At the beginning of December, I found myself on the way to Qatar to be a key leader in the 1st FINA Youth Programme which was running in conjunction with the World Short Course Championships in Doha. From the moment I got on the plane, I knew this would be an experience like no other. Not only was I going to be working with 260 swimmers aged 14 – 16, but we would also be working with 130 coaches from around the world, one biomechanist, seven other key leaders from Australia, Spain, Britain and the USA, and the energetic and passionate Todd Schmitz (the superstar coach of Missy Franklin). Meant to inspire, develop technical skills, promote unity and camaraderie, personal responsibility and passion this program was a valuable stepping stone in the development of any coach, swimmer or person.
The
program ran for 5 days and followed a scheduled laid out below:
- 6:45 – 8:00 Breakfast at Hotel
- 8:00 – 8:15 Team Meeting
- 8:15 – 9:45 Transportation to the pool (it typically would take 30 minutes to load buses and an hour for travel)
- 10:00 – 11:00 Group A in pool for technical session, Group B in Educational Seminar
- 11:00 – 12:00 Group B in pool for technical session, Group A in Educational Seminar
- 12:15 – 1:20 Lunch at Aspire Dome
- 1:30 – 3:30 Group workout in pool (progressively more difficult over the 5 days)
- 3:45 – 4:15 Team Building or Dry land Session or Inspirational Speaker
- 4:15 – 5:00 Walk to World Champs pool (free time upon arrival)
- 5:00 – 8:00 FINA World Championships Finals
- 8:00 – 9:00 Transportation to Hotel
- 9:00 – 10:00 Dinner at Hotel
- 10:00 – 11:00 Key leader team meeting
Throughout the week swimmers were given seminars on nutrition and doping. Goal setting presentations came from former world record holder and Olympian Penny Heyns (Save the Dream) and former Olympic athletes Martina Moracova, Patrick Murphy and Peter Stoychev. Exposure to long days of travel, unfamiliar foods, languages and separation from familiar faces created tough circumstances where athletes had to remain focused and absorb new information, all while performing at a high level. Not everyone was successful at all times (a lot of dehydration to contend with), but athletes and coaches learned to cope and managed themselves better as the week progressed.
Coaches who traveled with the swimmers (1 male, 1 female and 1 coach from each country) were put into situations that are similar to those of a high performance coach. They had to ensure that athletes were taken care of – eating properly, hydrating, sleeping and making it to all aspects of the camp – all while having little control over the circumstances. I believe that this skill – to be flexible and/or to allow other coaches access to your swimmers – is very difficult for most coaches. We harp on athletes to be flexible, ever ready to be calm in the face of adversity but most coaches cannot manage to be an example of this. The first two days, the key leaders (responsible for writing practices, leading workouts and overseeing all athletes and coaches) dealt with coaches who were rude, slept through workouts, skipped sessions or days altogether, or who coached their own workouts (over ours). On the third day, swimmers were given the morning off and coaches were asked to gather for a Q. and A. podium period. It was here that we started to break ground with some coaches, when they realized that they were in control of how much they got out of this program.
As we worked our way into the program swimmers opened up, asked for advice, learned from one another (with the help of Google translate) and started to give each other a push in workouts. By day 5 when we held a mini meet, we had some great competitive moments between friends. Most swimmers were able to come out of the program and swim fast after some extremely long days of travel and training.
When I returned from Qatar, I was asked what I learned from this trip. First off, let me say I am not a high performance coach. I have been an age group coach for the past 5 years and I sometimes get the opportunity to help with varsity and national team athletes. I thought I would be way in over my head when Todd invited me to participate as an “expert”. That being said, I never felt like I didn’t belong. This was a learning venue whether you were a Tonga coach who had built a lane in the ocean for the swimmers to train in or a coach who had put swimmers on an Olympic team. Every single participant in this programme, came away with some type of knowledge. Here are some of my thoughts coming off this trip:
*Every detail should be planned out AND at the same time be open to change in the spur of the moment. Every coach needs to know how to reduce a set because you got the swimmers in the pool late. Try doing it for 250 swimmers in a 20 lane pool after your buses arrive an hour late to the pool because they got lost. Always have a backup plan and keep your cool even if you need to use plan C.
*Take into account a swimmer’s background whether it is their language, religion, political or cultural differences. As a coach you need to be able to work with anyone that walks onto your pool deck. It is your job to see the potential in everyone.
*Just like swimmers, coaches can learn in every moment. I spent the bus rides talking to swimmers and coaches or taking notes on what I seen or heard. On day four, Penny Heyns approached me on deck and started chatting. She asked me about how I teach breaststroke and shared her thoughts on training (always train breaststroke at race pace – everything else on an off stroke). Some of the most interesting conversations came about while I was standing on deck and a coach would approach me and ask me to further describe a drill or ask why we were doing a particular set.
*Always surround yourself with a great support team. I can’t stress this enough. Todd chose a team of key leaders that worked so well together, it was often assumed that we had known each other for years. In reality, we met the day before the camp started. Todd has a talent of listening to people and picked people that knew how to have fun, respected one another and worked hard. At the end of the day, these mutual attributes created a cohesive and dynamic team – one of the best I have encountered.
Coming home, I realized just how much I had absorbed and what a great experience this was. The organizers of this event – specifically Tarek Charaf and Omar Al-khayyat took pride in every aspect of this week. By interacting with people who are this passionate about our sport, we create a desire to be part of this extremely exciting and ever challenging group. Every time you have an opportunity to send a swimmer or a coach out into a diverse setting, you should take the chance. The more knowledge we have and at an earlier age, the better as a country we will be. I can only hope that in the future young Canadian swimmers and coaches have the chance to be a part of an initiative like this.
For videos and more information on the programme check out the FINA website or FINA Aquatics World Magazine or check out the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojXMdOtqH_g.