Sunday, September 30, 2012

...and then they won gold...


Got Chuck's new book?  Not yet?  Need a little push?  Read on...

Author’s Note:
The book …And Then They Won Gold: Stepping Stones To Swimming Excellence Volume I was inspired by a conversation with Coach Eddie Reese suggesting that swimmers, coaches and parents could use a “recipe book” for how to reach their potential. The book contains eight short stories, about eight great swimmers that collectively won 28 Olympic gold medals. Each story reveals the experience that the athlete had from their very first swimming experiences to progressing to the Olympic gold medal. Each story also has inserted training programs that they used for each step in the swimmers’ development.
A second Volume is planned to tell the story of great women swimmers. The remaining athletes in Volume I are Matt Biondi (sprint free), Mike Barrowman (breaststroke), Josh Davis ( mid-distance free), Lenny Krayzelburg (backstroke), Ian Crocker and Grant Hackett.
Peirsol Excerpt and authors note:  Aaron Peirsol is generally considered the greatest backstroker in the history of the world and holds both the 100 and 200-meter world records today. This excerpt is from his freshman year at the University of Texas:
Just as there were visitors to Nova practices, there were often ones at the University of Texas. On a Saturday morning there was a coaches’ clinic hosted at UT. Over time Aaron learned that these days were something to watch out for because practice was going to be especially hard. The main set was 6 x 200s (yards) on 6:00. Aaron thought to himself, Now there’s something I can do well on. His first swim was 1:48, then he gradually progressed down to 1:45 on the last one.
Aaron grew to understand that in the Texas program Eddie trained people for the end of the season or the end of the summer. There was a larger and longer progression and evolution of training loads and type of work over the course of a five or six-month season than Aaron had experienced with the Novas. Although he tried to challenge his teammates to keep up with him in practice, he also gradually accepted that there were times he didn’t have to swim at 100 percent effort. The end result of the training progression was that during the season an athlete was likely to be very fatigued and not swim nearly as fast as when he was rested at the end of the season for their championships.
By late January the team and Aaron were tired from hard training. They took the bus four hours to Dallas to swim SMU in a tri-meet with Arizona. Aaron loved the experience of college swimming, the dual meets and the team camaraderie. But he also loved targets, goals and the thrill of achievements. When they arrived at the pool he stood under the pool record board and studied the times.
Eddie Reese walked up and stood next to him. “What are you looking at?”
Aaron answered, “That 1:43.8, 200 back.” Ryan Berube had set the record. He was the 1996 NCAA Swimmer of the Year and an Olympic gold medal winner. He was also a fantastic underwater dolphin kicker, making him a great short course swimmer.
Eddie told him, “You can’t do that now [this time of the season].”
Aaron smiled. “I don’t know about that.”
When the 200-yard backstroke event came, Aaron ripped through the distance. As he approached the finish, he reached for the wall with his right arm and extended his left pinky and index finger into the “Hook ’em Horns” sign. He looked at the time on the board and aimed the “Hook ’em Horns” gesture at Eddie and the team. The time: 1:42.8. Aaron Peirsol was officially a proud Longhorn.
Win a copy of ...and Then They Won Gold:  Stepping Stones to Swimming Excellence, Volume 1* by being the first to email me the correct answer to this question:

Who is the only swimmer, other than Peirsol, to hold the men's 100 LCM back world record since August 21, 2004?

*Only if you've not won in the past seven (7) years.  Sorry Kevin & Tim...

Quote of the Day

Make sure you have finished speaking before
your audience has finished listening.

Dorothy Sarnoff

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Quote of the Day

Don't tell me it's impossible until
after I've already done it.

Pam Lontos

Friday, September 28, 2012

Quote of the Day

I am a kind of paranoiac in reverse.  I suspect
people of plotting to make me happy.

Jerome David "J.D." Salinger

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Sharkathon 2012


Leon (left) helping Steven load up his truck for the big tournament.

Sharkathon 2012 begins tomorrow at Padre Island National Seashore.

Before y'all give 'em a hard time, the participants in this tourney are not killing these animals.  When they're sharkin' on their own, most of these folks do a catch & release.

From the 2012 Sharkathon Rules:

9) To increase the chances for survival of all fish, the use of circle hooks is recommended. All TP&W regulations apply, including size and length limitations. Game fish may not be used for bait.
 
10) This tournament is a Catch-Photo-Release tournament. Any angler caught wasting game will be disqualified from the event. Any fish that is caught and harvested or that subsequently dies will NOT count for entry into this tournament.

Quote of the Day

I made up my mind several years ago that
I had worked very hard to get to where
I am in life and that I was only going to
do things that are fun and exciting.

Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Quote of the Day

For all that has been, thanks.
For all that will be, yes.

Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Quote of the Day (thanks, CS!)

It is difficult to make our material condition
better by the best law, but it is easy
enough to ruin it by bad laws.

Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt

Monday, September 24, 2012

Quote of the Day

The easiest thing in the world to be is you.
The most difficult thing to be is what
other people want you to be.  Don't
let them put you in that position.

Felice Leonardo "Leo" Buscaglia, a.k.a. Dr. Love

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Richmond "Reconfiguration"

Men's running and soccer are getting the boot at the University of Richmond.  Read more here.

These changes will result in a new $3 million athletic endowment funded by multiple donors and additional resources for other Olympic sports, while reducing the total number of Division I sports.

Translation  A few wealthy lacrosse fans donated a bucket of money for a new program, but that puts us waaaaaaaaaaaay out of balance due to proportionality.  Instead of eight men's sports (and nine women's sports), we'll drop down to seven.  Just do the math:  8 + 1 = 7

Y'all know how Title IX numbers work, right?  Rather than add another women's sport, they'll instead drop a pair of men's sports.

