It was part of my promise to the OSCC, in my application, to share as much as I could learn with the coaching community via my podcast and blog reach so this is what I have decided to do. Below, you will find a media player which will play episode 13 of "coachmikepodcast" (along with other episodes, which are also great and should be listened to) which has valuable interviews with Brittany MacLean, Missy Franklin, Tom Johnson, Randy Bennett, Chris Hindmarch-Watson and Todd Schmitz. All shed valuable info on a wide range of topics. The entire show is about 38min. Please take the time to listen. The podcast can be downloaded from iTunes or from the podcast server site. There is more report to read below.
I had experienced the High Performance meet atmosphere before, as I accompanied many of the same coaches and athletes to the Indianapolis Grand Prix last season. I was pretty prepared for what I was going to experience, but honestly, I don't think I'll ever be "over it". I think I walked around with a goofy smile on my face for the first water practice and for the first prelims session. Even though I had just come off of an exhausting Christmas training schedule (and volunteering time at the Canada Games Hopefuls Camp in Waterloo). But it picked me up to see Michael Phelps and Nick Thoman and have a casual chat with Randy Bennett on the first day.
Generally, most of these athletes were about as exhausted as I was, as they, too, were just coming off major training over Christmas. Many of them had just arrived back from Camp a day before leaving again for Texas. In that respect, the general atmosphere of Team Ontario was much different than last time. Last season in Indianapolis, most of the athletes were primed and ready to swim fast. This time, a lot of them were in training mode and couldn't get themselves going or get interested in racing. I heard a lot of "Oh well"s after debriefs and in the warm down pool.
Another thing that was different than last time was the amount of time I spent with Elton Fernandes, the Staff Sport Physiologist (except for that fact that he was my room mate). Last season I focused a lot on the importance of warm down and lactate clearing. I was appalled at the time at how many of the Ontario Athletes refused to warm down. This season, I spent less time at the pool with Elton, but witnessed what an important part of the Team he has become. Almost all of the athletes (and JR) spend a lot of time with Elton from right after warm up and well into and after warm down. I was also impressed in the importance that athletes like Tobias Oriwol put into their activation routines prior to getting in to swim. Clearly there is a high rate of buy-in from the Centre athletes.
Since the only coaches that accompanied the tour were Don Burton, Andrew Craven, Kevin Thorburn and John Rogers, there were a few athletes without coaches. Dean Boles had informed me ahead of time that I would be working with these athletes (Paige Shultz, Jeff Swanston, Adam Best). It was a change for me to work with university-aged athletes, but I really enjoyed the give and take aspect of working with older, more mature athletes... especially at such a high level meet.
An example of one athlete's pre-meet warm up.
I was able to spend lots of 1 on 1 time with Don Burton, Andrew Craven and Kevin Thorburn (and talked all of their ears off, I'm sure). I was very interested in the information they could each offer me. Don Burton was very helpful in offering me advice about building a successful team. I really admire the work that Don has done with GMAC. Andrew Craven was fun to get to know, as I did not know him well to begin with. We talked about almost everything (I may have done the majority of the talking and Andrew may have been tired of me by the end) while we explored the University campus. Kevin Thorburn was very honest and candid as I asked him EVERYTHING I could to soak up the years and years of knowledge he had. I believe I opened his eyes to the technical world a little bit, for which he was thankful.
I ran an online Facebook photo album from the event which was used by Eswim and Swim Ontario during the trip. For some reason, I am always seen as the "tech guy" so I am usually asked to video tape the races. The Wifi connection at the pool was great, so I was able to upload many of the races to my Youtube account so that the coaches and athletes could review their races back at the hotel if they wished, which I feel enhanced their experiences :
...And I was even able to watch Michael Phelps in one of his last meets before his retirement. Say what you will about the guy, but he's a historical sports figure and he's almost done. Soak it up now.
Anne Bell was our Team Manager and was phenomenal! I could not even begin to explain how important her role is or how well she did in it. I wanted to interview Anne to ask why she feels it important to volunteer her time to these tours, but sadly ran out of time. I can only assume that she sees the value in being involved in amateur sports and making Swimming better in Ontario. Thank you, Anne.
I roomed with Team Sports Physiologist, Elton Fernandes. Elton is extremely knowledgeable in his field and opened my eyes to what the centre is doing the the importance of the scientific support staff to that extra 1% that many athletes are after. Elton has a passion for the sport and for the athletes he works with that is really intriguing to me. Elton loves his work and believes in what he is doing. It is really refreshing to see.
I have known Dean Boles well for years and, once again, will let him summarize the trip in his own words:
I would like to thank OSCC, Swim Ontario, Tobias Oriwol, Brittany MacLean, Andrew Ford, Warren Barnes, Erika Seltenreich-Hodgson, Zack Chetrat, Erin Stamp, Paige Schultz, Lauren Earp, Hassaan Abdel-Khalik, Victoria Chan, Adam Best, Jeffrey Swanston, Matthew Kwatyra, Kevin Thorburn, John Rodgers, Don Burton, Dean Boles, Andrew Craven, Anne Bell and Elton Fernandes. You all made this trip very educational and memorable for me. I believe that I returned to my program re-invigorated, more experienced and full of new information and ideas.
