Team USA. Other clubs are
left scratching their heads, wondering how they do it year after
year.
But it’s no magic trick. The top clubs’
ability to produce elite-level swimmers on a consistent basis is a
result of a number of factors, including a solid coaching
philosophy, patience and a little bit of luck.
Here’s a look at why some of these clubs have been
so successful, courtesy of the coaches from Dynamo Swim Club in
Atlanta, Seacoast Swimming Association in New Hampshire, Desert
Thunder Aquatics Club in Phoenix and the Kansas City
Blazers.
Build the Foundation
Believe it or not, Jenny Thompson’s club coach, Mike
Parratto of Seacoast, is not looking for the next Jenny Thompson
when his age groupers jump in the pool for the first time. In fact,
neither are any of the other coaches interviewed.
All of them, without exception, stress that the first few
years should be spent educating age groupers, teaching them proper
technique and fostering an environment in which they can have fun
and learn to love the sport.
“I don’t think the goal is to make them elite
swimmers right away,” said Alex Braunfeld, head coach of
Dynamo’s Alpharetta facility. “The goal is for them to
have fun, have a good experience and work through the program. We
just want them to have a good experience and learn the strokes, and
hopefully they’re still around when they’re senior
swimmers, and their techniques are good.”
Enough can’t be said about technique at this stage
of the game, as it lays the foundation for more serious training
down the line.
“We emphasize how to swim and then let them progress
at whatever their own pace is going to be,” said Stephen
Schaffer, who, as head coach of Desert Thunder, now works
extensively with the club’s age group program. “As they
master the skills, then we can start moving them forward into more
training and pursue whatever level of success they want to
pursue.”
Seek their Development
From there, clubs should have a long-term training plan in
place designed to accommodate their swimmers’ needs as their
skills progress, and each club should have an established order of
progression its swimmers follow as they advance from level to
level.
At Seacoast, for example, there’s a pre-competitive
level, a competitive age group level, a junior level and a senior
level. The other clubs offer similar programs.
Generally, the intensity of training increases at each
level, as does the time commitment in terms of both frequency and
length of practices.
But none of these clubs rush their swimmers’
development. Each of their athletes must have mastered the previous
level before moving on to the next.
“We want to design the program for the long run, so
that they’re able to be their best at high school age and
college age,” Paratto said. “We’re not interested
in having the best 10-and-under. If they’re that talented,
we’re not going to hold them back, but we’re still
working on drills and skills and things like that. We’re very
interested in having fast swimmers at the high school age and
college age, and we want ensure that by making sure it’s done
in progression.”
Like Paratto, most of the coaches say they start training
their swimmers at the senior level around the age of 13 or 14,
maybe a little earlier for some girls.
“That’s the breaking point where they decide
whether swimming’s going to be an activity, or whether
swimming’s going to be a sport,” said Pete Malone, head
coach of the Kansas City Blazers. “From that age, we try to
identify those who want to pursue that level, but we never
eliminate those who don’t. Then we try to tailor their
training and put them into an environment that is more conducive to
their development.”
No Pressure
There does come a time when these coaches identify certain
outstanding swimmers as being on the elite track, but a
swimmer’s success in the 10-and-under age group rarely has
anything to do with it.
Ed Spencer of Dynamo says he’s generally looking for
a senior swimmer with natural talent, leadership abilities, a
strong work ethic and a real desire to compete. But there’s
more.
“I think there’s a simple indication, where
maybe they score at Nationals, that opens your eyes and gets you
thinking that maybe this swimmer has something special,”
Spencer said. “But if you’re too premature, it puts
pressure on a kid that’s almost overwhelming.
“I want to hear something and see something back
from the kid that says, ‘I really want to be here,’
before I open my mouth and say, ‘you’re really going to
be good.’”
Also, coaches want to be cautious of dismissing late
bloomers.
“It’s really difficult to look at a kid and
say, ‘That’s an elite swimmer,’” said Coach
Ray Grant of the Seekonk Dolphins in Seekonk, Mass. Grant recently
worked with Parratto at a combined team training camp at the
Olympic Training Complex in Colorado Springs. “You
don’t really know what that kid is going to do two or three
years down the road. You might miss a golden opportunity with that
individual.”
Communicate
Coaches should communicate their expectations to the
athletes and their parents at every step of the athlete’s
development. This is especially true once they’ve identified
an athlete as being on the elite-level track.
“We need to get everybody on the same page,”
Schaffer said. “If the parents aren’t willing to commit
to getting them to the pool for the practice involved, or if
they’re not willing to commit to the level of competition and
travel involved, then we need to know that. I’m not about
telling people what they have to do. We’re big on
choice.”
Communication among the coaching staff concerning the
swimmers’ development is also imperative. All the coaches say
having a solid, cohesive coaching staff has been the key in their
programs’ success over the years.
“I’ve had a very consistent coaching
staff,” Schaffer said. “Everybody knows what their role
is, and everybody’s on the same page, working in the same
direction. We have a great group of people who communicate and do
nothing but work toward helping the swimmers get
better.”
Have Patience
Elite swimmers are not going to develop overnight. The
best thing for coaches to do is to stick to their philosophy and
never rush a swimmer’s long-term development in favor of
short-term success at the age group level.
“Coaches need to avoid their personal ego and wait
until the kids are developed,” Malone said. “I’ve
coached this way since I began, and maybe that’s why
I’ve had this success.
“I’ve always stuck to my philosophy, and I
believe our success has come from the philosophy we’ve
practiced over the years. That’s how we’ve made a name
for ourselves.”
And try to keep it in perspective.
“Not everybody’s in it for the same
reason,” Braunsfeld said. “Some people just want to be
good high school swimmers, some people want to be elite swimmers,
and some people just want to be an “A” swimmer –
it’s all relative. I feel that everybody needs to work hard
and be equally committed, whether they want to make their first
“A” time or their first Olympic team.
“We try to create an environment, an atmosphere that
anybody can be successful in and go as far as they can in swimming.
That might just mean preparing them for college or something like
that, but we try to develop them and get them as ready as anybody
for the next step, whatever that may be.”
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