Why didn't they drop the Spider's men's swimming program, you ask?  Simple!  They already have a women-only squad.

Thanks for the heads up, SZ!

Quote of the Day

The lecturer should give the audience full
reason to believe that all his powers
have been exerted for their
pleasure and instruction.

Michael Faraday

Friday, September 21, 2012

Even More Excuses

Saw another "excuses" thread on The Old Coach.  Not up to speed on excuses for missing practices (and games)?  Catch up here, here, and here.

A few "gems" from most recent TOC thread (w/o spelling/grammar corrections):

I had a kid tell me he couldnt practice because he was claustophobic in his helmet, and it made him not able to breathe...

I told a kid Friday...Go to strong guard, stay low and beat that guy across from you. He said " I can't coach, I have to pee"...I just walked away.

was coaching and 8th grade game my second year.........we were getting a PeeWaDoodle spanking........late in the game I was trying to get as many kids in as I could.....turned to a young man and said......."Go in at left guard".....he looked me in the eye and said..."Coach ...if it's all the same to you....I think I'll wait till next week"

Heard both of these this week:

1. Coach I can't come to practice today, I have mandatory show qhoir tryouts for Beauty and the Beast.

2. Coach I can't go to the game Friday. I have to go visit my dad in prison before they transfer him to South Dakota.


youth football...kid's dad told me no contact due to sunburn...dad told me it was his fault. I agreed...I assumed he meant genetically it was his fault, but he said he forgot to put sunblock on him

Saddest excuse I ever heard and from a GREAT kid. "Coach I am going to miss practice tomorrow, my Mom is graduating" I asked "graduating from what, it is not time for any college graduation?" He said with an embarrased look "from rehab". Wished real quick I was not so dang stupid. But I learned a lesson.

That was fifteen years ago and I still wonder how he turned out. Hope it was good.


Read 'em all here.

Quote of the Day

The trouble with retirement is
that you never get a day off.

Abe Lemons

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Quote of the Day

Be on the alert to recognize your prime at
whatever time of your life it may occur.

Dame Muriel Spark

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Quote of the Day

Nobody talks so constantly about God as
those who insist that there is no God.

Heywood Campbell Broun, Jr.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Quote of the Day

Never hold discussions with the monkey
when the organ grinder is in the room.

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Quote of the Day

It is very difficult to live among people you love
and hold back from offering them advice.

Anne Tyler

 

Friday, September 14, 2012

Quote of the Day

The combination of hatred and technology
is the greatest danger threatening mankind.

Simon Wiesenthal

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Quote of the Day

They are ill discoverers that think there is
no land, when they can see nothing but sea.

Sir Francis Bacon

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Quote of the Day

The price one pays for pursuing any
profession or calling is an intimate
knowledge of its ugly side.

James Arthur Baldwin

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Quote of the Day

Gold medals aren't really made of gold.
They're made of sweat, determination,
and a hard-to-find alloy called guts.

Dan Gable

Monday, September 10, 2012

Quote of the Day

We were told our campaign wasn't sufficiently
slick.  We regard that as a compliment.

Margaret Hilda Thatcher

Sunday, September 09, 2012

Quote of the Day

Television enables you to be entertained in your
home by people you wouldn't have in your home.

Sir David Paradine Frost

Saturday, September 08, 2012

Quote of the Day

Fear not those who argue but those who dodge.


Baroness Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

Friday, September 07, 2012

Quote of the Day

If history repeats itself, and the
unexpected always happens,
how incapable must Man be
of learning from experience.

George Bernard Shaw

Thursday, September 06, 2012

Quote of the Day

Power corrupts. Absolute power is kind of neat.

John F. Lehman, Jr.

Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Splash-O-Truth Bullying Fail

ASCA-member coaches (many are attending the ASCA World Clinic in Las Vegas this week) are being called "suckers" by Splash-O-Truth.

Read more here.

You are all truly suckers!

and

The following are the sucker coaches that updated certifications:

and

The following are the sucker coaches that purchased new memberships:

Not sure what Splash is was all about?  Catch up here.

5. The American Swimming Coaches Association Board (if it is anything more than a "rubber stamp" board) needs to remove John Leonard as the Executive Director. If Leonard is not removed from the American Swimming Coaches Association, we are calling upon all coaches and parents to boycott ASCA and start a new coaches association that actually helps and supports club coaches. Other actions that need to be taken are as follows - 1. Don't pay for or attend ASCA sponsored clinics. 2. Don't purchase ASCA memberships. 3. And certainly don't buy any materials or services from ASCA. As an organization, USA Swimming needs to disassociate themselves with ASCA and certify and educate coaches on their own. ASCA's only good for gouging clubs and their underpaid coaches. Unfortunately, USA Swimming Club coaches do not have a coaches association that truly represents their interests.

Many of us continue to take advantage of the many things ASCA has to offer the professional swim coach.

This certainly doesn't sit well with the folks behind Splash.

Could their attacks on us be considered bullying?

Quote of the Day

The man who says he is willing to meet you
halfway is usually a poor judge of distance.

Dr. Laurence Johnston Peter

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

1972 Munich Women's 400 Free Relay

Relay was just on ESPN Classic.

Awesome race!

Austin's Sandy Neilson-Bell led it off for the US.

They beat the East Germans and broke the world record.

3:55.19

 
p.s.  Medley relay was just on and it wasn't even close.  Sandy anchored for her third gold of the Games.

Quote of the Day

He who reigns within himself and rules his
passions, desires, and fears is more than a king.

John Milton

Sunday, September 02, 2012

Quote of the Day

Bad experience is a school
that only fools keep going to.

Ezra Taft Benson

Saturday, September 01, 2012

Quote of the Day

It's the friends you can call
up at four a.m. that matter.

Maria Magdalene "Marlene" Dietrich